To the Rooftop of the Company

Kang In-ho stared blankly at the blinking green light. Even with the urging to cross, he was relaxed.

Yeah, the night is long. That was his thought.

“I’ll cross next time.”

His mind, barely escaping the swamp of deep alcohol, produced words with a clarity he hadn’t felt in a while.

He pressed his throbbing temples and bent over.

Ugh, nausea rose, but thankfully, he didn’t vomit.

While he was wrestling with his drunkenness, the green light turned on again.

“Let’s cross.”

His pronunciation was clearer than before. His foot stepped onto the white part of the crosswalk.

Instantly, a tingling sensation traveled from his toes to his head.

His hazy eyes regained their vitality.

“……..”

One step, one step. With each step across the crosswalk, his drunkenness began to magically disappear.

He felt refreshed, as if he had woken up from a good sleep, and the minor aches that had been plaguing his body vanished.

As he crossed the crosswalk, the green light turned red.

It seemed to forbid him from going back.

He looked at the concrete tower rising on his right.

The artificial mountain, made of glass, concrete, and some complex structure, was looking down at him.

A concrete tree planted in the forest called the city.

The forest of buildings blocked the sky, and artificial light obscured the starlight.

“Can’t see anything.”

He moved his gaze from the bottom to the top and spoke as if he was truly disappointed.

Left and right. He stood at a crossroads. Should he go home, or somewhere else?

His dilemma didn’t last long. His body naturally turned to the right.

“Let’s go.”

Where was he going? He kept muttering as if he were talking to someone.

The place he was heading to was his company.

The company entrance, the dark lobby. He swiped his employee ID card as if he were coming to work.

The speed gate opened, and the elevator doors, which had stopped on the first floor, opened.

He entered the elevator and leaned against the corner.

And he did nothing.

“……..”

He had a long moment of silence.

As time passed, his mind became clearer and his memories became sharper.

He pressed a familiar number.

The quiet elevator began to make noise as it went up.

-Ding-dong

With the announcement, the doors opened.

He stepped out into the dark company hallway.

As the doors closed, the light that had been illuminating the hallway disappeared, and the man named Kang In-ho was plunged into darkness.

The faint light of the emergency exit was the only thing that allowed him to gauge the location of the door.

Light seemed to be flowing from the office, the space beyond the automatic doors, but it didn’t enter his eyes.

“Right, the sky…”

Right, I was going to see the sky. He placed his hand on the thick steel door.

With the sound of rusty metal, the door opened.

The stairs leading to the rooftop were as dark as the hallway.

Normally, the darkness would have scared him too much to go, but he climbed the stairs with large strides.

He was out of breath, but he didn’t stop.

I want to see the sky, I want to see the stars.

That was all that remained in his head.

Thump, thump, thump.

His footsteps echoed through the building.

Reaching the rooftop, he took several deep breaths and opened the door.

Bang!

The steel door, which had rarely been opened, opened with a loud noise, and a cool night breeze hit his face.

“Ah…!”

As soon as the rooftop door opened, a landscape that could not be seen from the city below filled his eyes.

Light descended from the sky. It was the stars.

In the sky where the sun had completely set, scattered clusters of light decorated the moonlit sky.

The subtle light was so beautiful that he couldn’t help but open his mouth and exclaim.

Scattered fragments of light embroidered the sky.

It was truly beautiful.

And with that bright light behind her, a person was waiting for him.

“Honestly.”

The person, whose face was obscured by the moonlight and starlight, spoke.

It was a voice mixed with surprise and overwhelming emotion.

“I didn’t think you would come at all.”

As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he saw the woman who was greeting him.

Her mysterious purple eyes, filled with stars, stood out.

He recalled a memory from a long time ago.

The fleeting scenery he had shared with a girl who refused to become an adult on the rooftop of a certain building where a cool breeze was blowing.

“Inho. Thank you.”

The girl in the starlight dress had now become an adult and stood before him.