I remained a minor until the day I died.
Ah, to be clear, I’m talking about my life in this world. Of course, when I crossed over to the other world, I was an adult.
In this world, I had just become an adult, but in that world, I was quite literally a “proper” adult. In truth, even in Irellecia, the standards for adulthood weren’t all that different from this world.
That was, of course, according to the law. But in regions where the law’s influence didn’t reach as deeply, or in noble territories slightly removed from the central government, adulthood could sometimes be defined differently.
Unless it was a place like the royal capital, where public education was somewhat established, or where reputable families gathered, most commoners lived by farming.
And once their children turned fifteen, they became valuable workers for the household. By the time they could fully contribute to the labor force, they were more or less treated as adults.
Legally, they still needed to reach adulthood to serve as soldiers, work government jobs, or get married, but local laborers were generally considered adults regardless.
After work, they would grab a drink, sometimes getting thoroughly drunk. Even if they weren’t legally allowed to get engaged, many would start families around the age of seventeen.
Villages that supplied provisions before sending men off to war were usually like that. In the world I came from, I had just become an adult, but in that village, I was already treated as a full-fledged grown-up without any of the distinctions like being a “young professional” or a “newcomer to society.”
I sat across from seventeen-year-old boys, drinking with them. I also sat across from their fathers, sharing drinks.
Fortunately, a hero’s body doesn’t get drunk easily, so I never found myself in troublesome situations.
Because of that, I had quite a bit of confidence when it came to alcohol. I was sure I wouldn’t get drunk, and to be honest, I was confident I could drink far more than the average person.
But thinking about drinking with my sister made me nervous.
I had never done anything considered “adult” with her before.
On top of that, I had been drinking in a culture where adults were treated as equals once they reached the age of maturity. I knew that in my home country, people turned their heads when drinking with someone older or of higher status, but beyond that, I had no knowledge of drinking etiquette.
So I was worried—what if I made a mistake in front of my sister?
Today was Saturday. Since Gayoung only worked on weekdays, she wasn’t here. That was a relief.
Gayoung had a sharp intuition, and if she saw us awkwardly standing around like this, she would have definitely asked what was going on.
It wasn’t as if my sister and I hadn’t spoken at all.
But we hadn’t talked much either.
The two of us were just working in a daze, as if our minds were elsewhere.
“S-So… there aren’t many customers today.”
“Y-Yeah, that’s true.”
“Uh… should we just close up? I don’t think we’ll get any more customers anyway.”
“Uh, um… yeah, I guess so?”
About an hour before closing time, we decided to shut the store early since there were barely any customers.
Honestly, even if we made that excuse, there was no one around to hear it but the two of us. Yet, even while closing up, we kept making unnecessary justifications.
The truth was, we were both just looking forward to having a drink together.
I locked the door after closing up the shop.
After checking to make sure it was properly locked, my sister turned toward me.
Even though we had wrapped up a bit earlier than usual, the sky was already pitch black. The only thing illuminating her face was the glow of the streetlights.
While most streetlights had switched to LED by now, the ones in this neighborhood were still orange. Maybe they were still working fine, so they hadn’t been replaced yet.
Because of that, my sister’s face looked slightly red.
With her head slightly lowered, my sister only lifted her gaze to look at me. The moment our eyes met, she quickly turned away and started walking ahead.
I hurriedly followed behind her.
No rather, I quickened my pace so I could walk beside her.
Then, she suddenly stopped in her tracks.
I halted as well, but my sister remained silent for a moment.
“……..”
Without looking directly at me, she reached out her hand.
“Hand.”
She spoke softly.
“…….”
I hesitated for a moment before slowly extending my hand toward hers.
As soon as my fingertips touched her hand, she flinched slightly, but she didn’t pull away.
Gently, my hand wrapped around hers.
It was a little cold.
“……When I was with Sihyun, we always held hands like this.”
“……”
That was true.
She had always held my hand. Ever since I was very young, she would take my hand and lead me forward.
Even as we grew older, that one thing never changed.
“Can we… keep doing this from now on?”
She asked, shifting her gaze around as if embarrassed.
That expression was so endearing.
“……..Yes.”
I nodded. She didn’t look at me directly, but I was sure that, somewhere in the corner of her vision, she caught sight of my response.
A soft smile spread across her lips.
And as if trying to hide that smile, she tightened her grip on my hand and started leading me forward.
“I’ve actually never been to a bar around here, so I’m not too familiar with the places… But I have a general idea of where to go. Let’s head that way.”
“……Okay.”
“Have you… had alcohol before?”
“Yes.”
“Really?”
She looked up at me with a slightly surprised expression, but as soon as our eyes met, she quickly averted her gaze again.
“O-Oh, I see. Then I guess I don’t have to worry too much.”
“Yes.”
I replied with a smile.
“…….”
Hearing my response, my sister pressed her lips together and remained silent as she continued leading me forward.
*
“Who are you texting?”
A beer pub on a street not far from the bakery.
While my sister went to the restroom for a moment after securing a table, I was in the middle of texting my housemates.
Dana seemed to really want a smartphone, so when we went out for my birthday last time, we all got one together. It wasn’t too much of a financial burden.
Well, if I were using my old standards from before going to Irellexia, it would have been an absurd amount of money, but not anymore. It wasn’t enough to make me stumble financially.
Besides, we needed a way to communicate.
We couldn’t always move around in pairs forever. They were gradually adapting to life here. I didn’t think they’d go out and cause trouble. Everyone was reasonably flexible in their thinking.
Of course, Dana was still the best at reading, while the others could only interpret words one at a time.
Still, if anything urgent came up, Dana would be the one making calls, so I wasn’t too worried. If necessary, we could all connect on a call together.
Since I was coming home late, it was only right to explain the reason.
“Ah, uh—”
As I was answering, I got an emoji from Dana. It was a cute cat making an “OK” sign with its paw.
“I’m texting my housemates. They might worry if I come home late.”
Almost as if copying Dana, Kalia, Fia, and Arna also sent emojis a bit later. It seemed like writing in Hangul was still difficult for them.
“Oh, right.”
“They’re your friends, huh.”
She repeated it once more, as if lost in thought.
“I’ll introduce you sometime.”
At that, my sister flinched and waved her hands.
“Oh, no, no, I was just a little curious. I didn’t mean to actually check or anything.”
“Check?”
I blinked at her words, and she looked even more flustered.
“Oh, right! We haven’t ordered anything yet, have we? What do you want to drink? Oh, and what about snacks?”
“Uh, then… beer? For the snack, fries seem like a safe choice.”
“Right? I thought so too! Excuse me!?”
As if trying to bury the previous conversation, my sister called out loudly to the staff.
…I’m not sure what that was about, but for now, I decided to just go along with it.
*
Ah, seriously, why does this keep bothering me?
Even if Shihyun said something that sounded like a confession to me…
There’s no way he’d have those kinds of feelings for his housemates.
His housemates…
“Wait.”
Hold on.
Come to think of it, Shihyun has never mentioned the gender of his housemates.
If they’re women, I’d feel a little uneasy…
But if they’re not women, that might be even more concerning.
Shihyun might not think much of it, but who knows about those so-called “friends”?
“Huh?”
Shihyun responded to the noise I accidentally made.
“Oh, uh, it’s nothing!”
I quickly shook my head, brushing it off, but I couldn’t help thinking—
I should’ve asked him more about his friends earlier.