The alarm never went off. I woke up on my own to the sunlight and birdsong. I turned on my phone without thinking to check the time, and it was 10:38 a.m.... I was so startled that I couldn't even scream before bolting upright. But above the time, the date—and the day of the week—were clearly displayed. Saturday. Only after realizing that did I remember today was the weekend.
I lay back down and didn't move under the covers for a long while. On a weekday, I would've woken up before the alarm even rang and checked the time, but today there was no reason to get up. I didn't have to go to work, and there was little chance the company would contact me. At least for the morning, it was a day when I didn't have to do anything. Between the relief and the cozy warmth of my blankets, I ended up falling asleep again.
When I opened my eyes again, I picked up the phone beside my bed. It was well past noon.
“...I really overslept.”
When I'd first come to Japan five years ago, I never could've imagined a morning like this.
On my first morning in Japan, I'd woken up before the alarm went off. I remembered lying there for a long time after being roused by the unfamiliar ceiling and unfamiliar sounds. The cars outside the window and the footsteps in the hallway were all new to me. Back then, simply opening my eyes was enough to put me in a good mood.
Just living in Japan, the country filled with so many things I loved, made every day feel special.
But... not anymore.
After five years, living in reality instead of being on vacation was no different in Japan than it had been in South Korea.
I sighed, set my phone down, and burrowed back under the covers. I stayed there a little longer, but eventually hunger forced me to sit up.
I drank some water and opened the refrigerator, but there wasn't much worth eating. A few eggs, some drinks, and a loaf of bread that was nearing its expiration date.
“...I should go out.”
I didn't have anywhere in particular in mind. I just didn't want to stay home all day.
I opened my closet and stood there for a long time. Usually, all I had to do was pick out a suit for work, but there was no need for that today. I was about to grab anything when a shirt hanging in the corner of the closet caught my eye.
It was something I'd worn often when I first came to Japan five years ago.
*I really used to wear this all the time.*
“I didn't know I still had this...”
I stared at the shirt for a moment, then put it on. Standing in front of the mirror, I looked more or less the same as I always did. It wasn't as if the clothes could make the me from back then overlap with who I was now. It felt like not much had changed, and yet somehow a lot had. I put on some quick makeup and grabbed my bag.
Right before leaving through the front door, I looked at the one across from mine.
It was Hathor's place. ...It was quiet.
*Is she still asleep?*
I briefly considered asking her to go out with me, but I didn't press the doorbell. Today, I just wanted to be alone.
As soon as I got off the train, a familiar scene unfolded before me.
There were a lot of people.
Maybe because it was the weekend, people looked more relaxed than they did on weekdays, and I saw plenty of couples walking hand in hand.
I walked slowly through the crowd.
Five years ago, I'd constantly looked around as I walked down this street. Every sign, every building, even every item displayed in the shops had seemed fascinating, and I'd taken tons of pictures. Now I knew which way to go without even looking around.
I knew exactly when the traffic lights would change and which streets tourists tended to crowd. I'd become that familiar with the neighborhood. At first, I'd liked that familiarity.
It felt like proof that I really lived here.
But at some point, being familiar with a place had started to feel like the same thing as it not being special anymore.
I stopped in front of a small merchandise shop. A familiar character was visible through the window.
Without thinking, I went inside.
The shop was still packed with merchandise from series I loved. I walked slowly along the display cases, looking at everything one piece at a time. In the past, I would've picked up this and that, checked the prices, and bought something right away.
But now I automatically separated the things I wanted from the things I could afford. It was a habit I'd picked up after becoming a working adult. Then I stopped in front of one of the display shelves. It was a small acrylic stand of a character I'd liked in the past.
I lightly tapped the packaging with my finger.
“...I can afford this one.”
In the end, I took it to the register. When I walked out with it in hand, I felt strangely a little happier. It was just one insignificant little thing.
And yet, for the first time in a while, it felt like I'd bought something simply because I really wanted it.
After lunch, I went into a nearby café. I picked a quiet place and sat by the window. I ordered a soda float and gazed outside.
Cars passed by slowly, and people crossed the crosswalk.
At the table beside mine, two women were talking about their weekend plans.
“Then let's go there next month.”
“Sure. Don't we need to make a reservation in advance?”
I took a sip of my drink while unintentionally overhearing their conversation.
I pulled out my phone and scrolled for a moment. Fortunately, there weren't any notifications in the company group chat. Hathor hadn't contacted me, either.
It was so comfortable that it was almost strange. But on the other hand, I was a little bored.
“Honestly...”
I muttered to myself. Being alone was comfortable now, but if I was completely alone, I got bored anyway. I hadn't had thoughts like that in the past.
I'd thought coming to Japan would solve everything.
I thought that living in the country where the anime I loved was made, walking the streets I loved, and going wherever I wanted after getting off work would be enough.
But after actually coming here and living here, it wasn't any different from South Korea. Since I was a foreigner, of course there were times when I felt lonely, and it was harder than I'd expected to make friends. At first, I also struggled quite a bit with the difficulties that came from the differences in workplace culture. Reality had followed me even to the place I'd dreamed of.
But if you asked whether I regretted coming to Japan......
That wasn't it, either.
I turned my gaze toward the window.
The path I'd taken over the past five years hadn't all been a mistake.
I had simply realized a little late that just because something was my dream didn't mean every day would be special.
I left the café and walked toward an old shopping district. It was a place I'd deliberately sought out when I first came to Japan. Back then, I'd kept my map app open and taken a wrong turn several times. After wandering around for ages, I'd finally found this place and marveled to myself at an ordinary little alley.
Now I remembered it as soon as I saw the street.
*Oh. Here.*
The signs were a little more worn, but otherwise unchanged. A few of the shops were still there, while others had been replaced by new ones I'd never seen before.
I walked slowly down the alley.
What had I felt here five years ago?
I was probably happy.
I wasn't as excited as I'd been back then, but I wasn't unhappy, either. I was simply quiet.
But that kind of calm indifference wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
When the sun began to sink, I suddenly thought of Hathor and took out my phone. I wondered what she was doing.
Without giving it much thought, I sent her a message.
「What are you doing?」
Her reply came quickly.
「Home.」
「Aren't you bored?」
「A little.」
I smiled without meaning to.
*Me too.*
A moment later, another notification sounded.
「Where are you?」
I looked around. It was a place that would be hard to explain precisely.
「Just wandering around. I don't really know where I am either lol」
There was no reply after that. I put my phone in my pocket and headed home.
I was walking along when...
Flap—
It was far too loud to be the sound of a bird's wings. More than that, the shadow cast in front of me was enormous. I looked up, and at the very edge of my vision was none other than a dragon. I was so startled I nearly fell over, but I immediately realized it was Hathor.
I'd forgotten that Hathor was a dragon.
Once I came to my senses, I spoke to her.
“Hathor...? How did you know I was here...?”
“I simply knew. I came to fetch you.”
And just like that, I was flying through the sky on Hathor's back.
It felt completely unreal. Hathor said she'd used magic to make us invisible to people. When she asked where I'd been today, I answered with a smile.
“Just here and there.”
“Did you enjoy yourself?”
I thought about it for a moment.
I'd slept in late that morning, bought a piece of merchandise featuring a character I'd liked in the past, eaten lunch, gone to a café, and walked through an alley I'd visited before.
Nothing extraordinary had happened. And yet, somehow, the day had flown by.
“Yeah.”
I held up the small bag in my hand.
“More than I expected.”
Hathor glanced at the bag.
“What did you buy?”
“It's a secret.”
“Now I'm curious.”
“I'll show you next time.”
Hathor looked a little disappointed. It wasn't the best angle for seeing her face, but that was what it seemed like. I let out a small laugh.
Before I knew it, we were on the rooftop of our apartment building. We walked downstairs together and stopped in front of our doors. Had my day ended like this on my first day in Japan five years ago?
Probably not.
Back then, I'd waited impatiently for tomorrow to come, convinced that something extraordinary would happen every new day. It wasn't like that anymore. Tomorrow was another workday. I'd probably be tired, and maybe I'd get stressed over something trivial at the office.
Even so, it was okay.
Why?
*Because...*
I glanced at the apartment next door.
A place that had been vacant just a few weeks ago.
Now a dragon lived inside.
“Hathor, want to have dinner together or something?”
“Very well.”
It was an ordinary day off.
The only special thing was that I wasn't alone.
I had a neighbor I was close to now, and that neighbor was a dragon. I was the only neighbor that dragon had. Every part of it was special.
Maybe it was the thought that I wasn't alone anymore in this still-unfamiliar city that made me smile without even realizing it.