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This is the story of the time I was staying at Pang-pang’s house for a bit.

Since that period was short if you call it short and long if you call it long, I obviously had plenty of time to share various stories.

Normally, I played the role of the listener, but no matter how much of a Pang-pang she was, there were moments when even she ran out of things to say.

“…Thanks for letting me stay like this.”

Perhaps feeling a bit tipsy without any alcohol, I blurted that out at a moment when Pang-pang paused her chatter.

Living off someone else’s place was, in many ways, a subtle affair.

After all, even if it was a close friend, it felt weird.

Not to mention, whether I considered Pang-pang a super-duper close friend was a story for another time.

However, in response to my vague remarks—

“Eh, it’s fine.”

Pang-pang waved her hand with a smile. That’s just Pang-pang for you. Strangely enough, she always took people’s confessions lightly, even if they were a bit dark.

Despite the somewhat gloomy atmosphere, we had sweet snacks, some sugar-free canned coffee, and a few energy drinks in front of us.

After finishing work at the construction site, we would always buy drinks and snacks on our way home.

To be frank, I didn’t see those as snacks. My idea of snacks would be something relatively stimulating, usually something spicy, that you’d eat with bitter alcohol.

Well, if we’re talking bitterness, coffee and alcohol are both bitter, but the types of bitterness could be different.

I also thought that cake would go better with Americano than hangover soup.

Unfortunately for Pang-pang, I don’t drink coffee much at night. Although I’m not overly sensitive to caffeine, I knew that if I drank it, I wouldn’t be able to sleep well.

Still, I felt like I should at least take a sip in this situation, so instead of buying canned coffee, I stopped by a café on the way and got just a cup of decaf.

I took a piece of cake with a disposable fork and popped it in my mouth.

The reason something sweet tasted this good was probably because I had exerted myself during the day. Even if it was said to use circuits, it was not like I was doing nothing at all.

Pang-pang had been living here doing this every day.

“…No, I should properly repay this. You’re not just staying here for free.”

“You alone… well, no, if you add that person over there, even two more wouldn’t change much. You earn your own money, after all.”

That money-making thing was actually introduced to me by Pang-pang.

By the way, James was sleeping in the corner of that room. Maybe he had been overworked at his company, because he would sometimes fall asleep like that.

Lucky him for being small. Just a shoebox could turn into a studio apartment for him. Well, it would be quite cold, though. The housing prices in Squeaky Adult’s maternal land couldn’t be that high.

“Dangerous things—”

“Don’t worry about that. The stuff we do normally isn’t any less dangerous, so what’s the fuss?”

Pang-pang interrupted me again.

I lost my words and silently took another bite of the chocolate cake. It was a bit too sweet for my taste. Although it was decaf, I was glad I bought coffee without sugar or milk.

After rinsing my mouth with the bitter coffee, we resumed silently enjoying the dessert and coffee.

I wasn’t showing any notable changes, but Pang-pang was starting to blush a little. Those alien folks get tipsy from caffeine. On Earth, caffeine was regulated differently, so whenever Pang-pang had free time, she drank it happily.

How many times had I brought this girl home, who treated cafés like pubs?

Even though I was only a high school student in this world, strangely enough, I had never experienced “taking a drunken friend home” in my past life.

Hmm, thinking about it this way, it seemed that we were closer than I thought. If we weren’t close, I wouldn’t have done that.

“Right, right.”

Pang-pang said.

“There was no one else who treated me like that….”

“…Really?”

“Yeah.”

As she said that, Pang-pang opened another can of coffee. There were already no snacks left in front of her.

Do those aliens get stomach aches after drinking caffeine? Hmm, I felt that might be the case, so I pushed my cake toward her.

I was fine just with coffee. I didn’t have to worry about getting tipsy.

“Wow, thanks.”

Pang-pang replied in a slightly slurred way and took small bites from the cake I pushed her way while sipping her coffee.

“Aren’t you addicted to caffeine?”

Even Earthlings can get addicted to caffeine. Well, usually, it’s just a mild headache or something.

“No, no. We don’t have such things….”

To be honest, that was hard to believe. Doesn’t it feel nice to be tipsy, and isn’t it the case that one slowly becomes addicted to that lovely feeling?

After all, getting tipsy is like pushing the body to its limits and losing your right mind.

“Just stop after that much.”

I sighed deeply, set my coffee down, and started clearing the trash in front of us.

“Heh, heh….”

“What are you laughing at?”

When I responded incredulously, Pang-pang looked up at me.

“That’s the first time I’ve seen you worry.”

“Yeah?”

“Worrying about me.”

“….”

I really didn’t know anything about Pang-pang’s past.

When we worked there, there was an unspoken rule. Don’t pry too much into each other’s business.

After all, those who work as combatants usually don’t have a normal way of making money, or they might be in a situation where they couldn’t sustain their living through anything else.

I didn’t know for sure, but there might be criminals among them. That company was the type that was willing to employ criminals.

We act somewhat friendly toward one another, but at the same time, we didn’t know much about each other. I didn’t know all the details about that rock tribe guy either. Well, that guy was somewhat of a chatterbox and would share bits and pieces of his situation.

“The only one who brings me home after coffee is you, and the only one who sits in front of me at the café is you.”

“You’re the problem because you drink until you’re tipsy.”

I let out a light sigh.

But still, yeah.

To be honest, I didn’t dislike it that much. Even though Pang-pang was an alien with blue skin unlike ours, she was still quite a pretty girl.

I didn’t think of it as a date—though it didn’t really inconvenience me significantly.

Plus, there was a somewhat pitiful side to her too.

Like right now.

“There wasn’t anyone to ask about what I liked, and when I told you what I liked, you didn’t laugh at me.”

“Well, there are quite a few aliens who like Earth, just like you.”

“No… still. Still, there are way more people who mock me.”

Somehow, it felt a bit risky as I was about to start tearing up. I felt like I was slipping into self-deprecation.

“…You’re tipsy, aren’t you? Let’s save that for tomorrow.”

“No way.”

It really began to show that her tongue was starting to twist up.

I didn’t drink significantly more than usual—at least I thought so—when I absentmindedly picked up a can, but I was shocked to see that it contained 200mg of caffeine.

And I had two cans of that.

In this country, the caffeine in energy drinks usually doesn’t exceed 100mg. Coffee can have more than that without any issues, but for some odd reason, many people are really picky about it, so the caffeine content is always written in relatively large letters in visible places.

…And not noticing that before buying was on me.

“Hey, you drank more than usual.”

“Really?”

“From now on, check the cans you’ve never seen before.”

I sighed again and dragged Pang-pang along with me. Pang-pang followed along, giggling.

I set Pang-pang down on the futon mat I had spread out earlier and went to clean up the trash.

“Uwoong.”

Pang-pang grabbed my leg and tugged at my clothes.

“Yikes!?”

I let out a startled sound as I fell backward. Somehow, I ended up lying right next to Pang-pang.

She tightly held onto me with her arms.

Though she wasn’t as curvy as I was, Pang-pang was still definitely a girl. It became overly embarrassing with her suddenly clinging to me like this—

“Thanks.”

For some reason, she said that, then—

Peck.

She kissed my cheek.

“Hey, what.”

Before I could even respond—

“Zzz.”

Pang-pang fell asleep just like that.

“….”

I was at a loss for words and didn’t know what to say.

 

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