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21:06

My co-workers are chatting animatedly through the screen, preparing to end the meeting as they wrapped up the loose ends of their hour-long discussion.

“So, Allen, please make sure to continue liaising with our American branch to facilitate the opening of the new building.” Jungmo clicks his tongue and I can practically feel his urge to end the meeting. His cat has gotten to the top of his kitchen cabinets, and if he doesn't do anything about it soon, there's bound to be an accident.

“Right, of course, Mr Koo. Minhee, when you’re done with collating the survey results from our American team, do send me an email with the report attached.” Allen said next.

I can see Minhee nod excitedly through his camera. Curse interns and their overbearing enthusiasm for everything. Makes the rest of us look bad.

“Woobin! How’s the presentation for the branch over in Jeju going? I’d like to see you run through it with us at least once before your flight next week.” Jungmo flashes a sickeningly sweet smile towards the camera.

Shit. I think as I scrambled to unmute myself, hoping the others didn’t see how much I was zoning out.

“Yeah, uh, it’s going fine,” I’m barely half-done. “When do you want to see it, Mr Koo?”

“Will tomorrow at four be fine? You’ll be back from your leave tomorrow, right? I’ll get Hyeongjun to schedule us a meeting.”

I fake a smile, realising that I’ll be pulling an all-nighter tonight. God damn it.

“Of course.” I exhale softly, making sure to hold eye contact with Jungmo. He’s the same age as I am, so there’s no reason for me to be afraid of him, though he could fire me just like that.

“Then we’ll call it a day.” Jungmo claps and flashes his billion-dollar smile once again. I could see Allen finally relax and sink into his seat. Not so much for my case though, as I leave the meeting and change out of my semi-formal button up. (It wasn’t necessary to change my pants, since I sat through it all in my extremely flattering NBA shorts from high school.) I dig through the stack of papers on my table, realising that I’ve left the thumb drive with the presentation slides back in the office. The initial plan was to finish up the slides when I returned from my sick leave, but of course, the amazing Koo Jungmo had to fucking ruin it all. I sigh, coming to terms with the fact that I had to return to the office a day early to retrieve the stupid thumb drive. Just great.

I throw my half-eaten leftovers back into the microwave, deciding that I’ll finish it later. If I leave now, I would be able to catch the last train back home later, and I would rather die than spend an extra fifteen thousand won on a taxi in Seoul.

21:29

I might be slightly underdressed for an office environment, despite technically not working today. The cool night air made the hairs on my arms stand, and I deeply regret only wearing a t-shirt and jeans. The air-conditioning assaults my senses when I walk through the door, breathing in a whaff of lavender that Jungmo specially chose as the official office fragrance. It felt all too familiar and I hated it. I should have just caved and watched the final season of Modern Family before returning to work.

“Seo Woobin! It’s nice to see you again, feeling better?” Serim, the security guard and the only semblance of normalcy in this building waves as he let me through the employee’s gantry.

“Yeah. My fever disappeared barely a day into my leave so I spent the rest of the five days binge-watching Modern Family and The Penthouse. Great shows by the way. I think I must have fallen sick from being here too long.” I joked, feeling comfortable with the security guard’s presence. He was a nice guy, a pop of yellow in this otherwise grim and grey building.

“Good, good. So, what are you back for?” Serim makes small talk as I wait for the lift.

“A thumb drive. Jungmo wanted to see one of my presentations tomorrow.”

“Damn. That sucks.” Serim laughs.

“That’s something I can never admit out loud.” I laugh back as the elevator reaches the lobby. I give Serim a polite nod and he salutes to me, which always makes me chuckle. I nudge the button to the 45^th floor with a knuckle and the door closes with a light thud.

21:33

The office was dark when the doors open. Truth be told, I was half-expecting all my colleagues to still be around when I arrived. From the meeting earlier, I could still see a stack of files in the corner of Minhee’s table and cups of coffee next to Allen. Hell, maybe I could have pulled my all-nighter with them if they were still here.

I try to look for the switches. On days when I came early enough, sometimes I could catch the secretary turning on the power supply.

But finding the electrical box turned out to be harder than expected, and after a solid two minutes of fumbling around the front desk, I gave up, deciding to opt for the flashlight on my phone instead.

I jerk open the glass door and leaned it against the wall, wandering blindly through the office. It felt warmer than usual, like the air-conditioning hadn’t been turned on recently. Maybe it’s another one of Jungmo’s gigs when he suddenly wants to solve global warming overnight. Who knows at this point?

My table was right next to Meeting Room #2, which was down the hallway to the right, almost giving me the perfect view of Jungmo’s office door.

The office was pin-drop silent and with the usual whirring of the air-conditioning being absent, an unexplainable irk sat at the back of my mind. It was silent – too silent. My feet pad along the carpeted floor as I notice myself holding my breath.

I’m being paranoid. Look at me, turning thirty-two next month and still being afraid of the dark. The thought alone nearly makes me scoff, but something about the large, wall-less room makes me decide against it.

Moonlight filters through the floor-to-ceiling windows, illuminating the room just barely along with my flashlight. I walk past Meeting Room #1, almost paying it no mind when I see something move in the corner of my eye.

I’m being paranoid. It’s nothing.

The movement was accompanied with silence, so essentially there was no movement at all. It was all my imagination, right? I wanted to look into the room. Maybe that'll ease my mind. I swallow and my hands turn clammy. I follow the stream of light from my phone and through the glass walls of Meeting Room #1.

Empty.

The large rectangular table sat in the middle of the room, unmoving as always. I’ve always thought about how good of a hiding spot that would be if our company ever decides to do a game of hide-and-seek. Not like it’ll ever happen though.

A couple of pens lie on the empty table, and the chairs were neatly tucked in. A pen laid on the floor. That must have been what dropped and caught my eye. The carpet must have muted its fall.

I scoff for real this time. I’m being paranoid.

21:38

I walk more recklessly now, trying to shake off the paranoia that ran through my veins. My head was still heavy from the Panadol I had earlier, so I blame everything on that.

I walk by what I remember to be Allen’s table, the table along the corridor that was situated conveniently outside the pantry. I’m sure if he weren’t seated here, he wouldn’t have such a bad caffeine addiction. I shine my flashlight onto his desk, noticing the coffee cups from earlier still there. They stood out terribly from his otherwise pristine table, and it felt odd how Allen, the cleanest of them all, would forget to clear his coffee cups.

Once I get my thumb drive, I may as well help him throw them away.

I continue down the corridor.

I freeze.

Jungmo was there. He was right there.

21:39

He wasn’t supposed to be here. He can’t be here. He’s at home. I saw his fucking cat in the Zoom call.

I’m not crazy, I know I saw him.

Did he return to the office? Why didn't he turn on the light?

I try not to scream when I turn my flashlight towards the end of the corridor. There was no one.

But he was there.

There was a shadow, a gust of wind, a movement. I know I saw him. But he disappeared as soon as I noticed, almost like he was deliberately watching.

I wanted to call out his name, but I’m not sure if I wanted to hear a response.

I hope it’s my imagination playing tricks on me.

I realise it’s not when I hear and feel the air-conditioning turn on.

21:40:05

I have to get that stupid thumb drive.

Someone is here, in this awful silent darkness, and it’s creeping me out.

I turn my flashlight towards the corner and swallow. I turn the corner.

No one’s there, and I’m not sure if I like that or not.

My table is in my peripheral vision now and I feel somewhat better seeing that it hasn’t been tampered with. That means the thumb drive would be inside my pen holder, where I left it last week.

21:40:35

Thank God. I sigh, dumping the contents of the pen holder onto my table and grabbing the black thumb drive. I shove it into my pocket and exhaled.

Now to get out of here.

My back was turned towards Meeting Room #2, which had the same glass walls as Meeting Room #1.

The glass walls were a curse. I always felt like I was being watched when a meeting was being held in there.

I turn my flashlight towards Meeting Room #2.

Minhee.

Blood.

Blood.

Smeared across the glass walls. His body seated on a chair, laid across the table, a knife stuck into his neck.

I clasp my hand over my mouth as I muffle my scream. I was being watched. His eyes were open, glazed over as though he’d been dead for days.

I hear the door of Jungmo’s office open. I can recognise its slam anywhere.

I drop my phone and run.

21:41:02

Something, someone, was running after me. I can hear them although they’re running like their feet weren't even touching the ground. I hear them because of the squelching noises their footsteps made along the carpet.

Was that blood too?

I run.

I see the light from the lift lobby and know I’m almost there.

They were still chasing me, their breath hot and heavy like they were breathing down my neck.

I can hear them.

I can hear him.

21:41:10

Shit. No.

Fuck.

I pull and push at the glass door. It’s locked. Why? I left it open.

He wasn’t running anymore.

He watched me in silence as I repeatedly slammed my body against the glass door, begging for my life.

“Please. Please don’t kill me. Please don't hurt me, Jungmo.” The tears feel hot and fiery on my cheeks. The cries turn into whispers as I watch the corners of his lips curl up. “Why? Why are you doing this?”

He walks towards me with a psychotic smile that bared all his teeth. I slump against the glass door and onto the ground. His fingers were stained with blood as he touched my jaw with his, cold, numb fingers. He smelt like lavendar. He raises the knife in his hand. His lips move but I hear nothing.

I saw the insanity in his eyes as he drove the knife down.

I couldn’t move. I couldn’t scream.

I could only watch.

8.2k

THREAD: KOO VIRTUAL REALITY CORP MURDERS (r/news)

submitted 1d ago by Anonymous

“26 people were found dead yesterday on the 45th floor of Koo Virtual Reality Corporation. Among them was CEO and Head of Directors, Koo Jungmo. Police suspect foul play. Investigations are ongoing.”

3.7k comments

21:35

I hear the lock of the glass door open.

He’s here. Finally.

The blood-stained knife glistened against the moonlight that filtered through my office windows. One more person, and this will all be over.

I grab the knife, stumbling over Hyeongjun’s body as I walked towards the door of my office.

I have no choice. This isn’t my fault. They set me up. The employees who I’ve trusted with my life did all this.

They’re the ones who misused the money.

I close the programme I used to run the online meeting with Seo Woobin earlier. It looked realistic enough for someone who's sick and the voice distortion programme helped to make me sound like his colleagues. He’s coming into this vulnerable, just like how all of them made me.

Vulnerable.

I open the door and see him down the hallway.

I make sure he sees me before I disappear back into my office.

The knife feels right in my hands, and it’ll feel better down his neck.

He was a good worker and friend, and I regret always making him work overtime.

Maybe if I hadn’t done so, he wouldn’t have hated me this much to betray and set me up.

Maybe it wouldn’t have come down to this.