Chapter 3: Omen (3)

As I arrived at the convenience store on the first floor and was about to enter, the sight of the store manager through the glass was not just strange but downright bizarre.

"Hey, you f**king a**hole. !$#$!^*#&@. Cough, cough."

He looked like a rabid dog with its leash cut loose.

The manager was hurling insults at Chaejin.

On the floor, napkins, straws, and chopsticks were scattered messily, as if they had been thrown around carelessly.

I didn't know what the cause was, but the sight of the agitated manager causing a commotion with Chaejin was somewhat satisfying.

However, if left unchecked, the mess would only grow, and someone might get hurt, so I quickly stepped in to mediate.

"Manager! Please calm down. I'm sure Chaejin didn't do it on purpose. I'll help Chaejin clean up."

"What are you doing here? Why are you butting in? $#^*&#$%#@. Cough, cough."

When I got closer to the manager, I realized he was far from normal.

His eyes were bloodshot, and he was drooling, unable to speak clearly.

Despite the store not being particularly warm, he was sweating profusely, and his shirt was almost soaked through. He was unusually nervous and aggressive.

Moreover, Chaejin couldn't stand being criticized.

He would always retort to anyone he considered a know-it-all.

The fact that Chaejin was quietly listening to the manager's scolding was quite unusual.

"Ha ha, Manager, it's me, Taekyung. You seem to still be coughing, so maybe you're not feeling well. Why don't you go home and rest for a bit?"

Chaejin, who had been listening to the manager's tirade, chimed in.

"I'm sorry. As Taekyung said, you don't look well. Why don't you go home and rest? I'll help Taekyung clean up."

The manager, still fuming, repeatedly stomped on the scattered items on the floor and cursed.

"Fix it. You f**king ... ... ... ... bastards! Aaaaaaaah!"

The manager continued to mutter incomprehensible words to himself and then stormed out of the store.

I was shocked by the manager's behavior, which I had never seen before, and asked Chaejin what had happened.

"What's going on? Why is he acting like that?"

"It's nothing much. It seems someone spilled some ramen broth on the table during the night shift. When he saw it, he started yelling and cursing. Then he started throwing things, saying the storage wasn't organized properly... I don't know exactly why he's acting like this."

"Really? He never used to make a big deal out of such things. He would just tell us to clean it up..."

"That's why I stayed quiet. His eyes were bloodshot, and his body was wobbling like an alcoholic while he was cursing... I got scared and just listened to him..."

From what Chaejin said, the manager's behavior was clearly different from his usual self.

Spilling ramen broth and not cleaning up the store were common occurrences during Chaejin's shifts.

The manager usually knew Chaejin's tendencies and didn't make a big fuss as long as it didn't affect sales.

Chaejin, knowing this, would often get away with it, but he never expected today's outburst.

The convenience store, which the manager had thrown into disarray, needed a lot of cleaning.

After hurriedly tidying up with Chaejin, I was still sweating despite the air conditioning.

Additionally, we had to cover the manager's shift, so we needed to adjust our work schedules.

"I worked 16 hours yesterday and can't do another 16 today. I haven't slept much."

"Bro, I have a lunch appointment?"

"No, I might die. If the store doesn't run smoothly, we'll both be jobless next month. Do you have a better part-time job than this?"

"Alright. How about I take the manager's shift, and we split my shift in half?"

"No, I just came down for a bit?"

"Bro, I really have a lunch appointment and need to leave now. I'll come back early in the evening. Please."

"Ha... Alright. But you have to come back early in the evening!"

"Alright. See you in the evening!"

Chaejin, half-listening to me, took off his convenience store vest and hurried out.

I would work the manager's shift from [08:00 to 20:00], and Chaejin would start his shift 4 hours early, working from [20:00 to 08:00 the next day].

After roughly finalizing the work schedule, I felt the fatigue I had been suppressing start to overwhelm me.

'Ha... I'm so tired after working 16 hours yesterday...'

Sitting behind the cash register, I started to feel drowsy.

To stay awake, I tried various methods, such as rubbing my eyes, slapping my cheeks lightly, and drinking cold water, but the drowsiness wouldn't go away.

Swoosh-

My vision flickered like a dying light bulb, and I started to lose consciousness.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

I was startled awake by a sudden noise.

A man in his mid-30s was tapping the counter, impatiently waiting for me to ring up his items.

"Hey, how long are you going to sleep? I want coffee and a pack of Esse Change. Hurry up."

"Sorry, what kind of cigarettes did you ask for?"

"Es. Se. Change."

Beep- Beep-

"Total is 8,200 won."

Whoosh- Flutter-!

"Keep the change."

The man in his mid-30s threw a 10,000 won bill and left.

'He's being rude... Anyway, when did I fall asleep? I must have been really tired to not hear the door chime.'

Despite the fatigue, I was happy to have some extra income. I put the 10,000 won bill in the cash register and kept 1,800 won for myself.

I was having a hard time staying awake, probably due to the lack of sleep from the previous night.

While trying to stay awake, I heard an interesting conversation on my phone, which I had left on to watch a live stream.

The conversation reminded me of a post I had seen on a military forum yesterday.

'Maybe the respiratory illness caused by the meteor isn't completely baseless. If so, the manager's continuous coughing might be due to an unknown virus, so I should be careful.'

I continued to serve the occasional customers and tidied up the store.

Filling empty shelves, cleaning messy areas, and organizing the storage, I didn't realize it was already evening.

'Let's see what's available for dinner tonight.'

I found a good amount of items to eat for dinner.

Five triangle kimbap, three instant hamburgers, one of each fruit-flavored milk, and two bento boxes.

I heated the hamburgers and bento boxes in the microwave, grabbed a strawberry-flavored milk, and sat at the counter to wait when I heard the door open.

Ding- Ding-

"Welcome! Oh, Manager, why are you back? Shouldn't you be resting?"

The manager, who had just entered, looked no different from the morning.

His eyes were still bloodshot, and his shirt was drenched in sweat.

He was still wobbling, but his expression seemed a bit lighter than in the morning, so I greeted him warmly.

"I came to check on you. I feel bad for making you cover my shift since yesterday. Cough, cough."

Now that I looked, he seemed a bit calmer.

'People can be so unpredictable... It's confusing.'

The manager scanned the store, noticing the well-stocked shelves, the clean floor, and the organized storage. He seemed pleased and approached the counter.

"Are you about to have dinner? I need to eat something too. Cough, cough."

The manager took one of the bento boxes and a can of beer and went outside.

He seemed much calmer than in the morning.

'It's hot, why is he going outside? Oh, maybe he wants a cold beer.'

The store was cool with the air conditioning, but legally, alcohol cannot be consumed inside, so he must have gone outside.

I quietly took the same brand of beer he had taken, scanned it, and noted it in the notebook under the counter.

While eating, I checked my smartphone, browsing through internet forums and social media.

Many posts mentioned a sudden outbreak of respiratory illness, with symptoms like red, bloodshot eyes, fever, and chills.

Most of the posts mentioned that the symptoms were primarily seen in elderly people over 60 with weakened immune systems.

"..."

I glanced outside and saw the manager lying on a bench, barely touching his beer and bento box.

I suddenly remembered an old man I had seen before.

'What's he doing? Is he sick?'

I went outside to check on the manager.

Ding- Ding-

As I opened the door and approached the manager, who was lying on the table, I heard a strange sound.

Grrr- Grumble-

Suddenly, the manager, who had been lying down, jumped up and turned to look at me.

His eyes were bloodshot and unfocused.

I instinctively stopped in my tracks.

What's happening...?