Chapter 158
Chapter 158
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 158
Chapter Title: An Early Birthday
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“Was it really okay?”
Lee Yoo-ah, who must have gotten a good feeling on set, asked again with an excited look on her face. While waiting at a red light, I pulled out my phone and, instead of answering, showed her the video I’d taken.
The footage, shot with a wide-angle lens from behind the staff, perfectly captured the reactions of people captivated by Lee Yoo-ah's sweet performance.
“Thank you, Oppa.”
“I’ll send it to you later.”
Lee Yoo-ah’s eyes followed the movements of the responsive staff members.
A question suddenly popped into my head.
“Yoo-ah, what do you think about working overseas?”
“Huh?”
Lee Yoo-ah made a strange face, as if I’d said something absurd.
If the video I’d briefly seen and my intuition were correct, Lee Yoo-ah would break into the international market before Answer. And if she hit it big, she’d have to spend most of her time abroad.
For someone like Lee Yoo-ah, who had no social experience and not even a concept of popularity yet, it could be a grueling path, even if it meant earning a lot of money.
I knew all too well what it felt like to be separated from your family.
“Absolutely not… Why? Don’t tell me our Daepyo-nim said something like that again?”
That was the public image of our CEO, Park Jae-yong, who had tried and failed several times to succeed overseas.
“It has nothing to do with the Daepyo-nim. I’m just asking.”
“I don’t want to!”
This was a bit of a problem.
“What if you’d fail working in Korea but succeed overseas?”
“…I’d rather fail in Korea.”
Her resistance was surprisingly strong. Having seen a few cases of people who went through hell trying to make it abroad only to fail, it was an understandable sentiment.
She’ll probably change her mind when the time comes. While some things are worth protecting even in the face of money, in a case like this, anyone would choose the money.
We arrived at the company.
In the parking lot, there was a white SUV I hadn’t seen before. It was a popular domestic car model that had come out recently, with a price tag comparable to an imported vehicle.
It was also Sung-hoon hyung’s second car.
Did someone buy a new one?
“Is that a wedding car? What’s with the ribbon?”
“Isn’t the car pretty?”
“Yeah. It probably would have sold even better if it had an import emblem. Come to think of it, isn't that the car we shot a commercial for?”
“Answer seonbae-nims?”
“Yeah. It was one of the promotions for winning *Best Idol*.”
“Ah. So they were going for a hip vibe?”
We nodded and headed for the elevator.
-You’re not here yet?
As the elevator doors opened, another message from the Isa-nim came in.
“I just arrived.”
Why would he ask me to come at 8 PM, long after work hours?
As I entered the office, Team Leader Lee shot up from his seat.
“Yoo-ah, let’s go film a video for the channel.”
“Yes, Timjang-nim.”
Team Leader Lee, still not having gone home, grabbed a camcorder and left the office with Yoo-ah. They were probably going to film a promotional video for her channel in the practice room while she still had her full makeup on.
“Min-jun, I need to talk to you.”
The office was empty. The conversation began at the Isa-nim’s desk.
“…Are you okay with this?”
The Isa-nim sometimes gets lost in his own world and says things out of the blue. It usually meant it was a problem he’d been mulling over for a while.
“With what?”
“Your stake is over 20%, Min-jun.”
Now I understood. He was asking if I was okay with being treated like a PD or chief manager when my stake was large enough to grant me direct management rights.
“I even created an investment association to hide my shares. And they won’t be converted for another three months. It’s fine.”
“…If you say so, that’s a relief, but as someone who knows the truth, it’s a rather uncomfortable issue for me.”
It seemed the way the other chiefs, like Team Leader Choi or Siljang-nim Ji, and the head of PR treated me was getting on the Isa-nim’s nerves.
I was fine with it, though.
“Don’t worry about it. Just treat me like any other employee based on my performance evaluation.”
“……”
“You know I have a lot of money. Money is power.”
I said that, but in truth, even an extra 10,000 won in my salary would make me happy.
“Alright, then.”
After that, we discussed various events for Answer. As the Isa-nim spoke, he kept turning his phone screen on and off.
Was he waiting for something?
Small text appeared and disappeared on the dark screen.
“Let’s head down.”
Was that it? That was surprisingly brief.
I got on the elevator with the Isa-nim.
“…Don’t you need a car, Min-jun?”
The Answer members had asked me this morning, and now the Isa-nim was asking. The timing was impeccable.
“I haven’t really needed one since I have the company car, but there are times when I could use one.”
The white SUV in the underground parking lot flashed through my mind.
Could it be mine?
No. That was impossible. While JD Enter had made some money recently, they hadn’t even upgraded Answer’s vehicle yet.
I let out a chuckle at my own absurd daydream. If they were at a point where they could freely use corporate vehicles, the CEO or the Isa-nim would have gotten themselves nice cars first.
And it made no sense to make an SUV, which is less efficient in terms of convenience and space, Answer’s dedicated vehicle. It was just a coincidence, nothing more.
When the elevator arrived at the basement parking lot and the doors opened, a brighter-than-usual light flooded in. Unlike me, the Isa-nim walked toward the light as if nothing was out of the ordinary.
As we turned the corner, bright lights, the kind used for filming, were illuminating a white SUV in the middle of the parking lot. In front of the car was a ritual table with a pig’s head on it.
“…What is that?”
The Isa-nim simply smiled at my question.
♪♬
“Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you.”
The members of Answer emerged from the other side of the car, holding a large cake.
“Happy birthday, dear Min-jun…”
“Happy birthday, dear PD-nim…”
“Happy birthday, dear Oppa…”
The titles were different—
“Happy birthday to you! Woohoo!”
♪♬
—but the purpose of the lyrics was the same.
Besides CEO Park Jae-yong and a few of our company staff, there were also some unfamiliar faces filming with heavy-duty cameras.
The Answer members were holding the cake out to me, gesturing for me to blow out the candles.
“…It’s a misunderstanding. My birthday is next month.”
“We know. May 13th. We’re just celebrating early. Hurry up and blow them out.”
Seul-bi urged me on.
Who celebrates a birthday two weeks early?
If I blew out the candles from here, the soot would hit one of the Answer members no matter which way I aimed. I took the cake and blew toward an empty space.
“…Fwooo.”
“Yay!”
Pop! Pop!
Confetti exploded in the air and rained down on my head. I felt a mix of bewilderment and a lump forming in my throat.
This was the first time in over a decade, spanning both my lives, that someone had celebrated my birthday. The last party had been before the Fire Emblem members debuted. And here I was, in front of a ritual table with a pig’s head on it.
Whose idea was it to perform a ritual for a car, anyway?
Could it have been Seul-bi’s, who was surprisingly quirky?
“Congratulations, Oppa.”
“Congratulations, PD-nim Min-jun.”
“Hey, our Min-jun… a PD with both skill and good fortune. Just don’t forget that it all started with our JD Enter.”
Daepyo-nim. Let’s get things straight.
JD Enter is doing well thanks to me.
“My birthday aside…”
I trailed off, looking at the car.
“Answer said it’s a birthday present for you, PD-nim Min-jun.”
The Isa-nim said with a complicated smile. I knew from the commercial proposal that this car, from the base model to the fully-loaded version, cost anywhere from 60 million to 100 million won.
“……”
I was so stunned that I couldn’t even say thank you.
“This is a birthday present? Where did you get the money?”
“They each chipped in 15 million from the pay they just received.”
The Isa-nim said, his tone full of disbelief.
It might have been possible if the other members had stretched themselves, but Ro-si hadn’t even been paid that much.
“Don’t just look at us with those grateful eyes. Get in and try it.”
Seol-ah and Seul-bi grabbed my wrists and pulled, while Yi-na pushed me from behind. I was practically shoved into the driver's seat that Ro-si had opened.
*Whirrr.*
The seat adjusted automatically to a comfortable driving position. The resilient seat enveloped my body, pulling me in around my hips and lower back.
It felt several times more comfortable than the 2-million-won chair CEO Park Jae-yong used in his studio.
*Thunk.*
The driver’s side door closed, and the passenger and rear doors opened as the Answer members piled in.
“This was your first real paycheck, it couldn't have been much… How did you afford this? It’s obviously not the base model…”
I wasn’t a huge car enthusiast and hadn’t seen many cars, but this one had numerous futuristic convenience features, the kind Sung-hoon hyung, who would never drive a base model, would have.
“It’s the fully-loaded version.”
“That’s over 100 million won!”
My voice came out louder than I intended.
“We made a fair deal. In exchange for a promotional article about us giving our PD a gift.”
Seol-ah said with a proud expression, and the Answer members waited for my reaction.
It was touching. The problem was, it was so touching that I had no idea how to express it.
“This was your first paycheck… I’m so grateful I don’t know what to say. Thank you, really.”
“See? I told you. No matter how happy he is, Min-jun Oppa can’t make a big fuss.”
The Answer members chuckled at Seul-bi’s comment.
“It was a display model, so we couldn’t register it, and it’s not insured yet. You have to do that yourself, PD-nim.”
Seol-ah held out an envelope that I was sure contained money.
“How can I accept this too? I should at least…”
As I tried to hand the envelope back, Seol-ah stopped my hand and looked at me with sincere eyes.
“We all remember how you sold your mother’s keepsake to boost our self-esteem when we were hitting rock bottom last year.”
Seol-ah’s expression, along with all the other members’, turned solemn.
It was something I could do only because I saw this world as just a game, and my mother’s keepsake as nothing more than an item.
That hardened mindset was what allowed me to build my wealth so efficiently. Of course, that didn’t mean selling my mother’s ring had been easy.
“We know how sincere you were, so we wanted to give you a sincere gift, too.”
“Mhm.”
Yi-na nodded in agreement with Seul-bi’s words. I was still amazed that even Seul-bi and Yi-na, who seemed so carefree, had made such a huge decision.
“Unni, stop dragging it out.”
“…Should I?”
At Seul-bi’s words, another look of anticipation flickered across Seol-ah’s face.
Was there more?
After giving me an expensive car and money for insurance.
*Click.*
Ro-si, who was in the back seat, reached out and opened the car’s storage compartment. Seol-ah took out a velvet jewelry box.
A jolt ran through my entire body.
It couldn’t be… could it? They definitely said it had been passed on to another wholesaler.
But my instincts had already identified the contents of the box.
Seol-ah opened the lid.
My mother’s ring was inside, shining even more brilliantly than when I had sold it.
It felt like a piece of rice cake I’d swallowed wrong was coming back up my throat. I couldn’t breathe.
“…How… did you…”
I barely managed to get the words out.
“We went to over ten different places before we finally tracked it down.”
“……”
“It had been moved to a wholesaler in Jongno. We didn’t have enough money to get it back then, so we just put down a deposit and got a receipt…”
“He was a total scammer. He bought it from you for so cheap and then tried to sell it for more than double. I was so mad.”
Yi-na suddenly interjected, her voice filled with anger.
I had expected the shop owner to make a hefty profit. It’s not easy for individuals to trade jewelry, so their asking price was the final price, and every place I had gone to had quoted a similar rate.
“…Like Yi-na said, we couldn’t afford the additional amount at the time, so we couldn’t get it back for you sooner.”
“……”
“We pooled our money from the advance payment to make a down payment, and we got it back after receiving our final pay this time.”
“……”
“And even though Ro-si wasn’t with us back then, she insisted on being a part of it, so we all pitched in together.”
A wave of emotion, even greater than when I received the expensive car, choked me up, and I couldn’t speak.
“Still, the shop owner recognized us and gave us a million won discount. Being famous has its perks.”
“…Huu… Thank you.”
I had been able to find the ring but had deliberately chosen not to. I needed to push myself to the brink to accomplish my life’s goals. I had lived that way until now and had achieved considerable success.
But now, my heart was threatening to crumble.
I had tried to ignore it, but I still cherished the traces of my parents.
And I could easily imagine the trouble the Answer members must have gone through, running around trying to find the ring.
“Thank you so much. I’m truly touched.”
I finally managed to speak normally, and I could see a powerful sense of joy in the eyes of the Answer members.
“Please continue to lead us well. We’re counting on you.”
Though it was slightly playful, the sight of Seol-ah, who was the same age as me, bowing her head brought a smile to my face, and finally, my vision blurred.