The lights outside the delivery room were bright, but the wiring seemed to have poor contact, making them flicker now and then.
The man sat on a worn chair with patches of paint peeling off, yet his whole body felt restless.
He could not help standing up and pacing back and forth through the corridor, though he tried his best to keep his footsteps quiet, afraid even that little noise might interfere with what was happening in the delivery room.
The LED digital clock hanging on the wall glowed red, its light looking slightly harsh at that moment.
11:59:50 PM, December 31, 1999.
"It's almost 2000. Why isn't it over yet?" the elderly father asked from the side.
The man grew anxious as well.
Yet amid that anxiety, his attention was drawn to a sound.
The nurse's station in the distance was brightly lit yet somehow dim. A young nurse was on duty there, and the radio beside her crackled with static.
Mixed with the crackling current and the sound of firecrackers, a radio host could vaguely be heard offering congratulations.
"We're now in the final minute of '99, friends. We're about to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new...
"The countdown... bzzzt... the final ten seconds!!"
"Ten... bzzzt!"
51...
"Nine... bzzzzzzz!!" The static seemed to grow louder.
The young nurse patted the radio and adjusted the channel.
Time seemed to skip ahead rapidly.
"Three... bzzzt!"
57...
"Two..."
58...
"One!"
"Waaah!!!" A cry rang out, and joy welled up in the man's heart.
59...
"Congratulations!!"
"Failed to make it into the New Year!!!"
The man froze, an absurd and terrifying sensation spreading from the bottom of his heart.
Joy and horror tangled within him, wrenching his face into a strange expression that seemed both happy and sorrowful.
He