Pause | P.Sh (on-going)

Prologue

The afternoon sun, which felt quite hot, illuminated every corner of the city. Even though it will slowly sink, the heat still remains. The 23-year-old girl, Haerin, didn't know how many times she had wiped my sweat with a handkerchief and who knows how many people she had passed who were fanning their faces with their hands. It's very noisy in the middle of a city crowd, and most of them just complain about how hot the weather has been lately which makes them want to eat ice cream, shaved ice, or other cold drinks. They talked and made plans for the weekend to spend together.

They were heard discussing the shop that had just opened at the intersection three blocks from the bus stop where Haerin was now. They said the shop sells various kinds of shaved ice and milk tea variants which are quite famous abroad. There were also those who discuss fashion trends that are currently popular. Haerin didn't really understand this, but she continued listening because their voices were quite loud. The girl looked to her right every now and then to see if the bus had arrived, but it seemed like it was still a long time away. This was not something that upsets her because it happens very often. At most, she just let out a long sigh and shook her head.

The group was still talking about things that seemed very exciting to them. Haerin tried to check the shop they mentioned earlier on the search page, and she frowned, "the prices are so expensive... aren't there any discounts? The shop just opened, right?" she muttered. She continued to scroll the page to see other menus, and they were all expensive. Actually, there's one menu that's still relatively cheap, but it's just ordinary milk tea served with pieces of pudding.

Not long after, the bus she'd been waiting for arrived. Today, the bus was quite empty and there were still a few seats left. Haerin rushed up and sat in the front seat. She put the bag she was carrying on her thigh and held it tightly. It felt very comfortable when she started to lean my back against the chair. The bus seats were just ordinary seats, but they felt so comfortable after standing for so long, and more, the bus was equipped with air conditioning. The girl's tiredness seems to have completely disappeared. Not only that, today the bus was quite quiet, perhaps because the other passengers were also feeling tired after a long day.

The bus finally started moving after all the passengers got on and found their seats. With tired eyes, she saw the view through the window that was starting to move past tall buildings decorated with streetlights that were starting to light up, indicating that the afternoon sun had set which would soon be replaced by the moon and stars. Unfortunately, in the city it is rare to see the stars clearly because the city lights are so bright.

She saw that there were still lots of people walking around with their friends or colleagues with coffee in hand. There were those who buy iced coffee, there were also those who buy hot coffee in this hot weather. She looked at them one by one as the bus moved quickly, it seemed like the people outside the bus were enjoying their lives. It could be seen from their laughter, smiles that hide feelings of tiredness, but there were also those who didn't express themselves, maybe they wanted to go home and sleep immediately. The darkness of the night contrasted with the bright lights inside the bus, allowing her to see her own reflection.

Haerin watched her own reflection and saw what expression she was using now. It seemed like she just needed to rest, or maybe have a dinner soon, because the expression she saw was an unenthusiastic one. In fact, it felt normal earlier, and she thought he was smiling. The bus then went faster.

she then checked the time on her cell phone which showed 7 pm. In half an hour, she would be home, but the girl didn't feel happy or anything. Slowly her eyes began to feel very tired, not a minute passed but the world around her became dark, until no more noise could be heard.

Exactly 30 minutes later, the passenger next to her woke her up and said that soon the bus would arrive at its destination. Haerin rubbed her eyes slowly as she adjusted her sitting position. Suddenly, her head felt very heavy and painful. Well, she could only blame himself for her awkward sleeping position; head leaning against the window and not supported by her hands. The girl grumbled while slowly massaging the back of her neck. The bus began to reduce its speed until it finally stopped completely.