Season 2: Chapter 16. Wave After Wave (4)
"Thank you!"
PD Jang’s eyes had burned with anger when he was heading to the director's office. Now, he came out full of energy.
"Secretary, you work so hard! We feel very supported because of you!"
"Th-Thank you?"
Without any hesitation, he even greeted the director's secretary, whom he had never acknowledged before. Then, he quickly left the office.
***
PD Jang returned to his team.
Unexpectedly, his expression seemed almost angry, which led his team members to ask in shock, "PD Jang?"
Seeing PD Jang's face turn red and then pale, a team member started to explain defensively, "We were already thinking we might have to work overtime from now on—"
"HAHAHAHA!" PD Jang loudly laughed with both his arms spread out.
"!?"
The employees looked shocked.
'Has he lost it?'
'He must've snapped.'
Regardless, PD Jang pretended to punch the air and excitedly shouted, "In-Ho lost!"
It was as if In-Ho was standing right in front of him.
PD Jang swung his fists with great passion and continued, "You moron! Jerk! Left! Right! Strike!"
The team members watching him thought, 'If they fought, PD Jang would probably lose. Wouldn't In-Ho win?'
Despite In-Ho’s gentle appearance, they didn't believe he'd lose to PD Jang.
Then someone asked the important question, "What exactly happened?"
The others nodded in agreement.
"Did In-Ho mess up and get us fired?"
PD Jang took a deep breath, calmed himself, and sat down.
"Alright, I'll explain." He caught his breath and began. "So, the advertisement from In-Ho's agency was our lifeline, right? In-Ho tried to use that as a leash."
"Right."
The team nodded.
"So, our lifeline was cut?"
"No! What a ridiculous thing to say."
PD Jang looked surprised and a bit angry.
"Then what?"
"Another lifeline appeared."
With a sly smile, PD Jang pointed to the sky.
"It's not some cosmetic company that sells only in Asia, but up there!"
"Above...?"
All the employees looked up at the cheap acoustic ceiling, but they saw something else in their minds.
"It's a company that sells worldwide."
"Who is it? Why are they our lifeline?"
"It’s the company called Divers."
The ones who often played virtual games expressed their astonishment.
The employees who dabbled in stocks also voiced their regrets, "Divers?!"
PD Jang nodded, "Yes! Divers! They also sponsor Almond!"
"Wow! Wow!"
"Exactly! Because it's a capsule company! It's perfect that Almond advertises for them!"
"What's this about Almond and capsules?"
Those who didn't play games or trade stocks remained confused.
"What's Divers?"
"... It's, it's impressive?"
Others eagerly explained with enthusiasm. They spoke about Divers’ huge sales overseas, their solid foundation in providing basic capsules, market capitalization, and so on...
"Wow... The industry is booming these days."
"Yes. It's no joke. And you know?" PD Jang excitedly added. "It's not just Divers, but an advertisement for Nova, a premium line they began producing this year. Their CEO was so fed up with their budget-friendly image that he created this new line with determination! Remember the story of Ford pouring in money to compete with Ferrari by making the Ford GT? It's similar. They must've invested a lot, right?"
"Wow..."
"He invested so much that the director praised me. How did things proceed so smoothly, right? The director even personally evaluated it and said I did well! Hahaha!"
PD Jang raised both arms in delight. It felt good to be praised by the director. Earlier, he was thinking of confronting the director.
Seeing PD Jang so happy, the employees cheered and applauded him.
"Wow!"
"Great job! PD Jang, you have your internal evaluation coming up!"
"You might get promoted this time, right?"
Given his age, PD Jang had reached a pivotal moment in his career. This good news came at just the right time.
"Dinner! Dinner! Dinner!"
A celebratory dinner naturally followed.
"Yes! Dinner?"
PD Jang jumped and pulled out his credit card.
"Those who want to leave early today, leave! Those who stay, I'm buying premium beef!"
A roar of approval erupted from behind the partitions.
***
Sunlight forced its way through his eyelids.
"... Ten o'clock."
Sang-Hyeon instinctively sat up to check the time. He leaped out of bed without any hesitation.
‘I slept in.’
Sang-Hyeon had uncharacteristically slept in. He walked out of his room with a hint of urgency.
"Oh. Thank you, sir."
Ju-Hyeok was on a call.
'The CEO?'
From Ju-Hyeok’s manner on the phone, it seemed he was speaking to someone important.
Sang-Hyeon felt curious, but didn’t want to intrude. He stepped out into the courtyard for some fresh air and to fully wake up.
Their conversation sounded like good news.
As Sang-Hyeon stepped out, the chilly air enveloped him. He dressed simply in a tracksuit and a padded jacket and watched his breath turn white as he exhaled.
In this cold, he could mimic those middle-aged men who always smoked. Having never smoked, this was how Sang-Hyeon got his kick in. He'd normally jog at this hour, but the cold discouraged him from doing so.
"Brrr..."
He decided to take a stroll around the small yard. The backyard, no larger than thirty-three square meters, was still decent to walk around with an adjacent garden.
His grandmother's favorite spot remained untouched in the backyard. He had planted a tree there for his grandmother, but there was no sign of it anymore.
"I wonder when it'll grow..."
Would it sprout by spring once winter passed? Or did the seed freeze and he had to plant another one?
It dawned on him that almost a year had gone by. He reflected on the year that flew by so quickly since he started streaming.
Sang-Hyeon looked at the sky and said, "Grandma, we might move from this house next year."
He remembered how she always told him to live in the apartment downtown. It no longer seemed like a distant goal to him.
He looked back at his home. Cheap metal plates covered the roof, crookedly stacked red bricks made up the walls, and the windows squeaked. This house was cool in the summer because it was on high ground, but it wasn't ideal for enduring the winter.
His grandmother ultimately lived to the end of her life in this house.
Sang-Hyeon's right hand, tucked in his pocket, trembled. Perhaps it was because of the cold.
"Hey!"
A window suddenly flung open, and Ju-Hyeok's face appeared.
"Great news!"
Ju-Hyeok's glasses instantly fogged up, and Sang-Hyeon laughed without realizing it.
"They're going to run ads on our stream from Divers. They'll put ads on almost all of our videos!"
He excitedly chattered on, not caring about his fogged-up glasses.
"Oh, really?" Sang-Hyeon replied and walked into the house.
It was difficult to endure winter in this house, but it truly felt warm inside. Perhaps someone's warmth guarded this home.
"Oh. By the way, they said they invested a lot of money and also reached out to PD Jang."
"... Really?"
They had met PD Jang a few times. He seemed to be a man with a lot of pride.
"How much did they invest?"
Ju-Hyeok turned his chin up and flared his nostrils.
"It was the CEO. He really pulled some strings."
"...?"
The next sentence immediately answered Sang-Hyeon's question about whether it was the representative from Divers.
"In summary," Ju-Hyeok began, "I had a feeling something was off with In-Ho. I was bothered by the fact that he went up to their management office."
'I definitely saw it too.'
Sang-Hyeon also witnessed it, but didn't think much of it.
It could seem insignificant to some, but such subtle movements could be a significant turning point for someone sharp and observant like Ju-Hyeok.
"I made some predictions about what In-Ho might’ve discussed in the management office and which advertisements would be attached."
Ju-Hyeok learned that the advertiser consistently supporting the broadcasting station was a cosmetics company that In-Ho's agency invested in.
"Oh, so that's how this industry works. I had a rough idea. I even asked a friend at the broadcasting station to be sure. Turns out I was right."
He confirmed his suspicions after utilizing his connections.
The next part was simple. The Divers representative owed him a debt and it was finally time to capitalize.
"The Divers representative said to contact him if we ever needed anything. Even before they released Nova, there were many inquiries and pre-orders after our promotion with them."
"... That's impressive," Sang-Hyeon genuinely voiced his thoughts.
"Yes, it's good that you know."
Ju-Hyeok chuckled and coolly acknowledged it. He headed toward the kitchen and perhaps planned on cooking something.
Suddenly...
"Ah," Ju-Hyeok seemed to recall something else he had to mention. "By the way, we're attending the year-end award ceremony."
***
December marked another grand event, the Treevy year-end award ceremony. The in-house tournament that took place just a month before this award ceremony wasn't a coincidence. The idea was to introduce a huge twist right before the ceremony. It was like giving someone a chance to overturn a large score at the end of training camp.
"Sigh, an award ceremony..."
Sang-Hyeon sat on the sofa and reflected on what he'd just heard from Ju-Hyeok.
"But I only started not too long ago... Can I?"
While the streaming award ceremony was known to be flexible, Sang-Hyeon's late start in the year seemed to put him at a disadvantage. He wondered if he would even be nominated.
"Did they invite us just as guests?"
"Hmm."
Ju-Hyeok sat at the table and stroked his chin.
"Well, they didn't say anything specific. I just received an email saying we were invited..."
‘So it's possible we're just guests.’ Sang-Hyeon nodded in understanding.
The two went about their business.
"Oh, but they said something would be posted today on the website."
"Regarding the awards?"
"Yeah, let's check it out. I didn’t see anything when I looked this morning."
Sang-Hyeon checked the time. It was well past lunchtime, so they could’ve updated it.
Sure enough...
"Hey, look! We're nominated! We’re not just guests. We're actual nominees!"
Ju-Hyeok showed him the screen that listed the nominees for the "Newcomer Award."
[Newcomer Award Nominees]
1. ForeverAlone
2. Pepperoni
3. SweetPotato
4. Lemon
5. Almond
They listed Almond at number five. Since he started streaming the latest, they probably chose him last.
"That was close."
"Wow."
They were clearly last on the list, but it wasn't a big deal.
There was also a note below the list of nominees.
[Vote for your favorite streamer!
Click on the Support button below the stream and it will be counted in the awards!]