Chapter 30: Good Things Happen on Christmas (2)
The expected time of Jang Jun-Hyuk’s accident was around 3:30 PM.
But since that was only an approximate time, I had been circling near the accident site from about 3:10 PM.
The current time was 3:27 PM.
My heart was racing wildly.
Thump thump.
Every time I tried to prevent someone’s death, it was never an easy task. From what I knew, Jang Jun-Hyuk’s vehicle would suddenly accelerate and cross over to the fourth lane from the third lane before crashing into a building wall.
To prevent that crash, I had no choice but to block the lane with my vehicle.
Honk honk.
“Hey! Why are you blocking the lane like that? Move out of the way!”
“What’s with that guy? Is he out of his mind?”
“Hey, you jerk! Move your damn car!”
I kept circling the same route amidst the honking of people driving in the fourth lane.
It was now 3:29 PM.
Tick tock tick tock.
The inaudible ticking of the second hand echoed in my ears, like a hallucination.
At that moment, I could finally see Jang Jun-Hyuk’s black Binz sedan entering the third lane from my rearview mirror.
‘He’s here.’
The distance between his car and mine was roughly about 30 meters. I immediately picked up my phone and dialed 119.
“Um, hello. I’m on Cheonho Bridge right now.”
-Yes, we know. Our system can detect the location.
It was the same operator I had spoken to before when I tried to prevent Miso’s accident.
“Oh? It’s you from before, right?”
-Yes, it’s me. What’s the matter? Is there a gas leak again?
“No. There’s been an accident here. The location is...”
-I already told you that we can detect the location. We’ll dispatch help immediately. Are you nearby?
“Yes. The driver is having a heart attack. Please hurry!”
-Wait, hold on a minute. If you switch to a video call, I can guide you through the steps of performing CPR so that you can...
‘There’s no need for CPR because the accident hadn’t even happened yet.’
I simply hung up the phone and prepared for the impending crash. Jang Jun-Hyuk’s car would soon suddenly accelerate after his heart attack at any moment now.
[Current time: 3:30 PM]
Suddenly, Jang Jun-Hyuk’s car, which had been moving slowly in the third lane, started to accelerate rapidly.
Vrooom!
I tucked my smartphone in my arms and clenched my teeth tightly. I then slammed the brakes and gripped the steering wheel, ready for the collision.
Crash!
Jang Jun-Hyuk’s Binz slammed into the driver’s door of my vehicle.
Jolt!
My car almost flipped over from the impact.
“Ugh!”
My neck felt stiff, as if I got a terrible muscle cramp, but thankfully, the impact wasn’t too severe due to the short distance of acceleration.
However, the problem was Jang Jun-Hyuk’s car was now pushing mine because he didn’t take his foot off the accelerator. His luxury car seemed to have good power, unlike mine.
Squeeeak!
The sound of tires being dragged along the ground was followed by the burning smell of rubber due to friction against the road.
I pulled the handbrake and rolled down the window. Then I screamed at the top of my lungs.
“Mr. Jang Jun-Hyuk! Snap out of it!”
Squeeeak!
The acrid smell from Jang Jun-Hyuk’s spinning tires grew stronger and stronger.
Despite my screams at the top of my lungs, Jang Jun-Hyuk still remained unconscious with his head resting against the steering wheel.
“Damn it! Jang Jun-Hyuk! Wake up! Turn off the engine! Turn it off now!”
As I repeatedly shouted his name informally, Jang Jun-Hyuk seemed to slowly come to his senses while clutching his chest.
Then, gasping for breath, he weakly reached out his hand.
Tap.
He barely managed to reach the key. However, he seemed too weak to turn off the ignition.
Tap, tap.
He missed once, then again. His hand kept missing the ignition.
“Ugh...ke uk...”
But eventually, he managed to turn off the engine.
Vroom.
Thud.
The engine was finally off.
At the same time, Jang Jun-Hyuk collapsed to the side as if all his strength had been drained.
I quickly unbuckled my seatbelt to exit from the passenger door of my vehicle and went over to check on Jang Jun-Hyuk.
***
“Huff, huff, huff. Stay with me!”
I began performing CPR to resuscitate him.
“Huff, huff, huff.”
Performing CPR was much harder than I thought it would be.
“Please! Just breathe!”
I could see his chest sinking slightly with each compression, but Jang Jun-Hyuk showed no sign of waking up.
“Huff, huff.”
I pressed down on the center of his chest about 1.5 to 2 times per second, but there was no response.
Sweat poured down my face.
“Damn it...they said to press hard enough to break the ribs, didn’t they?”
I closed my eyes tightly and began pressing harder on his chest.
Crack!
The clear sound of a bone breaking resonated. Cold sweat ran down from my forehead out of frustration, but I didn’t stop my hands. After all, saving the life in front of me was more important than any other consequence.
“Huff, huff, huff.”
My whole arm throbbed and my back was drenched with sweat from pressing so hard and not holding back.
At that moment, I heard mumbling from my surroundings.
“Hey! Seriously, man. Who taught you how to drive, huh? If there’s an accident, you have to move your car out of the...wait. Isn’t that Jang Jun-Hyuk? What’s going on here?”
“Is this a movie shoot?”
“N-no, dude! It looks like a real heart attack!”
“Well, then what are you doing! Call 112 and get an ambulance!”
“That’s for reporting a crime, you idiot!”
The commotion continued, and soon after, I heard the sound of cars blocking the lane behind me.
“Please control the traffic!”
“Everyone! Please make way for the ambulance! Everyone!”
“Hey, young man. Let me know if you’re tired. I’ll help as well.”
The previously annoyed crowd had a change in attitude upon realizing that this was a real emergency.
I hadn’t been able to trust people for quite a while, but maybe the world wasn’t so bad after all.
However, Jang Jun-Hyuk still wasn’t breathing.
‘Well, I have no choice. I have to save him.’
“Huff, huff.”
I continued performing CPR, incorporating artificial respiration from mouth to mouth for about two minutes.
“Cough! Ughh...”
Jang Jun-Hyuk began groaning with a painful expression upon regaining consciousness.
“He’s back!”
“He’s alive!”
“Wow, this guy saved him!”
“He’s breathing again!”
Amidst the cheers of the crowd, I felt utterly drained of energy. As I slumped to the ground due to the surging muscle pain throughout my body, I heard the distant sound of sirens approaching from afar.
***
[Everyday V10]
[Date: December 25th, 2019]
-7:00 PM <Deleted Schedule>
(Deleted Schedule: Kangdongkyung University Hospital Funeral Hall 1F VIP Room. Jang Jun-Hyuk. Send a wreath.)
The event related to Jang Jun-Hyuk’s death that was recorded in my planner disappeared right before my eyes.
“Are you the one who called 119?”
“Yes. I made the call.”
A firefighter with a name tag that read Kim Chun-Soo greeted me with a bow.
“Thank you. Could I get your contact information?”
“Is there any issue? Do I need to pay a fine?”
“No. It’s just that the patient might want to contact you later when he recovers, and there might be a reward. We collect contact information in advance for those reasons. You won’t face any consequences since you helped in an emergency.”
“Oh, is that so? Alright then.”
I took out my business card and handed it to Kim Chun-Soo.
“Here you go, sir.”
“Mr. Jung Yoon-Ho from Hoop Entertainment. That's a great name. On behalf of our station, thank you for your good deed.”
Then, Kim Chun-Soo straightened his posture and saluted me.
“Attention! Salute.”
Snap!
All the rest of the firefighters saluted in unison except for those who were carrying Jang Jun-Hyuk.
“Oh, um, yes. No problem at all.”
I was taken aback but quickly returned the salute. I wondered why they were saluting me, but I didn’t particularly mind the gesture.
Flash! Flash!
People around us started taking pictures with their phones. Soon after, the police arrived and began to manage the scene.
A short while later, an insurance agent arrived to take photos and began speaking.
“I’ll discuss this matter with Mr. Jang Jun-Hyuk’s insurance agent first. It seems they might cover the entire cost.”
“Yes, I’d appreciate your assistance with the follow-up. Thank you so much.”
After providing my personal details, I headed to the auto repair shop the insurance agent had recommended.
***
I left my car at the auto repair shop and received an estimate of the costs.
They said it would cost around 1.2 million won, so I picked up my phone to inform the company. However, before I could do so, I received an incoming call.
[Caller: Chief Gu Seong-Cheol]
“Huh? Why would Mr. Gu call me?”
I recalled sending pictures of the damaged car to Oh Duk-Gu via KkTalk right after the accident. Wondering if he called to scold me for that, I cautiously answered the call.
“Um, Mr. Gu. What happened is...um...”
-Yoon-Ho. Burger Queen visited the company to discuss the advertising issue. I know this is super last minute, but can you come right away?
‘Oh, so it’s not about the accident. I was supposed to have a meeting with Burger Queen a week later, but they came today? On Christmas?’
It seemed my busy day wasn’t over just yet.
***
White snow began to fall from the sky as I arrived at the company. Flurries of cold snow touched my palm, melting instantly from the warmth of my skin.
Though it was cold, I couldn’t help but smile because I was grateful for being able to feel even this minor sensation.
“Yikes. I’m going to be late.”
When I opened the door and walked into the lobby, I could see Lee Dong-Min, who was talking busily on the phone.
“Hey, Star Jung. Why did you come to the company on Christmas when you should be resting at home?”
“Oh, Mr. Gu called me in.”
“Why would he call someone in on their day off? Hmm. This wouldn’t happen if you transferred over to the Singer Division 2. Hmm, hmm.”
‘Wow, another one trying to deceive me here. I know how busy it is to be in charge of idols.’
“Does Cherry Blossom have any schedule today? It seemed like Mr. Han had one...”
“Oops. You caught me.”
Lee Dong-Min chuckled playfully before sharing some exciting news—Choi Eun-Hyuk, the main PD of KBC Music Stage, had called personally.
“He said Cherry Blossom will be on air continuously for the foreseeable future, starting next week.”
“Oh, really?”
For Cherry Blossom to appear on the music show wasn’t easy due to their low rank. However, thanks to their sudden surge in popularity after Idol Daejun, they would be allowed to continue to be on the show.
Furthermore, it was said that Choi Eun-Hyuk was in a hurry to sign the agreed contract for their appearance on KBC Music Land. The commitment to appear on KBC Music Land in exchange for appearing in the Idol Daejun was only a verbal agreement so far. With Choi Eun-Hyuk’s rush to get the contract in writing, Lee Dong-Min had the upper hand now.
This was what made the entertainment industry interesting. Once one gained popularity, their life could change overnight.
“Anyway, thanks to you, Yoon-Ho, Cherry Blossom no longer needs to worry about disbanding. All the members wanted me to convey their gratitude.”
“No worries at all. There’s no need to thank me because they achieved that on their own.”
“They were always good but were never given any opportunities. Indeed, it is all thanks to you.”
Lee Dong-Min looked at his surroundings for a moment before sharing another piece of news with me.
“Also, Cherry Blossom received an offer for a commercial film. I guess it’s because they were trending all day yesterday and ranked within the top ten searches.”
Lee Dong-Min explained that it was a three-month contract with a cosmetics company worth 10 million won.
“10 million won? Hm. That’s not much. Considering the amount, the cosmetics company must be a startup, right?”
“Yes. It hasn’t been long since they were founded. What was the name again? Yeppedang? Yeppudang? Oh, right. It’s Yetterang.”
At that moment, a familiar name came to mind.
‘Yetterang? Hold on. Where have I heard that before? Wait. Is it really that Yetterang I know of? That’s the company that would become one of the top three in the cosmetics industry in ten years!’
Yetterang was a company established independently by Ahn Suk-Hoon, a cosmetics research director of a major corporation. Because its quality was better than the top-ranked Rohnson’s products and priced at only a fifth, it saw tremendous growth over ten years.
During my time at Top Entertainment, they had hired Min Gyu-Ri as their advertising model. In my past life, they had chosen Golden Road as their model. However, the future had changed due to the aftermath of Idol Daejun.
“So, Yoon-Ho, what do you think? Should we do it? Or should we not?”
Lee Dong-Min mentioned that he is aware of the fact that I am currently negotiating an advertisement deal with Burger Queen for Yoo-Jin and was seeking my advice.
“Mr. Lee, you must secure a contract with them no matter what!”
Lee Dong-Min tilted his head with a puzzled expression.
“Huh? Do you know that company well?”
“Yes! The teen cosmetics produced by Yetterang are extremely popular among teenagers.”
“If their sales target is teenagers, then it overlaps with the target of Cherry Blossom. Doesn’t it?”
“Yes, sir. It would be a perfect collaboration. Since the company is still a start-up, I think it would be good to include an extension option in the contract.”
After a moment of contemplation, Lee Dong-Min nodded.
“Alright. We can ask for more product sponsorships in exchange for a lower advertisement fee.”
“For sure, Mr. Lee.”
Then, I suddenly remembered that Yetterang would list stocks in about five years from now and their stock price would surge multiple times after listing.
‘I’ll need to buy some stocks when the time comes...’
Lee Dong-Min gave a hearty laugh and thanked me for the advice.
“Please feel free to share your thoughts with me on any matter, Yoon-Ho. I’ll always listen to you.”
“In that case, Mr. Lee. How about starting work on Cherry Blossom’s new song as soon as possible?”
“Hm? New song?”
“Yes. We have gained some momentum and we need good songs to keep it going.”
I subtly hinted that the songs from Cherry Blossom’s second album weren’t great.
For a moment, Lee Dong-Min stared at me intently with a proud look as if he were admiring a successful son.
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