Legend of Legend - Chapter 2

< LOL-Interview Day(1) >

Interview Day

Lee-joonhyuk checked his reflection in the mirror then he fixed his tie as he sighed.
“Whew. Lee-joonjyuk. You will do well.”

He spoke into the mirror as if he was trying to self-hypnotize himself. Then he closed the door of his closet. Then he looked around his room once more.
His heart calmed down as he looked at his clean and organized room.

“Alright.”

Somehow, he felt everything will go well today.
Lee-joonhyuk stepped out wearing his polished dress shoe. Lee-joonhyuk came out of his rented room, and he walked towards the bus station with his smart phone out.

He walked as he read the hypothetical questions for his interview. He discovered a convenience store, so he headed towards it. He energetically opened the door as he caught sight of a woman standing next to the convenience store’s sales counter.

Ddalang. (TLN: bell ringing sfx)

“Welcome.”

The woman reflexively bowed, and she smiled as she saw Lee-joonhyuk.

“Are you going to an interview again?”

“Hahaha. That’s pretty much it. Do you have any banana milk?”

“We have it.”

Lee-joonhyuk brought two banana milks, and he put it on top of the sales counter. Shin-soyun, who was a part time worker at the convenience store, watched Lee-joonhyuk as he paid for his banana milk. Lee-joonhyuk slid one of them towards her, and he spoke.

“Cheer up today.” (TLN: cheer up is the closest thing I can come up with. It is more like a mixture of keep up your energy/I hope you do well)

Shin-soyool put on a smile that dimpled her face then she made a fist towards Lee-joonhyuk.

“Cheer up.”

” This time I’ll definitely stick.” (TLN: when koreans refers to getting into school or getting a job, we say we stuck the job)

Shin-soyool watched Lee-joonhyuk head outside after saying those words. She picked up the banana milk on the counter, and she took a gulp after planting a straw in it.

“I hope he does well this time.”

This was the 5th time Shinsoyool had seen this. Every time he failed the interview, and she felt sorry for him.
As she was drinking the banana milk, she heard the news coming from the radio.

-It is Friday today. The abnormal sleeping disorder and the mass coma situation was discovered four month ago from today. Please limit yourself from going outside as much as possible. I’ll repeat this information again. It is Friday today. The past…

Shin-sooyool mumbled as she was startled by the program.

“Surely, he’s not going to ride the bus?”

As he was waiting for the bus at the bus stop, Lee-joonhyuk looked at the hypothetical interview questions. As he saw the bus approach, he put away his smartphone.

When he got on the bus, there were less people than he expected. The only seat left was behind the driver’s seat. Since it was above the wheel, it was a bit uncomfortable.(TLN: in korean bus, the spare tire is located behind the bus driver’s seat, so the seat immediately behind is raised where your feet would be.  )  The door of the bus closed, and they were about to depart. Someone knocked against the front door. The front door of the bus opened after a grandma knocked on the door. When the grandma got on the bus, Lee-joonhyuk got up from his seat.

“Please sit here.”

After the grandma looked around inside the bus, she sat on the seat offered by Lee-joonhyuk. Excluding Lee-joonhyuk’s seat, everyone was quite older than him.

As the grandma sat in the seat, she didn’t even say a word of thanks. However, Lee-joonhyuk didn’t mind.  He started looking at his smartphone as he stood next to her.
As he was focused on the bus departing, his ear picked up the sound of the radio.

-Today is Friday. Up until now, the strange sleeping disorder and the mass coma situation happened on this particular day of the week. What ride did Miss Gahee ride coming to the studio?

Lee-joonhyuk’s ear tilted when he heard the name, Gahee. Gahee was his favorite female actress. Her fame wasn’t as high compared to her looks, but recently, she had been gaining favorable impressions as she appeared on various radio programs.

-Today is Friday, so I used the subway. After the incident two month ago, the subway employs three conductors, so I heard it was safe.

Lee-joonhyuk felt a sense of unease as he heard those words. It was inevitable, since he was riding a bus. When he looked around his surrounding, everyone was advanced in age. They didn’t seem too worried about their own safety.

-It happens every Friday. Over 6000 patients around the world develops the abnormal sleeping disorder, and they all fall into a coma within 1 hour. I believe the number has exceeded over 600,000?

Gahee’s voice shook slightly.

-I hope everyone will be able to wake up safely.

-The greatest scholars of our world is investigating this matter. They are working hard at it, so I’m hoping for a good result. Well, shall we listen to today’s story?

Lee-joonhuk took a deep breath.

-The abnormal sleeping disorder made one suddenly fall asleep, and it was categorized differently from a regular sleeping disorder. The difference was once they fell asleep, they couldn’t be injured.
When someone became narcoleptic while driving, one would most definitely get into an accident. However, the person involved in the car accident was always unhurt. The only problem was they would fall into a comatose state, and not wake up.

Those who fell into the narcoleptic sleep was safe, but everyone else died. The biggest accident was an air plane crash. The pilot and co-pilot fell asleep, and it caused the plane to fall into a hotel.
At the time, it was a massive accident where more than 400 people had died. After this accident, the world’s gaze was focused on this matter. Until that time, it was assumed people randomly fell into narcoleptic sleep, but a lot of facts came to light after the accident.

It was found that the narcolepsy only happened on Fridays. Those who fell into the narcoleptic sleep was all under 40 years old, and it didn’t discriminate between genders. At the time, there were total 6000 people affected around the world.
Moreover, the people in the narcoleptic sleep could withstand any physical damage. However, after one hour, they would fall into a coma and their body would return to normal.

The nervous Lee-joonhyuk studied the driver’s face. At a glance, he looked to be around 50 years old. Lee-joonhyuk relaxed, and he focused on his smart phone again.

He tried to focus on the hypothetical interview question, but his concentration had already been lost. He let out a light sigh, and he turned his ear towards the radio program.

Coincidentally, he heard Gahee’s voice.

-I hope you all do well on whatever you do today. Everyone cheer up. I’ll be back next week.

At her words, Lee-joonhyuk felt his interview today will go well.
The grandmother, who he gave his seat to, spoke to him.

“Young man.”

“Yes. Grandma.”

The grandma looked out the window.

“Did we cross the center line?”

“What?”

Lee-joonhyuk turned his head to look forward, and his face stiffened. They were slowly crossing over the center line. He quickly approached the driver, but he was already asleep.

“Damn!”

He was sure the narcolepsy only affected those under 40. Lee-joonhyuk desperately turned the handle, and he steered the vehicle back within the center line.
However, the sleeping driver was stepping on the gas pedal, so the distance between the car in front of them decreased rapidly.

Lee-joonhyuk quickly pressed on the horn.

Bbaaaahhhhng!

The car in front of them opened its window as he heard the loud blare. Then he thrust out his hand out the window, and he gave the middle finger.

“Get out of the way!”

He yelled at the front car, but the car leisurely drove at a constant speed. It was inevitable for the bus to hit the car.
Lee-joonhyuk turned the handle, and he barely avoided the front car. However, their speed had already increased by a slight amount, so they lightly hit the back bumper of the front car.

Ggeeeeeeeek!

The rough looking man didn’t expect his car to be hit, so he put his head out the window and yelled.

“You bitch, how dare you hit my car….”

As he was about to cuss out the driver, the man saw Lee-joonhyuk who was holding onto the handle. When he saw this, the man was startled, and he stopped swearing. The abnormal sleeping disorder was already a global issue. Even he knew about it.

“Move!”

After moving his car to the side, the man calmed his heart down.

“I almost became a dick.” (TLN: idiot/jerk)

As Lee-joonhyuk held onto the handle from next to the driver, he shouted.

“Someone help me!”

“What’s happening?”

Everyone was advanced in age, but there was an uncle, who looked to be in his 60s. He came over, and he started to slap the driver’s cheeks.

“Look here! Wake up!”

Slap! Slap!

Even though he was getting slapped, the driver had no indication of waking up. This was most definitely the abnormal sleeping disorder. Lee-joonhyuk spoke quickly with a stiffened expression.

“First, we’ll have to press the brake. Please hold the handle.”

“All right.”

As the uncle grabbed the handle, Lee-joonhyun slid the driver’s foot aside, which was pressing down on the gas pedal. Then he stuck his leg out to step on the brakes. His foot was barely able to touch the brake.

Ggeeeeeeeek.

The speed gauge read over 120 km/h, but the speed rapidly decreased. The speed decreased significantly, and Lee-joonhyuk let out a sigh.

“Whew.”

It was a nerve wrecking moment.

Boom!

From outside the window, he heard a loud noise. Lee-joonhyuk turned his gaze towards it, and his face stiffened. From across the center line, an abnormal sleep disorder patient must have formed. A car hit against a different car, and it bounced up into the air. It started to head towards them, and time seemed to slow for Lee-joonhyuk.

He hurriedly pulled back the uncle, who was holding on to the steering wheel, and Lee-joonhyuk realized he didn’t have time to avoid it himself. The car that had bounced into the air had almost reached the front window.
Lee-joonhyuk suddenly thought about the symptoms of the abnormal sleep disorder. Once you fall asleep, one was able to withstand any physical impact. If he hadn’t heard the radio program not too long ago, then he wouldn’t have remembered it.

Lee-joonhyuk hurriedly wedged his body behind the driver. Then the flying car hit against the window.

Boom!

The window broke into pieces, and the bus shook a lot from the impact. Lee-joonhyuk, who had placed his body behind the driver’s seat, almost lost his consciousness.

Fortunately, the car that flew towards them spun over the bus after it his the front window, and it landed on top of the bus. If it flew into the bus after destroying the front window, Lee-joonhyuk would have died stuck in place.

Lee-joonhyuk pushed against the driver seat, and he stood up. For a moment, his head spun, but Lee-joonhyuk was barely able to stand after he grasped a pole.

When he looked back, everyone’s complexion was deathly pale, but no one had died. The uncle who had held the handle was fine as he was pushed away just in time. He had some scratches from the glass, but he didn’t seem to have any major wounds.

“Is everyone ok?”

“Young man. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

The grandmother, who was sitting in the front seat, spoke to him as she took out a handkerchief for him.

“Your forehead is bleeding heavily.”

No wonder he was dizzy. It seemed his body wasn’t in a good condition. Lee-joonhyuk spoke as he pressed the handkerchief to his forehead.

“Thank you.”

“What do you mean thank you. You saved us so we should be thanking you more.”

Lee-joonhyuk spoke as he made a smile.

“We’ll have to ride a different bus. Let’s get off.”

Everyone carefully got out of their seats.

Ggeeeeeeek.

At that moment, the roof of the bus couldn’t withstand the weight of the car. The roof was rapidly deforming as it descended. He saw a grandpa holding a sack having a hard time getting up.
Lee-joonhyuk quickly ran towards the grandpa. He grabbed him and rolled.

Boom!

The roof of the bus ripped and the car planted into the location where the grandpa was previously. Lee-joonhyuk let out a sigh of relief, and the grandfather he was hugging opened his mouth.

“Are you ok?”

“Yes. I’m fine. How about you, grandpa?”

“Your leg.”

Lee-joonhyuk didn’t know what he was talking about, so he looked down. He saw his left pant sleeve was ripped opened. There was a long laceration on his shin, and blood was flowing out.

The grandfather opened the cloth sack he held, and he used it to wrap around the injury on Lee-joonhyuk’s shin.

“I can do it.”

“I was a medical officer back in the day. Stay still.”

The grandfather spoke after he tightly bound the wound.

“Anyways, we are in trouble. How are we going to get off?”

Lee-joonhyuk stood up with all his might, and he went to grab the hammer meant to break the bus’ window.

“Stand aside. We’ll leave after I break the window.”

“Can you do it with your injured body?”

When the car fell into the bus, the front and back of the bus was separated. There were 5 people in the back. He decided to take out the people in the back before rescuing the people in the front.

“I can do it.”

Lee-joonhyuk spoke as if he was making a promise to himself. He swung the hammer in his hand, and he hit the window.