Wednesday, afternoon. After class.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDmBPEGAHmT
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Unfamiliar…62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpIr6Q5nULg
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I was walking on a street that was unfamiliar to me. Glancing at the unfamiliar faces who walked past me. Looking at the unfamiliar houses as I passed by them. Shuffling my feet over the unfamiliar concrete towards an unfamiliar destination I didn’t want to reach but had to.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkj7dnT0Jax
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Going to meet an unfamiliar boy who made an unfamiliar request.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡslmXoSpKLR
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… and an unknown condition.
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What am I doing? I thought for the last time. I hoped it was the last time.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ31cmwSOIw
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Why did I come here? I tilted my face up toward the sky, hoping that from all that blue there was something in it that would tell me the answer. There was none. There were only the clouds drifting slowly, like they were matching how I moved my feet.
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But underneath those questions, there was a quiet persistence that would talk to me.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Q9O9KGWmv
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There is hope. All I have to do is hear what he has to say. Then I go home.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtdVgm2djp3
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Were they convincing? Enough... probably.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfnyR5DZIZo
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I sighed and kept moving.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqhucA9j2CO
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I recalled what happened this morning. It was difficult. A different type of difficult.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzc0SHz2FY1
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I’d sat in my seat before first period and looked around at everyone. I tried to find the expressions I was wearing on the faces of my friends.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb4hNu3c2Dn
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Hina was at her desk, clean and composed like she always was. Her eyes gazed towards the windows. Whatever she was thinking, it was only for her alone. And I never wondered what it was until that time.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAIwYCKHWuc
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A few seconds later, I found Yui standing in front of Mika’s desk. Her expression cycled through different emotions during their conversation. She was probably talking about stories she had heard a few days ago. And Mika was more animated than yesterday. Reacting to Yui’s story the way she was supposed to. But I knew she was only trying. I knew yesterday hadn’t left her. I could see it in the moments between her reactions, a few fractions of a second where she would lose control.
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My eyes started to move without me noticing. Toward the windows. Toward the back.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLjZ4XmLKtu
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And there he was. Completely unbothered. Absorbed by his book, entirely isolated from the noises the classroom had contained before homeroom. I didn’t even know if he noticed the empty space around him. Nobody talked to him. Nobody paid attention to him.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5XjChj47oC
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Except me, right at that moment.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTgnOgboeMS
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I looked away before anyone caught me. I sighed.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡunuZFuCI1e
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Everyone seemed to have moved on from what happened yesterday afternoon. In this same classroom, in that heavy atmosphere. Or maybe they were doing a better job pretending they were.
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...Better than me, at least.
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Since...
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I was the one who had to walk to a near-stranger’s apartment after school. I was the one who had to prepare to hear a condition that no one knew yet. And I was the one who had to steady my face, to hide everything that I was thinking... So that my friends wouldn’t worry.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡasoQObFyvY
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I tried to keep it up all day. And I was very tired.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡezi07cDdRb
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A few times during the walk, I stopped. I turned halfway back, contemplated for a few seconds, wondered what I had been asking myself since I arrived at the station. But I always turned forward... Turned forward and kept walking.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfyWBVpCWn5
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He’s a person, I thought. I needed it. I needed to remind myself what I had rehearsed ever since I woke up this morning. He’s a human being. He’s a student, not a criminal. He looked intimidating. But when we talked to him, he was never violent... 62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGrxhjCZGwf
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Then...62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBzBhQ42dGB
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Also, why was he unusually slow? It was very nerve wracking watching him move from one place to another while the room sat in such a tense mood. And he profiled my friends one by one, like he knew everything about them and where they rank in school, he probably knew the scores they even got, and he was right but…62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSOQMcBStOx
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I paused.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeOgUiIuygb
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Well... That was actually a bit creepy. Who even does that?62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8KMnFCpg13
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My thoughts suddenly went in another direction…62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUbUz2whYQl
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What about his condition?62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVOYOYtPxzs
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I shook my head. I needed to. Positive thoughts. Positive thoughts only.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ17SEVHBUoO
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Instead, my mind tried to embrace quiet.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡywtjlQ8MPc
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuwEerPJPcT
…62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIaNyh19keI
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNJLowBrmtI
…62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRjxazXibo6
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaVBGrPhHzq
… condition.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzNnwHo2Ngb
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I gave up.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBs3pJ3V0Z6
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The sight of the apartment he wanted me to go to finally came into view. A few more minutes of walking and I found myself standing below it. I looked up. Ten floors. It looked expensive. But maybe not. It was quite fancy, though. A little bit, but enough that it made the houses around it look small and a little embarrassed by comparison. It had solid walls, gray. They were so thick that I imagined if I went inside and screamed, nobody from the outside would hear it.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo4PPen0UDg
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… That last thought wasn’t necessary.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKvQFT52KxA
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I walked to the front entrance.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMuBpUBy8pC
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The door was glass, sturdy and clear, and beyond it I could see a second door of the same material. I stepped forward, the outer door opened automatically, and I went inside.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAfLyRcruWF
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I stood there for a second.
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This didn’t look the same as Hina’s apartment. I mean, I had known it since I saw the building from the outside. But I wasn’t sure how to proceed.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiOqNo3IzD1
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Wait… dramas…62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIHF5v61Iay
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If I remembered correctly. There was supposed to be an intercom panel around here somewhere. And it was probably that one, left side beside the door.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡahDdwmFBBp
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I opened the note he gave me and approached the panel. I wasn’t sure at first since there were two panels in front of me. One seemed to look like where key cards go through. Maybe this one with a keypad.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaVjqTv9mA7
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“Room number 502,” I said while I typed the numbers on it.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuTdgVRkFEe
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I stared at the panel while I waited.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbfwtGYlgFL
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“Who?” A voice came through the speaker, flat and immediate.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBm955tPBBL
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“I-It’s me, Miyase Runa. I came here to talk about…”
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“Proceed.”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkIwCqIyOTk
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The inner door opened before I finished what I wanted to say.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEBYPvqIlk4
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Right. Of course.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRoalJ65zZB
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I walked inside. There was a reception desk but no one was behind it.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡethXXKYEmx
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡElcvd0qn4j
He’s a person. He’s a human being. He’s just a student.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnIB0bUUORt
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I told myself repeatedly all the way to the elevator. I told myself repeatedly while the elevator moved. By the time the doors opened on the fifth floor. I had told myself it enough times that it had stopped sounding like words and started sounding like a sound I was making with my mouth.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKR39zeFZjh
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I reached one of the apartment doors then checked the note he gave me one last time.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiRGVB3CRlp
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Fifth floor. Room 502.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSgg1RNejG4
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I took a breath.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡackQyT4LLd
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Took another one.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPwSa5fm1xq
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And knocked twice.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxL5prHH3bU
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A few seconds later. The door opened.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqTTNOqRpZw
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I gripped my bag.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbI6FNtoCWS
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I looked at him.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrff5n07RkI
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“You could’ve used the doorbell,” he said.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOvrNdvAoKt
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Hmm?
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I looked to the left of the door frame.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡImXCFJbfY3
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There it was. Right there. A doorbell, where doorbells had always been, in the place that doorbells had always existed, on every door I had ever encountered in my entire life.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAXs3ABu4NH
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My face went warm. I tried to hide it.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡChapZHTAhN
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“I… didn’t see it,” I said, because it was the only sentence I could locate in my head at that moment. It didn’t sound convincing, in fact, it didn’t convince me at all. Because there was no way I could have missed it. Maybe because I had not thought anything about doorbells for the past day. Maybe because I had been thinking more about what happened yesterday and what was going to happen today. And now I was standing here having knocked on a door like someone who had never encountered doors with a doorbell before.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwYdGxgeAlQ
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He’s definitely reconsidering everything.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYVe5vo1SVR
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“Come in,” he said, after looking at me for a moment that felt longer than it was.
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I took off my shoes and arranged them neatly by the entrance.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡombr5oYntm
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“Excuse me for intruding,” I said, bowing slightly.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqhvISdwJRF
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I stepped inside.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHRexQjxrhi
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He led me to the living room.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL9Zvama7Xw
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I stopped just inside the doorway and looked around without meaning to.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJNLLqfAqml
It was clean. It wasn’t empty but felt like it was since there were no unnecessary decorations inside. There were two sofas, one smaller facing the flat screen TV in the corner, and one longer that faced the door of the living room, perpendicular to the smaller one. And in the center was just a carpet. There were no tables, no cabinets, no photographs on the walls. Nothing else.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcTmaWcQpsU
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To the right was the kitchen connected to the living room with no walls between them. And just as much as the living room, I only saw what seemed to be the necessary utensils that he needed. Or so I assumed.
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It kinda fits him, actually.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXmAvOpijrI
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I thought about it for a second.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVQ7h3pT6Ug
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“Sit anywhere you like,” he said.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSvTlmWv7zf
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I considered the longer sofa and the smaller sofa for a second. I started walking towards the longer sofa, I sat at the other end near the smaller sofa, which put the most distance between me and the other end of the room. As I settled in I noticed a book sitting on the opposite end of where I sat. I leaned slightly, curious to what it was.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYukJTzgypk
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English. The cover was entirely in English.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxcCvfqMZlL
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“Do you want water?”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlG7QgL20WR
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I straightened up. His voice came from the kitchen and it caught me off guard since I felt like I was intruding someone’s private life when I leaned towards the book. His voice is always serious, it wasn’t cold but it was different, like the strict kind of different, or maybe leaned more towards indifference? I didn’t know, I was just startled. I wondered if he was aware of how he sounded to others? Probably not.
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“There’s soda in the fridge too. Which one?”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡePY37rchJx
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“Soda please,” I answered before I finished deciding. I meant to say water. I didn’t know why I said soda.
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He came back a few minutes later with a glass of soda with little ice cubes. He handed it to me.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYzLXRodahs
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“Thank you.”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh8YRWWJHzY
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He went back to the kitchen. I watched him go, wondering what he had planned to do. I noticed he was going towards a small wooden table at the corner of the kitchen before he started carrying it. Then walked back to the living room and carefully set it down over the carpet between the two sofas.
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It was a low kind of table, made for sitting on the floor to write.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJfgRvztC1L
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“You can put your drink here.”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhUKnywqDY9
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“Thank you.”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA2VgGH4y5f
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He walked around the table he just placed. He ended up in the other end of the longer sofa, picked up the book that was there, and sat down.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj9svk37K66
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And opened it.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJm8kImvfnF
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And started reading…62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIj0KcI4bWr
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Started reading…62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNthsXIVF2q
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I tried to confirm what just happened. I came all the way here. Ten minutes of train ride, fifteen minutes walking from the station to this apartment, I had failed to locate a doorbell that had been directly beside the door, and now this. I thought we were going to start talking about what he told me yesterday. Instead, he started reading.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkaeiMBdev4
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“Um.” I tried.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfU0JmUMw4I
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He turned a page.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWLJY1UPk8V
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“About what we discussed yesterday…”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdS8HHI0FjR
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Nothing.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9gOoepRPCY
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“…Never mind.” I let out a laugh. It sounded awkward. I immediately regretted the laugh.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpOEJyzae9E
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I looked at the soda. The ice was already starting to melt at the edges. I took a sip. Looked up at the ceiling for reasons I couldn’t explain. There was nothing interesting about the ceiling. It was a ceiling.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzx2i9ARH8k
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I decided to search inside my bag instead. The only things that I found were textbooks, notebooks and my test papers that put me in this situation. I cursed at them. In spirit.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHDDmrQwoiH
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My phone buzzed inside my pocket. I opened it. There were notifications that Mika and Yui had messaged me privately. Once from Mika, five times from Yui. There was also a flood of notifications that came from our group chat. It didn’t say who made those fifteen notifications, but I am totally sure it was Yui.
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I didn’t have the mood to reply yet. So I opened an app, found a video, maybe just watch for a little bit. Made myself look busy just like him.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHhYND0sv5s
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Ten minutes passed.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWXPayDXn9U
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I put down my phone.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiZYz0TEDsO
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“Hello?” I looked at him directly this time.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡORBpAm6Cgb
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Everything that I was thinking before coming here and everything I heard about him both were gone in that moment. I didn’t come here to sit in silence and watch videos.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv3yysG3LcT
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If he still didn’t answer me this time, I was leaving.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxMhS3Ct8he
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My eyebrows pulled together.
He slowly looked up.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgmhbCaQUrx
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“Are you done with your drink?” he asked.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWKd8sVwfKG
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxkTXty28gc
My eye twitched.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlFrfUzxyWy
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I wasn’t DONE with my drink, thank you. I was DONE waiting here for nothing. If you still make me wait for one second more and waste all that effort and all those worries I had been carrying on my way here, THEN I AM LEAVING.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRrjePHZnIA
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGYfZULVPW6
I thought… they came out good in my thoughts…62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5PmNakh7Eg
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtE85xA02VK
I sighed for a bit, tried to compose myself. Okay now he is paying attention to me.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5kd2QMYhs5
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXjzwjR47lM
“Yes,” I replied. My voice still had an edge to it that I didn’t bother smoothing out. “Thank you.”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl5H3Q9x629
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr1RK0mEduX
“Follow me.”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSftQJwZq6k
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy741A0RKqc
He stood up.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIym92JAAGl
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I took a breath. Smoothed my expression back into something neutral. It took a moment. Afterwards, I stood up and followed.
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0laO2Tx7aY
He led me back out to the hallway. Two doors on the right from the living room. We passed the first one and stopped at the second, closer to the main entrance. He opened it.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7SafSNaCHH
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPrj225J3sY
I looked inside.
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk9NO07LXkp
The room was the complete opposite of the living room.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsXWv6Xw0fA
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnY9WF5JiKq
An electric piano against one wall, a guitar on a stand, and something that looked like a smaller, plastic version of the piano with little buttons and dials I didn’t recognize, plugged into a computer setup near the window.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUx1HF93JHE
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpZHMFcJ98A
One computer, but with three monitors lined up side by side, all three still on.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4UY8Rij4UN
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCri7riUsQv
The middle one had lines of text. They were small, colorful, structured in a way that reminded me of what the programmer characters in dramas were working on when emphasized. Except this looked real. Less glamorous. Just a wall of text that I didn’t know what it meant.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLutVwIsRUp
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm8tnSOqFQE
The screen on the left had a bunch of horizontal bars in different colors, all squiggly and uneven, kind of like one of those heart monitor lines from medical dramas but way more of them, stacked on top of each other, with little boxes and tiny switches everywhere.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2yB97ndQ7G
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmqaHsCW6C7
And the one on the right. Drawing? Just the outline of someone’s head, unfinished, floating in the middle of a mostly empty white background. No face yet. Just the shape.
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1OV80iUQLp
My eyes moved away from the screens, taking in the rest of the room.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡApEAWhj5rE
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF6MVC33ACe
A drawing tablet. Papers stacked on a separate table, some of them weighted down with pencils, some of them half-finished with marks I couldn’t fully read from here. Notebooks. Drawing pads. Crumpled paper on the floor near the waste bin. Probably were thrown but didn’t quite make it. A lot of them were not even close to the waste bin. Rulers, erasers, pencils that had been used and not put back.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW64x3INO1Y
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNbQ9RgM1wT
It was a mess. It was surprisingly chaotic and messy.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ202T1LHyry
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHbuhNQRDfb
I thought the living room fit him well because of how he moves and how he talks. Both with a certain precision.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP9h8SAIhms
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPeEjyywcpb
But this…62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd3cF0WdphB
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcsMQsNPEr1
This explains the dark below his eyes.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKveUzdTh6Q
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUPw5TOZHp4
This explains the messy hair.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQWISCvF0bY
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6CS7YMVeAa
And I could totally picture him in here. Staying up late, scratching his head leaving his hair a mess. This room gave me everything the living room didn’t. I could guess exactly where he spent his time, what he put his hours into, what he cared about. Without him saying a single word about it.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsUzUsD0Kgw
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC0EowXFGtr
I forgot to breathe. So I did.
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3aqz0n9DsM
“Are you…” I searched for the right question. “A musician?”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoEuP6nxIlf
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZkpx7Tlfq0
“No,” he said. “I just bought those, I’m still learning.”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqXm5CuxyYo
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRX5Ap9AWos
“All of them? The piano, the guitar, and…” I gestured vaguely at the plastic thing with the buttons.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1vsxLTQZB2
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTfzqQTqXjm
“That’s a MIDI keyboard. I am currently trying to make music for my game.”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrmCcQS8Otr
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaCkmEBYaml
“What about the drawings?”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoJgOWxOTkI
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeAs9rlb9Rq
“Also learning.”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHOcHbhlx0E
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyN6b9frGVE
“Are you making a manga?”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ZVWzw7UKA
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡllJt7u5g9g
“No. Just drawing for my game.”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6yRWIx4Lo1
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡguWwQp8SBg
“And the computer? The colored texts?”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyIwdZRIYAl
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuEWdLA07DS
“Those are programs.”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwY4kzwiR2T
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3AAm2HuRta
“For making a game?”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWsXxmLSUkJ
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡklbfZGDwj3
“Yes.”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaXodu1pTXV
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9SvqxYL1xR
“Isn’t that… aren’t you amazing?”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkrf20TcegJ
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ87B8tkPUEP
“Not really. I know how to code now. I still don’t know how to draw or make music.”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3PuZ6zvo04
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGS2lA0swe4
But isn’t he still amazing?62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMEJ6yc6R8m
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ92ub0n5IAK
I looked at the three screens again. And that reinforced my thought. The lines of text, the squiggly bars, the half-finished head all just sat there. All equally impressed me.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCt0AE1NbQs
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPlYYUGVloE
I opened my mouth but I didn’t know what I could say. The questions just ran in my head and they kept overlapping each other. And on top of that, some part of me felt like I was already prying just by standing here looking at all of it.
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEqwHd5Et6t
“How are you finding time to learn all of this?” I asked finally.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmq4sMpEnvN
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3YpeY650v3
“I have a schedule.”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi1EoCOVbIY
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIKXhKHiY1V
Of course. But still…62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI4FMSxgOhr
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡufXOyBzkpk
“Since when did you start?”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO8w4W9r9Xe
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrWOn3silsV
“I started learning how to program since I was ten. Started making a game when I was thirteen. Started learning guitar when I was fourteen. Started learning how to draw last year. Started learning…”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrZZXAO6UiO
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsUDGPaBZ1y
“Wait, okay I get it.” If I hadn’t stopped him there, I had a feeling he would list everything. And I had a feeling there was more than what I was seeing today. “So did you finish making a game?”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIZyWeYIheB
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8USeob0jkl
“I posted one online last year. Free. It was the one I’d been building since I started.”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoWJQoejrde
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTiC10YQz8W
“How did it go?”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdsNMYGRlx1
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkQzLYJsfIO
“Around two thousand downloads, last time I checked.”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAkFJwo48LF
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ62AK1SaOwC
Two thousand? Downloads? That many!?62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0e0uwRiuRc
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjvErZKPwvc
I couldn’t even get a hundred views for that one dance video Yui and me posted when we were still in middle school. Isn’t two thousand like really good?62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjJHP0H5bfF
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkiUSYRP3vp
“But that’s beside the point,” he said when I was about to say my thoughts. “Let’s go back to the living room. Let’s talk there.”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡViZBSuhTSM
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCa6j7IJNsT
As soon as he said that, reality snapped me back to the reason why I was here.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUly0jNQZLg
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfv9sPXAQ6X
He closed the door then started leading me back to the living room.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1lRq0bo2rT
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt5afVZ0tBe
My eyes couldn’t resist glancing for that room one last time.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHXYw6GCdQI
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡadHX7hdIX2
I could never do that. I thought. And I meant it entirely without self-pity. It was the scale of it. This kind of sustained, quiet, solitary commitment to something was not something I had ever managed. Maybe that was part of why I was here.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk8aQXkPDUo
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ4ELnReWKT
We entered the living room and I sat down where I’d been before. He took his end of the sofa. And for some reason, the room felt smaller. It wasn’t uncomfortable, it was just different. Like I was seeing it properly now instead of through a filter of nerves.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5UhCfzSsgb
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUmAsRSx3x3
“So,” I said. I knew what we were going to talk about now. I felt ready. “What is it?”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡREqfQJtR4h
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeBm1c5oX6W
“If I do this,” he started, “I’ll have to set aside all of that.”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCA0Of4PaGX
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4d3sbYKS8j
My eyes widened a little. I didn’t consider that.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdeTPBSGPyI
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡklHuwErd7w
“My part-time job. I’ll have to quit it.”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7iM8nDYgSb
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFWhNkcp3FT
He has one? I had no idea.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxCXTZ5ZvHM
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnbV1tnK9se
“All the time I would spend learning to draw, learning to play music and making games. All of them will get reduced. As well as the time I have for my own studying.”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVMRA8drqjv
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWbWQ107muD
I wanted to cover my face with both my hands. I felt confident opening the conversation as soon as we got back to the living room. Now, I was feeling the weight of all the things that he was saying. The heavy sacrifices that he was willing to make for my sake. And everything felt like pressure sat on my back.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYhUJTURppv
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvsiQ1xX09R
“You don’t have to do that,” I said.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCZgw6XO43K
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZb5HYuD4ag
“I do.” No hesitation. “If I’m going to tutor you, I’m not doing it with half an effort. When I set a goal I intend to reach it.”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWTRGBNDKJU
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiDFDQt7I8w
“But...” I, on the other hand, hesitated. “But if you stop now…” I didn’t know what to say. But somehow he knew what to answer.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ45m0zUCO15
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0i7d00kD2K
“I am not stopping. I can go back to learning once we’re done.”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXOZhHg3qBv
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2KzGIFxdwu
Why?62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyX8HKfLcEq
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVRabIPEPNu
“Why would you do all that for someone you don’t even know?”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCZg3RNiEmo
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJhNe6F95ge
He paused for a moment and stared at me. As if he was trying to figure out how to answer what I asked.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwnAv9WATu8
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtrdZ1Gpc7D
“Because you need help,” he finally said.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHK8TvOlNY7
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeieuOykbRR
I waited for the rest of it. There wasn’t any.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8e2YghuVNA
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpvSMg8GQSJ
That’s it? I felt like he was about to say more. Was that really all? Because I needed help, he would ruin his schedule, quit his part-time job and cut into his dream?62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBPpCSp2qlb
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjDn3JlBq3T
I didn’t understand. I thought I had figured him out. But it felt like what I knew was far too little compared to what I didn’t know.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡniGBIuI90l
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgVK2Mdjx9A
But he continued.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB9xSH03qY7
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6uUzI00rXi
“Honestly, when I first looked at your test papers I was going to say no.”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJAlbo5qa2h
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKJMUl727U2
Obviously.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB4AgLNOs1j
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcGQ18JQbvA
“But when I looked at the answers themselves. They weren’t random. You never left a question blank. Every answer had a logic behind it, even when it was completely wrong. That logic came from somewhere. It means you were thinking, not guessing. I saw the hard work written on every answer. They were just tangled up with the wrong methods.” He kept his eyes on me. “If we work the right way, you’ll get a different result.”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkEMI3MbJjh
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtrszSxj3fR
I sat with that.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBD4I7i6mIo
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVLMlXpbZwx
Hard work written on every answer.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt5sP0sbh93
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBqvIuYR6rI
I bit my lip. I did give my all. I spent nights reading textbooks I tried to understand. In the end, I wasn’t able to and I thought it was impossible for me. And here was someone looking at the same evidence and arriving at a completely different conclusion.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKkR4XRus8j
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjmgT8yyTUC
I wanted to believe it. Can he really make me become a top ten student in a year?62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaPrHjqsBCt
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuZETpd8v6f
I stared at my hands.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ99QD9pBKkg
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhax4pF8CLP
If I worked hard just like him, then maybe? If he thought it was achievable, then maybe? If he was sounding very sure of it… then it might actually be real.
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHS7itPsOFW
“But I need some kind of insurance,” he suddenly said. “If I put everything in and you still failed, I need something in return. I don’t like wasting time.”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy4RG710kFr
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAaiaGXCdrH
I nodded. Reluctant. I didn’t know if I could promise not to waste his time.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrcXuynNRzB
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdcGTRgmAZS
“What is it?” I asked.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6GgoxjBVjl
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSCLD5SaVgP
“If you fail an exam. Midterms and finals, for the rest of the year. For every subject you fail, I get five minutes.”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4uA9MSwhVU
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡninmac2Bsu
I waited.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO5QQeLDYmj
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5RWxjFWiua
“Five minutes. To touch you.”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOlQOAc8zMy
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTBbTaCe7nD
The room didn’t move.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyEEhPhpOUa
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq7nf3ZtRjU
I heard the words. I understood the words individually. They just didn’t make sense when I put them together. Assembling into something I couldn’t process correctly.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfwt2rSYdDr
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnO95yDOyVZ
“Touch me?” I said. I wanted him to say that he was just joking.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxtDQVlo4dk
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgluyWogEz9
“Yes.”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2pkXTYMKsc
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBiwI6dYqs0
He wasn’t.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe6ZQziOSdI
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡawiXdYAxiP
My hand tightened slightly on my bag.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ2DJuDypPg
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb55mQRSI0v
Absolutely not. That is supposed to be the answer. Immediate. Clear. Correct.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK4lCCwmeoQ
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf7oGtzvLsb
If he failed me on purpose, how could I ever tell? If the consequence of my failure was something that benefited him, what was stopping him from not doing it? He could teach me badly on purpose, or not at all, and collect whatever he wanted from whatever subject I failed.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUxUEU3TleK
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvqXAMKYQva
I needed to say that. I needed to push back on it directly. The words were right there.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxwy0MbDoKq
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp9K36QH9fA
I looked at him.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKEdXP31k0v
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoOAljhGLUw
I opened my mouth, but he went first.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMawzGh4xzs
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAdtYvx5Oz4
“Don’t misunderstand,” he said. “I’m not going to teach you halfheartedly. When I said top ten, that wasn’t a promise. It’s my intention. And I intend to follow through on it. But I need to know your resolve.”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrNxZP2TEup
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡybS1T48S4p
I didn’t move.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYe7CHUSQIC
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCknXQYEC3k
My resolve?62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡipr6oItKlS
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4sHlF8hVAo
“You don’t have to decide now,” he continued. “You don’t have to decide at all. If you don’t come back, that’s your answer.” He paused. “But if you do come back. Then that’s your answer too. Not just to me. To yourself.”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1bSUNGUZMF
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsxBuJYSBmd
I didn’t know what to say to that so I didn’t say anything.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjYeGFslBcN
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVrhzQ9a4fp
“You can go,” he said.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0mJVBQEnd2
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtVcNaqmrYH
I didn’t move right away. I didn’t know if I can even move right away.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvWc6bPnRvo
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj6Y32WbI7B
When my eyes reached him, I saw him reading his book again, like he just didn’t say the most outrageous thing to say to a girl.
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXVfzFraD0J
For a moment I sat with everything. I felt the weight of what he’d put on the table and the equal weight of what he was offering in return.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyuAuuHxjPr
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwAIdyhZ1L9
Finally I stood up. I picked up my bag from the floor and held it against my chest.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmVYbSdV55P
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGfPCTVuNcx
I started walking towards the door, as fast as I could.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSy1SjsQ6st
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQWVhg5rI4t
“The condition stays between us,” he said before I could walk towards the hallway.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXbSNz6w47G
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj9EG2pEZ57
I hesitantly nodded. I shouldn’t have. It felt like agreeing to something before I’d decided anything. But I also didn’t want anyone else carrying the weight of this before I’d figured out what I was going to do with it myself.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo71CbL0L8P
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0VhXpBVNFW
I let myself out.
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT1wbG4IIaD
The elevator was waiting. I got in.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdndGBP7hfT
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs5sn4C3QNB
What do I do?62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW3sAST61SC
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxTB9I1cddL
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0avFjz7lNA
Wednesday, Night.
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkV2k2paImy
That night I lay in my bed staring at the ceiling with the lights off. Dinner was done. My replies to the group chat were done. Just enough to prove I was alive and accounted for, nothing that invited follow-up questions I wasn’t ready to answer.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhwe0s95yo0
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCjgFtVBMGf
The dark was easier right now. Less to look at. More space to think, or to avoid thinking, which was what I was mostly doing.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡASLe2VddoZ
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJjtudLgWkA
My phone rang.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1wLna5rml9
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPgdYp9cIvZ
Mika.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGavZDP3S98
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡARgjgVGzTA
I picked up.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhiaHsEFPGc
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkDMqx9dSNi
“Hello.”
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡppQvpR6Vpn
“Are you okay?”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3C1OE8sEhw
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7mvWGqaABr
“I am. Don’t worry.”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3W5Y3aEkpq
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs5m27cP894
“Did he do anything?”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz911GodjWF
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPtlmXkxOBW
“No.”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKX8tGYTLKc
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwdn1yhmKjl
“Are you sure?”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyQ5x68VgNO
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXCFU34egvx
“I’m sure.”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIkBZKeulEV
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ444Oyd9813
She didn’t answer for a few seconds.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡASlYiisSzj
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLpFX4Mr6EP
“You don’t sound sure.”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJIwc5kdm7s
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDlFMzqg6Pq
“I’m just tired.”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmfF3C1TITR
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2D9Q9eIBqp
“...Really?”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzUWIa99KqU
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGmghW59Tm0
“Yes.”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMLcSaqsorm
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8LDbH2dP6c
She paused.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeQFl81eYXo
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtpPKIkllBJ
“Okay.” Her voice was careful. “I’ll let you sleep. But tomorrow, tell me everything.”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡePeVFQSKeL
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc8Nv7sxlQp
“Okay.”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfa6vsaF0RR
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMtBvvO2ZqQ
She hung up.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDElxyRdBEI
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEdDIzBsjQx
I lay there in the dark looking at the ceiling.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡigeXryRjEV
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU0dwcibXqB
Sorry, Mika.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFUKxwkv8ZN
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeMTBW4yG78
I was already apologizing to her in my head. Because I knew, even now, that I wasn’t going to be able to tell her everything. Not even a single word of what had been said.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOBne8ywJlg
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqYF71wWYZU
That part…62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqTQ6zhNLYP
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKfvlU8Zf9C
All of them…62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWNwffr4sg3
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUi8ybeYkcH
Were all mine to carry…62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEdr11Q55ap
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOlhnP5MbNl
I pressed my hand flat against my chest.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ56V611xJWZ
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPLZxMOFfIy
What do I do?62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsA7fA5UVUT
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQlpodC3wNl
The ceiling had no answers. It was just a ceiling.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMdd12hn1DE
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBy7hzpfpsz
But somewhere underneath all the weight of it, quieter than everything else, something was still there.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVVOgJMll3Y
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWrFck2DrAg
I saw the hard work written on every answer.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAV6kWCD5V5
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡShsyxFLXJj
I closed my eyes.
and then Add to home screen.