CHAPTER 02

Just Another Ordinary Day

"Seriously? You posed for a promotional ad of a motel?" Winwin ripped the flyers that he got when they were on their way home. It was a newly opened motel along the way and to say that he was mad was an understatement. The guy was furious. 
Taeyong nearly recoiled at the tone of his brother's voice. He knew that the newly opened motel was looking for a male model for their flyers and because the pay was relatively high, he agreed immediately. "Well, they didn't make me remove my clothes, and it's a friendly hotel." He tried to reason out.

"Are you that stupid? There is no such thing as a friendly motel, especially in this neighborhood!"
 

"The payment can cover our rent for three months, so it was tempting, and I'm okay. I'm still whole and untouched." Despite the nervousness of seeing Winwin red with anger, Taeyong managed to give a small smile, hoping to erase the frown on his brother's forehead.
 

But Winwin had a different reason behind his madness, and it was far from what his eldest brother thought. "My classmates always pass by that area, and most of Haechan's classmates live near that area, too. Do you think they will be impressed to see you in those flyers?"
 

Taeyong looked at his brother with sudden disappointment. The older brother believed that Winwin was acting that way because he was concern about his brother's well-being, but it was the other way around. Hurt, he just nodded and apologized. "That would be the last time that I will pose for anything. I'll look for another job."
 

That was when Haechan, who was silent the whole time, spoke. "Don't mind Winwin Hyung. Just don't put yourself in that situation again, Hyung. You might get into trouble because of it."
 

"Of course he will, as usual," Winwin added and left the room afterward.
 

Taeyong smiled at their youngest and patted his hair. "Change your clothes and tell Winwin that there's bread on the table. You can share it. I have to go."
 

And off the eldest went to his second job as a delivery guy, leaving one brother concern and one acting cold.

***

"One day, I will smack the living daylight out of Winwin." Ten, one of Taeyong's best friends said, annoyed. "A simple thank you will do. His name doesn't suit him. We should call him a loser. It fits better."

"He's right, though. It was a stupid move. I should've thought about it first before diving in it like a hungry dog." Taeyong answered as he mopped the floor of the private room in that neorabang. Ten booked it and requested his best friend to accompany him, with a promise of a considerable tip, of course.
 

"Ungrateful brat." Winwin had always been like that to Taeyong. For Ten, his vocabulary did not include the word appreciation, and it pissed him to no end that Taeyong just tolerated and accepted everything the brat says. "Stop mopping the floor. I didn't pay you to clean this room for me. I paid you for your company!"

Taeyong stopped and wiped his forehead. It was his last job for the night, and he was excited to get home. "The cleaner is on leave, so the boss asked me to do this for him. It's additional pay, so I agreed."
 

Ten shook his head. "Taeyong, what will I do to you?"
 

The said guy gave his best friend his biggest smile and said, "Give me my tip so I can go home. Channie got a high score on his Math quiz, so I want to buy him his favorite ice cream."
 

"What are you still doing here working your off? You said you would try to focus on modeling."
 

That was when Taeyong decided to sit beside Ten and accepted the drink his best friend offered. He was tired and sleepy, and all he wanted to do was lay his back on his bed and sleep the tiredness away, but he can't since there were two people under his responsibility. He enjoyed modeling, but projects and offers were hard to come by, especially to a beginner like him. It was Ten who told him that he should try modeling because he looks good. He didn't believe him until he got his first project. The payment was reasonable, but projects were hard to come by. It left him with no choice but to go back to his full-time jobs and make modeling a part-time one. And with his brothers' reaction, Taeyong decided to stop it.
 

"Modelling is not for me."
 

"Said Winwin." Ten rolled his eyes.
 

"And he's right. The high pay just blinded me, making me believe that I can make it big, but no. I want to provide what's best for my brothers, and modeling will not give me that stable income and security to do that. I don't want to argue with Winwin every time he sees my pictures somewhere."
 

"And the real reason came out. Winwin is just ashamed of you."
 

"He's not."
 

"That brother of yours never really care for you. Was there ever a time he treated you nicely?"
 

"Yes, of course. Winwin is just tired will all his papers and deadlines. That's why he's grumpy sometimes."
 

"Like most of the time."
 

"Ten," Taeyong stood up and collected his cleaning materials. "Winwin is a nice guy. He doesn't show it that much."
Ten raised his arms in defeat, took a 10 000 win from his pocket, and handed it to Taeyong. "Whatever you say. Here, go home safely.

I'll stay here for a while."
 

The latter excitedly accepted the tip and bowed to Ten. He was still their customer and a regular one.
 

Ten just gave him a playful push out the door. "Get out of here. My date's coming soon. I don't want him to see you, or else it will ruin my love life."

"Thank you, Ten. I'll see you tomorrow," and with that, Taeyong left his best friend.

***

"Yuta's idea is good. It's about time to put a face on Mystic Man, and if we do it, we're going to do it with a bang." Jung Taeil said and earned nods from their colleagues. The company was having a meeting about the growing demand to reveal the face of a well-loved video game character. 

"We should scout models and even actors for this project, and I'm sure a lot of them will be interested in this project." One of the department heads said, but their boss thought of a different strategy.
 

"This will be a top-secret project, and we will not announce it to anyone," Jaehyun said, which made Yuta snapped his head in his direction. Taeil swore he heard bones snapped when the latter did that.
 

Johnny voiced out what Yuta wanted to say, "Boss, how can we find the right person if we will not inform agencies about it?"
The boss remained unfazed. He had made his decision. They were going to keep the project top-secret and surprise their competitors.

"Hyung, tell your men to scout in the streets, schools, cafes, anywhere. I don't want a known model or an actor to be the face of Mystic Man. I want a fresh face for this one." Jaehyun told Taeil, in which he got a nod as an answer. "Let them guess."
 

The four men finally got what Jaehyun was planning. If they hired a known model or an actor, it would lessen Mystic Man's mysteriousness, and the anticipation was not going to be the same as what a fresh face could give the gamers.
 

"Someone's going to be a star." Yuta smiled, and the rest of the people inside the broad room nodded.
 

"We only have a month to prepare for all of this. You can now go except for Hyung, Nakamoto, and Seo." Jaehyun dismissed the others, and Yuta was almost laughing at their sure success when there were only four of them left inside the room.
 

"You are indeed a genius, Jae. You made Hyung's job a lot harder, but it will be worth it. I can already smell our victory here. Dreamers Inc. will freak out when they hear this."
 

Taeil smiled and drank coffee only to scoffed at the nasty taste afterward. It was why he still preferred the local café near their building.
 

"When will our coffee taste good?" Yuta, who happened to drink at the same time, voiced out Taeil's silent complaint. "I think we should hire a personal barista. It is getting worst." He said, eyeing the innocent cup with great disgust.
 

"Hyung, we need to formally launch this project and raise the anticipation of the gamers, not only those who play ATG but other games a well."
 

Taeil just nodded. It was another opportunity to showcase his expertise, and he was more than excited. His face just didn't show it.
 

"Jae, have you receive the report about the error in the system of the latest update of the Brainiacs?" Johnny said, opening another topic.
 

Jaehyun frowned and signaled Johnny to continue.
 

"No potion has ever killed the monster in level 48."
 

"We just added that level a week ago, and someone already reached it?" Yuta said, amazed.
 

Johnny nodded and continued. "We received an email today about a certain player, GeniusChan, telling us that there's a glitch in the system, and he tried 23 different types of potion to kill Vesuvius, and nothing worked."
 

Yuta stood up in disbelief. Even the silent Taeil was surprised with what Johnny said. 
 

"Twenty-three potion? Geez, the player lives up to his name. Genius." Yuta said.
 

Brainiacs was a game created by the NCT Corp. It was one of the popular games the company made, but not everyone had reached the highest level. Only one player had ever reached level 45, currently the most challenging level. It was a quest game where players have to answers different questions and even develop formulas to get a potion. The faster you answer the questions and equations, rare potions would be given and mixed to kill the monsters at the end of the level. The more potions you collect, the more chances you can defeat the monsters. 
 

"You need four dragon blood and one frosted heart of talisman to create the frosted blood that would kill Vesuvius," Jaehyun said, and Johnny nodded.
 

"The user tried it 23 times."
 

Jaehyun looked at Johnny as he internalized what he just said. He designed the game not for everyone to play. It was a game especially for intelligent people, borderline genius, and so far, this was the first time someone questioned his creation. 
 

Yuta was just as surprised as Johnny. "You mean he got the frosted heart of talisman for 23 times? That's 115 unique equations, and he answered all of them in one week?"
 

Johnny said, "Yup."
 

"That's impossible." Yuta stammered. "The equations to get the frosted heart of talisman are nearly impossible to answer, and we specially designed the game to avoid cheating. An ordinary player can solve one equation in two days. How come he did it 23 times in a week?"
 

"Genius indeed." Taeil acknowledged that even the three of them had a hard time answering those equations formulated by Jaehyun. That made Brainiacs his least favorite creation of NCT Corp. Jaehyun sighed and fell into thinking mode. 
 

"That's not even the problem. Given that the player got all the needed potions to kill Vesuvius, he tried it 23 times, and nothing worked? Once is enough to kill that beast." Johnny refused to believe that there was a glitch in the system. It never happened before.

"We must do something about this. If this reaches our competitors, it will be in doom."

"How many players have reached level 48?" Jaehyun finally asked.
 

"Just GeniusChan. The second place is still in level 25." 
 

"Good, we still have time to fix this glitch if there is one."
 

"How about GenuisChan?"
 

"Let him experiment and use all his potions."
 

With that, Jaehyun left the office, followed by his Hyung. Yuta and Johnny were left, still amazed that someone outsmarted their boss and called him off for it.
 

"Jaehyun will not sleep tonight, that's for sure."
 

Johnny laughed and lightly punched Yuta's arms.
 

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