Act One : Commitment

“Oop! This isn’t—I missed my turn, didn’t I?”

No, unnie. Don’t go that way! 

“No worries, look. Says we can go that way instead, it’ll connect.”

No, don’t tell her that. No, unnie! Go the other way, go around! Don’t take that route!

I can’t move, I can’t speak, I can’t do anything. Unnie! Unnie! Don’t—

Kotone jolts awake in a cold sweat, breathing heavily and clutching her chest. Reorienting herself in the darkness, she turns off the alarm on her watch, slowly smoothing out her breaths. They return to normal with a relieved sigh when she sees the woman beside her still sleeping soundly.

She wipes the sweat off her face and gets out of bed, being extra careful when tucking the blanket back over the sleeping figure. She stirs a little bit, but stays asleep. Kotone hums and lightly caresses her hair before quietly walking to the kitchen.

Still partly awake, she washes the rice cooker’s pot and makes another batch for the day. A calendar on the opposite wall sways lightly as she closes the cooker’s lid. She squints at the dates, taking a bit to remember which one to call today. 

“Mm, Wednesday. Eighty-five days now.”

Rice cooking, last night’s stew is next, put over the induction stove to slowly reheat. The soft hum it emits makes it harder for her to stay awake, not helped by the meager four hours of sleep she got.

Her head keeps falling and twitching back up, continuing to doze away even when the stove turns off. What does surge her awake is some thumps and rustles from the nearby hallway, accompanied by sleepy hums.

“Eh?” Kotone walks over and groans upon seeing the source. “Kae-chan!”

“Mm? Tone-chan! I’m just going…bathroom,” Kaede rasps, turning her head to Kotone’s voice as she lightly hops on one foot.

“Aish, why didn’t you call for me? Here.” Kotone dashes to her side, putting her arm under Kaede’s.

“I’m getting better! It doesn’t hurt as much,” Kaede whines, but settles her weight on Kotone anyway. “Ooh! I also remember all the Braille signs you installed now. Cool, right?”

Kotone clicks her tongue, wiping away some drool on Kaede’s chin. “That’s very good, but…” She turns on the bathroom lights. “ …it’s very early. You’re still too sleepy, Kae-chan.”

“Tsch. I won’t get better if you help me all the time,” Kaede pouts, her hand rummaging around for the door frame. 

“I know, but not right now. Later, when you’re more awake. Okay?”

Kaede doesn’t answer, limping past her. “Kae-chan.” Kotone tries following her inside, but Kaede grunts and waves her arm. “I can find it! Go…watch the breakfast, Tone-chan.” 

Kotone stops in place, watching with bated breath as Kaede feels her way around the bathroom. Only when she finds the toilet does Kotone relax and back away, closing the door.

She leans on a nearby wall, multiple big yawns escaping her. She looks down the hallway, through the open door of the spare bedroom. The one she would have occupied whenever she was here. 

Before she was made a resident.

“Oh, unnie. What should I do?” she huffs, pulling her hair back and rubbing her eyes. “It feels like…I’m always doing too much or too little. Never just enough.” 

Upon hearing the toilet flush, she straightens up and clears her throat, palms rubbing on her thighs. “Ah. I’ll figure it out, surely. You believe in me, don’t you? Just until you come back,” she murmurs, peering at the front door. “Until you come back.”

Kaede opens the bathroom door, drying her hands on her shirt. She starts hobbling towards where Kotone is before the latter calls out, “Kae-chan.” Kaede stops, then goes around her, using the other wall to navigate.

“I’m sorry,” Kotone says, slowing Kaede back to a halt. Kotone takes the chance to move in behind her. “I’m sorry for being…too much. It’s just that…” She pauses for a few, both of them holding their breaths until she slowly wraps her arms around Kaede. “I’m sorry.”

Kaede’s mouth tugs up into a small smile, stroking her forearm. “Tone-chan. I know you want to do everything you can.”

“Mm.”

“That includes letting me go, from time to time.” She looks over her shoulder. “You can do that, can’t you?”

Kotone tightens her grip ever so slightly, then loosens it again, nodding. “Okay. I can do that.”

“Thank you.” Kaede’s smile grows to full length, staying in Kotone’s arms for a little while before gently pushing them off. “I’m going back to bed.”

“Can I…hold your hand, at least? On the way back?”

Kaede bites her inner cheek, then clicks her tongue. “Only if you’re also going back to sleep.”

“Ah. But…the rice, and—”

“If you’re gonna carry on, carry on. If you’re going with me, you go all the way. Back to bed.”

Kotone lightly chews on her bottom lip, glancing between Kaede and the kitchen. “Alright. Just…be careful.”

“All due respect, I’ve known this place longer than you have,” Kaede chuckles, finding the nearby wall again.

“Be careful anyway!” Kotone retorts, grinning. She stays behind Kaede for a bit, close enough to jump in if anything happens. Her body eventually diverts to the kitchen, but her eyes stay on Kaede until she reaches the bedroom door.

“Sleep well, Kae-chan. You’ve earned it,” Kotone mumbles to herself, leaning against the counter near the rice cooker. She runs her fingers over the countertop, then looks up at the calendar again.  

“I know I haven’t.”

“I will keep that in mind. Thank you, Eunsung-ssi,” Taeyeon smiles, closing her notebook. “Next, um…Kotone-ssi! How’s your side looking?”

Kotone sets down her ice tea, wiping her fingers before unmuting. “I’ve uploaded the latest revisions to the cloud, ma’am. All six faces.”

“Really? I didn’t see—let me check.” Increasingly frequent and loud clicks are heard as the head architect scowls at her screen. “Ah! Didn’t update for some reason, tsk. Here they are. Let’s see…”

Taeyeon makes multiple hums as she scans Kotone’s work, rounding off with positive nods. “Okay! These look good, but…” She fixes her glasses, leaning closer to the camera. “ …what's with the delay? Pretty big one at that. Especially for you, Kotone-ssi.”

Kotone drums her fingers on the table, sucking a long breath before answering. “There are…many unique materials on the revised facade, as we know. With very specific vendors, at that. I mean, the southwestern faces alone have eight!”

“Right.”

“Well, I had to double, triple check with every one of them. Made sure they’re able to deliver by the required window.”

“I see—wait. Wasn’t…” Taeyeon puts a finger on her lip, tilting her head. “That’s Hordijk’s section. Why were you handling it?”