NOVEL NEXT Chapter 34
I settle in front of a rundown shopping complex with relatively few people around.
“……”
I see people strolling down the street.
Glances flick briefly in my direction, but my face is so well-hidden that those gazes don’t linger.
That’s quite a relief.
“……”
My life has always been about waiting.
I couldn’t do anything on my own.
I always needed someone’s help.
Waiting for someone, and waiting some more.
For me, waiting was a completely natural thing.
It’s how it had always been.
But everything changes.
Me, and everything around me.
If there’s a slight issue, it’s that the change in my case was a bit too drastic.
So, has something changed now?
Unfortunately, it’s hard to agree with that for the moment.
I have changed, but at the same time, I’m still me.
I’m not afraid of change.
I just needed a little bit of time.
“Haah…”
Looking at my breath fogging in the cold air,
I wait for someone once again.
Endlessly, endlessly.
“Unnie!”
How long have I waited?
A familiar voice calls out.
Maybe it’s because I’m outside, or because I’ve heard it several times already, but that ‘unni’ sound now sounds surprisingly welcoming.
It seems the biting cold has even crept into my brain.
It didn’t take long for my younger sibling to reach me.
I know there’s a bit of distance from here to the school…
But she must have rushed over as soon as she saw the message.
“…Why’d you send a message like that? You scared me.”
Finally meeting my younger sister, she seemed either angry or relieved, catching her breath harshly.
Despite the cold weather, a few beads of sweat glistened on her forehead, indicating she had run.
“Yeah? Mom said someone’s coming to look at the house, so she told me to wait outside for a bit.”
“I know, I talked to Mom.”
The fact that she had a separate call made it seem like she really was surprised.
Thinking back, I realized I might have said it in a way that could lead to a misunderstanding.
Maybe that’s why my sister snapped at me in a tone I rarely heard.
“Why don’t you just hang out at a PC Bang or something? You like games.”
Ugh. She hit a sore spot.
If I accidentally said something else weird, I had no idea how a snowball effect of chaos would unfold, so I just came clean.
“…I can’t go in.”
“What?”
Her brows furrowed slightly.
That was a look I had hardly seen before.
“Then why didn’t you just go to a café? They have glass windows so it’s easy to see inside.”
“Well… I’ve never been to one…”
With an incredulous look, my sister stared at me and sighed deeply.
“Oh no, our unnie’s really in trouble.”
“…I’m just still not used to it.”
It’s true.
Even though new champions seem unfamiliar at first, after meeting a few opponents and actually playing, you get the hang of it quickly, right?
It should be the same for me as well.
I just need some time.
“Yeah, yeah. I guess so.”
Of course, my sister didn’t look like she believed me at all.
Well, given I had shown such an embarrassing side, her disbelief was probably warranted.
“I don’t want to play with a support who can’t play whenever I’m with them.”
You meet those types of people while gaming.
They definitely match my skill level, but somehow, when playing with me, they just can’t do anything right.
I’m human, so when those people join my team, I can’t help but feel annoyed.
My sister doubting me could certainly be viewed in that context as well.
“By the way, if that’s the case, Mom’s plan is totally pointless.”
“…What do you mean by that?”
“Are you telling me Mom really kicked you out? She must just be trying to toughen you up.”
“Really?”
“I didn’t hear it directly from Mom. That’s just my thought. How could she go from being overprotective to kicking you out like this? Doesn’t make sense, right?”
Now that I think about it, that does seem plausible…
It’s not definite since it’s just a speculation, but the hypothesis itself sounds convincing enough.
You know how lions are said to drop their cubs off a cliff to make them strong.
Of course, that’s an unfounded story in reality, but at the end of the day, it’s just a metaphor.
“Let’s go somewhere first. Oh my, your face looks like an ice block.”
“Eek!”
The moment my sister’s hand touched my face, I let out a scream without even realizing it.
My sister looked taken aback at my bird-like shriek.
“Uh… Sorry?”
For a moment, my sister, flustered, chose her words carefully and ended up apologizing.
“Oh, it’s fine. I was just surprised.”
“Then let’s go.”
Just as my sister was about to take the lead.
“Huh?”
Her furrowed brow turned slightly deeper as she looked down.
“Why?”
“Unnie, is that boots of mine?”
“Uh… Was it yours? I didn’t know whose shoes they were, so I just wore them.”
“…I haven’t even used those yet.”
Her tone feels a bit cold.
This can’t just be my imagination.
“No, it’s not that I’m mad about wearing my shoes without asking. I might not really be that narrow-minded, but isn’t there a line to be drawn, even between sisters who share blood? Of course, I’m not angry. Really, I’m not. You know I’m not that petty. I’m just surprised. Ugh, seeing it now, it totally looks like it’s yours, Unnie. I guess I have to call it yours. It suits you too well. How can it be so pretty? I might get jealous.”
My younger sister, who always thought of me.
The vibe she’s giving off right now is something I can confidently say I’ve never seen from her before.
“Um… Sorry.”
My instinct tells me.
In moments like this, just saying I’m sorry is the right answer.
It’s like when a top laner gets ganked by the enemy jungle repeatedly and quietly types 3 2 1 in chat.
The difference between then and now is, if the top dus off, it’s only a loss for the game, but the consequences of the current situation are utterly unpredictable.
“Next time, just ask first. Got it? You scared me.”
Her face is smiling, but it’s not really a smile.
It’s scary.
For the first time, I thought that about my sister.
“Uh, okay. Got it.”
“Now let’s go. There’s a café nearby that we go to often. They have the best egg tarts.”
I trailed after my sister, almost like a little chick, fearing that I might lose her.
Why do I feel like I’m the younger sibling now…?
“Well…”
Realistically speaking, isn’t my younger sister way ahead of me in social life?
They say there’s no age for learning. So, I shouldn’t feel embarrassed about it now.
“…Of course, that’s only when I have control over things.”
The authority of an older sibling, which I thought I had, feels like it’s evaporating.
Actually, maybe it never really existed, but still, I feel like it’s disappearing.
The place my sister led me to was a small café similar in size to one I had visited before.
Most large franchise cafés tend to be huge, making them overwhelming on days I was struggling with crowds.
“What do you want to drink?”
“Anything. I don’t really know what’s good.”
“Really? Hmm… Coffee? Or maybe a smoothie or juice?”
“Coffee.”
In the past, I could hardly have caffeine, but recently, coffee became my guilty pleasure.
Of course, most of what I drank were canned coffees delivered to me, but there’s nothing like it for those all-nighters in ranked games.
“Something sweet?”
“Yeah.”
I don’t usually drink sweet beverages.
Actually, to be precise, I was initially forbidden from having them by our mother.
Even so, I had gained enough freedom lately to indulge in snacks and drinks I had wanted to try back then.
Anyway, I couldn’t help but marvel at how delicious that canned coffee tasted, something I had never had before.
At that moment, I realized something.
I actually really like sweet drinks.
“Cold or warm?”
“Warm.”
I usually drink canned coffee cold, but the situation is different now.
“One warm white chocolate mocha and one iced Americano, please, and two egg tarts.”
After a brief dialogue, my sister wrapped up the order and brought back the buzzer.
“That’ll ring when the coffee is ready, right?”
“Yeah, that’s right. How did you know?”
“I saw it in a drama.”
Even though I’ve been living like a hermit for decades, it doesn’t mean I’ve totally cut ties with the world.
I may lack sociability, but that doesn’t mean I lack common sense.
“Well, that makes sense.”
My sister chuckled lightly at that.
She knew very well how much of a drama fanatic I was.
As we exchanged the trivial chatter, it wasn’t long before the buzzer went off.
Bzzzz—
“Ah.”
The moment my sister casually reached for the bell to stand up, her expression suddenly turned mischievous.
A bad feeling creeps in.
“Why don’t you go get it, Unnie?”