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I feel a bit strange.

Ji-hye and I have thought of each other as sisters for quite a long time.

This is natural because we’ve been together since the oldest memories we can recall.

To say we were just friends would be inaccurate; we’ve spent too long sharing the same room.

We both were found in a baby box at a church and sent to this orphanage due to some unfortunate circumstances with the church pastor. Since then, we’ve lived in the same neighborhood and the same building, in the same room.

Even now, in some sense, we could say we share the same room—

“Things are different from back then.”

Ji-hye pouted and complained.

We were walking down the street together.

When I asked Ji-hye if she wanted to do something, she pondered for a while and then said she wanted to go to a place we had been to before, just the two of us.

According to Ji-hye, instead of wasting time going far away, it’d be much more beneficial to book a nice hotel and restaurant and enjoy the remaining time.

So, we’ve been wandering outside since early morning.

“Back then, it was just the two of us in the room, but now there are so many other kids around.”

“…Sorry.”

“…No, there’s nothing to apologize for.”

Ji-hye blushed slightly and said.

“At least now we can do a lot of things because of our relationship.”

I stared at Ji-hye for a moment, then casually bent a bit.

Peck.

“Ah!?”

When I lightly kissed her cheek, Ji-hye seemed a bit flustered and shouted. It was morning after all, so there weren’t many people around. I knew that when I did it.

“Wha, what was that all of a sudden?”

Not knowing what expression to make, Ji-hye pouted again.

And seeing her pouty lips, I placed my lips on hers once more.

“Ah, what are you doing!”

“That’s just me being your girlfriend.”

I smiled and pulled Ji-hye closer, embracing her. The sensation of being much closer than just linking arms seemed to make Ji-hye a bit flustered as she rolled her eyes.

“Then, does that mean we can do things we couldn’t do before?”

“Well, that’s true…”

Yes. There are many things we can’t do as ‘sisters’. Even though it feels like we’re the closest in the world, it often doesn’t compare to the closeness of a couple or lovers. Isn’t that obvious? Families have their own boundaries.

Well, in a sense we’re still ‘family’, but our relationship has definitely changed from when we were ‘sisters’.

Ji-hye mumbled as if she didn’t want me to hear, but it seemed like she was just hiding her embarrassment.

As I pulled her waist in tighter, Ji-hye gave a gentle smile and wrapped her arms around my waist.

After a light kiss on her lips again, we continued walking.

*

In fact, there wasn’t much to do so early in the morning. So, we decided to grab something for breakfast first.

A globally famous burger joint, with their big yellow letters as the logo, opened early.

We ordered some pancakes to fill our stomachs a bit, and then headed straight to karaoke.

“It’s been a while since it’s just been the two of us at karaoke!”

Ji-hye said with her eyes sparkling. It felt like she was suddenly transported back to being a high school student from a few years ago.

Since it had been a long time since it was just the two of us, Ji-hye energetically dashed inside.

And for some reason, she was grinning widely while waiting instead of sitting down.

Looking at her with a bit of skepticism, I took a seat, and then—

“Eek!”

Ji-hye suddenly sat on my lap.

“Whoa!?”

When she tried to sit down like a princess but lost her balance, I caught her with my arms.

As I held her tightly around the waist, Ji-hye’s face rose slightly above mine.

It was playful at first, but as I held her waist tightly with both arms, she suddenly looked embarrassed and lowered her gaze.

“Aren’t you going to sing?”

I whispered in her ear, and Ji-hye’s body quivered.

“You should go first…”

“Huh? Sorry. I can’t because I’m holding you right now. I’ll let you choose the song. I’ll hold the microphone for you.”

Ji-hye appeared a bit flustered, as she tried to get up from her seat, but I held her tighter with my arms, preventing her from escaping.

Under the twinkling lights unique to karaoke, I could swear Ji-hye’s face seemed a bit pinker. Well, there were a few red lights among the decorations, so that might be expected.

As I rested my face on Ji-hye’s shoulder, she shivered again.

“Then let’s go with that song we used to sing a lot.”

“Okay, I’m counting on you.”

At my words, Ji-hye touched the remote.

We sang together. In reality, the songs we used to sing were usually lively ones. There was no reason for sisters to sing melancholic ballads together.

However, when we became lovers, the atmosphere shifted a bit—somehow, we sang a song that sounded like one we should be headbanging to, like a couple duet.

Still, thanks to that, we laughed for a while after finishing the song.

Ji-hye seemed even more accustomed to this ‘couple atmosphere’ and leaned into me, and I gently caressed her body, even if she lightly slapped my shoulder and glared.

Peck.

“……”

Every time I pressed my lips against hers, Ji-hye squirmed and buried her face into my shoulder.

I really didn’t understand why she was suddenly shy now.

After all, there were only the two of us here, and we had faced more intimate moments before.

As we continued singing, the pace slowed down, eventually leading us to just sing ballads as a duet.

But hmm, at the end, feeling a bit out of sorts, we both shivered slightly after the song ended.

It seemed we were better suited for a more upbeat vibe.

*

“Ahh~”

Ji-hye had another thing she wanted to try.

Of course, since we’ve known each other for a long time, we have gone to various places like restaurants just the two of us many times.

However, we had never gone on a date at a restaurant. It seems Ji-hye wanted to change that.

When Ji-hye held out her fork toward me while saying that, the fork quivered slightly. Did it really need to shake just to hand over a piece of katsu? At the same time, it was amusing to understand why she’s doing it.

“Ahh.”

As I took it into my mouth, Ji-hye blushed lightly and smiled bashfully.

That look was nice. Or rather, because of that look, I felt something different and nicer. Just being a couple doesn’t mean I should want her to only be naked in bed.

Love is enjoyable.

I was slowly exploring that feeling while being with Ji-hye.

I picked a piece of katsu with my chopstick and offered it to Ji-hye.

“Here, ahh.”

As I awkwardly mimicked her, for some reason, my hand trembled slightly. I found myself sneaking glances at the people sitting at the nearby table.

Ah, now I understand why she was so shy earlier.

“Ah, ahh.”

Ji-hye opened her mouth to receive it.

After that, I was unbelievably embarrassed.

Both of us quietly finished our meal, paid the bill, and quickly left.

After walking for a bit,

“Pff.”

Ji-hye burst into laughter.

“Hahaha!”

Seeing her unable to hold back her laughter as if she heard a funny joke made me laugh too without realizing it.

Then, we echoed back into each other’s arms and marched forward.

The cold winter wind hit our faces, but maybe because of each other’s warmth, it didn’t feel too cold.

*

In that sense, I can say our ‘date’ was quite successful.

After all, we picked out everything a fresh couple could do.

“Still, using magic to win that stuffed toy was a bit much.”

Ji-hye said, hugging a big teddy bear.

She looked immensely happy, despite her words.

“No, I really got it with my shooting skills.”

Honestly, I felt a bit resentful. Ji-hye, of course, didn’t believe me, and even the arcade owner looked skeptical.

First of all, I’m not a shooting-type magical girl. I’m someone who swings a massive hammer in battle. If it was Jua who shot it, it wouldn’t be unusual to suspect her.

Well, while it isn’t wrong to say I can use magic, in the end, the arcade owner couldn’t find any evidence that I did that and just handed over the big stuffed toy.

“…… Wait a second. Are you doing this on purpose?”

Thinking back, Ji-hye wasn’t the type to not believe I said such things. In fact, she even got mad on my behalf at the arcade.

“Hehe.”

Ji-hye grinned playfully as if she was trying to tease me even more.

Covering half of her face behind the large teddy bear while laughing like that—honestly, it was cute.

Cute and lovely.

“……”

I spread my arms wide and hugged Ji-hye tightly with the teddy bear in between us.

Ji-hye quickly became quiet.

As I kept brushing my lips against hers, Ji-hye seemed to lose her concentration, looking dazed.

“Hehe.”

I retaliated to Ji-hye by giving her the same smile.

“…… That’s mean.”

“Well, you knew I was mean from the start.”

Going back to her side again, I wrapped my arms around her waist, and Ji-hye gave a slight smile.

Ji-hye rested her head against me. I leaned my head against hers.

Now, both of us had become far too adept at being lovers with each other.

There will surely be many such days in the future.

With each of those moments, new memories will slowly accumulate for both of us.

“Shall we get waffles?”

“Sure!”

After getting waffles filled with cream, I fed them to Ji-hye, who couldn’t use both her hands, and when I took a bit of cream from her mouth, she pouted a little.

Although her smiling face wasn’t scary at all.

 

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