I couldn't gather my thoughts at the sudden confession. 

Even though I thought it might be a prank, considering everything that had happened so far, that didn't seem likely.

I was confused whether these people were half-crazy or if I had finally lost my mind.

 

The woman in front of me, no, Julia, continued to gaze at me with a confident expression.

I twisted my body and shouted,

"What!? I came to pick up the noodles! Where are the drivers?" Then, I turned my head and glared at the two tattooed men. 

"You tattooed bunch of idiots, I should've left you quietly so the police could catch you!"

 

The tattooed men were avoiding my gaze and looking ahead.

Julia replied with a smug voice, "Ahahaha! Don't worry. I released the knights a long time ago.

There's no need for you to be here anymore."

 

She walked towards me.

"Click, click, click..."

The sound of Julia's high heels echoed in the basement.

"Thud!"

The tattooed man behind me kicked my calf.

"Oof!"

I knelt down and fell, and in that state, Julia looked down at me.

She smiled wickedly.

 

"Let me introduce myself again. My name is Julia Nine. I'm the boss of the racing club 'Inertia.' 

The lime green supercar, remember? The guy who drove that car was my eighteenth boyfriend.

He was a typical fool who pretended to be strong on the outside."

Julia lifted my chin with her index finger.

"I like strong men. And handsome men too.

That's why you caught my attention. I've seen your impressive performance, and if you take off that ugly mask, you might be quite cute."

 

The place where I was hit was throbbing.

But I pretended to be unfazed, and with a slight grin, I retorted.

"Not interested, love's not my thing. All I want is success and money.

So as soon as I get back the noodles, I'm getting out of here."

"Oh, success and money, huh? What kind of success are you aiming for?"

"Earning an immense amount of money and living without caring about others!"

"Hahaha!"

Everyone burst into laughter except for me. Julia, the two tattooed men, and dozens of men in suits were all laughing.

I looked around in bewilderment.

Did I say something strange?

Doesn't everyone think like this!?

Julia finally managed to stop laughing and continued speaking.

"Hahaha... Well, well, this is just adorable!! Maemi, do you think that's possible with a delivery driver job?"

"There's nothing impossible! Do you know how much I make in a day?"

"Sure, sure, you might earn quite a bit as long as you work hard!

But how long can you keep doing that kind of job?"

"What do you mean?"

"Right now, food delivery is booming, but what if the QuickEats company has to reduce the number of drivers? What if the company decides to lower the delivery fees?

Or what if you have an accident and have to quit before that? There are too many variables. Maemi, do you think you can handle it?"

 

I had nothing to say.

I was certain that Julia's words were wrong, that they had flaws.

But I didn't know how to counter them.

All I could do was glare at Julia, thinking that it wasn't like that, that it wouldn't happen.

Julia continued speaking.

"I don't know how it may seem, but I inherited quite a substantial fortune. Neither our 'Inertia' nor the lime green supercar nor the black van pose any financial issues for me.

It's nothing compared to uncertain food delivery contracts."

Julia crouched down in front of me.

With fierce and piercing eyes, she stared directly at me.

"Come to me, Maemi. Don't indulge in empty dreams. Then everything will be resolved."

I answered while glaring into her eyes.

"No, I'd rather have empty dreams. I'm not interested in you."

Upon hearing my response, Julia smiled even more.

"Just as I expected. Everyone said the same at first."

She stood up and ordered the men behind her.

"Boys, put him down until he agrees!"

"I don't want that either!"

"Clank!"

Claws popped out from my gloves.

"Thunk!"

The claws cut through the rope binding my wrist!

As soon as the rope was free, I leaped onto the wall of the elevator shaft.

Without giving the tattooed men a chance to grab me, I quickly began crawling upward.

"Nobody told me that he could do that!"

"What should we do!?"

Amidst the confusion below, Julia angrily shouted with her voice raised.

"What are you idiots doing! Hurry up, take the elevator and catch him!"

 

The chase had begun.

I rapidly ascended towards the surface, but the elevator had started pursuing me from below as well.

"Bang! Bang!"

I glanced down.

Men riding the elevator were firing handguns at me!

"Damn it, are these guys out of their minds!?"

I leaped to the opposite side, then to the wall on the opposite side to avoid the bullets, continuing to climb.

Thanks to that, I was quickly caught up by the elevator.

Since the elevator had arrived almost simultaneously with me touching the ground, I immediately started running forward.

The men and the tattooed guys disembarked from the elevator with a rush.

"Get him!"

"Bang!"

"Hey, stop shooting please!!"

I hid my body behind a large pillar.

"Where's the exit, where's the exit!!"

Desperately turning my head, I spotted a distant place where light was coming in.

It was the massive main gate. The very gate where I had worn the blindfold and walked in myself!

"Bang! Bang! Bang!!"

The men were showering bullets towards the pillar behind which I was hiding.

Cold sweat was running down my body.

"Can I make it there? No, I have to believe I can! I have to go! If I can't, I'll die!!"

I steeled my resolve.

"Thunk!"

I grabbed the thin, wide metal plate next to me with the claw of my left hand.

I jumped out of the pillar's cover,

then shielded myself with the metal plate.

"Thud! Thud! Thud!..."

With dull thuds, bullet marks began to deeply imprint on the metal plate.

But it didn't pierce through.

It was effective!

"Darn it, he's using a shield!"

"What's everyone else doing! Those without guns, go to the other side and catch him!"

 

Holding the metal plate, I retreated slowly.

"Good, just keep going like this! Just a bit more!"

"Stop, Maemi!!"

The voices of the two tattooed men came from the direction of the main gate.

"Are we going to lose him like this? Hey, brother, close the gate!"

"Okay!"

"Creak! Clang..."

The gate slowly started descending.

"No!"

 

It was despairing.

All sorts of thoughts crossed my mind.

Was I going to be trapped here like this?

I'd probably get beaten to death by these guys.

And then I'd become a plaything for that ghost-like woman.

A plaything of a wealthy woman who was quite attractive.

Well, not bad at all, huh?

 

Delusions were consuming me.

My ears were ringing, and I couldn't hear the gunshot anymore.

Time seemed to stand still, and my body wouldn't move.

And then, I heard the sound.

"Ting, ting, ting..."

The dull metallic noise of something rolling on the ground.

I thought.

It's a grenade,

I'm dead.

 

"Pushiiiiik!!"

Instead of an enormous flash and deafening blast, I heard the sound of air escaping from about a hundred tires simultaneously.

Soon, the interior of the workshop was engulfed in green smoke.

Nothing was visible.

"Cough! Cough! Who's there? Who set off the smoke bomb!?"

"It doesn't seem like ours!"

It was strange. I wasn't the only one startled.

Amidst the dense smoke, their screams and shouts echoed.

"What are you doing, tattooed brothers! Open the gate again! If the smoke doesn't clear, we'll all suffocate!"

"Huh!? Uh... got it!"

"Kikkigig..."

The gate began to open again.

Light started to shine through.

And beyond that, there was someone.

Riding a red scooter, wearing a red delivery helmet, a woman was there.

"Maemi! I've come to rescue you. Hurry, get on!"

Despite not fully recovering my senses due to the smoke, I shouted.

"What? Who are you again?"

"Who do you think I am? Your manager! Hurry up and come!"

It was Sister Jeonga!

 

"Thunk!"

I put down the metal plate and started running.

Blindly, forward, at full speed.

As the gate opened, the smoke quickly dispersed.

And in front of the gate, two tattooed men were blocking the way.

Both of them were trying to catch me, spreading their arms as wide as possible.

"You can't pass, Maemi!!"

I leaped high.

I intended to surpass them in mid-air.

Everything felt like slow motion.

One of them stretched his arm upward.

He was trying to grab my ankle.

Close, very close, his hand reached out.

In the moment he tried to grip my ankle,

I spun around in the air for one more revolution.

"Twirl..."

I leaped even higher.

His hand was getting farther away.

"No...!"

He shouted.

 

"Thunk!"

I leaped over them and landed on the ground.

And once again, I sprinted at full speed.

Finally, I could get out of the workshop!

"Ah, it's too shiny!!"

Even saying that, the sunlight was incredibly welcoming.

Sister Jeonga shouted.

"Come up quickly!"

I quickly hopped onto the red scooter.

"Woaaaah..."

With the scooter kicking up a dirt wind, it started racing.

From behind, I could hear the shouts of the men and the sound of gunfire, but it was already too late for them to catch the scooter.

 

The scooter was cruising along a country road.

The surroundings seemed peaceful as if nothing had happened.

My tension was gradually easing as well.

"Hey, Bedal?"

"Yeah?"

"I understand that it was scary, but could you let go of my arms?"

As if my tension could be eased by that,

I was holding Jeonga tightly in my arms.

 

"How did you find me?" I was the first to speak.

"The drivers who escaped first informed me of your location.

Police said it would take some time for the police to arrive, so I got worried and came first."

"Right, the police! So, those guys will be arrested too, right?"

"They said it would take a while. They're dealing with quite a big organization, so they're planning to go in with a team."

 

At that moment, my phone notification went off.

It was a notification for a delivery driver review from the QuickEats app.

In QuickEats, customers can post reviews for each delivery, and the drivers are sensitive to each and every review, as lower ratings can negatively affect them.

I had maintained a perfect 5 out of 5 rating.

However, this time there was a 0.5 rating.

Looking into the details, it was obviously ridiculous.

"Don't think this is the end, Maemi. There will be issues every time you make a delivery."

Well, well, this is something else.

 

On March 23, 2018, at 5:45 PM,

I entered the city.

Jeonga escorted me to the back gate of Chungdong High School.

As the scooter came to a stop, Jeonga took off her helmet.

She was someone who exuded a cool vibe.

With her short black hair and red lipstick, her face was as beautiful as her voice.

"Bedal, the money we promised will be transferred to your account tonight.

We couldn't retrieve the noodles, but there's nothing we can do about that."

 

I was changing into my school uniform behind the school.

Jeonga had turned her back, watching out for anyone approaching.

As I changed, I asked her.

"Jeonga."

"What?"

"Do you think I'll eventually get fired too?"

"Huh, what are you talking about?"

"Even if I manage to earn some money through deliveries now, if QuickEats becomes difficult, I can be fired anytime."

Jeonga stayed silent for a while.

Then she answered.

"That applies to you, Bedal, and even to me working in customer service. And it's true for everyone.

Nowadays, there's no such thing as a job for life.

What's important is whether you can adapt to the changing environment."

I put on the school uniform.

Jeonga approached and tapped my shoulder.

"So, it's important to keep good people around.

To help each other and live through the changing environment together. I'm off!"

Jeonga finished speaking and started the scooter's engine.

"Jeonga!"

"What now?"

"Thank you."

With a small smile, she left.

I stood there, absentmindedly waving my hand.

 

"Bedal?"

"Ah!"

Beside me, Siyeon was staring at me again.

"You startled me again, why do you keep doing that!"

"Hehe, no thanks! But, did something happen? You missed all afternoon classes!"

"A lot happened. A lot."

 

At that moment, my stomach growled.

"Bedal, did you have lunch? It's dinner time now!"

"I didn't have either."

"What! Let's go eat something together!! What do you want to eat?"

I pondered for a moment and replied.

"How about noodles?"