Friday’s Time Traveler - Chapter 4

Chapter 4. A midwinter night’s dream (3)

Translated  and Edited by Gigi 

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“Are you alright now?”

Seonwoo only looked at the woman without saying anything. Then, with a brighter expression, the woman led him to the sofa as if she was the owner of the place.

“By the way, what is with the coffee in the middle of the night?”

“I still have work to do.”

“But what if you can’t sleep?”

“I can’t sleep anyway. I think I will stay up all night.”

“Oh my Gosh, are all the accountants working this hard?”

Seonwoo looked at the woman while trying to drink coffee.

“How did you know I was an accountant?”

In retrospect, there were many strange things. Even though it’s been awkward, the woman’s presence in the company at this late hour was suspicious, and it was even more suspicious when she stopped Seonwoo calling the guard. But above all, how did she know his name?

They had met for a moment last Friday, he didn’t know her, but somehow the woman knew him and called his name intimately.

She knew his name, his job, his workplace, and even where he was. She knew him well.

“Can you answer my question?”

At Seonwoo’s urging, the woman touched her lower lip insignificantly with a leisurely gesture, but Seonwoo hardened his shoulders reflexively without even knowing it. Somehow, every move of the woman made him nervous.

“You asked what I was earlier, right? Okay, I’ll answer you.”

Her white, thin fingers pressed quite hard over her chest.

“I am an angel.”

Stillness flowed, and the woman with a smiley face remained unchanged. Seonwoo, who was facing her with a firm look, spoke very slowly.

“Are you kidding me? I don’t believe you.”

“Then what if I say I have superpowers?”

The woman asked with a twinkle in her eyes. Looking in those eyes, Seonwoo could tell she meant it. He could tell she was asking from the bottom of her heart. As Seonwoo felt tensed all over his body, he wrapped his head with both hands and immersed himself in deep agony. What did he expect? The woman looked at Seonwoo in such a state, she got nervous.

“What’s wrong? Is something wrong with you?”

“Yes, thanks. I’m thinking if I’m crazy or you’re crazy.”

“Wow….. I expected it, but really, why do you distrust people so much?”

“Any normal person would react like me.”

“What is wrong with angels or having superpowers? They’re in books and movies. At times, there are people who have witnessed it themselves.”

Seonwoo couldn’t listen anymore and raised his head nervously.

“Hey. I’m not a kid, and there’s no such thing in this world. Who do you think you’re fooling? Why don’t you say there’s Santa Claus, too?”

Out of nowhere, the woman shut her mouth tightly. At that moment, an unpleasant premonition ran through his mind.

“Santa Claus is really there. Really, I swear. Because I saw him with my own eyes.”

It was a very convincing tone with no doubt found. Seonwoo, who was staring at her blankly, suddenly rose from his seat. He couldn’t think anymore. He just wanted to get out of this situation as fast as possible.

“Are you going to work now?”

“Yeah.”

“May I watch you work?”

“No.”

Seonwoo looked back at the door with a determined mind because he wanted to make it clear to her.

“Let’s stop here. Let’s pretend we don’t know each other from now on. And if you get into the office again, I’ll call security first. To keep a peaceful routine, sometimes there are things that need to be done. Thank you for saving me, but…… Hey, Where are you?”

But just like before, the woman was nowhere to be found. The office where only with furniture, quietly stayed in place. As if the woman didn’t exist from the beginning, the vacant seat remained empty. Like it was last Friday night, Cha Seonwoo, who was left alone, muttered desperately.

“Wow, I must be crazy.”

🎄🎄

“Is there really no one?”

“Yes. Not even one ant that came by.”

The guard replied annoyingly to Seonwoo’s repeated questions.  “Why, did you see someone suspicious at the company yesterday? Can I show you the CCTV?”

“No. It’s okay.”

Seonwoo left the security room, adding that he was sorry to bother the guard.  As he guessed, no one saw the woman at the entrance of the company last night. As Seonwoo was walking back to the office, he thought why did the woman come to this company? Although this was the best corporation in the industry, it was the same for other companies around. This area was the center of Seoul, where the headquarters of leading companies in Korea were concentrated. If she was a bank robber needing a place to hide, or an industrial spy seeking new technologies from other companies would not have gone into an accounting firm.

No, before that, to discuss common sense, people who came in to steal something couldn’t have such a leisurely conversation, and last night’s woman was overly excited. Indeed, the woman did save him last Friday, so was she really an Angel or did she have superpowers?

“Did she watch too many movies?”

Seonwoo went into the bathroom, gently rubbing his face and neck.  Even in the early morning, some employees who had gathered and chatted happily greeted him, Seonwoo responded with a rough glance and looked closely at the ceiling and walls pretending to drink water. As expected, there was no CCTV in the breakroom either. Even though he didn’t expect much, he couldn’t help but be disappointed.

After the woman disappeared last night, like a mirage, he hurried home without knowing what spirit he had in mind. Once he woke up, he wanted to recall his memories with a refreshing mind, but he couldn’t sleep even a little, whether it was the coffee he drank at night or the mysterious woman who disappeared in front of him.

With no sleep at all the night before, he left for work. Seonwoo still wasn’t sure whether the woman was really real, or if he just had a vivid dream. Even the CCTV, which was the last hope, was in vain, so there was no way to check it anymore.

“What, have you seen a ghost?”

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a voice whispering in his ear, Seonwoo turned his head, and unsurprisingly, Kim Junghyuk was standing far away while stirring the mug with a spoon.

“Hey……. I told you not to pop up from behind me like that.”

“You didn’t hear me. I’ve been calling you from there. Didn’t you hear my annoying voice calling Mr. Cha?”

Seonwoo turned away with a tired look. Even though his steps across the corridor out of the breakroom gradually accelerated, Kim Junghyuk persistently followed him.

“What were you thinking so deeply? You didn’t even hear me calling.”

“I’m just tired.”

“So what if you are already tired? You haven’t been home since last week.”

“Surely.”

Seonwoo responded without energy and looked at Kim Junghyuk. Using the opportunity, Junghyuk handed the cup of coffee he was holding to Seonwoo.

“Thank you.”

From behind, Kim Junghyuk had stopped walking, but Seonwoo breathed slowly while sipping coffee at a leisurely pace.  As expected, in the morning when you were tired, there were no special drugs that help but caffeine. His head, which was sluggish, began to function normally.

“Ah, Mr. Cha. Did you finish yesterday?”

“Yes, I did.”

“I’m glad. I hope you backup your work in the future. You shouldn’t make such rudimentary mistakes.”

“Sorry.”

How did he find out he was passing by, but a senior ran into Seonwoo at the corridor and made a bitter comment.

The department was also different, and Seonwoo didn’t know where the senior picked up the rumors, but Seonwoo did not want his work performance to be the topic of all the gossip, so he just acted docile. This company was generally reasonable and horizontal, but there must be one crazy guy in every group.

December 27th. The end of the year, the company was a mess. In the midst of that, Seonwoo quietly imagined the next year that would unfold in a few days. The end of the year, when the work increases, starting with a hectic season passing the boring off-season that made one feel lazy.

He thought the same thing this time last year, and he would think the same thing next year as well. And he would continue to lead a peaceful everyday life unchanged. It was just different between busy and less busy, and essentially his year was the same every day. There was no time for a mysterious woman to come in.

Seonwoo entered the office while swallowing the remaining coffee in the cup. Raining phone calls and busy business trips. A familiar sight unfolded before him. A few days passed like that. The new year was bright. It was a full-fledged season before long.

🎄🎄

A cold wave warning was issued as soon as the New Year was near. Last summer, it was so hot it almost killed people, but this winter seemed to be freezing to the bones.

“Honestly, aren’t there four seasons in Korea? My nephew’s textbook tells me that it has spring, summer, fall, and winter. But the way I see it, summer is very hot, winter is very cold. Where did spring and autumn go? Huh?”

His tongue was frozen and he couldn’t answer, but Seonwoo agreed with Kim Junghyuk’s words a hundred times. It was now too late to enjoy the flowering spring days and the clear autumn sky. Fine dust was rising in spring and autumn passed by in a blink of an eye. So it was enough to say that it’s a two-season country, summer and winter.

“I’m glad it doesn’t snow though. If it snows heavily, it would be difficult to go down the countryside.”

“Don’t be so happy. When was it? This weekend or next week? It seemed like there was a snow forecast?”

“I’d rather it snow a lot so that all of the cars are cut off.”

Whether or not the Meteorological Administration hit the cold wave advisory, the audit department that entered the season was no different from previous years. Accountants were busy visiting their businesses, and some returned to the headquarters overnight, tapping the keyboard like zombies until three or four in the morning. Some people even lost time to and from the house, so they stayed and ate at work for days.

Seonwoo’s situation was similar. At this point, his house was nothing more than a short stop to get a minimum of sleep, wash and change clothes to survive. Probably repeating this life all the time and by the end of the season around March, people would master the rare technique of falling asleep as soon as they put their heads anywhere.

It was much better than when he was a newcomer who was seriously contemplating the job as an accountant the first year. In any case, this year’s first hectic weekend was bright. Even so, at the beginning of the year, there was a hopeful atmosphere outside, but like those who started the first weekend of the new year with work, the side of the office was not so bright. Not to mention the depressed expression, there were a lot of people who already have dark circles under their eyes. However, he and Kim Junghyuk looked like pandas, so they couldn’t even make fun of each other.

When you’re busy, time will flow faster than a bullet. It was already 11:17 pm Sunday night, about 40 minutes before this year’s weekend ended. Seonwoo got up from his seat while quickly packing his bag.

“I will go home first.”

Leaving the work behind, Seonwoo, who miraculously went home before midnight, a mixture of regret followed. Fortunately, Kim Junghyuk, who didn’t see him going home first, seemed stuck in the bathroom. Seonwoo stretched his shoulders that had thickened with fatigue and left the company with light steps. And he immediately regretted it.

“I should have brought the car…….”

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