The final bell rang, signaling the end of another long, monotonous day. The sound of shuffling feet and zipping bags filled the classroom as students rushed to escape the academic prison.
"Ray!" I had barely made it out of the main gate when I heard my name. Jin was leaning against the brick wall, grinning like he had just won the lottery. "Don't go home yet. Come with me."
I stopped, adjusting my backpack strap. "Why? Do you have a master plan to embarrass yourself in the neighborhood too? I think the hallway incident was enough for one day."
"Ha ha, very funny." He punched my shoulder lightly, falling into step beside me. "Listen to this: Mom and Dad went to visit Grandma in the countryside for the weekend. The house is empty, fully ours. And... I have the newest game cartridge that just dropped yesterday. Battle of the Titans 4."
He paused for dramatic effect, wiggling his eyebrows. "Plus, no one will yell at us if we scream, curse at the TV, or make a mess."
I couldn't refuse. I never could. Jin's house had always been my second sanctuary. While my house was quiet, orderly, and peaceful, Jin's house was a temple of chaotic energy that made me feel alive. "Fine," I sighed with a fake reluctance. "But if I beat you ten times in a row, don't cry."
[The Culinary Experiment]
We arrived at his place twenty minutes later. The house was silent, which felt unnatural, but Jin quickly filled that void. He tossed his blazer onto the floor, kicked his shoes into a corner, and threw his bag onto the sofa. "Freedom!" he shouted at the ceiling.
We spent the first hour destroying digital monsters, our fingers moving at lightning speed across the controllers. But soon, the rumbling of our stomachs became louder than the game's sound effects.
"I'm starving," Jin announced, pausing the game and throwing himself back onto the couch. "We need fuel. I'll cook us dinner."
I froze. I looked at him in sheer, unadulterated horror. "You? Cook?" I asked slowly, as if speaking to a toddler holding a knife. "Jin, the last time you tried to make a grilled cheese sandwich, you put the toaster on its side and almost burned the kitchen down. The firefighters still remember your address."
"My skills have evolved since then!" He leaped toward the kitchen with terrifying confidence. "I've been watching cooking shows. I'm going to make you Ramyeon... but not just any Ramyeon. This will be 'Jin's Special Blend'."
I followed him, not to help, but to supervise the impending disaster and potentially call the ambulance. The kitchen scene was something out of a horror movie. Jin was tossing ingredients into the boiling pot with reckless abandon, like a witch brewing a potion. "Eggs... essential for protein," he muttered, cracking two eggs and dropping the shells in by mistake before fishing them out. "Vegetables... for health." He threw in a whole carrot. Unpeeled. Unchopped. Just a whole carrot swimming in the broth. "Spices... for the kick." He emptied half a bottle of Capsaicin extract into the red water. The fumes alone made my eyes water.
And then... he did the unthinkable. He reached into the cupboard and pulled out a bar of dark chocolate. "Jin! Stop!" I shouted, reaching out. "Chocolate does not go in spicy noodle soup! Are you insane?"
"Trust the chef!" he yelled, breaking off two large squares and dropping them into the boiling red inferno. "It adds richness! It's a secret technique used in high-end French cuisine... I think."
[The Taste of Regret]
Ten minutes later... we sat at the small dining table. In front of us were two bowls emitting a strange, purple-hued steam that defied the laws of physics. The smell was a confusing mix of burning peppers and sweet cocoa.
"Bon appétit," Jin said proudly, clapping his hands.
I looked at the bowl. The bowl looked back at me, threateningly. "If I die," I said, picking up my spoon, "tell Lina I loved her cat."
I tasted a single spoonful. Time stopped. First, came the heat—a burning sensation like swallowing lava. Then, the sweetness of the chocolate hit, clashing violently with the salty broth. Finally, a texture that I could only describe as 'slime' coated my throat. I felt my tongue literally melting. My brain short-circuited.
"Jin..." I choked out, my eyes watering profusely, reaching for the water jug. "This... is a biological weapon. The government should hire you."
Jin exploded with laughter as he ate greedily, slurping the purple noodles without flinching. "It's delicious! You just don't have a refined palate! It's sweet and spicy... the flavor of youth!"
We ate. Well, Jin ate. I mostly drank water and picked at the noodles. But despite the culinary atrocity, we laughed. We laughed until my stomach hurt more from the humor than the food. We went back to the living room and played until our fingers grew numb.
Later, lying on the floor staring at the ceiling, the atmosphere grew quiet and reflective. "When we graduate..." Jin said softly, his voice serious for once. "I'm going to take over my dad's construction firm. But I won't just build houses. I'm going to build a skyscraper. The tallest in the city."
He turned his head to look at me. "And I'll reserve the entire top floor just for you, Ray. You can open a clinic there, or an office, or... whatever you decide to be. We'll rule the city from up there."
I looked at him. His eyes were full of genuine hope and ambition. "It's a deal," I said, smiling. "And I'll treat you for free when you eventually get food poisoning from your own cooking." "Deal."
[The Warmth Before the Cold]
I left Jin's house late at night. The city was asleep. The streets were quiet, save for the distant hum of cars on the highway. The streetlights flickered lazily above, casting long, dancing shadows on the pavement.
I walked with my hands in my pockets, feeling an overwhelming sense of happiness. My stomach was full (despite the slight ache), and my soul felt light. It was one of those rare days where everything felt right. No worries about grades, no fears about the future. Just friendship and bad food.
I reached my home. The lights were still on in the living room, a warm yellow glow spilling onto the porch. I opened the door quietly. "I'm back."
The scene inside was the definition of peace. My dad was sitting in his favorite leather armchair, reading a history book with his reading glasses perched precariously on the tip of his nose. My mom was on the sofa, folding a mountain of fresh laundry while watching a drama series at a low volume. The smell of fabric softener and old books filled the air.
Dad looked up, closing his book with a soft thud. He smiled, the wrinkles around his eyes deepening. "Welcome home, night owl. How is Jin? Did he burn the house down yet? I heard sirens earlier, I was worried."
I laughed as I took off my shoes, placing them neatly by the door. "It was a close call, Dad. There was purple steam, but we survived."
Mom spoke without taking her eyes off the TV screen, where the protagonist was crying in the rain. "There's a plate of sliced fruit in the fridge if you're still hungry. And don't stay up too late; you have school tomorrow."
"Okay, Mom." I walked over, kissed the top of her head, and shook Dad's hand—our little nightly ritual. "Goodnight."
[The Glitch]
I entered my room and closed the door, shutting out the world. I threw myself onto the bed, not bothering to change out of my clothes. I stared at the dark ceiling, replaying the tape of the day in my mind. Jin's flushed red face laughing at his own joke... Lina's smile in the hallway earlier... the terrible taste of the chocolate Ramyeon... and the warmth of my parents downstairs.
"I'm lucky..." I whispered to myself in the darkness. "I really am lucky."
I closed my eyes, ready to sleep. Everything was perfect. Everything was peaceful. My breathing slowed, my muscles relaxed, and I drifted toward the edge of unconsciousness.
But... The moment my consciousness began to fade...It returned.
It wasn't a sound. It was a vibration deep inside my skull. A static noise, like a TV channel losing signal.Bzzzzzt.
In the pitch-black darkness behind my eyelids, I didn't see dreams. I saw a color. A vivid, bleeding red. And then, numbers appeared. Burning, jagged numbers floating in the void of my mind.
[Initiating System Synchronization...][Countdown Started...]
[10...]
[9...]
I snapped my eyes open in panic, sitting up in bed, gasping for air. My heart was hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird. I looked around frantically. Nothing. The room was dark and still. My desk, my chair, my posters... everything was exactly where it should be. The silence of the house remained unbroken.
"Just my imagination..." I whispered, wiping cold sweat from my forehead. "Too much video games. Too much chocolate Ramyeon."
I lay back down, pulling the blanket up to my chin, trying to force my heart rate to slow. I closed my eyes again, desperate for sleep. But the fear lingered. A cold, sticky dread that settled in the pit of my stomach. Because even though my eyes were open now... I could still feel the echo of those numbers burning in my retinas.
What was that?And why did it feel like... a warning?