Chapter 198: Stop at Nothing, By Any Means (5)

TL: emptycube / ED: Isleidir

Damn it. This was frustrating.

So it wasn’t Director Joo Jaechan’s scenario?

“So it wasn’t your scenario?”^{1}

… Huh?

Did ‘I’ just speak?

The words ‘I’ thought had come out of my future self’s mouth. Without a single difference. Was it a coincidence? Was it just incredible timing? I gulped anxiously. I tasted the disgusting smell of alcohol from my mouth.

It felt like I had actually gulped just now. Was it also a coincidence?

Maybe I should try it once more?

Ah.

I tried to speak whilst perking my ears.

However, my voice simply echoed in my mind. I tried again. I tried to talk to Director Joo Jaechan and singing the ‘ABCs’ and national anthem. I even shouted, but there was no sound.

There wasn’t any, but it was still different from before.

The breeze on my skin felt so real that it prickled my skin. My heartbeat quickened. My voice crawled up my throat, almost speaking, but failed at the last obstacle.

Just a little more, if I try a little more, maybe…!

“Don’t spout nonsense.”

My collar was involuntarily grabbed. Then I was pulled.

“It’s my scenario. It’s fucking mine.”

Director Joo Jaechan said in a seething voice right in front of me. The stench of alcohol overwhelmed me. Although he had looked like a man suffering from starvation and thirst, he suddenly looked satiated.

An odd case of madness lingered in his eyes.

“Mine. My scenario…! It’s mine now.”

My lungs were suddenly filled with air. Struggling, I coughed.

“You scared me!”

“Water, please have some water. Here!”

“Ah, you made me bite my tongue!”

Chief Lee Bongjoon and Chief Sung Uimin spoke one after each other. I instantly downed the cup of cold water Chief Jung handed me. I even crunched on the ice. Chief Lee Bongjoon, who stuck out his tongue with a frown, looked at me.

“What is it all of a sudden? Were you dreaming with your eyes open? Or did you see a ghost…”

He suddenly pushed the scenarios towards me.

“Hey- I mean, Team Leader Jung Sunwoo, what do you think will be a hit?”

“What are you doing?”

“No, I just thought that he might be possessed or something.”

“Now really.”

Their voices muffled in my ears. My head felt like it had inflated like a balloon. I jolted to my feet with the mug. The chair fell back and crashed on the floor. Surprised, the two stopped whispering and stared at me.

“I had something caught in my throat. I’ll be back after drinking some water.”

“Ah… Something was caught?”

I left the meeting room, leaving behind their disappointed faces. Employee’s gazes stuck to me everywhere I walked. I went straight to the drinking fountain and drank multiple glasses of cold water, My mind cleared a little. I filled my empty cup as I thought things through.

What was that just now?

It was only for a moment, but I felt a sense of realism from my future vision.

It had never been like this before. Every time I saw the future, I was like a puppet. I couldn’t do anything I wanted. The only things allowed were seeing, hearing, and feeling.

But just now…

My heart raced so fast it felt like it would explode.

If…

If I could move the way I wanted in my future visions…

If that was possible, I could make my family, celebrities, only walk a path of success. Whether it was a project, song, show, or anything else, I could figure out which would be successes and failures through my visions.

Also, which celebrities would succeed or fall.

And who would become my friend and who would be my enemy.

There would be no need to try to piece the scraps of information obtained through my visions like now. I wouldn’t need to worry and carefully examine every step I took either.

Since the future… would be in my hands.

I filled my empty cup once more. I rinsed my overheated head with cold water.

Why did this suddenly happen? Was there some sort of sign?

Now that I thought about it, I had three future visions in the past few days. I met Director Joo Jaechan in two of them like the visions would guide me to Director Joo Jaechan and City Jungle.

So that I could change my future by getting them both and not have my next project flop and my nickname ‘Midas’s Hand’ rust away.

But… Wait.

All three visions I had were full of static.

Why didn’t my last future change?

The clear vision from twenty years in the future was always fixed no matter how I changed the present, but the static-filled ones changed as I changed the present. Like how I saw the vision where Jung Jae committed suicide after seeing the one where Pretty Girls succeed.

After seeing the futures with Director Joo Jaechan and City Jungle, I definitely decided to get them in my hands, but why did I still see a vision where I failed to get City Jungle? Why didn’t it change?

Did it mean I tossed City Jungle away and picked a different one?

“… Team Leader!”

A voice pierced my ears. When I turned around, Lee Kwanwoo was standing there with a taken aback expression. Kim Hyunjo and the Team 3 Leader were also looking at me with bulging eyes. Other employees were gathered around me like they were seeing a spectacle.

“Team leader, are you all right?”

“What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

Lee Kwanwoo and Kim Hyunjo asked at the same time. I shook my head as I answered,

“No, I’m fine.”

“If you’re fine, why are you blankly standing there after breaking a cup?”

“Pardon?”

I looked down. The floor was soaked, and the cup that had just been in my hand was shattered all over the floor. When did I drop it?

“Ah, I must have been lost in my thoughts for a moment. I’ll clean it up right away.”

I moved to find a broom or tissues when the floor disappeared. My vision turned black.

Don’t tell me, again?!

I opened my eyes.

The noisy employees were nowhere to be seen. All I saw in front of me was a window. It seemed to be night as it was dark outside. It was raining heavily. Lightning split the cloudy sky.

What kind of vision was this? And where was I?

Damn it, my head ached.

“Hmm…”

My mind jolted the moment I groaned and grabbed my forehead.

My hand moved.

“Oppa!”

I unconsciously turned towards the voice before becoming shocked again. My head moved as well. My body moved at will. I raised my hands and waved them in front of me. I even tried bending each finger. It worked.

My mind was a bit hazy and my body felt heavy, but my body was definitely moving at will. Excitement surged like a tidal wave.

“My hands are moving.”

“Oppa, are you okay? Why are you acting like that?”

“ABCDEFG. Until that day when… I can even speak.” ^{2}

“Oppa!”

I heard a frightened voice. It was Lee Songha. Panic and worry were clearly evident on her face. I even saw Im Seoyoung, LJ, and Lee Taehee. They were all looking at me with oddly contorted expressions.

Lee Songha grabbed my hands.

I could clearly see tears pooling in Im Seoyoung’s eyes…

Huh?

Wait, why is there no static?

“Oppa, you’re scaring us! Can you see me? You know who I am, right? How many fingers am I holding up?”

I blankly stared at the sobbing Im Seoyoung. Lee Songha quickly turned around.

“I’ll go bring the nurse!”

“Wait, wait!”

I stopped the situation and looked around me. I was lying on a comfortable bed. There was a needle in my right arm, and I saw an IV to the side. The blanket on top of me was branded with the hospital name. I was in a hospital room. A private one.

I clutched the bed as I raised myself up. My vision was still clear, with no sign of any static.

What the heck? Was this not the future?

I licked my dry lips and asked,

“What day is it today?”

Tears finally fell from Im Seoyoung’s eyes. At the same, Lee Songha ran out of the room, shouting for a nurse. LJ, who had a frown on her face, replied as she waved her hand in front of me.

“You fainted after collapsing at work. Don’t you remember?”

“I did what?”

Fainted?

As soon as I asked back, Lee Songha ran back in with a nurse in tow. I saw Lee Kwanwoo and Kim Hyunjo behind them. I left my body in the nurse’s care as I heard the whole story. When I fell after stepping on the wet floor, I lost consciousness and was sent o the hospital.

Oh my god.

“You slept for half a day.”

Kim Hyunjo, with bags under his eyes, sighed.

“I talked to the doctor, and he said that you were fine aside from the few scratches you received when you fell. I didn’t call your family since he said that you were probably just sleeping after fainting. The doctor said that it was probably sleep deprivation or exhaustion after hearing your work schedule.”

Still, to have fainted at work…

I couldn’t believe it…

“No.”

Im Seoyoung joined in. Her eyes were moist.

“He’s not fine. I think he hurt his head.”

“His head?”

“Maybe he hit it when he fell? He was spouting nonsense as soon as he woke up.”

When even LJ joined the conversation, Kim Hyunjo tilted his head.

“What are you talking about? He didn’t his head.”

“ABCDEFG. Until that day when.”

“What?”

“That’s what he said. Like he just woke up after being put under anesthesia. Shouldn’t he be checked once more?”

I quickly waved my hands when they started talking about MRIs and stuff. I told them that my mind was preoccupied because I had an incredibly vivid dream. Only after telling them that it was a nightmare where I couldn’t see or speak like Helen Keller did the agitated mood finally calm down.

“Sunwoo, you…”

Kim Hyunjo paused in the middle of his sentence.

“Never mind. Let’s talk about it tomorrow. Don’t think about work tonight and just rest with the IV.”

He patted my shoulder with a complicated expression before giving Neptune a look.

“Let’s just leave and not bother him.”

“Just a little lon…”

“Let him rest. You are also making a comeback the day after tomorrow. You have a ton to do right now.”

The girls whispered to each other for a while before lackadaisically walking out. They all seemed like they wanted to say something to me. Im Seoyoung spoke,

“Rest well, oppa. You don’t need to worry about us.”

“Huh?”

“There are so many people counting the days as they wait for us to release new songs. Since you’ve set it all up, how can the album fail- not do well? Everyone says that it’ll be a minor hit at worst!”

“If it flops, it’s because my songs were lacking…”

“It’s the will of the heavens.”

LJ correct Lee Taehee after poking her sides. Im Seoyoung nodded.

“That’s right! We need to blame the heavens!”

That’s what they said, but they all left with grim expressions.

While the other girls were leaving, Lee Songha approached me. Her face was still full of worry. There were also flashes of regret and guilt. Someone might think that I had a terminal illness.

“Oppa, you know how I said I would do any project you picked.”

“… You did.”

“I want to cancel that.”

What?

“Projects should be decided on by the actor and their manager.”

Lee Songha added as if to emphasize her intentions,

“So it’s not your fault if it fails.”

I was wondering why she was suddenly saying that…

-Team leader, is it true you have a panic disorder?

Im Joowon whispered with a worried voice on the phone.

“Where did that nonsense come from?”

-Apparently, you suddenly went over to the water fountain while panting and downed six or seven cups of water consecutively. Your hands trembled before dropping your cup, and you fainted after trying to run away as people started to gather. Is that not it?

I felt like I was about to go crazy.

-That rumor is spreading in the company. That you developed a panic disorder from the pressure and anxiety now that you are suddenly managing so many people after becoming a team leader.

I really felt like I was about to go crazy.

I dissuaded him from visiting and hung up after telling him I was fine multiple times.

I checked my phone, and it was full of missed calls and messages. There was nothing more to say about the chiefs at work, but I also received some from Nam Joyoon, Seo Jijoon, Pretty Girls, and Song Inho. After looking through them, it seemed they had visited while I was unconscious.

I even saw Son Chaeyoung amongst the missed calls. I didn’t know how far the rumors about my supposed panic disorder had spread.

I clicked my tongue and checked the remainder of my messages before pausing. There was a long message from an unknown number. I pressed the ‘call’ button as soon as I read it.

-Hello?

Someone picked up as soon as it started to ring. It was a woman’s voice. She seemed nervous.

“Is this Director Oh Hyunkyung?”

-Yes, this is Oh Hyunkyung. Is this perhaps Team Leader Jung Sunwoo…

“Yes, that’s me. I’m calling you after reading your message. I wanted to learn more about it.”

-Ah, that is… I didn’t know how you found out… But I heard that you talked about my scenario.

“Your scenario?”

She replied immediately.

-Yes, City Jungle.

^{1} The two lines are the same in Korean.

^{2} I used ‘ABC’ over the Korean alphabet but used an English translation of the Korean national anthem.