I thought it wouldn’t be good if the time with my sister and my colleagues stretched on too long, so I quickly got ready and came out.
Surprisingly, among the drinks my sister bought, there was wine, in addition to beer and soju. It must have been quite expensive per bottle, but I guess she bought it as a gift.
There were also snacks and frozen side dishes to microwave.
If I looked at the overall amount, it was something my colleagues could finish off in no time.
For regular people, it would have been just the right amount or a little leftover, but the amount my colleagues ate was on par with how much I would eat.
But I couldn’t ask my sister to buy more. Since it was my house, it was my responsibility to treat them. If needed, I should just order more myself.
With that thought in mind, I started bringing the prepared food out on a tray.
…As I expected, the living room was quiet. The atmosphere was so awkward that Dana, who was following behind me, seemed to swallow her breath.
“Um, uh…”
Honestly, I knew it wasn’t the best idea to run off to the kitchen, but I didn’t expect the atmosphere to be this awkward.
Now that I think about it, I hadn’t even properly introduced my sister to them.
Even though I had talked about her before, since it was the first time they were meeting, it was my responsibility to introduce them both. Moreover, it was only polite to introduce my colleagues to my sister as well.
Besides, I was the one who invited my sister here. No matter how many excuses I tried to make, I was the one who messed up.
I wanted to go back to five minutes ago and slap myself in the back of the head.
Anyway, once the damage was done, there was no way to fix it. I had to do my best to handle the situation from here.
I quickly walked over to the table where my sister and my colleagues were sitting and began placing the food on the table.
Kalia, Fia, and Dana, maybe because they wanted to ease the awkward atmosphere, quickly started helping. My sister did the same.
Before I knew it, everything was set up, and I sat in the middle of the table. The seat that was perfectly between the sofa and the TV.
My sister sat next to me, and Kalia, Fia, and Arna sat across from me, while Dana sat at the corner between my sister and Arna.
“Ahem.”
I cleared my throat and began to introduce my colleagues to my sister.
“First, let me introduce my friends~”
As I started talking, my sister cut me off.
“Shihyeon.”
I was immediately on edge. Was she mad at me for something?
Since childhood, my sister had never really gotten angry in front of me. We never really fought. There were a few petty squabbles, but nothing serious enough to apologize for, so it always just blew over.
But because of that, I was even more afraid when she got angry.
If she was upset with me, I wouldn’t know how to make it right.
We’d never had a situation where she complained about the food while eating, and she never seemed to dislike going anywhere when we traveled.
Of course, the food was always simple, common things everyone ate, and when we went out, it was never outside of Seoul. So, there had never really been a situation where tastes would clash. Because of that, I had no idea what my sister truly disliked.
When you’re with someone who’s not angry, even if you make a little mistake, they’ll let it slide. But if someone’s really angry, even a small mistake can turn into a big problem.
Honestly, I would have felt more at ease if I had died before this… But no matter how close we were, I wasn’t the same person from back then.
Now, I was just someone who had been meeting them for three months. Well, I was still sure that we had a much deeper relationship than that.
Because of that deep connection, though, wouldn’t it break the image if I disappointed them?
My mind was racing, trying to find some kind of way out. But before my brain could come to any conclusion, my sister spoke up first.
“I decided to speak casually with your friends.”
“Pardon?”
My brain, which had been running wildly, suddenly came to a halt.
What did she say?
I should’ve said something out loud, but for some reason, I couldn’t get the words out. My mind had stopped working.
But… my friends and I had only just met.
Of course, if we went to the same school, and were in the same class or grade, it would be fine to speak casually. Even if we hadn’t exchanged a word in school, it wouldn’t be weird to speak casually once we found out we were classmates.
But, my sister and my colleagues weren’t people who knew each other originally.
And yet, after just five minutes of meeting, they were already speaking casually?
Was the awkwardness I felt all in my head? Had they really gotten that close in just five minutes?
“Well, that’s…”
Maybe my sister realized her explanation was lacking, because she spoke slowly, more cautiously this time.
“You already speak casually with your friends. But I’m using polite language… If our attitudes are so different, it’ll just make things more awkward.”
“Ah…”
That was when my brain, which had been slowly working again, finally kicked back into gear.
Of course, I still couldn’t fully accept my sister’s reasoning in that moment.
‘Is that so?’
Actually, even when I started speaking casually, Fia still used polite language with everyone. The way Fia used polite language wasn’t because she was speaking to someone she didn’t know well.
In fact, it didn’t feel any different from my casual speech. Fia simply used polite language with everyone, not just us.
So, it wasn’t awkward. We all understood that. Even if there was a mix of polite and casual speech within our group, our relationships were still very close.
“We’ve known each other for quite some time, haven’t we?”
My sister said, looking around as if she was making an excuse.
“So, I think we should be able to speak casually with each other too. Well, actually, I’ve already been speaking casually, so you just need to drop the formalities.”
Ah.
I see.
My mind, which had been processing slowly, finally picked up speed again.
So, my sister was using that reason as an excuse to get me to speak casually.
…Thinking about it, it’s not actually that awkward.
It took me a long time to speak casually with Arna, but eventually, I did. When we first met, I used polite language with the other party members as well.
But through various events, we realized that it was more efficient to just be open and honest with each other, rather than sticking to formalities. Eventually, we became so close that I could trust them with my life.
Even without extreme situations like that, if you get close enough, it’s possible to speak casually. If someone’s even more sociable than me, maybe they’d drop the formalities after just a day or two.
The truth is, the reason I’ve been using polite language with my sister up until now is because I was simply too scared. I wanted to get closer, but I didn’t know how my sister would feel if I suddenly dropped the formalities.
Plus, it didn’t feel like something the younger person should suggest to the older one.
In that sense, if my sister was telling me this now, I had no reason to refuse.
“Okay, uh, then let’s do that. I think it would be better that way.”
“Huh?”
Maybe my answer seemed strange, because my sister blinked in surprise.
“…I was talking about us dropping the formalities, though.”
She said it as if talking to herself, but it was clear that she meant for me to hear it.
I felt my face heat up. By the way, my sister’s face had already been red for a while. I wasn’t sure if it was because of the alcohol or her emotions.
“Ugh, yeah, I’ll do that…”
Ugh, if only I had drunk some alcohol, I wouldn’t be this embarrassed.
Before I came back to this world, speaking casually had been a normal part of my life, so I didn’t know why it felt so awkward now. When it came to time, I had known my sister in this world for much less time than the time we spent together before.
“Good.”
My sister said, as if feeling relieved.
“…”
I lowered my head and stayed silent.
It seemed like when my sister drank, she became incredibly brave. Was this her drinking habit?
Well, alcohol had also been used to boost morale among soldiers on the front lines, so it wasn’t entirely wrong.
“Ahem.”
After a while of that ticklish atmosphere, someone suddenly cleared their throat, making both of us jump in surprise.
It was Kalia who had cleared her throat.
Ah.
We must have been in our own little world, with all the food already set up.
My sister must have realized this, too, because her face turned even redder than before. It definitely wasn’t just from the alcohol.
“So…”
Kalia, looking as if she were struggling to figure out what to talk about, was scanning the room with her eyes. This was a rare expression for Kalia.
“Well, how about we start by drinking?”
The way Kalia said it, though it was probably just my imagination, seemed oddly red-faced too.