Week Two of School. Wait, What…?!
"I'm heading out, Eunhyuk?"
"Yeah, have a good day."
Monday morning.
After finishing breakfast as usual, Cecilia and I stood in front of the front door. Breakfast had been simple, as always, and my head was still foggy with sleep. Sunlight poured through the window, and a few fallen leaves tumbled about outside.
It was an ordinary morning.
Except it wasn't entirely ordinary.
Specifically, her outfit was a little different.
I found myself recalling what Cecilia usually wore to school. First, the bottoms. Cecilia basically never wore skirts—or rather, she didn't own any to begin with. She'd said pants were enough, so we'd never bought any. That meant the only bottoms she wore were pants, and plain, unremarkable solid-color ones at that.
Her tops weren't much different: black hoodies, exclusively. A big, oversized outer layer large enough to thoroughly hide her ears and tail, the same one she'd always worn. The clothes underneath changed from time to time, but since they were completely covered, there was no visible difference from the outside.
Once she was fully dressed and you looked her over, the overall impression of Cecilia's usual outfit was… bland. She simply didn't own that many clothes to begin with. Of course, it wasn't a bad look in its own way, but I couldn't help feeling a little disappointed.
So, what about now?
"…Does it look good on me?"
As if she'd noticed my gaze, Cecilia asked with a faint blush on her cheeks. At her words, I looked her over from head to toe once more, then nodded with a satisfied smile.
A white shirt and necktie. A navy vest and a soft-looking beige blazer. Her long socks were pure white, and the skirt that fell to her knees was a clean gray.
A school uniform.
A fantasy-tinged school uniform that made her silver-white cat ears and tail stand out all the more.
…I'd seen it once yesterday, and this was the second time today. No matter how many times I looked, it was truly pretty—and it suited her perfectly.
"Yeah, yeah. It looks great on you. You're beautiful, Cecilia."
"Ehehe♪"
When I praised her honestly, Cecilia beamed from ear to ear and gave a happy little twitch of her ears. Getting such a frank, radiant smile in return for a simple compliment—I couldn't help smiling myself.
"It's not too tight or anything? The size, especially around the tail. Not uncomfortable?"
"Nope! The tip's nice and soft, and the size fits just right. It's actually pretty easy to move in, too. Wanna see?"
With that, Cecilia spun lightly around. She lifted the hem of her blazer just a little and showed me where her tail poked out from the skirt.
"See? It's kind of open, just a bit."
"Y-yeah."
She explained it to me carefully. The thing was, Cecilia's tail sat just above her tailbone, and showing it to me naturally meant she was sticking her hips out a little…
I knew her intentions were pure, but it was still a bit embarrassing. Probably my own impure thoughts at fault. Cecilia herself didn't seem to notice at all.
…She'd get embarrassed if I brought it up, so I let it slide without comment.
"And… so, Eunhyuk?"
Cecilia spun back around to face me. Looking up at me, she slowly lowered her brows.
"…From today on, I go to school alone?"
I nodded slowly, very carefully.
After a one-week adjustment period… starting today, Cecilia would commute to school by herself. That was one of the reasons this morning felt different from usual.
The goal was independence. And, beyond that, further adaptation to modern society. It was something we'd already discussed back when she first enrolled.
"You've been coming home alone just fine so far, though. You'll be okay."
"Mm… but on the way home there aren't as many people around. Going to school is different. A little… pretty different."
"…Are you nervous?"
"A little."
Cecilia looked up at me with a smile that wasn't quite complete. I stepped closer and gently stroked her head.
"Mmh."
"…Here. A present."
"Huh? Mm?"
I pressed something into her hands.
What?
My phone.
"Oh—this is the thing you always fiddle with, Eunhyuk?"
"A tool for contacting each other. See this yellow button-looking thing?"
"Ah, yeah."
"Tap that to open it, and then…"
I briefly walked her through how to use it.
Naturally, I only owned one phone. If I'd had a second one, staying in touch would have been easy—but unfortunately, I hadn't managed to get another.
So if I just handed mine over to Cecilia, wouldn't that mean we still couldn't contact each other?
Surprisingly, not quite.
"If anything happens, type a message here and send it. I'll reply right away."
Message myself.
Here, "myself" meant the account saved in this app on my phone… and there was no rule saying you could only access that account from a single phone.
"I've got a laptop. If I reply from that, we can still talk to each other."
"Oh…"
One account, one app—but two devices that could connect to it, a laptop and a phone. That effectively made contact possible. It was a workaround I'd spent a long time thinking up.
Cecilia nodded as she turned the phone over in her hands, looking intrigued. She probably didn't fully grasp the principle, but she'd have no trouble using it. Cecilia was smart, after all.
"You can contact me anytime. It's a good world we live in."
"…"
"Still nervous?"
"…A little."
"Eh."
At Cecilia's next words, I made a troubled face. Uh, well… I'd been trying to comfort her in a cool way, in my own fashion. Was the phone not enough?
"…I'm a little nervous, so, um…"
I tilted my head, sinking back into thought. Cecilia slowly, steadily looked straight up at me from the front.
"Hug me…"
"…"
I didn't answer with words. I simply leaned forward a little and gently wrapped my arms around Cecilia's small frame.
"Mm…"
"…You packed the hat and the hoodie in your bag, right?"
"Mm…"
"If people's eyes start bothering you, don't hesitate to put them on. The uniform looks great on you, but your peace of mind comes first."
"Mm…"
A brief hug. Feeling the heat in her cheeks and a faint sense of reluctance, Cecilia and I pulled apart.
"…You're even more of a clingy baby than on your first day of school."
"Uuu. …Back then you came with me, so…"
"If you're really that scared, I can keep going with you from now on, you know~?"
"…"
At my teasing, Cecilia pouted with a flushed face. Then, a moment later, a proud look crossed her features and she grinned playfully.
"…I can go by myself!"
"Aww, what a good girl."
"Ah—mm…. Hehe."
When I stroked her head again, Cecilia's face lit up with joy right away. With that as our farewell, I let go, and Cecilia clicked open the front door.
"I'm heading out, Eunhyuk."
"Have a good day."
With that exchange of goodbyes, Cecilia stepped outside. A moment later came another click as the door shut.
"…"
Only silence remained in the room. Feeling once more the emptiness I'd thoroughly experienced last week—had this place always been so quiet?—I scratched the back of my head.
"It's lonely."
The thought struck me that my life had already been dyed in Cecilia's colors. What I ate, how I slept, what I wore. Women's clothes I never thought I'd ever keep had entered my closet, and a faint trace of Cecilia's scent lingered on the bedsheets and pillows.
A cute girl had moved into a house where a man had lived alone, and now we lived together. Thinking about it afresh, it was a strange and wonderful thing. Who would have dared imagine that something this happy could happen in my dull life?
"Alright."
Setting my reflections aside for the moment, I pulled out the laptop. Plugged in the cord, powered it on. Opened the messenger app with practiced ease.
"…Notification settings…. Yeah, that should do it."
Now if a message came through, it would make a loud sound. I couldn't risk missing anything Cecilia sent, so it was a reasonable precaution.
"So what should I do now?"
I rested my chin on my hand atop the table. What to do. Read a book? Play a game? Looking up some game videos on YouTube wouldn't be bad either.
…But something felt off.
Hmm.
I had an oddly uneasy feeling. Wait, what was this? A sudden gut instinct…?
It didn't seem related to Cecilia. What was this fidgety, restless feeling?
"…Laundry. Right. Did I run the washer…?"
Still unable to pin down the source of my unease, I stood up from my seat. Then I went around the small room one by one, checking whether any clothes had been left lying around, whether any corner had piled up with dust.
"Dishes are done, too. Cecilia always takes care of those without fail…"
Nothing in the room seemed out of place. Reassured yet still puzzled by that fact, I checked today's date on the laptop.
November 13th.
…Did I have something scheduled for today?
"Hmm…?"
That was when it happened.
Ding-dong— the doorbell rang through the room.
"Uh, ah. Who is i—"
"Eunhyuk~. Are you home?"
—I started to ask, then froze solid at the familiar voice that came through.
A very, very familiar voice.
…Perhaps the most familiar in my entire life.
"Mom?!"
I hurried over and grabbed the doorknob. Hesitated for a moment, then yanked the door open.
"Ta-da~. I came to check on how my son's been doing~."
"Uh, welcome? What brings you here today…?"
"Hmm? Didn't Mom tell you she was coming today?"
Half playful, half puzzled, my mother tilted her head.
Lee Yeonhwa.
At her words, I dredged up a memory that had been sleeping until now.
…Ah.
She had said she was coming today. So that was why I'd felt uneasy. No wonder.
…Except this was not something I could just leave at "no wonder"…?!
"Have you eaten?"
"Y-yes."
"Hmm? What's this. You actually ate breakfast. And now that I think about it, you're even up in the morning—that's a miracle. After nearly three years of living on your own, have you finally become a functional human being?"
Mom smiled sweetly. Looking at her, I could only manage a rather stiff smile of my own.
…What am I supposed to do about this.
This house was still full of traces of Cecilia…?