"The sun's so bright... I want to go back to sleep."
The sixteen-year-old Yhodth Maeyurai muttered under his breath. His eyes averted from the bright sun's gaze. His eyesight was so bad he could barely see anything. If he were to describe it, it's like the colors are smudged on his eyes.
At this point, he was technically blind.
"Huff, there we go," Maeyurai said as he slowly set aside the warm blanket that enveloped his body.
It was another quotidian day for Maeyurai. There would be nothing new to leave him an impression. After making the bed, he headed off towards the bathroom leisurely.
Stepping out of his room, he took a right turn while his right hand was touching the wall.
First door... Oh, here it is. He thought to himself as he touched the doorknob to the door. His room was the third door at the end of the hallway, so just two doors ahead was the bathroom.
He entered the bathroom and spent a few minutes washing his face and hair; he would look into the mirror. He leaned in—and saw the same pattern that he would see whenever he looked closer into the mirror.
"I wonder... What do I look like...?" Maeyurai said under his breath, feeling sentimental about his poor eyesight. "If only I could see properly."
Maeyurai had lived his life not being able to recognize people. All he could see were colors that seemed smudged right into his eyes. And because of this, he could only rely on his ability to recognize patterns.
Knock knock!
There was someone knocking on the bathroom door.
"Maeyurai? Are you awake? Breakfast is ready; just head down when you're ready."
The familiar voice spoke behind the door; it was Shogen Shikkan, the foster father of Maeyurai. He was living alone together with his foster father, meaning that Shikkan is a single father.
Since Maeyurai had been an orphan since birth, there was no one to properly take care of him. However, a young adult around the age of twenty-one had seen the poor baby Maeyurai—and chose to adopt him.
"Okay, got it! I'll be there," Maeyurai replies, looking over in the direction in which he heard the sound.
After rinsing his face and hair with the products that he used, he dried his face with a towel gently and wore casual clothes prepared by Shikkan earlier. Heading downstairs slowly, his hand gripped the railing tightly to guide himself going down—so he doesn't fall.
The ambrosial scent of fresh bread and dozens of pastries filled Maeyurai's nostrils. Shikkan's baking never ceases to make Maeyurai's mouth drool.
"It smells good," Maeyurai said. "My day is already being made thanks to you, Shikkan." He spoke with a smile, looking at the faint brown color in the distance that had a similar pattern to the person he recognizes as his foster father.
Placing the plates and breads over the table, Shikkan would speak with a smirk. "Is that so? Well, eat to your heart's content then! I baked all these breads just for us. I feel that today might be a good day."
Of course, Maeyurai sat down on a chair eagerly, a smile still plastered on his face.
"Time to dig in!" Maeyurai said cheerfully, taking a bite of the crisp bread, the aftertaste of the chocolate inside melting on his tongue. Though he doesn't realize it, his face was showing so many pleasant expressions.
Shikkan, sitting on the other side of the table, merely stared at the blissful Maeyurai. The joy was so contagious it brought a smile upon Shikkan's face. Well, of course, seeing your own son enjoy a food you made will make any father happy.
A few minutes later, Maeyurai had finished eating. He drank from a glass of water to push down the food even further into his stomach and settled that his morning breakfast was finished.
"Thanks for the breakfast," he says. "I'll be going out for a stroll; I'll come back when the bakery opens."
Shikkan nodded his head, gathering the plates to place them into the kitchen sink to wash them later. "Okay, be careful out there."
Since Shikkan was a baker, it was only natural to assume that he would run a bakery. And of course, Maeyurai himself volunteered to be an employee of this bakery.
It was currently 5:30 AM; the shop opens at 6 o'clock.
"I believe I still have quite a lot of time to bask in at least five minutes of sunlight," Maeyurai said to himself quietly and walked downstairs, going to the main door leading outside. He searched for the doorknob before opening the door. Then, he stepped out onto the placid streets of Gangumen, the Nation of Freedom.
Maeyurai looked around the surroundings, trying to discern every single object he saw. Observing, hoping for a miracle that he would somehow be able to see an object's shape and its details.
Walking so deliberately, his steps wide and careful. He held the hem of his shirt with a mild grip, not too tight, not too weak for it to be considered a mere touch.
The hazy brown color going straight ahead continued to grow, as if it were endless to Maeyurai's perceptions.
"Hoy! The blind guy's out on his walk again!"
A loud voice yells out, an undertone of mockery hidden behind his words.
Tch. Maeyurai clicked his tongue in annoyance.
I absolutely hate this kid—he's always here tormenting me. Best I stop going in this direction.
"Stupid Maeyurai! You just stepped on shit!" Hoh'on Merico shouted out, making fun of Maeyurai for his slow movements and blank gaze.
Maeyurai flicked his head in the direction of where the voice came from. He was directly looking at Merico or his fuzzy silhouette of mixed colors. He had seen it so often that he could recognize Merico purely from his figure.
Liar. I didn't feel anything underneath me. I may not be able to see properly, but I can still feel what's underneath my feet. He thought to himself, mentally cursing at Merico for always picking on him.
"What the hell do you want?" Maeyurai asked.
"Oh, he finally spoke. How unexpected," Merico said to himself, walking confidently over to Maeyurai, a smug smirk displayed on his face.
He stood in front of Maeyurai and blocked the path. He crossed his arms and spoke. "You look way dumber than usual. Are you sure you're not losing any brain cells from being so blind?"
Head slanted at an angle from confusion, Maeyurai reflexively raised an eyebrow. That doesn't even make sense. Is he losing it? He thought to himself, looking directly at Merico's face, still trying to see what things look like.
"Ugh, I hate the way you're looking at me, but you're not at the same time." The bully spoke in a revolted tone, his face contorting in disgust. "Can you just please pluck your eyeball and throw it away? You look disgusting with it."
"Sorry, I couldn't care so much that I have to listen to you," Maeyurai said exasperatedly, growing tired of Merico's antics.
This was the usual interaction between the two. And of course, Maeyurai was used to it already, but it was still incredibly irritating to have someone making fun of you daily—always spoiling your peaceful morning walk.
Opening his mouth to speak again, Maeyurai was cut off by the brutal kiss of Merico's fist slamming on his face, throwing him off guard and to the floor.
Wham! Thud!
Noises of clothes ruffling and a thud of flesh could be heard. Maeyurai had fallen to his rear from the force of the punch of Merico.
"Tch. You piss me off. Just die already, you useless bag of meat. Can't even get mad."
Merico said to Maeyurai before collecting his saliva to spit it directly towards Maeyurai's face. He aimed for the eye, but his mouth wasn't accurate enough to hit so precisely according to his will. He then walks away like nothing happened, muttering something behind his lips. Probably something stupid.
Jerking his head as he felt the warm saliva hitting the left side of his cheek, Maeyurai shuddered in repugnance for having his clean face fouled by Merico's spit.
That piece of crap...! I swear, I'm going to give it to him one day! He gritted his teeth in anger quietly, his bright day going down the drain as his mental state turned from a sunny morning into a dark, stormy afternoon.
He stood up, using his hands to support his legs. He propped one knee and used his other leg to stand. Dusting himself, rubbing certain parts that were stained by the floor.
"That guy never ceases to be annoying," Maeyurai whispered faintly to himself as he continued to brush off the dirt on his pants.
Maeyurai exhaled to calm himself down. The stirring anger within his heart felt as if it were going to punch him, so he patted it with a sigh.
Looking ahead, the same old fuzzy colors remained. Nothing good will ever come if I let my feelings get ahead of me; I must stay rational all the time. He thought to himself, glancing at the surroundings.
Oddly enough—when he looked to his left at the pile of garbage, he saw a bright, blue, circular object. It closely resembled an eye. Maeyurai could recognize its shape. And somehow, he knew instantly that it was an eye.
Wait... Is that...?
He walked to his left and crouched down to take a closer look at the strange-looking eye.
"It's a frozen eye..." he said in a low voice, one so low that it almost was inaudible.
Reaching his right hand out, he took the hard, frozen eyeball onto his palm. Holding the frozen eye in his hand, a curious gaze on Maeyurai's face continued to show.
Why can I see this thing...? Were the words he spoke in his mind, dumbfounded by the strange eye that was randomly lying over a pile of trash.
Examining its appearance, the eye in his hand had a pale, white iris. Its retina was still red, as if it contained blood. Its optic nerves are cut off, looking like small little tentacles at the back of the eye.
Due to the warmth of Maeyurai's hand, the frozen layer of the eye melted.
"Huh?" Maeyurai uttered in confusion. Not because the eye was somehow immediately warmed by his hand, but because of its faint rattling, caused by seemingly nothing.
When the shaking started to get stronger, he felt the impulse to let go. But when he tried to throw it back to the pile of trash, he was met with something he'd never expect.
"Shit! It hurts!"
The eye's optic nerves connected into his palm, though not painlessly. It pierced through his flesh like nothing, delving deep into his blood vessels, searching for something within his body.
Because of the sudden intrusion, he was forced onto his knees, holding his right wrist as it shook violently.
Maeyurai screamed in agony; he felt immense pain all throughout his arm. Waves after waves of intense feeling of the muscle tissues tearing apart, alongside the feeling of his veins popping.
"No! No! Get out of me!" He yelled out in anguish, scratching away at his forearm like a suicidal person would. He did all he could to stop the pain, but it wouldn't stop.
The stretching optic nerves of the eye continued to travel agonizingly slowly inside of Maeyurai, steadily climbing up his shoulder up to his neck.
Squelch!
Due to this struggle, veins popped up all over Maeyurai's forehead and neck, looking as if a single gust of wind could tear them open.
AH! It hurts so bad! Someone, help me! He couldn't yell out. His throat felt dry and was so weak it couldn't exert force to create a sound or even a yelp.
The eye that he held in his right hand was gone; it was following alongside the path that its optic nerve took, creating a massive bulge in Maeyurai's limb as it journeyed its way towards its tail.
Help! Somebody help!
The optic nerve pierced through the gap of Maeyurai's brain. Maeyurai felt electrified, feeling sharp strokes of pain all throughout his body.
Then, Maeyurai froze—every single movement stopped.
His left eye shed a tear of blood, a possible sign that his brain might've been penetrated by the invading eye.
However, he stayed still.
Maeyurai's left eye falls out of its socket, as if it was never connected to begin with. Blood gushed out of the hollow orbit. He leaned over in shock, his whole body shivering.
What is that on the ground? Is that my eye? I can't feel anything!
As much pain as he felt earlier, now, he felt absolutely nothing. His nerves were dead; nothing could ever inflict pain on him now.
Maeyurai knelt over a puddle of blood, the source being the empty hole in his left eye socket. He closed his other eye in pain as he stumbled over, supporting his weight with his hand due to his weakening knees.
Fuck! Fuck! What the hell's going on?! I shouldn't have touched that damned eye!
His face distorting into a pit of sorrow, his remaining eye shed tears. He cried loudly.
However, he did not realize that the bleeding had already stopped.
And the second after, his eye grew back. Or to better describe it—it was replaced by the eye that entered his brain through his hand.