When I came into work the morning after the audition, I wasn’t quite sure what to say to Kang. After all, he seemed as if he had so much confidence in me—but maybe he was just trying to be kind. I shuffled into the building, my head hung low, and mumbled a quick hello to Kang.

“Hey,” he said, “how was it?”

I paused in my tracks and let out a deep breath. “It wasn’t awful.”

Kang seemed to pick up on my bad mood and wandered over to me, putting his large hand on my shoulder. “It’ll be alright.”

I nodded and attempted something of an approximation of a smile, going to my work straight away. I kept my phone in Kang’s office so it wouldn’t get wet, and every time I had a small break, I’d rush to it and check if I had any missed calls waiting for me. I couldn’t shake the pressure that was hanging on my shoulders.

For the next few days, I kept up that routine. Kang eyed me like I was some kind of weird person every single time I rushed back into his office to check. He’d remarked how weird my phone looked, and said that it just looked like a solid brick, not something you’d use to call someone. I just laughed; most of the phones in this time were still flip phones that could fit into your palm when closed.

The phones back in the future were pretty much all flat and fairly big. I was going to have to wait another decade or so until I could get the same phone again.

Finally, on the fourth day of waiting, I got a call during my lunch break.

I eyed the phone as if it was a death trap, trying to calm my racing heart and let it ring a few times before answering. I looked to Kang, who was sitting beside me, and he gave me a thumbs up. I took a deep breath in and answered the phone with a timid ‘hello’, a million emotions running through me in those seconds. My ears were drumming, and I could barely hear what they were saying, but I forced myself to concentrate and tell them they had the right number. 

“Congratulations-“ I swore I could feel my heart drop “we’ve accepted you into the company.”

Everything went blurry with relief. I couldn’t believe they’d let me in! All the worries I’d had about not being accepted melted away within a matter of seconds. I was going to be a trainee with my father and mother in the same company. I wouldn’t be alone anymore.

I tried my best to pay attention to everything that was being said between us, but honestly it was difficult to understand what she was saying. All I could make out was that I needed to be there tomorrow by 8.a.m to get ready to introduce myself to the sunbae’s and sign some contract.

I hung up the phone after she’d filled me in on the details and I turned to Kang, my eyes wide and body shaking.

“So?” he said, waiting for me to speak.

I stayed still for a moment before launching myself at Kang and hugging him tightly, grinning like a maniac.

“I did it,” I said breathlessly.

My whole body was shaking with relief, and my head felt light and clear for the first time in what felt like forever. Since I’d ended up here, this black cloud had been plaguing me and weighing me down, and only now that it was gone did I realise how it had been affecting me. I felt so refreshed and free.

Kang patted my back awkwardly, embarrassed. “Congrats,” he said gruffly.

I pulled back from the hug, not able to stop myself from smiling. I wiped at my eyes, small tears having gathered at the corners. I couldn’t believe that I’d actually managed to pass; that I’d be reunited with my father. I held my phone to my chest with both my hands.

It was really the only link I had to my past, along with my camera and photos of the old days. I didn’t like to take that out though. If it ran out of battery, I’d lose all those photos that were so precious to me. I wanted to open the camera only on special occasions when I really needed a reminder of my past. Besides, I did have a nice collection of photos on my phone as well.

Kang was looking at me, a little expectant. “Are you… going to stay here?”

I looked at him blankly for a moment then laughed, although it was a little forced.

“Of course. I’ll still have time to come by even if I’m a trainee. Most of the trainees have school during the day anyway, so it should be fine. The hours might be a little different, though.”

Deep down though, I worried. Would I be able to stay working here for that long? I would be older than a good majority of the trainees entering now, and I knew that I would have to prove myself to get anywhere. I could tell that Kang was happy, even though he wasn’t outwardly showing it. After working with the stoic man for some time, I’d begun to pick up on the little differences in his expressions.

“Oh yeah, do you have a mobile?”

Kang gave me a strange look. “I don’t have the money for that.”

I was surprised for a moment before I remembered that Kang didn’t have a lot of money, and mobiles weren’t quite as big as they were in my time. “Never mind, a home phone?”

Kang gave me his number and I saved it into my contacts list—the only other number I had besides the number for work. In actuality, the only person’s phone number I had was Kang’s. It was times like this that I usually felt the loneliest, but not today.

Today, I felt hope.

I felt like there was a future out there waiting for me. My family, my friends, my everything was waiting for me. And I was so ready.