Chapter 1
It was just another ordinary day.
The tired faces of people struggling with the rising heat. The subway packed to capacity on a holiday. Leaning my body against the shaking wall, I squeezed myself further inside when I saw the screen doors opening.
New passengers began cramming themselves into the subway car that I thought couldn’t possibly fit anyone else. Though the air conditioning was working hard, there were too many people crowded together for the cool air to be effective—it weakly brushed just the tips of our heads.
Even getting off was a struggle, forcing my way through amid people’s protests, but I was finally able to escape the crowd and breathe a sigh of relief. That moment didn’t last long. I fanned myself with my sweat-soaked hat and sighed at the sight of people packed tightly on the emergency exit stairs. Honestly, I wanted nothing more than to turn back and lie down on the cool floor of my home. But when is life ever that easy?
“Damn part-time job. Damn money.”
I suppressed the curses escaping between my teeth and forced my protesting feet to move forward instead of turning back. My legs felt unbearably heavy, and the heat grew more intense with each step up the stairs. I pulled my hat down firmly, as if steeling myself against the scorching heat that was steaming my skin.
* * *
“Excuse me?”
“I already told you in my text.”
“I didn’t see it. You said we’d discuss it when I came to the store directly.”
“Oh, did I? I must have forgotten.”
Forgotten? You call that forgotten? I suppressed my middle finger that wanted to rise up, forcing a smile instead. In all my life, this was a first.
I’m twenty-three years old. In my life—not particularly long but not exactly short either—I’ve done every part-time job imaginable. I’ve carried frozen meat crates at barbecue restaurants, delivered food from Chinese restaurants. At a seafood restaurant that was constantly packed, I once worked until I was so exhausted I had to catch a short nap in a tiny room. Not to mention PC rooms and comic book cafes, and I’ve even cooked porridge in a porridge shop kitchen.
“So are you going to take it or not?”
The manager with prominent cheekbones said while fidgeting with his phone. Since I arrived at the store, he hadn’t once put down his phone while talking to me.
When I looked around, I saw another part-timer neatly arranging items on the shelf and wiping down the counter. Dressed in a slightly worn uniform, he kept glancing over with a look that said he didn’t understand what the problem was. Judging by the soft, baby-like fuzz still visible on his face, he seemed to be either a freshman in college or a high school student.
Poor kid. He doesn’t even realize he’s being exploited by this terrible manager. Even though convenience store work is easier than physical labor, this is too much.
First time working at a convenience store? Please. I’ve done all kinds of exhausting jobs—of course I’ve worked at convenience stores before. Back then, they at least paid the basic hourly wage and let me handle the cash register from day one. Sure, that store was in a busy area so it was hectic for a convenience store, but this difference is just too extreme.
When I remained silent, the manager must have thought I hadn’t heard him properly, as he parted his cracked lips and repeated himself.
“I can’t match minimum wage from the start. If you work well and have a good attitude, I can raise it by 100 won each month. The training period is 3 days, and you know you won’t get paid during training, right?”
“That seems a bit unreasonable. I’ve worked at convenience stores before—is the training period really necessary? Shouldn’t I get at least something during the training period?”
“Geez, you’re frustrating. Why are you bringing up what others do? We’re different, okay? This is just how we do things here, always have.”
The manager’s phone made a sound. He fiddled with it while glancing at me from the corner of his eye, probably another job inquiry coming in. His voice grew sharper.
“So, are you taking it or not? Decide quickly.”
“I’m not taking it.”
When I said this with a bright smile, his eyes narrowed as if looking at a madman. The manager waved his hands as if shooing away a bug, his expression clearly telling me to leave. He was supposedly asking nicely, but his expression plainly said “get lost.”
I smiled brightly. Let’s see how well he does with all that money he’s saving. Does he think I’ll just let him exploit poor part-timers like this and get away with it? Whether it worked or not, I planned to report him first thing. It probably wouldn’t have much effect since I wasn’t actually working there, but it was better than doing nothing. I was about to spit near the convenience store but stopped when I thought of the young part-timer with the fuzzy face.
I gave the manager a hearty middle finger in my mind and was about to stride out of the convenience store when I noticed the sky had turned pitch black.
“What’s going on?”
A woman who had been walking leisurely looked up at the sky and didn’t know what to do. A passing man also noticed the ominous sky and ducked into the convenience store I had just left to buy an umbrella. As if he had triggered something, people started rushing into the convenience store to grab umbrellas. Through the glass wall, I could see the manager badgering the part-timer, who hurriedly went to the storage room to bring out more umbrellas.
“The weather forecast said it would be nice all day.”
The woman grumbled, chewing her lips as if she’d been betrayed. I nodded silently beside her. I feel you. Wasn’t the sun shining brightly just earlier? The pavement was still radiating heat from being baked in the sunshine. I couldn’t understand why the once-blue sky had suddenly turned pitch black, but since the sky is notoriously fickle, no one questioned it. I was no exception.
More pressing matters occupied my mind. I looked at the bustling convenience store. With people grabbing other items along with umbrellas, the crowded store seemed like it would run out of umbrellas soon.
It seemed like I should buy an umbrella now, but I was too annoyed with the manager to go back inside. When I caught the manager’s eyes through the glass wall and saw him frown openly, my petty side started to creep in.
I was tempted to go in as a customer and give him a hard time, but that would damage my dignified character, and the part-timer had done nothing wrong. I also didn’t want to end up being filmed and labeled as “Convenience Store Troublemaker” online.
Reluctantly abandoning thoughts of causing trouble, I turned and walked away. There’s more than one convenience store in the world. I’d surely find another convenience store or street vendor selling disposable umbrellas if I kept walking. It wouldn’t be too late to buy one then.
“Why is the sky like that?”
“Huh? Why? Wow, what is that?”
A couple passing by pointed at the sky, and their words stopped me in my tracks. Their comments caught the attention of others too, and several people stopped to look up.
It was the blackest cloud I’d ever seen in my life. I’ve seen countless dark clouds before, but never one this pitch black. It was so eerie and gloomy that despite the heat still radiating from the pavement through my shoes, I felt a chill run down my spine.
The couple seemed to share my feelings, as the woman shivered and nestled into her boyfriend’s arms.
“Huh? What?”
A wave of murmurs rippled through the crowd. The sky was becoming even more bizarre. Perhaps because the sky was so black, white cracks began to appear more prominently in various places. The cracks rapidly formed strange patterns.
“What is that?”
“Maybe it’s one of those outdoor advertising events?”
“Really? Is that what it is? The scale is too big though.”
“I saw something like this online. They put up multiple panels at intersections to show things like waterfalls. It looks like that.”
“Oh, I’ve seen that! It was really pretty. But why is this one so gloomy?”
People exchanged animated conversations. They discussed the differences between Korean and foreign advertisements, the misguided effects of advertising, and even the latest trends. The discussion jumped from topic to topic. People who had been hesitant now looked on with interest after hearing these conversations.
But I tilted my head in doubt. Was this really an outdoor advertising event? If so, it was unusually sinister. The patterns gradually embroidering the sky were spectacular and undeniably beautiful in their way. But against such a pitch-black cloud backdrop, even that beauty felt dampened.
Whether they were projecting holograms into the sky or using some other technology, my knowledge of such things was too shallow to form a proper opinion. I only thought that these patterns would look more beautiful against a night sky rather than these dark clouds.
Wooooooo–
While I was forming these unimaginative impressions, a bizarre sound reverberated through the pavement. The sound was as eerie and sharp as the black clouds overhead, making me jump and hunch my shoulders in surprise. Everyone around me was frantically looking for the source of the sound. I joined them, rubbing my shoulders that were trembling even more than when I first saw the dark clouds.
“Huh?”
“What was that?”
People murmured in alarm, but the sound didn’t return. I rubbed my damp nape and looked up at the sky again. The sight of circular patterns and straight lines intertwined like a spider web was spectacular, but…
The area covered by the pattern had expanded since I first saw it.
That’s when I finally realized this wasn’t an advertisement. Even for a major corporation’s advertising campaign, this was beyond reasonable limits. Though I knew next to nothing about such things, I had enough common sense to know that an advertisement covering the entire sky of Seoul would be impossible.
Thump, thump.
Sure enough, just as people who had reached similar conclusions began to feel uneasy and tried to hurry away, the ground shook beneath us. The vibration was so severe that I had the illusion that the ground was bending like rubber. I crouched down, grabbing the ground for support. People screamed and fell.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
