Rookie Talent Agent Knows It All

Rip!

I grabbed tightly onto Seo Yeon-Woo's belt as he teetered on the edge of the third floor. Then, I heard the sound of the belt tearing.

Not only was the belt giving way but it felt like my grip was about to fail as well.

Even in this dangerous situation, Seo Yeon-Woo was stubbornly holding onto the bag of cement.

'Why is he being so foolish!' I frowned.

I shouted, "Drop the cement, quickly!"

At that moment, Seo Yeon-Woo let go of the cement bag which fell to the ground below.

His frail body was pulled backward as the bag dropped. Simultaneously, I lost my balance and fell backward with him.

Thud!

Soon, the sound of the cement bag crashing into something on the first floor followed.

Crash!

Considering that the sound wasn't just a thud but it was a splintering crash, I figured something on the first floor must have been broken.

Nonetheless, that wasn't my main concern at that moment.

I quickly checked Seo Yeon-Woo to make sure he wasn't hurt. "Mr. Yeon-Woo, are you okay?"

Seo Yeon-Woo looked dazed lying on the ground, but then he suddenly sat up. "Ah, yes... yes..."

He was trembling from the shock, but thankfully he didn't seem to be injured. 'Thank goodness.'

I was overjoyed when I heard that Seo Yeon-Woo was working at a construction site in Suwon. The fact that he was working as a day laborer meant he wasn't in a wheelchair and was physically able.

Eager to meet him as soon as possible, I rushed to the site only to find him on the verge of falling. If I had reached even a little bit later, Seo Yeon-Woo might have ended up in a wheelchair like in my past life.

Seo Yeon-Woo's face showed a mixture of gratitude, embarrassment, and confusion.

The Seo Yeon-Woo who was standing in front of me right now was completely different from the sharp-tongued, wheelchair-bound man I remembered from my previous life.

"B-but who are you…?" he asked.

Seo Yeon-Woo looked puzzled by my presence as this rough work environment wasn't a place where a man in a suit would visit.

"Ah, I'm..." I said as I reached into my wallet to give him my business card.

However, before I could finish my sentence, a loud and angry voice erupted from below. "That crazy bastard screwed up again? Hey! Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

When I turned around, the foreman was storming toward us while pointing at Seo Yeon-Woo aggressively. He wasn't wearing a helmet and his outfit was a mess.

Even though it was a rough construction site, I had expected him to show some concern for a fellow worker's safety.

The foreman in his mid-50s spat out curses. "You fucking idiot! The cement bag you dropped smashed all the tiles on the first floor! You're not getting paid today!"

'So that crashing sound was the tiles breaking,' I realized.

Still, his attitude of caring more about the tiles than a human life enraged me.

I shot back, "Someone almost died here, and that's what you're concerned about?"

The foreman scowled at me. "Who the hell are you? What the hell are you doing on my site? Hey, Yong-Sik! Get this bastard out of here!"

I had worked day-labor jobs before, so I knew better than to cause trouble on someone else's site. People's livelihoods were at stake, after all.

However, this site was a death trap with hazards everywhere and no proper safety measures in place. This wasn't a place where work should continue.

Having made up my mind, I pulled out my phone.

Meanwhile, several workers rushed up to us upon hearing the foreman's shouts and curses.

"Mr. Choi, what's going on?"

"Chief Choi, what's the problem? What happened?"

At that moment, I raised my voice and called the Occupational Safety and Health Agency so that all the workers could hear me. "Hello? I'm calling from a construction site for a new villa in Suwon. There's a site here that isn't complying with worker safety regulations!"

The foreman, who had been so confident just a moment ago, suddenly went pale. "Hey, man. Wait a minute! Hold on! Hey!"

The construction laws were so strict that the site could be shut down at once if safety violations were found.

It was the foreman's bad luck to cross paths with someone like me who knew how construction sites operated, having worked on them for a long time before joining Hoop Entertainment.

The workers stopped in their tracks and the foreman shouted at me to hang up the phone.

Ignoring him, I proceeded to report every safety violation I had seen. "Yes, there are no safety measures in place and it's extremely dangerous. We just had a near-fatal accident. I'll also be contacting the Ministry of Employment and Labor, so be prepared for a thorough investigation."

I made it clear that I would ensure the site was inspected and the complaint followed up on. This caused the previously indifferent voice of the call center operator to become more urgent.

-Pl-please wait! We'll send an inspector immediately. Could you share the location with us?

"Sure."

I sent the location and hung up the phone, turning to see the foreman now looking at me with a pleading expression. "Hey, hey... Was it really necessary to report this over such a small thing? Do you want to get people fired?"

'If I wanted to, I could certainly get them fired,' I remarked inwardly.

After all, the workers could just move to a different site but the foreman and the site manager would be the ones left without work.

The foreman continued as he reached his hand out toward me, "You seem to understand the hardships of people working manual labor like us... I'll take care of this, so how about we settle this for 1 million won to smooth things over? What do you say?"

'One million won? Is he serious? A person almost died and he wants to settle it with money?' I seethed with anger.

"Get your hand off me," I replied coldly.

I shook off the foreman's hand and called out to Lee Dong-Min who was below the building, "Mr. Lee! Can you record this site?"

"Sure thing~" replied Lee Dong-Min as he immediately pulled out his phone and began filming.

The foreman quickly ordered the workers to stop Lee Dong-Min, but no one moved to obey.

After hearing where I had called, the workers knew the site was as good as shut down.

***

While Lee Dong-Min filmed the site, I turned my attention back to Seo Yeon-Woo. "Mr. Yeon-Woo, let's go."

"Wh-where are we going?"

"I'll explain once we get downstairs."

Seo Yeon-Woo hesitated but followed me.

At that moment, the foreman shouted angrily, "Hey, kid! If you leave with that guy wearing a suit, I'll make sure your family pays for it! I know your number and where you live!"

Seo Yeon-Woo was only 23 years old, and the sight of a large, intimidating man his father's age threatening him made him freeze in fear.

I reassured Seo Yeon-Woo and turned to the foreman before snapping at him, "You! If you so much as lay a finger on this guy, I'll make sure you regret it!"

I was barely holding back from punching him, but I managed to restrain myself.

Looking at the foreman quickly shut his mouth, he must have sensed the danger in my eyes and the way I clenched my fists. He started hiccupping nervously but tried to act tough.

I turned back to Seo Yeon-Woo and led him downstairs once again. "Mr. Yeon-Woo, don't worry and just come with me."

"Oh, o-okay."

As I walked down with Seo Yeon-Woo, the other workers stepped aside to let us pass as they knew they'd be moving on to another site soon enough when this one got shut down.

Once we were on the first floor, I called Lee Dong-Min, who had finished filming the site, over.

"What's going on? It seemed pretty serious from the looks of things. Anyway, I got everything on tape as you said," Lee Dong-Min told me.

"Please send me the footage."

As soon as I received the video from Lee Dong-Min, I filed complaints with all the relevant authorities.

The foreman continued to curse and gesture angrily from outside, but I didn't even blink.

Not long after, I received confirmation that an inspector from a nearby site would arrive within three minutes.

"Let's wait for the inspector to arrive before we leave," I said.

Lee Dong-Min chuckled. "Ha ha. With your skills, that guy wouldn't stand a chance against you."

"Yes, but there are too many people watching."

"You're right. Good job holding back."

Only then did I turn to face Seo Yeon-Woo sitting in the back seat. "You must have been really startled. I'm sorry."

Seo Yeon-Woo, who had been staring out the window, flinched in surprise. He was probably worried about how he was going to make a living now that we had caused such a scene at the construction site.

I continued, "Don't worry. I'm Jung Yoon-Ho, the team lead at Hoop Entertainment. I came here to scout you as a vocal trainer."

Seo Yeon-Woo blinked as he took the business card I handed him. "Hoop Entertainment?"

I nodded. "Yes. I found you after hearing you sing live at the cafe. I also heard that you worked as a vocal trainer in Guro. You have quite a bit of experience, don't you?"

Seo Yeon-Woo tilted his head in confusion. "H-how did you know that...?"

"I heard you taught Lee Sang-Gyun, a trainee at TK Entertainment," I added.

Lee Sang-Gyun, who was currently preparing to debut in a boy group under TK Entertainment, had been his student. Although he had only been trained under Seo Yeon-Woo for three months, it was enough for him to pass his audition at TK Entertainment with flying colors.

"But he joined TK Entertainment just two weeks ago... I guess news travels fast in this industry," Seo Yeon-Woo replied.

I played it cool and continued. "By the way, I manage a team called Cherry Blossom. You've heard of them, right?"

"Yes, I know them."

"I'd like you to be their vocal trainer. Also, we're planning to launch a multinational idol group and I want you to train them as well."

Seo Yeon-Woo looked dazed as if he couldn't process what was happening.

I took the opportunity to lay out the offer. "We're offering an annual salary of 30 million won as a base and we can discuss other details to fit your needs. We'll also provide accommodation for you. What do you think?"

Seo Yeon-Woo blinked in disbelief at the sudden turn of events. "This... this isn't a dream, is it?"

Lee Dong-Min replied with a smile, "No, it's not."

Seo Yeon-Woo pinched his cheek to make sure he was awake. "It hurts... it really hurts."

After repeating the same words over and over again, tears began welling up in Seo Yeon-Woo's eyes.

At that moment, I noticed two inspectors approaching with stern expressions.

Simultaneously, the site manager who hadn't been seen until now came running without even wearing his helmet.

It was clear that the inspectors had been lenient with the site manager by overlooking the safety violations, but today they wouldn't be able to ignore them because I had already sent the video evidence to all relevant authorities.

For this reason the inspectors began to reprimand the site manager harshly as soon as they arrived.

The foreman, who had been cursing at us earlier, waved his hands in a futile attempt to explain.

Unfortunately for him, the inspectors were having none of it. They ordered all the workers to leave the site and pulled out a yellow A4-sized "Work Stop" sticker from their files.

"Mr. Choi! Please don't shut us down!" The site manager pleaded, clinging to the inspector's pant leg.

"Manager Lee! How many times have I told you to properly manage the site? What kind of era do you think this is to let these kinds of issues slide? It's over. Step aside. Are you not going to? Do you want to end up in jail? Huh?"

The inspectors pushed the site manager and foreman away and slapped the "Work Stop" sticker on the site. Then they began writing something on it with a marker.

The sticker detailed the reasons for the shutdown and the duration, which looked like it would be at least a month.

The site manager and foreman, now pale and defeated, collapsed to the ground. Only then did I get back into the driver's seat.

Lee Dong-Min watched the scene and chuckled with satisfaction. "Looks like we can leave now."

I finally started the engine and headed back toward Seoul.

***

I turned the car around to head to Seoul when Seo Yeon-Woo asked if we could stop by his house and mentioned that his grandmother was there.

"Your grandmother lives with you?"

From my past life's memories, Seo Yeon-Woo didn't have any family. However, I felt a deep sadness as soon as he explained the situation.

"My parents left me ten years ago and my grandmother has been taking care of me ever since. But recently..."

Recently, his grandmother had been diagnosed with dementia. For a 23 year old, that was an incredibly heavy burden to bear alone.

I began to understand why Seo Yeon-Woo had been so reluctant to talk about himself in my past life. If I were in his shoes, dealing with a debilitating condition and a grandmother with dementia, I wouldn't want to talk about my past either.

As we continued our conversation, I realized that Seo Yeon-Woo was actually a warm and gentle person.

Thanks to the changes in fate, I was able to meet him before his personality had twisted. We chatted about various things as we approached his home.

"Um…there's no place to park around here, so I'll just quickly check on my grandmother and be right back," Seo Yeon-Woo said to us.

Seo Yeon-Woo was concerned about his grandmother's condition, mentioning that she might not have eaten anything.

"In that case, could I come in and use the bathroom? I'd also like to say hello to your grandmother," I asked.

Although he said her dementia wasn't too severe, I wanted to understand her condition better, especially since Seo Yeon-Woo was about to become part of my team.

Seo Yeon-Woo let out a deep sigh. "I suppose there's no problem with that, but don't be too shocked. Sometimes my grandmother does strange things..."

I reassured Seo Yeon-Woo that it was fine and followed him.

We arrived at a shabby three-story apartment building and headed down to the basement level. As we descended, a musty odor filled the air and it seemed like mold had grown due to the lack of sunlight.

Embarrassed, Seo Yeon-Woo opened the front door. "Just a moment. Let me go in first."

Worried that his grandmother might be startled by sudden guests, Seo Yeon-Woo went inside first while Lee Dong-Min and I waited outside for a bit.

"Grandma, I'm home."

Through the slightly open door, we could hear his grandmother's affectionate voice. "Oh, my dear! You're back from school? You must be hungry. Should I make you something to eat?"

"Did you eat, Grandma? I told you not to wait for me and to eat first."

Seo Yeon-Woo's grandmother replied apologetically, "How could I eat alone when my dear grandchild is studying so hard at school? I waited for you~"

At that moment, Seo Yeon-Woo's voice slightly trembled as he answered, "You shouldn't do that. You need to eat well if you want to stay healthy and…live a long time with me. Please make sure you eat even if I'm not here, okay?"

"No, no~ Don't worry, my dear. Grandma is fine now. I'm all better thanks to you. But you must be hungry. Let me make you something. What would you like to eat?"

Their tender conversation filled with warmth and care continued.

Listening to their natural conversation, Lee Dong-Min seemed a bit relieved. "It doesn't seem like her dementia is too severe."

However, I gently shook my head. "Mr. Yeon-Woo only graduated from high school like me."

Seo Yeon-Woo turned 23 years old this year.

At that moment, Lee Dong-Min also began to realize what was wrong.

Ristretto's Thoughts

Ristretto: Aw, this chapter is so sad 😢

Maggy: Yesss :( I hope Yoon-Ho manages to help Yeon-Woo and his grandma...TT

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