I am back – Chapter 128

“Um, so, can I stay here… with you?”

My older sister definitely said that to me.

“…Huh?”

And in that moment, I just replied like that.

Wait… so, does that mean my older sister wants to live with me now?

And now, there was no spare room left in this house. One room was taken by one person each.

In fact, since there was a shortage of rooms, Dana was using the study as her room. However, that didn’t mean Dana ever complained about it. This house had three bathrooms, so two people could just use the one outside the rooms. There was also a bathtub.

So if my sister were to live here… naturally, she’d be sharing a room with me.

Not that I’m saying I don’t want that. In fact, it would be a lie to say I’ve never dreamed about it. Who wouldn’t imagine living with someone they love after marrying them?

It’s just that my sister suddenly saying this caught me off guard and left me in a daze.

It was even more shocking than finding out that a high-ranking officer of the Demon King’s army was lying in ambush where I thought there was nothing.

It’s not that I dislike it; it’s that I like it.

For a moment, I even wondered if I was still dreaming. I already had certainty about it while eating the breakfast my sister made for me.

“Ah, but you have your own place, don’t you?”

My sister lived near the bakery. Of course, she had her house.

“That place is rented, so I just have to move out.”

It was as if my sister had been anticipating my concerns with her response.

Oh, I see. It was a rented place. I was worried she might have bought a house, which would be another hassle if she had to sell it again or rent it out. If she had a lease, getting the deposit back could take time when moving out.

…Not that I actually expect my sister in her twenties to have gone and bought a house in this ridiculous housing market in Seoul.

“If it’s a matter of rent…”

“Ah, no, that’s not it,” I quickly interrupted her strange words. The idea of my sister saying she’d pay rent to live with me was ludicrous.

“But you said all your friends pay rent,” she pointed out.

“Ah.”

My sister had made a bewildered expression, and I was momentarily speechless.

I definitely did say that. But I had only said it to reassure her in that moment. If someone stayed at my house rent-free, she might think it was a one-sided exploitation.

“No, that was, I was just rambling to distract myself…”

I felt the gazes of Kalia, Pia, Dana, and Arna land on me, so I spoke quickly.

“Well, don’t worry. Once the path back to Irrelaysia opens up, I’ll definitely repay you then.”

Hearing Kalia say that playfully made my face heat up.

“The Kingdom owes you a lot too. You may end up receiving as much as your current possessions… though some conversion might be necessary.”

The way she said that last bit made it sound genuine, not a joke.

Well, regardless, the Kingdom wouldn’t try to swindle me. It’s a world with actual gods, and they couldn’t treat the hero sent by such a goddess poorly. Not that I fought for the reward; I wouldn’t mind not receiving it… but if I did, I wouldn’t have to worry about conversion either. The Kingdom’s currency was gold and silver coins.

“So it’s not that…”

I rubbed my forehead and spoke.

“Sis, you really don’t need to pay to come in. I just… never expected to hear that.”

“Really?”

As we were having that conversation, the four of them looked at us with warm gazes.

I felt my face getting hotter.

“So… you don’t want that?”

Right at the moment when the conversation seemed to take a turn, my sister asked me that.

“Ah, no! That’s definitely not it!” I quickly denied it.

“If I could live with you, I’d want to! But I just can’t tell how you feel about it…”

“…But I was the one who proposed it, right?”

Oh, right, that’s true.

I could feel the four of them trying to hold back laughter, making my face even hotter.

“Uh, um, that is to say…”

In the muddled state of my mind, I struggled to find something to say.

…And in this situation, there was only one thing I could say.

“I got it. That’s fine.”

Seeing my sister break into a big smile at my words made my face flush.

*

For now, we decided to start moving my sister’s things a little each day after she finished work. According to her, there wasn’t much to move. Most of the furniture was already there, and she only had to bring her clothes and a few appliances.

So my sister would be living with me starting today. Or technically, has been since yesterday.

Last night, we had gone through a lot together.

Tonight, tomorrow night, and the night after that.

What would it be like to keep living with my sister?

Even when I was a guy, I couldn’t have lived like this with her. I mean, there was the guy-girl thing going on. Plus, I was still a minor back then, and I lived with Mom.

Even if my sister liked me since childhood, living together and sharing a room was impossible… I suppose that was only natural.

Even my sister, who had been in our house for a long while, would make a disgusted face and go back home after mom came home at night, and even when she became a university student, she’d leave with a sad expression to her place.

…Come to think of it, my sister has lived away from the village for three years.

When I died, it seemed she returned home instead.

It wasn’t something I should say to someone who waited that long…

But because my sister was there, we could see each other again.

Could it be that the Goddess really guided us?

In this world, my prayers are only confirming the existence… but if the path to Irrelaysia would open, I would want to ask at least once.

Although somehow, I felt like the goddess would say, “Nah, that’s not it.”

The subway crossed the Han River.

Every morning, I thought that scene was really beautiful. No matter what they said about the dirty water, the sight of sunlight reflecting off the blue river was undeniably stunning.

“……”

Next to me, my sister’s hand touched mine.

At first, it brushed against the back of my hand, and then her fingers made contact with mine. Just like back then, my sister reached out her fingertips to nudge mine gently.

I moved my hand.

Just like last time, I extended my hand inside hers so our palms could touch. And I interlaced my fingers between hers.

My heart raced pleasantly.

My sister said she liked me. The sister I love said she has always liked me until now.

So I felt sorry and grateful.

I appreciated that my sister hadn’t forgotten me after I left on my own… but at the same time, I felt guilty for leaving someone like that behind.

…Starting from now, I should repay her little by little.

Our tightly intertwined hands didn’t separate until we arrived at the bakery.

*

The time to return to normal life after an unexpected special event didn’t take as long as I thought.

Of course, after today’s normalcy ends, another special event would be waiting, but still, the events inside the bakery proceeded almost the same as usual.

Arriving a bit later than usual, I rushed to finish my preparations and stood behind the cash register, finding it oddly fascinating.

It hadn’t been a week since my sister took me to the columbarium until today. We only agreed to go on a date a few days ago, went on that date, revealed my true identity, and my sister believed me.

Thinking about it calmly, that fact was hard to believe.

“……”

And it seemed my sister just realized that too.

I met her eyes as she sat reading, and her face turned bright red as she quickly looked down.

Though she was looking at the book, her eyes didn’t move at all.

One part of me wanted to tease her, but the other part held me back.

I didn’t have the luxury to play around either.

If a customer walked in, surely they’d find my face suspiciously flushed. I was completely fine holding my sister’s hand on the subway just moments ago.

“……Siyun.”

Just as I was struggling to divert my thoughts without looking at her, she called out to me first.

“Yes?”

“Um, you know…”

When I looked up, my sister was still staring at her book.

“We’re dating, right?”

“Huh?”

“I mean, we confessed to each other yesterday, but I was unsure if we agreed on it…”

Oh.

So that means… we did say we liked each other.

But whether we agreed to date… well, I don’t think we did, actually.

Was my sister concerned about that?

“Yeah, it’s true. We’re dating,” I nodded.

If I said we weren’t, I could already picture our companions clutching their necks in despair.

“Right?”

With a slight blush, my sister smiled shyly.

Her smile made me blush too, and I quickly looked down.