The fog was thick. He reached his hand out the window, and his hand became wet as though he had just dipped it in a bucket of water. The headlights of the car dissipated into the darkness without being able to penetrate 3 meters. The road was quiet without any other cars going by. Maru turned the wheel to park by the side of the road. It wasn’t even close to the sea here, and yet the fog was so thick. He was quite surprised.

“We’ll wait here for a bit. Fog like this should disappear soon.”

“Okay, then.”

Maru rested his chin on the wheel as he listened to the answer that came from the seat next to him. He was now used to driving early in the morning, but the fatigue of his body piled up regardless of the proficiency of his mind. He even thought that he might end up in the hospital at this rate. He sometimes wondered to himself if the fuel inside the car contained a part of his life-force or something.

“You should get some sleep if you’re tired. I thought we were going to be late, but it looks like we’ll have time left if we continue at a speed like this.”

Maru turned his head next to him. A woman wearing a khaki-colored coat was looking at him with clear eyes. A ‘fill-in’ road manager and a ‘fill-in’ actor. They were colleagues in the sense that they weren’t able to go mainstream.

“I think I won’t...