Kim Ayul first brought the children to the employee break room. She had to make them apologize to the owner who lost their card.
Even though the kids didn’t know any better, picking up a credit card off the ground and using it was something that deserved a scolding.
It’s all over the news, right? Kids getting caught by the police for using lost cards. Of course, it’s not like they’d end up behind bars, but they still needed some discipline.
Ayul told her senior about it, and the senior called the card company to confirm the owner.
Finding the card owner was simple. Call the card company, give them the card number on the back, and they’d contact the owner. The owner was probably nearby.
“Yes… the card number is…”
The senior diligently followed the steps to find the owner. But at some point, she panicked and said, “Huh? You’re saying you’re the card owner?”
[Yes, ma’am… according to the card information…]
The senior looked stunned, stuttered for a bit, and eventually hung up.
“Ayul…”
Kim Ayul could tell from her senior’s expression that something was definitely wrong. Her nosy personality seemed to have caused a big mess.
And this card had a dedicated manager. A cross-check confirmed that the owner was indeed correct.
—
“Woo woo…”
I suddenly became a card thief. Sitting in the employee break room, I was on the verge of tears. Being misunderstood like this didn’t feel good. I had been so excited to watch a movie.
“Hana, don’t cry. It’s not your fault! It’s that lady’s fault!”
“Right. It’s clearly your card, but she’s saying it’s not. That’s just weird!”
Jiyu and Yumi were comforting me. Friends are the best. I started to regain my energy. Quick mood shifts are my specialty.
“Huh… should I just ‘slaughter’ them?”
I said, raising my eyebrows.
Thinking about it again, there was no reason for me to cry. I didn’t commit any crime; I was innocent. I decided to use my ultimate move. I took out my phone and prepared to call Boss Sehee. This was a nuclear bomb.
If it were Boss Sehee, she could easily blow up this movie theater. Just as I was about to press the call button, an employee opened the break room door and walked in.
Was it karma coming to punish me? If so, there was no more reason to forgive. But the reaction I got was different from what I expected.
“Kids, I’m sorry! I was wrong…!”
“Huh?”
“Please forgive me just this once.”
She knew her mistake all too well. Seeing her humble herself like this made me hesitate to call Boss Sehee. I felt my anger dissipate. I sighed and put my phone back in my pocket.
If they had stubbornly insisted they weren’t wrong, today would’ve been Judgment Day. Apologizing meant they acknowledged their mistake. So, there was no need to take it further.
“Then let us watch the movie!”
“Right, right!”
Jiyu and Yumi said. It was a good suggestion. We came to watch a movie, not to be stuck in the employee break room. The employee nodded repeatedly, as if understanding our feelings.
“Alright. I’ll book you for the earliest showing.”
And just like that, the misunderstanding was over. Thankfully, it ended well.
I was holding the popcorn the employee bought as an apology. Jiyu and Yumi were also holding popcorn and cola. Smiling, we carried our snacks and drinks, munching as we headed to the theater.
There were only 5 minutes left before “Little Magician Lumi” started, so we had to hurry. Of course, the theater didn’t start the movie right on time. The first 10 minutes were filled with ads. Still, it wasn’t a bad idea to get there early. I walked into the theater with a big smile on my face.
I couldn’t even remember the gloomy mood from earlier.
—
A super typhoon is approaching.
It was coming. The meteorological agencies of Korea, China, and Japan were in a state of emergency.
But time was too tight. Even in this modern era of fast information delivery, preparing for a super typhoon within 1-2 days was nearly impossible.
Even a regular typhoon would cause massive damage, but no one expected a typhoon strong enough to blow cars away. And the timing was just bizarre. Who would’ve thought a typhoon would head north in autumn? They said extreme weather was getting worse, but no one imagined a typhoon forming like this.
So, Korea, China, and Japan, all within the typhoon’s potential path, prayed for it to hit someone else.
In this advanced era where spaceships fly and stars light-years away can be observed, this sudden prayer meta was unexpected. Other countries were also watching this typhoon with curious eyes because its path was as unpredictable as a lost child.
This typhoon moved around like a wandering kid, mocking all the predicted paths. It moved like a living being, changing direction as it pleased.
On top of that, the typhoon would head toward land, then turn back, lingering by the coast to regain strength.
The meteorological agencies of each country nervously watched the typhoon’s erratic path.
The owner of this bomb was revealed. Just as Korea had initially forecasted, it directly hit mainland Japan. Finally, the Korean and Chinese governments, who had stayed up all night maintaining emergency protocols, could breathe a sigh of relief. But for the Japanese government, it was a bolt out of the blue.
Despite their best efforts to prepare, the super typhoon laughed at Japan’s preparations, steadily destroying the Japanese archipelago.
The Korean government maintained its emergency status just in case. This fickle typhoon could’ve suddenly made a 180-degree turn. But that didn’t happen. The typhoon, which directly hit Japan, poured down an insane amount of rain and unleashed fierce winds in less than a day.
The wind was so strong that parked cars were flipped over. Trees were uprooted, and many people were injured or killed.
Hiding indoors didn’t guarantee safety. Given Japan’s many wooden structures, some buildings had entire sections blown away. If the typhoon had hit Korea, where apartments are more common, it might’ve just shattered windows. But Japan’s situation was different.
The typhoon, which lasted less than a day, left Japan with astronomical damage costs and casualties. The footage captured by cameras was devastating. Hundreds of thousands were displaced, and nearly a thousand people were swept away by the strong winds and went missing.
Though it’s unfortunate to say, the Korean and Chinese governments felt a sense of relief seeing Japan’s tragic situation.
The thought of “What if that typhoon had hit us?” was unavoidable. And since Korea had already been hit by a major typhoon earlier in the year, if this one had taken a path through Korea, the damage would’ve been irreversible.
It was truly a natural disaster that could’ve torn a country apart. Of course, a single typhoon wouldn’t destroy a nation, but still.
Kim Sehee was shocked watching the Japanese broadcast. Despite being a leading developed nation, Japan couldn’t withstand this typhoon.
No matter how strong a country is, it’s nothing but a gentle lamb in the face of Earth’s natural disasters. Starlight Food wasn’t entirely unrelated to Japan either, as it had already made significant inroads into the Japanese market. Kim Sehee reached out to Karasushi.
Karasushi, unlike other companies, didn’t suffer major damage. Being a seafood-based business, they managed to avoid some of the typhoon’s impact. Of course, Karasushi wasn’t completely unscathed.
Some franchise locations were too damaged to operate. While other companies might see this as minor damage, it was still significant. At least no one was hurt since they had to close temporarily.
And so, the typhoon that swept through Japan caught the world’s attention.
