A Village in India,
She was lying down on her bed, under a blanket. After watching all the pending episodes of the ongoing kdrama, she just looks at the time on her phone in her hand. Now it's 2 am... She just turns off her phone and starts looking up with a sigh. The fan was at full speed, in the darkroom, a dim light was coming through the window because of the streetlight... The rain was making a noise outside the room. It was a cool night but, just like the room, her mind was also noisy…the worries about her future came to her mind at the same time as usual….
"When will I get a job...? When will I become a millionaire? When can I go on a world tour? What will I do next? Why didn't I get a job? "
Her mind is now a highway road without any traffic signals…random thoughts are passing at the speed of light… But suddenly her grandma, lying beside her, made a long snore... and she realized it was time to sleep.
The next morning, after doing his household activities, she took her laptop from the sofa and started checking emails by sitting on the floor. She was alone in her home…. She is disappointed in herself because she can't help her parents.
Riya completed her post-graduation in the year 2021 and has been searching for research jobs since after graduation. But the irony is, even a fresher's job requires 4-5 years of experience. She applied for hundreds of jobs...but she didn't even make it to the preliminary level… in such a competitive world how can she survive with only a post-graduation?
Whenever she goes out for a walk near her house, neighbors ask only two things about her… one is "what are you doing after your degree…did you get a job? The next is "when will you get married?... These two disgusting questions always haunted her wherever she went. So, she always finds happiness in staying at home. She is not that unique… she completed her graduation but is not at the top of her class…. She can't speak confidently to a crowd…she has some talent at drawing…but is not perfect.
In 2019, with the spread of Covid-19, another thing that swayed the world is the Hallyu wave… And she is also addicted to those Korean dramas, K-pop, and 100s of oppas. Now she has only one aim in her life…getting a job and becoming rich enough to go to Korea, buy branded clothes, an apartment, a car …etc. She is trying hard to save money for it. But she lost hope after several failed attempts.
Her family is very conventional. They don't want to send their only daughter too far away. They are looking for marriage proposals for her after her graduation… but she is looking for ways to go to Korea …. But all her plans are falling like a house of cards. She is searching for jobs on the laptop in her lap.
She got a new email. And its subject was "Result of Your Application for International Internship Program at Alpha Pharma ".
In Seoul, South Korea
Even though it was a late night, the street lights and big buildings made the city bright. Red and green lights were visible from Namsan tower, which is far away from the hotel.
A man was looking into desolation. He is holding a half-burnt cigarette in one hand and a half glass of whiskey in another hand. He is shirtless, smoking cigarettes and drinking whiskey from the glass while looking through the glass wall of the hotel room. The city looked like golden spangles on black cloth. He is tall and has broad shoulders. His lips were tinted pink like cherry blossoms. His black hair covered his forehead and his eyes were not sparkling, but it was so seductive.
The room was filled with hazy yellow light. The smell of cigarettes and whiskey along with the smell of air fresheners were diffused into the room. A young lady was sleeping on the bed under a white blanket. The bed sheets were messy and there was an unbuttoned white wrinkled shirt on the side of the bed.
Suddenly, someone in a black suit knocked on the door of the room.
"Mr. Kim…. Mr. Kim…" He called.
Kim Tae Sung turned to look back and put the cigarettes in the ashtray. He took one more zip from the glass and placed the glass on the nearby table. He then wore the shirt and headed to the door.