Second Road

Episode 32: They are friends

"It turns out you, long time no see, Liam, how are you?" greet grandpa.

"Oh, grandpa. Long time no see" said the young man.

Uh, so they do know each other?

***

Eight o'clock is five minutes.

We went back to the dinner table after clearing up all the confusion. Everything's fine, I'm the only one here confused.

And it turns out, the strange man was a person who was known by Allen and grandfather. The guy's name is Liam, he's a friend of Allen's. It's really unexpected, isn't it?

I didn't even think that if they were friends, it would be more suitable if they were referred to as sworn enemies. Or maybe that's how they became friends? There are so many different types of people in this world, and they are all different.

That is the beauty of the world, has so many differences, although in this case it is still called a difference. Yes, the difference between one single and the other palyboy. But what does that mean?

Well, if everything was the same, then the world would feel really boring, wouldn't it? The world could be black and white, like an old-fashioned analog tv that uses batteries to make it light up.

"Eh? So this is blonde's cooking?"

The man named Liam put on an expression of disbelief as his grandfather said that Allen cooked dinner. Even so, he seemed to enjoy it. His eyes seemed to be glazed with glass as he looked at the dining table.

"What do you need to do here?" allen said straight to the point.

His eyes look dislike, continue to look at Liam who is busy finishing the contents of his plate. Liam just shrugged his shoulders for a moment, then bribed the food into his mouth.

I know Allen's cooking is delicious, regardless of how annoying he is. But if I may argue, Liam is like a man who hasn't eaten in a long time.

His mouth was wide open welcoming the spoon with food on it. Every now and then, the mouthful was interspersed with the water he drank once a gulp. In short, we can categorize them as greedy creatures.

So, it's not wrong if I call him a freak?

Allen only exhaled heavily after seeing his friend's response, then continued eating on his own.

***

After finishing at the dining table, we all moved to the living room. To be precise, sitting in the row of old sofa in front of the television which is one of my favorite places in this house.

Just me, Allen and Liam. Grandpa didn't sit with us, he went to his study first, took care of some things. Or is it possible that he avoids youth gatherings? Hah.

Liam took out a plastic docket from his bag, then thrust it at Allen lazily.

"Now, your semester's worth," Liam said.

The plastic map was received by Allen, then he simply put it on the table without opening it.

"Thank you, but you don't have to do it anymore."

Allen grabbed the remote next to the plastic map he had just placed, then pressed the power button to turn on the television. The glass screen, which was originally black, also displayed an image.

"If I could, I wouldn't care, this would be your problem. Those lecturers keep threatening my grades just because of you. Stop doing crazy things, I always have to take care of everything, I'm not your mother, you know."

Liam exhaled slowly after releasing his complaint. I can understand how he feels, Allen seems to make him take care of things. Just because they were friends, Liam got dragged along.

"This is the third time you've challenged a lecturer and just left, why don't you check your grades? You're so confident you can graduate."

Liam leaned his back on the back of the sofa, making himself feel more relaxed and comfortable.

"For what? I already knew what it would look like, no need to think about it anymore" Allen replied.

Now their way of speaking is much friendlier, sounding calmer. I'm sitting in one corner of the sofa preferring to ignore the two of them. A book is in my hands, wide open and ready to be read.

"Then..Who is this child? She's sweet, yeah."

Liam approached me, then smiled widely. I retreated a little, it was strange to be stared too closely. I thought he could swallow my head round.

"Don't get close, she's my sister, of course she's cute" Allen said. He pulled me away from Liam.

"Marry your eyes again, my mother can bleed if she hears it. She's my sister since I got back here, just think of her as my present semester gift, easy right?"

Allen snorted, starting to get annoyed with Liam who kept questioning and lecturing him. Their friendship looks unique to me, just like a mother and child. Liam is in the mother position because he is very attentive to Allen and takes care of things for Allen.

Allen is in his son's position. Funny, isn't it? They often meet, but everything is fine between them. And the term mother and child is just a parable.

"Semester prize? You think he's stuff? Basic blonde sucks. Oh, your name is if it's not wrong...Haru, right?"

Liam looked back at me, I nodded, reciting his statement. His eyes were filled with question marks. It might be a little surprising to him to know that I'm Allen's sister. Moreover, because Allen did not give a better explanation.

"That's new.if it doesn't mean spring wrong, right? Why is your name like that?" ask Liam again.

I thought for a moment, that is the name someone gave me. And the reason he gave that name...

"You're not coming home? It's late now, if you want to go, it's better now."

I was just about to reply, but Allen had already dual spoken. He spoke without even turning his head to Liam. His green eyes were still fixed on the television screen which now played the news of the traffic accident on the highway.

The square screen featured the host, a well-dressed woman with red lips. The woman read the news with a super serious look, her eyes staring hard.

"I'd like to stay the night, would you? It feels lazy to go out again, it's dark and too cold" explained Liam

Now the black bead in Liam's eyes also listened to the news on television featuring a new topic, namely about clashes between residents in a hamlet. It features a group of people who are being held by each other and several police officers who are trying to mediate them.

"Well, it doesn't matter. You just sleep in Haru's room" replied Allen.

I who was engrossed in my reading was immediately shocked to hear it.

"Eh, where am I sleeping?" my protest.

"My friend, I don't want to sleep with him" Allen said.

"But I don't want to sleep with you,"

"Why? I'll make anything you want tomorrow, anything."

"That's not the case, you used to crush me while you slept. Remember the last time I slept with you? my body hurts all after that."

I recall when Allen had a fever two weeks ago. He asked me to accompany him and forced me to sleep there with him. At first, he slept quietly. The disaster began fifteen minutes later.

He kept moving, sometimes his hands had covered my face or his legs were on my stomach. And when she woke up at night, she would hold me tight because she thought I was her pillow. Was I that round until he mistook me?

It was unpleasant, my body felt a bit sore when morning came.

"Eh? Really so? Hehe.I didn't know that your body hurt because of me. This time I promise I won't do it again. Ha! Do we have to make pudding tomorrow? Haru, you want to, right? You like it, don't you?"

Allen again launched his appeal. I can't tell you what if it's related to pudding. He knows very well my weakness, and why am I able to be instantly devastated just because of that?

God damn.stupid me.

"Y-yes, all right," I replied.

"Good, submissive sister."

Allen rubbed my head slowly. There was a proud smile on his face for making me agree to what he wanted, even though I didn't like it.

I went back to my reading. However, Liam's question made me unable to focus on scanning every sentence listed on each sheet of paper in this book.

The question reminded me of something, my name. My name is short, consisting of only one word composed of four letters.

H-A-R-U

But that name is something precious to me. Because of that name, I have a goal that I want to finish immediately. Maybe it's not a big deal, but it's important to me.

I glanced towards the wall clock, it was now almost ten o'clock at night. Honestly, I'm getting sleepy.

Slowly, my eyes began to close because I could no longer keep them open. I fell asleep on the old couch without knowing what happened next.