Top Management

TM Chapter 94

Chapter 94: From Now On, We're (3)

TL: emptycube / ED: Isleidir

"Taehee!"

I hastily shouted.

The instant my body wobbled, I fell to the ground.

"… You will see the future-… Mr. Sunwoo?"

My thigh hit the cold floor, and my ankle groaned in pain under the chair that had fallen down with me. There wasn't any other pain besides that. I quickly took in a deep breath like someone who had been submerged in water. Then I looked around at my surroundings.

This wasn't the streets of Sinchon.

It wasn't the street where screams erupted out and people scattered chaotically. I was in the room with purple lights, the room that I had entered an hour ago to pick my superpower.

What the heck? Just what happened?

Taken aback, I had been calming myself by taking deep breaths when Producer Bae hesitantly stood up.

"Uh, were you just acting just now?"

Writer Song Yujin added in with widened eyes.

"Producer, while it isn't the future foresight ability we had set up, let's try to save this since it's a shame to waste it. It's realistic. I almost thought that today's concept was a thriller."

"It was good, right? Then…"

Producer Bae placed the fallen chair upright as he asked,

"Mr. Sunwoo, did you see the future just now? What kind of future was it?"

What kind of future was it?

The woman who rolled on the ground after being hit by the truck was still vivid in my mind. Screams echoed in my ears, and I gasped when I saw the truck about to hit Lee Songha and the baby. Then that truck…

What happened after?

No, more importantly… Everything wasn't real?

I got on the elevator with the cameraman. It opened on the first floor. When we went out to the rear parking lot, I saw the staff chatting and two vans for the members. They were all things I had seen before.

I looked down. My feet were on the concrete floor of the parking lot. So I was walking on the ground properly. It had felt like the floor was rolling.

I got on the driver's seat of the black van.

After a familiar greeting, Hwang Jaehyun asked,

"You picked a card too, right? What kind of power is it?"

"… Future prophet. Do you… have the power to stop time?"

"What the heck? How did you know?"

Since I heard it previously.

"Ah, does the future prophet know other people's powers too?"

"Guess so. But what's wrong with your complexion? Relax. It's too exaggerated."

"Producer Bae probably asked for something weird again."

The voices of the two talking and laughing seemed so distant.

I exhaled the breath I had been holding back and wracked my brain, which was currently like a rusty machine.

First, things were following what happened in my memory. What I saw, which I wasn't certain if describing it that way was correct, seemed like it would be the future that would unfold soon.

However, it was in a completely different format than before.

There was no static or myself 20 years in the future, and I could move on my own. However, it was so realistic that I couldn't even consider it as the future.

Even now, rather than feeling like I had seen the future, I felt like I had returned to the past.

Why? Why was it different from before?

I looked for a clue within my foggy mind when, suddenly, I recalled the last scene. Lee Taehee pushed my back, but the power in her thin arms was insignificant. Most likely, we were all hit by the truck the next moment.

I was probably hit too. I might have even been in a critical state.

Maybe it was because of that? Was the method in which I saw the future different from the others until now because I would be in a large accident incomparable to the others? While it was only a guess, that was all I could think of for now.

Just then, Lee Taehee got in the car. The moment I recalled her pushing my back, my mind jolted awake as if cold water had been poured on me.

"Hey, just why did you-!"

I unknowingly shouted before stopping. I almost made a mistake. The others were looking at me with wide eyes.

Lee Taehee tilted her head.

"Did I do something?"

"Your manager is the future prophet. It seems he's been seeing things since a while ago. It has even gone beyond the realm of role-playing. Look at how realistic his expression is. Joowon. What are you doing? Stop losing to the guest and reflect on yourself!"

"Worry about yourself. I'm trying to get into character."

While Hwang Jaehyun and Im Joowon were chatting, Lee Taehee leaned towards the driver's seat.

"Does something happen to me in the future?"

"Yeah… I think something will happen today. So be careful."

"Okay."

Her light brown eyes curled into a smile.

Next, the child actress Song Yuri and Lee Songha got in one after another. Lee Songha said she picked 'Hypnotist' as she glanced at my forehead while holding a black marker, and Im Joowon and Song Yuri discussed changing companies. Then Producer Bae passed me a box of dice.

With the box in hand, I thought for a moment.

Perhaps the results would be different this time.

However, this thought disappeared the moment I took off the sticker of the red die.

"The Superhuman team will…"

'In one hour, on the streets of Sinchon, with civilians, complete a mission.'

Gulping dryly, I looked at Lee Taehee and Lee Songha. The two probably couldn't imagine what would happen to them in an hour.

My grip on the steering wheel tightened.

There were many moments when I thought that I changed the present after seeing the future until now. However, I was more desperate than ever before.

Should I act crazy and say I couldn't go? Or tell them I had certain circumstances? Faint after saying I wasn't feeling well? Or just drive in a completely different direction? If I did, then we probably wouldn't be involved in that incident.

With a complicated mind, I recalled the chaotic scene.

Producer Bae knocked on the window, telling me to start driving. I bit my lips and started the van. I needed time to think. I had to think of something on our way.

What method would be the best to change the future?

The scene in my memory played out in front of me.

I saw couples laughing and chatting while enjoying the event and families with strollers. The streets of Sinchon were extremely peaceful and normal, just like before the incident.

Since the truck would rush in here soon, I would have liked it if everything could be handled by shouting to everyone, telling them to run away, but there were cameras. I shook my head after calculating the storm that would sweep through my life afterwards.

Before Producer Bae distributed the missions, I told him,

"Producer, I'm going to go to the washroom. That U-Plex building."

"Okay. But it'll be good if you hurry since the Researcher team has found your location and are on their way here."

I told Lee Songha and Lee Taehee to stay with the staff and walked away, almost running. Of course, I wasn't planning on coming back before the incident took place.

I was relieved since this place was quite a distance away from the location of the incident, and if the five celebrities stayed together without dispersing, civilians would gather here as well.

"Apparently, the 'Now, We' team is over there! Let's go there, quickly!"

"Oh, my god, what in the world! Autographs, where can we go get autographs?"

I passed the rushing people and approached a gigantic building. Fortunately, I didn't need to lie to lose my cameraman. He raised his camera and stopped.

"I'll be filming the crowds in front of the building so come here when you're done."

"Yes, then I'll be back soon."

While he was filming, I entered the building and left through a different exit. Then I took off the mic on my shirt and called 112[1].

"I want to report a drunken driver. It was a water bottle truck and the driver seemed very drunk. There are a lot of people on the streets right now because of an event and someone might get hurt."

I constantly thought about it on my way here.

Why did the truck charge into a vehicle-prohibited area?

I came up with three hypotheses.

The truck was broken and couldn't stop. Though, if this was the case, then the question was why the driver drove into a crowd of people instead of turning towards the trees on the side of the street or something.

My second hypothesis was that the driver was drunk and wasn't in his right mind. If not, then he might be a crazy person with a lot of dissatisfaction towards the world trying to commit an unspeakable crime.

Which was why I reported him as a drunk driver. Other reasons were that it looked like drunk driving, and it was the most likely and easiest to make up and manage.

Soon, I was told that it had been reported to the police. They said they would dispatch officers right away.

I stood in the middle of the street and recalled the place of the incident.

That time, I was in the middle of Yonsei Street, and the commotion was in the front, not too far away. There was quite a distance between me and the traffic circle. If the water bottle truck had charged through the traffic circle, then the commotion would have gone on for much longer.

Then there was a bigger chance that it came out from an alley in between.

When I arrived, there was a pathway for cars to pass between the left and right alleys like a crosswalk for cars. While there were traffic cones and poles set up so that cars wouldn't drive out of the pathway, when I touched them, they were made of plastic, empty inside, and had no strength. At least there was a rectangular bar that seemed quite heavy, seemingly filled with sand, but it felt like cars could still charge through it.

I clicked my tongue out of nervousness when I got a call from the producer.

-Mr. Sunwoo, where are you? The cameraman says he can't find you?

I thought about it for a second before saying,

"Producer, I saw a drunken driver up the street. The driver seemed to be in a really bad condition."

-Pardon? What did you say?

"Worried that there might be a big accident, I am looking around for the car. Err, just in case, could you gather the civilians' attention? Maybe encourage a cheer?"

-Err…. Mr. Sunwoo, are you serious right now? It's not a part of your concept?

He sounded flustered. I would be the same if I was in his position.

After I told him that I had reported it to the police, dazed, Producer Bae said he understood. Not long after, I heard cheers behind me.

While waiting for the police, I checked to see if there was a water bottle truck in either of the two alleys. The alleys were complex like a maze. While I did see a few cars, none were the one from my memory.

During this time, people laughed and chatted as they passed me. I informed the civilians. At first, when I told them about the drunk driver, their expressions asked, 'So what?', but when I told them about celebrities, they were instantly enthralled.

Well, who could imagine an incident that they had only ever seen on the news where a car charged down the street into people? Even I, who personally saw it, wondered if it was real in that moment.

Time kept passing. My chest felt stiff from nervousness.

"Mr. Sunwoo! I've been looking everywhere for you. What was that about?"

The cameraman ran towards me while carrying his camera.

The moment I looked back at him, accompanied by the rough sound of an engine, a truck came out from the alley on the other side and crashed into the traffic cones. It was an old truck with water bottles loaded on its trunk. It was the truck I had seen.

The people around me scattered while screaming. Like an agitated bull, the truck crashed into the traffic cones and the delineator posts. The powerless traffic cones flew out in various directions, and I saw those hit by them fall before hastily getting back up and fleeing.

"Wha-what the heck? What's wrong with that truck?"

"Fuck, that scared me! Is there a problem with the car? Why's it going nuts?"

"Is that driver crazy? Hey, hey, reported him to the police!"

I still didn't see the police and the water bottle truck was going nuts, going around in circles, before stopping momentarily after crashing into the traffic cones and the heavy rectangular bar. Relief crossed people's expressions.

However, the real commotion hadn't begun.

Damn. I swore while rushing in at full speed.

I didn't know what I was doing. I had never rushed into or even thought about rushing into a situation like this.

But, when I thought about how the car would charge towards people once it started moving again, strength went into my legs as I recalled the last moment I had seen.

I instantly approached the side of the truck. When I grabbed the door handle and pulled it open, I was overwhelmed with a thick stench of alcohol. A middle-aged man turned to look at me with his hands on the steering wheel. Looking at his eyes, he didn't seem to be in his right mind.

Without the time to think about it, I grabbed the middle-aged man and dragged him out of the driver's seat.

"… So we're going to stop the recording for a bit. The recording isn't the problem right now, no, it is. The recording is a problem, but I'm just too flustered right now. I'm telling you that a big accident could have happened here! It's crazy, police cars and-!"

When I turned back after finishing my conversation with the officers, who arrived a little late, Producer Bae Junghwan was talking gibberish into his phone. The other staff members and cast members were looking at me with expressions of 'Just what happened?'

The Neptune girls were anxious and rushed towards me as soon as they saw me. Their already light faces were as white as paper.

"O-oppa, oppa, are you okay? We felt like our hearts were about to drop!"

"Just what is going on… Are-are you hurt anywhere?"

"Stop standing there stupidly and turn around so that we can see if you're alright!"

Im Seoyoung, Lee Taehee, and LJ gathered around me and examined my condition. Lee Songha was a few steps away from me, standing rigidly and unblinking, as she stared at me as though she was stricken with fear.

To be honest, I was partly out of it, but because the girls' reactions were so intense, my mind crawled back to its senses. After showing them that I was alright and comforting them, the mood relaxed a little.

Hwang Jaehyun and the other celebrities came up to me after the girls.

"I heard you blocked a drunken driver charging into the streets with your body. Is that true?"

"I heard you stopped a truck and fought with the driver. Is that true?"

"… No. If I had that sort of talent, I would have become a national athlete."

I said while exhaling the breath I had been holding in. Mingling in their noisy conversation, I finally felt like the incident was over. Only after I relaxed my shoulders did I realize how tense I was.

Producer Bae hung up his phone and was about to approach me.

"Excuse me, producer. They are from the organization hosting the culture market or something event today. They apparently have something to say to you…"

The floor director brought over the people from the event and an employee from the district office. The man who had thanked me multiple times a few moments ago lowered his head to Producer Bae and requested,

"The mood is a bit uneasy because people are shocked by the incident just now. If it's not too much trouble, could the celebrities tell them that it's fine and to relax?"

"Us?"

At Hwang Jaehyun's question, the event organizer looked at the celebrities and me and continued,

"Since the person who personally resolved the incident is here and because you are all famous, if you all say something, then I think the mood will quickly calm down. Would you consider it?"

"Well, saying something isn't difficult…"

"If the mood calms, then I think we'll be able to get the mood to naturally settle down since an indie band is going to arrive soon and begin their performance."

An indie band. A performance. As soon as I heard this, I suddenly thought of something.

The reason why I decided to appear on this entertainment show, which I had completely forgotten due to the incident.

I looked at the surrounding cameras, civilians, and the girls, who were calming their surprised hearts. Then I approached the event organizer and Producer Bae, who were talking with each other, and said,

"If we're going to do it, how about Neptune performs a song as well?"

***

The staff were moving busily. Producer Bae glanced at the camera and lighting equipment being set up in front of the small stage as he ended his call. Then he gestured to Jung Sunwoo and his cameraman, who were nearby.

"We need to check the tape. If you filmed the scene, they want us to send it to the newsroom."

When she heard this, Writer Song Yujin's eyes widened.

"The newsroom? It'll be on the news?"

"Since there aren't any severely injured people or anything, we don't know if it'll be as newsworthy, but if we have the scene, then it's an exclusive for us. They'll check the recording and determine if it's worth showing in a news brief."

Producer Bae said with a still dazed expression.

"The news is the news, but how are we supposed to edit this…"

Stopping in thought, he pointed to the cameraman and asked,

"You followed Mr. Sunwoo in the end, right? Mr. Sunwoo rushing into the scene, how much of it did you get?"

The cameraman handed him his 6mm camera and replied,

"All of it."

[1] Korea's emergency telephone number.