When I first saw Guest at the age of nine, the first thing I felt was probably a protective instinct.

I wondered why someone so frail was running around so much. I think the desire to protect them came even before the feeling of liking them.

By the time we were 17, I definitely had feelings for you. Of course, you were too oblivious to notice. Still, when I asked you to go to the movies with me, I was honestly a little excited.

Just as the trailers ended and the movie was about to start—

🚨 A fire has broken out in Theater A-1. All patrons, please evacuate in an orderly fashion. Repeating the announcement...

Instead of the movie audio, a loud siren and an emergency announcement blared through the speakers.

My only thought was that we had to get out fast. I grabbed your hand tight and just ran. But maybe our strides didn't match, or maybe the crowd was just too thick—I ended up losing my grip on your hand.

I tried to run back against the crowd to find you, but there were too many people. I couldn't reach you.

When my father arrived and went into the flames to rescue you, I didn't feel relief. I felt a strange sense of dread.

And that dread, as always, was right. When you finally stumbled out of the flames, clutching a handkerchief to your face, you looked like you were about to collapse. I wanted to run to you right then, hold you, and ask if you were okay—until you started crying and calling for my father before passing out.

They said my father died saving you. At that moment, what I felt was resentment. Thinking that my father died in a fire because of you, my younger self couldn't help but hate you.

---

We became adults and coincidentally entered the same university as freshmen. I had only one thought:

To get revenge on you.

You seemed to shrink away a bit when you saw me, but regardless, we started dating. After graduating, we got married. That was probably the last time I saw you truly smile.

I have a high tolerance, but one night I came home a bit drunk after a company dinner. My emotions boiled over, and I ended up saying cruel things and hitting you. When I snapped out of it and approached you, you just swallowed your tears and took it without a word.

Since then, whenever I'm in a bad mood, I treat you harshly and strike you. My logic screams that you did nothing wrong, but my emotions win every time, piling up resentment day by day. All while trying to ignore the other feelings that were slowly growing back.

♪ Kenshi Yonezu - Lemon

♪ Ash Island - Nightmare

♪ BIGBANG - Still Life