“Honestly, I didn’t know what it was about.”
If I say this, Virgil will look down on me saying I don’t know anything, but I said that was the truth and fixed my gaze back on the laptop screen.
“You’re working really hard on your homework, Cheick. You had a lot going on today… Of course I can’t know what’s inside you, but right now, you look pretty composed on the outside.”
“Well, it’s a trivial matter. If you think about it.”
There was a girl I liked, and she said she couldn’t even remember my name, so I got rejected. Isn’t that all there is to it… When I said that, Liam gently held my hand that had been hovering over the laptop and made eye contact with me.
“What about me confessing to you?”
“That’s… actually I don’t know. I don’t know much about you, but I think you’re not someone who would speak lightly. So I don’t want to treat your confession as trivial. That’s why I really want to say that your confession didn’t make me lose my appetite, or make me feel uncomfortable… or anything like that.”
“…Are you worried my feelings might get hurt?”
Liam asked in an even more affectionate voice while stroking my fingers. Instead of answering “of course,” I nodded my head actively.
“This is strange.”
“What is?”
“I definitely got rejected today, but strangely I feel good.”
Liam asked if he could stay over at my house just for today. I lightly nodded my head in affirmation.
“Thanks. But, is it okay for me to call you Cheick?”
To Liam, who was asking such an unexpected question so quickly, I replied that any form of address was fine as long as he could tell he was calling me, then casually turned on my smartphone. There were quite a few new DMs on my smartphone, all image files sent by Liam.
“What’s this…?”
“I was too bored.”
Looking at them, they were side profiles of me working on something with my laptop, drawn with a smartphone application, and they all had the common trait of being abysmally bad.
“I finally found it.”
“What?”
“Something you’re bad at.”
I selected the masterpiece among the drawings Liam gifted me—the one I thought was the worst—uploaded it to social media with a line of explanation and tagged Liam. That post received the most ‘Likes’ since I opened my social media account.
Perhaps because sleeping over at friends’ houses was frequent, or because he was thoroughly prepared, Liam’s large bag contained everything from simple toiletries to a change of clothes.
“Do Sophia and Virgil sleep over at your place often?”
Liam, who had just come out of the bathroom, asked while giving off a minty scent from his mouth.
“Virgil sometimes. Sophia’s parents are strict so she can’t even dream of sleeping over at someone else’s house.”
“So that’s why there are graphic novels Virgil left here?”
“That’s part of it. And he deliberately left some for me to read.”
After telling Liam that Virgil would be very happy to know he gave a positive evaluation to the graphic novel he just read, I lay down on the ottoman that could easily serve as a bed and used a cushion as a pillow.
“…You’re going to sleep there?”
Liam, who had been watching me occupy the ottoman and lie down, asked while standing awkwardly in front of the bed. I answered yes and asked Liam to take out just one blanket from the bed storage.
“That’s not difficult. But sleeping on the sofa is my specialty.”
“Whenever a friend stays over, I’ve always slept here. And I think someone my size is the last who can sleep on this ottoman without any body parts sticking out. It looks too narrow for you.”
“It seems like it would be cramped for you too.”
Still, he wouldn’t refuse the kindness, Liam said and sat on the bed. I told him to do whatever he wanted and turn off the lights and sleep whenever he wanted, then fell asleep at a ridiculously fast speed even by my own standards.
* * *
‘…It’s about time for my dad to come home.’
After sleeping for a while, I suddenly recalled what Liam had said and woke up trembling as if startled by something. Then Liam, who had been editing his essay, laughed heartily and asked if I’d had a nightmare.
“Good morning.”
“Yeah, good morning.”
“Your sleeping face was cute.”
Liam said he could watch me all night without getting bored, but he went to bed early because today’s schedule was so important, and hurriedly finished his essay.
“Do you have something important to do today?”
“You’re doing this on purpose, right? To tease me.”
When I told Liam I didn’t know what he was talking about, he asked if I didn’t remember what we’d promised for today.
“I remember. We’re going to see a concert.”
“…Do you think I’d have something more important than that today?”
“Ah, sorry.”
“No need to be sorry.”
As soon as Liam finished his essay, I put him in my car and went to the trailer village. The closer we got to the destination, the more he conserved his words while maintaining a dark expression.
“Wait, Liam. That person…”
On the steps of Liam’s trailer, a man I’d never seen before was sitting all curled up trying to sleep. Before I could ask if that person was his dad, Liam, who had gone pale, immediately got out of the car, grabbed the man’s shoulders, and shook them this way and that.
“Ted? What are you doing here? Don’t tell me you’ve been here all night? Ted, Ted!”
“…Liam?”
The man asked Liam, barely opening his lifeless eyes. He grabbed Liam’s thick arm with fingers that were nothing but bone and struggled to raise his body.
“I thought you’d left home.”
“Why would I leave?”
“I think it wouldn’t be strange whenever you left. So…”
“What were you doing on the steps if you thought that? If you thought I’d left, you should’ve at least gone inside. Were you crouching in an uncomfortable place on purpose for some self-pity?”
Liam kept pressing and cornering the man who already looked like he’d break apart any moment. I could clearly see Liam, in an unfamiliar state, rapidly losing his composure, so I called out “Liam” so he could regain his reason. Then both Liam and his father looked at me quite surprised.
…Oh no.
“Is that kid a friend?”
Liam’s father—was it Ted?—asked while looking at Liam.
“Last night I was at that friend’s place doing homework so I didn’t come. I happened not to contact you, I’m sorry.”
Ted nodded, apologized to me for the rudeness, then identified himself as Liam’s father. Then he fled into the trailer. Liam stood looking at the door Ted had closed behind him with a very dark face, then said goodbye.
“Sorry, see you in the evening.”
“It’s okay. Yeah, see you in the evening.”
After dropping Liam off at home, I headed downtown for my part-time work. And because I made too many mistakes today, I ended up getting called by the manager and properly scolded.
“You know, when someone who makes mistakes every day does it, I just think that’s how they are, but when someone who usually does well does it, it looks bigger? What’s your problem that you’re suddenly doing your work like a mess? I’ve let you slide once or twice because you’ve done well until now, but from the third time… you know? Keep this in mind. This is a workplace. If you can’t work properly, sentiment or whatever, you’ll be kicked out without mercy.”
“…Yes.”
After being scolded by the manager, I finished work in a deflated state and thought the whole way to the live club where I was meeting Liam.
I’m not doing well during training, doing homework, or working, am I in a slump right now?
Liam, whom I met again at the entrance of the live club, looked much brighter than when I’d last seen him. As soon as he spotted me appearing after parking, he greeted me warmly.
“Seeing you in a place like this feels new again.”
“…I’m not too late, am I?”
“Not at all. You’re right on time.”
As soon as we exchanged our tickets for wristbands and entered the club, I bought two bottles of cream soda being sold at the bar and handed one bottle to Liam. Liam laughed pleasantly and quickly consumed half the soda in the bottle.
“Soda’s good but beer would be better.”
“Sorry. I don’t drink alcohol.”
When I said I couldn’t buy him alcohol anyway since we’re not the legal age, I could see Liam laughing even bigger than before.
“You get called a stickler for principles a lot, don’t you?”
“My mom and dad say that to me too. With very fed-up expressions.”
“Ahahaha!”
“But I can buy any kind of soda, so tell me if you want more. You bought the tickets.”
Liam said it was fine and moved toward the front of the stage where people were standing full. The stage was bustling with staff moving instruments and sound equipment in preparation for the performance about to start. Soon the Passport members appeared and people sent up cheers.
“I wish they’d start quickly.”
Five minutes before the performance started, Liam, who had been looking at the stage with a lively face, turned his head toward me and said. I nodded my head while facing him to show I agreed.
Shortly after, all the lights except for the stage turned off and the bass sound was heard as the performance began. With the vividness of the live sound, quite different from the recorded version, the audience including myself gradually felt excited and became completely absorbed in the performance.
While watching the performance so engrossed that I didn’t know how an hour and thirty minutes passed, a hand carefully extended from the side and held my hand. There was no way a complete stranger would hold it, so I naturally looked at Liam. He only smiled at me with a grin.
“Cheick Rowan.”
I could tell what Liam was saying by reading his lips rather than his voice.
“From the moment we first met until now, there hasn’t been a day I haven’t thought of you. You’re the person I’ve been dreaming of all along.”
“You…”
“I know you like Leda, but I like you too. Maybe because of what I’m doing or saying right now, you might avoid me, but I really want to say this.”
If I’d disliked it, I would have already shaken off Liam’s hand or left his side. But I didn’t. It’s not like Liam was holding my hand tightly.
“Liam.”
“Yeah?”
When I asked if we could talk after the performance ended, the answer came back that it was fine however I wanted. I thanked Liam, then looked at our hands attached in a somewhat awkward manner.
