The Price of Cutting in Line
It was quite late by the time Park Jihun returned to Seoul. As soon as he opened the door to his cramped rooftop room, he took off his coat and hung it in the closet. He wanted to lie down on his bed for a moment, but there was no time to rest. Jihun immediately turned on his computer. There were only a few minutes left until his broadcast time. His body was exhausted, but his mind felt unusually sharp.
While preparing to go live, he recalled his mother’s face as they’d grilled pork together at the restaurant. He hadn't seen her in a while, and he noticed new blemishes and wrinkles scattered across her face. He had a burning desire to give her a life of comfort as soon as possible. "To do that, I have to work hard." Jihun sat in his chair and moved the mouse. When he opened the Ocean management window, the reservation list caught his eye first.
"Whoa." A sound of admiration escaped his lips. The reservation board was already packed. Nicknames were listed one after another from top to bottom. There were well over twenty viewers who had made paid reservations. It had been like this even before the Novagen Therapeutics incident blew up, so it was hard to guess how much more it would grow once he turned on the broadcast today.
Jihun checked the list in the order of those who had donated 500 water droplets. Most of them were viewers who had been watching consistently since his very first broadcast. Then, halfway down the list, his eyes stopped on a familiar name. Nathan. His name was there, too. Assuming he saw five people a day, Nathan would have to wait at least four more days.
"Not long now." Jihun muttered to himself. It was true that he was secretly curious about Nathan's identity. However, he had no intention of allowing anyone to cut the line. That was the very reason he had fixed the Bokchae at 500 water droplets in the first place. He took a bottle of water from the refrigerator and took a sip. The sound of the computer's cooling fan echoed loudly in the small rooftop room. Sitting at his desk with the monitor glow illuminating the space, he finally felt like he was back in his proper place.
Jihun pressed the start button for the broadcast. A moment later, the transmission indicator appeared on the side of the screen, and as soon as the chat window opened, messages began to pour in rapidly.
Jihun scanned the chat window quietly before turning on his microphone. "Quiet down." Jihun said, pulling up the reservation list. "We're going in order again today. You know there's no cutting in line, right?"
Just then, the first donation of the day hit.
Jihun chuckled. "agei has manners." The chat reaction was the same.
Jihun opened the Discord channel for the first caller. Even though only a few minutes had passed since he went live, the viewer count had already hit 3,000.
"SpaceClass, speak." A sound of someone catching their breath came through the Discord. Soon, a young man's voice emerged cautiously. "Ah, hyung, hello."
"Forget the greetings." Jihun tossed out, looking at his monitor. "What do you want to see?"
"I... I have a job interview." The chat reacted immediately.
SpaceClass continued hurriedly. "I have two interviews overlapping right now. One is a mid-sized company, and the other is a small place, but the conditions are pretty good. I'm not sure which one I should go to..."
Jihun tapped his desk with his fingertips. "Both interviews are on Wednesday, right?"
"Yes, yes. That's right."
"That's why it's a headache. Because you can only go to one."
"Huck, yes, how did you know?"
"Because I can see everything." Jihun stopped answering for a moment and closed his eyes. Silence flowed. The chat window went quiet as well.
A moment later, Jihun opened his mouth. "The mid-sized company? Don't go there."
"Yes?"
"Even if you get in, you won't last long."
"Ah, but that company is bigger... The benefits are good, the salary is quite high, and it's good in many ways..."
Jihun cut him off. "Just because it's big doesn't mean it's good." His voice was short and firm. SpaceClass asked again, "Then should I go to the second company's interview?"
Jihun replied immediately. "Yeah. Go there."
"The salary is a bit lower there. And it's a startup..."
"You'll regret it if you only look at the money."
Jihun continued, "The first place will ruin you because of the people."
"...Really?"
"You'll get stuck with the wrong boss." Jihun added briefly. "He'll pretend to be fine at first. But within two months, your face will be rotting away from stress."
SpaceClass swallowed hard. "Then what about the startup?"
"Even if you get paid a little less, you'll be able to breathe."
"..."
"Go where there are people you can walk with." Jihun said, cutting it off finally. "Don't just look at the numbers in front of you."
The second viewer was LegendDrumtong. "Hello. I really respect you, hyung. I was so surprised to see everything you've predicted so far." He was long-winded as soon as he entered Discord. Jihun frowned. "Just tell me the point."
"Ah, yes. You see, I have an important deal today. So I wanted to ask for your advice..."
LegendDrumtong continued, "I decided to sell my used car. I was originally going to just hand it over to a dealer, but a private buyer contacted me. They said they'd pay more, too."
Jihun listened quietly and asked, "You're meeting tomorrow afternoon, right?"
"Yes. That's right."
"Where?"
"Songdo. They asked me to come there."
Jihun tapped his desk once. "Are you going alone?"
"Yes? Ah, yes. Isn't it just showing the car and signing the contract?"
Jihun closed his eyes for a moment. Then he opened his mouth immediately. "Just go."
The chat window stopped instantly. LegendDrumtong asked back, flustered. "Can I really go?"
"Yeah, you can go."
"I'm really trusting you and going to sell the car tomorrow, hyung?"
"Do that." Jihun added indifferently. "They aren't a scammer. They really are a person who wants to buy the car."
The chat window flipped a beat later.
Jihun cut off the relief in LegendDrumtong's voice. "Instead." The Discord went quiet. "Yes?"
"Don't go straight home after selling the car, go to the hospital first."
LegendDrumtong asked back in a dazed voice. "The hospital?"
"Yeah." Jihun said, narrowing his eyes. "Your stomach has been hurting constantly lately, right?"
"...Yes?"
"And it gets worse after you drink."
LegendDrumtong's voice became noticeably smaller. "No, that's... I just thought I was tired lately."
"Don't brush it off as just being tired." Jihun's voice sank. "Go there tomorrow right after the deal. Get your stomach checked."
"...Do I really have to go to the hospital?"
"You were planning to get drunk to celebrate selling the car tomorrow, weren't you?" It was a short, cold remark. "Go to the hospital first."
Jihun moved the reservation list down one spot. The third nickname was Kasungi. A moment later, the Discord connection sound was heard. "Hello, this is Kasungi." The voice was low and calm. Jihun stared at the monitor without a word.
"It's my turn, right?"
Jihun tossed out, "Kasungi?"
"Ah, yes. I am Kasungi."
Jihun tapped his desk with his fingertips. The nickname on the reservation list was indeed Kasungi. But strangely, it didn't feel like Kasungi. It was like someone wearing someone else's clothes by force. Jihun narrowed his eyes.
"Is there a problem?" The voice asked again. Jihun said in a cold tone, "I told you not to cut in line, didn't I?"
The Discord went silent. The chat window was in an uproar.
The person on the other side let out a sound mixed with a dry laugh. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Jihun didn't change his expression. "Did you think I wouldn't recognize you if you borrowed an ID to get in?"
This time, the chat window exploded.
The breathing on the other side of the Discord shook briefly. And a few seconds later, the person let out a short exclamation. "Wow." Then he continued, "You even noticed this?"
Jihun frowned. "How much free time do you have to buy someone else's turn?"
Nathan laughed and said, "I paid a fair price to borrow it."
"It's the same thing."
"No, more than that, I'm really just so curious... how did you know about Novagen?"
Jihun cut him off. "Your turn is still a long way off."
"I know that, but... I was just so curious."
Jihun didn't answer and spoke sharply. "Get out."
Without waiting, Jihun disconnected Nathan's Discord. Click. After Nathan was forcibly kicked out of the Discord, Jihun opened his lips again. "Next."
Just then, a donation hit.