Seraphim is a Bystander

A Man’s Day Off
(From ???’s Perspective)

 
I woke up to the blaring sound of my phone alarm.
The clock read 6:30 a.m.
Just barely enough time to get ready for work, but honestly, sleep mattered more than a rushed morning.
"…Yawn."

Rubbing my heavy eyelids, I sat up from the creaky, hard bed. As I tried to recall what work I had today, a certain realization struck me, and I checked the date on my phone.
“…It’s my day off?!”
I must’ve set the alarm out of sheer habit last night.
This is all because of that damn boss…! Making me do five hours of overtime while he just clocked out right on time—like hell that makes any sense! What’s the point of finishing work on time if no one’s around to confirm it!?

“…Ugh. Guess ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) I’ll go back to sleep.”
Trying to cool the blood that had rushed to my head from that unpleasant memory, I took a sip of water, turned off the alarm, and threw myself back into the hard bed.
"Aaah… Beds in business hotels are comfier than my own."

For the past six months, I’d been constantly on the road for work, only home a few times a month.
And somehow, the cheap mattresses in company-paid hotels were better than the one I bought with my low salary.
Depressed by that fact, I pulled the blanket over my head to block out the morning sun.
…Work. Bosses. Training newbies. Paychecks. Overtime. Switching jobs.
With the world under the blanket pitch black, my thoughts just kept spiraling.
Back when I was a student, I’d fall asleep excited for the next day, full of dreams and plans. Now, I could barely even remember what hobbies I used to have.
"…Screw it, I can’t sleep."

Giving up on sleep, I got up again and opened my fridge, which hardly saw any use these days since I was never home.
No fresh food in sight—it’d just rot while I was away.
All that sat inside were drinks and alcohol.
I opened the ancient freezer my parents had given me and pulled out a frozen rice pack and some microwaveable karaage (fried chicken).
"Guess I should’ve cooked for myself today…"
I muttered out loud, even though there was no one to reply.

As I absentmindedly scrolled through SNS and video apps on my phone, I noticed a message notification.
"…Please don’t be my boss."
Since I started this job that barely gave me any days off, I’d barely kept in touch with friends from my school days.
Can’t blame them—who would remember a guy they haven’t seen or heard from in over a year?

These days, pretty much every notification I get is work-related.
But this time, to my surprise, the message was from a friend. Not work.
"Hah."
The message looked like a textbook case of a “hopelessly obsessed otaku” meltdown.
We’d met through mutual friends—she was stunning and, at first, seemed out of my league.
But once I got to know her, I found out she was a full-throttle otaku who loved the same streamers I did.
Absolutely hilarious.

She lived life with passion and sincerity, and seeing someone like her—beautiful, successful, and confident—should’ve made me feel inferior. But it didn’t. Somehow, just watching her gave me energy.
…Maybe I felt about her the way some people do about their favorite streamers.
"Maybe I’ll check out a stream for the first time in a while…"
I tapped the link she’d sent, popped in my wireless earbuds, and started washing the dishes from breakfast.
From my earbuds, I heard the cheerful voice of a streamer I hadn’t listened to in ages.
As their voice filled my ears, everything else just kind of faded from my mind.

It felt like my narrow, cluttered world had suddenly expanded, and even the small room around me looked brighter.
"…Now that I think about it, I never finished this."
I noticed a dusty bookshelf in the corner.
There were books I’d bought after becoming a working adult but never touched.
Too much of a hassle to bring them on business trips.
I picked one up without much thought, sat down, and opened the cover.

The streamer’s voice faded into the background, and all I could see was the text on the pages.
"……"
The tangled thoughts that had been swirling in my head all morning were washed away.
And someone else’s world—one that had been written and imagined—took over my mind completely.
As I felt myself melt into that world… sleep finally came for me.

"…?"
When I woke up, I found myself lying on the floor.
The book I’d been reading had fallen beside me, and my earbuds were still in.
The sunlight that had once streamed through the window had now turned to a warm evening glow.
"……Haaah."

My day off was nearly over.
I had to leave for another business trip around midnight, which meant I’d have to sleep again soon.
Still…
I’d spent the day listening to my favorite stream and reading a book I liked, then dozing off at my leisure.
Compared to usual, this wasn’t a bad day off at all.
As I picked up the book and sighed in relief that I hadn’t creased any pages, another message notification popped up on my phone.
"…This time it’s gotta be the boss, right?"

I really didn’t want to open it, but I couldn’t ignore a potential message about tomorrow’s assignment.
With a sense of dread, I opened the app… and saw that it was another message from the same friend as this morning.
"…Another stream link?"
But this time, what appeared was a screenshot announcing that a novel I’d once mentioned liking had been turned into a movie—along with a short message:

“Let’s go see it together when we both have time off!”
"…When’s my next weekend off again?"
Hopefully, I’d have a break before the movie stopped showing.
As I tried to recall my schedule with my groggy mind, I realized my next free weekend was actually coming up soon.

…Maybe I’ll really be able to go.
And at that moment, my thoughts were no longer on the movie—
But completely absorbed in the fact that I’d get to see that passionate “favorite” friend again, for the first time in a while.