Daily Life - 4
The girl got into the pickup truck and kept fiddling with the seatbelt.
She knew in her heart that what she was about to do wasn't something to be anxious about. It was only natural to neatly pack up her belongings from the house where the contract was about to expire. But her body was reacting first.
Her breathing grew rapid, and even while sitting still, her toes kept wiggling restlessly. Her eyes kept darting to the side mirror and out the window, and she nibbled her lips at the sight of people passing by.
Her sister observed her from the corner of her eye. It was ambiguous. She was holding up well for leaving, but it was clear she was scared to go like this. If she had been a little less scared or a little more, what would she have asked...?
But the girl was holding up ambiguously right now. Not enough to ask questions and not enough to stay. When they got closer to home, maybe she could ask something?
...What if the person who helped her knew she was thinking this? Would she be disappointed? She couldn't even hold on if she fell or if she didn't reach out first. Anyway, good words wouldn't come out.
Thinking this way, the sister tightened her fingers and turned the steering wheel to the changed traffic light color. The car turned smoothly. As a fairly narrow road appeared, the sister hesitated, looking at the tightly packed one-room apartments and the girl.
"Which way is it?"
"There, there, that one."
The tone deepened again. The sister smiled bitterly at the swaying sound up and down, then drove the car. When the unfamiliar car entered the parking lot, the manager came running out from the small room.
"Who is it?"
"I'm here for Rin, and since the contract is almost up, I came to pack up my things."
"Ah, Rin student?"
The manager finally looked at the passenger seat at the sister's words. Seeing the girl with her slumped black hair trembling, the manager cautiously looked at the sister.
"Come in first."
"Thank you."
The manager didn't suspect the sister, as the girl's reaction was familiar. But curious about the relationship between the girl and the sister, she took out a small drink from the fridge and asked about them. The girl answered the manager's question immediately.
"Ah, she's a noona I know! Yes."
"Really?"
As if she had expected such a question, immediately. At that look, the manager smiled bitterly. She had known the girl who was a boy like the sister. Of course, she didn't know her very well. Even by months, it was only about 5 months. If only the actual meeting time, it was probably less than a week.
"It's a shame, it's hard to find a good person like a student."
Still, it was a time she could tell the girl was a good person. It wasn't just that she didn't fall behind on rent or kept the room clean. It was the girl's atmosphere when she was a guy. It could be called the liveliness unique to someone who tries hard, a person who brightens the surrounding atmosphere.
But that didn't mean the girl who became a woman was bad. Even if it was obvious she was collapsing and struggling, she still tried to stand alone. As is always the case in the one-room village in the university area, everyone here was immature. Many people wrapped their rudeness and impoliteness in the blood of youth and acted without manners.
But the girl didn't do that. From the middle, she lost her purpose and just moved like a corpse, but still, the girl was a polite person. So she felt sorry. As a parent who had a daughter like the girl, and as a manager of the one-room.
"It's unavoidable, go somewhere else and live well. Want me to help you pack up?"
"G, thank you. I, I'll take it."
The girl spoke while swallowing hard. The manager sent the two of them, saying to call if needed.
"Wow."
And when the sister entered the girl's room, she let out a dazed sound. It was common for an unlived-in house to have a cold feeling. If you went to a rural house and left it empty for 2-3 days, you'd feel that awkward coldness. So she thought that since she hadn't been away from home for almost a week, she wouldn't feel the chill.
But the girl's room was even colder than expected. It was neat. There was dust that had settled over the week or something, but strangely, the house didn't feel like it had any life. All the furniture seemed like it had been taken from the factory and left there. Wouldn't a warehouse feel less warm than this?
Thinking this way, the sister shivered and entered inside, and the sensation transmitted to her soles made her tremble. It seemed like spring hadn't come to this place yet.
"Hmm, clothes... are they in the boxes?"
The sister forced her mouth open and looked at the plastic boxes. When the girl saw the boxes, she bit her lips tightly and turned her head, and the sister patted the girl's shoulder at her reaction and checked inside the box alone. There were t-shirts. A plain V-neck that the girl would wear now would be event clothing for couples.
...Throw them away?
The sister, still not raising her head, seriously thought about the girl's appearance while cleaning the trash can. If I don't show them and throw them away, maybe it would be okay.
"Knng."
She knew it was an action ignoring the girl's wishes. But respecting opinions had a line. Just leaving something that would make her collapse and vomit in pain right away wasn't respecting opinions. ...No, maybe a really strong person would do that. But the sister thought she wasn't strong enough to do that.
It was okay for the girl to struggle while recovering. She could hold her up when she got up again and again. But could she see the girl tearing open her own wounds again? If it was before seeing the girl trying to climb to the observation deck, maybe, but now that she had seen the girl's body get hurt once, she didn't have the courage to do it. It was more important to respect the girl's body than the girl's wishes.
Thinking this way, the sister put the clothes in the plastic box and pretended not to know anything else and opened the next box. Next, and next, and next...
As she busily unpacked the boxes, the sister realized that the small suitcase contained all of the girl's clothes. No summer clothes. No winter clothes. It seemed like she wasn't thinking about her body breaking down... or rather, not thinking about after that? The clothes in the suitcase seemed like they couldn't be worn after one season passed.
"No way."
The sister smiled awkwardly at the thought that crossed her mind and denied it. Even just this morning, she had wiped the table and brushed her teeth properly. She was the type who struggled to swallow medicine, teared up, and smiled bashfully when meeting eyes like acting coquettish. That kind of person wouldn't think about after. It seemed like she thought that because she was being suppressed by the house atmosphere, but it was a delusion. A delusion... it was.
"..."
It was supposed to be that, but strangely, her tongue clicked under her tongue. She wanted to open the box again to check what was inside, and ask the girl who was struggling to push the trash bag. Maybe she really hadn't thought about after. ...The image from the observation deck didn't disappear.
What if she hadn't found the girl on that street? Would she have wandered the streets? Somehow gotten to the tower, and then said "pretty" like before, and then...?
Her throat tingled. Her face flushed as if someone was strangling her neck, and her heart sounded unnecessarily loud.
"Ah, Ri, Rin?"
The words that came out without her knowing. Because of that, when no answer came, the sister called the girl's name louder this time.
"Rin!?"
Where was she? No sound of going out, so bathroom. It was the bathroom. The sister, not noticing her foot hitting the box, hurriedly opened the bathroom door and saw the girl staring blankly at the mirror, and let out a sigh of relief.
"What were you doing?"
It wasn't suicide. Not self-harm either. Yeah, as long as that wasn't it, it was fine. Thinking this way, the sister calmed her startled heart and approached the girl, and the girl finally turned her head and moved her lips.
"I have a place I want to go."
The girl's face was filled with fear. As if she had to leave right away, as if she had to get out of here. And at the girl's words that felt coercive, the sister felt momentary irritation. It wasn't an apology for startling a person and saying she had to go somewhere. But saying it like this here probably meant that the place she was leaving to was important.
Thinking this way, the sister suppressed the rising anger and approached the girl.
"We were supposed to clean up our house first."
"Ah."
"And your ankle isn't fully healed yet, so you can't. You have to move after it heals."
The girl shrank her shoulders at the sister's words and then sat down with a thud, her eyes wide in surprise.
"Ouch!"
"Ah, I bumped into it earlier."
"Ah, aaa!"
The girl, panicking, crawling on all fours and slipping, hitting her head on the tiles. At that sight, the sister hurriedly said she's fine and comforted the girl, and belatedly the approaching pain made her look for the medicine box and roll her eyes. It was a messy house cleanup in every way.