CHAPTER 01

After three years of failing at the interviews, Gary Lennon finally got a job. It was a backend web developer job that he had always dreamed about.

The first person he phoned was his parents. His father was extremely happy about it, but his mother stretched her voice thin when she heard that his annual salary was only 55,000 dollars.

Gary didn’t mind too much about it and then thought about Leah, his girlfriend of seven years, the one he had met in the second year of college. She was his junior, and he fell for her on the 43rd day after meeting her.

She was a programmer as well, and she was earning over 140,000 dollars yearly now. These past four years, every time they went out on a date, she paid the bill. Other than that, he didn’t let her spend another penny for him.

Today, he wanted to pay for dinner.

He waited at the restaurant not far from his house.

A brown cat with a golden bell around its neck was roaming around in the restaurant. “It’s cute,” he thought and stroked its back a little. The cat loved the massage, but it took Gary’s efforts as granted, and so it walked away without thanking him. But its waving tail showed that it loved what he did and was in a good mood.

Soon, Leah came straight from her job, looking tired, but she still managed to put on a smile for him.

Leah was almost as tall as Gary who was 179 cm tall. She was an average-looking girl as per her own standards, but Gary didn’t think so. He liked her from top to bottom. Nothing was wrong about her, whether it be her thick and long hair that was out of this world, or her soft voice that could soothe his soul and ease his mind.

Gary got up and gave her a hug even though she was sweaty.

“Happy Birthday, Gary,” she tightened the hug. She purposely didn't wish him until now, and so this made it a little bit sweeter for both of them. “And sorry. I was a bit late,” she put the bag down and plopped in the seat. “A lot happened at work today. By the way, you ordered, right?”

“No. I was waiting for you,” Gary smiled and pushed the menu card toward her. “You choose.”

“Are you sure?” she asked with an eyebrow slightly raised because it was his birthday.

“Yep.” Gary exposed his empty palms.

“Alright, let me take care of it,” she chose a few items for both of them, some of which were Gary’s favorite. This was what they did most of the time. One would choose for both of them. After she ordered, the waiter left. Her focus shifted onto Gary. “So, how did the interview go? I couldn’t call you last night because I was tired and I ended up sleeping before twelve.”

“It’s okay, Leah. I’m not a child anymore. Birthdays just come and go like the wind to me.”

“Mm, so what about the job?” she tapped her finger on the table.

“You look more tense than I did when I attended the interview,” he chuckled.

“Well, that’s because I just want to quit my job and become a housewife. I’m tired of the professional work, you know. It’s not for me. Besides, I’m 25 now. I want kids, so I can play with them at home.”

Gary blushed and shook his head.

“You didn’t get the job, huh,” Leah’s shoulders slumped. “I feel like you’re not trying. You used to be pretty smart in college, so what happened? Why are you wasting your time playing games at home? My dad gave me the freedom to marry whoever I want, so if you start earning, I’ll become free. I saved up 250,000 dollars these past two years, which I will use only for my future husband and kids if you get what I mean.”

“I got the job, Leah,” Gary said with a smile.

Leah’s big eyes slowly but surely filled with shock. “R-Really?”

“Yeah, it’s only 55,000 dollars now, but it will increase.”

“That’s okay. What matters is that you will stop playing games at home and start working outside,” Leah looked like a lot of burden had been lifted off her shoulders. “Now I can tell my friends proudly that my boyfriend is not jobless!”

“Haha,” Gary laughed out loud.

Just then, the waiter brought a medium-sized seven-layered cake and put it on the table, pleasantly surprising Gary. The lights in the restaurant were switched off, making everybody look toward the only table that was lit with candlelights. The people didn’t complain because they were priorly informed by the waiters.

Gary stood in shock and looked at Leah and understood that all of this was her plan. As she began to sing the happy birthday song, and everybody clapped, his eyes teared up a little. He hugged her. “Thank you.”

“C’mon, Gary. This is the least I can do for you since you won’t let me buy anything else for you, not even the damn gaming discs.” 

He laughed emotionally in response.

She laughed, too.

They laughed together.

She told him to blow the candles and cut the cake, but he made her blow the candles together. Then he made her hold his hand, and they together cut the cake. It wouldn’t be understatement to say that many people in the restaurant envied the sweet and pure relationship of these two youngsters who were deeply in love with each other. Probably that’s why, when the cake was distributed to everyone in the restaurant, it tasted much sweeter and better, surpassing their expectations.

Gary then took out two necklaces from his pocket. He put one on her neck. It was a silver necklace with a tiny shungite pendant that had the name Gary carved on it.

Gary also put on a similar necklace around his neck, and it had the name Leah carved on it.

“What stone is this?”

“It’s real shungite,” Gary said. “It helps block the electromagnetic frequencies that can be harmful to us,  you know, the ones that come from mobiles and wifi-routers.”

“Oh…” Leah was pleasantly surprised. (He must have bought it because I work in an apartment that’s full of wifi-routers. How sweet of him.) “I’m going to keep this with me forever.”

GUDUM~!

The sound of a thousand thunderbolts erupted high in the sky, reaching hundreds of miles across from where it started.

Everybody’s heart sank into their stomachs for a second.

Gary and Leah held each other’s hands and rushed out of the restaurant along with others, only to see a surreal sight above them. Lightning bolts were streaking the entire night sky, with thunder blasting everywhere in the distance. But not a single drop of rain fell from the sky that was fully lit now, making it seem like it was morning. All of it was terrifyingly beautiful. Leah tightened the grip on Gary’s hand.

A rumbling in the sky followed right above their heads, as if a billion pound boulder was rolling on top of the clouds, making everyone look up in deep trepidation, with their hearts in their throats.

Behold, the sky itself twisted like a spiral, and a bright blue pillar of energy instantly crashed down to the ground and sent a shockwave that traveled thousands of miles and made every person it touched pass out.

Gary and Leah also collapsed right where they stood.