“……?”
A man in a jacket called out to me from right beside me.
He was really right next to me, but I must have missed him because I was busy eating a cupcake.
But… isn’t a black jacket and black fedora way too suspicious?
I couldn’t really see his face, and his voice trembled so much that I couldn’t even tell what his original voice sounded like.
I couldn’t tell if he was trying to recruit me for some religion or pull some scam, but either way, he looked like he seriously lacked confidence.
‘By the way, isn’t this some sort of regression side effect? With Woo Hyun-sik and now all these people following me around?’
“Um, you’re Actor Jeon Yeo-hoo, right?”
“Yes. I’m Jeon Yeo-hoo…”
He didn’t tell me to stop, so I just kept walking as we talked.
Honestly, the guy seemed way too suspicious for me to want to stop and listen.
“Uh! I! I’m not a suspicious person! I, um! Actor! I’m this kind of person.”
Then suddenly, he jumped out in front of me and handed me his business card with both hands.
[Ma Eun-in]
[Happy Dream Enter]
“Ma Eun-in…?”
Only after seeing the card could I properly see his face, half-hidden by the fedora.
The voice too. Right.
It was that voice.
‘I couldn’t recognize it because he was trembling like a goat.’
At last, Ma Eun-in took off his fedora and bowed in greeting.
“Yes. That’s right, Ma Eun-in. My name’s a bit unique, right? Haha. But I think it’s a good name for sales. As you can see below, it says Happy Dream Enter. It’s a brand new agency I just started.”
A face I know, a name I know.
“…The company name really does make you feel happy.”
Ma Eun-in scratched at his sparse hair, looking embarrassed as he smiled.
“Yes. I named it wishing that all the artists under our agency would dream happy dreams. We’re currently gathering new artists at our company, and I happened to see you in the TAM commercial. So, if you haven’t got anything going on yet, would you be interested in talking with our agency…?”
“Yes, that sounds good.”
It was the very agency I had been looking for.
There was no reason to hesitate.
If my schedule gets busy from here on out, I’ll need a company to handle things for me.
‘If it’s this guy, he won’t shove some shady rookie contract at me.’
“Of course I can be trusted… Eh? You really want to discuss it?”
“Yes. Bring the contract tomorrow. You can contact me at this number.”
Right. Now I can finally see some benefits to being a regressor.
This is the regressor’s privilege.
Knowing in advance who will succeed, which company will do well.
I gave Ma Eun-in my number and headed home, searching my memories.
If someone seemed likely to get deeply involved with my death, I wanted to introduce them to an agency run by someone trustworthy.
[Jeong Yun-woo: An agency? Ah, but I’ve already auditioned somewhere, so I think I have to go there. But what? You’re introducing an agency to me? Wow, Yeo-hoo~ you’ve really grown up?]
No way I could poach someone who’s already signed.
Kim Woon-yool already had an agency.
Lee Young-bin didn’t seem to have one yet.
[Lee Young-bin: An agency? I don’t have one yet.]
[Then do you want to come out tomorrow too?]
[Lee Young-bin: Sure thing, hyung! Where should I go tomorrow?]
Lee Young-bin didn’t even ask the company name—he just asked for the time and place, and said he’d come.
[You shouldn’t trust people so easily. Be careful.]
[Lee Young-bin: Aw~ It’s because it’s you, hyung.]
[Kim Woon-yool: Right, because you’re our oppa!]
I don’t know if I’m someone to be trusted, but…
Both of them really needed to be more careful with people.
*****
The next day, Ma Eun-in came into the café looking positively giddy.
[Jeon Yeo-hoo: By the way, can I bring one more actor? He’s a rookie named Lee Young-bin who was also in that commercial.]
[Ma Eun-in: Of course!!!!! Of course!!!!! We’d love to have him!!!!!]
When he saw Jeon Yeo-hoo in the TAM commercial, he hurried to search online, but there was almost no info.
If he’d had an agency, there would’ve been SNS updates or online profiles, but there was none—so making first contact was the winning move.
Just a bit later, the big agencies would’ve come calling.
And now, he was even bringing Lee Young-bin, the other diamond in the rough from that same commercial.
It was the opportunity of a lifetime.
‘I will make this succeed, no matter what.’
Ma Eun-in tightened his necktie and opened the café door.
As soon as he entered, he could spot Jeon Yeo-hoo and Lee Young-bin.
Everyone in the café had their eyes on them.
Jeon Yeo-hoo’s face as he looked out the window with his coffee—he was like a sculpture. Like a masterpiece.
‘I’m glad I got into this business.’
Ma Eun-in had originally spent his twenties working as a gem appraiser.
He became an appraiser simply because he loved beautiful things. He always wanted to work in an industry with the most beautiful and pretty things, and one day, after seeing actors in a drama, he wanted to help living, breathing beauties live their lives.
Becoming a manager in his late twenties was tough from the start, but just being able to help someone was happiness enough.
Now, in his forties, Ma Eun-in started his own agency for a new challenge.
And the very first gem he picked as his first artist was Jeon Yeo-hoo.
Let’s do this, Ma Eun-in.
“Hello.”
“Hello. This is Ma Eun-in. Ma Eun-in, this is the Lee Young-bin I mentioned.”
“Hi! I’m Lee Young-bin!”
“Haha, no need to be so nervous. Our company isn’t big enough to make you that anxious—right now it’s just me and one other employee.”
“Oh, okay!”
“Here’s the contract. I thought you’d want to see the original, so I brought a contract you can sign right away.”
The contract Ma Eun-in handed over was perfect—not a single unfair clause.
Even details like contract duration and fee settlements were all there.
Nothing to nitpick at all.
Ma Eun-in at the very start of the agency was just as I remembered.
“If there are any special terms you want, you can add them at the bottom.”
“Hmm… Really? Young-bin, is there anything you want to add?”
“I don’t really know, hyung. What about you?”
“I want to put ‘this’ in.”
I wrote my preferred condition in the special terms.
“Really… Will this be enough?”
Ma Eun-in looked a bit surprised as he reread the contract with my request.
When I nodded, Ma Eun-in smiled, saying he’d be happy to grant it, and I signed on the spot.
And I thought,
‘Five years.’
In five years, Ma Eun-in’s company—
I’ll make it the best actor agency around.
*****
After signing, Ma Eun-in told us to come by the company on the weekend.
That’s right.
We were insane idiots who signed without even seeing the company.
‘Well, it’s not me, it’s just Young-bin who’s insane.’
As soon as the weekend came, I took Young-bin to the building where Ma Eun-in’s company was.
On the way, with Young-bin grinning happily, I asked,
“Young-bin.”
“Yeah, hyung!”
“Seriously, next time you sign a contract, ask me first. You’re too—well, not dumb, but too naive. I worry about you.”
“Aww, hyung. I’m actually super charismatic except when I’m around you.”
I never thought I’d get this close to Young-bin.
Now… if anything goes wrong with this guy, my odds of dying will go up too.
Last time, it was a scandal involving someone close that did me in.
“Yeah, I trust you. But, you know?”
If you get screwed, so do I.
“Yes, sir! Uh, hyung, we’re almost there. This is where Happy Dream Enter is, right? Uh… is this really not a scam?”
“No, this is the place.”
“But, is it okay for a new agency to be in such a nice building?”
I don’t know how much of a dump he expected.
But Ma Eun-in always had money.
I heard his investments as an office worker hit the jackpot, multiplying his savings hundreds of times over, and he put it all into the agency.
In other words, he had capital, passion, and connections from his manager days—the ideal agency CEO.
Happy Dream Enter occupied the 14th and 15th floors of a fifteen-story building.
“Welcome!”
“Hello, sir!”
“The office is a bit empty, right? I’m hiring three more people this week, so it’ll fill up soon. Don’t worry. Shall we go to my office?”
“Yup!”
After a bit of small talk to break the ice, Ma Eun-in brought out some prepared audition info and documents.
For Young-bin, who’d never had an agency before, even this treatment left him on the verge of tears.
“I picked out some auditions from productions I know are being planned. There are some that only get circulated through academies or agencies, so they might not even be online. If you’re interested, you should apply. Of course, only if you want to.”
“Then… can I go for this one?”
Young-bin enthusiastically picked out the audition he wanted, and Ma Eun-in cheered him on.
As for me, I’d probably get into Woo Hyun-sik’s drama, so I didn’t bother answering just then.
After saying goodbye to Ma Eun-in, Young-bin and I went to a restaurant to eat.
Young-bin, apparently so happy to finally have an agency, kept thanking me over and over.
“Young-bin, don’t bow your head so much. People will look down on you.”
“Hyung, it’s fine for you to take me lightly. Once a hyung, always a hyung!”
“If you ever get in the way of my acting career, I’ll dump you out on the street.”
Young-bin blinked at my blunt tone.
‘Seriously, Young-bin.’
I was such a piece of trash before.
Young-bin said,
“Hyung, but even if you kick me to the curb, I’m fine with it.”
“What…?”
“Actually, when I get nervous, my pronunciation gets all twisted. The academy gave up on me, you know? I’d pass auditions but mess up on set, and I got scolded a lot. But there was never anyone to help me on site. Maybe they just thought I was hopeless, or maybe that’s just the cold reality. Haha.”
Young-bin scratched the back of his neck.
“If it weren’t for you, I’d still be the NG ghost with no agency. And that day… Hyung, do you remember what you told me? I never even told Yun-woo hyung about it, even when we drank together.”
Of course I don’t. I can’t remember.
Honestly, even before my regression, I barely knew Young-bin. I didn’t have to help him.
But I did, just because he was getting in the way of the shoot…
Young-bin cleared his throat and started doing an impression of my voice.
“You said, ‘I don’t expect much. You’re not going to act better than me anyway, and you’re already in the way, so just try to pronounce your lines right on set. I’ll help you practice as much as you want.’ That’s what you said.”
Was that supposed to be a heartwarming story?
“…Did I really say something that harsh?”
But seeing Young-bin grinning as he recited it, I guess he wasn’t hurt by it.
“Hearing that actually made me feel relieved. And then, hyung, you cursed at me—called me ‘this bastard’ and ‘that bastard’—but you still helped me all the way. Don’t you remember sticking by my side for a whole hour helping me?”
Honestly, I was surprised.
Regression really does change a person.
“I spent an hour on you?”
“Yeah, really. I don’t care if you thought I was pathetic or useless. The point is, you didn’t give up on me. If there was someone like that on set, my first impression wouldn’t have been good either.”
He’s right.
“So, to me, hyung, you’re even more of a benefactor than President Ma Eun-in. If I ever become unnecessary to your acting career, feel free to toss me aside. I’ll make sure not to get in your way.”
……
“I’m not good enough for you to be that loyal to me.”
I don’t know what to say.
Did I really earn some good karma for doing something nice?
Good things don’t come this easily.
I felt complicated inside.
*****
Unlike the conflicted Jeon Yeo-hoo, Lee Young-bin almost burst into tears at his answer.
‘He says he’s not a good person.’
What kind of ‘bad person’ spends an hour helping someone he barely knows with their acting and then introduces them to such a good company?
Why does he put himself down like that?
I just don’t get it.
‘Hyung, real bad people never judge themselves that harshly…!’
Could it be!
The reason he ended up in the trash after drinking that time was because, deep down, he thought he was trash too!
Lee Young-bin glanced sideways at Jeon Yeo-hoo and poured himself another shot of soju.
That’s it, I’m resolved again.
‘Hyung, whatever happens, I swear I’ll protect you no matter what.’