How much time had passed? After another lecture that followed the exact same formula ended, they began guiding people—not toward the entrance we’d come through—but toward a door at the front, saying they’d treat everyone to a delicious meal.
“I’ll be heading out now.”
“You came all this way—if you just leave, I’ll feel bad.”
“Hyesun, I’m seriously about to start swearing.”
“Just eat and go. I absolutely won’t hold you after this, okay? I even reserved lunch for you, Du-seon. You just have to show up.”
I was hungry, too. The thing had dragged on so long that it was already past 1 p.m. Fine—unfair as it felt, I figured I might as well get a meal out of it. I stood up. The exit connected to an emergency stairwell, and after going down about two floors, we reached the parking lot.
“Du-seon, we’re getting on this bus.”
“What? We’re just going to eat—why do we need a bus?”
“The restaurant’s out on the outskirts. Hurry.”
Everyone there boarded the bus without any suspicion. Hyesun looped her arm through mine and wouldn’t let go. With people pushing from behind, I was practically shoved onto the bus. Just in case, I sat in the very front seat, ready to get off if anything seemed off.
Once everyone was on, the doors closed. Just as the bus was about to depart, Hyesun—who had been sitting beside me—suddenly said, “Wait a moment,” and hurriedly got off, saying she’d follow in the next car. Startled, I tried to get off too, but the driver told me to fasten my seatbelt and started driving.
They’re not… selling us off somewhere, right?
I tensed up, already dialing 112 on my phone. What if they took me to some strange port or something? The thought wouldn’t leave my head.
After about forty minutes, the bus really did arrive at a Korean set-menu restaurant. It wasn’t as extravagant as the place Bin had taken me before, but it was a fairly large buffet-style spot.
“Please get off.”
The others got off naturally, like they’d done this more than once, and went inside. The restaurant owner stood at the entrance greeting the arriving guests. The uneasy feeling made me hesitate at the door, but then the suited man who’d given the lecture earlier recognized me.
“Why aren’t you going in?”
“I’m waiting for someone.”
“Who?”
“Hyesun.”
“Hmm… Hyesun? Ah!”
He seemed delighted, saying I must be her guest, and offered a handshake. Before I knew it, we’d shaken hands, and he guided me inside with a friendly hand on my back like we were old pals.
“The food here is amazing. Eat a lot.”
I had no choice but to sit wherever I could find space. As soon as I sat down, a staff member approached and set a full spread of dishes in front of me. The man hadn’t been lying—the food looked delicious. The galbitang was packed with meat.
“Wow, this is actually really good.”
Maybe because I hadn’t eaten a single meal since morning, my appetite came rushing back and my worries faded. They say people are happiest when they’re eating. Leaving the irritating morning behind, I let myself sink into the moment. Whenever side dishes ran low, passing staff refilled them without me asking.
“Man… this place is a hidden gem.”
As I picked up some spicy fermented skate salad, I noticed the lecturer chatting among a group of older women. He casually held their hands with both of his, listening attentively like a devoted son. When someone offered him food, he accepted it eagerly, acting like a dutiful son-in-law.
“What a sly snake.”
He was worse than Yot Seller. Honestly, even if he worked in real estate or some other sales job, he looked like the type who’d thrive anywhere.
Just then, Hyesun arrived late and sat across from me.
“Does the food suit your taste?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s a relief.”
“Hyesun, please don’t do this again.”
Even though my tone was cold, she didn’t lose her smile and poured soda into a paper cup for me. She told me to take my time eating, offering kind words. For a second, I even wondered if she and that man were siblings.
After finishing my meal and coming outside, I saw a few others waiting just like me.
“Alright, let’s get going!”
Before getting back on the bus, I grabbed Hyesun and asked if we were really heading back now. She said yes—since it was afternoon traffic might be heavy, so I could just take a nap and we’d arrive before I knew it.
Everyone climbed back onto the same bus and took their seats. I sat in the front again and fastened my seatbelt. Since not everyone who’d eaten had come out yet, the bus didn’t seem ready to leave. I waited blankly for a bit, then, hit by food-induced drowsiness, dozed off.
At some point, I felt the gentle rocking of the bus—it must’ve started moving. Maybe because I’d slept poorly last night, I couldn’t fight off the sleepiness.
***
How long had I slept? It must’ve been a while, because my eyes slowly opened on their own. Blinking, I looked ahead, trying to figure out where we were.
“Huh? Why haven’t we arrived yet…?”
I was about to close my eyes again to sleep until we arrived, but suddenly snapped fully awake. The ceiling clock I’d glimpsed read past 5 p.m. Looking back, a few people were on their phones, but most were asleep.
“…Huh.”
Where the hell were we? Why were we still driving along a national road?
It had taken about forty minutes to get from Samseong Station to the restaurant. Even if we’d left the restaurant at 3, driving nonstop for over two hours made no sense, no matter how bad traffic was. I unbuckled my seatbelt and carefully approached the driver.
“Um, sir. Where are we going right now?”
“Huh? Where else? The seminar venue.”
“If you mean the seminar venue, you mean the one back at Samseong Station, right?”
“What are you talking about? We’re heading to Gangneung.”
“What!?”
When I shouted, several people who’d been sleeping jolted awake. A few leaned over their seats, peering toward the front.
“No—why Gangneung? We’re supposed to be going to Gangnam!”
“Ah! We’re just a chartered bus driver—I don’t know anything!”
As I stammered in shock, an elderly woman sitting behind me spoke up.
“Young man, sit down first. It’s dangerous to stand like that.”
“Ma’am! Going somewhere without knowing is way more dangerous! Sir, please stop the bus. Pull over.”
“Hah! This is just a national road—there’s nothing around here. What are you going to do if you get off?”
I stubbornly insisted on getting off. I couldn’t let myself be dragged off to some unknown place like this. I figured if I got off and walked, I’d eventually find a bus stop or something. When the driver still didn’t slow down, I dialed 112 and showed him my phone.
“I’m calling the police!”
“Geez… you eat well, sleep well, and then act like this.”
The driver muttered “seriously” and “come on” under his breath before finally pulling the bus over beside a road lined with rice paddies.
I got off in a hurry, like someone escaping, and stepped away from the bus. The doors shut immediately, and it drove off. People sitting by the windows looked at me with pitying eyes.
“Wow… they’re all insane. Do they actually know where they’re going? Don’t tell me I’m the only one who didn’t?”
In a world where people disappear without a trace these days, the whole thing felt absurd.
But getting off created another problem. No matter how far I walked, there wasn’t even anything resembling a bus stop. In foreign movies, people hitchhike without hesitation—should I try that too? I kept staring at passing cars, but it was too embarrassing to actually do it.
Eventually, after walking along the roadside for quite a while, I spotted a village sign.
[Sanhari Village ↑1.2 km]
The sun was already setting, and walking along the road alone felt dangerous. It seemed faster to head into the village and ask someone how to get to the nearest terminal, so I turned my steps that way.
There weren’t even any streetlights. Once the sun went down, it looked like everything would be swallowed by darkness. That made me pick up my pace even more.
“Farther than I thought.”
After about twenty minutes of walking, I reached the village entrance. There was a small community hall, and behind it, just a handful of houses—a tiny settlement. My feet hurt from all the walking, so I sat down at a pavilion nearby.
“…Why is there no one around?”
You’d think at least one elderly resident would pass by the pavilion, but no one appeared. As it grew darker, anxiety started creeping in.
“If I sleep here, my face is gonna freeze crooked…”
If I really had nowhere to stay, I figured maybe I could sleep inside the community hall, but when I approached, it was locked. Peeking through the window, it looked barely used—the calendar on the wall was from two years ago, and the clock had stopped.
“…What is this place? Does no one even live here?”
There were only a few houses, and somewhere in the distance a dog barked. Strange bird calls echoed too. It reminded me of a horror movie I’d watched recently—the setting had been a village just like this. Slowly, I started getting scared. I tried opening a taxi app, but maybe because the data signal was weak, the screen wouldn’t load.
“What’s the point of a ‘safety option’ if the speed makes me feel anything but safe!”
Even worse, my battery was running low.
Ah… what do I do?
I sat there at the pavilion, tapping my feet anxiously. I didn’t want to spend the night here. Reluctantly, I opened my call history, looking for someone who could come pick me up. Han-woo and Sang-cheol didn’t have cars… So who did? Three people came to mind.
Roban, Jun, and Bin.
I decided to call Roban first since he felt the easiest, but apparently I hadn’t saved his number. After so many client calls, his contact had been buried somewhere. I considered calling Bin, but he’d already helped me at the hospital yesterday—I couldn’t ask him again.
In the end, my eyes landed on Jun’s contact.
Like I was staring at my last hope.
“Ah… if I hadn’t said that stuff yesterday, today would’ve been perfect to order him around…”
Rustle.
Along the mountain ridge where the sun was dipping low, long shadows stretched between the trees. And through them, I saw something dart past.
Pointless hesitation like this would only delay getting home. I pressed the call button immediately. My heart pounded—I couldn’t tell if it was because of that unknown sound… or because I was calling Jun. Either way, I felt tense.
