#atispaus

“Ahn Se-eun, how are you?”

A man with light blue hair and white face, dressed like yesterday, was waving at Se-eun.

Unlike yesterday, he was wearing purple lenses on one side and red lenses on the other.

"Huh! Yesterday that madness... !"

Se-eun closed her mouth tightly at the words that came out without my knowing.

“I'm not crazy, I'm Aso. Are you Ahn Se-eun? Are you Troop?

Regardless of Se-eun's reaction, the light blue haired girl who introduced herself as 'Aso' started asking questions that she couldn't understand again.

“Se-eun is your friend? Her hair color is so pretty, where did you get it?

Yerang, who was applying lip gloss to the side, looked curiously at Aso and secretly took off her apron.

"Where? Aren't you going to make me do it by today's deadline?"

With Ye-rang's suspicious gaze, Se-eun left Aso's question behind and quickly grabbed Ye-rang.

“Oh, I have gastroenteritis. Oh, my stomach hurts so much.”

Yerang, who had been eating pretzels before, suddenly raised a smile and clutched his stomach.

“Hey, with a girl! Yesterday too-"

“Sorry sir, tell me later. But you said someone died here yesterday? Oooh, scary.”

Before Se-eun could finish speaking, Ye-rang traded her flip-flops for high heels.

“Are you leaving me alone in that scary place?”

Se-eun, with a grim expression on her face, muttered, but Ye-rang pretended not to hear and took her bag.

At that time, Aso, who was taking turns looking at Se-eun and Ye-rang, stopped Ye-rang.

"With a girl! Don't you think that if you lied about being sick yesterday and quit your part-time job, you did it twice last week, and if you're like that today, Se-eun Ahn will suffer a lot alone? Don't you know it's time to get busy?"

Aso, who was blocking the front door, shot him, Yerang stopped at the spot with a perplexed expression.

Se-eun was also embarrassed by Aso's sudden action.

"What, why are you talking nonsense?"

Ye-rang, who had spoken with Aso, looked at Se-eun and said:

"Did you tell him all this?"

Ye-rang looked at Se-eun and pursed his lips.

Who has to tell me about this? just look at this I took care of Se-eun because she was kind and looked like other children. Have you ever told the boss that she was going on a date saying she was sick every time?

Ye-rang, who knew that Se-eun was very patient with herself, couldn't say anything.

“First of all, it looks like you have an appointment today, so I'm going first, and tomorrow Yerang, you and Se-eun will do your part.”

"Ah ok. Tomorrow I can do anything. Ahn Se-eun, I'm sorry. Just look at me today. Actually, today is 100 days with my boyfriend."

Yerang, who was embarrassed by Aso's simple tidying up, was confused.

"You say. Why are you all telling lies? Happy hundred days Have a nice date."

When Se-eun smiled, Ye-rang, relieved, left the shop as if she was running away.

Aso frowned at Se-eun, who was looking at Ye-rang's back with a smile.

Se-eun looked into Aso's purple and red eyes and smiled.

It was the same as having to do all the work alone, even Yerangi, but for some reason, Se-eun felt lighter and confused at the same time.

'I'm not crazy, how did you know?'

When Se-eun was about to ask Aso, who was smiling, how she knew of Ye-rang's lies, an announcement sounded on the platform announcing that a train had arrived.

The story was buzzing with people getting off the train right away.

The busiest time of day at the Pretzels store has begun.

Se-eun is taking a deep breath, thinking she's going to sweat on her own, and Aso puts on Ye-rang's apron.

“It's hard to be alone. I will help you."

Aso raised his arms and said.

"Huh? Really? time ok? But have you ever worked part time? Do you know how?"

"Believe me."

Aso whispered quietly into Se-eun's ear, and began to spit a gentle voice down to her bones.

“The most delicious pretzels in the world. I added a lot of almonds in particular. Enjoy your trip."

“Can I bring you? Careful, the coffee is hot.”

“Customers, garbage is not thrown away because of store hygiene. Do you see that garbage can? Please sort your garbage directly from there.”

Despite Se-eun's concerns, Aso treated customers better than Se-eun, who had just completed a month of part-time work, and Yerang, who had been working for three months.

Se-eun didn't look tired today thanks to Aso's smile, even in the midst of hectic work.

Se-eun was able to safely get through the terrifying rush hour when she wanted to throw everything and run away if she was alone with Aso.

After a busy time, Se-eun, who found time to relax, made Aso a latte and said:

“Thanks, Aso. Thanks to you, I got through my busy time well. I'm a little more relaxed now, so it's okay to stop helping me. Today, I will tell the boss that you worked two hours instead of Yerangi. You will likely get it right away. Even my friend Junhui sometimes takes care of him like that. First, write your account number...”

“Alright, I just did it for fun. I wanted to help you.”

Aso, who was drinking chocolate latte coffee, interrupted Se-eun's words.

"Me, why?"

“You can tell what a good kid you are when you hear the music you make.”

"What?"

Se-eun felt as if she had been hit on the head by Aso's sudden words.

“Did you say music now? did you hear me?"

Se-eun, who likes music, has a habit of always thinking of new melodies when focusing on something.

She tries to hum the mood or feeling of that moment to a tune and write it down as if she were writing a journal before going to bed.

Of course, Se-eun was working on melodies a while ago.

It’s Se-eun’s secret habit that neither her grandmother nor her old friend Jun-hoo know about… …

He was talking about Se-eun's habit as if Aso knew.

“You kept humming melodies as you worked. This is the song you made, right?"

"Ah... that one... Did I hum loudly?"

"No, you didn't scream."

Aso replied innocently.

“So how did you... That's right, how did you know that Yerang ran away last week too? Are you a fortune teller or something?”

Feeling like he was possessed by something, Se-eun asked questions without hesitation.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't listen on purpose. I tried not to listen, but Se-eun said you were thinking too loud."

Aso smiled and took a sip of the milk chocolate.

'Did you think big? So can you hear me?'

Se-eun, who was speechless, looked at Aso.

It was hard to believe, but Aso knew that Yerang had missed the deadline twice in the past week, that she was meeting her boyfriend today, and that the store was packed.

"Who are you?"

Aso, who made eye contact with Se-eun, who was still stunned, smiled brightly.

"What, here... What happened?"

When a dazzling light exploded in front of Se-eun's eyes, platform 14 and the railway they were on disappeared, revealing a completely different world.

The water flowed under the blue tiles with a clear view of the ground beneath their feet.

The water was so clear that the depths were unfathomable, and the reflection off the glass made it appear bluer.

On both sides of the road, large, colorful lilies were in full bloom, and white and blue butterflies flew here and there.

A gentle wind blew from somewhere and brushed Se-eun's cheeks.

As the lilies shimmered and moved in the wind, a soft sound of music mingled with the sound of grass.

In the distance, in a large glass building, people in colorful clothes were seated sporadically.

Se-eun wanted to see those people with a sense of alienation a little closer.

Just as she was about to step off the glass tile, a person with blue hair walked towards Se-eun.

Se-eun, fascinated by seeing her for the first time in her life, didn't realize that the person was looking at her from the moment the light exploded.

"How did you get in?"

When the blue haired person approached Se-eun, the light exploded in front of her again with a popping sound.

When Se-eun, surprised, closed her eyes and opened her eyes, the scene filled with glass and water changed to the familiar form of Platform 14 at Seoul Station.

And Se-eun, who was standing on the platform, was standing on the railroad just like her sky blue hair.

"How did you come?"

The sky blue haired person standing there, not paying attention to the changes in the surrounding landscape several times, yelled at Se-eun.

Se-eun, who was dumbfounded, finally saw the person who was angry.

If you look closely, you can see light blue hair mixed with purple.

A black turtleneck and a white coat over the pants.

And one side is gold, and the other side has green lenses, and a face whiter than a coat.

A long, thin body and a voice that makes no distinction between male and female.

Se-eun just blinked a puzzled look on her face, not knowing what to say.

“Hey, Earthman. How did you come? No, that's not important, get out of the way. I'm up there."

"for…?"

Se-eun, who had made a stupider sound with a stupid face, suddenly moaned as she instructed and climbed onto the platform.

The light blue-haired man again placed a small piece of paper on the rail and took a few steps.

"Why do not you come?"

The man, who nodded as he spoke to himself, shifted the paper to the other side and took a few steps in the opposite direction.

"Why do not you come?"

He looked at Se-eun and asked, who had been back and forth on the railroad several times, rolling his feet.

"What did you do?"

"Me?"

Se-eun, who looked around, pointed his finger at herself and asked.

"Yes, you! Yes, you! The train will not come because of you! My Atispaus is not coming! Are you Troop?”

A thought crossed Se-eun's head, who was looking at the sky blue person who was in full swing.

This is a dream?

Se-eun, who smiled awkwardly, frowned.

"I think you misunderstood, today's train is over."

"Oh no! Why do you keep doing this?"

Shaking his azure hair vigorously as if frustrated, he muttered to himself and headed off somewhere.

Se-eun, who was stunned as she stared at the distant azure hair, pinched her cheek lightly.

It wasn't a dream.

*

Again today.

During the 20-minute break, Se-eun was sitting in the warehouse without expression, chewing hers coffee straw and replaying what happened yesterday.

The police went without hearing anything from Se-eun.

In fact, there was nothing Se-eun could say except that the long-haired man looked very tired.

[Was there any strange action or word, something different from normal, or something like that?]

The police's question bothered her, but saying she'd been fined didn't help.

And somehow, I didn't want to convey those words.

Se-eun's spine quivered as she thought the man had been murdered near the store right after she got back from work.

On second thought, he met another strange person yesterday...

Se-eun was deep in thought for a long time, but Ye-rang opened the warehouse door and called Se-eun in an angry voice.

“Ahn Se-eun! The break is over. Exit quickly.”

I looked at my watch and saw that 21 minutes had passed.

Yes, that's yesterday, I said I was sick and quit my part-time job, croaking!

When Se-eun came out again as she ordered, taking control of her bubbling insides, his unfamiliar and familiar face was waiting for her.

"Ahn Se-eun, how are you?"

“Aww!”

Seoul Station in the early morning.

A middle-aged sanitation worker who opened the cleaning tool box next to the bathroom screamed in terror.

A man's large feet jumped out through the crack in the open door.

The man, sitting like a crumpled doll amongst a large sweeper, a sack of sacks, and a basket, with his eyes wide open, was staring at the floor.

The man's long hair was scattered across his face, obscuring the undetectable gleam of his eyes.

His unique framed glasses, which were more crooked over his crooked face, made his face look even more bizarre.

Chubby duck.

The cleaner, who was taking a step backwards, slipped into the pool of blood that had already spread on the floor and collapsed on the spot.

Even after so much blood had been spilled from the man's neck drawn in a straight line, a dark red liquid was still dripping out little by little.

“Wow, here, someone is dead. Help!"

It was a dark dawn with no trains running, and only the voice of the beauty salon resounded in the history.

“Ahn Se-eun, are you right?”

Past noon, Se-eun, who went to the pretzel shop in Seoul Station for a part-time job, was talking to two naughty men before she could even remove the earphones from her ears.

"to?"

The men put out a photo in front of Se-eun, who was bewildered.

It was an enlarged image of CCTV near the store where she works.

A man was pictured in the blurry photo with a small sign for a pretzel shop in the background.

A tall man in a slanted suit and walking with coffee in one hand had long hair for an office worker and was wearing unusual horn-rimmed glasses.

The watch was exceptionally shiny under the man's hand holding the coffee.

“Ah, you come here occasionally, so I only know your face, but what’s going on? Who are you?"

At Se-eun's question, one of the men pulled out a business card from his pocket and held it out.

“This is Inspector Mingi Oh of Yongsan Police Station. From what time to what time did you work yesterday?”

Before answering, Se-eun glanced at the boss who was standing behind him.

The boss shrugged his shoulders and nodded for an answer.

"Well… Yesterday I went to work at this hour and left work at 11 pm. I have to finish it. No, but originally I just didn't have that long working hours, and she said that the kid I was working with suddenly got sick. The boss also went to another store yesterday... The boss, please take care of all the overtime pay and transportation expenses!”

Se-eun quickly added her last sentence and looked at the police.

"Ah yes. So, this person must also have received the order from Se-eun Ahn? What was unusual about it?”

Whether Se-eun was exploited by her labor or not, the police seemed to be only interested in the man in her picture.

"Yes. There was nothing special...”

“Were there any strange actions or words, something different from usual, or anything like that?”

Another police officer standing next to her also started to hire Se-eun.

“Ah, that… I just looked a little tired...”

[You should get your ticket today.]

Customers in suits who come once or twice a week.

The man I thought he was a frequent traveler.

Se-eun remembered him exactly.

*

yesternight.

“You can get your ticket today.”

"Yes?"

The pretzel shop where Se-eun works is on the way to Platform 14 of Seoul Station.

In the quiet station, the announcement announcing the departure of the last train was ringing loudly.

[Customers using KTX 231 to Busan at 10:30, please go to Platform 14.]

"Sorry. I didn't hear you very well, what did you say?"

“I don’t think I’m going to leave just because I get a ticket, but there are people like that.”

"Yes? What ticket? It’s the last train that’s airing right now.”

The man who took his eyes off Se-eun, who gave him a hot Americano with a bewildered face, quietly put down a few bills as usual, and then slowly disappeared with his coffee.

“What, every time I see you, you’re a strange person. If you come late today, the deadline is over, but it's annoying. what is a ticket this time."

While Se-eun was muttering to the back of the thin man's head, Jun-hoo entered the store.

“Hey, Ahn Se-eun. Are you done? Is this the only garbage?”

“Ugh, I threw it away once in the middle. just throw it away But you haven't changed clothes since the end of your working hours, public interest?"

“Uh-huh, it’s not for the public interest, it’s because I’m a social worker. I don't want to wear my clothes because I was sweating and sweating because I was kicking out 'Maebak' earlier. I'm just going to wear this. But who is it? What did you talk about so much? Pretty part-timer~ Can I get your phone number?”

Jun-hoo, who has been friends with Se-eun since childhood, is a 'social' service worker at Seoul Station whose main task is to manage the homeless.

Jun-hoo, whose daily routine is to expel the homeless person who is a good manager and the homeless person who begs out of the station, was one of the homeless people living in the back gate of Seoul Station.

‘Doctor Mad’, who catches Jun-hoo every day and talks about monsters in the lake or alien corpses hidden in NASA, or Maebak for short, was a man who sometimes communicated well with Jun-hoo, who likes conspiracy theories.

“He’s a person who comes only once in a while, but he didn’t say a word in his lifetime, but he’s saying strange things these days. Anyway, I need to clean the machine one more time, so you throw it away. But why did you chase the hawk out? You played well yesterday.”

“The master told me to go out today and come tomorrow, but he said he didn’t leave. But haven't you cleaned the machine yet? Then put me down an iced Americano! I'll throw this away right away!"

Jun-hoo said as he flashed a garbage bag and went out.

"I get it. Okay."

Se-eun grumbled, took the remaining ice from the ice machine, made coffee, and started cleaning the machine again.

He poured the remaining detergent and hot water into the drain and pulled his neck out of the store, but Jun-hoo did not appear for a long time.

Se-eun, who turned off the lights in the store, sent a text message to the president, leaning on the railing outside the store.

[I'm leaving work~ Boss!]

[effort. Take 30,000 won out of the safe. Transportation cost.]

"Oh yea!"

Se-eun, who was turning to the store again, stopped at Platform 14.

At the platform, a man with short sky-blue hair and a white coat stood silently, looking down at the railroad tracks.

“What are you doing, man?”

Se-eun, fascinated by her strange hair color, forgot that his train was cut off and looked down at Platform 14.

Junhui was still nowhere to be seen.

‘Why are you so late?’

Se-eun checked the watch on her cell phone and looked back to the platform, and the person with blue hair had disappeared.

‘Where have you been?’

Se-eun's footsteps unwittingly headed for the stairs leading to the platform.

As he descended halfway down the stairs, he saw his sky-blue hair again.

The man came down from the platform and stood crookedly on the railroad tracks.

“There, there! It's dangerous there!"

Se-eun's footsteps accelerated when she saw a man standing narrowly on the railroad tracks.

"Hey! It's dangerous out there, so come on up!"

As if he couldn't hear Se-eun's voice, the light blue man calmly leaned over and put something on the railroad tracks.

"Hey! It's dangerous!”

The moment he approached Se-eun's hand as if he could grab it, a bright light flashed and exploded in front of him.