Block A 「Nishimura Riki」

10

Sunghoon shook his head. "No. Not that I know of. Believe it or not, I'm still new to this stuff. It's hard to connect things and wrap your head around them."

Eiko made a sound of acknowledgement. Despite the unease that made itself present through her shaky tone, Eiko still tried to lighten the mood with a tight laugh. "I bet it is. Honestly I'm just listening. It feels like I relapsed back to when I was still new to this language because everything turns into just words with me." She tsked at herself and shook her head. "It's unbelievable."

Relating none the more, Sunghoon agreed. "What about Block A? You're human so presumably it wasn't the best welcome, was it?"

Eiko unfortunately smiled a fixed smile. "It definitely wasn't the best, but an early–though necessary–introduction to how my life would be like here."

They arrived at the cafe shortly. The lights were on inside and there were a few people sitting at tables conversing. It was a nice enough atmosphere that they took a seat at one of the tables and decided to continue their conversation from there.

Eiko's eyes darted around from person to person before she said anything. "Well, enough of that, right?" She scooted closer to the table and sat back in her seat. "Don't you think it's so weird how life can suddenly flip upside down based just off of what we know or think we know?" She traced her gaze from the sky to Sunghoon.

Without contemplation he nodded along. It was more of a feeling. There was nothing to think over because their conviction was all too unyielding and peculiar. Their past lives were beginning to atrophy before their eyes and all they could do was watch. It was a weird, horrifying, realization.

"What was your childhood like?" The question was reminiscent of the sort-of first time they met, just that Sunghoon was the one asking this time. Eiko briefly recalled that Sunghoon didn't ask that day.

Eiko pulled her lips to the side before she answered. "It's similar to yours. My dad had to work most of the time and I never really knew my mom so I didn't have much of a significant childhood memory with my family besides on birthdays or holidays. But I had a lot of fun moments with friends, so I'm grateful for them."

She stared at her clasped hands on the table. "Despite working a lot my dad really cared for me and he spoke good about my mom so I have no hard feelings towards her. It looks stupid in the media but it was fun having those moments where my friends and I poked fun at ourselves for a crush we had or expressed our dislike for some annoying student, et cetera. Compared to others I may have not had the best childhood but I'm grateful for what I did have."

As if living the memories through her words, Sunghoon faintly grinned.
It was a weird ounce of comfort that it gave.

"The others at your table the day I worked, are they y'know too?" asked Eiko.

After a second-lasting halt, Sunghoon said no. "No. They don't know about us. We don't plan on telling them either." Sunghoon sucked his teeth. "It's too much of a risk."

She narrowed her eyes under the duress of confusion and frustration. "But them being around you guys, doesn't that mean they could die as well?"

"Not unless they step into that neighborhood. And they have no reason to. Only if they do we will tell them." As much as Eiko wanted to question further, she felt obliged to understand. She didn't know much about this subject. She's left to assume. Her last question was stuck in her head instead of making itself out. How would they know if they stepped inside?

"Do you live inside the neighborhood?"

Albeit saying that they were to leave this topic out of the way when they were noticeably in an area with discernible bystanders, Eiko's questions had run loose.