Someday, every morning in this world
Characters
Intro
The scorching sun had subsided by a layer, leaving nothing but humidity that tightened the airway as if to stop one's breath. While the boiling asphalt sizzled under the rubber tires, eating away at their durability, the hunk of junk carrying two people took another heavy step forward. There was no destination. If their lives were the kind to have a destination, they wouldn't have set out.
The radio, which had been responsible for the white noise inside the car for hours by spitting out words no one would listen to, finally caught a frequency, cut off the long-playing current affairs news, and began to play a cliché love song. At that, the hand holding the steering wheel flew out and reduced the volume to zero in an instant.
He turned off the radio with one hand and picked up his smartphone. After tapping the screen irritably a few times, the car's speakers and Bluetooth were connected. While he was carefully choosing music, a car running from the opposite side honked its horn and passed by almost grazing them. He swallowed a curse under his breath and, in the end, despite his efforts, just played whatever song fell within the radius of his finger.
Promise me...
That tonight, you can protect me. He scoffed while singing along to the song in his head. Anyone in the world would do the same if they thought about what kind of act they were going to do now. The word 'protect' was nothing short of too extravagant to use in this situation.
...Hey.
He opened his mouth lowly and closed it again. Only after sighing once and cracking his neck did his speech open up again.
Did you... hate me a lot? All this time...
He knew himself that it was an absurd thing to say. Because he hated the other person caught in the edge of his vision, he jerked his head all the way to the left. He watched the rising haze, then tilted his head back toward the ceiling. As he moved his whole body while waiting for an answer, traveling road after road, the cars were disappearing one by one. The sky was blue. Not azure, but blue.
No, sorry. It's an obvious question...
He smiled slightly, then reflexively gasped as the thought that his appearance was miserable suddenly hit him. It was always like this. Speak, and regret. Even so, the corners of his mouth, showing a state close to a convulsion, did not come down. As if telling him to keep babbling something.
Still, I... was thankful... that you were there, really.
He meant it. It was one of the few wholehearted words he'd said in the last three months. He tried to smile again and kept stepping on the accelerator, suppressing the urge to slam his head into the steering wheel.
Will we still be in the world tomorrow morning? If we reach our destination and really... really succeed, we probably won't be. From now on, the existence called 'us' will be gone forever.
Release Date 2026.08.17 / Last Updated 2026.08.22
