How a Loan Shark Survives as an Actor Chapter 6

Chapter 6

 

The reason I needed to find out about Yoo Seulho’s past was simple.

To resolve Yoo Seulho’s grudges? NO. Sorry, but I had absolutely no interest in that.

Then to perfectly imitate Yoo Seulho so people wouldn’t become suspicious? NO. Sorry, but I’d rather die than live as frustratingly as Yoo Seulho did. (TL Note: Yep, the author actually wrote “NO” in English and in full caps in the original text too.)

‘In the end…’

It was for myself.

For the me who would be living while playing the role of Yoo Seulho from now on, and at the same time, to avoid ending up in the same kind of predicament that the old Yoo Seulho had.

I needed to properly understand what had happened to him in the past that drove him to take his own life.

Only then could I overcome whatever dangers I might face in the future.

That was why, despite being busy enough to die from practicing scripts, breaking my manager’s spirit, and figuring out how to escape my garbage agency, I was still spending time on this too.

‘The easiest approach is investigating the people around him.’

The foundation of any background investigation was examining the target’s surroundings.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that you could learn everything about a person by seeing who they met regularly and where they frequently went.

But after thoroughly going through Yoo Seulho’s phone, I discovered he didn’t have a single close friend he contacted regularly.

I even took out the car that had been valet-parked in the hotel garage and checked the recent destinations on the navigation system, but aside from the hotel, his family home, and the company, there didn’t seem to be anywhere else he usually went.

‘The manager probably won’t be much help either.’

I briefly considered pretending I’d lost my memory and asking the manager directly, but after observing him for several days, I realized this bastard barely knew anything about Yoo Seulho either.

After all, he’d only met Yoo Seulho when he switched agencies last year. At most, they’d known each other for about a year.

‘Then there’s the second option… social media.’

Social media was where all modern people’s weaknesses gathered.

Just by looking at someone’s SNS, you could tell what kind of image they wanted to present to others, and from that, you could identify potential leverage points for blackmail.

Being on someone’s follower list didn’t necessarily mean they met or talked often in real life, but online connections could also be useful when blackmailing someone.

But…

‘How does a celebrity not have social media?’

Yoo Seulho didn’t run a single SNS account.

I searched thoroughly in case he had a private account, but there wasn’t even any trace that he’d ever signed up.

‘Anyone looking at this would think he’d cut himself off from society.’

I’d felt it when I first examined his phone too; it was far from what I’d call normal.

On his phone, everything except calls and text messages had been hidden to such an extent that even searching a portal site was difficult.

I eventually managed to unhide the folders and access various portals and online communities, but I couldn’t help thinking that it would make checking reactions to his work incredibly inconvenient.

It was impossible to believe this was the phone of a celebrity who consistently appeared in at least four drama or film projects every year.

“Sigh…”

Suppressing a sigh, I moved on to the next step and pulled up his property registration records.

As expected, there was nothing unusual.

I checked his financial status too. Aside from having a surprisingly modest bank balance for a celebrity, there were no loans and nothing noteworthy.

‘There’s nothing left to search in the hotel.’

I’d even gone through every trash can, but found nothing.

At that point, I had no choice but to resort to the final method.

The best option available to me while trapped inside Yoo Seulho’s body.

That was…

“Mindo Detective Agency.”

“Hello. I’d like to hire someone to investigate a person.”

Using the other business run by the loan shark… a detective agency.

 

***

 

For a loan shark, background investigations were inseparable from the job.

To a loan shark, whose livelihood depended on information, knowing secrets that even the target didn’t know about themselves was invaluable.

Customer management naturally required investigations.

That was why the owner of the lending company Haru Finance had come up with the idea:

“If we’re going to investigate people anyway, why not make money from it too?”

Unlike the loan business, which only accepted celebrity clients, he separately operated a detective agency that expanded into the general public market.

And every employee who worked at both businesses genuinely respected their boss.

The boss had accepted them without judgment even though they had grown up being told they were rotten to the core.

Even if he himself went hungry, he never let them starve.

Back when someone else had been the boss, the lending business had never done this well.

But after the change in leadership, profits had skyrocketed.

Employees who had once been nothing more than bratty kids were now supporting families of their own and living reasonably happy lives.

All of it had been possible because of their boss.

Every single one of them knew that.

And then, two weeks ago, that boss suffered a terrible accident.

“…Boss.”

It was a truly tragic event.

As if the heavens themselves knew it, gloomy rain had fallen all day long.

Even after two weeks had passed, none of the employees had escaped their grief.

Ring ring.

The office telephone rang.

Hwang Taejun, the youngest employee, who had worn a depressed expression for days, answered the call.

“Mindo Detective Agency.”

—”Hello. I’d like to hire someone to investigate a person.”

The caller got straight to the point.

Direct and decisive.

Despite his sorrowful mood, years of experience made his body respond automatically.

“Who is it?”

Hwang Taejun grabbed a memo pad and readied his pen.

—”A celebrity named Yoo Seulho.”

“You mean the actor, right? What’s your relationship to the target?”

—”Do I have to tell you that too? I heard client identities can remain confidential if requested.”

The voice was gentle, but the tone was surprisingly firm.

Clients wanting to conceal their identities were common, so Hwang Taejun simply began reading through the standard checklist.

Yet the client answered with unusual competence.

“Okay. We’ve confirmed the scope of the investigation. As you know, the target you’ve requested is a public figure, so naturally there’s a certain amount of risk involved for us…”

—”Triple the fee. Half paid upfront, the remainder after I review the findings. Is that acceptable?”

“…Yes. That works.”

Hwang Taejun adjusted the receiver with a bewildered expression.

The client understood detective agency procedures so well that it almost seemed like he worked in the industry himself.

—”I want a detailed report on Yoo Seulho’s mental state over the last three years and whether he held any grievances toward people around him. Especially investigate his parents.”

“Y-Yes.”

—”Not his public image or what colleagues say about him. I want his private life. Specifically, how his parents talk about their son when they’re alone together.”

“Ah, yes. Um… could you slow down a little?”

The requests flowed so smoothly that Hwang Taejun’s handwriting couldn’t keep up.

For a moment, he felt that the client’s commanding tone sounded strangely familiar.

But he was too busy taking notes, and the thought vanished instantly.

“Um, but listening in on private conversations would be difficult under our standard investigation package.”

—”That’s why I’m paying triple. Plant a bug in the parents’ house, place someone nearby, whatever it takes. You stay until you get the conversation I want. Do I need to explain the methods too?”

“Ah, right. Yes. Um… sorry.”

Blinking repeatedly, Hwang Taejun ended up apologizing.

At that exact moment, the coworker standing beside him smacked the back of his head.

“Ow!”

“Haha, my apologies. The employee who answered the phone has been a little distracted lately.”

His coworker swiftly snatched the receiver and switched into professional mode.

“Once a case is accepted, a dedicated team is assigned immediately. We use various methods such as GPS tracking, vehicle surveillance, and stakeouts to obtain the desired results. We currently have over ten similar cases in progress, and every one of them produced results within two weeks.”

Trying to clean up the mess caused by the youngest employee, he said everything he could think of, true or not.

‘For crying out loud, Hwang Taejun.’

Calling a detective agency to investigate someone wasn’t something people did lightly.

It wasn’t cheap either.

If the person answering sounded uncertain or trailed off constantly, it was only natural that clients would lose confidence.

‘After all the scolding the boss gave him, he still hasn’t changed.’

Hwang Taejun had been reprimanded numerous times for his habit of apologizing too easily and his unsteady tone of voice.

The coworker was relieved the boss wasn’t around to witness this.

—”I see. Hwang… no, is the person who answered earlier going to handle my case?”

“All of our team members work together. However, if you’re uncomfortable, we can exclude certain personnel from the investigation.”

—”No. Just handle it quickly and properly.”

The voice on the other end was dry.

For some reason, it felt like the caller was looking down on them.

But the coworker assumed it was just his imagination and finally ended the call.

“Hey, Hwang Taejun! Didn’t I tell you to stop apologizing to clients all the time? One day you’re going to run into some nightmare customer and end up refunding them!”

“Sorry, hyung. I just haven’t been myself because of what happened to the boss…”

“Even so! What if the boss had seen that just now?”

The coworker sighed and scolded him again.

“Anyway, it’s been a while since we got a big case. Usually it’s just cheating spouses and things like that. This is our first celebrity investigation.”

“Seriously. I think this is the first entertainment-related case that’s ever come through the detective agency. If this client had called another agency, he probably would’ve been scammed easily. He’s lucky. Out of all those agencies, he happened to call us.”

There probably wasn’t a better place for investigating celebrities than an agency that simultaneously operated a celebrity-focused loan business.

Thinking the client was extremely lucky despite not knowing that fact, Hwang Taejun finally got to work.

“Sigh…”

Completely unaware that, at that same moment, the former boss now inhabiting Yoo Seulho’s body was muttering:

“How many times have I told him to type notes into a keyboard instead of writing them on memo pads? Dense idiot. Tsk.”

Hoping those frustrating fools would carry out his instructions properly, Yoo Seulho let out a deep sigh.

 

***

 

A few days later, the script reading day for the drama Our Space finally arrived.