I, who advocate giving up, feel like a disqualified person

"Then it's as you wish."

..............

"Sheji, you ordered a lot of desserts. Do you like sweet things?"

...after just a short while, she started talking to me normally. This girl's mood swings are really fast. Honestly, I haven't even recovered from the conversation just now. And she almost turned a conversation that normally wouldn't have escalated into a quarrel. She's no ordinary person.

"Yeah." I nodded.

Main courses tend to be savory, but at a restaurant like this, I'd prefer something sweet. Everyone has their own preferences, but since I couldn't elaborate, I just nodded and agreed.

"This is the first question you asked, now it's my turn to ask a question."

I pushed the phone on the table in front of Yao Qiong across from me.

"Eh?"

It was a predictable reaction. But this expression was too exaggerated.

"Does that count as well? I was just asking casually..."

“But it’s really about me.”

I admit it's a lie, but so what. As long as I stare at her with a matter-of-fact look, she'll definitely give in.

"Uh... that's right. Well, alright then..." She sighed, looking rather annoyed. "Well... it's your turn to ask."

Of course. In that case, it doesn't really count, but... this is just a small revenge.

"So, do you have any brothers or sisters at home?"

Let’s first confirm who the “they” mentioned are.

"Eh... I'm the only one here. Well, I do have someone I call my sister, but she's already gone to school and only comes back during summer and winter vacations."

...Call her that? Is she a cousin or something? But there's only one, so it can't have the "we" part. But they're not my parents...

"Why are you asking this...ah, that doesn't count, I was just asking casually."

After realizing that I might use the same trick on her again, she quickly began to make a statement.

"Yeah." I nodded.

"Then I'll start asking... um, that..."

It looked as if she hadn't considered what to ask.

"Sheji, why can't you speak?"

"..."

Ugh, what's with this super rude question? Even though I'm only here temporarily, if her setting is correct, asking such a question right from the start would definitely be rude.

"I could speak before, but I can't speak anymore because of my illness."

"Oh, I think I've heard something similar before. Didn't Helen Keller become blind and deaf due to illness? I understand. It's not easy for you to get to this point, Sheji, right?"

"..."

Apparently, she'd taken the "before" for granted, meaning a long time ago. Well, I'll leave it at that.

"Well, it's time for you to ask questions."

"Yeah." I nodded and started to ask the next question. During this time, the food I ordered was finally delivered.

"What is your family composition like? Is it normal?"

"I didn't expect you to ask such an unreasonable question, Sheji. Of course it's normal. Without my parents, I wouldn't exist. So the composition must be my father, mother, and me."

“…”

Ah, that's right. It seems like I asked a rather unsophisticated question.

"...But that was in the past. Now I live with my adoptive parents."

“…”

This is not normal at all.

Where to start the conversation

"Sheji? He seems to be out."

"Eh?"

The news I received at the beginning was quite unusual.

After all, when I came to see him during summer vacation, I had to call for a long time before he came down to open the door for me, and he always looked like he had just woken up. For him, who was always on the verge of being late, Sunday should be a time for rest... Why is that?

"So... where did you go? Can you tell me?"

Although there is contact information, it is also a problem that he did not carry a mobile phone with him. After all, he did not have it with him when I called or texted him several times before... However, it seems that he must carry a mobile phone with him recently, after all, he can only communicate through it.

"As for where he went, I'm not sure... because we don't even know what time he left."

"Yeah, he hasn't been talking much lately. He seems a little strange... Yehui... classmate, do you know anything? Did something happen to Sheji recently?"

"this..."

Seeing his father's worried expression, I didn't know how to respond. It seemed like Sheji hadn't told his parents about his condition, and he was trying to avoid them noticing his temporary muteness. So, from his perspective, I should have urged him to keep it a secret.

But... his parents seem worried, and I don't know what will happen if I keep putting it off until we go to the hospital... Ah, things are getting really complicated. What should I do?

"Don't make things difficult for Ye Hui anymore. Can't you handle your own affairs even at this age?"

"...Well..."

It seems like Mom has more say in the Sheji family. Come to think of it, he doesn't really have a strong voice around us... Is personality hereditary?

"I'm sorry, I'm not sure what happened to him. But there shouldn't be any problems at school, after all, we're in the same class..."

"Oh my, we're actually in the same class~"

"Eh...? That's true..."

"So, I'm really sorry that he wasn't home when I came to see him today... By the way, did you have an appointment with him or something?"

"...this..."

Even if it's someone from the family, I'm afraid I can't tell them. And it's hard to say this kind of thing...

"Eh...did I ask something I shouldn't have asked?"

"No, no, that's not the case... I'm just not sure whether or not to tell anyone else, so... well, I can't reveal it for now."

Before I knew it, I was bowing my head and apologizing.

What should I do? My face feels so hot... If he is not around, I will still feel nervous when talking to his family.

"It's okay, it's okay... Well, have you eaten yet? We're just about to start eating, so if you don't mind, we can join you."

"No, I already ate when I got here. And now that I know he's not home... I'm going back too."

"I see... But if you really want to find him, you can call him or something."

"Um..."

Where could he be now? Today is such an important day, could he have forgotten? Although he didn't want to admit it, he was someone who easily forgot his promises, and also someone who easily forgot others... So, he must have forgotten.

"When the results come out, let's go to the bookstore and buy some comics to check them out."

“…”

He hadn't mentioned it since he proposed it that day, nor had he even hinted at any anticipation. I should have known better... He wasn't hiding his feelings; he'd simply forgotten.

But I didn't feel angry. After all, he had just been through a lot, so there was nothing he could do if he forgot about it... But the time had come, and even if I didn't remind him, it would be useless.

"...Where are you..."

Today is the day when the results of the works we submitted together will be published. After all, I still want to check it out with you.

Chapter 23 Where to Start the Conversation

"Okay, it's my turn to ask questions."

As she spoke, she picked up the cake in front of her and used a fork to cut out a small piece smoothly.

"Um..."

Although I really want to know why she was adopted... after all, I'm not her, so how could I ask such a rude question? But now I can confirm one thing: her upbringing may be different from that of ordinary people, and it is this difference that has shaped her into who she is today.

"Uh, let me think...ah, this is delicious."

“…”

In my opinion, it is the guy who looks a bit naive, but is actually not. Otherwise, why would a normal person hate sleeping?

"Well... by the way, Sheji, what kind of dreams do you usually have?" She suddenly asked a very girlish question with great interest.

"Well..."

"Of course, I can't remember most of the content of my dreams, but the ones I can remember are basically scenes from my daily life or scenes from playing games."

Although it was completely different from normal gaming, I didn't realize it was abnormal in the dream... and I didn't realize I was dreaming.

"...Oh, that feels so good..."

Don't say this with envy, anyone can do it... Besides, if she wanted to sleep, she should be able to fall asleep, right? Otherwise, if she never let her brain rest, her body would have collapsed long ago, and she wouldn't be able to hang out with me like this, chatting and laughing.

"Well, it's your turn again." She said and put the phone in front of me.

"..."

In that case, I might as well try to ask her about her dreams.

"Actually, I noticed from the beginning that your eyes looked a little tired. Could it be that you didn't sleep well last night?"

"Oh, you actually found out..." She smiled sheepishly, "Actually, I have a hard time falling asleep at night... I know it's not good for my health. But I don't know why. Every time I feel that way, I get this indescribable feeling in my heart... and then I can't fall asleep for no reason~"

So don't force yourself to laugh when you say this.

“…”

This is quite useful information. At least I know she wasn't pushing me on purpose, but was doing it for a reason. It seems she doesn't even know what that reason is... Could this happen? It happened to me, but I can't remember it.

...wait, it seems like there's a typical example here. Sometimes, if no one reminds us, we tend to forget a lot of things, whether they're important or not.

"Oh, okay, okay, it's my turn to ask again."

They look very interested and happy... Well, although it does feel good to take turns answering questions, there are always one or two things that people don't want to respond to.

"Hey, what's it like when you dream? There are different kinds of dreams, right? Good dreams, nightmares, precognitive dreams, erotic dreams, and so on—I'm very interested in all of them. But even when I do dream, the content is basically the same... It's so boring."

She seemed to ask two questions at once. But that wasn't really worth worrying about... After all, most people don't just have one dream, and even the content of the dream is the same...

"..."

I seem to have encountered this before.

When you care too much about something, or when a certain scene stimulates you too strongly... then such a result may occur. After all, no one has made any scientific explanation for dreams, and there is no reason to say that dreams cannot always remain in the same form.

That said, this is probably information that could be useful to me. Well, having said that, I still need to answer the question.

"Maybe it's because I'm so used to it that I don't think dreaming is a big deal. I forget about normal dreams, and when I wake up from a nightmare, I'm thankful it was just a dream. Occasionally, something similar to the dream happens, and I think it's just a coincidence. Regardless of what it is, I generally don't pay much attention to these things I'm used to, and even take them for granted. No one will ever be unable to dream."

But now it seems that I was wrong.

"Wow...that's a lot of words."

The tone was completely different. I tried to sound cheerful, but it was impossible.

“…”

When you encounter something that is difficult for you to do but is easily accomplished by others, you will inevitably feel a certain feeling... a feeling called envy.

"Sheji is really answering my questions seriously... I feel like after hearing what you said, I can imagine a little bit... Suddenly I feel like I want to try to dream or something. Well, I think I said some strange things... Don't mind me, it's your turn to ask me questions."

"..."

Is this okay?

From my perspective, she probably still has something she wants to say... I don't know if it's because of courtesy or the distance between us, but she doesn't seem ready to express her thoughts.