episode_0018

I wake up to the announcement that it is dinner time.

I wanted to burrow into my soft blanket, but I felt quite hungry, perhaps because I skipped breakfast and lunch today.

I get up from my bed, throwing off the blanket.

Hair that is tangled and messy.

Warm hands digging into your arms.

I rub my eyes and release Shine’s hand.

Shine’s small hands, which were falling limply, grabbed the blanket.

For some reason, my head felt dizzy.

I just sit around and let time pass by without doing anything.

Occasionally, I would quietly watch Shine’s squirming figure.

Shine’s expression was not good.

It felt like I was having a bad dream.

I was blankly watching her, then I reached out and touched Shine’s hand.

The small hand that was tightly clutching the blanket suddenly moved the moment I touched it.

Wide open palm.

Shine’s hand grabbed my finger.

Startled, I look at Shine’s face.

She was still asleep.

“Shine?”

No answer came.

I slowly released Shine’s hand and got down from the bed.

I head to the refrigerator, adjusting the clothes that had rolled up in my sleep.

My mouth was dry.

Looking at the rough saliva marks left at the corner of his mouth, it seemed like he needed to wash his face.

After drinking some cool water, I felt my mind becoming clearer and headed towards the bathroom sink.

A large mirror, with a little girl’s face reflected in it.

The girl with a blank expression makes various facial expressions.

“Something is strange.”

I thought, caressing my cheek.

Something was quite strange.

A completely different feeling than before.

The expression that had been awkward had changed so naturally.

The girl, who had been smiling charmingly, turned on the water in the sink and splashed cold water on her face.

The drowsiness that had faintly lingered in the cold sensation disappeared.

“Jeff?”

When I finished washing up and came out of the bathroom, Shine was awake.

“Did you sleep well?”

A very natural greeting.

As always, I say hello to Shine.

“Yeah.”

Shine also greets you naturally.

A happy smile appeared on her face.

As I watched that scene, I had the feeling that something was subtly off this time too.

Isn’t this it?

“Is it time to eat already?”

“Yeah.”

I nod to Shine’s question.

I wiped my face with the towel hanging around my neck and threw it on a nearby chair to hang it up.

“Shine.”

“Huh?”

I knew how strange the question I was about to ask would sound.

But I wanted to do it.

Because for some reason I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.

“How long have we known each other?”

“What does that mean?”

“What I mean is… .”

I started to recall my memories.

I’m talking about the first time I met her.

“A year?”

“No.”

Shine denied what I said.

She shook her head slowly, looking somewhat dissatisfied.

“No?”

“Yeah.”

I touch my forehead.

Because I started getting a slight headache.

Hasn’t it been a year?

“Then this bitch?”

“No.”

The headache is getting worse.

Eventually, I had no choice but to sit down, clutching my forehead.

“Then… .”

“Jeff.”

Shine comes to me as I am suffering from a headache.

Her small hand touches my forehead.

Warm and soft feel.

She strokes my forehead.

Then, as if by magic, the headache disappears.

“Let’s go eat.”

I nodded blankly at Shine’s words.

Shine, who was looking down at me like that, smiled brightly and reached out her hand to me.

I follow Shine out of the room.

The headache went away, but the questions did not.

How long have I been with Shine?

No, it was strange to even have such a question in the first place.

She and I are family.

That means we’ve been together from the beginning.

However, there is a huge age difference between Shine and me.

I crossed my arms and started to think.

“Um… .”

“Jeff?”

Could it be because I was deep in thought?

My feet stopped moving.

Shine looks back at him with a puzzled look.

“Yeah, sorry.”

The moment I look into her eyes, the questions floating in my head disappear without a trace.

I followed closely behind her, rubbing her forehead.

When we arrived at the restaurant, we ordered food just like yesterday.

With the help of an adult passing by, I was able to move the plate and finish a delicious meal.

As I rubbed my firm stomach, I thought back to the beer I had yesterday.

I had a pretty bad hangover, but I thought I’d be okay if I drank moderately.

“Shine. Let’s go to the convenience store.”

“…Why?”

“I want to drink what I drank yesterday again.”

“That…?”

Shine didn’t seem to like beer.

“Shine doesn’t like beer?”

“Yeah.”

“Then don’t drink Shine, I’ll drink it alone.”

“I hate it.”

Shine shook her head firmly.

I looked puzzled by Shine’s unexpected reaction.

“Why…?”

“But Jeff, if you drink that, you’ll be weird.”

“Me?”

“Yeah.”

I try to recall the memories of that day.

But the vague memory was not accurate.

Broken film.

The memory, which provided only fragmentary information, brought to mind nothing more than a table full of candies being scattered around.

“I don’t like it when Jeff drinks that.”

Shine reaches out with both hands and grabs my cheeks.

Shine’s small hand presses my cheek mercilessly.

Shine’s gaze and my gaze become intertwined.

A complex exchange of glances.

In the end, I was the one who gave up.

I nodded and said.

“Then I won’t drink.”

Shine smiles with satisfaction at my answer.

So we returned to the room empty-handed.

Boring time.

There is so much time left.

I never knew I had this much time left when I usually didn’t have enough.

Lie on the sofa and swing your legs.

The short, dangling legs hit the sofa and made a thumping noise.

While time was passing like that.

The door that had been tightly closed suddenly opens.

Shine and I look towards the door.

There was only one person who could freely open this place and come in.

The gorgeous pink threads sparkle.

Amy, dressed in tracksuit, opened the door and came in.

“I’m back~”

Amy appears, her voice filled with fatigue.

She enters the room and looks around.

The small smile on her face begins to crack.

Her gaze flies to me and Shine.

“Are you back?”

I get up from where I was lying and greet Amy.

I don’t know how much I missed her.

“Victor is…?”

“Victor said he was busy.”

It was Shine who answered Amy’s question.

Come to think of it, I haven’t seen Victor since that day.

It seemed like Shine had heard something from Victor.

“This kid… .”

Amy looked upset.

She looks around, sighs deeply, and enters the room.

“Who did this?”

Amy’s gaze was directed towards the messy floor.

Countless scattered cookie crumbs.

I slowly avert my eyes from her words.

“No. What is this?”

Amy’s voice rises.

She was holding an empty can of beer that I had drank and thrown away.

“Who drank this?”

“Jeff drank it.”

“I drank shine too!”

He answers Shine’s words urgently.

Amy’s gaze changes to one of absurdity.

I move to the corner of the room, avoiding Amy’s gaze.

If you crawl between the large dolls, you can avoid her gaze.

“How did you buy it?”

I kept my mouth shut.

So, how did you live there?

It brings back memories from the convenience store.

Apparently the clerk told me that she wouldn’t sell it to Shine and me because we were young.

How did you live?

He starts to look at Amy’s face from inside the doll, only his face sticking out.

She looked back and forth between me and Shine, then sighed deeply.

“There were no problems, right?”

“Yes.”

“Yeah.”

“This is something you should drink when you grow up.”

Amy said that and started moving busily.

I took out a large trash bag and filled it with empty cans and snacks.

Why do I have to hear that?

Am I an adult?

I look down at my hands.

Little hands were fidgeting.

“Jeff said he doesn’t drink anymore.”

Shine came to me and said.

The noise in my head becomes stronger.

I nod dumbly.

Because she is right.

I’m not drinking beer anymore.

“Did you both eat?”

“Yes.”

Amy’s question cuts through the noise.

I carefully pull my body out of the doll.

Amy didn’t ask about beer anymore.

He acted as if he had forgotten about it.

Little words come to mind.

Beer, things you shouldn’t drink.

If you drink it, you’ll get weird.

And my head hurts.

I hate being sick.

“I’ll go see Victor for a bit.”

After finishing cleaning, Amy left the room to look for Victor.

The room where the two of them were left alone was extremely quiet.

“Shine.”

“Huh?”

“I think something is wrong.”

I muttered weakly and touched my cheeks.

The feel of soft, wrinkled skin.

As expected, something was strange.

“What?”

I couldn’t answer Shine’s question.

Because I couldn’t figure out exactly what was strange.

I just vaguely feel that something has become strange.

“That’s because I drank beer.”

“Is that so…?”

“Yeah.”

My little worries ended like that.

It was clear that it was because I had been drinking beer.

Because Shine said so.

So I sat next to Shine and waited for Amy to return.

Amy came back a long time later, looking very angry.

“Amy?”

“I’m sorry guys. It was my fault for trusting that kid.”

The kid Amy was talking about, I think he probably meant Victor.

“Why?”

“Before I went to work, I asked Victor to take care of you guys.”

Amy continued, patting Shine and me on the head.

“Well, that bastard completely forgot about you guys.”

It wasn’t that there was anything particularly inconvenient about Victor not being there.

I decided not to say anything since it was entirely my fault that the room was a mess.

“Victor said he was busy.”

“Yeah. He seemed busy sleeping.”

It seemed like Victor’s image inside Amy had deteriorated.

Amy sighed, took out the documents she was holding, and placed them on the table.

“Shine hasn’t been tested yet?”

As soon as Amy finished speaking, Shine stood up from her seat.

She looked at Amy and opened her mouth.

Chijik-

Chiiik-

The noise that was just a small noise becomes louder.

The sight began to turn white.

When the crackling noise died down.

I rubbed my eyes and looked around.

“Shine?”

Shine, who had been standing next to her, had already gone and sat down next to Amy.

Shine and Amy were writing something on paper.

“Are you both finished with your tests?”

Amy said, checking the documents.

I feel a subtle distortion.

I nod blankly at her words.

“I guess I have to start training tomorrow.”