I am back – Chapter 100

“Oh, right.”

Older Sister Yu-ri said it as if she had forgotten something.

It was probably meant for Older Sister Ah-yoon, who was nearby, but the store was quiet enough that I heard her. We had music playing, but it was soft jazz, not some loud karaoke.

“I….”

Older Sister Yu-ri said as she rummaged through her bag.

“Oh, here it is.”

And what she pulled out was a stiff paper envelope. It didn’t look like it had a letter inside. It was more of a thick, dark-colored envelope that opened along its wide edge.

“I got two free movie tickets. Want to use them?”

“Suddenly, movie tickets?”

As Older Sister Ah-yoon took the tickets, she said,

“They came as a gift last time, but these days I don’t feel like going out. It’s just a hassle to get to the theater near home.”

It certainly looked like something you would give as a gift. After all, movie tickets usually resemble receipts.

But there had to be a movie theater very close to Older Sister Yu-ri’s place. It was a fancy neighborhood with all sorts of things.

And if we’re talking about distance, the trip to here was definitely longer.

So it seemed like Older Sister Yu-ri was probably planning to give those tickets to Older Sister Ah-yoon right from the start.

“If you have someone to go with, just go.”

Older Sister Yu-ri said that with a grin, as if she knew exactly what we were thinking. It was a smile that reminded me of a cat in an old classic novel.

How did she know…? Well, it wasn’t that important. Older Sister Yu-ri was always pretty perceptive.

Still, it was surprising that she had guessed it without even looking at us.

Or maybe it was just a coincidence that she had movie tickets in her bag?

Older Sister Ah-yoon was fiddling with the tickets and glanced over at me.

If she turned that way, it would be obvious… I mean, it probably wouldn’t matter to Older Sister Yu-ri anyway.

“Thanks.”

After a moment of hesitation, Older Sister Ah-yoon said as she tucked the tickets into her apron.

It was a bit concerning to see Older Sister Yu-ri looking up at her with a strange expression.

*

“There’s nothing to worry about.”

As Yu-ri was leaving the store, I found myself saying that without thinking.

“Huh?”

She turned around right in front of the store door, looking puzzled, so I shut the store door and stepped outside to speak.

“I said it properly, so Siyun knows too.”

“Oh, that.”

Yu-ri narrowed her brows slightly as she looked up at the sky, lost in thought for a moment, then lowered her gaze back to me.

“I kind of figured. I mean, in a dating situation, I didn’t think you would have kept it to yourself.”

“Is that so…?”

Hearing Yu-ri’s words gave me a bit of relief—

“Oh.”

—then I froze.

“Ah, ah, ah, it’s not like we’re dating yet?”

I blurted out in a slightly off-key voice to Yu-ri.

“…Not yet?”

Yu-ri raised an eyebrow and asked back.

“Uh, yeah, ah, still trying to see if Siyun and I match, so… it’s not like I can see Siyun as Siyun yet…”

“…”

Yu-ri wiped her face as if she was processing my words.

And just as she seemed about to say something,

“…No, well, what good would it do for me to say more here? You two will figure it out on your own.”

With that, she let out a deep sigh.

“But at least you said it, right? And still, Siyun decided to stay by your side. That’s good. If I got too involved, it would really be unnecessary meddling.”

Having said that, Yu-ri looked back at me seriously for a moment before breaking into a light smile.

“I’m glad your face looks good. I hope it stays this way.”

“Ah…”

At those words from Yu-ri, I started looking around nervously and decided to ask a lingering question.

“Uh, you’re not thinking it’s strange, are you?”

There weren’t many people around here at this time. In fact, even if someone passed by, it wouldn’t be easy for them to guess what we were talking about. There was no reason for passersby to be interested in us anyway.

“Strange?”

“No, you know.”

When I asked again because it seemed like Yu-ri was deliberately pretending not to understand, she stared at me vacantly before letting out a long sigh.

“Well, yeah.”

Then she closed her eyes, squinted her brows, thought for a moment, and spoke.

“There are definitely people who would find it strange.”

With her hands shoved deep into her pants pockets and tapping the ground with one foot, Yu-ri continued.

“If you were to confess to me… well, I would have rejected you. I don’t like girls. And it would’ve made things awkward between us.”

When I shifted my gaze down a bit, Yu-ri grinned and added,

“But wouldn’t it be the same if a guy confessed? I’m a married woman now. If a close guy confessed, it would still make things awkward. Well, it probably wouldn’t have been much different back in college. I wasn’t really fond of guys who confessed to me anyway.”

Yu-ri chuckled.

“Isn’t it strange that rejecting a confession makes things awkward?”

As my gaze returned to her, she looked at me with a playful expression.

“So, if you two are thinking that way, it’s not wrong. If you both like each other, then no matter what anyone says, it doesn’t mean much, right?”

“…”

“Why, suddenly worried that your friend’s coming out will make me run away somewhere?”

As I remained silent, Yu-ri shrugged.

“Honestly, I was the one who encouraged you to open up. Isn’t it a bit late for you to react now?”

Only after hearing that could I manage a small smile.

“…Thanks.”

“Nothing to be thankful for. No need to apologize either. If you feel sorry, just treat Siyun well. The only person you should feel sorry for is Siyun, right?”

“…That’s true.”

As I nodded, Yu-ri lightly patted my shoulder.

“Well then, I’m off. I need to study cooking.”

“Cooking study?”

“I’m totally terrible at cooking. I can’t have my husband make dinner every night, right? Plus, relying solely on takeout doesn’t set the mood.”

“Is that so…”

It’s true that Yu-ri had said she’d never cooked ramen before. She looked shocked when we had to serve it at the first budae jjigae restaurant.

…It wouldn’t be odd if she couldn’t cook at all. Still, I didn’t intend to bring that up with a friend.

“I might come over later to learn how to bake bread, so please help then.”

It’s probably more economical to buy bread rather than making it at home… I thought that and then remembered that Yu-ri didn’t need to worry about money, making me chuckle to myself.

“Sure, I’ll try my best to teach you then.”

“I don’t know why that sounds like, ‘You won’t be able to do it no matter what.’”

Even as she said that, Yu-ri waved at me and turned to leave.

Her steps seemed a bit lighter as she walked away.

I waited until Yu-ri turned the corner and was completely out of sight before I opened the door and stepped back inside the store.

Siyun was seated, waiting for me.

I pulled out the movie tickets from my apron pocket. There were two in the envelope.

“Hey, should we watch this today?”

As I said that, Siyun’s eyes went wide.

“Today? Not after going to the amusement park?”

“After going to the amusement park, it’ll be evening.”

It wasn’t that I didn’t want to watch a movie with Siyun. In fact, I preferred watching it together.

But…

“We can’t talk during the movie.”

I said that a little shyly.

That’s right. It’s bad manners to whisper and chat with someone else while watching a movie.

That day was supposed to be special for just me and Siyun, so if possible, I wanted to share more conversations. Whether it was while shopping at the mall, simply walking on the street, or having a meal together.

No matter what we talked about, I just wanted to spend time facing Siyun.

But in a movie theater, that wouldn’t be possible.

“Ah…”

Siyun’s expression turned vacant, as if he understood what I meant.

Then, slowly, his face began to flush.

That made me happy.

It meant that Siyun was thinking about me that much.

Honestly, saying that made me feel a bit bashful too. I mean, I couldn’t be the only one feeling shy, could I?

“Do you have time? Or we could always catch the next one…”

“Ah, yes! I have time!”

As I mentioned it, Siyun jumped up excitedly.

Oh, he didn’t have any plans with friends, then.

I felt a bit happy that Siyun was using his time for me.

“Really? So what movie should we watch? Any good ones out of the recent releases?”

“Ah, well, I don’t watch movies often myself…”

Even while saying that, Siyun took his smartphone out of his pocket.

Hmm.

It would be nice if there was a romance film.

…Not that I was trying to continue from where we left off last time or anything.

After all, there was next Wednesday! Yeah.