Miho the Killer Chapter 52: I’m a wizard

I ca to the office today feeling like a broken rock, a crumbling piece of coal, a lump of dust taken out of a vacuum cleaner.

"How was your weekend?", Mr. Hong asked from the next desk. All I could do was force a smile and hope that I did well enough to hide the obvious lie.

"It was great!"

"That’s good to hear."

Maybe I should aim for the Oscars. If Parasite could win it, I’m already qualified.

"It was a really nice place. I thought maybe we could have our company workshop there too."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, very quiet and no other guests - surprisingly, considering how nice the place was. Or maybe I was just lucky hehe."

"Maybe we could suggest it to the boss."

"Sure!"

Then Mr. Kim the HR manager greeted cheerfully as he passed by.

"Good morning Ms. Han!"

"Good morning Mr. Kim!"

"How was your weekend?"

"Great!"

"That’s good to hear."

I was stale bread crumbs held together. I was grateful that my colleagues helped with this.

I finally settled down at my desk and turned on the PC. The log-in screen showed a marvelous scenery of so forest. Trees were tall, but their trunks were not so thick. I could probably embrace them fully if I joined hands with Miho from each side. The leaves were so green and almost sparkly with the sunlight that shone on them. There was a passage in the middle of the forest that led to the password field and the login button. I input the password with light taps on the keyboard and was greeted with a solid black background with various icons scattered around. It bothered today sohow so I arranged them into neat rows.

Maybe I should change my desktop wallpaper to sothing nice as well.

As I opened the web browser to check my company emails sothing caught my eye.

What is that?

I looked closely and realized that there was a knife nonchalantly sitting on the desk next to my monitor. I had no idea how it got there but I was so freaked out and worried that my colleagues might see them. I quickly - but carefully, so as not to cut myself - grabbed it and shoved it into my drawer. But when I opened the drawer I saw a little post-it note that looked like it was left there by soone for to see. I picked it up and it read ’Murderer’.

A jolt of shock ran from my head to my hand that was holding the knife and I ended up dropping it on the floor, making a loud clanging sound. I looked around the office to see if anybody had heard it and was looking my way but thankfully it seed no one had noticed. I crumbled up the post-it note and put the knife in the drawer. I felt nauseous and felt like throwing up.

I hurried to the restroom and locked myself in the toilet cubicle. I tried to puke but without having eaten anything for two days I couldn’t get anything out of my stomach. I sat on the toilet with my face buried in my hands. It felt like my face was burning - lting. I couldn’t bear it anymore.

So I ran out of the cubicle, straight to the sink. I turned on the tap to max and splashed the cold water on my face. After washing my face I felt a bit better, but when I looked into the mirror I realized I had bloodshot eyes. I couldn’t go back into the office like this.

I closed my eyes and kept on cooling them down with cold water. Although we were entering autumn now the weather was still warm and the water from the tap wasn’t cold enough. I rembered that there was so ice in the fridge in the break room, so I headed there.

Once I got to the break room I opened the fridge and took out two ice cubes. I rubbed them over my eye lids and it felt like things were cooling down a little.

I’m too tired.

I haven’t had enough sleep.

The weekend I had -

Wasn’t pleasant at all.

I was lying.

It was horrible. Absolutely horrible.

I did horrible things. I was a horrible woman. Beyond horrible. Disgusting.

I felt the little n running through my veins again. They weren’t running in one direction, but seeming turning, jumping, and collapsing among themselves at random monts and places. I felt my blood stop flowing. I felt it flow in reverse. I felt it accelerate and decelerate. My stomach hurt. I was panting but I couldn’t get enough air. I was suffocating. I was dying.

Then suddenly, my hand moved on its own accord and snapped its fingers.

Click.

Everything was back to normal. I could breathe normally. My blood flowed normally. My heart wasn’t racing anymore. I could stand without wobbling.

Like a wizard.

I am a wizard.

I could snap myself back to normalcy with a single click of my fingers.

I walked back to my desk in confident steps.

I felt light.

My steps were as light as feathers, gently bouncing on the ground at the whim of the breeze.

I humd. I almost had to hold myself back from skipping.

Childlike. Innocence regained.

I ca back to my desk.

Mr. Hong glanced at and smiled.

"Haha. You really are in a good mood today. It seems the weekend away has done a lot of good!"

"Heh, thank you. I feel almost as if I’m born again."

We exchanged thumbs ups and I took my seat.

I opened my drawer and there was no more knife.

It had all been nothing. Just a little freak-out.

For no reason.

No reason at all.

All I had to do was bear through today. Shin would co to pick up later and drive to Miho’s hospital. I hoped my good mood would rub off on her. Perhaps I could be the one who can cheer her up again.