Recently, Aiver was riding a high after successfully launching a streaming platform called Cheese, which had boosted the morale within the company.
At first, the service was rife with issues like viewbot problems that almost sent user sentiment plummeting to the depths of despair, but those problems were effectively resolved, turning misfortune into fortune.
“I’m outta here, see ya!”
In this upbeat atmosphere, Team Leader Yang Jae-min, who was currently in charge of managing Cheese’s service, stood up and left without looking back, despite the early hour.
He had a date with his girlfriend, whom he recently started dating at a late age.
“Are you really leaving already, Team Leader? Just gonna ditch the staff?”
“If you hate it so much, you should be the team leader.”
Despite Aiver’s policy promoting flexible working hours, no one was about to cheerfully send their boss off while they were left behind in a whirlwind of work.
One employee jokingly lamented the situation, but Yang just shrugged it off and strolled out of the department.
“Seriously! Making us do all the work and taking all the credit!”
“Shh, they might hear you.”
“They should have connections if they want to make it…”
Seeing this, the other employees busily grumbled among themselves. This was a classic example of a lame-duck phenomenon, but even if Yang Jae-min was aware, he was the kind of guy who would just laugh it off.
He wasn’t in charge of service management for his outstanding abilities; he was close to Director Baek Jin-seung, one of Aiver’s top three power players.
The employees had predicted this situation would unfold the moment they heard Yang was made the head of the team, but knowing that didn’t change anything.
All they could do was grumble behind their incompetent boss and carry on with their duties.
“Lululu~♪”
Meanwhile, after clocking out, Jae-min hummed a tune, heading toward the parking lot outside the building.
As he spotted a red foreign car in the distance, he rubbed his chin with satisfaction, wearing a greasy grin.
Thud. Vroom.
He hopped in and drove off, heading toward a franchise café located near Aiver Headquarters.
Shake. Shake.
As he approached an intersection, he noticed a well-dressed woman waving her hand at his car. It was none other than his girlfriend, Yoo Si-young, who was 14 years younger than him.
“Oppa! Why are you so late?”
Climbing into the car, she held a coffee in one hand and immediately began scolding him in a voice that could shatter glass.
Jae-min felt a bit heated by her reaction, but today, he couldn’t help but smile at her revealing outfit, which eased his irritation.
“Sorry, I was trying to leave, but the staff insisted on making a fuss about me leaving alone.”
“Really? They stop the boss from leaving? Are they nuts?”
“Exactly! They’re still stuck at that level, so just bear with it.”
If anyone from his team had heard this conversation, they’d probably be clutching their necks in disbelief, but thankfully, that situation wouldn’t occur.
With that, Jae-min thought of this evening as a solid investment and headed toward the expensive omakase restaurant he had reserved in advance.
“Well then, shall we wrap up today’s karaoke session? I might lose my voice if I keep going…”
“Guess I should send a donation to make sure you take care of that voice of yours.”
“……”
During this time, sitting in the passenger seat, Si-young was preoccupied watching a male streamer on her phone, showing her disappointment.
Every time she got into the car, that voice echoed in his mind, causing him discomfort.
He wouldn’t mind if it was just a funny concept, but the guy she was watching looked too pristine, like a mythical being.
“What’s so great about those types?”
To him, men don’t really mature until their 30s or 40s when their unique charm grows stronger, and this streamer looked like a total rookie.
“Uh, Si-young, sorry, but can you plug in some earphones? I’m driving…”
“Sorry, I totally forgot to charge my earphones. Can’t you just turn down the volume?”
“Yeah, okay…”
Hoping to politely suggest she turn off the video, Si-young, oblivious to his hint, simply lowered the volume slightly and drew her phone even closer as if she were glued to it.
That attitude was really annoying to Jae-min.
“Hehe, Oppa. This guy sings really well, doesn’t he? He plays guitar like a pro, too?”
“Y-Yeah?”
Not even realizing his irritation, she proudly showed him the screen of the guy who was singing and playing guitar while they were stopped at a traffic light.
Jae-min pretended not to care but couldn’t help but retaliate when Si-young brought up the male streamer again.
“Yeah, I heard. His name is Cosmo. Apparently, he became popular recently because he’s good-looking. He’s gaining a huge following now, you know? I found him on YouTube.”
“I’m not sure if I’d say he’s attractive from a guy’s perspective… isn’t he too skinny?”
While he didn’t care to hear how she fell for that guy, when he tried to expressed his subtle defiance, Si-young clearly frowned, revealing her displeasure.
“What are you saying? He’s just handsome! Oppa, you know male jealousy is ugly, right?”
“J-jealous? How could I be jealous of some pretty boy who got in with connections?”
With that, Jae-min’s mood soured, and he ended up openly mocking the streamer in the video.
He had no idea that he was about to ignite a powder keg.
“Oh really? Taking advantage of those connections to get into a company, and flaunting it like it’s nothing?”
“What? What are you talking about…?”
“Did I say anything wrong? Do you seriously think I’m jealous of a kid that’s more than a decade younger? Ugh, this is dumb.”
While it might be true that she was partly to blame, Si-young was the one who ended up sulking for being offended, kicking the air and unbuckling her seatbelt.
“Pull over. I’ll just go home.”
“Hey, where do you think you’re going? We reserved dinner for tonight…”
“I don’t care, I’ve lost my appetite. Just let me out here.”
They had booked an omakase that cost over 300,000 won per person in advance, but Si-young acted as if that had nothing to do with her, insisting he pulled over.
Jae-min clenched his teeth but navigated the car to the side of the road near the sidewalk, letting her out.
“Don’t text me until I reach out. Honestly, being older doesn’t mean you should be petty.”
“……”
Just like when he left the company, she walked away, not bothering to turn back. She made her discontent known until she flagged down a taxi that was passing by and rode away.
Left alone, Jae-min clenched his fists as he searched for that streamer, Cosmo, on Cheese.
“Cosmo.”
To his surprise, the follower count wasn’t as high as he expected, and on YouTube, there were just a little over 100,000 subscribers.
He felt annoyed that he had been distracted by some streamer like this and that he was losing face because of it. It seemed he had made a decision; he quickly grabbed his phone and contacted someone.
“Assistant Park, I need you to look into this streamer I just mentioned.”
There shouldn’t be any issues simply getting rid of this one streamer.
*
“Huh~.”
One day, Seo-ha wrapped up her work as usual, quickly got ready, and rushed into her bedroom to catch Uju’s live stream.
On a small tray she prepared, there was a glass of beer and various cheeses lined up neatly.
As she snacked on the treats to unwind from the day’s fatigue, the thought of watching Uju’s stream had her grinning from ear to ear. Where else could she find such pleasure in the world?
“…Huh?”
Just as she was about to click on her only subscribed stream on Cheese, she sensed something was off.
When a streamer is live, a red dot and the word “LIVE” should appear beneath their stream, but for some reason, she only saw a representative picture of the streamer, as if the broadcast was offline.
“Did I miss the time?”
She tilted her head, checking her phone to confirm the scheduled time.
However, her clock read 6:08 PM. How could this be happening?
“What if they’re just running late and didn’t announce anything?”
Normally, Cosmo had never delayed his streams, let alone canceled or been late without warning.
In fact, he’d only been late twice, and both times were due to setup issues, where he was only about five minutes late. He even made announcements beforehand, stating he might be late.
For him to be late by eight minutes without even a notice?
Sure, people make mistakes, but Seo-ha felt an uneasy flutter and decided to call Uju.
– Oh, hello? Seo-ha noona!?
“Uju, I’m sorry for calling out of the blue. I noticed the broadcast was delayed and wanted to check if everything’s okay…”
Fortunately, Uju answered the call promptly, but his voice sounded almost frantic to Seo-ha’s ears.
After she explained the reason for her odd call, she heard an unexpected response from him after a moment of hesitation.
– I’m sorry, noona. The thing is… I was about to start the stream when I received an email saying my account is permanently banned.
“…What?”
The shocking news made Seo-ha question if she had misheard him.
What did you say happened?
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