Top Management - Chapter 198

Chapter 198

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 .