Rookie Talent Agent Knows It All

Chapter 958: You are Kott-Nim (2)

"Miso was the only one who properly portrayed paralysis from the waist down. Your daughter doesn't know the first thing about what paralysis actually is!"

The reason Writer Lee Ji-Yeon chose Miso was not just because of Yoon Kkot-Nim's acting itself, but because of how realistically she portrayed lower-body paralysis.

"You clearly don't understand, but when something's wrong with your lower body, you absolutely cannot get up easily. Jung-Ae sprang right up, but in reality, you struggle to rise like Miso did! And at first, people don't even realize something's wrong with their legs. Humans naturally assume the parts attached to their bodies will move the way they want them to!"

Lee Ji-Yeon continued praising Miso, but since none of them had ever experienced lower-body paralysis themselves, they only showed signs of confusion instead of immediately understanding.

Frustrated, Lee Ji-Yeon raised her voice. "What? You don't believe me? Then lie down and try getting up without using momentum from your lower body! Or better yet, stay seated and try lifting your butt five centimeters off the chair using only your arms. Almost nobody can do it!"

As everyone tried lifting themselves off their chairs using only their arms, they quickly realized the difference and nodded.

"Ah, it's kind of like having a cast on. Wow... this is hard."

"Yeah. Once I stop using strength in my legs, moving my body gets really difficult."

"I can't even move at all."

Lee Ji-Yeon proudly gestured as if to say I told you so. "Exactly! That's why I said there was no need to keep watching! Not only is Miso's acting far more detailed, but she's also perfectly portraying Yoon Kkot-Nim's disability as a wheelchair user!"

At Lee Ji-Yeon's words, all the judges glanced down at their scoring sheets before nodding in agreement.

However, Yoo Jung-Ae's mother still refused to accept the situation and shouted angrily, "Mrs. Lee! If things like that were important, you should've told us beforehand!"

Lee Ji-Yeon scoffed. "Did I invite you here?"

"Well..."

"Get a grip. To begin with, the only reason we even held this audition was because Miso was kind enough to allow it. But with the gap between them being this huge, what's even left to discuss? And besides!"

While speaking, Lee Ji-Yeon pointed toward Yoo Jung-Ae, who had stepped off to the side. "Look over there. Can't you see your daughter already accepting her defeat?"

When she saw Yoo Jung-Ae trembling, her mother hurriedly shouted, "That's only because my daughter is extremely competitive! She's upset because she couldn't show everything she prepared!"

After answering quickly, Yoo Jung-Ae's mother immediately looked at her daughter. "Jung-Ae! What are you doing? Stand up straight!"

Startled, Yoo Jung-Ae straightened her posture and shouted toward Lee Ji-Yeon. "That's right! I can do the acting Miso did too! Please give me one more chance!"

Seeing a ten-year-old child desperately shouting like that, Lee Ji-Yeon looked at her with pity. "For your own sake, wouldn't it be better to stop here? You've already been in this industry for three years. You should be able to recognize the difference yourself."

"No. I'll do better. I can do better than Miso!"

In the end, Lee Ji-Yeon realized there was no helping it and spoke firmly. "Alright. If you really want to confirm it for yourself, I can't stop you. But from this point on, I'm not going to treat you like a child actor anymore. Prepare yourself."

"Thank you, Mrs. Lee!"

"Thank me? For what? We'll see whether you still say that later." After speaking meaningfully, Lee Ji-Yeon turned to Miso. "Miso, are you okay with this too? I won't be treating you like a child actor either."

"I'm okay too, Mrs. Lee!"

"Alright. Good."

Lee Ji-Yeon nodded and grabbed the backrest of her chair. Then she gave instructions to Writer Kim Soll-Ip and Director Kang Ji-Yung. "Soll-Ip, bring your chair and come with me. Director Kang, you come too."

"Should I bring my chair as well?" asked Kang Ji-Yung.

"No. Just come."

Lee Ji-Yeon picked up her own chair and walked forward. Kim Soll-Ip followed behind carrying her chair as well. Kang Ji-Yung simply followed after them.

Thunk. Thunk.

Two chairs were placed in the center of the practice room.

Lee Ji-Yeon looked at Yoo Jung-Ae once again. "You clearly said you could act as someone who can't use her legs, right?"

"Yes, ma'am!"

"Then think of this chair as a wheelchair and act as Yoon Kkot-Nim. Go sit down first."

Yoo Jung-Ae confidently walked over and sat in Lee Ji-Yeon's chair.

Thud.

The moment Yoo Jung-Ae sat upright with perfect posture, Lee Ji-Yeon narrowed her eyes. "Did you already start acting?"

Yoo Jung-Ae flinched and quickly shook her head. "No. I was about to start now."

Yoo Jung-Ae hurriedly began copying the performance Miso had shown earlier.

Slump.

Her shoulders and upper body sagged down, the strength drained from below her waist, and her legs drooped limply. The legs resting weakly on the floor even had the left ankle turned slightly sideways. For the imagination of a ten-year-old, it was fairly impressive.

At any rate, unlike before, Yoo Jung-Ae had finally begun properly portraying lower-body paralysis.

Yet Lee Ji-Yeon did not even blink and instead looked toward Miso. "Miso, would you like to come over and start acting as Yoon Kkot-Nim too?"

"Yes, Mrs. Lee."

Miso nodded and approached the chair. But from the very beginning, Miso's acting was different from Yoo Jung-Ae's.

"Nngh..."

Standing in front of the chair, Miso strained and grunted as she tried to sit down using only her arms.

The moment she acted out sitting with arm strength rather than using her waist or hips, Lee Ji-Yeon curled the corner of her lips upward. The difference in skill had become obvious instantly.

Still, worried that Yoo Jung-Ae and her mother might object too quickly, she did not stop the test this time.

"Yoon-Ho, stand behind the kids. Just in case," said Lee Ji-Yeon.

'Just in case? That means she's planning something.'

I tensed immediately and moved behind the children. With the two girls seated in the chairs, Lee Ji-Yeon stood in front while I stood behind them. Then, following Lee Ji-Yeon's instructions, Kim Soll-Ip and Kang Ji-Yung stood on either side.

Lee Ji-Yeon widened her eyes and spoke in front of the two girls. "Alright. From now on, both of you will act out Scene 15 at the same time. You can pay attention to each other, and you can even steal from each other's acting if you want. Understood?"

Scene 15 from episode one was the scene where Yoon Kkot-Nim watched the children at the orphanage running around and playing, feeling envious of them. I did not understand why they had to act simultaneously, but it seemed to be Lee Ji-Yeon's own method of observing the differences between them all at once.

While everyone on set looked confused, Lee Ji-Yeon alone began carefully observing the two girls with sharp eyes.

A moment later, the two child actors had become fully immersed in their performances when it happened. Lee Ji-Yeon's eyes suddenly flashed. Then she walked up to the two girls mid-performance and abruptly grabbed the backs of both chairs with her hands before shoving them backward hard.

"Aaaah!"

"Eek!"

As the chairs tilted backward, Yoo Jung-Ae and Miso screamed and wildly flailed their hands.

At that moment, Lee Ji-Yeon shouted, "Catch them!"

Already waiting in full alert, I quickly reached out and stopped the chairs. Kim Soll-Ip and Kang Ji-Yung, startled out of their wits, also grabbed onto the children's chairs. Together, we slowly pulled the chairs upright again.

Thunk.

Because Lee Ji-Yeon had prepared us beforehand, the children had only been frightened and no one got hurt.

Then, at that moment, Lee Ji-Yeon looked at Yoo Jung-Ae, who was trying to calm her pounding heart, and spoke. "See? You couldn't do it."

Yoo Jung-Ae flared up. "What do you mean I couldn't?! I really did well this time!"

"Look at your legs."

Yoo Jung-Ae lowered her head and looked down at her legs. That was when Yoo Jung-Ae realized the difference between herself and Miso.

Instinctively trying not to fall over, she had spread her legs apart, so now that she straightened herself up, her legs were splayed out on both sides of the chair.

However, Miso was different. Like a child who truly could not use her lower body, her legs had fallen limply to one side. And she was still straining and putting strength into her arms.

"Cut! Miso, that's enough."

"Phew."

Miso let out a breath, relaxed her legs, and began stretching them.

Lee Ji-Yeon nodded before looking at Yoo Jung-Ae. "Let's stop here. Even among adults, there are barely any actors who can immerse themselves in a role this deeply in such a short situation. That's why the Kkot-Nim I envision can only be played by Miso."

The moment Lee Ji-Yeon firmly settled the matter, Yoo Jung-Ae abruptly sprang to her feet. Then, with tears welling in her eyes, she ran straight out of the practice room.

Bang.

The practice room door swung open and shut. Yoo Jung-Ae's mother began trembling, seemingly unable to believe her daughter's rejection.

At that moment, Yoo-Jin spoke in a gentle voice with a victorious smile. "Aren't you going after her, ma'am?"

Yoo Jung-Ae's mother shot Yoo-Jin a fierce glare. "I am! I'm going!"

"Please get home safely. Oh, and when you find Jung-Ae, make sure she comes to apologize to Mrs. Lee later. Teaching manners is the mother's job, after all. Right?"

At Yoo-Jin's sarcastic words, Yoo Jung-Ae's mother shouted furiously. "Mind your own business!"

After yelling that, Yoo Jung-Ae's mother stormed out of the practice room. Yoo-Jin let out a smug little laugh and proudly puffed out her chest.

'And the winner is Jung Yoo-Jin!'

Then Miso blinked and asked, "Mrs. Lee. What do I do now?"

Lee Ji-Yeon smiled warmly. "There's nothing else to do now. Kkot-Nim is you, Miso."

Miso immediately jumped to her feet and bowed deeply. "Thank you! I'll give it all I've got!"

After greeting everyone, Miso ran over and threw herself into Yoo-Jin's arms.

Grab.

"Mom. I'm Kkot-Nim now!"

Yoo-Jin smiled brightly. "Congratulations, Miso. No, Kkot-Nim!"

At the same time, everyone began congratulating her. Then, while all that was happening, I noticed Chief Ju Ho-Sung quietly trying to slip away after Yoo Jung-Ae and her mother. However, there was no escaping Lee Ji-Yeon's eyes.

"Hold on. You should talk to me before you leave."

Ju Ho-Sung's body began trembling as he held the doorknob.

***

"So? Were you trying to screw me over?"

As Lee Ji-Yeon pressed him aggressively, the cornered Ju Ho-Sung broke into a cold sweat and hurriedly began making excuses.

"No, Mrs. Lee. That's not it. Yoo Jung-Ae's side threatened that if we didn't arrange a direct meeting with you, she'd appear in A Life Lived Twice, the project KBC is preparing. So I just..."

"Ah, so you thought it would hurt me if that girl appeared in Writer Nam Jong-Ok's drama and became a huge success?"

"That wasn't... necessarily the point... I simply thought she should be given a chance."

"Oh? You thought giving her a chance would prove she's better than Miso?"

As Lee Ji-Yeon's questioning continued, Ju Ho-Sung eventually had no choice but to shut his mouth.

"You really don't have the eyes for judging people."

"I'm sorry."

Lee Ji-Yeon waved her hands away, saying there is no point in holding further conversation. "Nevermind. I have no idea why I'm having this argument with you. Just, don't ever bring anyone to me. Understand?"

At that moment, Ju Ho-Sung's eyes widened. "Mrs. Lee, what do you mean by that?"

"What do you think? I'm saying I don't trust your eyes. Why? Was that too difficult to understand? Do you need me to interpret it? Would you understand better if I say I don't want any actors from Actor Division 3 in my work from now on?"

Only then did Ju Ho-Sung begin to beg desperately. "Mrs. Lee, I'm sorry. I was blinded by the greed for the role and ended up making a huge mistake. I promise to never cross the line ever again."

"You still don't get it, do you? Even if you crossed the line, if you brought a talented kid, I would have praised you for having guts. But you didn't. You just brought that kid over greed, didn't you? You just wanted one of your actors in my work. What if my work failed because of her? Can you hold responsibility over that?"

"N-No, ma'am."

"Exactly. Then why do something you can't even be responsible for?"

"That's not what I meant...I'm really sorry Mrs. Lee. Please forgive me just this once."

Despite Ju Ho-Sung's begging, Lee Ji-Yeon didn't even blink. "And why should I? You did things your way, so why should I be considerate? I have no intention of doing that, so you should get going."

Watching Ju Ho-Sung being cornered, I thought of an idea of taking this opportunity to bring actors from Actor Division 3 under my management.

I said, "Mrs. Lee. Then what happens if actors from Actor Divison 3 moves to a different division?"

Lee Ji-Yeon looked at me for a while before answering, "If chiefs from other divisions make a recommendation, then that should be fine. I'm just saying I don't trust Chief Ju specifically."

"Thank you!"

When I bowed, Ju Ho-Sung's face turned pale. What I had just said basically meant that if they wanted to appear in Lee Ji-Yeon's productions, all they had to do was leave Actor Division 3 and transfer to another division.

"Hey! Chief Jung! What are you doing right now?! Are you openly trying to poach my people?!"

At Ju Ho-Sung's frantic shout, I simply shrugged. "Then should the actors in Actor Division 3 just sit around unable to appear in Mrs. Lee Ji-Yeon's projects?"

Ju Ho-Sung glared at me through gritted teeth before eventually grabbing onto Kang Gam-Chan and pleading desperately. "Mr. Kang. If you could persuade Mrs. Lee somehow..."

Kang Gam-Chan snorted in disbelief. "You dragged actors and their parents in here on your own and caused a scene, and now you want me to clean it up? You really think your president is a fool, don't you?"

"N-No, Mr. Kang. Absolutely not."

Ju Ho-Sung immediately began groveling before Kang Gam-Chan.

Eventually, Kang Gam-Chan sighed as though he had no choice. "Haaa, alright. Give me a moment."

"Sir?"

Kang Gam-Chan turned toward Lee Ji-Yeon and made a request. "Writer Lee. I'll make sure Chief Ju gets properly disciplined, so go a little easy on him. Hmm? For example, maybe ban actor recommendations only for this project."

This was the perfect opportunity to pull actors away from Actor Division 3, so I could not understand why Kang Gam-Chan was letting him off.

Then Lee Ji-Yeon looked at Ju Ho-Sung before speaking curtly. "Tch. Fine. Since I've become part of the Hoop family too... I'll limit the ban on role recommendations to just this project. Happy now?"

"Thank you, Writer Lee!"

After smiling toward Lee Ji-Yeon, Kang Gam-Chan turned and barked at Ju Ho-Sung. "Chief Ju, restrain yourself from making reckless moves from now on. Understood?"

Ju Ho-Sung bowed repeatedly with the expression of someone who had narrowly survived. "Yes, Mr. Kang!"

"Then get going."

"Yes. And... Thank you, Mrs. Lee."

After greeting Lee Ji-Yeon as well, Ju Ho-Sung hurriedly closed the door behind him and left.

Thud.

The moment the door shut, I asked Kang Gam-Chan, "Mr. Kang. Why... did you help him?"

Kang Gam-Chan smiled warmly. "Land of Happiness is a hundred episodes long. If we're talking about it starting from this moment, that means he won't be able to make recommendations for about six months. Since it's you, you should be able to pull the good actors out of Actor Division 3 within that time, right?"

At that moment, I nearly burst out laughing. Kang Gam-Chan had reassured Ju Ho-Sung so he would not start harboring different intentions, while simultaneously giving me the order to poach the remaining talented actors from Actor Division 3.

"I'll do exactly as you instructed!"

At that moment, Lee Ji-Yeon clicked her tongue after watching the teamwork between the two of us. "You really found a way to use even that? Seriously. Both the president and the chief are unbelievable."

At Lee Ji-Yeon's words, Kang Gam-Chan and I exchanged grins.

***

Once the audition ended, we moved to the executive meeting room, where it was more comfortable to sit and talk.

The moment Lee Ji-Yeon sat down on the sofa, she looked at Miso affectionately and immediately asked her a question. "Miso. How did you get so good at acting like you couldn't use your lower body? Hmm?"

Miso answered proudly, "I learned from unnie."

"Unnie?"

"Seo-Yeon unnie!"

I added an explanation from the side. "There's a friend named Lee Doo-Oh who gives IT consulting to the company. His younger sister is Lee Seo-Yeon, and she uses a wheelchair because of a traffic accident. Since we're all close with them, Miso got a lot of help from Seo-Yeon."

Lee Ji-Yeon looked saddened. "Is Seo-Yeon in very bad condition?"

"She's been using a wheelchair for a long time, but her rehabilitation has been going well recently. And yesterday, she stood on both legs for the first time."

Lee Ji-Yeon looked genuinely delighted, as if it were her own accomplishment. "That's wonderful. Then Yoon-Ho, even though I'll personally coach Miso's acting, keep taking her there to learn from Seo-Yeon sometimes. Miso's acting will become even more perfect that way."

"Yes, Mrs. Lee."

Then I carefully asked something after watching the mood. There was something Miso needed to know in order to properly portray the role.

"I know privacy is important to you, Mrs. Lee, but may I ask just one thing?"

"What is it?"

"Is Land of Happiness... your own story?"

Lee Ji-Yeon had once said that Yoon Kkot-Nim felt like herself. However, I wanted to make sure.

At that moment, Lee Ji-Yeon hesitated briefly before nodding. "Yes. That's right. Kkot-Nim is my story. The only difference is that in the drama, Kkot-Nim becomes a singer, while in reality, I became a writer. Everything else is similar."

At that moment, everyone in the executive meeting room looked utterly shocked. Especially Kim Soll-Ip, who had spent years working as her assistant writer, looked completely stunned.

"Mrs. Lee. You've never once told me that before."

Lee Ji-Yeon gave a faint smile. "Well, there were circumstances."

Just then, Miso asked excitedly, "Mrs. Lee! Then did you meet your big sister and oppa and twin sister again too? Did you become happy?"

The script Miso had received for Land of Happiness only went up to episode 30, where the family members were still scattered apart. But after hearing the drama was based on Lee Ji-Yeon's real life, she became curious about what happened afterward in reality.

In my previous life, the Land of Happiness I watched ended with a happy ending. The female lead, Yoon Na-Ra, found all the orphanage family members who had been separated, became successful as a celebrity, and everyone ended up living happily together. And Yoon Kkot-Nim recovered her legs, was able to run again, and even worked in the entertainment industry alongside her older sister.

However, Lee Ji-Yeon slowly shook her head. "No. My own land of happiness still hasn't reached its ending yet."

'Wait a second. Then...That terrible life story of Yoon Kkot-Nim is still ongoing in reality?'