Chapter 1003: Jung Yoo-Jin's 1000th (4)
Chapter 1003: Jung Yoo-Jin's 1000th (4)
-Yoo-Jin beat up Mr. Bae Yung-Ill!
I knew this would happen.
Yoo-Jin looked gentle on the outside, but she was never someone people could push around. And after meeting a piece of trash like Bae Yung-Ill, there was no way she would have held back. He must have pushed her until she finally exploded.
"What did Bae Yung-Ill do?"
-Ah, well... he grabbed her arm and tried to drag her somewhere, saying all kinds of ridiculous things...
At that moment, I heard a commotion over the line.
-Hey! Mr. Bae Yung-Ill! Stop it!
Along with Team Lead Yeon So-Hee's urgent shout, the call was suddenly cut off. I thought they had called after everything was over, but apparently it was still happening.
"Hyung, what's wrong?" asked Duk-Bae.
"It looks like they're still fighting. We need to hurry."
"Okay!"
With my anxiety rising, I quickened my pace toward the parking lot. Duk-Bae and I immediately got in the car and headed for Hanok Hotel Anbinjae.
***
Less than five minutes later, we arrived at Hotel Anbinjae. After handing the keys to the valet attendant, I ran toward the alley on the right where Villa District No. 1 was located. Villa District No. 1 was an area made up of six detached villas, numbered 1001 through 1006, separated from the rest of the property by high walls.
When I reached the end of the alley, I saw the entrance leading into the villa district. In front of the gate stood Manager Yoo Dong-Hyun and several employees, pacing anxiously without being able to go inside.
I called out, "Mr. Yoo!"
The worry filling Yoo Dong-Hyun's face vanished instantly when he heard my voice. "Oh! Mr. Jung!"
"What's happening inside?"
"Well..."
Yoo Dong-Hyun hesitated. Even though Hoop Entertainment was a VIP client that regularly used Villas 1001 through 1004, Bae Yung-Ill's father was Bae Gyu-Hyun, the chairman of the Film Actors Association, so he was clearly torn about what to say. If he made a careless remark here, Bae Gyu-Hyun could use his influence as the chairman to pressure actors affiliated with the association not to stay at this hotel.
"I'll go see for myself. In the meantime, everyone, please be careful about what you say."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Jung. And thank you for understanding."
Yoo Dong-Hyun apologized and personally opened the entrance gate to Villa District No. 1 for us.
Creak.
The wooden gate opened with the distinctive groan of timber.
The moment Duk-Bae and I hurried through the entrance, Yoo-Jin's sharp voice rang out from deeper inside the villa district.
"How many times do I have to tell you? I don't remember you!"
Wondering what could possibly have led to that, I picked up my pace and turned into the second alley. There stood Bae Yung-Ill, dressed in a leather jacket and leather pants, wearing studded shoes, clutching his nose and fuming. Beside him, his talent agent Oh Dong-Baek was handing him a handkerchief.
Across from them stood Yoo-Jin and Yeon So-Hee, with Yeon So-Hee positioned protectively in front of Yoo-Jin.
"Yoo-Jin! Mrs. Yeon!"
The moment I shouted, the tension draining from their faces, Yoo-Jin and Yeon So-Hee greeted me with visible relief.
"Oppa!"
Duk-Bae and I hurried over to stand in front of them. Only then did I get a proper look at Bae Yung-Ill's face as he held his nose. Blood was dripping from his left nostril.
'She really clocked him good.'
"Yoo-Jin. Was that your handiwork?" I asked.
Yoo-Jin clenched her fist and answered, "Yeah. He kept asking me to go somewhere with him, and when I said no, he told me that if a sunbae tells me to come, I should just come instead of talking back. Then he tried to slap me. So before I knew it, I threw the punch you taught me, oppa."
Yoo-Jin dreamed of becoming a professional action actress someday, so she had constantly begged me to teach her boxing. As a result, I had properly taught her the fundamentals of the one-two, the straight, and the counterpunch. And apparently, she had used the counterpunch.
Without thinking, I gave her a thumbs-up. "Good job. If you made his nose bleed, that means you won. You win!"
Bae Yung-Ill, still bleeding from the nose, immediately exploded. "Are you two out of your minds? Hey! Can't you see this blood? As soon as day breaks, I'm suing Jung Yoo-Jin and sending her to prison. What do you mean, 'You win'? You lose, asshole!"
'Oh, right. There was still Trash Number One.'
I spoke calmly to the raging Bae Yung-Ill. "Go ahead if you want. Since you grabbed Yoo-Jin's wrist, it'd be a mutual assault case anyway, so filing a lawsuit would be pointless. On the other hand, we've got plenty of reasons to sue you."
Bae Yung-Ill's face twisted instantly. "Wow, this is unbelievable. Some snot-nosed kid talks down to me the first time we meet."
"I've got no intention of speaking politely to garbage like you, so forget it."
"The actress and her talent agent have both completely lost it..."
"No. The one who's lost it is you. You hired Trainer Park In-Cheon and So Hyung-Joon of the Namdaemun Gang to go after Duk-Bae, and now you've got the nerve to show up here?"
The words caught in Bae Yung-Ill's throat. Apparently, he hadn't expected me to know he was behind it.
"What... did you just say?"
"So before you start talking about lawsuits, why don't you go turn yourself in to the police? You might shave a little off your sentence."
Bae Yung-Ill's expression turned wary.
At that moment, Oh Dong-Baek, the thirty-five-year-old talent agent standing beside him, hurriedly stepped in. "Mr. Jung, what exactly are you talking about? Park In-Cheon? So Hyung-Joon? Yung-Ill doesn't know those people. And yes, there may have been a misunderstanding, but he wasn't trying to do anything bad to Miss Yoo-Jin. He simply had a good proposal he wanted to discuss, but Miss Yoo-Jin reacted too aggressively, and Yung-Ill got worked up. And when he mentioned a lawsuit, he didn't actually mean it. He has absolutely no intention of suing Miss Yoo-Jin!"
'Just as expected from Oh Dong-Baek.'
Back before my regression, when he worked at Top Entertainment, his nickname had been "The Snake." Standing nearly 180 centimeters tall and weighing around 110 kilograms, he was an imposing figure. The nickname came from his ability to smooth over situations as effortlessly as a snake slipping through tall grass.
As Bae Yung-Ill's personal talent agent, Oh Dong-Baek always stepped in whenever his client found himself in trouble. This time was no different. Thanks to him, Bae Yung-Ill finally regained his composure.
"R-Right. I don't even know the people you're talking about! And the lawsuit thing was just something I blurted out!"
'So that's how he wants to run away from this. In that case, I'll leave you with nowhere to escape.'
"Bae Yung-Ill. Do you remember the 'JMT Hotel Club Celebrity Assault Incident' from three years ago?"
'You sure do remember The JMT Hotel Club Celebrity Assault Incident, don't you?'
Back then, two male idols from TK Entertainment had started hanging out in a private room with two actresses from Ace Entertainment whom they had met at a club. However, Bae Yung-Ill's group, who had their eyes on those actresses first, barged into the room later and violently assaulted the idols.
The TK Entertainment idols were badly outnumbered and suffered such severe injuries that they nearly had to retire. And the ringleader behind the entire incident had been Bae Yung-Ill.
Yet Bae Yung-Ill had managed to keep himself completely out of the fallout, pushing the blame onto the companions who had gone with him. Afterward, he used his father's influence to reach a settlement with TK Entertainment and threatened the actresses who had been present into keeping quiet. Then he fled into military service and avoided taking responsibility for any of it.
I brought up the incident and tightened the pressure on him. The moment I did, the confidence Bae Yung-Ill had briefly recovered vanished again, and he became cautious.
"It wasn't me! I was just drinking that night!"
"Really? I wonder if Yoo Tae-Gil, Ahn Bong-Soo, and Han Myung-Jin—the ones who took the fall for you—still feel the same way."
At the time, Bae Yung-Ill had promised those actors who accepted the blame on his behalf that he would use his father's influence to secure them decent roles in dramas produced by the three major broadcasting networks.
However, Bae Yung-Ill had never kept that promise. Three years later, the truth would finally come out and become one of the hottest scandals in entertainment news.
"So think carefully. If you don't turn yourself in for what you did to Duk-Bae, I'll expose this incident first. Your choice. Turn yourself in for targeting Duk-Bae, or get dragged back into a reinvestigation of the JMT Club case. Though if you ask me, the sentence will probably be lighter if you surrender."
Bae Yung-Ill's face turned pale as he began weighing his options. He was completely unaware that his hesitation itself was practically proof of guilt.
At that moment, Oh Dong-Baek suddenly grabbed Bae Yung-Ill's arm. "Yung-Ill. Why do you keep talking about things you didn't even do? Stop responding to this nonsense and let's go. Hurry!"
"O-Okay."
Bae Yung-Ill and Oh Dong-Baek turned around and fled. I told him to choose between the two cases, and instead he chose to run. In that case, there was only one thing left for me to do—Expose both of them.
Since it was currently 4:35 a.m., I sent Prosecutor Seo Jae-Ill a lengthy text message instead of calling.
[Chief Jung Yoon-Ho: Mr. Seo Jae-Ill...]
The message detailed everything that had happened to Duk-Bae that day, along with the names of the actors who had given false testimony in the JMT Club case. A moment later, Seo Jae-Ill called me back immediately after reading it.
-Hi, Mr. Jung.
"Weren't you asleep?"
-"I just woke up and was reviewing some cases. But are you saying Mr. Bae Yung-Ill's side really hired people to target Choi Duk-Bae?
-Yes. The trainer Park In-Cheon and So Hyung-Joon, who were hired for the job, are currently being held at Gyeongju Police Station. If you contact them, you'll be able to confirm it. Though they're keeping their mouths shut. I don't think they'll give up the person behind it easily."
At that moment, Seo Jae-Ill answered in a reassuring voice.
-It may take some time, but once they're sitting in an interrogation room with a prosecutor, they'll talk eventually.
It was obvious now that Bae Yung-Ill would no longer be able to run from the crimes he had committed. After all, Seo Jae-Ill was the kind of relentless bastard who never let go once he sunk his teeth into a case.
"Then I'll leave it in your hands."
-Of course. I'll contact Gyeongju Police Station right away.
After ending the call, I immediately checked Everyday. However, the schedule entry remained unchanged.
[Everyday V13]
[Date: May 27, 2021]
-09:30 p.m.: [NEW. Jung Yoo-Jin] 1,000-Day Celebration Event Cancelled. Emergency transport to hospital.
At that moment, only one thought came to mind.
'Are you pulling the daddy card again, Bae Yung-Ill?'
***
As he stormed away with blood still dripping from his nose, Bae Yung-Ill snapped irritably. "How did that bastard Jung Yoon-Ho find out, hyung?"
Oh Dong-Baek shook his head. "I don't know. Catching Park In-Cheon was shocking enough, but I never expected them to catch So Hyung-Joon too. Does that guy have the CIA backing him or something?"
"Damn it. What do we do now? The JMT Hotel incident involves Dad too..."
Though Bae Yung-Ill was already thirty-two years old, he still called Bae Gyu-Hyun "Dad" instead of "Father."
Oh Dong-Baek frowned. "This isn't something we can cover up ourselves. We need to call him immediately."
"Do we really have to go that far?"
"Yeah. You were living in the States, so you probably don't know, but Jung Yoon-Ho is seriously famous. If that guy gets his hands on you...you're finished."
"I thought that was just a rumor."
"I told you it isn't."
"God, this is such bullshit." Still pacing nervously, Bae Yung-Ill suddenly asked, "But if Jung Yoon-Ho is reacting like that, doesn't that mean the one who's got something going on with Jung Yoo-Jin is Jung Yoon-Ho, not Duk-Bae?"
"Hey. Is that really what's important right now?"
"Yeah. Whatever's difficult, Dad will take care of it anyway."
Oh Dong-Baek let out a long sigh. If people ever found out what Bae Yung-Ill was really like beneath the tough-guy act he put on, they would be speechless.
"Forget that for now. Let's deal with this mess first."
At that moment, Bae Yung-Ill glanced at Oh Dong-Baek hesitantly. Bae Yung-Ill might have been fearless when it came to everyone else, but Bae Gyu-Hyun was apparently another matter.
"You call him, hyung."
Though Oh Dong-Baek dreaded the scolding that was sure to come, he had no choice. He was only a talent agent who did what he was told.
Holding the phone, Oh Dong-Baek spoke in a trembling voice. "Yes, sir. Something happened to Yung-Ill..."
-What?! You little piece of shit! Didn't I tell you to keep him under control?!
Even in the middle of the night, the furious roar blasting through the phone was loud enough to make a person's ears bleed. But once again, the conclusion was the same as always.
-I'll handle it myself!
***
There was no doubt Bae Yung-Ill had summoned his father again. I needed to prepare for that, but first I was worried about Yoo-Jin's wrist after Bae Yung-Ill had grabbed it, so I examined it myself.
When I gently touched the reddened, swollen area, Yoo-Jin winced slightly.
"Does it hurt?" I asked.
"A little?"
"From what I can tell, nothing's broken and it doesn't seem seriously injured. Still, let's go to the hospital."
"Come on, I'm fine. Something like this heals if you just put a little spit on it."
Yoo-Jin raised her other hand as if she were actually about to do it.
"Don't put spit on it. Put a pain-relief patch on it. A patch. Since when is spit some miracle cure? And what is this, the Joseon Dynasty?"
Yoo-Jin grinned. "This is Silla, though."
"I lose." I chuckled at her response.
"Anyway, oppa. Bae Yung-Ill sunbae was seriously weird."
After asking Yeon So-Hee to bring a first-aid kit, I responded to Yoo-Jin. "What was weird about him?"
"He said he's had his eye on me for a thousand days."
"What?"
Today marked exactly one thousand days since Yoo-Jin had joined Hoop Entertainment.
'And Bae Yung-Ill claimed he'd been interested in her for that entire time?'
"What are you talking about?"
"The day I quit my part-time job at Burger Queen in Cheonho-dong, the restaurant was packed with people. He said he came that day while on military leave, wearing his uniform."
"Really?"
"Yeah. He said he knew I liked him because I gave him extra cabbage in his burger. Apparently he started liking me back then too."
Yoo-Jin had always smiled while serving customers. It seemed Bae Yung-Ill had completely misunderstood. Given his severe case of main-character syndrome and his narcissistic personality, it wasn't surprising.
"Even if that's true, why did he only show up now?"
"He said he never goes after ordinary people. Then he said he'd been forced to stay in America because of his dad, but now he's back and wants to date me. He said I'm not an ordinary person anymore—I'm an actress who's finally in the same class as him."
Bae Yung-Ill only pursued actresses who had already debuted. He knew that if problems arose, the actresses would worry about damage to their own public image and stay silent. And if things became even more serious, his father, Bae Gyu-Hyun, the chairman of the Film Actors Association, could cover for him.
However, even after joining Hoop Entertainment, Yoo-Jin had remained a trainee for an entire year under President Kang Gam-Chan's orders. In other words, for that first year she had effectively been an ordinary civilian.
That was probably why he left her alone. Then he went off to study in America, and now that he returned, he thought it was time to ask her out.
At that moment, a sudden thought crossed my mind.
'Could Mr. Kang have delayed her debut because of Bae Yung-Ill?'
Kang Gam-Chan had insisted that Yoo-Jin wasn't ready yet and kept her as a trainee for a full year. Since adult actor trainees were uncommon unless they were child actors transitioning into adult roles, everyone had found the decision strange at the time.
Kang Gam-Chan had only explained that Yoo-Jin needed to strengthen her fundamentals if she was going to grow into a bigger actress. And she had indeed improved tremendously during that year. Now that I looked back on it, there had been another secret behind that decision.
At that moment, I finally realized the real reason Yoo-Jin's schedule entry hadn't disappeared from Everyday.
Even after I informed Seo Jae-Ill and personally chewed Bae Yung-Ill out, the entry remained unchanged because Bae Yung-Ill already considered Yoo-Jin to be "his woman." If that was the case, then his obsessive attempts to eliminate Duk-Bae suddenly made perfect sense. He genuinely believed Duk-Bae was making moves on his woman.
I realized Bae Yung-Ill was far more serious about this than I'd thought, but there was no reason to worry Yoo-Jin by telling her about his twisted delusions.
So I brushed it off and said, "Bae Yung-Ill's delusions are even worse than I'd heard. Just ignore him from now on. If anything like this happens again, call me first."
Yoo-Jin answered with an apologetic expression, "Okay. And I'm sorry for making you worry, oppa."
"What are you apologizing for? As long as I'm your talent agent, it's my job to worry about things like this."
"No, that's not what I..." Yoo-Jin trailed off and suddenly clenched her fist. "Anyway, if he shows up again, I'll hit him with a straight and then a one-two combination! Pow, pow!"
Yoo-Jin threw a few punches with surprisingly convincing form. I wanted to ask what she had been trying to say, but it didn't look like she was in the mood to explain.
"Your form's wrong. I told you punches come from the hips, not the shoulders."
"Yes, Coach!"
Yoo-Jin adjusted her stance and threw another punch.
"Alright, alright. Let's get some sleep. You've got schedules later, and you need your rest."
"Okay."
Just then, Yeon So-Hee arrived carrying the first-aid kit. "Mr. Jung, here it is."
After applying a medicated patch to Yoo-Jin's wrist, I escorted the two women back to Villa 1004, where they were staying. Then I sent Duk-Bae back to Villa 1003 as well.
Once everything had been settled as quickly as possible, I had no choice but to call Kang Gam-Chan. I needed to know whether Bae Yung-Ill had really been one of the reasons Yoo-Jin's debut had been delayed for a year. Only then could I confirm whether my suspicions were correct.
After several rings, Kang Gam-Chan answered.
-...Yoon-Ho?
"Yes, Mr. Kang. I'm sorry for calling so early."
-No, it's fine. I just woke up and was getting ready.
"May I ask you one thing?"
-You can ask me anything.
"Was the reason Yoo-Jin spent her first year as a trainee after joining the company because of Bae Yung-Ill?"
Kang Gam-Chan sounded startled.
-Why is that bastard's name coming up? That was all in the past.
I was right. Though shaken by the confirmation, I first reported what had happened that night. I started from how Duk-Bae had nearly been hurt to how Bae Yung-Ill had come to the residence and tried to drag Yoo-Jin away.
Kang Gam-Chan's voice trembled.
-And? Did you report it to the police?
"Yes. I also contacted Mr. Seo Jae-Ill."
-That crazy bastard. I thought he'd forgotten everything after going to America...
"Now that he's back, please tell me what happened back then."
-As you suspected, one reason I delayed Yoo-Jin's debut for a year was because of Bae Yung-Ill. That bastard only goes after actresses who have debuted. But more than that, his father, Chairman Bae Gyu-Hyun, is pathologically obsessed with his son. If Bae Yung-Ill set his sights on Yoo-Jin, Bae Gyu-Hyun would inevitably get involved too. Back then, Hoop Entertainment simply didn't have the power to protect Yoo-Jin.
The moment I learned my suspicion was correct, chills ran down my spine.
"So it really was true."
-Yes. I'm sorry for only telling you now. But years had passed since he went to America, and nothing happened. I thought he'd forgotten about her. That's why I never brought it up.
Well, it would have been strange to warn someone that a man who had shown interest three years ago might still be obsessed with her today.
Either way, I now understood that Bae Yung-Ill's fixation on Yoo-Jin ran much deeper than I'd imagined. And I immediately realized what had to be done.
If I wanted to destroy Bae Yung-Ill, then I first had to remove Bae Gyu-Hyun—the man who cleaned up every mess his son created—from his position as the chairman of the Actors Association.
"Then I guess it's time to finish this once and for all."
-Hm? What are you planning?
Three years ago, Hoop Entertainment had been too weak and had no choice but to postpone Yoo-Jin's debut. Now, however, it had grown into a company capable of challenging the industry leader.
So this time, not only would I bring down Bae Gyu-Hyun, but I would also make sure the entire industry understood exactly how powerful Hoop Entertainment had become. No one would ever think they could casually target Yoo-Jin or any of our actors again.
"I have a very good plan."