Chapter 165: Light and Shadow (6)
Ju-Hyeok got up, stretched, and ate toast for breakfast the next morning.
Wipe. Wipe.
With skilled movements, he did the dishes as well. Now it was a routine part of his daily life. There was one more thing about how he started his day's work. He put on his slippers and headed out to the yard. Ju-Hyeok lit a cigarette and took a deep breath, exhaling slowly.
"Phew."
As he saw the white smoke fade into the air with his sleepy eyes, he smiled shyly.
"This is the life."
A natural smile formed on his face because everything was working out. He checked his texts again in disbelief.
[Ju-Hyeok: Then I'll see you on the meeting date.]
[Manager Oh: Alright. Look closely at the contract and see what you need to change.]
[Ju-Hyeok: Yes!]
Ju-Hyeok was waiting for Sang-Hyeon to return from a run to tell him the news because it was confirmed, but there was even more news.
Bling.
[Ji-Ah: I've uploaded the video]
Another video was uploaded today. It had been two days in a row since yesterday morning.
[Ju-Hyeok: What the? Already?]
[Ji-Ah: Story mode was like Kingdom Age from back then, so it was easy.]
‘Ah, it was story mode.’
Ju-Hyeok brushed past his hair.
'It's time.'
These videos would have a huge influence.
[LILmond | Raina's Story #1 - Who am I? Where am I?]
[LILmond | Raina's Story #2 - Minion's true identity!?]
[LILmond | Raina's Story #3 - The first in the country to get three stars!]
Ju-Hyeok read the title of the third video and was impressed by her ability to attract viewers. It was truly the best title while using only facts. Even so, YouTube viewers were in disbelief.
— Really?
— You're lying.
— First in Korea??? Really??
— Isn't this fake news?
└ No, it's not.
— (Deleted comment)
Ju-Hyeok tried to fight back in the comments on his alternative account and erased the negative ones on his main account. Thanks to that, the views of the videos continued to go up. At first, it went up by 10k and 20k. In one hour, it went up by 200k.
"... We did it again."
Ju-Hyeok stared at the YouTube page with his jaws dropped. They got into the charts once again.
#Trending Videos #Currently Hot 29th
The YouTube hashtags started to appear on the video. It was 29th in the video game category. If this continued, there would be more newcomers from the videos, snowballing into even more.
Soon afterward…
[Views 301]
#11th
It easily reached the top rankings and there weren't many negative comments this time around.
— Kissing Raina was so touching...
— So this guy is Almond... I'm subscribing starting today. He's so good!
— He's good with the knife too!
— Wow... 15:39, this is the climax.
└ For real
└ It's like an actual movie. LIL's balance patch is shit, but you must credit them for this.
— I can't believe they hid something like this for three stars.
└ For real.
— Fucking Police. How are we supposed to kill minions now that we've seen this?
└ For real...
└ Hey! If you don't do your homework, you'll become a minion!
└ I can't let my daughter get married to a minion! Please leave!
└ I'll be back!
└ What the hell are you guys on about
└ Is this a Netflix show?
The viewers were touched, angry, and impressed after watching Almond play as a minion during Raina's past. It brought a smile to Ju-Hyeok's face, seeing the people enjoy the video in their own way. The only negative comments he could find were people jealous of Raina kissing Almond.
— What the fuck? You can actually kiss her?!
— Raina...
— My Raina betrayed me...
— R-Raina! I'll rescue you!!
— We, her fans, are going to run you over!!
— Take back Raina from Almond (0/10000)
└ I want in.
└ Every Korean should. NO Almond.
└ NO Almond!
└ LOL
└ NO Almond!!
Sometimes, some people weren't joking and went too far. Thankfully not in this channel though.
— Wait, do you know how much money I spent on Raina? How did this guy, who spent nothing, get so lucky, clear three stars, and get a reward like this? I think we really need to do something about him.
└ For real. It pisses me off.
└ Why did they even make a gifting mechanism then? Fuck this company.
"..."
Ju-Hyeok took back his statement. Even on Almond's channel, some fans were overreacting.
He could hear Sang-Hyeon behind him, "What's that? Why are they so angry?"
Sang-Hyeon was drinking a sports drink, drenched in sweat from his morning exercise.
"Yeah, you're back?"
"Yeah. What are they talking about? Why do they hate me?"
"You really don't know?"
"Because I cleared three stars first?"
"Kind of."
"What is it?"
"Because you kissed Raina..."
"?"
Sang-Hyeon was confused and brushed it off, "Oh, they're just joking."
Ju-Hyeok wanted to tell him they weren't, but he shut his mouth. It was probably better for Sang-Hyeon to think they were joking.
"Anyways, thank goodness we're in the slums. They won't be able to find us here."
Ju-Hyeok was relieved for the first time that they lived in Hoogye.
'Ah, I have to tell him about the ad.'
Ju-Hyeok was about to tell Almond about the ad Manager Oh was talking about.
However...
"Don't we have any soft tofu stew or anything today?"
Ju-Hyeok couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"What...?"
Was he asking Ju-Hyeok if they had food? This guy, who always chewed on almonds, was asking him for food?
"... Guess nothing."
Sang-Hyeon saw Ju-Hyeok's confused look and thought he was telling him there wasn't any food and headed towards his room.
"W-Wait. I don't have any soft tofu stew, but I can make some kimchi stew."
Ju-Hyeok quickly grabbed him. If he lost this opportunity, he would be stuck making breakfast for the rest of his life or having to eat almond flakes.
"Kimchi stew? We have kimchi at home?"
***
"Welcome to Oh Gang-Woo's ten-thousand-year-old, traditional kimchi stew!"
Ju-Hyeok brought him to Oh Gang-Woo's kimchi stew restaurant.
"... I was just going to eat whatever we had at home."
"Just go in. Do you know how many coupons we have for this place? We have to use it all. I hear we get extra food during lunchtime as well."
"I guess you're right..."
Sang-Hyeon couldn't say no to free coupons and grabbed a table inside.
"Speaking of ads."
"... Ah, yeah?"
"Manager Oh contacted me."
Sang-Hyeon's gaze turned from the menu to Ju-Hyeok after hearing Manager Oh's name. It was because he was concerned about something these days.
"Manager Oh got an ad for us by himself."
"By himself? Why?"
‘Yeah, why did he?’ Ju-Hyeok also thought it was odd as well.
If you give this contract a good chance, I'll try to get an ad for you guys. Is there something you want?
The first one to make the suggestion was Manager Oh. Manager Oh offered them an ad for Ju-Hyeok to be Miho's manager and for Sang-Hyeon to participate in the tournament.
Of course, it won't be through my company. That's my usual job. I'll try to find it using outside connections.
Manager Oh was even going through the trouble of using his connections to find them something. This meant that he was not only doing it for free, but was personally helping them out. Ju-Hyeok could only come to one conclusion.
"I think Manager Oh is looking to branch off on his own."
"... On his own?"
It meant that he would leave the company to start his own practice. Ju-Hyeok predicted it would be an entertainment company.
"Yeah. Why do you think he's so secretive about his relationship with Bubblegum's company?"
"Bubblegum's company? Wouldn't that be just switching companies?"
"Hmm... I think he's going into their company as a partner, and branching off on his own."
Being co-owner of a company was close to having an individual practice.
"Wow. What a career."
Sang-Hyeon nodded while ordering a nine-thousand hell stew. He could sense it since Manager Oh was looking for a replacement for Bubblegum's team. However, that wasn't enough to go off of. Working at Punk was already an impressive career. Branching off individually had big risks of its own. Sang-Hyeon wasn't convinced just yet.
"And he recommended me to be Miho's manager."
"!?"
So that was it. Miho was under Bubblegum's company and a partnered streamer with Punk. Punk was like entertainment, but being partnered with a game distributor company was entirely different.
"... Then what company are you going to be in?"
.
"I'll be like half and half. It looks like in this industry, no one's tied down to one company."
"True. Ahsung was just old school. These days, everyone's like that."
Sang-Hyeon blanked out from hearing this news all at once. Ju-Hyeok being in charge of other streamers was only a matter of time, but it came quicker than he thought. That streamer was none other than Miho, a very popular streamer.
"So... are you going to do it?"
Ju-Hyeok shook his head.
"I don't know yet."
"Did you tell that to Manager Oh as well?"
"Hey! Are you doubting me? I said the same thing to him."
"But you said Manager Oh got something for us..."
Ju-Hyeok nodded as if he agreed with Sang-Hyeon.
"That must mean Manager Oh is already leaning toward the other side."
"Then what's going to happen to the partnership with Punk? What about Bubblegum's side?"
"We have nothing to do with it. This is a matter between Bubblegum's entertainment company and Punk. I don't think they'll kick out everyone from Bubblegum's team just because Manager Oh quit. I think the partnership will stay."
Sang-Hyeon got goosebumps. He thought it was ruthless whether it was Ahsung, Punk, or Bubblegum's entertainment company. Survival in every industry was difficult. If there were individuals who were sought after, everyone went for them. There was no choice but to be ruthless...
'They must want Ju-Hyeok too. They did like him from the beginning.'
Wherever there was light, there were shadows. Especially in an industry where stars rose, the stronger the light, the darker the shadow.
"So what's the ad?"
Sang-Hyeon tried to focus on the light for now. As long as he could balance it, he felt like everything would pass by without anything significant happening.
Ju-Hyeok smiled as he asked about the ad.
"Should I say, as expected from Manager Oh? He brought something special."
Ju-Hyeok's email was full of random ads and small-time offers consisting of clothing brands, supplements, fried chicken restaurants…
Manager Oh knew very well that these types of ads were useless.
"It's a video ad for almond cereal."
"... Oh?"
It was an almond cereal ad and the most famous brand.
"The company is based out of the country. The most famous one."
"Green Diamond?" Sang-Hyeon asked with disbelief in his eyes.
"Yeah. The one you always eat."
"Wow...!"
Sang-Hyeon made the happiest face he could make.