The scorching summer had finally come to an end, and winter was already upon us. Autumn, which should have been nestled between them, had vanished so quickly I could hardly be sure it had existed at all. Having finished unpacking from my move, I sat by the window, basking in the late afternoon sun as it streamed into the room. Outside, the world was in the midst of the Christmas season; shop windows were adorned with Santas and reindeer, and Christmas trees could be seen here and there throughout the city.
Feeling a slight chill, I pulled a blanket from the closet. As I wrapped myself in it, I must have fallen asleep. Before I knew it, a strange, floaty sensation began to wash over me. Then, a vision appeared: I was looking down at myself, sitting there by the window. This must be a dream, I thought. I flinched instinctively, and simultaneously, my body below moved ever so slightly. Testing the sensation, I tried to make my body stand up from the chair—it rose without any effort at all. I see, this is interesting, I thought. It felt exactly like controlling a character in a video game. As I moved my body toward the closet, my perspective followed right along with it. I could see my usual coats and jackets hanging neatly inside. Satisfied, I began to wonder about the world outside. Could I go out? After draping a coat over my shoulders, I decided to head out into the garden.
It was a surreal feeling. I wondered what on earth was happening. As a soft breeze brushed against my cheeks, the sensations of sunlight and air were transmitted to me through the medium of my body. Outside, the warm afternoon sun poured down, while a cold wind blew refreshingly. If this was happening in a dream, then it was all within my head—and yet, my perspective wasn’t inside my head. I was looking down from above. The moment I realized this, a sudden wave of anxiety hit me.
Was this really a dream? Or was it reality? How could I tell for sure? I felt an overwhelming urge to see someone. If I could just talk to someone else, perhaps I could prove this wasn’t a dream. But I had no one to turn to at a time like this. I recklessly threw open the gate and stepped outside to find a familiar landscape. The road ran along the river, stretching toward the city center. I hadn’t been that way yet. I wondered what would happen if I went there.
For a while, I marched along the sidewalk. Quiet residential streets continued, but not a single soul was in sight. My heart pounding, I turned a few corners and left the residential area behind. Suddenly, I let out a small gasp. I had reached the main boulevard leading to the city center, where cars were streaming past.
Was this actually happening in reality? As I watched the passing cars, my perspective remained suspended in the air, looking down at myself. I walked along the road and saw several izakaya pubs huddled together. I scouted them one by one from the outside until one particular shop caught my eye. At a glance, its exterior felt different from the others. It was a dark brown brick building, standing quietly yet sturdily between shops decorated with colorful neon signs. A “Now Open” sign was displayed. The calm atmosphere suited my taste. I wondered if I could actually drink alcohol here. Already in the mood to test it out, I decided to go in for a drink.
When I entered the bar, a thin veil of cigarette smoke drifted through the air—a rarity in this day and age. True to the impression of the exterior, the interior was old-fashioned and wood-themed. The left side was entirely counter seating, while a grand piano stood in the center. Tables surrounded it, but perhaps because it was still early evening, most were empty. There was no one at the counter, and only two or three groups were at the tables. There are people here. Feeling a flutter of nerves, I took a seat at the counter. It was good to see people, but how was I to verify what exactly was happening? I couldn’t exactly ask a stranger—especially if this was reality.
“Welcome. May I take your order?”
Presumably, this man was the master of the bar. There were several staff members behind the counter, but he looked the oldest. I ordered a beer and a side of french fries, and the drink was brought to me immediately. Worrying for a moment whether I’d have to worry about “leaking” it later, I took a small sip from the mug. It was delicious. It was definitely real beer. So, is this reality after all? Thirsty as I was, I drained the glass in no time. It was a bizarre sensation to watch myself quenching my thirst from the side. Just as I was about to call the master for another round, I overheard a conversation from the table behind me.
“That’s why I told you we shouldn’t have,” a thick, male voice said.
“Even so, you wanted it too, didn’t you?” a high-pitched female voice replied.
“But what are we going to do now? It broke so easily. So much for being ‘durable,'” the man muttered, sounding dejected.
I missed the rest of the conversation regarding what had broken, as my attention was diverted by the arrival of my appetizers. However, the moment I heard the next words, I accidentally choked. I let out a forced cough to cover up the loud noise my body had made below.
“It’s their fault. They wouldn’t back down until the end. There was nothing we could do,” the woman whispered in a low tone.
“And we went to such trouble to find it,” the man’s voice sounded defeated.
“Don’t get so depressed over this. We still have time, don’t we?” the woman encouraged him.
Feeling awkward that my body had reacted by choking, I focused on drinking my beer. Maybe if I get dead drunk, this strange occurrence will resolve itself, I hoped, yet I couldn’t help but keep listening.
“We have time, but that kid wanted it more than I did. You know how much they were looking forward to it.” The man seemed unable to let it go.
“It’s just a wristwatch! There are plenty of others. We still have time before Christmas, so we can just find another one, right?” The woman’s voice was half-teasing, half-exasperated.
“I don’t care if it’s the ‘Christmas rush’ or whatever; getting into a physical scuffle during a sale is ridiculous. What kind of business are they running?” Anger seeped into the man’s voice.
“You really don’t know how the world works, do you?” the woman said, clearly amused.
I let out a deep sigh and quietly set down the beer mug my body was holding. For me, this was unpleasant conversation to have as a side dish to my drink. Growing increasingly irritated, I began to shove the remaining fries into my mouth with reckless abandon. The woman’s words burned into my mind:
—You really don’t know how the world works, do you?—
I downed the rest of my beer and asked for the check. After paying quickly, for some reason, I felt the urge to express my irritation excessively through my body. With my shoulders squared in an exaggerated huff, I left the bar.
Outside, it had grown completely dark, and a heavy, cloudy sky stretched overhead. Blasted by a wind so cold it felt like my skin was freezing, I looked up at the sky, which seemed ready to drop snow at any moment. Where should I go next? Should I go home for now? No. Since I was out, I decided to see a bit more of the city first. Feeling somewhat at a loss, I started walking my body down the sidewalk. There were clearly more people out than before I had entered the bar. Letting myself be carried by the flow of the crowd while observing the city, I passed a family of three coming from the opposite direction. A child swung playfully between their parents, holding their hands.
“Daddy, Mommy! Thank you for the present!”
“What are you talking about? We’re going to buy it now.”
“Goodness, this child is so impatient.”
“But we have to hurry! Or all the presents will be gone!”
Watching the happy family, I felt a twinge of pity for the pair I’d met in the bar. They had likely bought a present for their child, only for it to be broken in a scuffle during a sale. Christmas truly is an occasion for celebrating with family.
Suddenly, my consciousness began to flicker. I caught a glimpse of the two people still in the bar. No way… Could I leave my body and peer inside the bar? I tried to concentrate my awareness on the bar. I saw nothing… What was that just now? As I pondered why I had seen the inside of the bar, a flash of pain shot through my body.
“Hey! Watch where you’re going!” An older man shouted over his shoulder as he walked away.
It seemed my body had failed to dodge the crowd and bumped into him. I apologized and rubbed my arm as if enduring the pain. Watching my own body apologize after being bumped into made me even more irritated. As I cursed him out in my mind, my consciousness flickered again. There it is. Determined not to let it go this time, I focused on the two of them. This time, I was able to peer into the bar while still maintaining awareness of my own body.
The two were silently continuing their drinks. What kind of special ability have I acquired? I wondered, pulling my body toward the side of the road to avoid bumping into anyone else, when the man abruptly started talking.
“That guy sitting in front of us earlier—he was definitely eavesdropping, wasn’t he?” The man narrowed his eyes and stared at the entrance.
“What a weirdo. I’m starting to feel uncomfortable. Let’s get out of here and finish drinking somewhere else.” The woman muttered this as she stood up slowly and headed for the register.
“Oh. My watch has stopped.”
“It probably broke during that scuffle at the sale. There’s a watch shop nearby. Let’s have them fix it. Maybe they can fix the one we bought, too.” After the woman paid, the two left the shop.
“Which way?”
“This way,” the woman began to lead.
At that moment, I realized which direction they were heading. At this rate, they would run right into my body. I snapped my consciousness back to my body standing on the sidewalk; I was right in front of a watch shop. A modern facade with a geometric pattern emphasizing curves made the display case facing the street stand out. Was this just a coincidence? Or was my body’s location the same as their destination? Or perhaps, it was because they overlapped that I could spy on them? When I shifted my focus back to the pair, the line of pubs along the road had changed into a series of Christmas shop windows.
“Is this the city center area?” the man asked, looking around.
“Yes.”
“I thought it was around here…” the woman began to scan the area as well.
I also looked around to see if there was a watch shop nearby, and a small groan escaped my body. Across the street, I saw a display case embedded in a peculiar facade.
“Isn’t that it?” the man muttered, pointing.
“That’s the one. Let’s go.”
The two of them approached the watch shop via a nearby crosswalk. I hurriedly returned my consciousness to my body and scanned my surroundings. Right next door was an old-fashioned bookstore packed with books. There couldn’t be a better place to let them pass by. Hiding in the shadow of a young couple who were browsing the display case, I walked my body quickly into the bookstore. I grabbed a nearby book and pretended to browse while focusing my consciousness on the “duo” once more.
They didn’t seem to notice me. As they finished crossing the street and reached the watch shop, I could hear the conversation of the young couple looking at the display case.
“Isn’t this cool? I think it would look good on you!” The woman spoke in a bouncy, excited voice, pointing at a black wristwatch. She was wearing a white knit sweater and shorts—an outfit that made me feel cold just looking at it.
“Eh? This one? Black, huh… Hmm…” The man furrowed his brow, groaning as he crossed his arms. He was dressed almost entirely in black, with a black sweater and dark jeans. Despite that, his indecisive pondering was so funny that a smirk began to spread across my face as I hid in the bookstore. A businessman browsing next to me began to stare suspiciously at the cover of the book in my hands. The title was Exposed! An Introduction to Structural Mechanics. Feeling his gaze, I slowly put the book back and, pretending to be serious, reached for a different shelf.
“Welcome! Take your time and look around!”
Composing myself, I looked back at the duo, and a boisterous greeting rang out. A middle-aged man wearing round glasses and a beret was attending to the two from behind the counter. He was likely the owner of the watch shop.
“Excuse me. I’d like to ask for a watch repair. Can you take a look?” the woman called out to the owner.
“Sure thing! Let me see the watch!”
“It’s this one. What do you think?” The woman pulled a wristwatch out of a paper bag. The front cover was gone, and the hands were bent.
“Hmm. With this much damage, I could fix it… but it might be faster and cheaper just to buy a new one.”
“I see,” the woman sighed, dejected.
“How about this one? I think the battery just died. It’s been stopped since last month,” the man said, taking off his own watch and placing it on the counter.
“Yes! This will take less than five minutes. I can handle it! Just a moment!” The owner started to hurry into the back, so the woman quickly called out to stop him.
“Wait! How much will it be?”
“Oh, don’t worry about it! For something like this? It’s Christmas month, so it’s a free service!” The owner shouted this back in an unusually loud voice as he began searching for something in the back of the counter.
“It’s been stopped since last month?”
“Sorry. I just remembered.”
The woman let out an exasperated sigh.
The owner seemed to be a very high-energy person. While the two whispered about that, they looked around the shop. Then, the young couple who had been browsing the display case outside entered the store. I see, the free service might have been a way to lure in customers, I thought. The woman, perhaps feeling she’d gotten a little lucky, waited with her head down, suppressing a smile.
“Wow, so stylish!” The woman in the white knit was still buzzing with excitement.
“Yeah. They have a great selection here,” the man in black muttered.
The selection was indeed vast, but the shop was surprisingly cramped, and the young couple’s conversation reached the duo directly. Glancing at the young couple, the man whispered:
“Ah, youth. Even in the dead of winter.”
The woman in the white knit raised her hand slightly and gave the man in black a light tap on the shoulder.
“Hey! How about this one?”
“Eh? Black again? Hmm…”
“Welcome! Take your time and look around!”
The owner returned. He seemed in even better spirits than before.
“Now then, I think I can replace it with this!” The owner popped the back of the watch and quickly installed the battery he’d brought.
“There! The hands are moving. Everything looks good!”
“Thank you very much. Are you sure it’s free?” the man asked as he took the watch back.
“It’s fine. It’s on the house!”
“Thank you,” the woman said with a slight bow, and the owner responded with a bright smile.
“Come again!”
“Excuse me. Which watch do you think would suit him perfectly?” the woman in the knit called out to the owner. Behind her, the man in black was scowling, locked in a staring contest with a black wristwatch. For a split second, the owner looked visibly stumped.
The woman seemed unable to hold it in any longer. Smothering her laughter as best she could, she hurried out of the shop. The man hurriedly followed after her.
It had grown even colder outside. The people passing by were all bundled up in their coats, walking briskly. Where was everyone going? And yet, here I was, the one wandering the city without a destination. The thought made me feel a lingering sense of loneliness. Both the pair I’d followed from the bar and the young couple at the watch shop were moving with someone they cared about in mind. Christmas is a chance to deliver those feelings through the act of giving. With a deep sigh, I decided it was time to return to my own body and focused my consciousness inward. My breath rose in white plumes, drifting up toward the cloudy sky.
