How a Loan Shark Survives as an Actor Chapter 60

Chapter 060

 

➝ Holy shit, does anyone remember this case? They caught the hit-and-run culprit.

↳ Wow, I saw this on ‘Unanswered Questions’. They really caught him?

↳ Wasn’t this almost ten years old? How did they catch him? That’s insane.

↳ Looks like they barely caught him thanks to a tip-off kekekek

↳ Thank goodnessㅠㅠ Maybe justice really does exist.

↳ Hey, but apparently the informant was Yoo Seulho?

↳ ?

 

The news spent the entire day covering the cold case that had finally been solved after ten years.

And after a completely unexpected name was mentioned, the already intense public interest exploded even further.

 

➝ So the informant was Yoo Seulho, and the culprit was a director at Yoo Seulho’s agency? That’s freaking insane.

➝ How the hell did Yoo Seulho even find out? Did they know each other for a long time??

↳ Nah, Yoo Seulho only joined that agency a year ago.

↳ Whatever the case, Yoo Seulho did something amazing. He’s seriously a hero.

 

➝ But shouldn’t Yoo Seulho’s identity as the informant have been kept secret? ㅠㅠ They should protect informants…

↳ Sounds like information leaked to the press during the investigation.

 

➝ Damn, the employees at that agency must be horrified. Their boss was literally a criminal.

↳ That place is infamous in the industry for having all sorts of rumors. People say the CEO used to be a gangster.

↳ That’s actually true.

↳ Seriously?

↳ Yeah. Heard it directly from an industry insider a long time ago. The employees there are all thugs too.

 

➝ Wait, the CEO and the culprit are relatives? That place was even dirtier than I thought.

➝ What kind of battle was Yoo Seulho fighting all by himself…

↳ Seriously impressive.

↳ Now that it’s known he reported him, he should probably leave that agency ASAP;;

↳ Obviously. The CEO must hate him now…

↳ I’d be worried too. Who knows what kind of retaliation he’d face if he stayed there.

 

After Yoo Seulho’s identity as the informant became public, people also learned about the relationship between him and the culprit, sending the internet into complete chaos.

Especially after it became known that the culprit was the CEO’s younger relative, countless people began saying that ‘someone needed to protect Yoo Seulho from his agency.’

As debates intensified and the internet grew increasingly heated, Yoo Seulho released an official statement through a newly created social media account.

 

➝ YOO Seulho’S OFFICIAL STATEMENT IS OUT!!!!!1

↳ Someone give me a three-line summary.

↳ He said he’d suspected the culprit for several months but couldn’t report him immediately because he lacked evidence. He apologized to the victim’s family first, saying he wished he’d been able to report it sooner.

↳ He also said he received no protection from his company during the reporting process. Apparently, just like industry insiders were saying yesterday, the culprit was notorious for being a psychopath. He constantly badmouthed Yoo Seulho during meetings and made up lies about him.

↳ The culprit was indeed related by blood to the CEO, and that made things even harder. Because of this incident, he felt the trust between himself and the company could no longer be maintained, so he requested contract termination. Apparently, the company at least had enough conscience to agree immediately.

↳ I asked for a three-line summary. That’s way too long. (TL Note: It is)

↳ Improve your reading comprehension, you lunatic. 

 

➝ Never thought I’d live to see Yoo Seulho make a social media account.

↳ Up until now, everything was probably handled through the agency’s official account. According to the statement, he’s currently without an agency, so he probably had no choice but to make one…

↳ The fact that he didn’t have social media before is even stranger.

 

➝ Hold on, the police just gave a briefing, and it’s insane;; Why didn’t Yoo Seulho mention that he personally got the confession??

↳ What are you talking about?

↳ This guy’s guts are insane. He brought a recorder, personally lured the guy into confessing, then handed it over to the police.

↳ Wait, that’s how they caught him? That’s crazy. Why isn’t he bragging about it? If that were me, I’d have it written on my forehead.

↳ I’d hang a giant banner too.

↳ kekekekek

 

➝ So basically an actor filmed a spy thriller all by himself. Damn.

↳ Justice served.

 

➝ Then he’ll probably just go back to the agency his parents are at.

↳ Probably?

↳ It was weird when he left in the first place kekekkek. I remember thinking, “Why the hell would he sign with Trash Actors?” Turns out he was setting up this hero story all along kekekek

 

➝ Holy shit, breaking news just dropped. Wooyeon Entertainment is signing Yoo Seulho.

↳ ????????????

 

Not long afterward, Wooyeon Entertainment officially announced through their social media account that they had signed Yoo Seulho.

The entire public was stunned by a combination nobody had ever imagined.

 

➝ Wait, Wooyeon Entertainment is taking ‘Deadweight Yoo’?

↳ Wow, I haven’t heard that nickname in forever. It’s only been a few months, but still.

↳ Come onㅠㅠ He solved a cold case, and you’re still calling him Deadweight Yoo? That’s harsh.

 

➝ Honestly though, this is shocking. Is Yoo Seulho really at that level?

↳ He’s been active for a long time, and his impact recently was huge.

↳ No, I know that. But Wooyeon Entertainment is famous for valuing acting ability.

↳ Yoo Seulho acted well this time, though.

↳ After being mocked for decades, he finally gave one good performance. And Wooyeon is betting on that??

↳ Maybe he passed an audition or something. Hell if I know. Why are you asking me?

 

***

 

After spending quite a while reading online reactions, I found a comment I agreed with.

‘Seriously, though.’

Why exactly had Wooyeon Entertainment invested in me?

‘No matter how I think about it, it doesn’t make sense.’

I looked away from my phone and glanced around.

Team Leader Ahn had been busy talking with employees nonstop.

“Looks good. Just to be safe, double-check with the PR team before releasing the article.”

“Understood.”

The employee bowed and left the office.

Watching Team Leader Ahn continue reviewing documents as though he still had endless work to do, I recalled what had happened a few days earlier.

‘Sorry for contacting you so late. I received the CEO’s approval. We’d like to sign a contract with you, Mr. Seulho.’

The day Team Leader Ahn called me, I immediately left Director Shin’s office and headed straight to Wooyeon Entertainment.

Then I laid out my entire plan.

I even showed him the materials I’d received from the private investigators.

His expression at the time had been priceless.

“This… where did you get all of this?”

“That’s a secret. I’ll tell you when we’re closer.”

Team Leader Ahn let out a laugh of disbelief.

Fortunately, he didn’t press further about the source of the information.

Because everything had been prepared systematically, Director Shin was successfully dealt with as well.

‘Good thing I took out the trash at the right time.’

It was fortunate the cold case had been solved before the statute of limitations expired.

I wasn’t some crusader fighting for justice.

But in a country with functioning law enforcement, there was no reason not to report a crime like that.

‘Though it’s a shame there wasn’t stronger evidence.’

Even the private investigators had only managed to determine that Director Shin seemed suspicious.

They hadn’t been able to find definitive proof that he was the culprit.

Still, wouldn’t the police handle the rest?

‘He confessed, after all.’

The recording I submitted to the police was honestly a somewhat questionable confession as far as courtroom evidence was concerned.

But fortunately, after being arrested, Director Shin had apparently made a full confession and explicitly admitted he was the culprit.

‘Why did he do that?’

Maybe he’d had a mental breakdown.

Maybe his conscience finally got to him.

Or maybe he’d simply given up after realizing neither his family nor his company would stand by him.

Whatever the reason, Director Shin would never be able to drag me down anymore.

‘And thanks to that, I got out of the agency cleanly too.’

Star Actors had been completely devastated by Director Shin’s unexpected criminal case.

And if Yoo Seulho’s abuse at the hands of company employees was publicly exposed on top of everything else, the CEO’s life would become several times more miserable.

So when I proposed quietly terminating the contract and leaving it at that, the CEO practically teared up while thanking me.

‘There’s no benefit for me in revealing everything anyway.’

No matter how much of a victim Yoo Seulho had been, there was no advantage in publicly revealing that he’d spent the past year getting beaten and abused by multiple people.

I also had no desire to hand internet trolls fresh ammunition.

Most importantly, as an actor who needed to continue appearing in various productions, I didn’t think having the image of a ‘pitiful victim’ would be particularly beneficial.

And so, the contract with Star Actors was terminated surprisingly easily.

Afterward, the contract with Wooyeon Entertainment proceeded smoothly as well.

‘All that effort was worth it.’

The excessive caution I’d exercised while making contact with Wooyeon Entertainment had paid off.

Not even reporters had caught the scent of what was happening.

Meaning the public perceived the situation not as:

‘He orchestrated all this to change agencies.’

But rather:

‘He ended up changing agencies because all of this happened.’

And on top of that, he had solved a decade-old cold case.

My public image had transformed into a favorable one almost overnight.

‘Good.’

Everything was perfect.

“Mr. Seulho, let’s move your living arrangements first.”

“Staying in hotels indefinitely isn’t ideal, right?”

“Unless there’s a specific reason to do so, there’s no need.”

I nodded at Team Leader Ahn’s perfectly reasonable words.

‘Moving to a major agency really does have its advantages.’

The fact that Wooyeon Entertainment was personally arranging housing for me was especially nice.

“Thank you. I still don’t have enough money to buy a house.”

“We normally provide this level of welfare for our artists.”

Team Leader Ahn smoothly changed the subject, as if telling me not to worry about trivial things.

We talked about work for quite some time.

Once things had mostly wrapped up, I cautiously asked:

“By the way, Team Leader.”

“Yes?”

“When will I get to meet the CEO?”

I’d been wondering about it this entire time.

Throughout the planning and execution of the unprecedented ‘Bring Yoo Seulho to Wooyeon Project’, I had never once met Wooyeon Entertainment’s CEO.

‘Of course, not every artist has to meet the CEO before signing.’

But before investing this much capital, manpower, and time into a project, shouldn’t the CEO at least verify whether the artist was worth that level of investment?

‘Who buys something without looking at it first?’

Especially when we’re talking about an entertainer whose penalty fees alone amounted to tens of billions of won.

At my question, Team Leader Ahn smiled awkwardly.

“The CEO has been on a desert trip for the past few days. There are only limited windows each day when we can even contact them.”

“A free spirit, huh…”

“It’s their first vacation in several years. Besides, when it comes to recruiting artists, the CEO delegates full authority to each team leader, so there’s really nothing for you to worry about.”

Most importantly, everything worked out well, didn’t it?

I shrugged.

That was true.

“So what’s the next step? Choosing my next project?”

“There’s something we need to do before that.”

Team Leader Ahn pressed the intercom and called someone in.

Knock knock.

The door opened, and someone entered.