The door. No, since there aren’t any rooms in a studio, the front door.
Since this studio apartment building doesn’t have a shared entrance, it isn’t particularly strange for someone to come up like this.
But if that someone is my team lead, then this is definitely strange.
“Why… no, who are you?”
Flustered, I almost blurted out nonsense. Thankfully, I managed to stop myself from saying something weird.
Then I looked at him with eyes that said I knew nothing and asked.
He tilted his head at my question.
If anything, he looked at me as if I was the stranger one, then opened his mouth.
“Who are you?”
The man who used to get so angry about people answering a question with a question was doing exactly that.
Memories of the past came to mind, and I let out a long sigh, looking at him with slight irritation.
The team lead’s outfit was similar to before.
Jeans and a hoodie.
Since it was the IT industry, the dress code was fairly relaxed, so he dressed comfortably too.
The problem was that the hoodies he always wore had designs that didn’t suit his age.
On top of that, he always wore needlessly bright colors, and honestly, just looking at him made me furious.
It was obvious he was trying hard to look young.
If he wanted to look young, he shouldn’t have been worrying about clothes, but taking care of himself.
No, that wasn’t what mattered.
Why on earth was the team lead here?
“Isn’t this… the home of someone named Choe Minhu?”
Ah. I got the reason right away.
‘He came looking for me.’
Not me as Yeonbi, but Choe Minhu.
He had come here looking for me.
I had a rough idea why.
Then why was he looking for Choe Minhu?
As I thought of various reasons, one came to mind.
‘Because of the chat?’
The first thing I did the moment I became Choe Yeonbi, with 500 billion in assets.
Quit my job.
I remember talking a lot of smack to the team lead over chat back then.
It wasn’t even that long ago in the first place, just a few days ago, so it would be stranger if I didn’t remember.
Anyway.
So did he get angry because of that and come here looking for me?
‘How petty.’
If I were the team lead, I would have just forgotten about it and moved on.
No, I wouldn’t have done anything to make a subordinate curse at me in the first place.
“This is the room I signed the lease for.”
I answered with a subtle sneer.
‘The Choe Minhu you’re looking for? You’ll never find him.’
“That can’t be….”
At my words, the team lead’s expression stiffened.
His gaze darted around as if he’d seen something frightening.
Maybe it was because my own expression had naturally hardened when I saw him.
He stood there alone with a dazed look.
Seeing him like this, he looked a little shabby.
Was it because he had forcefully pulled the hair from the side of his head over to the front to hide his hair loss?
‘Maybe that’s why he looks so shabby.’
After staring for a moment at his thinning hair, I suddenly noticed that his face looked much more haggard than before.
He had lost a lot of weight in his cheeks.
And the spiteful curl of his lips, along with the nervous, irritable look he used to give people, could no longer be seen.
‘Did something shocking happen?’
It served him right, but his face looked so terrible that I felt a little worried.
‘Should’ve lived kindly.’
What happened after I quit the company?
Maybe the company went under because I wasn’t there.
‘If that’s the case, then serves them right.’
Justice prevails.
As I was laughing happily to myself, the team lead suddenly opened his eyes wide and stared at me.
Startled, I flinched back, and he lightly shoved my shoulder aside and grabbed the door to the studio.
It was an old door that only locked properly if you closed it and pressed hard. Thanks to that, the team lead flung open the door that hadn’t been fully locked.
“Excuse me!”
At his absurd behavior, I lost my temper without realizing it and grabbed his shoulder.
But he paid no attention to what I did, simply collapsed onto the floor, and—
“That can’t be. There’s no way….”
He began muttering to himself as he stared blankly at the empty room.
‘What the hell?’
Incomprehensible behavior.
Then again, he only ever did incomprehensible things at the company too, so in that sense, he was quite consistent.
After sitting there blankly for a while, he suddenly got to his feet and picked a fight with me.
“Who are you?”
“What?”
“I asked who the hell you are!!”
The team lead shouted and shoved his face toward mine.
‘Ugh, that’s too much.’
At his somewhat oppressive face, I frowned without realizing it and stepped back.
“Who… who are you…!!”
Whether I reacted or not, he seemed unable to say anything else and just kept repeating the question.
For some reason, I thought he would look quite fitting if I put a danso in his hand.
‘Why on earth is he acting like this?’
I didn’t want to keep talking to a lunatic like this, so I sighed and glared at him.
“I’m asking what you do. What do you think you’re doing?”
“It’s strange. Choe Minhu. This is that bastard Choe Minhu’s place. The address on his résumé at the company was definitely here too….”
So traces of me were still there.
I gave a slightly bitter laugh inwardly and looked at the empty room.
‘Good thing I threw everything out quickly.’
He wouldn’t be able to find any traces of Choe Minhu here.
While I was at it, I should hurry up and change my phone too.
The number and the account holder’s name were all Choe Yeonbi’s, but these little traces left behind might someday make things annoying for me.
Thanks to the team lead, it felt like I had gotten rid of one future problem in advance.
They say even dog poop can be used as medicine, so did that make the team lead dog poop?
‘Thanks, dog poop.’
Thinking that to myself, I listened to the team lead’s muttering.
“He’s gone. He’s gone. Everyone at the company remembers him, but no matter where I call, nobody knows. Nobody knows…. Am I crazy? Huh? Miss, am I crazy??”
I could roughly understand what was going on.
This guy really had been trying to sue me after I quit the company.
‘What a shame. Choe Minhu doesn’t exist anymore.’
Forever.
I hope he spends the rest of his life looking for someone who has disappeared forever.
“I called the police. Get out of here right now.”
When he shoved me aside and entered the room, I reported him to the police for trespassing. He probably wouldn’t go to jail, but he’d be treated like a lunatic.
No, from the looks of it, he already seemed to be one.
“No…. That can’t be. It’s strange. Isn’t it strange? He was definitely coming to work until just a few days ago… Does this make sense? He suddenly evaporated!! Without a single trace!!”
He looked at me again and shouted as if pleading.
Even his hands were trembling.
And so, until the police arrived, the team lead stared at the empty studio like a madman.
####
I sat down in front of the computer while heating up my last remaining cup rice in the microwave.
Maybe because I had run into the team lead earlier, my thoughts felt a little complicated.
“……Looks like it’s about what I thought.”
Choe Minhu.
The records he left behind still remain. Résumés, text message records, things like that.
But the phone and ID I had back when I was Choe Minhu have all changed into Choe Yeonbi’s.
In simple terms, everything that proves my identity belongs to Choe Yeonbi. Everything Choe Minhu left behind remains as it was.
“It really feels like I vanished into thin air.”
I could understand a little why the team lead had gone that crazy.
Someone who had been coming to work just fine until a few days ago had suddenly become someone who didn’t exist at all, so of course he would lose his mind.
Served him right.
Seeing that bastard who used to torment people end up like that really made me feel refreshed.
Well, the sight of him shouting Choe Minhu’s name until the police dragged him away was a little pitiful.
“After everything I went through.”
Thinking I was a little stupid for still pitying someone like that, I let out a small laugh.
“……There couldn’t be anyone else like me, right?”
I searched the internet to see if there was anyone who had experienced something similar to me. If there was, I might be able to find something helpful.
“As if there would be….”
Obviously, when I searched, only posts like these came up.
====
(A photo of a red button is uploaded.)
If you press this button now, you will return to ten years ago.
However, you will not be able to take any of your current memories with you.
Will you still press it?
ㅡ Why wouldn’t you press this?
ㅡ No, if you don’t have your memories, there’s no point
ㅡ If you press it twice, do you go back twenty years?
ㄴ Sir….
ㅡ It’s not even the 500-million-year button
ㄴ That one at least gives you a million won
====
“I’d never press it.”
Muttering to myself, I hurriedly closed the site window.
In any case, thanks to the team lead, I had learned something, so I should put it to use right away.
I immediately got up and erased every record on my phone. I took out the SD card and snapped it with my hands.
After completely resetting the phone as well, I headed straight to a phone store.
####
Maybe because autumn was slowly approaching, the days had gotten shorter.
After getting the latest Galaxy phone, the kind you can fold and unfold, I arrived home.
On the way to get the phone, I also made a debit card and slipped it into my wallet.
Now I wouldn’t have to do stupid things like bank transfers and whatnot.
“Good grief….”
It wasn’t that exhausting, but for some reason, whenever I got home, a sigh came out.
I didn’t flop down in the entryway and headed straight to the bathroom.
I thoroughly washed my hands and feet, then plopped down into the camping chair.
As soon as I sat down, I busied myself fiddling with my phone.
I installed the apps I needed, downloaded a few games that looked fun, and passed the time busily messing with my phone.
Since I had been looking at it for so long, my neck felt stiff, so I stretched lightly.
Listening to the cracking sounds from my neck, I stretched out in satisfaction.
Then, just as I was looking through the delivery app to order dinner—
ㅡ Thump, thump.
“Hm?”
ㅡ Thump, thump, thump.
“The upstairs nei—”
ㅡ Dadadadadada.
The sound of noise between floors began to ring out.