I am back – Chapter 102

Should I consider this a lie?

It was a bit ambiguous, but I couldn’t really say it was a lie.

When we hugged, it was a tight embrace. Whether it was because we mixed feelings of liking each other or just the joy of the day, I honestly couldn’t tell.

Every time at my sister’s graduation, at my own graduation, and during our birthdays.

When we hugged, we held each other tightly.

…Of course, that was when we were facing each other. It wasn’t so much wrapping my arms around her waist, but rather a wholesome hug where my arms were draped over her back for a brief moment.

Even if both of us had feelings for each other, we couldn’t go beyond that. Mom was usually around.

I’m not saying Mom was a hindrance, but… kissing my sister just wasn’t an option.

Besides, back then, I was a coward, too scared to admit my feelings to her.

No, I’m still a coward. I couldn’t even outright say I liked her or ask her out properly, which is why I ended up saying such vague things.

Man, being dubbed a hero really is a joke.

“…”

Given that, I decided to try to ride on my sister’s courage a little.

Slowly, I tightened my grip.

It was chilly outside, but putting on too many layers felt awkward. In truth, even when the weather got really cold, it often felt awkward to wear too much inside because of that cold.

Even if it’s cold outside, the indoors is often warm. So, even if you wear a thick outer layer, it’s better to dress lighter underneath to feel somewhat comfortable inside. Not that I’d wear short sleeves or something that revealed too much skin.

…And right now, it wasn’t even that cold of a winter.

My sister was wearing long sleeves, but they weren’t thick either.

As my hand slowly pressed against her skin, I could distinctly feel her body shape through the thin fabric between us.

My sister didn’t have much muscle. In fact, you could say she was less muscular than Pia, who was the weakest among the hero party.

That’s to be expected. Of course, if someone is mindful of their body, they might maintain a toned physique with regular exercise. There are plenty of people, regardless of age or gender, who take satisfaction in seeing their muscles develop in the mirror every day.

I wasn’t saying my sister was overweight. If anything, she was on the slimmer side, bordering on “shouldn’t she gain a bit more weight?” kind of skinny.

Skinny. But without any muscle. So the skin I touched was soft.

If I went just a little higher, wouldn’t I be able to feel her ribs?

Even though she wasn’t wearing anything particularly revealing, I found it surprisingly easy to picture her body against mine.

“…”

My sister didn’t say a word.

She just lightly rested her cheek against my shoulder.

We had started off standing side by side, but when I came to, I noticed she had turned slightly toward me.

Even if I was slightly taller, it wasn’t so much of a difference. There was probably only a few centimeters between us. So, she had to lean down to rest her face against my shoulder.

My sister’s hair still carried the sweet scent of shampoo.

Before I knew it, she had wrapped her arms around my waist.

“Like this?”

When I whispered softly, my sister nodded.

“…Yeah.”

That was a lie.

But it was a good lie.

*

For a while, we stayed in that pleasant atmosphere, but just before guests started arriving, we slowly pulled away.

Outside, the sun was shining brightly. Unless someone pressed their face against the window to peek closely, it was unlikely they’d see what we looked like.

But this time, I decided to be a bit more cautious.

Just that morning, we had almost been caught holding hands by the first customer.

There could be plenty of people who frown upon same-sex couples or peculiar vibes. Even if they aren’t complete strangers, some might still think that way.

Especially since there were part-time workers at the bakery right now.

“Hello!”

As soon as she arrived, Ga-young cheerfully greeted us.

At first, she was a bit awkward, but being adaptive and smart, she quickly got used to the bakery job.

However, I still didn’t quite get the reason she was working here. It felt a bit awkward to ask her directly about it.

But a plausible thought did cross my mind.

Without thinking too deeply, I thought maybe she didn’t want her friends to find out she was working here.

If she worked near home, bumping into neighborhood friends was inevitable. While it’s true that some would relish such situations, there are also those who are more introverted or uncomfortable with friends dropping by where they work, just idly passing the time.

If Ga-young had such thoughts, I felt it was entirely reasonable.

As for the notes, these days you can find part-time jobs through websites, but conversely, there are other ways those jobs spread around. Perhaps someone had snapped a picture of a job listing here and posted it somewhere. There might even be cafés sharing such information.

If you think too suspiciously, it’ll only lead you to those perpetual doubts. Broadening your perspective a bit can give you some idea of why she’s here working.

In some cases, pondering why someone would feel uncomfortable bumping into neighborhood friends could go on endlessly; however, I learned many times while being a hero that intruding on someone else’s thoughts isn’t very polite, so I decided not to think about it any further.

Even if I’m wrong, it doesn’t really matter until the other person tells me so. And I wouldn’t take it upon myself to share my thoughts with Ga-young anyway.

However, even so, there were aspects I learned “for sure” while working alongside Ga-young.

Ga-young was perceptive.

I couldn’t predict what she would think about my sister and me having that same-sex… vibe, but she’d probably catch on quickly if she noticed even a bit.

“Did something good happen today?”

Look at that, we hadn’t even said anything, and she immediately brings it up.

In fact, Ga-young didn’t even have to show up today. It was Sunday.

But I received a text earlier.

[Since I took a day off during the week, I’ll work an extra day this weekend!]

I was surprised that she remembered I had closed the shop early the day we went to the columbarium.

Well, when it comes to part-time jobs, it’s not such a strange mentality. Unlike a full-time salary, if you miss a day in part-time, it means you lose money for that day.

…But looking at her attitude, it didn’t seem like she was doing it solely for the money.

“No, well, it’s just….”

She looked at Ga-young’s words as we averted our gaze while responding.

The truth is, we didn’t really have any reason to hide.

We weren’t even officially dating yet. Of course, we couldn’t hold hands, hug, or kiss in front of others. Those are actions people who are “more than just friends” naturally perform.

But we didn’t need to hide the fact that we went to the movie theater together. It was merely two close friends deciding to catch a flick. Plus, we had a valid excuse. We just happened to get our hands on two tickets that morning. Why didn’t I invite Ga-young? Well, she wasn’t supposed to be working today anyway.

And honestly, even if Ga-young was working, I didn’t need to pull her along to the movies. Ga-young was friendly with us, and while she was a close part-time worker, she wasn’t on the same established relationship level as my sister and me.

Just because people worked together doesn’t mean they’d welcome an after-hours gathering.

…And as for my sister, who knew how she felt about it.

I felt a bit off about inviting Ga-young along.

Ga-young smiled at my sister.

Yeah, Ga-young was somewhat aware of my sister from the start.

…

And that’s one of the reasons I kept pondering about why Ga-young was working here. In truth, it would have been simpler to have no thoughts at all. But I kept trying to attach some reasoning to it.

That’s because I felt an unreasonable competitive spirit toward Ga-young.

For some reason, it seemed like Ga-young started working here because of my sister.

No matter the reason.

So, if I didn’t rationalize her decision to work here, I felt like one day, I would let that competitiveness slip out.

Just like I asked my sister, “Who was that person earlier?”

…Honestly, it’s a bit embarrassing to act like that.