Chapter 2: Omen (2)

Buzz- Buzz- Buzz- Buzz-

8:00 AM. The phone I had placed by my pillow before falling asleep last night started buzzing loudly and then stopped.

'No... Who could be calling this early?'

Looking at the phone, I saw that I had three missed calls from Choi Jin, who works the night shift.

Worried that something urgent might have happened, I quickly called him back.

"Hello? What's going on?"

"Really? I thought something urgent happened... Usually, you're never late by more than 10 minutes past the shift change, so I was wondering what happened. Just wait a bit longer."

I could hear him grumbling through the phone.

"Alright, I'll go down and see what's going on, so just wait a bit."

Choi Jin's audacity only made me sigh.

He's the type who is always 20-30 minutes late for shift changes, makes all sorts of excuses to avoid responsibility, yet is punctual about his own off-time.

'This is too tiring. Do I really need to worry about Choi Jin's shift changes...?'

Feeling tired and annoyed, I decided to lie down for about 10 minutes before going down.

I closed my eyes and lay down, half-asleep, when about 5 minutes later, my phone started buzzing again.

Buzz- Buzz- Buzz- Buzz-

It was Choi Jin, impatiently calling again.

For a moment, I considered ignoring the call, but then I answered.

"I'm still in my room. I'm just getting dressed, so I'll come down as soon as I'm ready."

If I stay in bed, he'll keep calling.

I thought I should go down quickly, inform the manager about the shift change, and then come back to sleep.

I got dressed and headed to the 5th floor, where the manager lives.

The building is a 5-story apartment complex with a convenience store and parking lot on the 1st floor, 2nd to 4th floors are apartments, the 5th floor is entirely the manager's, and I live in the attic on the 6th floor.

Ding-dong- Ding-dong-

I pressed the doorbell at the manager's front door.

Ding-dong- Ding-dong-

When there was no response, I pressed the doorbell again.

There was still no response from inside.

I carefully put my ear to the door and could hear the TV playing softly.

'He must be home. Maybe he's still sleeping? Should I just go back up?'

But I couldn't bear the thought of Choi Jin's constant nagging.

To wake the manager up, I knocked on the door with my fist.

Bang- Bang- Bang-

"Manager, wake up! It's 8:30. You need to come down for the shift change!"

Bang- Bang- Bang-

After a moment, I heard movement from inside, and the manager came to the door.

"What? Why are you knocking so loudly? Cough, cough."

"Manager, it's 8:30. Jin called me because he can't reach you and you haven't come down for the shift change."

"Really? It's already this late? I need to come down... but I'm not feeling well today. Cough, cough. So, Tae Kyung, can you cover my shift today? Cough, cough."

"Really? Then I'll have to work 16 hours?"

His attitude was very different from his usual stance of working the shift himself to avoid paying overtime to part-time workers.

"I'm not feeling well. If you cover my shift today, I'll cover yours tomorrow. And I'll give you a little extra in your part-time pay this month."

"Alright... I'll cover for you, so please go to the hospital."

I decided to go down to the convenience store to start the shift.

When I opened the door, Choi Jin was already ready to leave and was grumbling.

Seeing me, he started complaining out loud.

"Bro, why are you just coming down now? You're 40 minutes late. What did the manager say?"

"The manager isn't feeling well. He might need to rest for the day after going to the hospital."

"Then when will you cover my shift? I have plans!"

"I'll cover the manager's shift today, and I'll make sure to cover yours tomorrow. You can go home now."

"Damn... What about the 40 minutes I worked overtime? Can you ask for overtime pay?"

Choi Jin, who seemed busy, quickly left after making his demands.

'He never thinks about being late himself. If I calculate the times he's been late for shift changes, he'd owe me at least 150,000 won a month.'

I checked the store as usual.

During his night shift, Choi Jin had done nothing but sit at the counter.

The instant food and alcohol sections were not restocked, and the mess left by customers, such as spilled ramen broth and leftover bento, was not cleaned up.

'He must have been on his phone all night... What a bad guy.'

I cursed at Choi Jin, who doesn't take his job seriously, and quickly cleaned up the mess and restocked the shelves.

Click- Click- Click!

After a while, the store looked neat and tidy, and I felt satisfied.

'Phew, now I can take a break.'

I sat behind the counter, ate the leftover burger and chocolate milk, and picked up my smartphone.

I checked the military forum I often visit to see if there were any new posts.

.

.

.

There were many new posts.

I chose to read a post about my favorite infantry weapons.

I haven't been a military enthusiast for long.

When I first joined the military, I was assigned to a fat camp for being overweight, but it didn't help much with weight loss.

The various training exercises, such as marching, guerrilla warfare, and individual combat, were pure torture for me.

However, the shooting practice in the military gave me a great sense of achievement.

Perfect shots.

I always hit the bullseye, and the satisfaction of seeing the target fall during live firing was immense.

This small sense of achievement turned me into a military enthusiast.

While reading the new posts on the military forum, I came across an unexpected post.

Seeing the word "meteorite" reminded me of the manager, and I clicked on the post without thinking.

The post's content was roughly as follows:

- Anyone who messed with the meteorite that fell a while ago?

The content seemed to be mocking the manager.

└ But did touching the meteorite cause infection?

└ Does this guy not even have a TV at home?

└ No

└ I'll explain

└ (Liar emoji)

└ B*tch... Anyway, do you know that the meteor shower broke into thousands of pieces?

└ Hmm...

└ And these pieces burned up due to friction when they entered the atmosphere, right?

└ Hmm...

└ So, when these pieces fell to the ground, they were still burning, and research showed that they contained an infectious substance!

└ Hmm...

└ So, people exposed to this substance are showing strange symptoms, which is the current situation.

└ Hmm...

└ If you say "Hmm..." one more time, I'll beat you up.

└ Squeak...

└ Cute

//

In just two days, the World Health Organization (WHO) received reports of "respiratory illnesses caused by exposure to meteorite components," indicating a strange phenomenon.

While the WHO has not yet proven that a specific component of the meteorite is the cause, they are investigating the similarities in related cases and advising caution.

//

Is social distancing starting again? Aaaaah...

└ If not social distancing, then it's just pretending to meet people.

└ If you start a fight, I'll block you.

└ If I block you, I'll report your article to the media.

└ You're handsome.

.

.

The symptoms the manager described the previous night matched the post, which made me slightly wary.

'Is the manager also affected by the meteorite? I need to be careful when I'm with him.'

Since he has a weak constitution, he often suffers from minor colds and allergies, so I thought it might just be a passing cold.

However, most of the posts on the forum are unverified, so there was no need to take them too seriously.

While occasionally serving customers, I spent 16 hours reading the military forum and watching YouTube.

'Phew, 16 hours passed faster than I thought.'

Still, 16 hours of work was exhausting, and all I could think about was going to sleep after the shift change.

After tidying up the store, I sat behind the counter, waiting for Choi Jin to arrive.

A little while later,

Ding-dong- Ding-dong-

The convenience store door opened, and Choi Jin came in. The current time was 12:20 AM.

"Why are you always at least 20 minutes late?"

"Haha, sorry, bro. You must have had a tough 16-hour shift. Go home quickly, quickly!"

Choi Jin tried to brush off his tardiness by pushing me out of the counter.

'If I go up and take a shower, can I get more than 7 hours of sleep?'

I was too tired to even feel annoyed, so I just went up to the attic.

Thud- Thud- Squeak- Bang!

The attic door closed with a loud noise.

I should adjust the door closer's tension to prevent accidents, but I was too tired to care.

I didn't even unfold the blanket or take a shower before collapsing and falling asleep.

* * *

The next morning.

Buzz- Buzz- Buzz- Buzz-

My phone started buzzing loudly in my pocket.

I opened my sleepy eyes and looked at the clock on the wall. It was 8:15 AM.

'What? Who would be calling me at this time?'

I took my phone out of my pocket and saw that it was Choi Jin, as expected.

"Hello? What's up? Is the manager not coming again?"

I thought the manager must be angry about Choi Jin's work attitude.

"Did you do something wrong? Did you lock the store and go to sleep like last time?"

Listening carefully, I could hear the manager cursing and throwing something through the phone.

I had a feeling that the situation was more serious than I thought.

"Alright, I'll come down quickly, so don't argue."

I went down to the convenience store without even taking a shower, looking disheveled.