“Whew…”
As soon as he returned home, Moon Do-yun released a heavy, guilt-filled sigh. Though sighing didn’t exactly yank the guilt out of his chest.
The image of that little girl’s ankle—one foot missing, the stump blunt—had lingered in his mind ever since he entered the house with the 119 paramedics.
Even without trying to look, he couldn’t forget the handprints smeared on the unlit living room wallpaper. It was clear how the kid had lived— leaning on the wall, hopping around on her one good foot.
The noise complaints he and Soo-min had filed probably originated from there. The occasional thud must have been the sound of her tripping and falling.
Sitting on the couch, Do-yun sighed repeatedly, craving the cigarette he’d quit. All the while, he’d been cursing the upstairs neighbors without knowing the truth.
Judging by the state of the living room, the kid had been living alone for a while. But where had her parents gone? The house had turned so desolate.
Covering her medical bills had been an attempt to ease his guilt. Do-yun didn’t consider himself a particularly good person, but he wasn’t bad enough to ignore his own conscience either.
The doctor said the kid wasn’t seriously injured and could be discharged once she regained consciousness. So paying the bills felt like a cheap way to buy absolution. But it wasn’t enough to ease his mind, especially since he and Soo-min had raised a daughter of their own.
While Do-yun was zoning out in front of the TV, Soo-min came home.
“Hey, honey. You’re back? Is the upstairs kid awake?”
Do-yun spoke with a heavy voice, and Soo-min plopped down next to him, sighing.
“Yeah. She just woke up, so I brought her home. Remember that woman who killed her husband and went to jail? She did it because the kid was getting beaten so badly, she thought the kid would die. Turns out, that was the upstairs family.”
“That happened?”
“You mentioned it while watching the news. Anyway, the kid’s been living alone since. Her trash bags are full of instant noodle cups, and the house is just… empty.”
Though Do-yun hadn’t noticed, Soo-min seemed to have caught every detail.
He vaguely recalled someone bragging about their son or daughter getting into a prestigious university. With work consuming him, he hadn’t paid much attention.
But according to Soo-min, the girl had been struggling alone since her father died and her mother went to jail.
“Wait, wasn’t the upstairs kid in college? Why’s she so short?”
“You’re short too. Why are you picking on her height?”
“We’re not even from the same generation, come on…”
“Let’s just go to sleep. You’ve got work tomorrow. Why are you still up?”
Listening to his wife’s nagging, Do-yun sighed one last time and headed to the bedroom. Whether she was in college or not, or her height aside, Soo-min’s news only weighed heavier on his heart.
As a father himself, the thought of her being abused and now left alone was enough to make even the usually emotionless Do-yun’s eyes misty.
But if he cried, his wife would tease him. So, feeling the weight of it all, he lay down on the bed, turning away from the door to hide his face.
—
“Ugh… what a day.”
Coming home, I sighed first thing. With my leg like this, going outside isn’t exactly a walk in the park.
My downstairs neighbor lady helped me back, though. As much as it’s creepy being escorted like that, it’s also kind of awkward.
Anyway, to her, I’m probably just the noisy kid upstairs who keeps making sound by falling over. So it’s weird she’s so nice face-to-face.
But honestly, it’s not that surprising. People can talk all kinds of trash when they don’t have to see your face, but once they do, they turn polite.
Even in League of Champions, people flame you the moment things go south. Same with customer service—people scream at you when they can’t see you. Humans are just like that.
That’s why she’s so nice in person. Meanwhile, I remember when I fell and retaliated by banging on the ceiling. So her kindness felt surreal.
Why would she pay my medical bills? Why even bring me home?
But back home, the answer seemed obvious: “Be quiet from now on.” That’s probably what it meant.
And I guess it got through to me. I’m not gonna hop around carelessly anymore—not just because it hurts to fall, but because I don’t want to be a nuisance after she paid for me.
So I just crawled to my room. It’s a bit tricky and tiring to move with one leg, but I’ve still got my knee, so crawling’s not an issue.
That’s how I’ll get around from now on. I’m over the pain anyway.
As I moved toward my room, the sight of footmarks in the living room was annoying. I don’t remember being taken to the hospital, but apparently when I fell in the bathroom, neighbors rushed in.
What’s more annoying than strangers in my house? The fact that they left footprints. If the floor was just dusty, fine. But there are footprints everywhere, and it’s unsettling.
Oddly enough, that lady never leaves a trace when she visits. Guess the others didn’t get the memo and stomped all over my dust pit.
Isn’t that ironic? Normally, people get mad about dirty footprints in a clean house. Here I am, mad because my dusty house got cleaned.
When she comes next time, I’ll convince her to clean the living room too.
“By the way… where’s that lady…?”
I forgot to ask my neighbor earlier. Where did she go, and why was the neighbor lady by my bedside?
But eh, who cares. Probably ’cause the ambulance came, and everyone was curious. She’s the type to nag me at home, but going to the hospital with me would’ve been too much.
Looking at the clock on my still-on computer, it’s already 12:30 a.m. Most working folks would be asleep by now.
Not me, though. For League of Champions players, now’s prime time.
Anyway, that’s probably why the neighbor lady sent her home and came to the hospital with me instead. Since I’m usually up at this hour, she figured I’d wake up. If not, I’d have just passed out into sleep.
“Whatever, let’s play.”
All that’s in the past. I struggled to my chair and sat down. Since that whole mess, the penalties for skipping matches were gone.
People should stick to what they know. If I’d just kept gaming instead of taking a bath, I wouldn’t have ended up in the hospital.
…Not that bathing and cleaning aren’t important for basic human dignity. But hey, when the money runs out, I’ll just die. Might as well live carefree.
Maybe because there are so many people with the same lifestyle, the game found a match in under a minute.
In the ban-pick lobby, the chat immediately blew up:
Ah, the familiar symphony of trolls. This is the world I belong to.
Smirking, I prepared to dodge the game. Cutting it at 0 seconds, ready to wait for the next match.
