Ch.264264. Instead of Senior, Call Me Oppa. (3)

“I’m all cleaned up. Let’s eat now.”

Though she tries to wipe away her tears with a tissue and pretend she’s fine, she’s clearly not.

Swish.

“Oppa…?”

“It’s okay, just stay as you are.”

“…”

If someone leaves the table during mealtime, you’d normally think they’ve had their fill, but dinner was far from over.

With a table so laden with food it looked like it might collapse, only two pieces of fish had disappeared—hardly enough to consider the meal finished.

Yet there was a reason to leave this abundant spread, to walk away from food growing cold.

When you see a girl in front of you, her pent-up sorrows freshly burst, you naturally find yourself pulling up a chair beside her.

She can cry more. She can lean on me more. I want her to act spoiled.

So I can pat her back, offer my shoulder, let her burrow into my embrace and pour out her grief.

The source of Renias’s sorrow is undoubtedly her family.

At this dinner table, the empty seats of her family must appear like painful mirages, like recurring nightmares. That’s why we moved away despite the meal not being finished.

Renias, who had been wiping away tears from the deep haze of her family’s absence, now leans against my shoulder.

“Junon oppa.”

“Yes, Renias.”

“Oppa… you must never leave me. Understood?”

“Of course. I even promised, didn’t I?”

“Really, you can’t leave… okay? From now on, you have to eat with me every day like today…?”

“If every meal is this extravagant, I might worry about the table collapsing… but I’ll still keep a seat filled for you.”

“Really…?”

“Of course. Since I’m so worried about someone who’s picky and only eats meat while avoiding vegetables, I can’t help but keep my place at the table. Here.”

I extend my finger, offering to renew our promise in the way she prefers.

Renias doesn’t refuse and links her pinky with mine.

And naturally.

I embrace her small body as she comes into my arms, patting her back gently.

The food doesn’t matter.

This abundant meal on the table was never meant for me anyway.

It should have been for a father who knocks on the door after work and smells the warm home cooking, a mother who smiles with satisfaction at her daughter who has matured enough to prepare meals, and the twins who always bicker and tease each other playfully.

This dinner table, filled to the brim, should have shone brilliantly like Renias herself, who had always pretended to be fine while bringing happiness to everyone. She should have lived enjoying such happiness all along.

Right now, Renias needed family.

Someone who could erase the afterimages at the table.

***

Renias stopped crying and returned to being the energetic rabbit she usually was, though only after her eyes had become completely swollen.

When she worried that all the food she had prepared had gone cold, Junon reassured her it was fine.

Knowing that food wouldn’t go down easily in this situation, and aware that her appearance was far from normal, the silver-haired girl quickly went to the bathroom to wash her face.

When she emerged with a restored face, not a single tear stain remained.

In its place was her usual bright smile that warmed the hearts of those who saw it.

She doesn’t allow even a moment to feel the emptiness of her family’s absence.

She hurries to the kitchen to reheat what food she can, and even then insists that cooking is her job, puffing her cheeks in protest. I tease her, saying whoever grabs the frying pan first is in charge.

The hard, cold dishes are reheated one by one and placed back on the table.

Though not as good as freshly made, we put our hands together in prayer and say:

“Thank you for the meal.”

I don’t really remember how the mealtime went.

I think I teased her about her stomach growling, and she blushed but deliberately smeared seasoning on her face as if she’d planned it. When I said not to play with food and offered to feed her, she slyly pulled back.

With all the joking and laughing, how could I remember the details of dinner?

If I had to recall something, it would be how quickly time seemed to pass. And though we kept playing pranks and watching each other’s reactions until the reheated food grew cold again, whatever bites made it to our mouths were delicious.

I only came to my senses when I realized night had fallen.

Click.

When I turned on the light, the room was finally illuminated.

“When did it get so dark around us?”

“I wonder.”

We’d been so busy playing with food and challenging each other that we hadn’t noticed nightfall.

“It’s because you kept playing around, oppa. They say you get punished for playing with food.”

“Well, you were doing it too… Actually, let’s stop playing and eat. We might end up staying up all night at this rate.”

“I was about to say the same thing. Hehe. If we kept this up, my stomach would probably growl again.”

Though the table had been overwhelmingly full, we hadn’t left anything behind, perhaps because we’d been expending energy without eating properly.

“Ahhhh, that was delicious!”

Renias leans back in her chair, basking in satisfaction. Even though the food had been cold, it had clearly filled her stomach just fine.

Now that we’ve eaten, things I hadn’t noticed before start catching my eye.

Through the window, darkness has settled outside. It’s about time to wash up and go to bed.

Junon finally realized the reason for this abundant meal that nearly broke the table.

“Eeeeh, why are you pinching my cheek?”

“Aha. You were planning to stay overnight from the beginning?”

“Hiing. Oppa, you catch on too quickly…”

Even if we had started eating at that hour, unless we ate like competitive food fighters, stuffing our mouths desperately, we couldn’t have finished it all.

It was all planned—Renias’s scheme to stay overnight.

How cute.

“So are you going to kick me out?”

With sparkling eyes, she asks if I’m going to send her away.

As if I would.

“Well… I didn’t want to send you back anyway.”

“Hehe. I knew I could count on you, oppa.”

What would happen if the girl who had been crying so bitterly had to return to the mansion alone?

That nasty thing called a nightmare would torment the silver rabbit again. That’s why I’d been considering letting her stay here.

And… I vaguely recalled Ronelion’s final request to take care of Renias.

But! This is still my house.

“Go wash up first, Renias.”

“Huh? But I need to do the dishes?”

“We didn’t get to wash properly in the cave. Don’t you feel grimy? Shouldn’t you at least take a shower?”

“Umm… that’s true, but—oh, o-oppa? Why are you suddenly picking me up?”

Heh. I won’t fall for this silver rabbit’s schemes anymore.

I’ll make sure she can’t escape by lifting her up! She’s deliberately trying to wash up first so she can claim the dishes as her responsibility!

“Huh? This is the bathroom… w-wait. Oppa? Wait!”

Wait? Not a chance.

“Just go in and wash up. I’ll be blocking the door until you do.”

“N-no, oppa! That’s not it…!”

Click, click.

No matter how she tries to open the door, it won’t budge. My promise to block the door wasn’t just talk.

Thump, thump, thump.

“Nooo…! Please open the door, oppa! I really have something to tell you!”

“~♬”

“Whistling… ugh, really!”

Renias grew desperate, pounding on the door with her fists, but unless the sound of running water came from inside, this door wasn’t going to open.

And soon after, he received his punishment for forcibly carrying Renias to the bathroom.

Though whether it could truly be called punishment is questionable.

***

Swoosh.

‘Oh, finally.’

After all the complaining from the bathroom, the sound of water hitting the tiles finally begins. Well, I suppose she’d give up by now.

I silently move to the kitchen and start on the dishes that Renias had so insisted were her job.

It was quite a satisfying outcome.

‘Renias. You brought this on yourself.’

I could have helped with the cooking since I can cook too, but she adamantly refused, which led to this situation.

And now the dishes too?

No way. After filling our stomachs so well, I couldn’t let her handle the dishes too.

Renias asked me to consider it payment for staying overnight, but if holding hands while sleeping could solve her bad dreams, helping her was only natural.

“I wonder if her wounds are okay.”

I did some basic first aid in the cave. I bound them with herbs and dry bandages, but they must still sting when touched by water.

At the time, Renias was soaked from the rain and had scrapes on her legs. Her appearance was as abnormal as her exhausted body from wandering day and night.

I’d said we should clean up somewhere and check her wounds again. That’s why I told her not to remove the bandages unless we had replacements.

“I’ll ask when she comes out.”

I can check on her when Renias emerges.

First, let me finish these dishes.

Knock, knock.

“Oppa.”

“Are you done washing?”

“…Yes. But…”

I’ve almost finished washing the dishes, with just a few left. I really shouldn’t let my mind wander.

Let me quickly finish the rest.

Knock, knock.

Renias knocks on the door again.

“Oppa…”

“What is it?”

“Well… umm…”

Knock, knock.

Why is she just knocking and not coming out? Did something happen in there?

Ah. Her wounds. Maybe she can’t come out by herself?

No, that can’t be it. Her injuries weren’t that severe.

Click.

…What’s going on?

As I approach the bathroom, the door quickly closes.

“What’s the matter? You’ve been knocking for a while.”

“Ugh… that’s what I was trying to tell you earlier…!”

Huh?

I’m getting a bad feeling about this.

Was the reason she refused to come out after washing not about the dishes?

“I don’t have any clothes to change into… I don’t even have underwear…”

“Gasp.”

Hearing that, my breath catches.

What an idiot I am.