The car ride was quiet. Mi-ran observed the men in the front seats. Son PD was unusually serious. Maybe he was a nervous driver, because he was clenching the steering wheel hard. Dong-chan occasionally tried to start a conversation, but mostly he kept his face turned to the window.
Checking her watch, Mi-ran realised that it was already nearing five o’ clock. Dae-hwan would be waiting for her. They had been on the motorway for a good hour, and only now were they approaching a town. She was going to be late.
“Excuse me? PD-nim?” she chirped.
“Yes?”
“Where exactly are we going? I’m meeting someone later-”
“We’ll be there soon, don’t worry,” he replied dismissively.
This was strange. This was all starting to feel very strange. Mi-ran leaned back in her seat, too dumbfounded to be angry. Glancing back, Dong-chan gave her an apologetic look, but Mi-ran just shook her head.
A text arrived from Song-yi: Where are you? You weren’t at your desk.
Mi-ran started to type out an explanation, but she wasn’t experienced with phones and pressing each button enough times to change the letters took a long time. The car rolled into an industrial estate, and noting this, Mi-ran merely sent: I’m sorry, go on without me.
The three disembarked the car at the doors of a little building, tucked out of sight at the foot of a slope, called Future Innovations. Someone came out to meet them.
“Hyung!” Son PD called over, suddenly possessed by an inexplicable frantic energy. Mi-ran was a little shocked by the change. The smartly-dressed man approached them. His handshake was strong, and Mi-ran felt a relief when he let go. There was something intimidating about him, and she clearly wasn’t alone in feeling this. As he led them inside, through a maze of doors and up a cramped stairway, Son PD wouldn’t stop babbling.
The space upstairs that they settled in was dark – as he marched about turning on the lights, the suave man introduced himself as a scientist in the field of cryogenics. Not once did he give his name. Mi-ran was now filled with a sense of unease – she couldn’t be the only one who found that slightly suspicious? She tried without success to catch Dong-chan’s eye. He was too engaged with Son PD, who had suddenly been possessed by a frantic energy he hadn’t shown earlier.
“So, Hyung, why don’t you explain to my hoobaes here what Future Innovations is trying to do?”
Hoobaes? But what was Mi-ran actually doing here? The three sat down at an old table, and she felt inclined to do the same.
Her mind started to whirr. She could have been overthinking, but her instincts told her she was in danger. The room closed around her, trapping her. Even if she excused herself now, how would she get home? It was miles away. Wrapped up in her own thoughts, she hadn’t realised the man was leading them through the process of cyrogenic freezing.

“… previously this method wasn’t feasible. Why? Because freezing a person like that would damage their cells, and if they were thawed the harm done to their brain and organs would have been irreversible. That’s why we now inject anti-freeze proteins into the bloodstream first…”
Mi-ran eyed the door. At some point, they had been presented with water in plastic cups, and she panicked inside as she saw Dong-chan willingly drain his.
“Any questions?” the scientist finished, looking to the two of them with an insinuating smile. The last piece fell into place – as it dawned on Mi-ran what she had been brought here for, she leapt up and bolted for the stairs.