Jeff Wants to Work
Green grass began to chase me relentlessly.
A world filled with green grass in every direction. There was no one to help me here. I moved my arms and legs with all my might, running and running. Until I was out of breath. I didn't stop!
"Jeff—"
As I gasped and panted for breath, a familiar voice drifted in.
Amy! Amy! Help me! The green monsters are chasing me!
I screamed toward the source of the voice. But no sound came out. It was suffocating. So incredibly suffocating. I reached out with all my strength.
"Jeff?"
"Ah!"
The voice that had sounded so distant was suddenly right beside me. My hazy senses snapped into sharp focus, and I felt Amy's fingers gently interlacing with mine.
"Amy?"
"Yes, it's Amy."
I gently let go of her hand and immediately began checking my body for any anomalies. From head to toe: no pain, no injuries, nothing out of the ordinary. And no green monsters in sight. This time, I flung the blanket wide open and peered underneath. No green monsters there, either.
"Did you have a nightmare?"
"A nightmare? Yes, ma'am. That's right. It was a truly horrible nightmare."
I nodded in response to Amy's question. It really had been a dreadful dream. The image of all sorts of giant green vegetables dragging their massive bodies toward me flashed through my mind. I could almost smell the raw, grassy scent in my mouth. "Ugh."
"What was it about?"
"Green monsters were chasing me relentlessly."
"Green monsters?"
"Yes, ma'am. Things like giant cabbages and cucumbers."
"I see."
They were creatures I could never bring myself to like. They tasted awful, and now they were even invading my dreams to torment me. If I ever ran into them again, I'd definitely need to get some revenge.
"You should get ready for work."
"Ah, yes!"
I hopped out of bed and dashed to the bathroom. Shine had already finished her shower and was chugging a glass of cold milk.
"Are you just getting up?"
"Yeah."
"You look pale. Did you have a nightmare?"
"Yeah. A dream filled with cucumbers."
"That sounds like a truly horrific nightmare."
"Right?"
After exchanging brief greetings with Shine, I stepped into the bathroom, shed my pajamas, and started the shower. The warm stream of water enveloped my body, slowly melting away the tension left behind by last night's nightmare.
Once I finished showering, I gulped down a glass of cold milk that Amy had prepared. A sigh of satisfaction escaped my lips as the icy liquid slid down my throat. After finishing the milk, I dried my hair and got dressed. I put on the clothes Amy had laid out for me and slung my backpack over my shoulders. Inside the bag was a lunchbox prepared by Amy and a dinosaur-shaped water bottle filled to the brim with green juice.
"Let's go!"
The three of us set off. We walked down the long corridor and arrived at the Team Harmonize office. I headed straight to my seat and set my bag down. The desk, slightly smaller than the one Amy used, was reserved exclusively for Shine and me. It was stocked with various office supplies to make us feel official, but I had never actually used any of them. And honestly, I didn't think I ever would.
"Victor and Rain are late."
"Yeah, they were late yesterday too."
Shine and I sat facing each other and nodded. As Amy brewed some coffee, she pulled her lunchbox out of her bag. Seeing this, Shine and I also took our lunchboxes out and set them on our desks.
"What do you think it is today?"
"Chicken breast."
"It's always chicken breast."
"Yeah."
Expecting nothing, I popped open the lid of my lunchbox.
"Oh!"
But to my utter shock, the contents defied all expectations. It wasn't chicken breast. It was pork belly—actual samgyeopsal. Of course, there was a generous serving of vegetables alongside it, but this was an absolute win. Drooling, I picked up my chopsticks.
"Delicious meat..."
Did Amy make a mistake? With that thought in mind, I peeked over at her. Just then, my eyes met Amy's, who was already looking my way. She gave a soft chuckle and lifted a piece of pork belly with her chopsticks. Seeing that, I immediately dug in. *Nom, nom.* As we enjoyed our delicious meal, the firmly shut office door swung open, and Rain made her grand entrance.
"I have arrived!"
Rain announced proudly. Despite being five minutes late for work, she carried herself with absolute confidence. But that was fine. There was no one here who would scold her anyway. In fact, the concept of "working hours" didn't seem to mean much of anything here.
"Ah! You guys are already eating!"
"Hi, Rain."
"Hello!"
Rain scurried over to us, her short legs moving in a blur. Her designated seat was at the same desk as ours. *Pitter-patter—* after a flurry of tiny footsteps, Rain reached the desk and swept aside the documents resting on it. A cascade of white papers tumbled to the floor. Rain didn't care in the slightest as she plopped her bag onto the desk. Her yellow chick backpack fluttered as she pulled out her lunchbox.
"Ta-da!"
She showed off the contents of her lunchbox with immense pride. And indeed, it was quite a sight. It was so colorful it looked like a traffic light. What on earth had she packed? The vibrant colors were so dizzying that I couldn't even tell what the food actually was.
"What is that...?"
"It's kimbap!"
Rain declared, pulling a long, cylindrical object from her lunchbox. It was purple.
"Purple kimbap...?"
"Yep! It's wrapped in grape-flavored seaweed."
"Uh..."
"What do you think? Pretty, right?"
"Yeah..."
I nodded, my expression thoroughly bewildered. Shine, however, seemed genuinely intrigued by Rain's kimbap.
"Rain."
"Yeah?"
"Give me some."
"You want some too, Shine?"
"Yes. It looks like it'll taste interesting."
"Sure! I'll share!"
Rain readily agreed, nodding her head. Holding the kimbap in one hand, she raised a finger on her other hand. A moment later, tiny droplets of water began to bead at her fingertip. The droplets coalesced into a sphere, which then flattened out into a razor-thin sheet of water. With a swift flick of her wrist, Rain swung the watery blade like a knife. With a clean *slice*, half of the kimbap in her hand was severed.
"Here!"
The cut was perfectly clean, but the filling inside was just as bizarre.
"Grapes in kimbap?"
"Yep! Since the seaweed is grape-flavored, I stuffed the inside with grapes too!"
And it wasn't just one kind of grape. There were green grapes, regular grapes, Kyoho grapes, and even raisins. Rain handed the half-slice of kimbap to Shine.
"Here you go!"
Shine eagerly accepted it. I watched her with a deeply worried expression.
"Chomp!"
Rain took a massive bite of her kimbap. Watching her, Shine also stuffed the grape kimbap into her mouth. Both of their cheeks puffed up like little squirrels as they began to chew. Was that actually good? The smile on Rain's face looked genuinely blissful. Next, I turned my attention to Shine. Her face remained completely unreadable. *Chew, chew.* Shine kept chewing with the same blank expression. Once she swallowed the first bite, she slowly opened her mouth. I thought she was about to say something, but instead, she immediately shoved the rest of the kimbap into her mouth. *Chew, chew.* It didn't take long for the long piece of kimbap to completely disappear.
"Is it good...?"
I asked Shine cautiously. After chewing for a while longer without answering, she finally swallowed and nodded. *Really?* I stared at her, highly skeptical.
"Do you want some too, Jeff?"
Rain pulled another roll of kimbap from her lunchbox. Judging by the slightly yellowish tint of the seaweed, it looked like it might be lemon or banana.
"Is that... banana flavor?"
"Yep!"
Rain nodded vigorously and raised her finger. I hadn't even asked for any, but she was already prepared to share. Before I could say a word, her finger flicked. *Slice!* The banana kimbap was cut in half and dropped right into my lunchbox. The filling inside was indeed real banana. Rice wrapped the banana, and the banana-flavored seaweed wrapped the rice. I picked up the banana kimbap. To be honest, I had absolutely no desire to eat it. But with Rain's eyes sparkling with anticipation, I couldn't possibly refuse. Grimacing slightly, I slowly opened my mouth. As the kimbap drew closer, the sweet aroma that wafted up was actually quite pleasant, though I was still incredibly anxious. *Chomp.* I opened my small mouth wide and took a cautious bite. A moment later, a wave of sweetness flooded my mouth. This wasn't ordinary rice. Even the rice itself was sweet. And surprisingly, it was delicious. It didn't feel like eating a meal; it felt like eating a tasty, sweet dessert. My eyes lit up, and I shoved the rest of the kimbap into my mouth.
"How is it?"
"It's the best!"
Rain was a culinary genius.
"It was delicious,"
Shine likewise praised her. As Shine and I showered Rain with compliments, Amy, who was sitting a bit further away, spoke up.
"Rain, did you bring those weird kimbap rolls again?"
"They're not weird!"
"They are absolutely weird. How is that even kimbap?"
"Because it's wrapped in seaweed!"
It seemed this wasn't the first time Rain had made such bizarre creations. While Rain and Amy were bickering, the closed door swung wide open, and Victor walked in. He was incredibly late, but nobody pointed it out.
"Hello, sir!"
I quickly stood up and greeted Victor. He waved back at me and walked over to our desk. What was he up to? Approaching rapidly, Victor seized the moment while Rain was distracted and reached for her lunchbox. *Zap!* A tiny spark of electricity flashed, and in the blink of an eye, a red roll of kimbap was in Victor's hand.
"Ah!"
Only then did Rain realize her food had been plundered. She shrieked and jumped up from her seat.
"Hey!"
"Taking one,"
Victor said, stuffing the entire piece into his mouth. It seemed Victor, who had a massive sweet tooth, also enjoyed Rain's sweet fruit kimbap. Chewing on the roll, he walked over and sat down next to Amy.
"Do you actually find that tasty?"
Amy asked, looking utterly incredulous. Victor simply nodded nonchalantly.
"It is."