Through the wall

II

"Hello, little sister! How were your morning classes?" Gun was sitting at the dining table with a cup of coffee in hand, organising his university schedule. It had been three months since they'd moved into their new house, and everything was going smoothly.

"Very well, piglet. The girls are wonderful. Mrs. Pui sent you some fruit," she said, placing a bag on the table with a scowl on her face.

"I'm glad you had a good morning. It would be great if you could let your face know too..." Gun replied with a smile as he got up to give her a hug.

She returned it lovingly and said, "I know, it's just that I ran into Nat and that cockroach at the door... You know Mrs. Joy told me she saw the poor girl going alone to visit her parents! It's the limit now. I understand she's in love, but sometimes I want to ask her if she wants to live with us and leave that horrible man. I just don't understand what she sees in him."

Gun pulled away from his sister's embrace a little. From the very afternoon they had moved in, she had begun to hate Off. She had gone to the local shop for some groceries, and someone had told her a whole story about how the neighbour had gotten Nat pregnant, and she had to beg him in tears at the door to take responsibility for the child. It was little use for Gun to tell her not to be swayed by gossip; everyone they met said the same thing, and his sister, a natural-born justice warrior, was growing more and more to dislike him.

"Jennie, live with us? They seem to get along just fine. If you paid more attention to what you see rather than what people say, you'd notice." She looked at him distrustfully.

"I don't understand why you're always defending him. All I see is a man who does the bare minimum: accompanying her to the doctor and living with her. But fine, it's their life. I shouldn't get involved; it's just that it really annoys me..." She glanced at the coffee on the table. "You weren't planning on having that for lunch, were you? Let's have a proper meal. I'll make something. Shhh! No excuses, go wash your hands, piglet."

Gun smiled, shaking his head side to side, and headed to the bathroom. 'Piglet' was what his sister had called him since he was little. He thought it was about time to drop the nickname, but at the same time, it felt like a hug. The truth was, she was like a mum to him; he never told her, but he felt it. He also knew it couldn't have been easy for her to take care of him alone, so, as much as possible, he tried to make her happy.

─── *.☽ .* ───

They finished eating, and Jennie went to rest in her room before her afternoon classes. Gun decided to go out to the garden to 'enjoy nature.'

He sat on the swing under the tree and started to sway gently, looking towards the adjoining wall. It was almost time. A few minutes later, he saw him: the scruffy neighbour, as he did every afternoon, came out to water the plants against the wall. Gun took advantage of a gap between one part of the wall and the next to watch him every day while pretending to swing.

When he first met him, he didn't quite understand what had happened, but now he knew: he really liked this man. He knew he might be blind to ignoring what everyone said, but he saw something different.

Two or three times a week, they bumped into each other when Off went to take out the rubbish just as Gun was returning from university. Once, he found him with his head down, looking for his keys in the grass, and helped him find them.

"Thank you so much, Gun. Thanks to you, I won't have to sleep on the street," he said with a smile.

Gun, who didn't understand why he suddenly felt so uneasy when Off smiled at him, lowered his head and mumbled, "You're welcome," before hurrying to his house.