[Jinseong Hotel, secret event for hotel guests?] [Jinseong Hotel, autograph session with Jung Yoo-Jin and Lee Tae-Poong only for hotel guests?] [A queue forming in the middle of the night?] [Jinseong Hotel, tasting event of THE Best and THE Pure with Jung Yoo-Jin and Lee Tae-Poong.] Gossip articles popped up claiming that today's pop-up store at Jinseong Hotel was an event only for hotel guests. When I checked why this had happened, I found out it all started because of an anonymous Instargem account that only posted entertainment-related news. They said if you book at Jinseong Hotel, you can take pictures with Jung Yoo-Jin and Lee Tae-Poong without lining up. -Really? That's amazing. Wow, I'm in Samseong-dong right now. I have to go get an autograph. -I booked a hotel for my parents and I'm heading there right now. -I convinced my wife to go. The anonymous Instargem account ENT_jjirasi, which only posted celebrity gossip and had over five hundred thousand followers, was the source of this chaos. Entertainment reporters who didn't attend today's THE Best event saw that account and wrote articles without checking. That was the reason Hoop Entertainment was now receiving countless calls. People kept asking if they could definitely get autographs by booking a hotel room. 'Really, gossip can be terrifying.' Today's event was simply a pop-up store selling drinks and taking photos with those who came to the venue. Just when I thought we needed to clarify things, a staff member in his fifties came running while holding his phone in one hand. It was Chief Lee Song-Yoon, who handled hotel reservations. He immediately showed his phone to Jin Ah-Ram and said, "All the hotel rooms for this weekend are fully booked, Ms. Jin. I think it's because of these articles." Jin Ah-Ram opened her eyes wide and asked, "Wait a moment. You're saying we're fully booked this weekend?" "Yes. It's the first time in three years." Due to the recession in the hotel business, even the large Jinseong Hotel hadn't been able to fill all rooms on weekends. But now, the hotel was fully booked for the weekend because of a gossip article. Even though it was caused by a misunderstanding, Jinseong Hotel couldn't just overlook it. After all, being fully booked for the first time in three years was a major event for the hotel. "Wait a moment," Jin Ah-Ram looked at me with an excited expression. "Mr. Jung, would you like to negotiate with us?" I felt the corners of my mouth curl up. Now that we had confirmed Jung Yoo-Jin's and Lee Tae-Poong's popularity, the key to the negotiation had shifted to my side. "How much are you offering?" I asked. Jin Ah-Ram didn't hesitate and answered clearly. "We'll pay double the usual weekend event fee. We pay up to 20 million won for S-class on weekends, so we'll set it at 50 million won for both morning and afternoon." I grinned and replied, "You know you'll have to pay separately for Yoo-Jin, Miso, and Lee Tae-Poong, right?" "And what about the schedule?" "For two days over a weekend in the next week or the week after. Let us know after checking their availability, and we'll set the dates." "Two or three weekends from now would be fine." For one day, we could earn 50 million won. For two days, it meant securing a whopping 100 million won in event fees. Everyday said today would be filled with happy moments, and proved it wasn't a lie. Jin Ah-Ram hurriedly told Lee Song-Yoon, "Post a notice on the hotel website and Instargem. Say, 'Although there was room for misunderstanding, Jinseong Hotel always prioritizes our customers' needs. Therefore, we will soon be selling a special weekend autograph session package with Jung Yoo-Jin, Jung Miso, and Lee Tae-Poong, so please purchase it then.'" "And for those who booked today, tell them they'll get priority for the package. That way, cancellations won't happen easily. Also, let those who booked by mistake know they can cancel without a fee if they do it before check-in tomorrow." "Lastly, make sure people know that Miss Yoo-Jin and Mr. Lee Tae-Poong are the advertising models of our Jinseong Hotel. Make that point clear and triple the number of Jinseong Hotel commercials starting tomorrow. Oh, contact the marketing director right now and tell them to come here immediately, and bring the hotel's cameras to take plenty of on-site photos." A smile took over Lee Song-Yoon's worried face. He was impressed by Jin Ah-Ram's decisions to not lose today's reservations while also using this opportunity to promote Jinseong Hotel. Jin Ah-Ram had taken on the acting president role at such a young age, so he had been worried about whether she would run the hotel well. However, seeing Jin Ah-Ram turn a crisis into an opportunity gained his trust. "I'll handle it immediately!" Unlike when he arrived, Lee Song-Yoon walked away with a light step. Jin Ah-Ram let out a sigh and smiled broadly. "This became a great chance to show everyone that Miss Yoo-Jin and Mr. Tae-Poong are the faces of our Jinseong Hotel, didn't it?" At that moment, Jin Sung-Joon also offered Jin Ah-Ram a proposal. "I'll provide three bottles each of THE Best and THE Pure for free to every hotel guest." That was when Jin Ah-Ram's face formed a wide smile. "Oh my~? Oppa, are you trying to sneak in promotional items for free?" "Excuse me, Mr. President of Jinseong Foods. If you want to do a promotional event, you need to pay." "W-wait. You're not seriously going to charge me, right?" "You bet I am. The event fee is 100 million won per day. If you don't pay, I'll have all THE Best and THE Pure removed from Jinseong Hotel on those days." Jin Ah-Ram was clearly planning to extract advertising fees from her own brother. As always, her business acumen was beyond imagination. "I give up. Okay, deal!" In the end, Jin Sung-Joon agreed to pay 200 million won over the weekend and provide the drinks, while Jin Ah-Ram only needed to cover Miso's event fee. Afterward, I called Assistant Manager Kim Mi-Hye and instructed her to inform the media that even though the article was gossip, the hotel would hold a separate event as an apology. Just like that, the hectic but joyful event continued. We finished the event 40 minutes later than expected. The current time was 10:40 p.m., and Yoo-Jin, Miso, Lee Tae-Poong, and Go Jae-Soo were drenched in sweat. Miso wiped her forehead and said, "Mom, I'm soaked in sweat!" At that moment, Jin Ah-Ram hurriedly said, "We've kept the suite room empty for you. You can wash up there, and you're welcome to stay until the weekend." Yoo-Jin nodded while holding Miso's hand. "Thank you. But we'll wash up and leave right after." "Oh, okay. Whatever's comfortable for you." Since we had the premiere event for Jiri Mountain at LT Cinema in Samseong at midnight, I urged everyone to leave once they had cleaned up. "Then we'll head out first." That was when Jin Sung-Joon spoke up. "Oh, I'll clean up here and head to Samseong as well." "Alright. See you later." After saying goodbye to Jin Sung-Joon, we took the elevator to our room. For original chapters go to novel✶fire.net On the way, Yoo-Jin spoke. "Oppa, we'll wash up and go straight home." "Why? You don't want to sleep here? It's a top-class suite." Yoo-Jin and Miso shook their heads. "We prefer home over a hotel." "Yeah! Uncle Yoon-Ho, our home is a suite room for me." Miso said she liked their three-story house in Cheonho-dong, where Jung In-Ji and her family stayed, much better. Honestly, I felt the same way. For a talent agent always on the move, the best place was always my own home. "Alright. Got it. I'll take you home then." I told Jung Sang-Bong to head to LT Cinema first with Talent Agent Lee Dae-Ho. With that, our group went into the hotel suite to shower. Afterward, Lee Tae-Poong and Go Jae-Soo headed to LT Cinema. Meanwhile, I took Yoo-Jin and Miso to their home in Cheonho-dong. After dropping off Yoo-Jin and Miso, I made my way to the staff waiting room in LT Cinema Samseong branch. Lee Tae-Poong and Go Jae-Soo, who had arrived earlier, were dressed impeccably. Both wore outfits carefully prepared by Jason Cho. They looked so good in the suits that they could rival professional models. I smiled and said, "You two changed so much in the meantime. Wow~ Aren't you two almost too handsome today?" They greeted me with cheerful smiles. "Hyung-nim, you look amazing too." "No one rocks a suit better than you, Mr. Jung." The two kept complimenting me, saying I looked better since I always wore a suit. After exchanging greetings, I noticed three types of THE Best coffee lined up on the waiting room table. They were 275ml RTD coffees: Americano, Café Latte, and Espresso. Suddenly, I remembered what we hadn't done at the pop-up store. I suggested, "Let's take the official Instargem photos we missed earlier. You two, strike some poses." At the hotel, we jumped straight into selling and the event, so we hadn't taken any official shots for our company's Instargem. "Alright, let's do this!" Lee Tae-Poong quickly took off his jacket and draped it over his shoulder, bringing THE Best – Americano to his lips. He looked like an office worker sipping his morning coffee before heading to work. His sharp features, reminiscent of the David statue, were just unfairly perfect. No matter what pose he struck, it looked like a photoshoot. Go Jae-Soo crossed his legs, holding THE Best – Espresso while giving a pensive expression. He looked like a lawyer deep in thought before a trial. "Okay~ Great pose, Mr. Jae-Soo. Let's take one more. Give me different poses this time." The two began striking multiple poses as I directed them. After taking about ten photos each, I finished uploading them to Instargem. Lee Tae-Poong relaxed his pose and chuckled. "Oh, right. Hyung. Mr. Jin Sung-Joon stopped by earlier and mentioned the coffee sales were unbelievable. Did you hear?" "No, not yet. I'll see him later anyway, so I'll hear it then." Today, coinciding with Jiri Mountain's release, the commercial for THE Best had started airing. Since I signed a contract to receive 1.2% of the coffee sales revenue, I was definitely interested. If 100 million won worth of coffee were sold daily, that would be 1.2 million won a day in my pocket. But for now, the stage greeting was more important. "You two, we'll do the stage greeting here today, then we need to head to Jamsil." That's when the waiting room door opened, and Lee Eun-Joo, recently promoted to Director at LT Entertainment, entered. "Mr. Jung, did you hear about the auditorium?" "No, not yet. I came straight here. But judging by your face, it must be good news?" Lee Eun-Joo grinned. "Every seat sold out today and is fully booked through the weekend! It's a complete sellout! We'll need to add more screens right away." They had already secured 600 screens just at LT Cinema. With 400 at CK Cinema and 200 at small theaters, there were 1,200 screens in total. But with the sellout, they planned to increase to 1,500 screens. In short, it was a massive success. Currently, they were running an event giving discounts on popcorn sets for those who verified they followed Lee Tae-Poong or Go Jae-Soo's Instargem. Regardless, this response was beyond expectations. "It wasn't yesterday, right?" "Oh, you haven't heard? Mr. Jin Sung-Joon pulled some strings." "Look at this. He started sending these messages an hour before you arrived." Lee Eun-Joo showed me her tablet. On the tablet was the JS.FOOD app, newly launched by Jinseong Foods. Below the app advertisement, it read: [A 20% discount gift voucher for Jiri Mountain tickets will be sent to everyone who buys one box of THE Best.] Since Jinseong Foods had boosted sales of THE Pure using Yoo-Jin and Miso's photos, they now planned to send movie discount coupons this time. Jin Sung-Joon was expressing his gratitude to me this way. Just like Everyday said, today's hard work was truly paying off. "Mr. Jin must have spent quite a bit, huh?" "Yes. But since coffee sales skyrocketed, it was perfectly targeted advertising. Anyway, our president and the two guests are together now, celebrating how the movie and coffee are helping each other." Hearing how things were going, I figured I should go greet them. "Where are they now?" I asked. "Oh, they're near Theater 1. Actually, they asked me to bring you over as soon as you arrived, but I completely forgot. They said they have something important to discuss." I entrusted Lee Tae-Poong and Go Jae-Soo to Jung Sang-Bong, then left the waiting room. Even though it was close to midnight, the continuous good news made my steps feel light. On my way to meet Shin Jong-Ki of LT Entertainment and Jin Sung-Joon of Jinseong Foods, I caught sight of the ticket booth screen in the theater. It showed that 80% of LT Cinema's Samsung branch screens were playing Jiri Mountain. Even for midnight showings starting at 12 a.m., every screen was already marked as sold out in red. Seeing it with my own eyes made my heart race. I had a feeling this movie could hit 10 million viewers, just like Beyond the Boundary. At that moment, the two presidents spotted me and waved. "Hey! Chief Jung! Over here!" Just as I was about to greet them, my eyes turned to the two men standing next to them. 'What are they doing here?' One was Richard Kane, Vice President of 21st Century Wolf Film Corporation, one of Hollywood's major studios, and head of Asian operations. At fifty-five years old, he was set to become one of Wolf's co-CEOs in two years, a powerful figure in both Hollywood and the Asian film industry. Even Chairman Jiang Wei of Hwayeon Media Inc. wouldn't dare cross him lightly. However, he was also notoriously arrogant and self-centered. However, what surprised me even more was the young man standing beside him—Director James King. He was the grandson of a Korean War veteran, born to a Korean mother and a father who served in the US Forces Korea, making him a Korean-American. And in five years, he would become one of Hollywood's top-grossing directors. Currently thirty-three years old, he was an up-and-coming director planning a film called Forgotten War, about the Korean War. That film would later become a worldwide hit and bring global attention to the Korean War, which was often called the forgotten war in America. But for now, he was just a rookie director under the thumb of a major studio. Having met both of them before my regression, I knew them well. Yet, I decided not to let that show and first greeted Shin Jong-Ki and Jin Sung-Joon. "Mr. Shin, Mr. Jin, I heard about the event. Congratulations." Shin Jong-Ki introduced Richard Kane by pointing to him. "Hahaha. We'll talk about that later. First, let me introduce you. This is Richard Kane, Vice President of 21st Century Wolf and head of Asia operations." Richard Kane greeted me in awkward Korean. "Mr. Jung? I'm Richard. I've heard a lot about you!" He looked down at me arrogantly as he extended his hand. Before my regression, he looked down on me while puffing on a cigar during our first meeting. It seemed he wasn't much different from then. The only difference was that back then, he was sitting when he extended his hand. Now, he was standing. Instead of picking a fight, I reached out and shook his hand, greeting him in English. "Nice to meet you. I've long heard of Richard, the self-made success story at Wolf. I've always wanted to meet you." Since he loved being flattered, Richard Kane's face immediately brightened. "Oh! Really? Hahaha. You speak English and know me. This will make our conversation easy. I've heard a lot about you from President Shin. You're the talent agent managing actor Lee Tae-Poong, right?" "Yes. I'm in charge of Tae-Poong." "Haha. I see. I came here myself because I heard Lee Tae-Poong wouldn't be attending tomorrow's cinema conference." Tomorrow, the Asia Cinema Conference will be held at Jinseong Hotel & Resort. Jin Ah-Ram had invited Yoo-Jin and Lee Tae-Poong as the hotel's advertising models. However, Yoo-Jin was unavailable due to a filming schedule, and Lee Tae-Poong had notified them he couldn't attend because of the movie's release events. Richard Kane claimed he had come to meet Lee Tae-Poong since we had declined to attend, but I knew what he was like. If he had wanted to see us, he would have summoned us rather than coming all the way here. A quick glance told me Shin Jong-Ki, part of the entertainment industry’s royal family, had probably arranged this meeting. Since negotiations for Jiri Mountain's Asian distribution rights were ongoing with various studios, he likely wanted to show how successful the film was. If that was the case, I had to play along. I pointed to LT Cinema's screen showing every show marked sold out. "As you can see, the movie is sold out everywhere. So we're touring nationwide for stage greetings to meet the fans." "Oh~ I saw that. Very impressive. Ah, right. And you should greet him too," Richard Kane said and gestured to the man next to him, James King. "This is James King, a very promising new director." James King smiled and extended his hand. "Nice to meet you. I'm James King. Please, just call me James." Since he was mixed-race, born to a Korean mother and a father who served in the US Forces Korea, his Korean was quite fluent. And with his features favoring his mother's side, he looked more East Asian than Caucasian at a glance. "It's an honor to meet you, Mr. James." After a brief greeting, Richard Kane looked at me and explained the reason he came today. "Recently, this guy wrote a script about the Korean War. But it needs a Korean supporting actor. Someone who can sell tickets in Korea." Richard Kane made an unpleasant gesture, rubbing his thumb and forefinger together as if counting money. However, the role of Choi Ill-Seon, the key Korean supporting character in Forgotten War, was an excellent part and a rare chance to break into Hollywood. It was well-known among American producers that actors with some fame in their home countries were desperate to enter Hollywood, so Richard Kane didn't bother hiding his arrogance. I asked, "For the Korean supporting role, who do you have in mind?" Speaking like the answer was obvious, Richard Kane responded, "Lee Tae-Poong, of course. There aren't many other male actors in Korea with real ticket power. And the appearance fee is set at 3 million dollars. That's the maximum for a supporting role." Three million U.S. dollars was around 3.3 billion won at today's exchange rate, a sum that was impossible for an actor to earn with a supporting role in a Korean film. For this reason, Richard Kane and everyone around clearly thought I would accept the offer without hesitation. They probably thought it was time for Lee Tae-Poong to advance to Hollywood. But I, who had regressed, had no intention of accepting this proposal. After all, I was the only one in the world who knew exactly what was about to happen.