Four months have passed since June 15…

“…What are you talking about?”

Erik sat on the sofa, tilting his head as he watched TV.

Next to me are my wife, Aya, and our son, J-kun.

Mr. J has been restless since the haze worsened, caught between attending online classes and going to school.

On TV, an Indonesian government official was giving a speech.

Indonesia’s forests supply oxygen to Malaysia and Singapore, even during periods when haze is not present.

In bureaucratic, polite, and complex Japanese, that was the gist of it.

Kun looked at the screen and asked his father.

“Dad, what did you mean by that?”

Erik turned to his son and rephrased it in simpler terms.

In other words, when there’s no haze, it means Malaysia and Singapore are both getting their fair share of oxygen.

“…Yeah. And then?”

Kun turned his gaze back to the TV, wearing an expression that was neither fully convinced nor entirely unconvinced.

At that moment, Aya spoke up.

“If you think of this in terms of a company, it might be easier to understand.”

Erik and Kun look at Aya.

“Imagine Indonesia as the company president, and Malaysia and Singapore as the employees.”

Aya continued.

“The president was paying our salaries properly every month. So, in other words, he was delivering oxygen to us every month.”

Mr. J thought for a moment.

“So, what about now?”

“My salary stopped from June 15th.”

As if echoing Aya’s explanation, the company president in my imagination was addressing his employees.

“The company’s dealing with a bunch of issues right now. Hold off on your salary for a bit.”

The staff were bewildered.

However, no salary was paid, and time simply slipped by.

One month.

Two months.

3 months.

And then, four months later.

One day, one of the employees came to see the president.

“Boss, I haven’t received my salary for four months now…”

The president looked troubled for a moment, then suddenly pointed at one of his employees.

“You’ve been paying all this time, haven’t you? Can’t you wait just a little longer!”

The staff were left speechless.

Then the president spoke even louder.

“Have you forgotten your gratitude? We’ve been paying your salaries since the time of your grandparents!”

“But my current salary is…”

Before the employee could finish his sentence, the president cut him off.

“Besides, we were already paying your grandparents salaries long before your company even existed!”

The president kept going on as if dragging up past contributions would magically solve all current problems.

The employees exchanged glances.

No one knew what to answer.

J-kun, who had been listening to the scene, murmured softly.

“…Isn’t that unrelated to what you’re saying about your current salary?”

Erik couldn’t help but glance over at his son.

Aya nodded.

“Just because they used to pay salaries properly back in the day is a separate issue from the problems we’re facing now.”

Then, I turned my gaze to the TV screen.

“Regardless of what contributions were made in the past, there are people currently struggling in Hayes. That’s a problem that needs to be properly addressed.”

A moment of silence hung in the room.

Kun stared at his blue backpack, which was resting beside the sofa.

If things had gone as planned, she’d be in school right now.

I was supposed to be going about my usual daily routine—chatting with friends, attending classes, and all that.

But in reality, I’m still at home.

Mr. J murmured softly.

“I hope I can go to school every day next week…”

On TV, the news coverage was still ongoing.

🌴 Tabinico Family Manga Series

📖 Episode 6

“Aya’s Shocking Case Files in Malaysia ⑥”