「A Dream Changed My Life」– The Story of Hajin Shome Begins
The alarm clock always rang at 6:47 AM.
Three minutes early — Hajin's old clock seemed to want to warn him about something he didn't understand.
Hajin Shome, 17 years old, second-year high school student in Tokyo.
Introverted. Average. Invisible.
— Tsk... another day, he muttered, face half-buried in his pillow.
He put on his navy-blue uniform, grabbed his worn-out backpack, and left the house without breakfast. His mother was asleep. His father traveled often.
Silence was the only constant.
On the way to school, he saw the same thing every day:
Workers pushing each other in the station, teens yelling at elders, elders ignoring the young, children crying, adults silent.
"It's like everyone lives in a prison they can't see… including me."
At school, Hajin always sat in the back. The voices of others blended into noise.
He was good at math, helped classmates, but never got more than a:
— "Yeah, thanks."
Or worse:
— "Hey, you copied my answers, didn't you, freak?"
At night, he wore an old cap and stood at the corner of District 5, selling hot dogs to passersby.
Even tired, he smiled.
— "Good evening! One hot dog with extra sauce, only 300 yen!"
But people walked past him like he didn't exist. Sometimes they bought, sure — but never looked him in the eye.
Once, a woman dropped her wallet, and when he tried to return it, she accused him of trying to steal it.
That night, as he closed the hot dog cart, something inside him cracked.