“Noona, do you think you can make it back?”
I asked in a worried voice.
“Uh, yeah…”
She said that, but her voice didn’t sound very confident.
We didn’t go to a bar, but most barbecue restaurants serve alcohol.
Of course, back when I used to visit these kinds of places in this world, I wasn’t old enough to drink. Naturally, I had never had a drink with Noona either.
But now, both she and I were adults. So… technically, as long as it was legal in this country, there wasn’t much we couldn’t do.
Ordering alcohol felt natural.
Last time, Noona had two large beers at a pub and ended up that way, so I figured just getting a single bottle to share between us would be enough.
That assumption wasn’t entirely wrong. This time, Noona wasn’t completely drunk and stumbling around.
That said, it wasn’t like the alcohol didn’t affect her at all.
“We still have plenty of time, so let’s rest for a bit.”
Her face was still flushed. Though she wasn’t swaying, the way she took deep breaths suggested she wasn’t feeling entirely comfortable.
Did Noona like drinking?
Personally, I had never found alcohol particularly delicious. I vaguely understood why people drank, but if someone asked whether I drank because it tasted good, I would shake my head.
Kalia liked alcohol. She generally enjoyed all kinds of wine. She claimed she only drank fine wine, but in reality, traveling around the battlefield didn’t leave much room to be picky. Even mass-produced wine meant for frontline soldiers was something to be grateful for. In the end, she drank whatever wine she could get her hands on.
Fia, surprisingly, had a high alcohol tolerance and could handle strong liquor without a problem. It wasn’t because she was a saintess and had some divine ability to detoxify alcohol. While marriage wasn’t entirely forbidden for saints, clergy were expected to live a life of chastity. Since they were denied physical pleasures, other forms of indulgence were somewhat accepted.
Growing up among female clergy, Fia often drank the various kinds of alcohol they brewed.
Didn’t they say that monks and nuns in Irelcia often researched ways to make alcohol? Well, being cooped up in a monastery all day must get boring, so they had to find something to do.
Dana and Arna didn’t particularly enjoy drinking.
They would join in if the occasion called for it, but they weren’t the type to drink for the sake of drinking. The mages of the Magic Tower were extremely wary of intoxication, fearing they might accidentally blurt out their research secrets.
Elves were known to drink fruit wine, but Arna wasn’t personally fond of alcohol.
The common trait between me, Dana, and Arna was that none of us drank unless someone else suggested it first.
But whenever Noona was in a situation where she could drink with me, she usually chose to.
So, rather than whether she had a strong tolerance, I started to wonder if she simply liked alcohol.
Not that it really mattered.
“Sorry.”
Sitting side by side on a bench in a nearby park, Noona apologized.
“What’s there to be sorry about?”
“If I were feeling better, we could have walked around much longer. Same as this morning…”
“Whether we’re walking or sitting, I’m still right here with you.”
“…”
Hearing my words, Noona pressed her lips together tightly.
Hmm, she didn’t seem to entirely agree with me.
By now, night had truly fallen.
As summer came to an end, the days had been gradually getting shorter, little by little. Now, it was as if the sun had an urgent appointment somewhere, showing its face for less and less time each day.
Honestly, it was starting to get too cold to be wandering around outside. I could endure the chill, but that didn’t mean I liked it. On top of that, I had underestimated the autumn weather and gone out without a jacket.
And though Noona felt warm now because of the alcohol, once the buzz wore off, she’d start shivering.
Spending the whole day together, from morning until evening, had been fun. The problem was that we had already visited so many places throughout the day that I couldn’t think of anywhere else to go. We had already gone to a café in the afternoon and wandered around inside buildings.
But I didn’t want to part ways with Noona just yet.
Did she feel the same?
“…..”
I swallowed. She didn’t seem to have heard me.
I wasn’t sure if it was the right thing to say in this situation, but it wasn’t like I didn’t have a reason for it.
Going somewhere new felt exhausting, but if we didn’t want to say goodbye yet…
There was one option.
“Um, Noona.”
“Hm?”
When I called her, Noona, who had been leaning against me, responded. She had her eyes closed. At this rate, she looked comfortable enough to fall asleep.
“If we can’t think of anywhere else to go…”
I swallowed again and carefully continued.
“My place is nearby.”
Yeah. Noona already knew I lived around here.
Besides, there weren’t any so-called ‘cheap’ places in this area. Everything was expensive. Even if I showed her now, I didn’t think she’d be particularly surprised.
If it had just been the two of us, I might have hesitated. Who knew what might happen behind closed doors?
But I lived with four other people.
With six of us in total, including Noona and me, nothing out of the ordinary was going to happen.
“……”
Noona didn’t respond.
For a moment, my heart nearly dropped.
What if what I said sounded weird to her?
Oh. Now that I thought about it… we weren’t even officially dating yet. We definitely felt like more than friends, but we had never actually called each other a couple.
Even if we were both women, I was pretty sure there was… well, at least a little bit of attraction between us.
And now, I was telling her to come over at this hour, when the sky was already dark.
She might take it the wrong way.
“I-I mean, my housemates will be there too! I just thought, um, since you seemed kind of tired, maybe it’d be better to spend time together at my place instead—”
“I’ll go.”
Just as I was desperately trying to explain myself, Noona answered.
“…Huh?”
Caught off guard by her response, I turned to look at her. At some point, she had lifted her head and was staring straight at me.
Her clear, unwavering eyes held a quiet determination.
“I really want to go.”
She didn’t need to raise her voice. Even spoken softly, her words were unmistakably firm.
“Ah….”
For a moment, I was speechless.
“Ah, okay!”
I finally pulled myself together and responded.
*
I should at least let my housemates know.
Since we didn’t head straight home right after that conversation, I had a bit of time.
Noona insisted that she couldn’t visit empty-handed, so I suggested that we take the opportunity to buy some food and things to enjoy while we hung out.
Given the time, there was a high chance she’d end up staying the night, which meant she’d need a toothbrush too.
While we browsed through the convenience store, picking out various items, I took the chance to send a message to my housemates.
As always, the first to reply was Dana—the one who was the most fluent in Korean and the best with technology among the four.
She sent a picture of a cat with a serious expression giving a thumbs-up.
It looked like a warrior, standing firm to protect its allies on the battlefield.
That was reassuring.
Well, with four of them at home, there wouldn’t be any issues.
There was nothing special we needed to prepare either. They weren’t the kind of people to leave the house a mess. If anything, they were more meticulous about cleaning than I was, handling areas I wouldn’t even think to check.
I was grateful for that.
…Until my thoughts drifted to my room.
Most of the time, we all gathered in the living room.
There was rarely a reason to go into each other’s rooms, unless absolutely necessary. Everyone valued their privacy.
Back on the battlefield, personal space didn’t exist. We had to endure things we didn’t like and compromise in ways we wouldn’t normally consider.
So in this house, we had an unspoken rule: when someone was in their room, unless it was truly important, we didn’t disturb them.
…I tried to recall the current state of my room.
Nothing major should be out of place, but it’s always the little things you overlook that end up causing problems.
Did I throw my clothes around in a hurry this morning?
Was my blanket in a mess?
What if Noona thought it looked too untidy?
“All done.”
“Huh?”
While I was lost in thought, Noona had already finished checking out.
“It’s fine. Since I’m the guest, I should be the one paying.”
Before I could even bring up the topic of money, she shut me down completely.
Through the plastic bag she was holding, I could clearly see a large bottle of beer… and even a bottle of soju.
…….
This should be fine… right?
Then why did I feel so uneasy?