Compared to the past few days, the next day welcod Haji in a novel manner, as if foreboding the fact that sothing bad might happen later on. The usual quiet of the neighborhood in the early hours didn’t go by as usual. Sohow, there was a commotion outside, which has never happened before. The only commotion that happens from ti to ti in their unusually hushed neighborhood was the debt collectors who would sotis chase Haji on end.
Right now, however, murmurs could be heard outside, disturbing Haji’s peaceful morning and waking him up. His eyes imdiately shot wide open as his patience ran thin. He was annoyed, first thing in the morning and he was already annoyed.
’What’s going on here?!; Haji scread inwardly, his impatience almost getting the better of him. Fortunately, the cautious side of him still warned him of the likelihood of danger so he slowly approached the door to take a peek outside.
Bang!
Haji almost fell on his rear side when his door suddenly rattled, followed by a muffled ’hmph’, drowned by a couple of growls and low voices of n talking. Haji braced himself, then took a peek outside for the second ti. There were quite a few holes in the door and the walls of his house so it was quite convenient to take a peek from them without having to pop his head outside.
Three burly n were standing by the front door, cornering a high schooler and interrogating her about why she was in the squatter side of town. They wore mischievous smiles and Haji could’ve sworn they were licking their lips. Haji estimated that they were in their early twenties despite their heavy builds. ’College students? Wait... that girl... ’
He was about to ignore the commotion when the girl slightly turned her face and he got a good glimpse of her. How could he not recognize her in an instant? Had it been any other scenario, he would’ve been able to recognize her from a mile away. After all, she’s one of a few people he didn’t want to et in public.
’gumi?!’
’What is she doing here?!’
Questions upon questions filled Haji’s head and he felt as if he short-circuited since he froze in place for a few seconds. Without thinking, he opened the door, and in ca gumi, falling on her butt since she was leaning on the door. She turned around, only to see Haji glaring at her. ’Does she live nearby? No, that’s impossible, I’ve never seen her go through this direction in my whole life. Then what is she doing here?’ Haji didn’t voice out his question, however, he just stared at her before addressing the three n outside his door.
"Hey, if you’re going to disturb soone, do it sowhere else. You’re disturbing my peace and sleep here. I’m trying to rest here, you know". Haji scratched his head as if he couldn’t care less.
A fist suddenly flew towards Haji as the nearest man shouted sothing. He didn’t hear what it was since he was busy dodging the upcoming jab. However, since he still felt sleepy, his reaction ti was a bit slow and the punch grazed him on the cheek. Out of impulse, he extended his hand and grabbed the guy’s forearm, slipping behind him while twisting his arm in a process. One knee to the back and Haji pinned the man down. ’All those heavy-lifting in the construction site wasn’t just for show, you know.’ Haji said to himself.
The guy hit the floor with a thud, his chin perfectly digging to the floor. He lost consciousness in an instant, much to Haji’s surprise.
Seeing Haji’s movents, the other two didn’t bother attacking him. Haji assud that the one he knocked out was the boss, and that’s why the other two froze in place. "J-just, go away," Haji shooed them by waving his hands, prompting the other two to drag their unconscious boss out of the way. They nodded in silence, making a ntal note that they shouldn’t ss with the guy in front of them.
Throughout the entire ordeal, gumi didn’t move a milliter from where she was. When Haji already closed the door, that’s when she got back to her senses, and tears stread down her cheeks. She tried to suppress her fear but it all ca bearing down on her when it was all over. Embarrassed, she attempted to cover her whole face with both her hands while trying to hold back her sniffles. She began hiccuping because of that though, which was more embarrassing.
"It’s all your fault, Haji. It’s all your fault!" She sniffled, her voice muffled since she was covering her face.
’Wait?!’
’How did it beco my fault?’ Haji was about to answer back when gumi continued her monologue.
"You won’t open your door even though I’ve been knocking for ages, why?" She still kept crying.
’Oh, so that’s why she’s blaming . The audacity.’ Haji sighed but he still didn’t say anything. It was obvious that gumi was more than scared because of what happened. He didn’t want to add up to her pile of stress so he chose his words carefully. After clearing his throat and thinking twice about what to answer, he finally spoke. "Sorry, I was out the whole day so I woke up a little later than normal. What are you doing here anyway?"
It didn’t take long before gumi cald down a little bit. Haji extended his hand to help gumi stand up, to which she promptly obliged. For the first ti ever since she got in, she finally got a good look at the place. It would be an understatent to say that she wasn’t in the least bit curious about the state of Haji’s house.
"Akamine-sensei told to bring you the handouts from yesterda— "
A pause, and then her jaw dropped in shock. gumi couldn’t believe what her eyes have laid upon. This isn’t a house, it’s a pigsty!
anwhile, Haji felt like he was forgetting sothing. Just when he was about to grab the handouts so he could drive gumi out of his house, he realized what he had overlooked. ’Ah right, this place— ’
’— I haven’t cleaned this place in ages!’
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