It is Saturday. There are no high school girls to take care of.
What is needed to deal with it is the dishes in the sink.
Apparently that is one of my responsibilities today.
A few minutes pass… I wipe my hand around the apron.
I head back to my room.
On my way, I stumble upon Maria sitting on the couch, eating a cup of instant noodles.
She's wearing a large white hoodie with text that says, 'Nice Work, Nice Look.'
Bit oversized for her. Despite that, it makes her a lot cuter.
Her eyes catch mine. "Did you do it? Or did you only turn on the tap water to trick me?"
"I think I did it."
"You think?"
I nod, "I also think it's about time I get a thank you from my little sister."
"Amnesia again, I suppose. Saturday is your turn to do the chores. Since when do I have to be grateful for that?"
"You're welcome."
She slurps in a long one and grabs the remote and changes the channel on the TV.
It is currently showing the news.
Lots happening. Bad things. Maybe it's wise to stay indoors.
Sluuurp…
"Whai are still hefre?"
"Just watching you."
She sighs, "if you've notfhing befter to dfo, toof out the thfrosh."
I continue to my room.
"The twrash!"
It's fine, the trash won't grow legs and start to run away… I think.
I only doubt myself because in my current world people get possessed and a middle schooler watches the news.
Bzzt.
I open my phone up.
Looks like someone has been sending me messages.
And it's none other than Sohee.
Sohee has this persona of always trying to keep the chat sounding professional.
Why is she roleplaying as we are in a meeting room with ten more people?
Is she doing this to impress me?
< Sunbae, I'm on my way visiting Nelly again today >
I reply to her, saying, "Good luck."
:)
That is what she sent me. Maybe Sohee is secretly a psychopath.
Either that, or she doesn't know she can find the emoji button on her phone's keyboard.
Maybe she should hang out with someone like Varrie more.
And not Nelly.
I close my phone… and find myself doing nothing, being nothing, thinking nothing.
Almost forgotten I'm still alive.
Handling out the trash sounds a lot more fun than pretending to be dead.
I get out of my room and go straight to the trash bins, one near the bathroom door and the other around Maria's room.
I lift the two bags and try to leave this place.
But Maria is blocking the door, in the middle of tying a pair of white sneakers on her feet.
My brain jolts.
"Pretty sure those are mine."
"I know. It's called borrowing. It's not like you're going anywhere."
That's true, but… "Don't look like they fit you."
But she appears in denial, pulling the tie harder as if to seal it.
"I'm heading out," she says,pulling over her sports bag.
The door opens… and closes.
Only to be open again.
Where did she go?
Not the elevator it seems.
The stairs catch my eye.
She must have climbed down.
My little sister is really a hard worker.
Not me, though, so I get in the machine built for humans to travel through elevation easier.
To the ground floor.
All these golden, shiny areas from the ground floor to the top makes me think the old user must have come from a rich family to rent out such a place.
Ting.
I amble out.
Shielding my eyes from the brightness, a sigh escapes. I don't like it when the sun decides to shower me.
Sweat sucks.
Is it summer? The crickets are here.
No, it's not summer. If my memory is right, this country doesn't have the classic four seasons.
Only wet and dry.
Enough about that; weather talk is boring anyway.
If it's raining bullets, then maybe it's a little bit interesting.
The dumpster is located outside the apartment's entrance gate.
I load in my trash and don't bother pinching my nose like the girl next to me.
If only she knew I'm a lot more disgusting than these things she refuse to smell.
Maybe I should put myself in, too.
Would I feel less shitty then?
if I bury myself alive in there, how long would it take to kill me?
—Can you just think a little bit positively? Just live a little.
I don't want that.
I always pray to die.
"Sunbae…?" An unfamiliar voice, but who wouldn't know Sohee with all the pink radiance around her.
Her eyes widen, expanding the pink pupils as if a cat finds its owner after being lost for days.
It is Saturday right?
Why is Sohee wearing her school uniform?
Did she bring her textbooks here, too?
She sprawls out her finger from her thin nose as if afraid of being rude.
Her other hand is holding onto a green plastic bag.
I need to clear this mystery, so I ask, "What are you holding?"
Her shoulder drops. "That's what Sunbae's asking first?"
"I'm a lot more curious about that, yeah."
"Well, if Sunbae has to know, it's just a can of coffee I bought on my way here," she says.
It doesn't look as if the plastic is holding up anything. "So it's just an empty can now?"
She nods.
I wait for her to throw it in the dumpster.
She never does.
"This is for recycling," she explains after getting my hint of confusion.
"Is that so?" I scratch my head.
Of course, she would do 'recycle.'
"What kind of coffee did you have?" I ask. This is a better topic than recycling.
She sighs, "Really?"
Then her eyes sweep around the hot, uncomfortable surroundings of the dumpster.
"Can we not talk here… the smell is suffocating me."
We moved into the Sunshine Apartment and stayed outside the glass entrance.
She put her green plastic bag in her school bag.
"It's Saturday," I say, pointing at her uniform.
"I—I know," her hand is covering her body as if she's embarrassed to stand out in my eyes, "it's just more appropriate, I suppose. I come here on school business anyway."
She messaged me that she was visiting Nelly today.
Is that the school's business she is mentioning now? And she's here… that means…