First published: August 4th, 2023

"They're all here, unnie," Seol-hee says, tapping on her bluetooth earpiece when it makes a slight buzz. "Should I broadcast the message?"

Thirty-eight-year-old Park Seol-hee secures the loose braid around her auburn hair bun, deliberately taking in a long, deep breath. Her gaze directs to the rectangular device on her lap, glinting a dullish grey under the dim corridor lights. She rolls up the sleeve of her dark blue cardigan, revealing an intricate jade watch. Wait, it's 2 already?

She taps her earpiece again, looking around. She's way off of schedule. 

"Unnie?" she calls, hearing silence over the line.

Time's running out. The four have a few minutes before they get transported again.

Seol-hee huffs out a sigh, placing her hand on either side of her black wheelchair. Intent gaze on the end of the hallway she's in, Seol-hee begins her rattling stroll.

Taking a sharp left, Daekim Bank's first paraplegic manager, Seol-hee strolls down this narrow corridor, lined with multiple teak doors on the right, the equidistant pillars facing the open hall on the left.

I so miss my Electric, Seol-hee grunts, recollecting her swift grey wheelchair she spent over twenty times the cost of this old scrap on, as she makes another sharp turn toward her right, entering the room behind the lair. A loud screech from her wheelchair, as if its response to her tantrum, announces her arrival.

But that is unheard. Because of the much louder sound.

The sound of a snap.

Seol-hee's eyes widen when she sees the dark walls around her beginning to disintegrate.

"Damn it, he's tripped on the circuit," Eun-kyung's voice says through the headphone. "Why is there a godamn circuit in the lair."

"What?" Seol-hee says. That means the lair will disintegrate too. And the four Daydreamers will find themselves in the Manager's Cabin of Daekim Bank. She checks her watch again. It's 2.05. They would have teleported back to where they came from by now.

"Seol-hee, you're still there?" Eun-kyung's voice asks through the earpiece.

"Yeah," Seol-hee says, pressing a button on the device. The device shrinks to the size of a thumb. Seol-hee takes in and stuffs it in one of the compartments fixed to her wheelchair. "Unnie, have they gone yet?"

"I don't know." She can hear the anger in her voice. "That idiot's trampled on the main server. I can't detect their signatures."

Seol-hee glances at the now well-lit corridor, lined with multiple teak doors on the right, the equidistant pillars facing the open hall on the left. "Unnie, I can check if they're still there."

"No," Eun-kyung says. "You go back home. I'll come and check."

"You don't have to," Seol-hee says. "Anyways, I work here." 

She looks to her right, a wide banner plastered above the doors with the words, WE CARE and DAEKIM BANK on it. She and a few other employees' faces are printed there, all but her with a full-teeth smile. They had to use the grim face on her ID to replace the expression she made on the photoshoot.

"It's your vacation, Seol-hee," Eun-kyung says. "And, they would've gone by now. I'm sure of it."

"I'll just go to my cabin for a quick check then. I have to grab a few things."

Before Eun-kyung can protest, Seol-hee taps on her earpiece, disconnecting the call.