The old man's mouth hung open.
He had never seen the other one.
All he'd heard was the sound of a pipa.
He'd thought a neighbor nearby was playing one.
But after asking around, he'd come up empty.
It had never occurred to him that he couldn't see the one playing the pipa...
He'd clearly heard the other one playing.
How could he not see them?
"...No wonder..."
The old man murmured.
So that was why... the pipa music he heard sounded as though it were being played right beside his ear.
It felt incredibly close.
He'd actually found it strange for quite some time.
Even if a neighbor was playing the pipa next door...
Could it really sound that close to him?
Maybe it could.
He didn't know.
But he'd thought that as long as he found the person playing the pipa, he'd know everything.
So although he'd sensed there were plenty of things that didn't add up, he'd ignored them all.
But judging by what the other one had just said...
The one playing the pipa had been in his house all along.
Living under the same roof as him.
Then...
It wasn't hard to understand why the music had sounded as if it were right beside his ear.
Wait.
The old man paused, slightly taken aback.
Had he really just believed what this young man said?
How had he ended up following the young man's lead?
The old man shook his head in annoyance.
Then he raised a hand and rapped his knuckles against his own skull.
He slowly let out a breath.
"Young man."
The old man's expression darkened slightly.
"Do you know what you're saying?"
"If this is a joke, you can stop now."
"You should know that some