Click
I turned the doorknob as quietly as I could and slowly opened the door.
I didn't want to wake her.
However.
Tap Tap Tap
Quick footsteps approached, and then something collided with me, pushing me back a step.
Before I realized it, something was holding me tightly around the chest.
"Welcome home, big brother!" she said with an angelic smile. "I was waiting for you."
Sigh
I gently patted her head, putting on the best smile I could manage.
"It's very late," I said tiredly. "You should already be asleep. This will hurt your grades, and the entrance exam is already—"
"That's what it's about," she said, grabbing my hand and pulling me inside. "I can't solve this exercise. Can you help me?"
She looked at me with expectation in her bright eyes.
Even so…
'What a poorly made lie. She does this every time… what am I supposed to do with this girl?'
Sigh
Still, I hid my smile.
"Sure, sure… but first." I placed a bag on the table. "A customer didn't come to pick up their food, so it ended up being left over."
I soon opened the bag, revealing a bottle of soda and a package with the food.
"And what's in there?" Mai asked, staring at the package with the same intensity as a gacha addict.
I shrugged.
"No idea, but all you have to do is open it to find out."
I opened the package without ceremony and looked inside along with Mai.
"Hehehe." She started laughing with a wide grin. "Luck is on our side!"
I laughed ironically. I'd run from an armed man for this—should I really call that luck?
"How many burgers are in here?" I dumped everything onto the table. "About five?"
Mai quickly grabbed one and hurriedly unwrapped it, revealing a very stuffed burger.
"Wow." Mai started drooling just from looking at it—several layers of meat, exploding with bacon, cheddar dripping everywhere, and onion rings.
All of it stacked like a small tower, held together with a wooden skewer.
Various sauces with unique aromas came along with fries.
"This is one of the expensive ones, isn't it?" she asked, knowing she'd probably never get another chance like this.
Gulp
"Ahh!"
She immediately tried to take a bite.
However, it was so big that she didn't know where to start, moving it from side to side looking for the right spot.
Finally, she bit into it, the pleasant flavor filling every corner of her mouth.
Mmmmmm!
"Excellent." She nodded, satisfied. "We really hit the jackpot!"
"Yeah…" I nodded, somewhat unhappy.
There was no way I could buy something like that for Mai—not even one.
Even a simple burger was too expensive for me to afford.
Unfortunately, I'd never be able to give her another one of these.
My expression darkened against my will.
Suddenly, Mai stopped eating and looked at me closely, then pushed her burger toward me.
"Say ahh!" she said playfully. "Ahhh!"
Sigh
"Ahh," I said, and she immediately stuffed the burger into my mouth. I bit into it—it really was delicious, the best I'd ever eaten in my life.
"Good boy!" she laughed, while I just accepted the joke, slightly embarrassed.
"Anyway," I said, changing the subject. "You needed help, right?"
"Ahh." Mai froze, clearly having forgotten her flimsy excuse. "Yes, yes, here, this is the problem."
She quickly showed me her notebook. It was a very basic history question.
[ When did Antarctica demand independence? ]
I frowned.
"This is the question you need help with?" I stared at Mai, who immediately looked away. "Isn't this taught in elementary school?"
Cough, cough
"Anyway, it was about two hundred yea—"
"Sixty. Sixty years."
Mai corrected me, still refusing to look me in the eyes.
Sigh
"I need to rest." I stood up, exhausted. "Don't do this tomorrow. Don't wait up for me."
"But I didn't wait up for you," she said with an indifferent face. "I waited for someone who could help me solve the exercise."
"Just eat and go to sleep," I said, rubbing my forehead. "And if your grades dro—"
"I know, don't worry about that!" she said with a smile. "I'm the best in my class!"
She got up from the table, ran over to me, and hugged me again.
"All thanks to the best brother in the world!" she laughed cheerfully.
Sigh
"Finish eating and go to bed," I said. She let go of me and returned to the table smiling.
"Sure, sure!" she said excitedly. "I will!"
Sigh
Without thinking too much, I walked out onto our apartment's balcony and leaned against the railing.
I soon felt around in my pocket for a lighter and—
"No!" Mai hugged me again on the balcony; I hadn't even noticed her approaching. "I don't like it when you smoke!"
"And I don't like you seeing me," I said, looking out at the city at night. "But you're still awake and I nee—"
"You know you're not helping," she sighed. "You're giving me more reasons to stay awake."
I chuckled softly.
"Sorry," I said. "I'll try to quit."
"That's better!" She stayed clinging to me while looking at the city.
My eyes seemed to want to pierce the night and see beyond it.
It was a strange feeling.
An instinct.
This had happened before, I was sure of it.
When my parents died, I felt something similar. When I said goodbye to them, I knew it was the last time.
The same way, when I met my best friend, I already knew we would have a powerful bond.
I can feel it in the cold night wind.
I can hear its nocturnal whispers.
Something is about to happen.
My eyes instinctively locked onto a small convenience store across the street.
'I feel like if I jumped from the balcony, I could reach it.' I laughed softly.'But why am I thinking this?'
"Light?" Mai found it strange. "What's so funny about a convenience store?"
"I don't know, Mai," I said, turning my back on it and going inside. "But I wonder what fate has in store for us."
"Why are you being so philosophical at this hour of the night?" she asked, running after me.
"I don't know, I just have the feeling that—" I felt a shiver run through my body.
"Tomorrow I might die."