Chapter 51
Chapter 51
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: Side Income
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College student hacker An Seong-hwan said to Shin Eun-ha.
"Noona. Saying it like that hurts my feelings."
"Ah! Sorry. That's not what I meant... But you do work part-time at a PC bang, right? Why do you think they entrusted the company server security check to you? It's all to save money..."
Na Gang-in chimed in.
"Seong-hwan's a hacker. A white hat hacker."
"Huh?"
"He's got real skills."
Shin Eun-ha blinked in surprise.
"Why's someone like that working part-time at a PC bang?"
"Beats me."
Shin Eun-ha glanced back and forth between An Seong-hwan and Na Gang-in, then grumbled.
"That PC bang is seriously weird. It's odd enough that Gang-in oppa sells food there, but now they've got a hacker working part-time too?"
"Could happen."
"Eun-seo might get a pass since the old man's her uncle and the boss, but you two are just strange."
"What's Eun-seo's deal?"
"Nothing. Forget it."
She turned to An Seong-hwan accusingly.
"Hey! Why didn't you tell me you were a hacker?"
"You never asked."
"You could brag about it. A college kid hacking away—doesn't that make you wanna show off?"
"Well..."
An Seong-hwan's first part-time gig after starting college had been getting kidnapped by a securities crime ring to code a manipulation program. And that program had been installed right in that PC bang. He was too ashamed to brag about it.
But right now, An Seong-hwan was flustered for a different reason.
"Gang-in hyung. How'd you know I'm a hacker?"
"Huh?"
"I never mentioned it at the PC bang..."
Na Gang-in was the one who'd rescued him from that dingy office where he'd been locked up coding the manipulation program.
But Na Gang-in had been wearing a mask at the time.
"Seriously, how'd you know?"
Na Gang-in gave a vague reply.
"Must've heard it somewhere."
"I got this feeling like I'd seen you before, from the first time we met at the PC bang. Have we really met somewhere?"
"Probably bumped into each other around the neighborhood."
"Doesn't feel like it..."
"Just eat. The food here's good."
An Seong-hwan grabbed a tray from SAH Entertainment's cafeteria and sat at their table.
"Whoa, noona. This looks seriously tasty. Our school cafeteria's slop compared to this."
An Seong-hwan dug into the side dishes first.
"Whoa. This is legit good."
She asked.
"Answer while you eat."
"Pardon?"
"You said you're a freshman in college. So how'd our company know you're a hacker and call you up?"
"I've been active on internet security community boards since middle school."
"Whoa, are you famous?"
"Of course. I'm kind of a big name there. Couldn't do part-time work till high school ended, but once I hit college, people started wanting my skills... Ah, never mind. This food's amazing."
Shin Eun-ha clapped her hands.
"Ah! So the company spotted you there and reached out?"
"Yep. I'm a named user, and I could deploy right away."
"Any other reason they called you?"
"Uh... cheap rates?"
Na Gang-in asked.
"Seong-hwan, didn't you say you wanted a normal job, that's why you went to the PC bang? This doesn't seem all that normal."
"True. But..."
An Seong-hwan had vowed dozens of times during those days locked in that dingy office that he'd never take another security-related gig.
But SAH Entertainment was the agency for his favorite girl group. They weren't super popular, but An Seong-hwan loved them. He'd even posted about them on the security boards.
The company's server admin occasionally lurked on those boards too. He'd remembered An's posts about the group and asked him to do the security check.
That resolution from his captivity melted away the instant he heard the agency's name.
And he realized something else.
"This field's my pine forest. Even pine caterpillars gotta munch some pine needles now and then to survive."
As An Seong-hwan said that, his eyes kept drifting toward the girl group.
Shin Eun-ha glanced that way, then asked him.
"You like them?"
"I'm a fan."
"You said you were my fan."
"You're a fan too, noona."
"So why're you only looking at them in front of me?"
"Ppf Girls has four members, so that's four times the fandom... Ack! Wait, are you close with Ppf Girls, noona?"
"Nah. We just nod and say hi if we pass by. I'm an actress; they're singers."
"Aw..."
"Are you disappointed in me right now?"
An Seong-hwan quickly changed the subject.
"Why'd you come here with hyung, Gang-in? A date with Eun-ha noona...?"
Na Gang-in replied.
"She said she'd buy me food."
"What? You came all the way here just for a meal?"
"Figured I'd talk about the CF gig while I'm at it."
"Whoa, hyung, you're finally doing a commercial? Wow! Big shot from our PC bang!"
"Not me doing the shooting."
Shin Eun-ha boasted from the side.
"The advertiser specifically requested Gang-in oppa as the martial arts director for the CF I'm doing with Yu-chan oppa. The production company begged him so much to come, so he's gonna hear them out."
Na Gang-in said.
"I haven't said yes yet."
"Why? Not doing the CF?"
"Yeah. Let's do it. Gotta make money."
An Seong-hwan jumped in.
"Can I tag along then?"
Shin Eun-ha asked.
"Huh? You came here to work. We're heading out today?"
"I got here at dawn and checked everywhere for breaches. Lucky nothing. Added security patches too. For more, you'd need a formal contract with a security firm—not my call."
"So you were sticking around to watch Ppf Girls eat?"
"The guy who called me said if I ate here, I might catch a glimpse. Ppf Girls finishes eating and heads to an event after ages away, so no need for me to hang longer. So..."
An Seong-hwan asked Na Gang-in.
"Hyung. Want me to be your manager for the day?"
"You just wanna sightsee, right?"
"Heh. Yeah."
"Just come along."
"Yes sir!"
Manager-level agent Park Woo-seop handled Shin Eun-ha plus two other celebrities. He had plenty to do in-house too.
So during film shoots, a road manager usually shadowed Shin Eun-ha.
Today, with CF contract talks, Park Woo-seop took the wheel.
Park Woo-seop yelled while driving.
"I'll keep my eyes peeled so that CF production company doesn't pull any cheap tricks on Gang-in. Haha!"
"No need to go that far."
"Anyway, with Eun-ha and Gang-in moving together, they won't dare play games. No pressure. This is win-win, right? Haha!"
Na Gang-in chuckled.
He felt zero pressure, not even a fingernail's worth. No intention of asking for favors either. He had a reliable backup.
He whispered softly.
"Ji-in-ah. If they sneak tricks into the contract, can you spot 'em?"
"What? Don't you have to draft contracts sometimes during infiltration ops?"
"So that's why you sass me sometimes—with actual emotion?"
"So you just straight-up mouth off to me then."
Now he knew he couldn't rely on AI Jeon Ji-in for contract analysis. Time for Plan B.
Na Gang-in proposed to Manager Park Woo-seop.
"I like win-win too. Want me to drive?"
The advertiser was a major beverage company.
In the CF production company's meeting room, the PD briefly explained the ad concept.
"Kim Yu-chan and Shin Eun-ha fight fiercely and spectacularly over a bottle of drink, then the winner drinks it. Two versions where Yu-chan wins, two where Eun-ha does."
Shin Eun-ha, with barely any CF experience, asked.
"Four versions?"
"TV airs one at a time; online, all four play in sequence, mixed up in different orders."
Kim Yu-chan and Shin Eun-ha were from different agencies.
Kim Yu-chan looked over the concept and said.
"No details on the action choreography?"
"We'll leave that entirely to Na Gang-in. We heard about your feats in Sunny Day. Haha."
Na Gang-in murmured softly.
"Ji-in-ah. Does the training manual production filming skill include choreographing others' moves?"
"Sweet."
"Uh..."
The CF production PD asked Na Gang-in.
"Any issues?"
"Choreographing's easy. Just not sure if those two can keep up."
"Pardon? They pulled it off in the movie."
"I was Kim Yu-chan's stunt double then. Can't use doubles for a CF, right?"
The PD looked troubled.
"Ah... Then what do we do... Gotta shoot soon... If Yu-chan works hard, can't we get those cool shots like in Sunny Day?"
Kim Yu-chan's manager waved his hands wildly.
"That movie's action? Yu-chan does it himself and he's dead."
Kim Yu-chan shot back.
"Hyung, you're underestimating me."
"So you'll do it yourself?"
Kim Yu-chan thought a moment, then shook his head.
"Nah. Thought about it—one slip and I'm really dead."
The CF PD grew anxious.
This beverage company handled tons of products, so they made big ads like this plus lots of small ones. Nailing this was key to landing more.
"No way around it? Gang-in, how about appearing in the CF yourself?"
That wouldn't work.
Na Gang-in asked.
"How far can we go with CG?"
"Pardon?"
"If I guide their movements from between them, can you erase just me from the footage later?"
The PD's face lit up.
"Of course! Wear a full-face green motion-capture suit!"
"Perfect. Then we're good."
"Can we get action as cool as the movie that way?"
Na Gang-in replied.
"Not quite as good as me doing it, but it'll look pretty damn good."
Things were heading positive.
Shin Eun-ha's manager Park Woo-seop opened his laptop.
"Then let's talk specifics on appearance terms. Ah, Wi-Fi password here?"
The PD gave the Wi-Fi password. Park entered it and connected.
"Hm? Connected then cut off right away?"
He turned. College hacker An Seong-hwan, who'd checked SAH's security that day, was watching from the corner.
"Our security expert buddy. Can you take a look?"
"Sure!"
An Seong-hwan plopped down at the laptop.
"You've got way too much crap installed. Slows it down... Huh?"
An Seong-hwan's face hardened. Park asked.
"What's up?"
"I ran security scans on the company today. You installed it too?"
"Installed it the second I got it. I'm big on security."
"That's what's killing your internet."
Park tilted his head.
"You told me to install it. I did, and now it's a problem? This kid installed something sketchy?"
"Not that..."
"Ah, whatever. Uninstall it."
College hacker An Seong-hwan warned.
"Uninstall that and hackers'll strip this laptop bare."
"What?"
"The program auto-cuts internet the instant it detects a hack attempt."
"Huh? I just connected to Wi-Fi."
"You got hit the moment you joined this network."
"No way. Why just my laptop..."
"You think they'd target only your laptop, manager? Whoa. Heard some guy's hitting celeb agencies lately—now CF production companies too?"
The PD panicked and jumped in.
"What're you saying? Our company's being hacked right now?"
"Yep."
"We don't even have a server room or anything."
"Then every PC in the company's been ransacked."
Something hit the PD.
"Ah... Morning slowdown... Thought it was fixed since it's fine now."
An Seong-hwan shook his head.
"Hacker already grabbed what they wanted this morning."
"S-so cutting internet now is pointless?"
"Yep."
"Ah! This ain't the time!"
The PD bolted from the room.
Moments later, the president burst in.
"What's this about all our PCs hacked?!"
An Seong-hwan assured.
"Looks like ninety-nine percent."
"Which bastard?!"
"We'd have caught 'em if we knew."
The president, face beet-red, proposed.
"Let's nab that hacker bastard!"
"Huh?"
"Reverse trace! Just find the punk's location. Cops'll grab him, our lawyers'll shred him."
"I'm defense specialist, not tracing."
He was good at hacking too, but no need to say.
"We'll pay for the trace!"
"Tracing ain't for amateurs. Easier with law enforcement help."
"No way?"
"Call in pros. Security firm maybe. Pricey though."
Na Gang-in murmured softly.
"We take that money?"