The next morning.
I hadn't set an alarm, but my eyes opened on their own.
Still a habit beaten into my body — even though I no longer had anywhere to clock in, I had no idea when it would break.
So this is why they say habits are terrifying.
I rubbed my eyes and picked up my phone, only to freeze at the missed call count.
"Thirty-seven missed calls?"
At this rate, did something happen?
But every number was different.
Unknown number, unknown number, unknown number.
There were texts too, and the contents were something else.
[Hello. This is reporter Kim from OO Daily....]
[Mr. Kim Jinwoo, regarding the bear capture....]
[Request for a broadcast-related interview....]
I scrolled down the screen, then flipped the phone facedown.
"You didn't put my name in a single line of the article, and now you come crawling......"
Until yesterday, I'd had a sliver of anticipation.
The hope that if my name appeared in the news, the fame might bring in more viewers.
But thinking about it, that wasn't actually a good thing.
Growing a fanbase slowly was the path to longevity, and the new viewers drawn in by this would undoubtedly be looking at me through tinted lenses.
Things were just starting to pick up, and one careless move could ruin everything.
Nothing wrong with being cautious.
More importantly, the real priority right now wasn't this.
"Time for chicken."
That's right — the leftover chicken from last night.
The luxury of eating fried chicken first thing in the morning?
Can't resist.
I rolled out of bed, pulled the chicken from the kitchen fridge, popped it in the microwave, and picked up my phone again.
"What time should I start the stream today?"
Setting a fixed time for a regular schedule would be ideal, but becoming unemployed had made a fixed schedule meaningless.
Better to stream even an hour longer instead.
More importantly, I'd hit the jackpot yesterday.
Three paid sessions at 10,000 won each — 30,000 won.
BearWithMe's 100,000 won.
The 1,000-won punches that added up to a whopping 60,000 won.
Huh? Wait? That's more than I calculated?
"I made 190,000 won in a single day?!"
More than double a day's pay at the convenience store.
......Is this the thrill of success?
I was savoring those 190,000 won in my head when the microwave beeped.
Beep beep beep!
I pulled out the chicken, grabbed a piece to munch on, and typed up a notice on my phone.
[This is Kim Jinwoo. Starting the stream early today.]
Posted the notice, cleaned up the chicken, took a quick shower, then sat in front of the computer and prepped for the stream.
Checked the webcam settings, did a mic test.
"Ah, ah."
Everything was good. I pressed [Start Stream], and viewers poured in like they'd been waiting.
[Viewers: 134]
The day had come when over a hundred people watched my stream from the very start.
Is this what success is?
Absolutely thrilling.
Always new, always fresh — the successful life really is the best.
"Welcome, everyone."
― Jinwoo's here
― The bear thing from yesterday was all over the news
― Yeah, but not a word about Jinwoo
― I couldn't believe it either, did anyone reach out to you?
"I don't know how everyone got my number, but I've been getting calls from all sorts of places. But the articles are already out, right? I'm not a fan of hassle, so I'm going to ignore them."
― Good, good call
― Honestly, it's ridiculous — 'zookeeper's quick thinking,' really?
― Nah, it's already all over the community boards, so people who know will know
― Anyway, are you doing two free sessions today?
"Of course. I promised yesterday, so two are free. One at the start, one at the end."
― This place knows how to run a business
― Me! Me! I want one!
― You do regular counseling too, right?
― PLEASE do me!!!
"It's random selection. Let me take a look."
Let me see, who should it be?
I slowly scanned the viewer list.
One, two.
Scenes flickered past, one by one.
Then.
I stopped on a nickname — the backdrop was a hospital.
Through sunlight streaming through the window, I could see the inside of a white ward with a single bed. A private room, it seemed.
A woman was lying in the bed with an IV line in her arm.
But the strange thing was that no one was beside her.
No visitors, no guardians.
Next to the IV stand was a phone mount, and my stream was playing on it.
'She's watching the stream alone in a hospital?'
I looked into her future and checked the nickname.
LastLeaf...... hold on, why is the nickname like that?
"LastLeaf, please come into Daincode. Password is 1004."
At my voice, the chat went quiet for a moment.
― LastLeaf?
― Why is the nickname like that?
― If she's actually hospitalized, that'd be wild
"I think she really is in a hospital?"
― Boo, trash — apologize to Leaf
― Shove your face in a bathtub and hold your breath for three hours
― Wow, what a piece of trash, mocking someone's pain
― When did I mock anyone!!!!!!!
I waited for Leaf, and with a click, several people entered the Daincode room.
One was Leaf, and the others were queuing up?
"Leaf, I've given you mic permissions. Go ahead."
"......Hello."
A frail woman's voice — around her forties, maybe?
There was no energy in her voice at all.
Not an ounce of strength behind a single word.
"How long have you been hospitalized?"
"......Two weeks."
"It must be really uncomfortable."
"Well, I'm used to it by now."
The fact that she'd gotten used to it in just two weeks weighed on me.
I looked more closely into the hospital room and spotted a small potted plant on the windowsill.
I couldn't tell if she'd brought it herself or if it was the hospital's, but it was well cared for.
It looked like someone watered it every day — was she the one doing it?
"Does anyone come to visit you?"
"No. I live alone."
"What about family?"
"I don't have any."
She said it briefly, with a clear undertone of don't ask further.
Best to let that go.
"Hospital life must get pretty boring. You must be lonely?"
"That's why I've been watching the stream. Your voice is nice — listening to it makes me feel a little better."
― Look at Jinwoo's face when she said his voice is nice
― He's so pleased lol
― I mean, it IS a fact
"Thank you. Then please, talk to me at your own pace."
"Huh?"
"You need someone who can listen, right?"
"......"
A hush followed my words. About a minute passed.
She slowly began to speak.
"I quit my job about a year ago......"
Her health had deteriorated until she couldn't work anymore, and living alone meant there was no one left to talk to.
The first few days in the hospital were lonely, she said, but now it had just become routine.
I nodded as I listened.
"I see."
"So the thing is......"
The hospital kept telling her to stay admitted, but she hated being alone so much that she'd been cycling between admission and discharge.
At first she'd used four-person or six-person wards, but seeing happy families visiting other patients only made her feel more bitter and lonely, so she started insisting on a private room.
After hearing her out, I looked into the future — I saw her packing her things and leaving alone.
"Patient Seo Jihye, you'll need to be readmitted within two weeks."
"Yes. I understand."
She exchanged brief words with the doctor and went home. Her place was a small, pretty apartment with potted plants lining the windowsill.
Jihye was watering each plant, examining them one by one, and her expression wasn't bad.
The next scene was a small neighborhood cafe, where Jihye was handing a potted plant to a neighbor.
"Just water it once a week."
"Thank you. I'll take good care of it."
In that brief exchange, I could see she was slowly reconnecting with the world.
Watching the scene dissolve, I opened my mouth slowly.
"Jihye."
"How do you know my name......"
"May I ask you one thing?"
"Yes."
"Do you like plants?"
A brief silence.
"Yes. I brought one to my room, and looking at it makes me feel a bit better."
"When you're discharged, stop by the flower shop in your neighborhood — Always Flowers."
"How did you know about that place?"
"I can see everything. Go there and ask the owner — the grandmother — how things are going lately. She'll probably say her health is failing and she's thinking of closing up."
"And then?"
"That's when you offer to help."
Her condition was lupus.
No cure, but with proper management, she could live a long life.
"Me?"
"Yes. With your health, you can manage a bit of shop work. Nothing too strenuous."
"But I've never worked at a flower shop......"
"It's fine if it's your first time. The grandmother will teach you everything."
A silence settled, and I used that time to look at the future again.
Jihye watering her plants alone at home.
Handing a plant to a neighbor.
But this time I went deeper.
Inside a small shop, Jihye was wearing an apron and trimming flowers — her hands moving with practiced ease.
The grandmother was sitting in a chair nearby, watching her with a warm, contented expression.
"You manage on your own just fine now."
"It's all thanks to you, halmoni."
"Oh please, you were good from the start."
Jihye's expression as she chatted and laughed with the grandmother looked brighter than I'd ever seen — and when the shop door opened and a customer walked in, she greeted them with a bright face.
"Welcome."
This was her new future.
That's right. The future can always change.
There's no such thing as a fixed future in this world.
The fact that it can be changed — that's everything.
"Jihye."
"Yes?"
"Once you start working at the flower shop, there'll be an old man who comes by every day. He's not there to buy flowers — he's there to talk."
"......To talk?"
"He lives alone, just like you."
No ill intentions — just someone who, like Jihye, needed a companion to talk to.
"......That doesn't even make sense."
"That visiting one flower shop could change a life?"
"Yes."
Of course it didn't make sense.
If listening to a fortune teller's words could change your life, everyone in the world would be living exactly the life they wanted.
But she was going to change.
Because the very first place she'd head to after discharge was that flower shop.
"You say that, but you're going to be the first one running to the flower shop, aren't you?"
"Pfhaha...... you got me."
A small laugh came through — the voice of someone who'd laughed alone for the first time in two weeks.
"Yes, I'll go."
"And don't worry too much about the lupus. With proper management, you'll be fine."
"......There really is nothing you don't know."
In the silence that followed, she said a brief thanks before leaving the room.
"Thank you. I'll come back to leave a review later."
"Thank you."
Click.
The moment I heard her leave, the chat exploded.
― One flower shop changes a life?
― But he did see the future change
― A regular old grandpa ㅠㅠ
― Leaf, please go visit
"It's not the flower shop. It's the people she'll meet there."
People's lives are changed by people.
― Oh
― That's even more true
― Jinwoo's surprisingly a philosopher
― What do you mean surprisingly? He's always been one
[Viewers: 153]
Viewers had climbed again before I knew it.
"Alright, next person, come on in. This round is first come, first served."
The instant I gave mic permission to the first viewer who'd entered, a donation popped up.
― Anonymous donated 50,000 won! ―
[Thank you in advance, sir]
......50,000 won?
When a paid session is 10,000 won but someone donates 50,000, what does that mean?
They're in a big hurry.
"Sir, I'm in a bit of an urgent situation right now."
The voice was young — late twenties, maybe?
But it was trembling.
Badly.
I focused my eyes to examine his situation — a modestly sized office with several desks.
Startup vibes?
But the strange thing was the office was completely empty.
'Where did all the other employees go?'
The man was sitting alone in front of a monitor, and the screen was filled with numbers.
......The company's in trouble.
"You're running low on funds."
"Y-you really are the real deal......"
"And there's an investment offer that just came in, and you're torn over it right now."
"How did you even know that... no, you really are the real deal......"
"There's one investor, and you don't like the terms."
"That's right."
I looked into his future, and the scene split in two.
A future where he takes the investment, and one where he doesn't.
I chose to look at the investment future first.
"CEO, we should help each other in tough times, shouldn't we? Personally, I'd love to just invest freely, but our CEO is rather particular, you see."
"But the contract......"
The man meeting with him spoke in a voice dripping with grease, and his expression oozed something sinister.
The contract in particular was absurd — among its many clauses, one stated that if even a single condition went unfulfilled, 51% of the company's equity would be transferred.
"Do you really think we'd enforce the contract to the letter? Just trust us and sign. I promise you won't lose out."
......Anyone could see he's a scammer.