The next morning, Ju-Hyeok discreetly passed the message to Sang-Hyeon.
"Bubblegum will post an announcement today. We're collaborating."
"Oh, okay. Got it."
Sang-Hyeon wasn't surprised because it was supposed to happen once he reached Diamond rank.
"But..." Ju-Hyeok showed a more aggressive reaction toward Sang-Hyeon's morning menu. "Why almond flakes?"
"What about it?"
Crunch. Crisp.?
Sang-Hyeon frowned while enjoying the brilliant texture of almond cereal with milk. Ju-Hyeok was a great guy, but he was too sensitive about food.
"What’s wrong with almond flakes?"
"I knew something was wrong ever since you started to prepare breakfast."
"Look, you’ll be full with these in the morning."
Sang-Hyeon showed the counter-evidence as he read off the bag of almond flakes. It said it was a fulfilling meal for breakfast.
"Huh?"?
Ju-Hyeok frowned. "Have you ever seen an advertisement saying that kimchi stew is a satisfying lunch?"
"..." Sang-Hyeon didn't answer. He hadn't seen any.
"Then what about those illegal online gambling ads claiming to be a safe bet?"
"I've seen those."
What about these?
"We don't advertise kimchi stew as a filling lunch because it's obviously filling. But what about illegal gambling? That's something that will ruin your life once you do it! That's why they advertise it as safe!" Ju-Hyeok shouted out loud while scrunching the package of almond flakes.
"And this is obviously not a fulfilling meal! They advertise it as if it could be a meal, you Almond!"
"Hmm..."
Sang-Hyeon responded with an okay and continued eating his almond cereal. He didn't understand what the problem was with cereal. It had a sweet sugar coating and the combination of almonds with milk created a deliciously rich flavor. Plus, it filled him up once he ate it.
"Ugh!"?
Ju-Hyeok snapped at Sang-Hyeon, who shamelessly ate the cereal. "From tomorrow on, I'll make breakfast."
"Oh, really? Thanks!"
Ju-Hyeok felt like he was losing, but he wanted a better breakfast tomorrow. With Ju-Hyeok's improved cooking skills, he would lure Sang-Hyeon into a world of fulfilling meals. Once that happened, Sang-Hyeon would beg him to cook every morning... ?
‘And that'll be your end, Sang-Hyeon. HAHAHA.’?
While thinking like a villain, Ju-Hyeok suddenly came up with something and spoke, "
Ah
, right." "?"
"Our advertisement paycheck has been deposited. It also includes our Treevy paychecks." "!"
Sang-Hyeon was excited by the news.
"Wow!"
His expression made it obvious that it was payday.
With hard work, rewards should also be compensated accordingly. Employees had paydays and bonuses while streamers had settlement days. That was today. All the advertising revenue from Punk and the donations from Treevy would be settled today.
"Fantasia's advertisement revenue, filming expenses, and the payment received from Oh Gang-Woo's Kimchi Stew advertisement contract..."
Ju-Hyeok was already calculating the advertisements and filming expenses.
'Wow, geez.'
He was amazed as he scrolled down the settlement invoice. In fact, he knew that he was making quite a bit of money. He was also the manager, so he tracked down some of the paychecks, but it was impossible to record the advertisement revenue and donations counted by the number of viewers in Treevy.
Looking at the actual numbers, he couldn't help but be amazed.
"... Hey, we earned ten million won this month if we add up Treevy and Fantasia's show? To be exact, it's 11,560,000 won."
Sang-Hyeon's eyes almost popped out of his face.
'Ten million won in a mo-month?'
Earning ten million won was like a dream come true.
"Di-did you subtract taxes and the four major insurances and welfare points off of it?"
"No, are we a big corporation, you idiot? We don't even have welfare points or the four major insurances! Taxes are withheld too!" Ju-Hyeok shouted in excitement.
It meant they'd be taking the entirety of the cash for themselves. Comprehensive income tax would be subtracted from the total, but that wasn't necessary to consider.
"Did you know that? This amount doesn't even include the revenue from YouTube. It hasn't been settled yet. Even the kimchi stew shop ad hasn't been settled yet."
"What, how much did we make!?"
"I don't know! But we made a lot!
HAHAHA
!" Ju-Hyeok laughed happily and shouted like an animal. Lately, his expressions seemed to have become more aggressive. Of course, in a good way.
Sang-Hyeon also laughed like an animal. He felt a little stupid, but nothing mattered in front of these numbers.
"Wow, if we pay off the comprehensive income tax... Well, you'll get almost seven million won a month."
Seven million in a month? Seven million monthly after tax is almost equivalent to a company's annual salary of 100 million won.
Sang-Hyeon felt dizzy. He suddenly thought of something.
'If I take seven mil a month, how much does Ju-Hyeok get? About three mil?'
Although it was natural for the settlement rate to be much lower for the managers, Sang-Hyeon would feel burdened if the person assisting him almost 24/7 didn’t get as much as he did. Ju-Hyeok was more of a colleague than an assistant manager.
"Hey, let's split this revenue in half."
Without any hesitation, Sang-Hyeon simply said to split the profits in half.
"... What?"
"Just think of it as a first month bonus."
"Wh-what!?" Ju-Hyeok's eyes widened.
"Your title is a manager, but you're practically a co-worker. Plus, you've been working without pay all this time..."
Ju-Hyeok had been working and spending money from his own pocket. He had even declared that he wouldn't get paid if the profit was less than three million won. His earnings had been zero until now when the advertisement and film shooting fees had been properly deposited. Nevertheless, he had endured so far with just his faith in Sang-Hyeon.
Ju-Hyeok deserved to receive a bonus.
"R-really?"
"Yeah."
"Wow.."
"But not on YouTube. They take almost half of it."
"O-of course. Sure."
'You’re an amazing guy.'
Ju-Hyeok mumbled. He seemed moved, but hid it so Sang-Hyeon wouldn’t dwell on it.
"Th-thank you." Even with Ju-Hyeok's pride, he didn't refuse.
It seemed clear that he had needed the money all this time. No matter how well-off and big a corporate heir he was, he couldn't refuse this offer since he ran away from home.
"Thanks man, but let's settle things according to the contract from now on. We can't keep doing this," Ju-Hyeok firmly added while expressing gratitude.
Sang-Hyeon also agreed to that, "Yeah."
"You don't have to worry about me taking less than you. I actually do less work than you. What kind of job lets you drink beer while watching internet streams? Also, I can have multiple contracts with other streamers too. I have plans for that too."
Tap tap.
With a pat on the shoulder, Ju-Hyeok thanked Sang-Hyeon again.
"What are you gonna do with the first paycheck?"
Hm.
I don't know. Should I take a break from streaming today?"
"Take a break from streaming?"
"Yeah. I reserved a spot for today, but I forgot about it until now." "...?"
At this moment, Ju-Hyeok couldn't help but wonder if Sang-Hyeon was going to some fancy restaurant or something.
After posting the announcement about taking the day off streaming today, it was time for lunch. It was their first break in a while.
Ju-Hyeok threw his ringing phone away and watched TV on the sofa. Sang-Hyeon went for a morning jog and called someone over the phone in the front yard. It was so rare to see Sang-Hyeon calling someone.
'Who is it?'
Ju-Hyeok was focused on Sang-Hyeon's voice while lazing in the warm morning sun.
"I see. Can I go anytime today? Okay. It's already in the van, so I just need to move it. Yes, I understand."
Was it the place that Sang-Hyeon mentioned earlier? But what was he moving? Ju-Hyeok gave up on listening to a conversation he couldn't understand and picked up his phone.
'I want to buy this one.'
It was a shopping app that Ju-Hyeok hadn't used in a long time. He thought about where he should spend his money. Eventually, he shook his head after looking at several high-end brands of outerwear. He hadn't earned enough to buy something like this.
'No.'
Ju-Hyeok opened a stock trading app. He looked at the charts of Punk stocks, which he had already bookmarked. He also had Ahsung stocks that he received when he was employed there. They were steadily going up.
However, it wasn't easy to decide where to invest. He had been eyeing another stock.
[WePlug]
It was a game development company that had recently produced several popular games. WePlug had also been entrusted with co-producing
Kingdom Age
and
Mana Sword Origin
, which was currently a big hit.
"Hmmm..."
Ju-Hyeok pondered whether to buy WePlug or Ahsung Semiconductor, commonly known as the safety stock. Maybe not Ahsung because he tried to go for it before and sold it right afterward.
"Hehe."
While Ju-Hyeok was in his happy world, Sang-Hyeon came back into the house after the phone call.
Seeing the beaming Ju-Hyeok, Sang-Hyeon snorted.
"What's so funny?"
"Oh, I'm just thinking about how to spend my money. By the way, where was that reservation you made earlier?"
"Oh, it's a mortuary."
"A mortuary? What kind of fancy restaurant is called mortuary... wait, what?!" Ju-Hyeok jumped up.
"Wait, is that the same mortuary I know?"
"Yes."
Sang-Hyeon nodded and looked as if he was saying,
'What’s wrong with that?'
"What's going on? Why is the first thing you did after getting paid to reserve a mortuary?"
"Come here," Sang-Hyeon smiled and walked toward the balcony leading to the backyard.
Ju-Hyeok followed him.
The backyard was hardly used by anyone. Ju-Hyeok only smoked in the front yard. There wasn't anything wrong with the backyard, but Ju-Hyeok had a strange feeling that the backyard shouldn't be dirtied in any way.
The neatness and distinct presence of the small square space of the backyard made Ju-Hyeok reluctant to step on it. And for some reason, it felt better maintained than the front yard. Now, Ju-Hyeok knew why it was so well-maintained and had a different atmosphere from the front yard.
"I was afraid you would be surprised if I showed it to you from the beginning. I brought her now, my grandma."
Sang-Hyeon knelt on the ground and spoke to the tall tree in the square backyard. If it weren't winter, a pretty flower would have bloomed.
"It was her will."
"Her will?"
"Yes, she wanted to be buried here."
Ah
, she must have loved this house a lot."
"That's what I thought too, but that isn't the reason why."
"No? Then why?"
"She said she didn't want to use my money even after she died. She wanted to be buried here without spending any money. Her family doctor told me that if I had the time, I should move her to a mortuary. I think he saw me on TV. He likes games." "..."
Ju-Hyeok clenched his phone tight. Numerous stock charts and high-end brand coats were still on the screen. He put his phone into his coat.
"Let's go. I'll help you."
"You don't have to come."
"You're going to take the bus with that? Come on, I'll take you there."
"You don't have a car either."
Rental services were good these days. Ju-Hyeok smiled and looked in the rear mirror as he drove. It was a rental car through an app. After paying through the app, Ju-Hyeok could use the car immediately by going to the company near the house.
"Wow, I see. Thank you."
"The manager should drive. Don't worry about it."
"Thank you, Ji-Ah."
Sang-Hyeon thanked Ji-Ah, who was sitting next to him.
"I'm here because Mr. Ju-Hyeok called me," Ji-Ah spoke while looking elsewhere for no reason.
Sang-Hyeon smiled.
"Okay, let's go."
Ju-Hyeok started driving.
Sang-Hyeon held his grandmother's urn tighter with both arms. He lowered his head as if falling asleep, but he was biting his lower lip hard.
'Grandma, they’re good people, aren't they? Don't worry about me now.'
It seemed like something would burst out of Sang-Hyeon, but he kept it inside and silently repeated those words to himself.

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