[Short Story] Just Like This,

"Ah, I can't take it anymore."
"What's wrong?"

I peered at his face, which had been hidden by the umbrella. When our eyes met, he pressed his right index and middle fingers to his mouth and took a deep breath.

"Want to smoke?"
"Yeah, but the meeting with the client is right away, isn't it?"
"An IQOS should be fine, right?"
"I suppose."

I walked with him to the smoking area at the station and started smoking my IQOS.

The smoke I exhaled existed within the shelter of the umbrella, but the moment it drifted outside, it was swallowed by the raindrops. Shredded into pieces, the smoke lost its shape instantly.

The smoking area looked white. The lives of various people were being exhaled and disappearing immediately. I am consuming my life even in this very moment. The moment that consumption becomes visible, I feel a sense of being alive.

"It's nice to stare at the smoke, isn't it?"

I answered "Yeah" while staring at the smoke he had exhaled. I exhaled smoke in the same way. When I blew on the white mass drifting in front of me, it lost its shape in an instant.

"I wish we could become as light as smoke."
"I'm truly envious of that."
"Meetings are such a pain."
"Yeah."
"Shall we just disappear like this?"
"I'd like to do just that."

When raindrops touch the smoke floating in the air, the smoke splits and vanishes. When the weight of a meeting touches us while we are relaxed, our bodies stiffen and we consume our lives.

The hand holding the IQOS began to tremble. As if in sync with the trembling, the IQOS emitted a short vibration sound, signaling it was finished.

I put the IQOS in my bag and waited for him to finish.

"Not done yet?"
"Yeah."

I peered at his face and looked at his IQOS device. The light was off. He kept putting the IQOS to his mouth over and over again. No more smoke came out. The sight of him continuing to inhale from a finished cigarette looked as if he were trying to force air into his sunken lungs.

"It's finished, you know."
"No, it's not dead yet."
"We're going to be late for the meeting."
"Who cares anymore."

In truth, I want to do the same. To cling to something, to run away. I just want to repeat that until I die.

No more smoke would ever come from his mouth. I couldn't sense any sign of life from him anymore.

I left him there and started walking toward the building where the client was.