What are you doing

Under the gentle rays of sunlight, the thin mist in the air gradually disperses, illuminating the dim room.

When I was a child, the little alley would always come alive when the sun rose. Breakfast stalls steaming with hot food, aunties selling vegetables they grew themselves, cars honking on the narrow streets, children eating breakfast while walking, young people hurrying to work, and the big yellow cat on the wall stretching lazily in the sunshine. Although life was not comfortable, most of my memories were filled with scenes of happiness.

As time passed, the number of residents in this old alley dwindled. The young people had all moved to the city, leaving only a few elderly people in the old houses leaning against the door.

Deny Aaron rarely had the luxury of sleeping in, but he felt his eyelids being gently awakened by a soft red light. He furrowed his brows and slowly opened his eyes.

"Bai Xiaomeng, it's time to wake up." Deny Aaron called out to his cat, and the cat stretched and let out a meow, scratching Deny Aaron's ear.

It had been a long time since he had a good long sleep like this. Deny Aaron checked the time and it was already eight o'clock in the morning.

As the haze of drowsiness cleared, he suddenly remembered that there was a girl from Japan living in his house.

He wondered how she had slept last night. It must be said that Airi Sakura was quite lively last night.

When he was taking a shower, she came running to wake him up and asked why he kept goldfish in the bathtub. Then an hour later, she ran over again asking what to do about too many mosquitoes. Now, Deny Aaron picked up his phone and saw the text message she sent in the middle of the night, saying that she couldn't sleep and asking if he was awake...

Girls really can be troublesome.

As he went out to freshen up, he noticed that her room door was still closed and the bathroom sink was dry, indicating that the girl had not woken up yet.

Deny Aaron didn't plan on waking her up either, muttering to himself how troublesome girls could be, while he took the goldfish from the bathtub and put them in a big red bucket to keep. Then he grabbed a brush and detergent and thoroughly cleaned the bathtub.

By the time he finished these tasks, it was already half past eight. Deny Aaron finished freshening up and brought out a bucket to take out the clothes from the washing machine to dry.

Airi Sakura's clothes were also hanging there. Of course, their underwear was hand-washed and was now being dried by the breeze on the balcony.

Instinctively, Deny Aaron glanced at Airi Sakura's underwear—black and white—visually, the black one appeared larger, giving the ordinary balcony a touch of strange romance.

However, he snapped back to reality immediately. What the f*** am I doing?

Suppressing these inappropriate thoughts, Deny Aaron continued to hang the clothes, cutting off those untimely ideas.

After hanging the clothes, Deny Aaron returned to the room. It was almost nine o'clock now, and Airi Sakura still hadn't woken up. Indeed, lazy girls had no concept of mornings, a truly sorrowful thing.

"Bai Xiaomeng, it's time to eat."

"Meow~"

Bai Xiaomeng finished its business in the toilet, flushed it down, and ran out upon hearing Deny Aaron calling it.

"What flavor do you want for breakfast?"

Deny Aaron took out two packs of cat food, one chicken-flavored and one beef-flavored.

Bai Xiaomeng scratched at the chicken-flavored one, so Deny Aaron poured some for it.

He was also feeling a bit hungry, so he went downstairs and headed out to buy breakfast.

The breakfast place was right next door, owned by his neighbors who had been running it for decades. The wife sold steamed buns and soy milk, while the husband sold noodle soup. They also made late-night snacks. Their stall was located right behind their house.

"Morning, Aunt Wang. Going for the usual fried dough sticks and soy milk?" Wang Yi greeted Deny Aaron warmly. She and her husband were in their thirties and had excellent cooking skills, making their breakfast stall the most popular in the area.

"Good morning, Aunt Wang. I'll have two portions of noodle soup today instead of fried dough sticks," Deny Aaron replied with a smile. He was known as the neighborhood genius, but he wasn't a bookworm. He understood social interactions well, and his biggest difference compared to other young people was probably how he planned his time. Deny Aaron rarely wasted time on things that didn't matter and never even got angry.

"Is someone at home?" Aunt Wang was quick to catch on.

"Yes," Deny Aaron replied without elaborating. He casually glanced inside the stall but didn't see the familiar figure of the girl who usually helped clean the tables. He nonchalantly asked, "Where's Paofu? Hasn't she come back yet? School starts tomorrow, right?"

"She went crazy playing in the countryside. Her dad will come pick her up around noon. She even said on the phone yesterday that she caught a lot of cicadas and would give you a few when she comes back."

Upon hearing this, Deny Aaron naturally smiled. "Really?"

As they chatted, the two portions of noodle soup were ready. The speed of the preparation definitely involved some queue-jumping, as Aunt Wang discreetly avoided other customers and brought them out from the kitchen specifically for Deny Aaron.

"Thank you, Aunt Wang."

"No need to be polite. Take it back quickly before the noodles get soggy."

Carrying the two portions of noodle soup, Deny Aaron returned home. As he climbed the stairs, he saw Airi Sakura lurking sneakily by his room door, with her ear pressed against it. She didn't notice Deny Aaron behind her, holding breakfast.

She seemed to have just woken up, still wearing shorts that reached just below her buttocks, swaying her two fair little legs as she pressed against the door, holding her breath to eavesdrop.

"What are you doing?" Deny Aaron's voice suddenly came from behind, startling Airi Sakura. She quickly turned around, pressed herself against the door, and looked flustered. Her hands were shaking in front of her as she said, "Mr. Deny Aaron!? Please don't misunderstand!"

"I-I just wanted to see if you were awake... I was too afraid to knock and wake you up..."

Deny Aaron was speechless. He thought to himself that if the zombie virus ever broke out, and zombies opened her skull, they would definitely be disappointed.

"I've been awake for a while."

Deny Aaron placed the two portions of breakfast on the table and started eating one of them. Bai Xiaomeng, smelling the aroma, ran in from the balcony and hopped onto Deny Aaron's legs, waiting to be fed.

"Oh, I see... You woke up really early..."

Airi Sakura awkwardly smiled. Now she was standing there, not sitting or moving around much. She smelled the noodles and her stomach growled involuntarily.

"Have you freshened up?"

"Not yet... I forgot to bring my toothbrush..."

"There's a cup and toothbrush in the cabinet above the washbasin. Hurry and freshen up. After breakfast, I'll take you to get a bank card and a mobile phone card. I might not have time in the afternoon."

"Alright!"

Airi Sakura felt like she had been granted a pardon and quickly slipped away.