Rookie Talent Agent Knows It All

Chapter 463: Scalper (3)

The seats for the '2020 Cherry Blossom & Kang Ha-Na Joint Concert' were quickly selling out. Half of the seats sold out in just thirty seconds after ticket sale began, and reservations were being completed at a rate of 3% per second.

Concerned by the rapid pace, I asked Lee Doo-Oh, monitoring the situation, "Doo-Oh, do you think scalpers are using macros again?"

On Lee Doo-Oh's laptop screen, Ticket Park's reservation data was displayed. After checking, Lee Doo-Oh shook his head. "No, it's not macros. These are all direct bookings."

Macro programs would react much faster than humans. But Lee Doo-Oh, who was tracking the speed, found no anomalies. This meant fans nationwide were completing payments manually.

Still uncertain, I glanced at the large LCD screen showing a video call with Ticket Park's meeting room. Pyo Yeon-Ji and Eun Ji-Yoo were also visibly shocked.

"What's the situation on your end, Ms. Pyo?"

-Mr. Jung, we see no signs of macro usage here either. We've mobilized ten employees to review the data and it's all clean.

Even Ticket Park confirmed there was no evidence of fraudulent reservations.

At that moment, Do Ran-Hee timed the reservation process and shouted excitedly, "95%, 96%... 99%, 100%! Mr. Jung, it's sold out!"

I asked, "What's the time? Report in seconds."

"59 seconds!"

All eight thousand seats were booked in under a minute.

Still in disbelief, I said, "Are you sure it's completely sold out? Double-check it."

Do Ran-Hee answered, "It's confirmed! I checked three times."

On the video call, Pyo Yeon-Ji also confirmed.

-Mr. Jung, we've confirmed it too. We'll post the sold-out banner now.

With scalping programs blocked and Ticket Park and Lee Doo-Oh handling preventive measures, I expected the reservations to take at least ten minutes. But instead, it took just 59 seconds.

The unprecedented speed of the sell-out made my heart race with excitement, but I knew it needed verification. If fraudulent reservations occurred, the tickets would have to go to waitlisted fans.

I turned to the Hoengseong Girls High School's girls. "Let's start the validation process."

"Yes, sir!"

Sung Ji-Yeon and the others opened their laptops. Since half of the eight thousand seats were allocated to fan club members, they would cross-check the membership roster with the list of four thousand reservations.

I asked, "Hey, Doo-Oh. Can you send me the reservation data via Kk Talk?"

Lee Doo-Oh answered, "Give me a moment. I'll organize it into an Excel sheet and send it over."

Soon, Lee Doo-Oh provided the reservation list to the girls and the talent agents in the meeting room. Everyone compared two files on their laptop screens.

"This matches, that matches..."

With meticulous scrutiny, no overlapping ticket addresses or irregularities were found. Ten minutes later, the review was complete.

Sung Ji-Yeon rubbed her eyes and announced, "Mr. Jung, there are no issues. All the reservations are legitimate."

When I looked at Lee Doo-Oh, he also nodded in agreement. "I ran it through a program to double-check, and there's no evidence of fraudulent reservations or macro usage."

After completing the verification, it was confirmed. Without any use of macros, eight thousand seats had sold out in just 59 seconds.

Unable to contain my excitement, I clenched my fist and shouted, "Yes!"

Many had doubted our decision to aim for eight thousand seats for Cherry Blossom's first concert. Despite their success this year, they weren't a boy group with a massive fandom and they even had to hold a joint concert due to a lack of songs.

Critics questioned if eight thousand seats weren't overly ambitious. But I had boldly decided on that number and the gamble paid off.

The meeting room erupted into celebration.

"Wow, this is incredible!"

"Mr. Jung, are you sure it's completely sold out?"

"They did it!"

After waiting for everyone to settle down, I called Kim Mi-Hye. "Ms. Kim, send out press releases right away."

"What should the headline be?"

"'Cherry Blossom Joint Concert: Sold Out in Just 59 Seconds!'"

At that moment, Do Ran-Hee tilted her head in curiosity. "Mr. Jung, isn't it more common to round up and say 'one minute'? It's simpler and clearer."

'Ah, there she goes missing the subtle nuances.'

"Do you think there's no difference between nine hundred ninety nine won and a thousand won?"

Understanding dawned on Do Ran-Hee instantly and she gave me a thumbs-up. "Wow, that's a perfect analogy!"

Then she grinned mischievously as if struck by another idea.

"How about saying 'around 50 seconds'?"

I shook my head at her overenthusiasm. "No way. Imagine someone saying an item is twenty thousand won, but then it turns out to be twenty nine thousand nine hundred won. How would you feel?"

Do Ran-Hee gave me a double thumbs-up with newfound admiration. "Whoa! Mr. Jung, that's an epic analogy!"

Straightening my shoulders, I finalized the decision and told Kim Mi-Hye, "Let's stick with 59 seconds."

Kim Mi-Hye enthusiastically sent the message to the reporters. "Understood, Mr. Jung."

In the meantime, Do Ran-Hee lobbied for a celebratory dinner. "Mr. Jung, let's have a team dinner today. Deal?"

I pulled out the company card from my pocket and handed it to Do Ran-Hee. "I have other business tonight, so take the team out and enjoy yourselves."

Do Ran-Hee's eyes sparkled. "Does that include Hanwoo?"

"Of course. You deserve it after all the hard work."

"Yay!"

Do Ran-Hee accepted the card with trembling hands, already looking a bit unhinged. Still, I let it slide since she had worked tirelessly to promote the concert and even lost sleep.

But Do Ran-Hee's condition worried me. "Ran-Hee, are you sure you're okay? You haven't slept for almost two days."

Do Ran-Hee's bloodshot eyes sparkled with determination. "Don't worry. Even if I die, I'll eat first."

I cheered her on before turning away. "W-well... all right then. Go for it!"

My next task was to accompany Lee Doo-Oh as he turned himself in.

***

Lee Doo-Oh and I left the meeting room and headed toward his house. Before surrendering to the authorities, he wanted to confess everything to his younger sister.

We parked in front of his old house in Guro and entered through the gate. To our surprise, the house had completely transformed in just a few hours.

The previously messy yard was neatly organized, cracks on the walls had been patched up, and the patchy paint job was now flawless.

Seeing the dramatic change, Lee Doo-Oh blinked in disbelief. "Who... did this, hyung?"

The current situation was serious. Scalping had been exposed as a significant societal issue, and Lee Doo-Oh was unlikely to avoid incarceration. Seo Jae-Ill had tried every possible avenue, but the chances of leniency were slim if Lee Doo-Oh turned himself in today.

"It seems Ho-Jae and the boys did this as a promise to take good care of Seo-Yeon while you're gone."

Lee Doo-Oh's voice trembled as he spoke. "Thank you, Yoon-Ho hyung."

"Don't mention it. And don't worry too much. Mr. Seo is working hard to sort things out, so you'll be out soon."

Lee Doo-Oh gave a bitter smile. "That would be great, but... don't you think it'll be difficult? I feel like the police are waiting to get me."

"They can't do much now. If they push too hard, they'll risk being implicated as accomplices themselves."

I reassured Lee Doo-Oh again and gestured toward the house.

"Go say goodbye and let's head out to the station."

"Okay."

Lee Doo-Oh sighed deeply and opened the front door. The moment he opened the door, the savory aroma of soybean paste stew[1] greeted us and Lee Seo-Yeon's voice called out from the kitchen.

"Oppa, is that you?"

Lee Doo-Oh forced a cheerful reply. "Yeah, I'm home."

Lee Seo-Yeon rolled out of the kitchen in her wheelchair, wearing an apron and beaming brightly.

"You guys haven't eaten dinner yet, have you?"

It was already 9 p.m. While we had grabbed a quick meal with kimbap earlier, Lee Doo-Oh said. "No, I didn't eat because you messaged saying you'd cook. Of course, I waited."

"Good. I've already prepared dinner, so let's eat!"

"Sure!"

"Yoon-Ho oppa, come on in!"

"Okay."

Deciding a meal wouldn't hurt before we left, I followed Lee Seo-Yeon to the kitchen.

"Hyung-nim, welcome!"

In the kitchen, Lee Ho-Jae was wearing an apron and carefully flipping pan-fried battered zucchini[2] to keep them from burning.

I said, "Hey, great work."

Lee Ho-Jae answered, "Not at all. Seo-Yeon did all the cooking. I'm just flipping them so they don't burn."

"Is that so?"

But then I noticed some changes in the kitchen as well. The gas stove had been replaced with an induction cooktop.

'Soo-Chan must've taken care of that.'

I thought I should give him a call after dropping off Lee Doo-Oh.

Meanwhile, Lee Seo-Yeon asked Lee Doo-Oh, "Oppa. Ho-Jae oppa and the others came by, fixed the house, and replaced the cooktop. But... why are they helping us so much?"

Lee Doo-Oh awkwardly laughed and replied, "Can we talk about it after dinner?"

Lee Seo-Yeon held back her curiosity and nodded. "Fine. Let's eat first, then."

As she spoke, Lee Ho-Jae began bringing out the food. Soybean paste stew, fried eggs, seasoned dried squid,[3] braised tofu,[4] fried zucchini, spinach namul,[5] stir-fried fish cakes,[6] and steamed white rice were served. It was a simple yet neat spread.

Lee Seo-Yeon turned off the induction cooktop and wheeled herself to the table before cheerfully announcing, "Enjoy your meal!"

Even though I wasn't particularly hungry, I picked up my spoon and took a bite.

'Wow, it's delicious.'

The stew was perfectly seasoned and the side dishes were so flavorful I couldn't stop eating. Before I knew it, I had cleared my plate.

When we finished, Lee Seo-Yeon looked at us with wide eyes and waited for our verdict. "So? How was it? Did you like it, Ho-Jae oppa? Yoon-Ho oppa?"

Lee Ho-Jae and I both gave her a thumbs-up.

"It was amazing."

"So delicious."

Then Lee Seo-Yeon smiled brightly and bowed her head slightly. "Thank you for being friends with my brother, oppas."

Lee Seo-Yeon's sudden words caught me off guard for a moment, but I quickly responded as if it was nothing. "We're happy to be friends with you now too."

When Lee Seo-Yeon raised her head, her face shone with a radiant smile. "Thank you, oppas."

"It's nothing."

"No, really. My brother almost never goes out. But ever since Yoon-Ho oppa and Ho-Jae oppa started coming around, he's been stepping out more. It makes me happy to see."

For the past few days, I had been working alongside Lee Doo-Oh to inspect Ticket Park's system and track down other macro programs. During this time, Lee Seo-Yeon was pleased to see her brother leaving the house more often.

It was then that Lee Seo-Yeon spoke up. "So... please continue to take care of him."

"I will."

Just as Lee Doo-Oh cared for his sister, Lee Seo-Yeon was also deeply worried about her brother.

At that moment, Lee Doo-Oh took a deep breath and began to speak. "Seo-Yeon, there's something I need to tell you..."

"Huh? What is it?"

His eyes closed tightly and his hands clenched, Lee Doo-Oh slowly confessed his past wrongdoings and revealed the mistakes he had made. N;'\

"You see, I..."

***

Lee Seo-Yeon's expression went blank at her brother's unexpected confession.

After recounting the events of the past year, Lee Doo-Oh moved on to describe what had happened over the last few days. When it came to the part about meeting us, he followed the version I had suggested, claiming that he had sought my help rather than the other way around.

"When I was struggling and being blackmailed by Ticket King, Yoon-Ho hyung stepped in to help. Thankfully, things worked out. But I did commit a crime. So... I'll have to turn myself in soon."

Lee Seo-Yeon remained silent and was unable to respond.

Bowing deeply toward her, Lee Doo-Oh continued though his voice trembled with emotion. "I'm sorry, Seo-Yeon... I promised I'd never leave you alone, but I might not be able to see you for a while. In the meantime... Yoon-Ho hyung and Ho-Jae hyung here will take care of you..."

Hearing this, Lee Seo-Yeon cried with her tears falling like raindrops. "I'm sorry..."

The startled Lee Doo-Oh asked, "Huh? Why are you apologizing?"

Through her sobs, Lee Seo-Yeon wailed, "It's because of my medical bills... you committed a crime because of me... sob..."

As her tears didn't stop, Lee Doo-Oh shot up from his seat and approached her. "No, Seo-Yeon. It's not your fault. It's absolutely not your fault. Please don't cry, I'm begging you..."

Lee Doo-Oh hugged his crying sister tightly.

"Yoon-Ho hyung and Ho-Jae hyung will take care of you while I'm gone. I've been cooperating with the prosecution, so I'll be out soon. I'll pay for my mistakes and come back as quickly as I can."

"Oppa..."

Lee Seo-Yeon continued to weep quietly in her brother's arms.

At that moment, my phone rang.

[Caller ID: Seo Jae-Ill]

Taking a deep breath, I prepared to tell him we were on our way to the station.

But what Seo Jae-Ill said next was entirely unexpected.

1. Soybean paste stew ☜

2. Pan-fried battered zucchini ☜

3. Seasoned dried squid ☜

4. Braised tofu ☜

5. Spinach namul ☜

6. Stir-fried fish cakes ☜