Rookie Talent Agent Knows It All
Chapter 547: Park Sang-Gyu (1)

Chapter 547: Park Sang-Gyu (1)

The last remaining member of Faithful was Park Sang-Gyu.

At 38 years old, he had spent over a decade acting solely in Daehak-ro, recognized as a highly skilled actor. Because of his wide acting range, his peers often called him 'a man of a thousand faces.'

Ironically, that very talent became a poison in his life. Since he could handle any role at a consistently high level, Go Dong-Hyuk, the director of his theater troupe 'Once-in-a-Lifetime,' began assigning him multiple roles in a single play. As a result, Park Sang-Gyu drifted away from leading roles and gradually became identified as a supporting actor.

Then, two years ago, when he was 36, light finally came into his life. While scouting college-area stages, Han Yoo-Joon, the PD of KBC's daily drama East Sea and West Sea, happened to see Park Sang-Gyu perform and offered him a role.

-Mr. Sang-Gyu, your acting's great. We actually need a supporting actor for our drama. Let's work together. And while you're at it, find yourself a proper agency and move into television.

Park Sang-Gyu eagerly accepted the offer and, through Go Dong-Hyuk's introduction, signed a contract with Ace Entertainment. Although he gave half of his signing bonus to Go Dong-Hyuk as a referral fee, he gladly agreed since it would go toward running the theater troupe. After all, the troupe's operating budget also helped pay junior actors' salaries.

Leaving the theater troupe behind, Park Sang-Gyu saw an opportunity and proposed to his longtime girlfriend, Lee Sa-Yeon. She happily accepted, and the two became husband and wife through a simple marriage registration while skipping a ceremony. Though they weren't financially well-off, they were full of hope with the drama appearance ahead.

Just one week before the drama aired, Park Sang-Gyu won a round-trip ticket to Jeju Island for two days and one night while grocery shopping. Since the ticket was only valid for a week, he persuaded his wife, who wanted to wait until after the drama to take a honeymoon, and they headed to the airport.

But on the way to the airport, a wrong-way driver caused an accident. While Park Sang-Gyu wasn't seriously injured, Lee Sa-Yeon was severely hurt and became comatose. Since then, Park Sang-Gyu quit everything and spent two years at Hope Hospital located in Guro, nursing his wife.

Convincing someone like Park Sang-Gyu to join Hoop Entertainment required a lot of preparation. So, I honestly shared Park Sang-Gyu's story with Kang Gam-Chan and the team, expressing my intent to recruit him.

"...So I'm thinking of heading to Hope Hospital to try and scout Mr. Park Sang-Gyu. Until recently, he's been caring for his wife, but I heard he's finally ready to work again."

I also mentioned that we would need to pull him out of his current agency, Ace Entertainment, and Kang Gam-Chan nodded readily. "Got it. You've never brought in anyone I was unhappy with. Go ahead."

Actors with seriously ill family members often struggled with unstable mental states. Even if Park Sang-Gyu had such a weakness, Kang Gam-Chan still trusted me like a father showing unconditional love.

"Thank you."

"There's no need to thank me. Oh, by the way, do you already have a role in mind for him?"

"Yes. I do."

The project I wanted to recommend was Doppelgänger, scheduled for release in a year.

[Everyday V12.1]

[Date: February 2, 2022]

-10:00 p.m: Doppelgänger final audience count: 2.2 million. Directed by Na Tae-Yang.

Doppelgänger was a crime thriller about identical twin brothers abandoned at an orphanage who were adopted into different families and reunited twenty years later, with one trying to steal everything from the other. The lead role required playing two completely different characters with the same face, demanding extremely high acting skills.

The script was solid as it was written by genius screenwriter and director, Na Tae-Yang. However, the lead actor failed to carry the role, and the film ended with just 2.2 million viewers.

That was the reason I wanted Park Sang-Gyu, the 'man of a thousand faces,' to be the lead in Doppelgänger. Yet, the first video audition submission deadline was today at 5 p.m, so we needed to shoot it and send it by email right away.

Kang Gam-Chan nodded. "Got it. Then let's head back to the office and work on next week's promotion strategy for Hwaranjeon, and also prepare Yeon-Woo and Sae-Ri's debut stage. Plus, we've got to get ready for tomorrow's Golden Music Disk Awards."

The preview for Hwaranjeon that aired yesterday received a great response, and the original soundtrack sung by Seo Yeon-Woo and Sae-Ri also garnered significant attention. On top of that, Kang Gam-Chan reminded us we needed to prepare for the Golden Music Disk Awards, where Cherry Blossom was nominated for the grand prize.

"I'll count on you."

"Of course. Do a good job scouting, and I'll see you later."

After exchanging goodbyes, I headed to Guro unlike the others who returned to the office.

***

Hope Hospital in Guro was a privately run hospital that was managed by three generations of doctors: 80-year-old head director Seo Hwan-Hee, his son Seo Ha-Jin, and his grandson Seo Myung-Woo.

The hospital sat on a 2,000-pyeong plot of land with the five-story building that was over forty years old, occupying about 500 pyeong. Half the remaining land was covered by tents for waiting areas, and the rest was used for parking.

As soon as I parked and got out, I saw a line of patients stretching from the entrance to the tents. The hospital was always crowded, mostly serving those without money or power, with very low fees.

That's when Jung Sang-Bong, who had arrived earlier and was waiting for me in the parking lot, approached. "You're here."

"Yeah. Did you bring the overdue payment statement?"

"Yes, here it is."

Jung Sang-Bong handed me the statement of unpaid hospital fees from the administration office. The total was 57.32 million won, but it was lower than I expected.

"Huh? Why is it so low? Wasn't it over a hundred million won last time?"

Currently, Park Sang-Gyu couldn't work at all while taking care of his comatose wife. So since my regression, I had been secretly sending him financial support under the guise of an anonymous benefactor because I was worried his pride would make him reject it otherwise.

Thankfully, Park Sang-Gyu accepted it with gratitude. Starting three months ago, I had Jung Sang-Bong deliver larger sums. He had been checking in on Park Sang-Gyu and delivering the funds ever since.

Last month's bill had shown an overdue balance of around 120 million won, but suddenly, it had dropped by half.

Jung Sang-Bong answered, "Oh, yeah, it was over a hundred million won, but the head director waived half of it."

"Why would he do that?"

"He always does. If you can't afford to pay, he doesn't charge. And if you can, he only takes half. That's why people from all over Seoul come here."

Hope Hospital gave people with nothing a reason to hope. The issue was the hospital's financial state.

"That's noble, but how do they stay afloat? They must be running a huge deficit."

"They're selling land."

"Land?"

"This family used to own tens of thousands of pyeong around here. They've been selling it off bit by bit to keep treating patients. But the deficit has gotten too big, so now they're planning to relocate the hospital soon."

If they had been even a little greedy, they could have become incredibly wealthy. Nevertheless, they only thought of their patients.

Suddenly, memories of Hope Hospital from before the regression came back to me. Because they didn't charge patients properly, they couldn't sustain the deficit and eventually sold off the last of their land to move to a smaller facility.

However, selling this land now would be foolish since a massive shopping mall was going to be built here soon, and it could be sold for a much higher price.

'I really should meet the head director.'

If he hadn't extended a helping hand to Park Sang-Gyu, Lee Sa-Yeon might not be alive. I had to repay that kindness.

"Sang-Bong, can you set up a meeting with the director later?"

As the proxy for the anonymous benefactor, Jung Sang-Bong had already met the director.

Jung Sang-Bong nodded. "I'll arrange it. Also, I took a number for you, so you can head straight in."

"Okay. Let's go."

Together, we headed inside the Hope Hospital building.

***

In front of the shabby first-floor administration desk, there were rows of old, long wooden benches that looked like they had been there for decades.

The wooden benches were filled with patients, all wearing the disposable masks handed out at the entrance, coughing quietly. Most of them looked like they couldn't afford to pay, but none of the hospital staff said a single uncomfortable word to them.

Then one thing stood out as unusual. Despite the vintage 1970s-style interior, the air purifiers and humidifiers were the latest models.

'I see they really don't spare expenses when it comes to patients' health.'

Just from that, I could tell how much the director's family cared about their patients and how they ran this hospital.

Just then, the large TV in one corner of the hospital lobby started showing entertainment news. It was about Oh Joo-Hyun, whose scandal had been exposed earlier that morning.

-This is in front of actress Oh Joo-Hyun's house. Early this morning, she was involved in an overseas gambling incident and a scandal. She's expected to turn herself in to the police soon. Oh! There she is!

The reporter hurriedly ran toward Oh Joo-Hyun. Noticing the cameras, Oh Joo-Hyun quickly pulled her clothes over her head.

-Go away!!! I said, go away!

-Please, just one comment. Do you admit to the charges?

-There's talk that you were having an affair with an assemblyman from Gyeonggi Province. Is it true?

Oh Joo-Hyun pulled off the clothes covering her head and shouted back in denial.

-No, I—what do you mean affair?!

-Then why did the article come out?

Screaming, Oh Joo-Hyun shouted back.

-I admit to the gambling, but the rest aren't even my photos! If you keep spreading lies like this, I'll sue every single one of you!

As Oh Joo-Hyun screamed, she got into a heated confrontation with the reporters. It seemed likely we wouldn't be seeing her again anytime soon.

'Goodbye, Oh Joo-Hyun.'

I turned away and headed to the administration office. After a short wait, I handed over the number ticket I had received earlier.

The nurse said, "There's currently one person visiting. Once they come down, you'll be able to go in."

"Excuse me? Someone's visiting? But no one was supposed to come today."

The nurse tightly sealed her lips. "I'm sorry, but I can't say anything more."

Just as I was wondering what to do, Jung Sang-Bong stepped in and cautiously revealed my identity. "This gentleman here is the benefactor supporting patient Lee Sa-Yeon. We know you're not supposed to give out information, but we're worried it might be someone trying to harm Ms. Lee. Could you at least give us a rough idea?"

The nurse, who knew Sang-Bong, hesitated before speaking carefully. "I heard he used to be some kind of theater director. He looked to be in his 50s."

There was only one person that came to mind.

'No way... Could it be Go Dong-Hyuk?'

After his troupe Once-in-a-Lifetime collapsed, Go Dong-Hyuk went around chasing old actors, squeezing into contracts to collect referral fees. If left alone, he could ruin all my plans for Park Sang-Gyu.

"Thank you for telling me."

The nurse nervously said, "Please, don't say it was me who told you."

I gave a brief nod, then stepped aside. "Of course not."

Seeing my serious expression, Jung Sang-Bong asked, "Hyung-nim, is something wrong?"

"I think I know who it is."

"You know him?"

"Yeah. There's this lowlife named Go Dong-Hyuk who would sell out anyone for a quick buck. By the way, do you know where Room 410 is?"

"Oh, yes. It's the last room on the fourth floor."

Since Jung Sang-Bong had visited the hospital in my place before, he knew the layout better than I did.

"I think I need to go up there."

"Then I'll create a distraction so you can sneak up."

"Thanks!"

Since the building was old, there were only elevators for patients, so I took the stairs while Jung Sang-Bong diverted attention.

***

Fortunately, there were no nurses at the desk near the stairwell when I got to the fourth floor. They had likely gone to attend to patients in the rooms.

I took advantage of the moment and quietly headed to Room 410. Peeking through the small window on the door, I checked inside. At the very back of the six-person room lay Park Sang-Gyu's wife, Lee Sa-Yeon, still in a vegetative state.

However, Park Sang-Gyu was nowhere in sight.

'Did he go to the bathroom?'

That's when I heard whispers from the other patients in the room.

-If my husband were even half as devoted as hers, I'd thank him every day until I die.

-Seriously though, how does he take care of her so completely for two years without complaining even once?

-Hey, young lady. If you somehow know what your husband is doing for you, don't you dare give up! You've got to wake up and live bravely!

They were all cheering Lee Sa-Yeon on, their voices filled with admiration and encouragement.

-But where is her husband? He's always by her side.

-There's a visitor, right? He probably went to the lounge.

As soon as I heard that, I turned toward the lounge at the end of the hall, about 30 meters away. I quietly opened the door and saw Go Dong-Hyuk with Park Sang-Gyu. Park Sang-Gyu looked nothing like the handsome man he used to be. He was gaunt and worn, the toll of the past two years etched into his face.

At that moment, I saw Go Dong-Hyuk pressing him to stamp a stack of documents laid out on the table.

"Sang-Gyu, there's no need to overthink it. Just do what I say."

Then he started spouting the kind of sleazy lines only con artists use.

"Let's be honest here... If it weren't for me, you wouldn't get a deal like this anywhere. Only someone like me could land you this kind of offer. And I worked hard for you this time, you know that? You should be grateful!"

Every word was pure trash. Though I had told Jung Sang-Bong to let Park Sang-Gyu know he could reach out to the anonymous benefactor if things got hard, it seemed that a familiar face like Go Dong-Hyuk was easier to trust than someone nameless.

Without hesitation, I called out to Park Sang-Gyu as he held the stamp. "Mr. Sang-Gyu! Don't sign that contract. It's a scam!"

Both Park Sang-Gyu and Go Dong-Hyuk turned to look at me at the same time. Park Sang-Gyu's face showed confusion and surprise, while Go Dong-Hyuk's was twisted in rage.

But I didn't care one bit about Go Dong-Hyuk's anger. From this point forward, I was going to make sure that scam artist got what he deserved.

'Go Dong-Hyuk, you're finished in this industry.'