The announcement instantly scattered his thoughts.
He really had no idea what to do to face this exam.
"Each of you will be called to the consultation room, but other classes are still in session, so let's evaluate the material that will be on the exam."
In a matter of weeks, their class would soon face the final school exam that would determine the limits of their cognitive abilities.
But honestly, this interview session was more suffocating for someone like Rain.
During the evaluation, he could only stare blankly, his mind empty, all the brief lessons just passing through his ears.
But the time came for his class to face it.
"Okay, it's time for your class to go to the consultation room. Let's go and line up quietly to get there."
He could only follow along, staring blankly at the floor.
That blankness continued in his mind.
All he could think about was how to answer each question that would be asked. It was like a circle that never end.
They lined up in front of the consultation room, some were called in, and a few minutes later, others took their place.
Until it was his turn, the one he never wanted to come.
The steps to enter the door were really heavy, while the others were already trying to sit in front of the counselor, Rain was still walking slowly towards one of them, staring at the floor.
The empty chair signaled that this difficult test was about to begin.
Rain could only sit silently in front of his teacher. He was one of the good teachers at this school.
"Rain? Are you okay?"
He nodded, his mind still wandering.
"Okay, let's start now. I hope Rain can answer honestly."
One by one, the questions were asked, and one by one, his answers were only vague.
His teacher realized this. After all, her years of experience could not deceive her feelings and intuition about each of her students.
"Rain? Are you sure you have decided on your future goals?" she asked with a worried look on her face.
Rain, who was caught red-handed in this uncertainty, could only avoid her gaze.
All this time, she had been writing down our future career plans on a piece of paper. But only a few things about herself were filled in, and some of the information was still blank.
Turning the paper towards him, the teacher told me something else.
"You know, Rain? The school understands your situation, so we can talk about this another time when you've made your choice, okay?" he said with a slightly sour smile.
This time Rain looked into his eyes, which looked familiar. I didn't know if it was pity or empathy.
He took the paper like the other students and thanked the counselor, signaling that the session was over, at least for today.
Leaving the room, his homeroom teacher, who was still waiting by the door, called out softly.
"Rain, is everything okay?"
Before he knew it, the rest of the class had left. Only he remained. Time passed so quickly.
The homeroom teacher, who saw that the paper was still blank unlike the others, conveyed a similar message as before.
"It's okay. When you've decided, just contact me or another teacher. We won't pressure you and will wait until the last second," she said as she turned around and waved from behind.
He have to admit, his homeroom teacher was easygoing. But maybe people like her had been dealing with students like Rain in the past.
It was time for him to accept the fact that he lived surrounded by people's empathy.
Rain felt bad about his life even though he knew this was his destiny.
Time passed hour by hour during each class today. Like the time skip experienced by students in general, before we knew it, the bell rang and the students were running around in front of the gate.
The sound of the bell and automatic announcements still accompanied the afternoon. Some stayed behind to join clubs or extracurricular activities at school. Others hurried home, leaving their studies behind.
Meanwhile, Rain sat alone in his chair, still lost in thought.
Once again, he turned his face toward the golden sunlight and began packing all his belongings into the backpack.
As he walked toward the gate, he checked his part-time work schedule. And it turned out that today was his shift.
While staring at the sky, he usually said:
It was a difficult day.
That was one of the complaints that repeatedly lingered in the depths of his heart.
Unlike his commute path, he just walked leisurely to his workplace now, a convenience store in the neighborhood.
And as time passed slowly, the sky gradually changed from slightly golden to dark.
The dim street lights slowly turned on one by one. Sometimes the streets were still filled with the sounds of crowds or other noises, but this time it felt quiet.
As he took the last steps, a convenience store lit up the side of the road with bright lights from inside.
He entered his workplace and was greeted by a girl who was a little older than him.
She was a college student, her brown bangs tied back, giving her a unique beauty. But contrary to that impression, her face clearly showed signs of exhaustion.
She had once told him that she needed to take this part-time job as an additional job on top of the other work she was doing at the same time. But that information and the look on her face proved otherwise.
Rain stepped up to the counter to announce his arrival as the replacement for the next shift.
"Welcome—" but she didn't continue her greeting and instead said something else.
"Oh, it's you, Rain. You finally came, hueeeee. Can we switch shifts right away, please?"
Rain, who had just arrived, could only nod in agreement seeing the condition of his senior colleague. They entered the changing room to change into its own uniforms.
The uniforms they wore looked like the company's uniforms, with simple thick stripes model.
It didn't take him long to change his clothes to start the part-time job. But he think his senior colleague finished first, as she was already sitting in the break room for employees, lost in thought.
He didn't even notice that himself had finished and was ready to replace her.
On his own initiative, Rain often took a glass of water from the dispenser to drink before starting my shift, with an extra glass for my senior.
"What's wrong, senior?" he said as he sat down for a moment and handed her another glass of water.
"Ah, thank you, Rain. It's nothing," she said, despite her weary and worried expression.
People often act and speak like that, especially those who are trying to hide their difficulties.
For Rain, it's normal, just like himself. But well, maybe she can't feel anything about his very own problem. Rain slightly feels numb to his own life.
But for other people, he can't ignore things like this. Even though it's not really appropriate to pry into other people's information or problems.
"You know, senior, your face doesn't show that." Rain said as he gulped down a glass of bland water that sometimes tasted strange.
A little surprised, her eyes looked at me for a moment and she began to touch her face, trying to find out what troubled expression she had.
"Ahahaha, you're right, Rain. I'm just a little tired, but luckily you came quickly. I'm really fine."
See. She even started to admit that she has a little problem. But even with strong encouragement, Rain didn't believe that the senior would reveal all of her problems.
"Okay, be careful on your way home, you'll never know what's out there."
"Thank you, Rain. I'll be careful. And good luck with your shift, hehe." she said with a forced smile.
He closed the door and never looked back at that particular door. The workers usually went out through the back of the building, so he was used to not seeing his colleagues anymore, especially at night like this.
"Maybe she has problems with his family..."
His instinct told him so. And he always trust his instincts.
It's not always right, but it's not far off.
But what can he do?
The world will remain silent, and so will he.
For him alone, he can't change anything.
Time passed, customers came and went, barcodes were scanned, marking the products sold.
For him, this is a job to fill his free time and it is also exhausting. And he needs the money to live.
There are no acquaintances or clichéd stories happening around him. And the clock shows 11 o'clock, signaling that the store must close.
After carrying out the closing protocol and doing a little cleaning, all the doors must be locked immediately and his body also begins to show signs of fatigue.
All the keys used have duplicates in the hands of the manager who usually comes before closing, but this time, as the last shift, he can do it for him. And everything will be returned during tomorrow's shift.
Just like when he arrived, the streets and dim lights in the neighborhood remain.
Rain can only walk back home, where he is free to rest immediately.
There was no need to worry about any danger, unlike the world outside, where monster gates could appear at any time. Rain never believed that one would appear right in front of him.
At least not in the city, because the nearest gate was out there, relatively high up, and could block other gates, or so the local government said.
The silhouette of the house began to appear, recognizable to him like a cat marking its ball of yarn.
He opened the door to the house, and indeed, no one else would be there to greet him.
Rain checked all the other rooms before going up to the second floor to the bedroom, the only room inhabited by humans.
He couldn't afford to cook late at night and he didn't intend to do so.
But at least he wanted to take a shower, hoping it would ease his fatigue.
While soaking in the tub, he thought about the school assignment that had to be handed in tomorrow, and sure enough, it was there.
After drying off and changing clothes, he had to fight off sleepiness to do the assignment.
Sometimes he thought that it wouldn't matter if all the answers he gave on the assignment were wrong and he did so.
Moreover, fighting this sleepiness was like a burden piled on his eyes and neck, telling his brain to go to sleep immediately.
After finishing the assignment, he prepared to sleep and didn't forget the habit taught by his parents.
"Thank you, God, for the difficult day you gave me."
And his eyes closed.
Not knowing that something new awaited him.