I like to think that I've done enough in life that it wouldn't be too embarrassing to die now.
I may be no one special, but isn't it enough to even survive everyday life these days?
But now that there's zero won to my name? It's shockingly news, but still, saw it coming a mile away.
Now I'm just lying on the mattress I have in this narrow apartment that's rent I barely kept paying. But I knew to at least pay the old fart of a rent lord on time if I'm going to die here.
Even if I am now left starving in my private space. There wasn't a single speck of dust as I clean frequently. Even the floor is shiny.
My few amount of clothes lay in the opened suitcase, all folded nicely even without a closet to carry their weight.
There was no trash in my apartment. No food at all, not even a water bottle now. My dishes, consisting of a cat mug, a handy silicone plate, and one set of chopsticks, were washed clean and lying in my spotless cupboard.
The only mess here is the moldy corn ceiling with a few leaks, but it wasn't raining weather anyway, and it's not my fault the rent lord doesn't wanna fix it.
In other words, there is only one actual thing that doesn't belong here.
And that 'thing' is, obviously, me. Hooray.
By not belonging here, I don't mean it in a way a chuuni thinks he should be reincarnated into a magical world and whatnot.
I just meant, I was the only thing in this space that serves no purpose for anyone or anything.
I have been fired from my last part time job yet again and finally relied on my life savings to live, thinking I would figure something out in a year.
Spoiler alert: I didn't.
So now I'm here with my eyes closed and stomach grumbling, imagining all the cheesy hash browns I could be eating if I still had money.
I was about to take the fourth bite in my dream when my phone suddenly dinged.
I opened my eyes after it dinged again to prove I wasn't imagining things and robotically grabbed my phone.
There was actually someone contacting me at this point in my life. That was surprising, even it was from someone I saved as 'Admin-nim'.
Before I could start reading, a phone call came from this same number.
I stiffened, then cleared my throat. But I waited a few seconds to pretend like I was actually busy with something.
Finally, I clicked the damned green button on the lower right of my phone screen and a no-nonsensical female voice came through the speaker.
"Is this Mr. Jung Haechan speaking?"
Damn, straight to the point, huh. No hello or anything.
"Yes, good afternoon. How can I help you?"
"Well you see, GNet is actually planning to create a new idol survival program, or whatever..." the lady over the phone explained. She requested me to take part didn't give me any details on this show she spoke of.
"Uh-huh. You just want me to participate? Me?"
"Yes. You don't have to do great or anything, this is just to fill in the numbers."
"..."
See, if you're an idiot, you might not have caught on. But I've actually been in these situations and know quite a thing or two.
"Basically, you want me to boost the popularity of the trainees debuting from this show?"
The woman over the phone was silent for a while.
"You catch on quick, Mr. Jung. That is exactly what we want. If you could, boost up our ratings with some funny moments, too. Some of your old fans might recognize you, after all."
My fans? I doubt it, that was so long ago.
I cleared my throat.
"Anyways, all this comes with a pay, right?"
The woman was silent again.
"Come on. You contacted me, the Jung Haechan, without a starting price?"
"...₩50.000 per episode."
My jaw dropped.
I muted myself for a second just to blurt out, "Holy shit."
I was originally planning to bargain, but even have some shame-
No, wait. I shouldn't, though?
"Eh?? Just that much? Did you grow poor from creating this show or something?"
Of course, this sounds out of line, but this admin lady doesn't know that I'm now a certified bedrotter. The fact that she called me out of other retired child actors must mean I have something they don't.
It's my job soon, so I gotta wring these GNet guys as much as possible.
"I was an actor, you know. Dancing and singing are whole other skills I have to learn for this show~"
"₩70.000?"
This woman is a hopeless pushover.
"Make it eighty, then we're talking."
"No. Seventy-five. Take it or leave it."
I made a long pause, almost grinning as I imagined how antsy this lady must be right now.
"Alright, I guess..." I made a loud, exaggerated sigh.
"It's settled, then. I will send you an online contract in a bit. Read it carefully before signing," she said, her voice sounding of relief.
"Yes, thank you–"
She turned off the call.
"Bye. I guess."
I sighed to myself then sat up on my thin mattress.
My phone dinged again soon enough, notifying a new message from the same contact I just called.
"She truly works wonders."
I tapped on the notif bubble and it opened my messaging app, showing two texts from five minutes ago and a file that was just sent.
I opened the file titled 'Survival Show Contract' and skimmed through the whole thing, not missing that check saying the pay is ₩75.000 an episode.
I was wondering why the lady chose me of all people, but it turns out this idol program was going to debut out a global boy group. Hence, the participants must also know English well.
Not to flex or anything, but I actually scored a perfect 9 on my IELTS test in one go.
While yes, that was back in high school, I'm sure I still got it.
I can't believe that GNet is the one making this program. I thought HYVE would be the one to do it first before getting copied.
"Oh well, just need to sign, right?"
I signed the digital contract and sent it to the lady again.
Oh, almost forgot about one thing.
"Can I have... advance.. pay.." And sent.
I need to eat something like right now.