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Chapter 1: The New Neighborhood

“This is my first time in this area, so I checked the map app to see if I found the right place.”

From the perspective of Dayoung, who is 21 and from the Indian cultural district of Gwanak, Gangnam was an entirely unfamiliar place.

I remember how flustered I was when I received the address.

“Where is this place?”

Peppa’s eyes blinked rapidly between my bag’s gaps. Was it curious about this strange environment?

Worried someone might see, I thumped my bag like I was dusting it off and whispered to Peppa, “I’ll hold you tight…”

“Who’s holding me, though?”

In a fit of frustration, my shoulders slumped.

The feelings creeping in from earlier twisted my insides.

It was that annoying sensation of being alone and restless within my relationships, something I thought would end after graduating school lunches.

“I must look ridiculous right now.”

Still, my eagerness to see my sister quickened my steps.

“Whoosh—!”

“—Wack!”

My eyes widened as a warm breath tickled my earlobe.

“Hey~! Long time no see.”

“Oh my….”

In a greeting that I could never have imagined under normal circumstances, I turned to find Saehwi smiling at me, waving like a carefree sunflower.

Unlike my own nervousness, she seemed to have complete ease.

Of course, it made sense she could relax since she didn’t know why I suggested meeting up…

“Seriously! You said you’d wait at home… Why did you come out here?”

I started whining due to my frustration.

“I came to pick you up, just in case you got lost.”

“No way, am I a kid or something?”

Does she think I’m still a 10-year-old?

Though honestly, kids these days can navigate Seoul like pros.

“Isn’t it cold? Let’s head inside.”

With her naturally reaching for my hand, warmth flowed through, melting the cold feeling in my fingers.

“…Okay.”

Thanks to that warmth… the anxiety that my relationship with my sister might fall apart melted away like snow.

“Is that cake?”

“Yep, I bought it on my way here.”

“Nice! We can have it as a snack.”

Saehwi’s voice brought gentle chatter about various light topics.

She mentioned having good wine at home and that there are plenty of snacks in the fridge…

When I sneaked a glance up at her, her face radiated calm, causing a sense of relief to wash over me.

Is that why?

“If I apologize… she’ll probably forgive me, right?”

I thought she’d definitely accept my sincere apology, even though I wouldn’t take advantage of that.

After all, the cake in my hand was part of my apology too.

“Well….”

After meeting and chatting like this, perhaps I was starting to feel a bit less tense.

A new emotion was beginning to bloom within me.

That feeling was simple curiosity.

Although I had invited her before, at that time, there were no signs of the relaxed self she usually displayed at home.

There was a little incident the morning after we spent the night, but aside from that, she surprisingly hadn’t lost her composure.

Dayoung briefly imagined, “What does Saehwi look like at home?”

A place filled with her private moments, unlike the public face I always saw when we were outside.

Going to apologize, I found it rather exciting in many ways.

“We’ve arrived.”

The destination wasn’t far away, and the building where Saehwi and Dayoung arrived was a villa.

It looked quite large and sophisticated, seeming newly built.

“Is this….”

Is this my sister’s house?

I wondered about the real estate prices in Gangnam and where she got such wealth.

“Is her family rich?”

Well, the luxurious limited-edition devices might hint at that.

But how did she manage to save all that money?

It’s been ten years since I left the world of heroes.

Plus, she said her appearance and identity had changed, so it wouldn’t exactly be easy to consider her existing wealth.

“What’s taking you so long? Come in.”

I shook off my thoughts at Saehwi’s urging.

Well, I can always ask about that later.

So then….

“Excuse me.”

Taking a step forward, I entered.

* * *

“Phew, damn it. I thought I’d die from anxiety… yes.”

“Huh?”

Upon stepping inside, I felt a slight awkwardness at Peppa’s complaining after jumping out from my bag with a squeak.

“What is it?”

It took about five seconds of thinking before I realized the cause.

Thinking that, I felt a bit humiliated.

“Hey, don’t use that tone!”

“Damn it, I got beaned… Argh!”

A straight punch hit me right in the face.

Leaving Peppa, who collapsed on the floor like a withered mosquito, I turned my attention back to Dayoung.

Given the behavior until now, it seemed clear that frog was not the type to change its tone on its own.

Such a shift could only happen with external stimulation or pressure, and it was definitely connected to Dayoung. After all, they were inseparable.

“What happened?”

“Um….”

Hesitate, hesitate.

“Ah….”

Starting to fidget.

“That is….”

Wriggle, wriggle.

“Just sit down for now. I’ll get some snacks.”

Standing there awkwardly wasn’t going to lead anywhere.

Whatever the matter was, it wasn’t something that would typically be shared casually.

It was something I needed to confess but felt too sober to bring up.

If you ask how to pry it out of her, there’s only one answer.

“Have you eaten yet?”

“Kind of. How about you?”

“I ate something simple too. Should we cut the cake now?”

“I’ll help.”

I waved my hand to indicate it wasn’t necessary.

There’s no way I’d make someone who was already in a bad mood do work, especially since she’s a guest at my place.

“Oh.”

As I opened the cake box, I found that Dayoung had bought a dark chocolate cake. It was surprisingly large.

This type of cake generally doesn’t vary much in taste, but I can never resist chocolate.

I had decent white wine, so after some quick setup, it looked pretty nice.

As I filled our glasses, Dayoung immediately took a generous sip.

Was she thirsty, or was it her heart that felt dry?

Maybe some indulgence was exactly what she needed.

“Want another glass?”

“Yeah. By the way, if I ask, can I drink until I pass out?”

“Sure.”

Nodding to show my agreement, Dayoung then emptied her glass without even looking at the snacks.

Seeing her like this made it clear today was a special occasion.

When we prepared for the broadcast earlier, she wasn’t acting this way—so what had happened in between?

Dayoung, who was sipping wine at her own pace, suddenly scanned the room.

Her cheeks, now flushed from the drink, looked like perfectly ripe fruit.

“Hey, you live in a nice place. Did you rent it?”

“No? This is my house. The whole building.”

“Huh, wait, what? How?”

“Well… it’s my retirement pay for being a hero.”

As a reward from the goddess for defeating the Demon King and saving the world in that other realm, I received a blessing that helped me adapt to society with a changed appearance and secure wealth.

Anything obtained in that world, aside from the Hero’s Equipment and Holy Sword, had been forcibly disposed of, but those were all useless back on Earth anyway.

So, I wrapped it up saying it was a reward from the goddess.

Then….

“Hey, Peppa, you little punk.”

After hearing it all, Dayoung’s reaction was like an active volcano about to explode.

“Why? What’s wrong…?”

“Why don’t I get a reward like you?! I suffered for at least two years, if not ten. Shouldn’t I at least get around ten million won?”

Peppa, under the pressure of Dayoung’s intensity, hopped around comically.

Well, it clearly showcased how those in that world thought.

“Is this crazy girl finally losing it? The goddess over there is the weird one. Normally, heroes get no pay at all… Cough!”

“Hey! This is why heroes go bad! Got it?!”

Whether it’s a curse from the Demon King or not, she’s about to lose it.

Watching Dayoung choking Peppa and shaking him wildly, I started to feel a panic and knew I had to intervene.

“Dayoung, hold on a second.”

“Is that even going to help… urgh!”

I shoved a piece of chocolate cake into her mouth.

Of course, that would go down fine.

“Whether you chew it or just swallow it, what are you staring at like that?”

“… One bite.”

With a hint of tears, she insisted on one more bite from me. Is she acting like a little baby bird?

“When you get a headache and feel sad, eat something sweet. Drinking will help too. It’ll make you feel better.”

“…….”

Without speaking, she promptly snatched the piece of cake off the fork. What a baby bird indeed?

“Dayoung will be a great streamer too, so don’t stress over this. I’ll do my best to help.”

“Today marks my first day as a streamer.”

“Yep, the first broadcast had six thousand viewers.”

“Wow.”

It looks like she’s been at this for a while.

Well, seeing her like that means the atmosphere is starting to settle.

Whether it’s the alcohol taking effect, or the bittersweetness of the chocolate cake, I couldn’t quite tell.

But once I opened this line of conversation, the words began flowing freely in seconds.

“Hey, do you know why I wanted to meet today?”

I sensed Dayoung was ready to drop a topic for discussion.

What could it be? What happened?

When I shook my head to indicate I didn’t know, Dayoung closed her eyes tightly as she swirled her remaining wine.

“I’m sorry. Due to my mistake, I almost ruined your broadcast today.”

“Huh?”

Wasn’t the broadcast a success?

Hearing Dayoung, who coached me, say such a thing made me uneasy.

“What happened? Can you explain more?”

“Well, the thing is…”

What came out of Dayoung’s mouth after that was an utterly absurd story.

I couldn’t believe that the “golden solar frog” mission I’d set today was actually Peppa. What a naming sense…

“It’s all my fault! I’m really sorry. If I had trained Peppa properly, this wouldn’t have happened.”

With her head bowed apologetically and Peppa glancing anxiously, I’ve seen this scenario somewhere before. It’s exactly like a dog owner apologizing for their misbehaving pet.

Well, it’s true that I was shocked by Peppa’s ridiculous mission.

Even if the stakes increased by hundreds of times, that mission would’ve been canceled anyway.

“I’m not in a desperate situation for money.”

The feared transformation of my broadcast wasn’t going to happen.

And besides… this situation wasn’t bad for me either.

Because… seeing her apologize like this made me think I could truly rely on Dayoung moving forward.

I realize my thinking is amusing, but so what? It’s fair to consider them good connections.

I can tell she was stressed over this incident, but if she knew how much I appreciated this in my heart, I wonder what her reaction would be.

“She might hate it?”

Well, Peppa’s troubles were a thing of the past.

I felt the urge to steadiness upon that little hero in front of me and smiled softly.

“It’s okay. Besides, it wasn’t a big deal, was it? Peppa might be a bit twisted, but ultimately, he did it for your sake. I hope you don’t worry too much about it.”

“Unnie….”

As those big eyes promptly overflowed with moisture, I gently ruffled her hair.

Once the atmosphere calmed down a bit, I smiled softly and said, “Now, let’s end it here. We both clear our feelings, okay?”

“Thank you for forgiving me.”

Maybe her heart felt lighter after shedding that burden.

Dayoung’s complexion seemed to brighten a bit.

Yeah, seeing her smile feels amazing.

But why is Peppa so quiet?

Watching that gloomy frog quietly munch away at the cake made me realize my earlier question resurfaced.

“Was Peppa’s change in tone because of this too?”

“Yep. I’m really trying to fix it now.”

“Hmm.”

I didn’t expect her to chat.

I thought about intervening, but compared to Dayoung, Peppa definitely needed a lot more training.

Leaving things as they are should be fine, right?

 

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