Earthquake Forecast (Short Story)

Please read it with the consent of the guardian.

Two years ago, when Gu Jun and I were making out, I pressed my elbow on the TV remote control and the screen lit up.

"Experts predict that it is very likely that a direct-type earthquake will occur in Tokyo within 30 years, with an intensity higher than 8..."

In the beautifully produced 3D animation, the entire city has been reduced to ruins, leaving the red and white Tokyo Tower leaning alone.

"Kyoko, don't be distracted."

Gu Jun whispered, hitting me harder.

In the spasms of the climax, Tokyo Tower also collapsed. Tokyo was completely razed to the ground.

From that day on, I was sure that there would be a huge earthquake in Tokyo sooner or later. It doesn't take thirty years, it could be tomorrow, tonight, the next second.

Disaster prevention materials are necessary for daily life in Japan. I prepared two in the apartment, and specially placed them on the coffee table, which is easy to access like a tissue.

I know Gu Jun thinks it gets in the way.

If you see him come to my apartment and move the disaster prevention material box to the ground, you will know that he wants to do it on the coffee table today.

When I'm done, I always put the disaster prevention box back in place.

Repeatedly, Gu Jun no longer took the disaster prevention box and made it elsewhere.

"It's been there all the time, it's like a god, I'd better not touch it." Gu Jun said.

Gu Jun and I are colleagues and work in the managerial department of a chain coffee shop. It's not the one with the green mermaid logo. It's similar. There are a lot of branches in Japan. Brand advertisements claim to be using amazing coffee beans. In fact, people who come to drink coffee are only for the caffeine and the environment. It doesn't matter whether the coffee is good or not.

At the new employee gathering, I drank too much and became dizzy, and even blurted out this well-known secret: "The coffee in our store tastes like shabu-shabu water." The atmosphere was instantly frozen.

Like me, Gu Jun, who had just joined me, picked up a glass of beer and said, "Isn't drinking beer almost the same as drinking urine?"

Everyone chimed in, laughing hard to tell the difference between true and false.

After the meeting, Gu Jun was waiting for me at the station. He was standing at the corner of the entrance stairs, leaning against the wall, saw me, removed the earplugs and put them in the pockets of his brown trench coat.

This entrance is very remote, and I was a little surprised to meet my colleagues.

"Are you taking this route too?"

"Yeah, I often see you on the tram."

"I usually sit in a daze on the tram and don't pay attention to others."

"I thought you hated me and pretended to be invisible. It turned out that you just didn't notice me. Can you pay more attention from today?"

"Huh? Oh...I see."

Since then we have often met at the entrance or in the car.

Looking back, we never confessed to each other, nor did we understand whether we were in a relationship. There was a strange atmosphere that made me feel that I needed to do something to end this relationship, so I asked Gu Jun if he wanted to come to my house for a beer.

He said ok, get out of the car with me. We bought a few jars of SAPPORO at the convenience store along with Meiji chocolate and pocky. When paying, I casually grabbed a box of condoms and stuffed them into my shopping bag.

Opening the door, I took off my lace-up shoes while sitting at the entrance. Gu Jun put the shopping bag on the ground and squatted down to hug me.

The pre-drinking turned into a post-event drinking. I went through the whole process in a state of soberness. When I heard Gu Jun's confession, I was a little psychedelic, the world was spinning, and I couldn't distinguish between reality and dreams.

Gu Jun really doesn't like beer very much. The remaining cans of SAPPORO stayed in the refrigerator for several months, and I drank it all by myself on New Year's morning.

The company does not prohibit dating in the office, but I feel that it is embarrassing to fall in love with my colleagues. I try not to contact Gu Jun when I go to work, and I just say hello and leave when I see him.

If we don't work overtime, we will wait for each other at the corner of the subway entrance when we get off work. Get off at the stop at my house and drop by to buy ingredients and snacks. After dinner, Gu Jun and I watched TV for a while, and we did what we wanted to do. If it was not before the end of the electricity time, Gu Jun would take the tram home.

On weekends, Gu Jun is in my apartment from morning to night, bored playing Nintendo or watching TV shows.

Our relationship lasted over three years.

It was Gu Jun who proposed the breakup.

It was an ordinary afternoon, and Gu Jun and I were doing audits at the cafe's main store. I finished half a cup of shabu-shabu-like coffee, and was hesitating whether to finish the rest, when the earthquake alert rang from the phone in my pocket.

Not only my cell phone, but the cell phones of the surrounding customers and shop assistants were buzzing—

Earthquake, earthquake, please pay attention to safety.

I sat in the same position, still with the frozen atmosphere of the store, my heart beat faster and faster, throbbing.

However, after holding my breath for a few minutes, the floor didn't even shake.

"It seems to be a false alarm. There was a strong earthquake in the outlying islands of Tokyo, but not in Tokyo. Please continue to eat and drink with confidence." A clerk explained loudly.

The relaxed atmosphere of the store has returned.

I let out a sigh of relief, frowned and drank the rest of my coffee. Dissatisfaction surged, I lifted the glass and shook the ice cubes with a clatter.

Gu Jun moved away the toes that were originally attached to my toes, lowered his head and said to me, "Xiaozi, let's break up."

Compared with the earthquake false alarm just now, this sentence has real weight. I nodded and said, "Yes."

Gu Jun doesn't come to my apartment anymore. I put one of the disaster prevention products in the storage cabinet, and the other is still on the coffee table.

It just so happened that Jun Gu was transferred to another office location, and there was no need to meet again.

After breaking up with Gu Jun, my life is only work, and I will soon be promoted internally. In order not to go wrong, I rush to the office early every day.

The manager's office is near Hibiya Station, and there is a transparent elevator facing Hibiya Park. But the rise was rapid, and I could only play a puzzle, looking at a small piece at a time, and slowly piecing together a complete panorama of the park in my mind.

If there was a big earthquake while I was at work, Hibiya Park would be the best place to evacuate. At first, I thought about it like this, but after a long time it became a habit.

I never thought that I would see Tani-kun again at Hibiya Park.

One day, when I was walking to the station after get off work, a stone ran into the sole of my right foot. I wanted to go to the bathroom at the station and take it off, but the pain was extraordinary, like the daughter of the sea being punished, and every step was like stepping on the tip of a knife.

Passing by the fountain outside the gate of Hibiya Park, without regard for etiquette, I sat on the seat on the edge of the fountain, bent down, untied the laces of my lace-up shoes, turned the soles of the shoes, and shook out the stones.

But nothing fell out.

I still feel a foreign body after putting on my shoes.

I had to sit down again and turn the soles of my feet over to observe.

After careful identification, it was not a stone, but a small piece of my big toenail was broken and fell into the stockings. I took off the stockings in half, pulled out the toenail that had been embedded in my skin, wrapped it in a tissue, and tucked it into the trash bag I carried with me.

"Need sanitizing wipes?"

For a moment I dared not look up.

The pair of hands that had been caressed countless times reached out, and their slender fingers held a pack of extractable disinfectant wipes.

"thanks."

"Help you?"

"Ah, no."

I quickly disinfected the soles of my feet. After putting on socks and shoes, I took another one to disinfect my hands.

Gu Jun has already sat down in the vacant seat beside me.

"Long time no see," he said.

"Um."

"How have you been recently? I heard from the head of the management department at the party that you are serious about your work."

"That's right."

"Do you like this job?"

"It's very stable, the colleagues are easy to get along with, and the annual salary is also high, so there is nothing to be dissatisfied with."

The dry conversation made me want to cough.

"It's a pity that we broke up." Gu Jun said.

"Fate comes and goes."

"Does Kyoko date anyone now?"

Hearing the question, I looked into Gu Jun's eyes, his eyes seemed to be different from before. Where is the difference, I do not understand. If you have just met him and have never been in love with him, you may fall in love with such eyes at this moment.

"Yes," I said firmly.

"Did you do it?"

"Um."

"Is that so..."

"What about Gu-kun?"

Gu Jun was silent for a while.

"Before breaking up with Kyoko, I actually had a mental derailment."

"what happened?"

"My classmate who used to go to a music festival with me in college suddenly came to Tokyo. She asked me if I wanted to be in a band together, and she often asked me out to talk about the band. I don't think I fell in love with her, but I was like a demon, When she came to me, I couldn't help but go to the appointment. During that time, the life I had been living couldn't go on at all, and the things I thought were interesting became boring."

"including me?"

"Not including Kyoko. The time I spent with Kyoko was my happiest time. But during that time, I felt betrayed by you and was very painful, so I broke up with you."

"And then..."

"After I broke up with Kyoko, I formed a band, and I also resigned from the club. We recruited other members one after another, and now there are five people. It's going well, and I have a chance to perform recently. If Kyoko is interested, I will send the tickets. Here. Has your address changed?"

"No."

"That's good."

Gu Jun stood up, buttoned the amber button of his knitted jacket, and said goodbye to me.

Looking at the figure of Gu Jun leaving, I heard a loud noise from the fountain behind me, and scattered water droplets fell from the sky. The temperature around me suddenly dropped, and I sat stiffly until it was time for the last train to slowly walk towards the station. Going downstairs from the familiar entrance, there is only the sound of his own footsteps and the sound of the wind blowing up.

On the third day of meeting Gu Jun, I found a brown envelope in the mailbox before going to work. There was no stamp, and only the words "Xingzi Collection" were written on the envelope.

Open the envelope with two tickets inside.

The ticket is pure lemon yellow, with the band name "Lemon Bomb" and the special name "LIVE, SO GOOD" printed in the upper left corner.

The names of Jun Gu and other members are in Roman characters.

The performance time is tonight, and the performance venue is the large concert hall in Hibiya Park.

In the transparent elevator that goes up in the office building, I look at the big concert hall. The concert hall is usually closed, and I never went in to see the performance. I only occasionally heard the sound of performances and singing coming from it when I was walking at night.

What is Gu Jun's band performance like?

In high school, students from other grades formed bands, and many of them went to the stadium to watch their performances. At that time, I was focused on further studies and was not very interested. The university should also have a campus music festival. I was busy fighting for scholarships and part-time jobs, so I didn't go to join in the fun.

Viewed from a height, the seats in the concert hall are like landscape toys, giving me a strong sense of unreality. In contrast, the office building of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare behind the stage is sturdy and modern, giving me a very distinct impression.

In any case, I decided to watch Gu-kun's band performance tonight to make up the last piece of the puzzle in Hibiya Park.

In order to get off work on time, I did not rest all day, but a stack of reports came in just before get off work. Facing the framed EXCEL interface, the fingers kept tapping, and the lights in the office went out one by one, leaving only the one above the head. The air outlet of the central air conditioner hummed, and there was a sound of the elevator reaching the floor in the distance.

Suddenly feel bored about it all. If you want to refresh yourself with a cup of coffee, something like shabu-shabu water will do.

But it is obviously the manager of a coffee chain store, and the pantry does not even provide instant coffee. I drank a cup of hojicha and concentrated on continuing to enter data.

Overtime is over, it's already ten o'clock.

Walking into Hibiya Park with a glimmer of hope, the shout floated above the light source of the high-altitude lighting, and then landed in my ear. Identify carefully, as if shouting Encore. I trot all the way to the concert hall. There was a thick rope hanging at the door, and no one checked the ticket. I paused for a while and stepped over. Going around the wall, there is a sea of light in the concert hall, which are countless glowing sticks.

Encore's voice grew louder and deafening.

The dark stage suddenly lit up, the gathered crowd screamed wildly, and the afterimage of the glow stick dazzled me. I vaguely heard crying, turned around and saw the girl beside her sobbing with her mouth covered.

The band members walked to the stage one by one, with Gu Jun in front of the keyboard.

So Gu Jun can play the piano? I thought he didn't know how to play instruments, he was the lead singer.

Gu Jun was wearing jeans and a black short-sleeved T-shirt, with hair tied in front of a headband, exposing his entire forehead, shaking his body to the sound of drums, and playing with his fingers on the keyboard.

The guitarist, and another maybe the bassist, also started playing in ensembles.

The lead singer is a petite and cute girl. It's probably the college classmate Gu Jun mentioned.

The fresh and powerful singing perfectly fits the band name of "Lemon Bomb".

I paid attention to Gu Jun once again, he was playing attentively, not looking at the audience, but just meeting his teammates from time to time, he seemed to be laughing at the moment of meeting, and he was surrounded by a warm yellow halo.

When it came to the interlude, the singing paused, and the lead singer picked up the glow stick on the ground and jumped to meet the rhythm. The audience also jumped up.

I still stand up straight.

The scattered rhythm of the audience gradually became consistent, and I felt the vibrations coming from the soles of my feet. boom. boom. boom. The heart was beating violently, the brain was overwhelmed by the high-decibel music and shouting, and lost its ability to function.

Help. Want to call for help. But instead of making a sound, I coughed violently. The air in my chest could only get in and out, and I was about to suffocate.

Grasping the last bit of sobriety, I ran wildly outside the concert hall, reached the fountain, fell on the bench, and took a deep breath. It was as if I had just experienced a catastrophe and the rest of my life after the catastrophe, although I didn't feel lucky, there was also a subtle pleasure, which was transported by the heart to the end of the limbs together with the blood flow, which made my hands and feet tremble.

I took the ticket out of my pocket.

"LIVE, SO GOOD" - I softly recited the name of the show, tore off the ticket stubs, and threw them into the trash.

"Check in," I said to myself.

When I got home, I stuffed the remaining coupons into the disaster prevention box, and then stuffed the disaster prevention box under the coffee table. Turning on the TV, it just so happened that it was a speculative program about the direct-running Tokyo earthquake.

Before the Tokyo Tower fell, I switched to the live music channel and enjoyed LIVE until dawn.

END