Dead Hours을(를) 계속 읽으려면 로그인하세요
Out of Reach의 18페이지 중 3페이지를 읽었어요. 나머지를 읽으려면 로그인하거나 무료 Inkroost 계정을 만드세요. 금방 끝나고 사이트의 다른 모든 무료 챕터도 열려요.
가입은 무료예요. 바로 이 페이지로 다시 데려다 드릴게요.
텍스트 버전 이 챕터의 글 버전 — 접근성, 스크린 리더, 검색을 위한 거예요.
3 A.M., rain on the dead-hours store. A tipsy salaryman celebrating a promotion buys a single beer and, on his way out, lets the string of his shiny silver star balloon slip from his wrist — it rises to the ceiling and he wanders off into the rain, oblivious. Kaito, unable to bear a stray thing loose in his airspace and certain the happy stranger will want his balloon back, declares quiet war on getting it down before the morning delivery, spiraling over how long helium even lasts — a fact nobody can verify. All night he reaches for it to the identical dead-eyed beat of his fingers, then a broom, then a wobbling crate falling an inch short as the balloon drifts just out of reach and he mutters '...missed.' A ladder of night-shift regulars each give a different unverifiable verdict — the tracksuit regular says leave it, it'll come down in a day, maybe two; the drunk owner returns only for his umbrella and doesn't remember owning a balloon at all; a cheerful jogger insists helium lasts exactly one day. Rin quietly livestreams the whole vigil as 'Man vs Balloon,' with one flicker of near-sincerity — that he's the only person alive who'd try to save a drunk stranger's balloon, and it's kind of sweet — before raising her phone again. Near dawn, hollow and defeated, Kaito finally stops reaching and sinks to the floor, hands open — and the balloon, its helium spent, sinks on its own and settles gently into his open hand, the running beat inverting into a rare genuine almost-smile. But when he turns to return it, the owner left hours ago and never wanted it. Then the reveal Rin planted in the first minute pays off: she tied a near-invisible fishing thread to the balloon's string the instant it rose and steered it just out of his reach all night — every '...missed' was her, and it made great content. Her 'Man vs Balloon' hits four hundred thousand viewers. Unable to bear a rescued thing nobody wants, Kaito moves to keep it — and Rin plucks it from his fingers for her outro. Kaito is left with an empty upturned hand; he gets nothing. Dawn light fills the spotless store exactly as the night began — and up against the ceiling a fresh silver star balloon already bobs where the last one was, Rin's phone already raised, already live.
1페이지
Wide establishing shot of the empty convenience store during the dead-of-night shift. Rain streaks the front windows and the street beyond is dark and empty. Kaito, in his striped store apron and KAITO name tag, stands calmly behind the register with a faint almost-smile, hands resting on the counter. Down the counter, Rin, in her hoodie and apron with a RIN name tag, scrolls her phone. KAITO: 'Three A.M. The good part of the shift.'
2페이지
A tipsy salaryman in a rumpled suit strides in grinning, a silver star-shaped foil balloon on a string looped around his wrist. SALARYMAN: 'I got promoted! Section chief!' He sets a single can of beer on the counter and Kaito rings it up. SALARYMAN: 'Big night! Huge night!' KAITO: 'Just the beer. Congratulations.' Rin lifts her phone to film the grinning man and his balloon. RIN: 'Content.'
3페이지
At the sliding doors the string slips off the salaryman's wrist and the silver star balloon begins to rise. He wanders out into the rain without noticing. SALARYMAN: 'Night, kid! Section... chief...' The balloon drifts up and comes to rest against the ceiling beside the round white speaker. Behind the register, Kaito tips his head back to stare up at it. KAITO: '...He forgot his balloon.'