The young man reached up and tugged hard on his own ear.
He hadn't misheard, had he?
He must have heard wrong, right?
Monster...?
What were those two characters?
Demon...? Premature death? Yao? Bite? Want?
And monster?
Good? Kidnap? Monster?
There were so many homophones and near-homophones.
My problem is solved.
I lowered my eyes to look at the slightly reddened back of my hand.
I'd always thought I heard a chicken crowing...
"You've even made the bed for him."
I knew quite a bit about how things worked at school.
Whether my problem was really solved would be easy enough to check...
"You have to get up early for work tomorrow, don't you?"
A hotel?
I hadn't thought of that...
But the whole thing was just too absurd.
Whether I'd guessed right or not...
Was I going to become one of the chosen children who went on adventures?
Ha.
Not good.
That seemingly easygoing attitude only made the young man feel ignored and brushed off...
The young man abruptly pulled his hand back.
The young man still asked anyway.
"Sorry."
"If you leave, won't all that effort making the bed have gone to waste?"
But someone had told me...
"I mean those two characters."
Late at night...
That startled the young man again.
"It's getting late."
The young man was astonished.
But they were strangers, nothing more...
Still, what could I say?
The young man's lips moved for a long while before he finally managed to speak, his voice somewhat hoarse.
Was the other guy planning to wait outside until dawn before going back to his dorm?
A look of confusion crossed his raised face.
This was just too absurd...
The young man didn't even know what expression he should