Chapter 2: Frozen Time
Gasp, heh…!
The bizarre, tearing sensation jolted me awake. The thick, stagnant air that had invaded every corner of my lungs pressed down on me like an invisible weight, as if oxygen itself had been completely cut off. I thrashed wildly, kicking off the blanket and flailing my arms.
Hah… haaack…!
Each ragged breath scraped my throat raw. My heart slammed against my ribs like it was trying to claw its way out. My chest felt suffocated, as though I were sinking into a thick, viscous swamp. The air itself had turned into a heavy, clinging mire that pinned me down.
I sat up on the bed and looked around. A heavy, unknown aura hung low throughout the room, pressing down on me like an invisible hand. This was my usual studio apartment, yet it felt like stepping into some alien deep-sea trench. The damp, moldy walls, the flickering fluorescent light—everything carried that same suffocating wrongness.
If I stayed still for even a second, the pressure would tighten again. My instincts kicked in. I stood up and started pacing the room, walking back and forth. Only then did the blood flow in my veins begin to ease, the blockage finally loosening. A little at a time, my breathing returned to something close to normal.
Huu… What the hell is this?
I wiped the sweat from my forehead and opened the balcony door. Even the morning air might help. But outside was an eerie, absolute silence. Not a single breeze stirred. No car horns, no distant voices—just total stillness, as if the entire world had been placed on mute.
My gaze locked onto a single point in the sky.
…What the hell is that?
Above the apartment flowerbed, a dark object stood motionless in midair. A crow. But it wasn’t flying, nor was it falling. It was frozen in place, as if pinned by invisible glue. The bird hung perfectly still, wings half-spread.
I rubbed my eyes and stared again. It wasn’t a hallucination. Closer inspection revealed the faintest tremor in its wings—barely perceptible, like an ultra-slow-motion frame that had been slowed down a thousand times.
How is this even possible?
I glanced at the wall clock. Eight o’clock. The second hand was stuck, as if broken, and only after a long while did it finally tick one millimeter forward.
A chill ran down my spine. My mind spun in confusion, but then my phone alarm blared loudly, dragging me back into reality.
Ah, shit… work.
If I was late again, that bastard boss would chew me out. I rushed into the bathroom and roughly yanked off the clothes I’d been wearing.
Normally I would have screamed in panic, but right now the scene in front of me was far stranger.
When I turned the shower lever all the way, nothing happened. The water that should have gushed out didn’t come. Instead, tiny droplets clung to the showerhead like transparent pearls, hanging motionless before slowly, impossibly slowly, dripping onto the floor.
I stepped under the spray and wiped my face against the suspended water particles rather than actually washing. The cool liquid felt strangely normal.
Today is really weird… really.
After drying myself, I stepped outside. The real bizarre sight was only beginning.
I opened the front door and stepped onto the street. The usual bustling path where office workers and cars moved in a crowd had turned into a giant frozen screen. Everyone and everything was completely still.
Eh…?
The legs of pedestrians crossing the crosswalk sliced through the air in slow motion. The wheels of cars waiting at the light rolled forward with agonizing slowness, each rotation taking what should have been seconds to stretch into minutes.
I felt like I’d been dropped into a high-speed camera video from a movie, except I was the only one who had fallen out of frame.
Could it be… that time is flowing slowly for everyone except me?
Curious, I pulled my phone from my pocket. The digital numbers on the screen ticked along normally, in perfect sync with my heartbeat. Only this world—everything and everyone except me—had slowed to a crawl, as if sinking into thick syrup.
Then a dangerous thought struck me.
Wait… if time is flowing this slowly, I don’t have to worry about being late, do I?
The pressure of rushing to work that had been crushing me moments ago vanished instantly. It was a simple, almost lazy thought, but the sense of absolute freedom it brought was overwhelming.
The company was only a thirty-minute walk away. But in this strange time, thirty minutes could become three hours, or even half a day. The clock on the wall would still show thirty minutes had passed.
Hoo… this is insane…
I let a smile spread across my lips and began walking through the busy street as if I’d rented the whole place for myself. The frozen, stupid expressions on the faces of people passing by, the motionless leaves drifting in the air—my steps felt lighter than ever as I enjoyed this bizarre spectacle.
Then I remembered a webtoon I’d read once. If time completely stopped, even the air molecules would freeze, and no one could breathe. That was exactly what I was experiencing. The feeling of my lungs being squeezed shut when I stood still. But fortunately, this world wasn’t a complete, absolute freeze.
Over the course of eons, the air moved with microscopic slowness, like thick syrup. As long as I moved my body to find oxygen, I could survive without any problem.
Hey, this is really… the more I look at it, the more amazing it gets.
I had no idea why this phenomenon had occurred—whether it was a divine gift or a prank from the universe. But figuring out the cause right now was pointless. I didn’t know the reason, so I didn’t need to. The phenomenon had already started, and I was the only protagonist in this absurd situation.
I decided to simply enjoy this transcendent power.
My mouth was dry, so I pushed open the convenience store door. The inside was silent—no automatic bell rang. I walked to the drink corner and picked up a can of coffee.
Click. When I opened the can, a refreshing sound accompanied the rich aroma of coffee that filled the air.
Strangely, anything that touched my body or was projected by my will operated normally, unaffected by this bizarre time.
The cool liquid slid down my throat, and only then did I feel a sense of reality. I was about to leave the convenience store after quenching my thirst when the female clerk at the counter caught my eye.
She was poised to greet me, lips slightly parted as if about to speak, her head turning in slow motion like a frame from a movie.
…Oh, she’s really pretty.
I walked over to her in a daze.
Up close, her appearance was breathtaking. Even the tiny sweat droplets clinging to her fair skin hung motionless against gravity, and her long eyelashes were frozen like carved marble.
Normally she would have glanced at me for a split second before returning to her work, but right now she stood completely defenseless, exposed to me without any barriers.
I approached her face with the coffee can in my hand. Her eyes reflected my movements with perfect clarity.
Cautiously, I reached out and brushed my fingertip across her smooth cheek.
The instant I touched her, her cold, frozen skin reacted to my warmth as if it were lying. Soft and delicate. The thrill of touching a ripe peach spread through my entire body.
…Wow, this is insane.
My heart pounded wildly at the strange pleasure I’d never felt before. The entire world had stopped for me, and this defenseless woman had become nothing but my personal possession.
More… I want to do more.
Dangerous thoughts flooded my mind like a storm. Guilt? Moral conscience? Those things had long since been shoved into the deepest corner of my brain.
I moved my hand slowly toward her neck, drawn by pleasure.
Her long, silky black hair swayed gently with my touch. The cool, smooth sensation of her skin brushed against my fingertips. A faint, intoxicating scent reached my nose. I grew bolder, intoxicated by the touch and scent.
With a trembling hand, I fumbled with the buttons of her shirt. Carefully but without hesitation, I undid the first button. The soft click echoed only in my ears.
Through the gap, the white, smooth skin of her cleavage peeked out teasingly.
Both sight and touch sent electric shocks through my body. My breathing grew rough, and below, a hot response had already begun.
Alone in the frozen world, I burned with heat. I couldn’t stop now.
After undoing the second and third buttons, the hidden lace bra and the deep valley of her breasts came into view.
I pushed open the remaining buttons with a trembling hand. The light fabric slid down her shoulders and settled around her elbows.
Against her snow-white skin, the black lace bra stood out clearly.
Wow, this is really something else…
Saliva caught in my throat.
Is this really okay?
A faint voice of reason brushed past my mind, but the unrealistic scene before my eyes had long since numbed my moral sense. In this frozen world, she could neither protest nor escape—she was my perfect, absolute possession.
I couldn’t hold back any longer. I stepped behind the counter and pressed close to her in the narrow space. The warmth of her body seeped through the frozen air.
I reached around her back and slipped my fingers behind the bra straps to find the hook.
Click.
With a light snap, the tightly fastened restraint released.
Soon the tempting breasts trapped inside the cup were freed into the air. As if proving the laws of this world, the exposed breasts jiggled slowly, like waves, swaying with their own weight.
The subtle, hypnotic movement of those tempting breasts was more captivating than any work of art. The red peaks rising against the white background filled my vision. I reached out with a dazed hand toward the soft, elastic flesh.
In this stopped time, the secret, burning warmth was right in front of me.