Chapter Text
"Isn't this world dull? It's like life is forcing something out of you, driving to accomplish something, but…at the end of the day, you're always left hollow." I heard those words online.
Somehow, I thought saying it would make me sound cool, but I was embarrassed as the woman in front of me only smiled. She was Yoo Sang-ah, my colleague.
She had brown hair cascading from the left of her shoulder and a complicated face. "Aren't you just saying that as an excuse to laze off?"
I felt guilty. In truth, I was slacking off. Yes, I avoided Han Myung-oh and the other mean guy at work. But, what am I supposed to do about it? Act like the protagonist of some third rate novel?
"You…don't have to accompany me."
"Oh, I'm not. I'm just here to grab coffee," she chortled with a gentle smile. She held a cup before placing it on the coffee machine.
"Wait, really?"
"I was kidding." She smiled again. "You know, you can't stay here forever. You have to work eventually."
'I know. I know it too well.' I sighed.
My name is Kim Dokja. I'm not anyone with any outstanding abilities, and I had a normal, low-paying job. From this point on, you could say my life was really dull.
And it was, to a certain extent. But my life wasn't just dull—it was also difficult. On some days, I had to face the arrogant Head of the Finance Department, Han Myung-oh. If not that, I would be reading novels.
As Sang-ah chatted with me for a bit, she tucked her hair behind her ear. "I need to get back to work."
I nodded, watching as her figure trailed off in the halls. I glanced at my phone. I couldn't help but frown—I was often frowning these days.
'I can't believe it. It's really over.' The novel, Three Ways to Survive in a Ruined World had finally ended after a decade. I stared at the search bar. '…'
How to Survive…
There weren't many useful results. Mostly, there were video games or videos. As I scrolled, my eyes happened to rest on a black haired man.
He had eyebrows, seemingly drawn by a famed artist's brush, focused and deep eyes, resembling jewels that carried all the unspoken miseries of this world, and facial contours shaped in a perfect angle. He was handsome.
Curiously, I clicked on the video. As I watched him, I realized that the man reminded me of certain character in a certain novel—Yoo Jonghyuk.