Time Mansour - Chapter 70
Only Noblemtl
Episode 70: A Life That Stretches Out
Yard rocks.
Sitting on the edge of a rock, I step into the air.
I leaned back to the sound of birds and swung my feet back and forth.
Underneath muddy shoes.
The cityscape was spread out like a panorama.
I was looking at the scenery like that, slightly intoxicated by the scenery, swaying my body.
suddenly.
I heard a loud laugh next to me and turned my head.
I saw Chang-seok smiling with a meaningful smile.
“Do you know why people climb mountains?”
“You crazy bastard. Don’t do that. It’s 2024.”
“Because the mountain is right there.”
A worn-out saying.
Chang-seok gets drunk on the atmosphere and spits out boring lines.
After speaking, he nods his head as if satisfied.
‘This is ridiculous.’
I shook my head from side to side in disbelief.
Ignoring Changseok who was talking nonsense.
Just raise your head and look at the sky.
The very blue, blue sky was looking down at me rudely.
Even if I don’t respond and just ignore it.
Whether I do it or not.
Chang-seok continues to recite wonderful sentences.
“Where can you find a flower petal that falls without shaking?”
Flower petals that fall naturally as spring passes.
Looking at the flower petals that have fallen scattered on the floor.
I just randomly pick out famous phrases that come to mind.
Just blurt out whatever comes to mind without any context.
“Ah. Ah. How beautiful is the back of someone who knows when to go and has to go.”
“··· You crazy bastard. Stop it. If you don’t want to become beautiful too.”
I’m going to accidentally push it away. That’s how the rough joke I let out was carried by the wind and hit the rock wall.
But Chang-seok continued talking nonsense, paying no attention to my nagging.
Pull out all the plausible sentences in your head.
That sight looks quite enjoyable.
Well, I understand why you’re like that.
A wide field of vision from top to bottom.
It was a scenery that would touch anyone’s emotions.
On the one hand, it’s understandable.
still.
Because I really hated hearing that cool tone of voice.
I listened to Changseok’s nonsense with one ear and let it go.
And then I do what I want to do.
The reason I came to the mountain in the first place.
“Yahoo! Yahoo!”
Put both hands over your mouth and scream.
Yahoo. Yahoo. The echoes spread across the ridge in all directions.
I shouted several times until the lump inside me dissolved.
That’s why I do things I don’t normally do.
Only then does Chang-seok turn his head and look at me with a serious expression.
“What’s wrong with you?”
He tilts his head with a quizzical look.
“It’s nothing special. I’ve just been thinking a lot lately.”
“You’re just playing around. What are you thinking, a freeloader? Just live with your mind blank. That’s easier.”
“I’m also unemployed and a bit busy. And you. Are you good at going to work?”
“That sucks.”
Accent the first letter.
And then Chang-seok shrugs his shoulders.
Yes. That one short word touched me more emotionally than a long and eloquent quote.
“What is the hardest?”
“It’s because of people. You know that.”
“You know… there seem to be a lot of people like you in the company?”
“Damn. If only there were people like me, I would go to work happily every day.”
I laughed at Changseok’s words.
They exchange such pointless jokes with each other.
For a long time.
Killing time by having a wasteful conversation.
“Let’s get up slowly.”
Suddenly, Chang-seok stood up and shook out his pants.
“Why? Are you hungry?”
“No, I’m pulling this.”
Make a V sign with your fingers and bring it to your lips.
Then breathe in and breathe out again.
“Just spread it out.”
“I have to go out and spread it. I can hardly spread it at home.”
As I listened to Changseok’s grumbling, I also straightened my back.
like that.
We head back down the dirt road, leaving the beautiful scenery behind.
As I continued down the hiking trail.
Before I knew it, the soles of my shoes were stuck on the concrete floor.
The bus stop you can see in the distance.
As soon as I came down from the mountain, I went to a corner and stopped walking.
Chang-seok naturally put a cigarette in his mouth.
“Do you go for massages often?”
“Me? I’ve never received one before.”
“Didn’t you say you went to Thailand recently?”
“I went. But I didn’t drink.”
“why?”
“Just like that? There’s no particular reason.”
I really didn’t think much of it.
There’s no such thing as liking or disliking it.
I just never even thought about it.
Muscles are naturally tight, and I thought it was natural for shoulders to always be tight.
The coming and going of a sore throat was as natural to me as the setting and rising of the sun.
“Anyway, you don’t really hate it, do you? If you’ve never been there, you should go this time. There’s a place nearby that’s worth killing.”
“Isn’t that weird?”
“Of course. Just trust me and follow me.”
He confidently beat his chest. He blew out the last of his smoke toward the blue sky. He snapped his fingers and blew the sparks away into the wind. In this way, Chang-seok walked in the direction where the sparks disappeared.
I also followed Changseok and walked a little further.
“Isn’t this a school for the blind?”
The place we arrived at after passing through the alley.
A familiar building came into view.
“Oh, that’s right. There’s a massage center inside the school.”
I nodded to Changseok’s words and went inside.
A facility that has been in this neighborhood since before I was born.
however.
I’ve only seen it from outside. This is my first time going inside.
“What course would you like to take?”
“I’ll go with the basics.”
It seemed like Changseok had been here several times.
I skillfully answered the staff’s questions, paid for the basic course, and changed my clothes.
“I’ll wait here and when my name comes up on the monitor, I’ll go to the massage room.”
Before getting a massage as instructed, soak your feet in the foot bath.
As I soak my feet in warm water, my whole body feels relaxed and tired.
I just soaked my feet in hot water, and my heart felt warm as well.
“Not bad.” I muttered to myself as I closed my eyes.
I only rode up the mountain for about twenty minutes.
It seems like his body is tired from mountain climbing.
I sat still with my eyes closed for about ten minutes.
“Hey. Our names are out. It’s our turn.”
I opened my eyes to Changseok’s voice.
Soft lighting illuminates my eyes.
So I dried my feet and went into the massage room.
“Come this way.”
This single room has two beds.
After lying down on the bed like that, the moment the masseuse’s hands touched me.
“Ahhhh!”
A scream escaped from between my teeth without me knowing.
“Are you okay? Should I make it a little lighter?”
“Oh. No. Sorry. It’s my first time getting a massage.”
After answering the masseuse’s questions awkwardly.
I bit my lower lip hard.
That’s why I gritted my teeth and endured it.
Ah. Ah. The moans are getting quieter.
It’s a feeling I’m experiencing for the first time.
It wasn’t such a bad thing to feel all the energy draining from my body.
“Good. Good. I guess I’ll have to come here sometimes later.”
“··· After graduating from school. How on earth did you live? Haven’t you done anything?”
There is regret in Changseok’s voice.
“That’s right. I wonder what I’ve been doing all this time.”
After regretting it like usual, I soon gave up.
maybe.
It seems like I’ve been so busy that I’m trying to live lazily right now.
That moment when you force a smile on your face while thinking so positively.
“Ahhhh!”
When I pressed his shoulder, another scream erupted.
Unable to hold it in, my lips part.
Every time he touched me, I flinched without realizing it.
I started from the tips of my toes and slowly moved up my legs and chest.
“Your shoulders and neck are really tense.”
When I touched his upper body, I felt unbearable pain.
My shins and shoulders were particularly sore, more so than my calves or feet.
Since I sit for longer than other people, my muscles seem to be more tense.
‘I really need to come here once in a while.’
I nod my head, thinking that it was a good idea to come.
He kept twisting his body while lying face down like that and groaning.
As your muscles gradually relax and you become accustomed to the pain.
Only then did I begin to feel cooler.
I lowered my bitten lower lip. My mouth opened naturally. Instead of a groan, the fatigue that had built up leaked out between my lips.
So much fatigue escapes from my body that I wet my pillow.
Before I knew it, the pillow had become damp.
**
I feel refreshed.
I feel like I’ve been born again.
The muscles that were tense in my heart and the lumps that had built up in my body all flew away as if they had been washed away.
I sat down at a cafe and turned on my laptop.
Before, my shoulders would get stiff even if I sat down for a little while.
Today was much better.
I was able to completely relieve all my fatigue over the weekend.
That’s what it was.
“Oh, sir! That’s great. You were just in time.”
I feel like I’m starting to feel tired again.
Suddenly, Sohyun appeared, pushed the chair back, and sat across from me.
When I look at Sohyun’s face, I feel anxious.
I was alone today, and I didn’t see any other kids.
“What about the other kids?”
“I left first. Oh dear. I was the only one left at school because of my homework.”
I opened my bag with a frown.
Then, he takes out books from his bag one by one.
“So that’s what I’m saying.”
Sohyun sticks her face in.
He opens the book with a frown.
“Sir, please help me. Junwoo always says that developers have to be good at math. So, sir, you must be good at math.”
When Sohyun asked me for help with her homework, she looked at me with desperate eyes.
“I can barely remember the multiplication table these days.”
I answered seriously. When you pass the 4th level, you will face a crisis. As time goes by, you forget your age. It seems that while I was forgetting, I also forgot the multiplication table.
“Hey, don’t joke around. I’m serious.”
“I’m serious too.”
But give it to me anyway. I know how to do basic arithmetic. Well, division is a bit confusing sometimes, though. As I answered, I pulled the book towards me.
But since it’s a problem for the kids, I thought it could be solved if I tried. I checked the page with that complacent mind.
“What does this mean?”
Rather, I was asking back.
“Sir? I don’t know. I’m asking.”
“So, I bought 300 cookies for 135,000 won… and made a profit of 250 won per cookie… and threw away the ones that were past their expiration date…”
It’s been a while since I’ve seen a math problem, so I feel dizzy. It doesn’t seem like a difficult problem, but since you’ve written it out like this, I’m starting to get a little confused.
“Sir? Are you kidding me?”
So-Hyeon’s earnest gaze changes into one of suspicion.
“Just wait. I know. I’m sure… I’ll know. Just a moment.”
He raises his hand to calm Sohyun down and reads the problem again.
I focused all my energy and stared at the workbook.
I was doing my best even in small tasks with a professional mindset.
suddenly.
Someone tapped me on the shoulder.
“Director? I’ve been seeing you a lot lately. Do you live in this neighborhood?”
Manager Chae waves his hand at me warmly.
The moment I saw that sight, I was so happy too.
This is the first time in my life that I’ve been this happy to see Manager Chae.
“Hey! Mr. Chae. What are you doing here?”
“I have some business nearby. By the way, who is this little girl? She can’t be my daughter. Or… no… she’s not my niece either…”
Manager Chae looked at me and So-hyeon alternately with a puzzled expression.
It was good anyway.
Because I felt like I had met the savior.