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Michael was in a cafe. The reason was simple: he wanted to feel like he was doing some work. Staying in the house and writing all the time made him feel he was slacking off.
"I will finish the book today," he said in all seriousness, cracking his knuckles.
Buying his coffee, he sat down at a table in the corner and started typing.
There is something peculiar about Micheal when he starts writing a book. Even if there is a earthquake happening he would not leave his seat or lift his fingers from his laptop.
At that time, the door opened, and four young girls came into the shop. By the looks of it, they were all sisters.
"What do you want? See, we brought you here so that you would feel better," said the oldest one of them.
"I told you not to read the book. It will wreck you," the oldest said.
"I don't want anything...maybe a donut?" said the girl.
"Okay. Take them to a seat and wait. I will bring the food," said the oldest one.
The girl took her two younger siblings and occupied a seat in the cafe.
But right beside her, there was a table on which a guy was continuously typing on his laptop. He was wearing a hoodie and a cap, which was covering half of his face.
"That typing noise gives me a headache. Maybe a writer?" the girl thought.
She didn't even look at him because she was concentrating on the forum and talking about the book she recently read. She then just ignored the noise by wearing some AirPods.
In the meantime, Michael had finished his typing quota for the day. He felt great when he finished his work. He made a chart in which he would enter his everyday progress. He made it because he didn't want to finish the book too fast and arouse suspicion.
When he was about to close the laptop, he had a thought that he had time and should write some more since he was behind schedule.
"But I feel hungry...should I order something? Why not? I am practically rich now," Michael thought.
Michael got up from his seat without even closing his laptop and went to the front to order something for himself.
In the meantime, the girl went to the washroom and told her siblings to behave.
When Michael was ordering his food, the oldest of the four sisters was coming to her table. She had too much on her hands. Somehow, when she was near Michael's table, her ankle twisted a bit and the paper cup holder of 4 coffees fell from her hand onto Michael's laptop.
"Oh no." Everything happened so fast that the siblings didn't have time to react.
"Oh God!" the oldest sister exclaimed, horrified by this accident. Even though her leg was fine, she had another headache: destroying someone's property.
The sisters were thinking what to do. In a panic, one of the younger sisters started wiping the laptop and the other one advised they should run.
"No. We should take responsibility," the oldest said, glaring at her younger sister who advised they should bounce.
"But whose laptop is this?" said the oldest again. Panicked, she also started searching for the person. She already forgot about her sister who was missing.
Before the sisters could say anything, a voice came from behind them.
"It's fine, I was long overdue for an upgrade," said Michael.
Everyone turned around and saw Michael, who had a coffee in his hand and a bag which held his food.
"Oh my God! I am so sorry, it was an honest mistake," the oldest said with earnest guilt.
"Nah, it's fine. Even though I liked this model, I need something faster anyway," said Michael with a genuine smile.
He could see it was an honest mistake, so he was not that angry. Sad, yes he was, but not angry. And all of his works are in cloud-based software, so it was not a big deal. It didn't even have anything useful except the books he illegally downloaded.
When Michael closing his laptop lid, he had to also convince them it was fine, so they did not have to compensate him. During that, the girl came out of the washroom and looked at the table curiously.
"Why is she talking to that guy?" thought the girl.
When she started walking closer to them, the boy had already shaken his hand as if he were saying goodbye and took off with his stuff.
"What happened?" asked the girl when she met her sister.
The oldest told her whatever happened there.
"Wow. You should be more careful about these things," said the girl while eating her donut.
"Don't lecture me. Thank God he was such a good person. Otherwise, I was thinking I should run off," said the oldest while laughing at her joke.
"Yeah...though it is a little bit strange. Why would he be okay after you spilled coffee on his laptop?" said the girl.
"Yeah. But he emphasized it was fine, so it must be, and he was quite a good-looking fellow," said the oldest, genuinely impressed by Michael's looks.
"Hmm...I couldn't even see his face. I should have stayed instead of going to the washroom," the girl murmured.
"Hm? Did you say anything?" asked the oldest, and the girl responded with "Nothing!"
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"Yes...yes... I have bought the new laptop and am coming home. Yes. Ok bye dad," Michael said, holding his phone.
Michael was driving toward his house. He regretted going to that cafe, but they had his favorite cheesecake.
"Well, whatever," Michael said. Then, looking at his old laptop on the back seat in the rearview mirror, he said, "Unfortunately, the clock is ticking, the hours are going by. The past increases, the future recedes. Possibilities decreasing, regrets mounting...sigh."
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The man in the white room who gave Michael those conditions was looking at the screen, which was divided into two parts. In one part, Michael was driving, and in the other, the girl was laughing at some joke made by her sisters.
"Tsk! Watching K-drama is more rewarding." Switching off the display, the man left the room.