The Air Is Stuck
Everyone was up early in the morning. Maybe that's just how ordinary people are.
Even if I could accept that idea.
It was a bit of a different matter that my downstairs neighbor aunt had come knocking at the crack of dawn.
Normally, when someone goes to visit another person.
It shouldn't be a bother. At least by nine o'clock.
Even then, some people wake up late, so maybe around ten.
Of course, if I had a reservation for a funeral or travel and had contacted them to make it, that would be different.
But usually, that's how it is.
At night, people are asleep.
To avoid waking them, we don't call late at night.
So, basically, from ten in the evening to nine in the morning is when calling is inappropriate.
If I sent a message first to explain, maybe not.
But straight-up calling—on the receiving end, they'd feel like the caller is completely inconsiderate.
Well, maybe that's just how I learned it.
Still, I thought this was common sense.
Nobody likes to call someone who's sleeping for something urgent and just talk about their own business.
My downstairs neighbor aunt must have known that too.
But she showed up not long after six in the morning.
There must really be an emergency, or maybe I had done something wrong.
For example, perhaps my movements had been too loud.
I had been crawling carefully to the entrance, but because my heart wasn't in it—thanks to Bae Deuro's mother—I might have been careless.
The sound of my knees hitting the floor might have been louder downstairs than I thought.
Or maybe it was really a situation where I was desperately needed.
My uncle had fallen, or perhaps I had to rush somewhere and needed someone to watch over things.
If my uncle had fallen, my aunt would have taken him to the hospital.
If I had to guess the reason, maybe something like the pot on the stove needed to be stirred and she had to go check on it...
Either way, it was an emergency for my downstairs neighbor aunt.
So, I became serious and opened the door.
“Yes, I'm awake. What is it?”
Even facing my downstairs neighbor aunt, her expression didn't look particularly serious.
It wasn't from bad news.
“Ah, you got up early. Good. I was wondering if you were still asleep and called softly. I didn't expect you'd come out like this.”
She had the opposite impression of what I actually expected.
Of course. The knock and her voice had been very soft.
If I was asleep, I probably wouldn't have heard it at all.
Or if I was playing League of Champions, the game sounds would have drowned out any knock, and I wouldn't have noticed who it was.
If I hadn't even come out to the living room, that's why she knocked.
So why did my downstairs neighbor aunt knock thinking either way was fine—whether I came out or not?
“Just… happened to.”
If there was something, she would tell me herself, so I answered vaguely.
The fact that I was standing at the entrance right now wasn't a good reason to explain.
I couldn't say I was playing games because I was too anxious about meeting consecutive losing players and couldn't focus.
Or that I was standing here because it was hard to accept the money Bae Deuro's mother had given as treatment fees.
My aunt didn't seem particularly curious about the reason either, and she immediately opened her mouth.
“Have you eaten breakfast? Not something else—I'm grateful you gave me meat last time. We should return the favor somehow. Even if it's just breakfast, it would be good to eat together. If you haven't eaten, let's eat together.”
“Ah…”
Eating breakfast together.
It felt strangely unfamiliar yet deeply nostalgic.
After all, lunch or dinner is something you can always eat with anyone.
But breakfast is usually something families eat together.
For just a moment, I recalled memories of the man I had been.
Half-asleep, washing my face and sitting at the table, waking up from the warm breakfast my mother prepared.
Finishing breakfast with my father and mother, standing up, seeing my father off to work.
Then, my mother went to do the dishes, and I headed back to the room to prepare for school.
Back then, I thought it was natural.
Now, thinking about it, that feeling was happiness.
Even though it was artificial happiness, if I hadn't become a woman, I might not have woken up at all.
“…Is it really okay for me to go?”
So, I hesitated.
It would be a cozy time just the two of them and my uncle.
Inviting me—a stranger—to that table made me feel uneasy.
“Of course. I was worried you'd be eating well upstairs. We eat breakfast at half past six, so you can come anytime and it's even better. Oh dear, when it's just the two of us, the side dishes run out slowly, and we get annoyed. When our daughter was here, we ate quickly and it was fun making new side dishes.”
But my aunt's invitation wasn't a one-time thing.
It was an open invitation to come anytime.
Plus, an excuse that the side dishes were running out slowly.
I knew that eating more slowly was better.
Unless you were rich enough to escape financial constraints.
It required time and money to shop for ingredients and cook.
It was natural for anyone to want to save on that.
So, the reason she said it was probably to reassure me not to feel burdened.
Maybe that's why my chest felt warmer.
What on earth made these people give me such kindness?
“…I don't have anything I can offer in return, but why are you treating me so well, uncle and aunt?”
“Hm? It's because you're like a daughter. Since our daughter left and it's just the two of us, it gets lonely. How about eating breakfast together? It would be even better if you came down for lunch with me too.”
It was pure kindness without any ulterior motive.
For some reason, I felt a lump in my throat and couldn't open my mouth to answer.
I just nodded my head.
But once I accepted the kindness so easily, I felt awkward and offered a lame excuse.
“I… but every day is a bit… I don't get up this early very often.”
“It's fine. You can come when I wake up.”
“I might make you prepare another table for nothing.”
“There's nothing to do at home anyway.”
“And… I can only eat one meal a day. If I eat more, I'll probably throw up…”
“Good grief. That's why you're so skinny. Your arms, legs, and everything look so thin. Look at you, you're barely standing like this.”
That's how my aunt fretted.
But I didn't dislike her fussing.
The feeling that she was really treating me well, even if the blood hadn't connected, was clearly there.
So, I just followed her.
My uncle had to go to work, so my aunt couldn't stay here longer.
Today, since she had invited me, I would go, eat breakfast, and even save on a Gift Icon for the day.
Even without profit calculations, eating the healthy food prepared at home for a few months was already a big deal.
Of course, even before my mother went to prison, she hadn't let me starve as a woman.
Back then, I couldn't eat properly because the rice was piled high.
With that hope, I leaned on my crutches and followed my aunt.
Was it strange that I didn't use a wheelchair but walked with crutches?
My aunt tilted her head while holding the elevator button.
“Eh, why aren't you using the wheelchair?”
“I don't have any luggage, and for short distances, crutches are easier than a wheelchair. They're lighter.”
“Ah, I see. That could be.”
Still, if I explained it briefly, she understood quickly. Good.
But after arriving at my aunt's house, I instinctively knelt at the entrance.
My aunt and the uncle who came to greet us both jumped and waved at me.
“H-hey, student. Why are you suddenly kneeling like that?”
“Honey, did you hear something strange?”
“Ah, I run around, so I was worried it might make noise downstairs… I don't want you two to get bad words from the neighbors because of me. And recently, I walk around the house like this too… Is this noisy too?”
“Ah, no, it wasn't noisy at all. Lately it's been so quiet. Did you crawl around recently? Anyway, it's not noisy, so you can walk normally!”
“Ah, okay.”
They said it wasn't noisy, but I knew how much floor noise drained people's blood.
I hadn't planned to walk around the house.
Especially since they were inviting me for breakfast so eagerly.
How could I walk casually?
The effect was there too, so I had to crawl more carefully.
I ran around as much as I could here.
But every step made their faces show more disappointment.
That made me feel even more uncomfortable.
Ugh, this might make me full of rice and feel sick.
I decided to just say I overslept from now on and refuse the breakfast invitation.
“Hmm, student. Let's sit here with my wife. I'll bring the rice.”
“Ah, let me help.”
“No need. Ah, then can you pass me the spoons?”
“Okay.”
My aunt was handing over the spoons as if giving them to a daughter.
Being treated like this felt like being treated as family.
Still, this seat wasn't as heavy as I thought.
Just until my uncle opened his mouth.
“Student. You said you're doing internet broadcasting, right? I think I heard it was a game broadcast.”
“Ah, yes. I'm just bored at home alone. Tell me the address of the student broadcast. I'll watch it and pass the time.”
“Uh…”
My breath caught in my throat.