NIS Agent Reincarnated as a Genius Actor

Jeon Ki-hoon’s face, which had been plastered with a fake smile as he left the set, quickly twisted into a scowl as he reached the empty parking lot.

‘That arrogant bastard. Acting all high and mighty just because he’s gotten a bit popular.’

Thinking about Son Jin-yuk, who had stood his ground and looked him straight in the eye instead of bowing at a 90-degree angle, made Jeon Ki-hoon seethe with anger.

‘I personally took the time to educate that rookie about this industry.’

Jeon Ki-hoon clenched his fists, trembling with rage, thinking that the younger generation didn’t know how to be grateful. From Son Jin-yuk’s perspective, Jeon Ki-hoon had indeed taught him something valuable—a lesson on what kind of senior not to become, a negative role model.

This was also why Son Jin-yuk had been particularly kind and supportive to Yeon-woo when he joined the cast of 「Summer Promise」 as a rookie actor.

Jeon Ki-hoon headed towards his parked van.

Screech─.

“Welcome back, hyung.”

The manager’s greeting came from the driver’s seat, but Jeon Ki-hoon said nothing as he climbed into the van and sank deep into the seat. He took a sip of the coffee the manager had prepared in advance.

“Hey! Lim Jae-wook!”

“Yes?”

Lim Jae-wook, who had been working as Jeon Ki-hoon’s manager for three months, turned around with a tense expression to face him in the back seat. Here we go again. Just hearing his name called gave him PTSD. Cold sweat trickled down his spine.

When Jeon Ki-hoon called out in that angry tone, Jae-wook knew to look down immediately. He had learned over the past three months that failing to do so would only make things worse.

“I told you to prepare something sweet like a café latte or caramel macchiato.”

“Ah… Yesterday, you mentioned you were watching your weight and wanted Americano from now on…”

Before he could finish, Jeon Ki-hoon’s voice came out low and menacing.

“Lim Jae-wook.”

“…Yes, hyung. I’m sorry.”

When Jeon Ki-hoon started acting up, the only way to end it was to lower his gaze and apologize. Jeon Ki-hoon continued in a patronizing tone.

“I’m doing this because I care about you. Huh? How are you going to manage if you start forgetting things at such a young age? You were talking nonsense last time too.”

“…Yes. I’m sorry.”

“And your mother is sick, right? If you want to keep working as a manager, you need to remember things better. Tell me, what did I ask you to prepare?”

This wasn’t the first time. Jeon Ki-hoon would go on for hours until he heard what he wanted to hear. Jae-wook swallowed his rising anger, thinking of his mother in the hospital.

“…You asked for a café latte.”

“That’s right. Now, what are you doing? Start the car.”

“…Yes.”

As Jae-wook started the engine, Jeon Ki-hoon’s voice came from the back again.

“By the way, what’s with the name Jae-wook? It sounds like the name of an arrogant bastard. People change their names a lot these days, you know.”

“Excuse me?”

“No, nothing. Just saying. What are you waiting for? Drive, I need to rest.”

With a hollow expression, Jae-wook turned the steering wheel and drove the van out of the set.

Lim Jae-wook, Jeon Ki-hoon’s manager, slowly became a cog in the rotten gears of society, gradually wearing down and losing the light in his eyes, much like a dead fish.

====

***

====

Time had passed, and Yeon-woo had completed several scenes with Han Byul and Dong-ha.

‘It’s about time to take him down.’

Jeon Ki-hoon’s actions had been surprisingly clean. Yeon-woo monitored him on set, while Han Hae-woon or someone from Baek Noya’s team watched him during off-hours. Despite a month of 24/7 surveillance, they had found little evidence. However, Yeon-woo was certain Jeon Ki-hoon was Baek Sol’s Trojan horse.

Jeon Ki-hoon exhibited many typical traits of a drug addict, and background checks revealed his connection to a planning agency that had suffered losses after investing heavily in a project called 「Valdor」.

The challenge was how to catch him.

‘If his movements are clean outside the set and home, it must be possession in large quantities.’

If Jeon Ki-hoon reeked of drugs to the point where even Yeon-woo could tell, his usage frequency must be high. The fact that he had gone nearly a month without contact suggested he might be holding a large stash of drugs, enough to not need frequent re-supply.

‘This means he’s either closely connected to Baek Sol or one of their long-term managed clients.’

Using such a pawn likely meant Baek Sol’s intentions went beyond merely attacking LN Entertainment.

‘They might be preparing to cook the meal before devouring it.’

While Yeon-woo was lost in thought, Director Hwang approached him.

“Yeon-woo, you can go home now. Why are you still here?”

“Oh, Director.”

Yeon-woo stood up at Director Hwang’s words.

“I had something to think about. I’ll head out now.”

“You did well today. Your acting was impressive as always.”

As Yeon-woo left the set, Director Hwang encouraged him, now looking more like a commercial film director. Yeon-woo smiled and bowed.

“Thank you. I’ll be heading out first.”

“Yes. I still have to shoot Dipangdal’s scenes. Take care.”

Director Hwang headed back to the set, and Yeon-woo nodded as he watched him go. Dipangdal was the role played by Jeon Ki-hoon. While it was still mostly individual scenes, soon, Dipangdal would join the group scenes with the main characters, so Yeon-woo needed to act before then.

‘Originally, I planned to raid the scene through Han Hae-woon if there were suspicious movements in his routine…’

Since there were no such signs and he didn’t know how much drugs Jeon Ki-hoon had stockpiled, a more certain approach was needed. Yeon-woo took out his smartphone and contacted Han Hae-woon through a secure messenger.

[Hae-woon, we need to prepare. We need to catch solid evidence and arrest him soon.]

A reply came almost immediately.

[Han Hae-woon: Yes, I’ll be ready.]

This side of things was tricky, even if it moved quickly. A search and seizure warrant, issued by a prosecutor and approved by the court under the Criminal Procedure Act, required judicial approval. If they caught him in the act during surveillance, they could arrest him as a flagrant offender. Otherwise, they needed sufficient evidence to proceed with a lawful investigation.

Lost in thought, Yeon-woo headed towards the parking lot and spotted Kim Min-soo’s van in the distance. Kim Min-soo appeared to be dozing off with his head resting on the driver’s seat headrest, likely taking a quick nap while waiting for Yeon-woo to finish up.

“Hmm. I came out too late.”

The sky had already turned a dusky purple, with the sunset fading away. Just then, the headlights of a nearby car turned on, startling Yeon-woo. He raised his hand to shield his eyes from the sudden brightness, and a young man hurriedly got out of the car.

“Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t see you there in the dark…”

The young man apologized repeatedly, bowing his head. Yeon-woo shook his head.

“There’s no need to apologize. I was just lost in thought.”

As Yeon-woo spoke, he got a better look at the young man, whose face had been obscured by the headlights.

‘Hmm? Isn’t that Jeon Ki-hoon’s manager?’

Yeon-woo approached the young man.

“I’m Ryu Yeon-woo. You’re Senior Jeon’s manager, right?”

“Y-yes! Hello!”

Startled by Yeon-woo’s sudden approach and handshake, Lim Jae-wook stammered his greeting but soon smiled and shook Yeon-woo’s hand.

“I was deeply moved by your film 「Sketch」.”

“Really? Thank you.”

Lim Jae-wook’s praise for the film seemed genuine, not just a polite remark.

“My mother is ill and staying in a nursing home, so the film resonated with me even more.”

“Ah, I see.”

Yeon-woo nodded, noticing that Lim Jae-wook, who appeared to be around his age or slightly older, had a shadow over his face, suggesting he had his own struggles.

Yeon-woo decided to probe further.

“By the way, I haven’t had much chance to get to know Senior Jeon since our scenes don’t overlap much. Does he have any special hobbies or places he frequents? I was thinking of getting him a gift.”

“Uh… Places he frequents?”

“Like, does he play golf or anything?”

Yeon-woo casually tried to gather more personal information about Jeon Ki-hoon. Lim Jae-wook scratched the back of his head before giving an unexpected answer.

“Well, not really… But he seems to like shoes.”

“Shoes?”

Lim Jae-wook thought for a moment before speaking again.

“His personal car trunk is full of branded sneakers, but he never wears them. I think he collects them…”

“Hmm, in the trunk? That’s unusual. He doesn’t keep them in a shoe cabinet?”

Lim Jae-wook nodded in agreement.

“Yes. If anyone touches the trunk, he gets really angry. He seems to cherish them a lot.”

After a moment of hesitation, Lim Jae-wook continued, looking a bit uneasy.

“Um, I answered because you asked, but if my boss finds out, I’ll get in a lot of trouble for talking…”

Yeon-woo smiled and nodded.

“I understand. I won’t mention our conversation. You’ve been very helpful.”

“Thank you.”

After shaking hands again, Yeon-woo headed towards the van where Kim Min-soo was waiting.

‘He keeps a lot of shoes in his personal car’s trunk and gets furious if anyone touches them…’

Even an idiot could figure this out. The trunk of Jeon Ki-hoon’s car was likely where he stored his drugs. Without this information, they would have eventually found it through close surveillance, but this tip saved them a lot of trouble.

Yeon-woo took out his smartphone and sent another secure message.

[We need to catch Jeon Ki-hoon opening his car trunk. It’s highly likely he has the drugs hidden there.]

[Han Hae-woon: Understood.]

Jeon Ki-hoon’s apartment had high security, so they hadn’t monitored the parking lot closely before. But with this new lead, they needed to tighten their surveillance.

Three days after Yeon-woo gave the instructions to Han Hae-woon, Jeon Ki-hoon fell into the trap they had set.

[Han Hae-woon: Team Leader Ryu, we have evidence.]

The attached photos in Han Hae-woon’s message showed Jeon Ki-hoon taking out small bags from his trunk. Although the photos, taken by someone from Baek Noya’s team who had been waiting in advance, didn’t capture Jeon Ki-hoon directly taking the bags from the trunk due to the rear parking, they clearly showed him placing plastic bags with white powder into a paper shopping bag.

‘It’s definite. Unless that’s flour, we’ve got him.’

Yeon-woo nodded and picked up his smartphone again.

[Hae-woon, let’s start. Follow the prearranged plan.]

[Han Hae-woon: Yes, Team Leader.]

It was time to extract the rotten tooth that had been festering for too long.