Rookie Talent Agent Knows It All

Chapter 959: You are Kott-Nim (3)

The moment the words left Writer Lee Ji-Yeon's mouth—that her own Land of Happiness had never reached an ending—silence began to settle over the executive meeting room.

Land of Happiness was the story of the eldest sister, Yoon Na-Ra, reuniting her scattered family and finding success as an actress. So when Lee Ji-Yeon said her own drama never received an ending, it meant she still hadn't reunited with all of her family.

Only little Miso couldn't understand what she meant and tilted her head in confusion. "Mrs. Lee. Why didn't it end?"

"I found the rest of my family, but unfortunately, I still haven't found my oldest sister yet."

Miso's eyes widened. "You still haven't found your oldest sister?"

"Yeah. Not yet."

"Then... then..." Tears quickly welled up in Miso's eyes before thick streams began pouring down her cheeks. "Sniff... waaahh..."

In the script for Land of Happiness that Miso had read, Yoon Kkot-Nim had gone through unbearably painful hardships. But hearing that those events were based on what Lee Ji-Yeon herself had really experienced, and that unlike the drama she still hadn't reunited with the older sister she loved most in real life, Miso couldn't hold back her tears.

Lee Ji-Yeon lifted the sobbing Miso onto her lap and gently patted her back. "I'm okay, so don't cry. It's okay, Miso. I'm okay."

There was no way someone could truly be okay after being separated from the family they loved and never seeing them again. She had simply become used to swallowing the pain. Still, I never imagined she hadn't found the most important person of all—her oldest sister.

A moment later, Miso finally managed to stop crying and wrapped her arms tightly around Lee Ji-Yeon as if she wanted to comfort her aching heart.

Lee Ji-Yeon looked at Miso with warm eyes before speaking to me. "Well, that's the situation right now."

She spoke as though it were nothing serious. However, now that I knew Lee Ji-Yeon carried such a tragic family history, I couldn't just pretend not to know.

"I'm sorry, but could you tell us a little more in detail? So I can try to find your oldest sister for you?"

President Kang Gam-Chan also encouraged her. "Yeah, Writer Lee. You've never been disappointed after leaving things to Chief Jung, right? Tell him the situation and let him handle it."

Yoo-Jin and Writer Kim Soll-Ip both urged her to leave it to me as well.

Eventually, after hesitating for a long while, Lee Ji-Yeon slowly began to speak. "Alright. Then I'll start with my story first."

For the first time, Lee Ji-Yeon began telling us about the days when she had lived under her real name, Yoon Kkot-Nim.

***

Forty years earlier, Lee Ji-Yeon's family had apparently been fairly well-off, running a small clothing factory together near Suwon. Because of that, she had learned ballet from a young age, and her dream had been to become Korea's greatest ballerina.

Then came the seventh birthday of Lee Ji-Yeon and her twin older sister. Their parents had gone down to Busan to deliver clothing orders, but because work had run late, they didn't return home until very late at night.

"My parents came home exhausted late that night, and their hands were empty. Turns out the ballet shoes they'd ordered in advance as our birthday present had accidentally been delivered to the factory because of a shipping company's mistake."

Her parents told her it was too late and promised to bring them first thing the next morning, but Lee Ji-Yeon apparently cried and threw a tantrum. She demanded the birthday present she had been waiting for all day. In the end, trying to calm her down, her parents took her with them to the factory on the outskirts of town.

And on the way there, tragedy began with a traffic accident involving a truck.

"If it hadn't been for me that day, my parents wouldn't have died. And my siblings wouldn't have been scattered apart either."

Lee Ji-Yeon spoke about her past in an unbelievably calm voice. Yet somehow, that calm tone only sounded even sadder like someone who had already cried so much in life that they no longer had any tears left.

"Well, after I was the only one who made it out of the hospital alive, my siblings and I were sent to Pyeonghwa Orphanage in Suwon. But... before even three months had passed, the orphanage shut down, and we were all scattered across the country. None of us even knew where the others were being sent."

Up to this point, the story matched the script of Land of Happiness that I knew. But everything after that was different from the story I remembered.

"After that, I was sent to a special facility, and I completely lost contact with my family. Back then, forty years ago, systems weren't computerized very well either. Yoon-Ho, you were in an orphanage too, so you know how terrible the conditions used to be, right?"

Even during my own childhood, support for orphanages had been horribly inadequate. And since computerization wasn't even imaginable back then, once someone transferred to another orphanage, finding them again became almost impossible. If it had been bad during my time, forty years ago must have been far worse.

I answered, "Yes. I know."

"Still, thankfully, I was adopted by good adoptive parents. I changed my name, recovered both physically and emotionally through rehabilitation, and eventually became a writer. Then about ten years ago, after I'd established myself as a writer and had enough money, I started hiring private investigators to search for people. There wasn't a single corner of the country I didn't search. Then around five years ago, I finally figured out which orphanage my siblings had been scattered from. But... ridiculously enough, all of my older siblings had been adopted to America."

"America?"

"Yeah. My older siblings were all exceptionally good-looking. Maybe that's why requests to adopt them from America came pouring in. Even for my oldest sister," Lee Ji-Yeon continued speaking in an empty voice.

The bitterness in her tone was unmistakable, as though they had been shipped overseas simply because of their looks.

"Well, anyway, once I learned that, I started hiring people in America to search for them. Three years ago, I found my twin sister and my older brother. Thankfully, the two of them had actually met each other beforehand through a Korean church community and ended up living nearby."

"That's a relief."

"Right. But I just can't find my oldest sister. My brother, my sister, and I are still searching even now, but America is such a huge country."

Finding someone had already been incredibly difficult in Korea. Without any clues, searching in America was practically impossible.

Lee Ji-Yeon gave a bitter smile and shook her head. "Don't make that face. I still haven't completely given up hope. Honestly, that's why I wrote Land of Happiness in the first place."

The reason Land of Happiness had never been produced was because there hadn't been an actress like Miso. However, the reason Lee Ji-Yeon had written it in the first place was to find her oldest sister.

"You wrote it to find your oldest sister?" I asked.

Lee Ji-Yeon nodded. "Yeah. I thought that if this drama aired, I'd finally be able to tell my oldest sister that I'm sorry..."

For a moment, I didn't understand what she meant. "Sorry? For what?"

"Do you remember what Yoon Kkot-Nim said in Scene 22 of Episode 1 of Land of Happiness?"

"Yes. The scene where she lashes out at her oldest sister."

"Right. Those were my exact words."

In Scene 22 of Episode 1 of Land of Happiness, after the siblings are separated, Yoon Kkot-Nim says cruel things to her oldest sister.

『You're just the same! You think I killed Mom and Dad too, don't you? That's why you hate me and you're sending me to another orphanage, right? Fine! I'll just live like this until I die! Don't come looking for me either! Trash like me will probably die the moment I get there anyway!』

...

Yoon Kkot-Nim had been in an extremely unstable state, consumed by paranoia and emotional wounds, and she couldn't even move her legs at the time. So when she heard she had to leave for another orphanage, she lashed out viciously at her oldest sister.

However, Yoon Na-Ra had only been seventeen years old herself back then. There was no way a teenage girl could have had the strength to keep her scattered family together. Only after growing older did Lee Ji-Yeon come to understand that, and she still regretted what happened that day.

"My sister was only seventeen too... She kept promising she'd come find me no matter what, but I didn't believe her and said horrible things to her. These days, I even wonder if maybe she's deliberately avoiding me because she doesn't want to see someone awful like me. That's why I want this drama to succeed somehow, so I can tell her... that I'm sorry... and that I want to see her again..." Lee Ji-Yeon's voice began trembling softly.

And then, Miso, still wrapped in Lee Ji-Yeon's arms, shook her head fiercely and shouted, "No! Your oldest sister doesn't hate you! She loves you!"

A faint smile spread across Lee Ji-Yeon's face. "Thank you, Miso. For saying that."

At that moment, Miso clenched both fists tightly and shouted with all her strength. "No, it's true! If you read the script you wrote, your oldest sister loved Kkot-Nim soooo much! I can tell everything! Before they got separated, she saved up money to buy shoes for Kkot-Nim even though she couldn't walk!"

Lee Ji-Yeon's eyes trembled. Even though she had written the script herself, it seemed she had never thought about that part the way Miso had. Meanwhile, because Miso analyzed characters through the "Eyes of Others," she had been viewing the story from the oldest sister's perspective.

'Could it really be interpreted like that too?'

I never would have expected it, but Miso's reasoning was so persuasive that it genuinely seemed possible. And judging by her expression, Lee Ji-Yeon appeared to be thinking the same thing.

"Do you really... think so?"

"Yeah! She bought her sneakers before you got separated. And when she gave them to you, she said it! She said, 'Kkot-Nim. When we meet again later, let's go to the amusement park together!'"

"Y-Yeah..."

"See? Your oldest sister loved you the most!"

"Do you... really think so?"

"Yes!"

At first, it had sounded like nothing more than the words of a child. But the more I thought about it, the more reasonable Miso's argument became. If siblings who had suddenly become orphans truly wanted to sever ties forever and never see each other again, there was no way the oldest sister would have bought her shoes while promising she would definitely come back for her. And despite those cruel words, she wouldn't have encouraged her by saying she would walk again someday.

Then, one way to confirm Miso's thoughts came to mind.

"Mrs. Lee. When you reunited with your brother and sister in America, how did they react?"

Lee Ji-Yeon answered in a trembling voice. "Even though my parents died because of me, and our family got torn apart because of me... the moment we started the video call, both of them said the exact same thing."

"What did they say?"

Lee Ji-Yeon suddenly began trembling violently, as though she had realized something. I wondered what was wrong, but tears quickly welled up in her eyes.

"They said...our... youngest... can walk now..."

Just as I thought, Lee Ji-Yeon's siblings had never blamed her. And if that was true, there was no way the feelings of the oldest sister—the one who had loved her most of all—would be any different.

All this time, the cruel thoughts Lee Ji-Yeon had chained herself with had prevented her from realizing something so simple. However, Miso's unwavering words had shattered those preconceptions completely.

Large tears began falling from Lee Ji-Yeon's eyes one after another. Then Miso, still nestled in Lee Ji-Yeon's arms, reached up and gently wiped away her tears. The scene had become the complete opposite of what it had been only moments earlier.

I waited quietly until Lee Ji-Yeon managed to steady her emotions. Then I spoke to her. "Just like Miso said, your oldest sister is definitely searching for you too."

Lee Ji-Yeon nodded with a trembling voice. "Y-Yeah..."

At that moment, Kim Soll-Ip offered an idea. "Mrs. Lee, then why don't you do media interviews? With your reputation, wouldn't the news spread throughout the Korean-American community through Korean radio stations in LA? Or you could even invite foreign reporters and push the story into mainstream American media."

Lee Ji-Yeon quickly shook her head. "No. I can't let the media know."

"Huh? Why not?"

"Back when I used private investigators before, all kinds of scammers came looking for me. Some even worked together with the investigators and brought in fake relatives. There were cases where we even did DNA tests only for them not to match. If this gets exposed through the media, hundreds of times more people will come. How would I possibly deal with all of that?"

I had wondered why Lee Ji-Yeon had never publicly revealed the existence of her family. I never imagined there had been a reason like that behind it.

And at that moment, one future schedule related to Lee Ji-Yeon suddenly flashed through my mind.

'Ah, there was that.'

I immediately searched through Everyday and found a future entry related to Lee Ji-Yeon from five years later.

[Everyday V13]

[Date: May 15, 2026]

-02:00 p.m.: Gangnam Seven Stars Hospital Funeral Hall. Family obituary for Writer Lee Ji-Yeon.

Five years later, before Land of Happiness ever aired, I heard news of a death in Lee Ji-Yeon's family.

At the time, I had been in Hawaii with Ju Yung-In filming a six-month overseas location shoot, so I couldn't attend and had only sent funeral flowers instead. A few days later, I heard that the person who had passed away after a long illness was Lee Ji-Yeon's "older sister."

Back then, Lee Ji-Yeon hadn't publicly revealed her family relationships yet, so I didn't know whether it had been her oldest sister or her twin sister. I had simply accepted the fact that one of her sisters had died.

Thinking about it now, something felt strange. The funeral had been held in Korea, not America. If her sister had truly been living in America at the time, the funeral should have been held there instead.

'Wait. Then could that sister actually have been the oldest sister?'

My heart began pounding wildly. If my assumption was correct, then instead of searching America for the oldest sister, we needed to search Korea.

I immediately threw several questions at Lee Ji-Yeon to confirm my theory. "Do your twin sister and older brother come back and forth to Korea often?"

"No. They both married Americans. They each have three children too. They want to visit, but they can't easily come. So I go see them sometimes."

At that moment, I nearly let out a shout of excitement without realizing it. If her twin sister's spouse and children were all in America, then there was no way she—now an American citizen—would come all the way to Korea to hold a funeral here. And that meant the person who would pass away five years from now was definitely the oldest sister.

On top of that, the oldest sister had to still hold Korean citizenship.

'The oldest sister is in Korea!'

And if we managed to find her this time, there was even a chance we could extend her remaining lifespan.

Suppressing my wildly racing heartbeat, I spoke to Lee Ji-Yeon. "Understood. Then I'll look for her."

"Can you really do it?"

"Yes. I'm Jung Yoon-Ho, aren't I?"

Seeing how unwavering I looked, Lee Ji-Yeon finally nodded and entrusted it to me. "Then... I'm counting on you, Yoon-Ho."

"Yes. Then from now on, please tell me anything that could help identify your oldest sister. A mole, distinctive features, anything like that..."

Lee Ji-Yeon thought hard before answering. "She was pretty."

"...Pardon?"

"People used to constantly tell her she should enter Miss Korea!"

"What about anything else?"

"Sorry. I can't remember."

That just made the difficulty level skyrocket.

***

I asked Lee Ji-Yeon for every detail possible, but in the end, all I managed to learn was that her oldest sister had average height and was a fair-skinned beauty with a soft oval face. If she could at least remember the location of a distinctive mole or something, it might have helped, but the memories were too old. So I asked whether there were any photographs left, but apparently none remained.

The Daemyeongseong Orphanage in Busan where Lee Ji-Yeon's oldest sister had supposedly been sent before beginning the American adoption process had shut down five years earlier, and a new orphanage called Hansomang Orphanage now stood in its place.

Lee Ji-Yeon said, "Sorry, Yoon-Ho. I feel like I only made things harder for you."

"Not at all. At least we know your oldest sister was supposedly sent for adoption to America through Daemyeongseong Orphanage in Busan. I'll start there."

It was strange enough that Yoon Na-Ra had supposedly been adopted to America at the age of seventeen, but for now, that was the only lead I had.

"Okay, Yoon-Ho. And the gift I prepared for you—I told them to bring it over to my house later, so come home with me."

She wanted to give me something in return for negotiating the manuscript fee for Land of Happiness, but there was no way I could happily accept something like that right now.

"I'll accept it after we find your oldest sister."

Lee Ji-Yeon spoke in a trembling voice. "Alright. Then... I'll have it brought out on the day you want."

I had no idea what she intended to give me if it was something that needed to be "brought out," so I felt both anticipation and concern.

After that, Yoo-Jin went down to the basement recording studio to begin vocal training for the She Was Beautiful original soundtracks, while I stayed with Lee Ji-Yeon and discussed the daily drama auditions.

And we decided to delay the media promotion for the drama until after finding Lee Ji-Yeon's oldest sister. Because if we could find Yoon Na-Ra somewhere in Korea, everything about Land of Happiness would change from the very beginning.

'Mrs. Lee. I'll make this drama into something legendary.'

***

I assigned both Lee Doo-Oh and Victoria to the task of finding Lee Ji-Yeon's oldest sister. Since Daemyeongseong Orphanage had already shut down, I told them to search the entire country for anything connected to Yoon Na-Ra.

Then, three days later in the morning, I was working at the company when I got a call from Lee Doo-Oh.

-Hyung. We found a record related to Mrs. Yoon Na-Ra. Or more accurately... We found a record under the name Olivia White.

At last, we had a lead.

Without realizing it, I asked in an excited voice, "What kind of record? Does it have an address or something?"

Then, Lee Doo-Oh began saying something shocking.

-No. It's just... There's a report filed at Sasang Police Station in Busan accusing Olivia White of theft.

The Yoon Na-Ra described from Lee Ji-Yeon's perspective had been someone unbelievably kind.

'Someone like that... accused of theft? What in the world had happened?'