I stretch out my limbs as I woke up, feeling the sunlight shining on my face as I open my eyes groggily. However, the color of the ceiling was different from usual as my gaze land upon it.
Normally, I should be seeing a stained ceiling, the one I'm looking at is a lot more different, itwas very white, resembling some newly constructed property.
Come to think of it, I don't even remember having such a stylish light fixture in my home. With a slight sense of unease, I quickly sat myself up and got out of bed and looked around the room.
The pot of aloe vera I've been growing by the window, the French language textbook I've been studying meaninglessly recently — they were certainly mine.
However, the room is too spacious. I should have been living in a typical, small ordinary space of an apartment, but the current room I'm in is about the size of a private room in a hospital where I was once hospitalized.
At first, I suspected that I had fallen ill or something, but since I have my belongings, it's hard to imagine it being a hospital. Besides, it feels like a place with signs of life, undoubtedly someone's home, and that someone is probably me.
Then, is this some kind of dream? Maybe it's because of my state of emotional exhaustion in the real world that I'm seeing this dream in my sleep?
I tried pinching my cheeks and the back of my hand, and although I felt pain, I couldn't obtain any confirmation that it's not a dream, could this be what they call a lucid dream?
On the wall, uniforms that appeared to have been cleaned were hanging on hangers, covered with transparent plastic.
Am I some king of high school student in this situation? However, the uniform is completely different from what I used to wear; it's a blazer type.
In other words, I think it's highly likely that I'm seeing a dream as a completely different person, not my past self.
Maybe I can become some cool person in this dream just for a short period of time. Although I was somewhat afraid to look in the mirror, I made up my mind and checked my appearance in the full-length mirror that was in the corner of the room.
What was reflected was the image of me from about 10 years ago. It wasn't that different from now; it was me at around 16 years old. For me, it was a face that was already becoming something I didn't want to see.
'I couldn't even become the person I want to be in a dream...' I thought to myself, my heart sinking slightly. The face I've come to dislike, which was one of the reasons I lost confidence, I have to see it even in a place like this.
With the realization that even the faint hope I had in the dream was shattered in a matter of minutes, I quickly concluded that this dream was a nightmare. So, in a fit of frustration, I decided to just lie down on the bed once again.
If I go back to sleep and wake up, will I return to the original world again? Although I'm not enthusiastic about returning to that boring world, it's an inevitable thing at this point...
As I tried to fall asleep amidst a sense of emptiness, I heard a knocking sound on the door of the room. Though slightly surprised, I decided to just ignore it and made no effort to get up.
The knocking sound resonated three more times. Maybe it was my mother in this dream, coming to wake me up for school..? Hmm, this 'story' seemed to be partially constructed despite it being a dream.
However, to me, the value of this dream was nullified by the appearance I had in it. Even if I had become a high school student again by some chance, it didn't really sway me.
So, I turned my back to the door and remained motionless on the bed, as I always did.
"Um, excuse me..."
After uttering these humble words, the person who had knocked entered the room.
I felt a sense of incongruity with their humble posture. If it was my mother, would she use such a respectful manner of speaking? Moreover, the voice seemed too young for it to be my mother.
Curiosity got the better of me, and I slowly sat up, cautiously deciding to confirm the identity of the woman. I found myself locking eyes with her standing there.
She wore a plain yellow apron, her long hair gathered into a ponytail. Her eyes were almond-shaped, perfectly complemented by her slender eyebrows.
Her lips appeared small but soft, and I estimated she was in her early twenties. Amongst all the women I had encountered up close, she definitely belonged to the top category of beauty.
she definitely wasn't my mother. I couldn't fathom a woman like her being my mother, as she couldn't possibly have aged that much.
Simultaneously, a slight desire arose within me to observe the true nature of this 'dream'.
'Perhaps this dream was a manifestation of my repressed, dark desires, a so-called lewd dream that allowed me to release them in a pleasurable form, known as nocturnal emission...' I shamefully entertained this thought as I keep a straight face.
The woman in front of me merely gazed back at me, her demeanor seemed somewhat perplexed as I silently looked back at her without saying a word.