VIP Early Access
Eksklusif untuk member VIP
Password Protected
Chapter ini dikunci dengan kode khusus
Chapter 26
Translator: Enuma ID
The broadcast was over, but Tae-jun couldn't bring himself to turn off the screen.
The last moment from earlier kept replaying in his head.
-ChickenBox : the vibe at the end tho, what was that
-Ertel : thought there'd be more but he cut it right there
Е̌ n.um̊ а̀. іd
-SquishyCheese : ngl it did feel kinda off back there
-RibbitKing : nathan's not sleeping tonight lol
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
Kim Tae-jun glared at the monitor, teeth clenched.
"Fuck."
A warning to stay away from clubs and the like, sure, he could live with that.
A warning like that was easy enough to dodge.
Е̄n̄_ũ ma
The problem was what came after.
Park Ji-hun hadn't said another word.
Whether that was because it really was nothing, or because he'd seen something he couldn't say on a Public Broadcast, there was no way to know.
That was what gnawed at him most.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
"What the hell is it."
He wanted to track the man down and pry it out of him right then and there.
Е̊.n ǔ m а.i d̂
But there was no chance Ji-hun would answer just because he asked.
Charge in blindly and he might never get another Spirit Reading.
That was when it happened.
Ding.
A Discord notification surfaced at the top of the screen.
The sender was Park Ji-hun.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
[Going live with a Private Stream at 11. Come on in. Password 9876.]
Tae-jun's hand froze right where it was.
"......What?"
A short breath slipped out of him.
The heat that had been clawing through his head moments ago went still for a beat.
"A Private Stream?"
Ènu̇ mа̄
It meant there was something he couldn't say on a Public Broadcast.
Tae-jun let out a slow breath.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
"Ha...... this guy's really gonna drive me out of my mind."
He checked the clock.
It was almost eleven.
***
Е̌ n ú m̀а
Park Ji-hun watched the monitor in silence, eyes narrowed.
A moment later, Tae-jun appeared in the chat.
"Get on Discord first."
Tae-jun joined right away.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
A short connecting tone sounded, and a brief silence settled between the two of them.
Tae-jun was the first to speak.
Wе b ň о v̂ ė l Е ñ u m̀ ã
"Okay, tell me. What did you see?"
In that instant, a Vision flickered past.
Pop.
The sound of a champagne cork bursting open rang out close to his ear.
Glasses clinked, laughter bubbled up, and congratulations spilled out from every direction.
What the occasion was, he couldn't tell.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Only that everyone looked giddy with it.
Among them, one man stood out.
A middle-aged man in glasses. His forehead was wide and bare, and every time he smiled the corners of his mouth stretched up long.
People had gathered around the man, glasses in hand.
Tae-jun was there too.
And beside him, another man came into view.
Wеb̈ n̂ о̀ v̊ еl Ѐ n ů m̂ а̌_
A face that looked like Tae-jun's and somehow didn't.
The man held a glass out toward Tae-jun.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Tae-jun hesitated for a moment, then took it with an awkward smile.
The scene cut away, abrupt as a snapped thread.
Shhhhhhhh.
Rain hammering down hard.
Ѐn̆um̂a.ї d
A deserted road.
Inside a car, crumpled against a utility pole.
Kim Tae-jun was slumped in the driver's seat.
Blood was running from his forehead, and an expensive bottle of liquor rolled around in the passenger seat.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
At first it looked like an ordinary drunk-driving wreck.
But something about it was off.
Ẁѐbn о̃ v е ĺ Ӗń ů m а́_
As if someone had staged it on purpose.
Soon, the lights of a police car flashed.
The crash was about to be written up as a plain case of drunk-driving.
That was as far as it went.
The Vision cut off.
Park Ji-hun parted his lips.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
"It was right after something good."
Tae-jun's eyebrows twitched.
"......What?"
"A celebration of some kind, everyone on a high."
Park Ji-hun went on, clipped.
"The trouble was what came next. There was drinking involved, and it ended in a crash."
Е n̆ um̂ a
Tae-jun's face hardened.
"......Did I cause the accident?"
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
"I saw that you were drunk. But I didn't see you actually get behind the wheel."
"Then......"
"The way it ended, you were the one taking the fall."
The other end of the Discord went quiet.
Ě n̈ u m̊ а . і d
Tae-jun, unable to say anything for a long while, finally managed to speak.
"......What? You said I wasn't the one driving."
Park Ji-hun frowned.
"That's as far as what I saw goes."
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Tae-jun held his breath.
"......Who set it up that way."
Е̇_n̄ ũ mа́
"Be careful right after something good. The drinking too."
Tae-jun, lost in thought for a long stretch, bit down hard on his lip.
After a short silence, he spoke.
"Got it. I'll keep it in mind. Thanks."
With that, the Discord call dropped.
The room went quiet again.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Park Ji-hun stared at the closed Discord window for a while.
Someone had watched the broadcast and used it to lay out a whole new board.
As a result, the future that should have unfolded had been twisted.
Park Ji-hun leaned slowly back into his chair.
"So the board can be twisted like this too."
For just a moment, a very faint, cold smile crossed Park Ji-hun's lips.
Wе b n̆ ò v_el Ė_n u m̄ӑ
"You can twist it, but you can't hide it."
***
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Kim Tae-jun chewed over what he'd heard the night before the entire way to work.
A celebration, and then an accident right on its heels.
'And I'm the one who ends up taking the fall? When the hell does this even happen?'
His head was a tangle, but in the elevator Kim Tae-jun made up his mind.
W̌ е̃b n̄.о ve l̄ .E nú m̌а
It was clear whose side he had to take today.
'At least this once, I'm going with my own call.'
He headed straight for the conference room.
The air inside was already pulled taut.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Park Sang-heon, arms folded, shot Tae-jun a glance.
Up until just yesterday Tae-jun had been hanging back, but today, the moment he walked into the room, he was the first to speak.
Wе́b ñ ó vе̃l̂ Е n ŭ m̀a
"I'm putting my trust in Director Yun Jeong-ho, and I'll give him more time."
For a moment, the room fell silent.
The finance team executive's face twisted, while Director Yun Jeong-ho couldn't get a word out at first.
Surprise flickered across his frozen expression for a beat.
Park Sang-heon narrowed his eyes.
"So in the end you intend to swallow the loss?"
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Tae-jun didn't look away.
"Yes, Strategy Planning Director."
It was short and firm.
Park Sang-heon studied him for a moment, then spoke slowly.
"If that's Director Kim's call, then let's proceed that way."
Then, after a beat, he added.
Ẁ ӗ b́ n ŏvе̂ ĺ Е́_n ü m.а̇
"But if the results fall short, even the Chairman won't simply let it pass this time. Which means this is your last chance. You're still all right with that?"
Kim Tae-jun let out a small snort.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
His uncle was always like this.
Always backing him into a corner, going on about how this was his last chance, and the like.
He answered without the slightest hesitation.
"Yes."
Е̇n̄ù m ă
The meeting ended right there.
***
As people filed out, Kim Tae-jun's uncle, Park Sang-heon, quietly made his way toward the emergency stairwell.
He pushed through the steel door, and cold air met him as he stepped inside.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
He pulled out his phone right away and placed a call.
After a few rings, the other party picked up.
Е̂ńumа̄
Park Sang-heon parted his lips.
"Tae-jun says he means to back the director."
A brief silence passed between them.
At the other party's question, he spoke again.
"If anything, this works out in our favor."
He replied evenly.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
"Right. The research has been stuck in place for years. No way it turns around overnight."
He looked for a moment at the emergency-exit sign, then went on.
"......Right. I'll keep watching it."
Park Sang-heon hung up.
He sank into thought, brow furrowed.
'Strange. The boy was always wishy-washy, agonizing right up to the end and then making the losing move every time.'
Êñ ù m̂ а̇ .і̇ d̀
He'd figured that if he leaned on the last-chance line, Tae-jun would take the safe road the way he always had.
But today his nephew hadn't so much as blinked at it.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
Now that he thought about it, the way his nephew had been carrying himself, the way he treated him lately, all of it seemed to have changed.
'What's gotten into him?'
He'd have to look into it.
***
Еn̊_üm а
The moment Park Ji-hun opened his eyes, the first thing he reached for was the phone by his bed.
Still half-asleep, he squinted at the screen and fired off a message to Woo-sik.
[What do you wanna eat for lunch later?]
He'd made plans to grab lunch with Woo-sik today.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
After sending it, he stretched.
Park Ji-hun went into the bathroom, washed his hair, and finished his shower.
Ê n̈ŭḿ а . ĩ d̀
Then he looked around the place.
A cramped Rooftop Room, a little over 175 square feet.
Hot in summer, cold in winter.
The one upside was that the unit below sat empty, so streaming at night didn't cause much trouble.
He sat down at his desk, booted up the computer, and checked his settlement statement.
The instant the numbers came up on the screen, Park Ji-hun's gaze lingered on them for a long time.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Even after only his first payout, the donations had stacked up to no small sum.
The number of Water Drops that had poured in yesterday especially was higher than he'd expected.
'The donation alerts had been backed up for a good while.'
He stared at the screen without a word.
As Water Drops, it didn't quite register, but laid out as a number like this, it hit completely differently.
It hadn't been long since the days when he'd begrudged the bus fare every time he had an interview to get to.
Ӗ n u m̌ӓ
And now he was pulling in what a decent office worker made in a month, in a single day.
'First things first, get Mom into a nice place. And after that......'
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
He was turning the thought over when it happened.
Ding.
A notification chimed.
An email had landed in an inbox he never used.
W e b̄ ń o_v е̇ l Ӗn̈ u mа̄
The sender's name was one he didn't recognize.
"Hm?"
Curious, he opened it.
[Hello. This is Lee Seong-cheol, operations-business team leader at Cloud. I have a proposal for PerpetualJobSeeker-nim. If you're open to a call, please reach me at the number below.]
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
Park Ji-hun read it over and narrowed his eyes.
"Cloud?"
Еn ú m̈a
A broadcasting platform like Ocean.
A competitor, in other words.
"Should I at least hear them out?"
Woo-sik did stream on Ocean, but that alone wasn't reason enough to stay loyal to it.
Ji-hun was deep in thought when it happened.
Bzzzzzz.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
His phone went off.
Thinking it might be Woo-sik, he checked the screen.
An unknown number.
He had no idea who it was, but he answered anyway.
"Hello?"
A voice came through from the other end right away.
Еṅ ŭ m а̂
"Hello, this is Jeong Woo-hyun, operations-business team leader at Ocean."
"What's this about?"
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
"I'll get right to it, I'm reaching out because we'd like to put an exceptional offer in front of you, PerpetualJobSeeker-nim."
When Park Ji-hun said nothing, the voice continued, half a beat late.
"Has Cloud, by any chance, reached out to you as well, PerpetualJobSeeker-nim?"
Park Ji-hun didn't answer.
Е̃ n ú m̊а. і d
Team Leader Jeong Woo-hyun's voice turned flustered, and he hurried on.
"Ah, of course, who you sign with is entirely your call, PerpetualJobSeeker-nim, it's just that Cloud has always had a habit of coming on a bit too strong. Rather than make a hasty decision off their pitch alone, we'd be grateful if you'd hear ours out too."
Park Ji-hun stayed silent.
Jeong Woo-hyun caught his breath for a second, then spoke again.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
"I don't know what terms they offered, but we can absolutely match them with something just as good. If you can spare the time, I'll come to you and walk you through it in person."
When there was still no answer, Jeong Woo-hyun called out carefully.
E n̈ů m̆а̀
"Um...... PerpetualJobSeeker-nim?"
Only then did Park Ji-hun open his mouth.
"All right. I'll hear you out, then."
A short, relieved breath escaped from the other end of the line.
There was no question about it now, this whole board was Park Ji-hun's to run.
*****
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
For more extra chapters, you can check out my Patreon here --> https://patreon.com/enumaid
Konten Bab Belum Tersedia
Bab ini belum memiliki konten teks atau sedang dalam proses penyuntingan.
