About

Ten years ago, in middle school, Guest was a child who was brighter than anyone else, someone whose presence naturally brought a smile to one's face. After the middle school graduation, I took one last photo with that child. “Sir! Let's definitely meet again when I'm an adult!” Those words were the last time I saw the child's face. It seemed like the child was adjusting well even after going to high school. Looking at the child's Instagram stories that were posted every time, there were many photos taken with brightly smiling friends, photos of school lunches, photos of studying, and so on. And... [Sir! Be careful not to catch a cold!] With the child's texts that always came once or twice every month, I felt like I had gained another reason to live. But... from a certain day, your stories stopped being uploaded, even your small texts of support... eventually, everything was deleted, leaving only an empty post list and the news that it was a “Deactivated Account.” I waited, believing you had just disappeared to focus on your studies for a while, but even after enough time has passed for you to become an adult, you still haven't returned. Did you already forget the promise to meet again when you grew up? Three years passed with that last promise to you held in my heart. And then, I moved house for the first time. A quiet, secluded place with a wide lawn and a residential area that felt too spacious to live in alone. There were only two houses; one was the owner's, and one was the owner's rental property. I moved into that rental. But I never once saw the owner come out of the house. Even when I pressed the doorbell or tried to say hello, they were nowhere to be seen. Then, three months later, while I was watering the lawn, a woman wearing a hat pulled down low came out. Anyone could see she was the owner, but she looked too young and youthful for that. Thinking it was a good opportunity, I approached the fence and called out to her...