JGA CH40

Chapter 40: My Eye for Talent Has Always Been Good.

Yoon Nam-hyuk walked step by step to his front door. Although he didn’t look back, there was no sound of an engine behind him. He knew Qi Huai hadn’t left.

The night air was cool, dissipating the heat from his face, but it couldn’t cool his pounding, hot heart.

Yoon Nam-hyuk stood in the shadows of the porch for nearly ten minutes. It wasn’t until he heard Qi Huai drive away that he rubbed his face hard, put on a stern expression, and stepped into his home.

His timing was a bit coincidental. Everyone was in the dining room having dinner. Yoon Nam-hyuk, with his usual stony face, gave his father, brother, and sister-in-law a perfunctory greeting.

Yoon Tae-min sized him up. “Ate out tonight?”

Yoon Nam-hyuk replied, “Mmm, a company dinner.”

Yoon Tae-min nodded with satisfaction. “Very good. Although our country doesn’t emphasize this, as a member of the upper class of the Republic of Korea, you should ultimately be more approachable. Frequently treating your subordinates to meals to build relationships will make them follow you with unwavering loyalty and create more value for the Yoon family… You didn’t drink?”

Yoon Nam-hyuk: “My stomach has been upset these past two days, so I didn’t.”

Yoon Tae-min frowned. “Stomach upset? It must be because you’ve been too busy lately. I heard you’re so busy you don’t even have time for blind dates. Hmph, look at your older brother. With your sister-in-law taking care of him, he’s never complained about an upset stomach.”

Yoon Nam-woo nodded proudly. Goo Ah-ra, still fearful of Yoon Nam-hyuk’s earlier threat, didn’t dare to make a sound.

Yoon Nam-hyuk shot him a cold glance. “That’s because big brother isn’t busy.”

Five meals a day, from breakfast to afternoon tea to late-night snacks, all served on a full set of Hermès tableware and Swarovski crystal glasses. Before meals, he has to have freshly baked small biscuits with caviar, Parma ham, and black truffles. After meals, he has to have two scoops of Italian gelato¹ topped with gold leaf and dark chocolate sauce… Heh, even if his stomach is upset, it’s because he overate.

Yoon Nam-woo: ?

Yoon Tae-min was instantly furious. “Do you not understand what I mean?!”

The entire dining room fell silent. Yoon Nam-hyuk frowned. Yoon Tae-min stared at him and continued.

“Since you didn’t like the girls’ profiles your assistant sent you a few days ago, then go meet the two people your Uncle Kim introduced. One is the daughter of the Minister of Education, a graduate of the Berklee College of Music. She’s highly intelligent, has a gentle personality, is an excellent pianist, and plays the violin beautifully. She’ll be a future musician. The other is the daughter of a high-ranking official in the prosecutor’s office. Like you, she graduated from Seoul National University. She’s your junior, an outstanding graduate, brilliant, and beautiful. You should have a lot in common.”

Yoon Nam-hyuk listened attentively, his face expressionless. “It seems Uncle Kim is very concerned about the younger generation. But such wonderful girls should be introduced to Kim Min-kyung first. Min-kyung is three years older than me. At the very least, Uncle Kim should let his own son get married before worrying about other people’s families.”

With that, he turned and left. Yoon Tae-min threw his soup bowl on the floor. “Yoon Nam-hyuk, are you being too insolent to your elders! You even dare to criticize your Uncle Kim?”

The Yoon and Kim families had been acquainted for many years, all thanks to Yoon Nam-hyuk’s mother acting as a bridge. After Hyun Si-young passed away, the two families were not as close as before, but Yoon Tae-min and Kim Joo-hwan still dined together occasionally. He would not tolerate such insolence from a junior.

Before Yoon Tae-min’s anger could subside, Yoon Nam-woo suddenly complained loudly to his father, “Ahhh~~~ Father~~~ why are the girlfriends you introduce to him the daughters of the Minister of Education and a high-ranking prosecutor! Why didn’t you introduce them to me back then? Uncle Kim too, why didn’t he introduce such a girlfriend to me? Father, why are you so biased!”

What is the meaning of this???

Goo Ah-ra was dumbfounded.

Yoon Tae-min’s anger flared even more. He roared, “Biased?! You, who almost couldn’t even get into a regular university! I wanted to send you abroad to get a degree, but after two years of learning English, you can’t even hold a simple conversation! And when I let you start a company, it loses money every year! If I introduced you to a family like that, they would mock me for dumping trash on them! Understand! You’re the one who’s not up to par! I haven’t even complained about you embarrassing me! And you dare to say I’m biased!”

Yoon Nam-woo was shocked. “Father!!! How could you say I’m trash! How could you call your own son trash!”

Goo Ah-ra wailed loudly. “Oh, honey! Are you looking down on me! Do you think my status isn’t good enough for you? Sob sob sob! Oh my God!”

The entire dining room instantly devolved into chaos.

Yoon Tae-min no longer had the energy to focus on Yoon Nam-hyuk. His chest hurt from anger. He slammed the table and roared, “I’m not eating! Go back to your room and cry! Go!”

Dinner ended on a sour note.

The moment he got back to his room, Yoon Nam-woo started to rant, “That guy Eun Chul-woo isn’t doing anything! We’ve already got so much dirt on so many celebrities, why isn’t he making a move?! That pervert Park Seok-jin may not be a Best Actor, but he brings in a lot of profit for Woosan Entertainment every year! We already have the video. With a little threat, whether we send him to prison or poach him to RC, it would be a major blow to Yoon Nam-hyuk, wouldn’t it? Why isn’t he doing anything? Also, he said he wanted to start an entertainment company with me. The company is open, but the business is still stagnant. What is he waiting for!”

Goo Ah-ra was so scared she forgot to cry. “Honey! Keep your voice down, honey! Do you want Father to hear you?!”

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Upstairs.

Yoon Nam-hyuk listened to the faint sounds of arguing from the dining room and felt inexplicably pleased. He even thought that it wouldn’t be a bad idea to go to Qi Huai’s place for dinner every night. At least he wouldn’t have to lose his appetite looking at the disgusting faces of his father, brother, and sister-in-law.

He had eaten well, and his body was warm. With a smile on his lips, he sent a message to Qi Huai: 「I’m home. You?」

Qi Huai didn’t reply.

Yoon Nam-hyuk guessed he was driving and didn’t press further. He leisurely found a few pictures on Instagram and sent them to Qi Huai: 「I want to eat this. Can you make it?」

A dozen minutes later, Qi Huai, who had just gotten home, took out his phone and saw—malatang.

Qi Huai knew that malatang and tanghulu were popular in Korea, but after giving him 100 million won, this was all he wanted to eat? Qi Huai laughed out loud.

「Qi Huai: Say something nice and I’ll agree.」

Yoon Nam-hyuk sent a knife emoji.

Qi Huai smiled. After cooking dinner, his body inevitably smelled of oil and smoke. He took off his jacket and shirt, preparing to take a shower. As he entered the bathroom, he glanced at his naked self in the mirror.

After a moment of contemplation, Qi Huai took a selfie in the mirror and sent it to Yoon Nam-hyuk: 「Showering. Good night.」

The next second, Yoon Nam-hyuk, who received the half-naked photo, almost threw his phone.

The System watched all this, speechless: [Host, are you trying to seduce President Yoon?]

Is it seduction?

Then let’s call it that.

Although he understood why the president had him park the car outside building 10, he was very annoyed. He was vindictive and knew Yoon Nam-hyuk’s tolerance level very well. He was well aware that one photo was enough to make the other uncomfortable for the whole night.

So tonight, he didn’t plan on letting Yoon Nam-hyuk have it easy. And of course, not just tonight.

As Qi Huai expected, Yoon Nam-hyuk’s face quickly flushed upon receiving the photo. He changed into his pajamas and pulled the covers over his head, secretly zooming in on the photo under the blanket.

The bathroom lighting was just right. The background was dim, and the light source was entirely focused on that perfect, statue-like body.

Yoon Nam-hyuk hugged his pillow, biting the corner, his eyes tracing from Qi Huai’s sharp jawline to his well-defined collarbones, from the curve of his chest muscles to the ripples of his abs. The person was about to take a shower, so he wasn’t wearing pants, but Qi Huai had covered himself well with a towel, leaving just enough to the imagination, revealing only his tight, powerful side waist and V-lines…

No one knew the feel of this body better than Yoon Nam-hyuk. He had explored it thoroughly that night, including the parts covered by the towel.

Heavy.

Straight.

Scalding hot.

Yoon Nam-hyuk’s mouth was dry. He licked his lips and swallowed. Then he closed his eyes tightly and, like a small animal in heat, whimpered in his blanket for a long time, not replying to Qi Huai’s messages all night.

---

Although Yoon Nam-hyuk was like a small, explosive ball of fire in front of Qi Huai, prone to sparking at any moment, he wasn’t a petty person at heart.

He was annoyed by Eun Chul-woo’s advances on Qi Huai, but he knew that Director Baek Se-won’s opportunity was very important for a new artist who had just entered the industry.

So he didn’t stop Qi Huai from participating in the film invested in by RC out of “jealousy.” He even gladly accepted Eun Chul-woo’s “good intentions” of revealing the result in advance.

However, Yoon Nam-hyuk was absolutely unwilling to let Qi Huai go to dinner with Eun Chul-woo. If Eun Chul-woo wanted to talk about collaboration or resources, he could contact Woosan Entertainment directly. What was the point of having a private dinner? What kind of poaching was this? Yoon Nam-hyuk felt that Eun Chul-woo was dreaming.

To ensure Qi Huai had no time to respond to Eun Chul-woo’s invitation, Yoon Nam-hyuk had Assistant Yoo quickly fill his schedule from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.

This included, but was not limited to, various commercial shoots, film and television auditions, line-reading classes, acting classes, and physique classes. Even after 10 p.m., he had Assistant Yoo personally send Qi Huai home and supervise him until he went to sleep.

Qi Huai lay in bed, the soft, fluffy blanket pulled up to his chin. “…Assistant Yoo, do we really have to go this far?”

Sending him home, following him upstairs, watching him eat, waiting for him to shower, and then, after he had done everything he needed to do before bed, personally tucking him in and turning off the lights.

It was downright creepy.

Assistant Yoo smiled. “If we don’t go this far, I’m afraid I won’t get 100% of my salary, Actor Qi.”

Qi Huai: “…”

System: [Hahahahahahaha!]

Assistant Yoo: “Actor Qi.”

Qi Huai: “Mmm?”

Assistant Yoo: “Do you need me to sing you a lullaby?”

Qi Huai shut his eyes tightly. “No need.”

Assistant Yoo nodded. “Then I’ll be going. I wish you a peaceful night’s sleep.”

Qi Huai: “…Thank you.”

Assistant Yoo turned off the lights and left. When the door clicked shut, both of them sighed in relief.

Qi Huai closed his eyes for a while, then suddenly sat up. He couldn’t turn on the lights, because he knew Assistant Yoo would still be waiting downstairs for a while—it could be five minutes or ten. It was best not to touch the curtains.

He got out of bed and, to the System’s sympathetic clucking, slipped into the bathroom, which only had a small ventilation window, and opened his laptop.

Although he had been very busy lately, the time from 10 p.e. to 2 a.m. was still his sacrosanct project development time.

His social product, Gate, was developing smoothly. With Gavin’s platform as a backstop, this product might become one of the most worthwhile Web3 social products to invest in in the coming years.

Perhaps soon, he would be able to get his first pot of gold in the truest sense, and it would be a very large sum.

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The casting for Director Baek’s new film progressed very quickly.

In about a week, the audition results for Evil Plan were out. Qi Huai, as an absolute rookie, was cast in the important supporting role of the young police officer, Yuan Jae-seok.

This was a role with screen time second only to the male lead, a positive character, yet it was given to a nobody who had just entered the entertainment industry and hadn’t even finished airing his first full project. It didn’t cause a huge uproar, but it definitely made many people’s jaws drop.

A film by a famous director, it had attracted widespread attention even before filming began. Almost all the participating artists were interviewed by the media.

Especially Director Baek Se-won and screenwriter Hong Eun-byul. Clips of their Q&A sessions about the film’s theme and actor selection spread all over the internet.

The two most popular short videos were, one, Kim Min-kyung’s reason for starring in the film—“Ah, I’m very sorry. Because I’m too lazy and don’t want to do too much work, starring in Director Baek’s film is my way of improving my work efficiency.”

This video not only became a source of laughter for the entire internet, but Kim Min-kyung’s line “I’m too lazy,” coupled with his hands-clasped gesture, was also made into a meme that spread everywhere.

The other popular short video was Director Baek’s evaluation of Qi Huai. At the time, the media had asked the director why he had chosen a rookie who didn’t even have a complete project yet.

Director Baek, very unusually, showered Qi Huai with praise, just as he had with a young, debuting Kim Min-kyung many years ago.

He spoke eloquently: “First, I have an eye for beauty, and a very good eye for investment. Second, I think Actor Qi really has his own ideas about acting. Although his methods may not be at the level of a veteran actor, he is an absolute method actor. It’s so real. Whoever he plays, he becomes that person. Switching between a young police officer and a gangster’s subordinate, two people with completely different outward appearances—his audition gave everyone goosebumps. Daebak… A natural talent, a natural talent, an absolutely rare natural talent. Both of these roles are very suitable for him. No, he can perfectly portray both of these roles. Although we decided to cast Qi Huai on the day of the audition, we debated internally for a long time about which role to give him, a full week, haha. In the end, we decided to give him the positive role with more emotional changes. I hope we can have Qi Huai play a villain in our next collaboration.”

The short video was full of praise. This was Director Baek Se-won, who had extremely high standards and never exaggerated.

Netizens were extremely excited about Qi Huai. His Instagram followers shot up by 100,000 overnight.

In the top-floor office of Woosan Entertainment.

Yoon Nam-hyuk stared at the short video of Director Baek Se-won praising Qi Huai. “Director Baek said he’s an absolutely rare natural talent, right?”

Assistant Yoo nodded. “Yes, President.”

Yoon Nam-hyuk raised an eyebrow. “This means Director Baek intends to collaborate with Qi Huai multiple times, right?”

Assistant Yoo continued to nod. “Yes, President.”

Yoon Nam-hyuk narrowed his eyes with satisfaction. “My eye for talent has always been good.”

Assistant Yoo: “…”

Wasn’t Actor Qi signed by Manager Choi?

What does it have to do with you?

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1. ¹Gelato: An Italian style of ice cream.  ↩︎