I am back – Chapter 130

“Did I ask that for nothing?”

On the way home from work, when the three of us left together, Ga-young’s expression wasn’t exactly bright.

Well, actually, it wasn’t that obvious, but maybe it was just my own misinterpretation. It came right after I stupidly asked that question, and maybe that’s why she looked a bit down.

But even so, it didn’t change the fact that I asked something unnecessary.

She had voluntarily come in to work, and I ended up putting her in a tight spot.

Thanks to that, I was feeling a little uncomfortable, when Ga-young spoke up.

“I have something to say.”

“Huh? Something to say?”

At her words, my older sister tilted her head in confusion. I blinked in surprise. Could it be she was about to confess something because of what I said earlier?

But what Ga-young said was far from a confession.

“I’ve been working here for quite a while too, so I was wondering if you guys were planning any company dinners or something?”

“A company dinner?”

My sister responded with a puzzled look.

A company dinner, huh.

The truth is, I’ve never worked in a company before, so I’ve never been to one. Even in my previous job, there wasn’t anything really resembling a company dinner. Sure, we’d hit a pub or grab a bite together, but if you asked me if that was a company dinner, I’d probably say no.

And… do part-timers even have company dinners?

I guess if we went out for drinks after work, that could be considered a company dinner.

Hmm… but alcohol seems a bit questionable. After all, the girl in front of us is a minor.

“Umm…”

But my sister seemed to be seriously contemplating it.

Well, Ga-young had tried to reach out, wanting to get closer, but aside from that, we hadn’t really connected on a personal level. I hadn’t contacted Ga-young separately, and it seemed my sister hadn’t either.

She just felt like a lively girl who worked with us.

I couldn’t really say it was because we were putting up walls; it just seemed like it ended up that way.

But still, isn’t the age gap a bit much to be reaching out personally? There’s almost a ten-year difference between Ga-young and me, and just about a ten-year gap between my sister and me too. Of course, on the surface, we’re the same gender, and both my sister and I are still in our twenties, so it wouldn’t be a huge problem personally, but still, the age gap made initiating contact a bit burdensome.

“I want to get closer to you two.”

Ga-young looked at us, her voice full of determination as she spoke.

“You two seem pretty close…”

Ah.

Now that you mention it, even without considering our romantic relationship… we’ve known each other for quite some time, even before we became a couple.

My sister had taken care of me really well, definitely more so than just as coworkers. I guess the first impression played a big role, and we got even closer when we went to Yu-ri’s wedding together.

Plus, I was subtly hinting at ‘Hi, I’m Cha Si-hyun’ even while pretending to be someone else.

…Thinking about it now, I really was a piece of work.

On the other hand, from my sister’s perspective, Ga-young was just a girl who’d come out of the blue. She had suddenly said she wanted to work, and although they’ve become somewhat close since then, it was hard to actually become close beyond just the image of a part-timer at the same workplace.

We hardly shared personal conversations, and our time together was limited. Ga-young came in on weekday afternoons, just a couple of hours before her shift ended, and she didn’t work on weekends at all.

That was my sister’s decision, of course.

“So, I thought if we had a meal together, we could get a bit closer.”

“I see.”

My sister nodded as if she understood.

It made sense; if the two of us are really close, having someone else feel left out might make work feel miserable. Plus, it seemed like Ga-young had some sort of ulterior motive. I wasn’t sure what it was yet.

“Ah, how about next Wednesday? We have the day off that day too, right? Actually, it’s my school’s founding anniversary, so I’m off that day!”

Having a school anniversary in November is a little strange.

Ga-young seemed to think it was quite the coincidence—but—

“Ah…”

At what she said, both my sister and I couldn’t help but react that way.

Originally, the last week of every month was when we did our volunteer work.

And it wasn’t something we were forced to do, so if we needed to, we could change the date. However, in my case, I hadn’t gone to volunteer at all this month because my sister went.

The day I went to the amusement park with my colleagues was before my birthday. Since next week was the last week of the month, I figured I would go volunteer with my sister that week.

But a ton of stuff had happened from my birthday until yesterday; since I’d even postponed the volunteering to go on a date with my sister, it naturally meant the next volunteer day would turn out to be the first Wednesday of November.

So, putting it another way, that’s next week.

…The day Ga-young suggested for a company dinner.

“Hmm…”

“Is it not possible…?”

As my sister wore a contemplative expression, Ga-young shrank back, looking worried. She hunched her shoulders and lowered her head, which was pretty pitiful to see.

“No, that’s not it.”

My sister glanced at me. It seemed like she was debating whether to tell her it was the day we went for volunteer work.

…Well, I thought there was no need to keep hiding it.

The last part-timer didn’t know my sister was going to volunteer, and he showed up completely unprepared and then ran away the following day.

Maybe my sister hesitated because of that.

While we didn’t really need Ga-young’s help, it felt weird for someone to think strangely about you. Even if someone usually doesn’t say things they dislike, it still doesn’t mean they’d like it.

“That day is when we go for volunteer work.”

“Volunteer work?”

Seeing my sister hesitate, I spoke up to explain. When I stole a glance, my sister let out a slight sigh. It seemed she was less concerned about me speaking up and more relieved about Ga-young’s reaction not being too strange.

Seeing that expression made me want to sigh in relief, but I held it back and kept explaining to Ga-young.

“Yeah. Originally, my sister goes out for volunteer work once a month, but she didn’t get to go this week because she was busy. So, we’re planning to go next week instead.”

“If this week… Oh! You go every last Wednesday of the month?”

“Yup.”

At my words, Ga-young looked between my sister and me, then broke into a bright smile.

“Then I’ll go too!”

“Are you sure that’s okay?”

I asked back.

The volunteer work doesn’t last too long. We go early in the morning to prepare, serve lunch, and then clean up before heading out, so it usually ends around three.

But for us, we have Wednesdays off anyway, so it’s no big deal, but for Ga-young, it was a rare day off. It’s pretty unusual for a high school student to have a weekday off.

Still, would she really feel okay spending that day doing volunteer work instead of enjoying her day off?

But even with my doubts, it seemed Ga-young was really determined.

“Yes, it’s fine! Actually…”

“Actually?”

Ga-young’s gaze shifted to my sister. She shook her head slightly and then beamed at me.

“I’m fine!”

Hmm.

Is it really something to say while smiling so brightly?

*

“Next Wednesday, I was planning to bring along my colleagues too.”

Since I’d taken them with me the last time for volunteer work, I thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to do the same this time. Besides, my sister would be sleeping over at our place anyway, so we could all head out together. Everyone didn’t seem to mind volunteering much.

“Isn’t that okay?”

And my sister said innocently.

“Huh?”

“Since you’ve also become my friend now, it’d be great if you could help out together.”

Honestly, it seemed very much like my sister, to say it so cheerfully without a hint of malice.

I almost thought Ga-young would want to spend time alone with my sister, without me around… but it seemed like my sister wasn’t considering that at all.

…Well, my sister is a bit ambiguous when it comes to her sexuality. It’s not like she likes me because I’m a “pretty girl,” but because I’m ‘Cha Si-hyun.’

It’s a bit funny thinking about it like this, but noticing brought a slight heat to my cheeks.

“I wonder if Ga-young would be okay with it?”

“Um… that’s a problem.”

Setting aside the fact that she looks foreign—more than that, I was starting to think that suddenly adding four unfamiliar adults might be really daunting.

Especially considering all four of them are adults. It can be quite intimidating to a high school student.

“…Let’s think about it and take our time.”

My sister said seriously, and I nodded in agreement.