episode_0005

… … … … …

It was a desperate situation. I could hit him with my fist, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to handle the aftermath of what I did.

You’ll get beaten to a pulp in a counterattack, and you’ll lose your part-time job.

At that moment, someone came between the male employee and me.

“Excuse me, excuse me… … !

Please do the math for me… … .”

She was a woman with long purple hair. She was a little taller than me, but she was about an inch taller.

However, she did not look well. There were dark circles under her eyes, and she seemed to be living a rather tiring life.

Despite her somewhat tired complexion, her body was voluptuous enough to be seen at a glance. The curves beneath her white T-shirt were surprisingly voluptuous, and her tight-fitting jeans made her long legs stand out even more.

“… … Oh, yes. I’ll help you!”

Among the male employees and I who had been staring at her for a few seconds, I was the first to come to my senses. As I moved, the male employees who had been arguing with me also clicked their tongues and started going back to their work.

The cashier was gone, so the checkout counter was empty. The purple-haired woman, who seemed to have helped me unintentionally, handed me the items without raising her head.

“Mo, how much is it in total… … ?”

“Ah, that――”

When I told her the amount, the purple-haired woman quickly put down her card and quickly picked up the item with her hands.

But she didn’t leave right away, she leaned her upper body toward me and whispered softly.

“Excuse me, over there.

… … … Cheer up.”

“Yes?”

At the words of the purple-haired woman, I was momentarily confused. My thoughts stopped for a moment, but soon I was able to realize the meaning of what she said.

“Thank you, customer.”

If she hadn’t intervened in the situation just now, something big might have happened. I received a lot of help from her.

A small smile lingered on my lips at her kindness. There really are good people everywhere. Her words of encouragement warmed my heart.

The purple-haired woman nodded slightly, then quickly left.

If you come back later, I will definitely thank you properly.

… … … … …

After a near-miss incident was resolved with timely assistance, I returned to work.

It was still tough being treated like an invisible person, but today was bearable. A small kindness from a purple-haired woman changed my day.

In the end, as always, I finished work safely, even though it was hard. When I got home, my older sister was waiting for me in front of the front door.

“Come on, Autumn.”

Sister Seoyeon greeted me with her usual smile.

“Sister? Why are you standing in front of the door?”

When I asked, unable to overcome my doubts, my older sister answered playfully.

“I know when Autumn will arrive. Because we are family.”

“… … Yes? Really? How did you… … .”

“Secret.” My sister winked one eye.

“Just think of it as my sister’s special ability.”

I was a little confused, but I was happy and grateful that my older sister did this much for me.

“Ehehehe… … But it’s hot, so you should have waited inside. Go in quickly.”

I opened the front door and took Seoyeon’s hand and led her inside. The moment I met her, the fatigue of the day seemed to go away a little.

“Wow―It’s time to get off work… … Ah.”

But no matter how happy I felt after meeting my older sister, I was still tired.

I tried hard to cheer cheerfully so as not to show my older sister that I was having a hard time, but I couldn’t help but feel my voice losing strength.

As I entered the house, my sister asked me.

“Autumn, how was your day? Did you have any difficulties?”

“Ah, that’s it… … … .”

I guess I had no choice but to be cautious when asking questions like this.

If I were to tell the truth, I would have to confess that as soon as my sister left, the male employees became more hostile than usual and made sarcastic remarks toward me.

But if I said that, I would worry my sister and she might feel guilty for no reason. As a younger brother who loves my sister, I couldn’t do something like that.

“Pyeot, it was no different than usual… ”

“… … So?”

My sister was smiling brightly, but something was off. From what I could tell, she didn’t look very happy.

By any chance, did he notice my lie?

A cold sweat ran down my back. I couldn’t let him find out I was lying, so I hurriedly talked about this and that to divert the topic.

“Come to think of it, something happened that was a little different from usual.”

“Yeah? What’s going on?”

This time, I could sense curiosity in my sister’s eyes. Thank goodness. Changing the subject was the right decision.

“That was… …when I was working at the checkout counter, a woman with purple hair came in. She―”

“Purple haired woman? What is she?”

“Ah, just… …he told me to ‘cheer up’. Hearing those words gave me more strength than I thought.”

The smile gradually disappeared from my sister’s face. But I was so absorbed in the story that I didn’t notice it.

“So, thanks to that purple-haired woman, I finished today well.

Oh, and he was tall and really… … hehe, he was a cool guy.

He looked very tired because he had dark circles under his eyes. Could he be a programmer?

But the voice is so soft―”

After chattering for a while, I suddenly felt the air become cold. Only then did I get a good look at Seoyeon’s face… … Something felt strange.

She was looking at me with a face that seemed expressionless. Her blue eyes that always shined at me were completely dark, and her pupils were like black holes, sucking in all the light.

At that sight, my breathing stopped without me realizing it, and I couldn’t breathe properly.

“Who, me?”

Out of breath, I barely managed to call my sister.

“Are you okay… … Oh?”

As soon as I did that, my sister’s expression changed in an instant. The expressionless face disappeared, and her usual affectionate smile returned.

“Huh? What’s wrong, Autumn? Of course I’m fine.”

“Ah, um――.”

What on earth was it that I just saw? I was sure I saw something incredibly scary.

Maybe it was an illusion. No, it must be an illusion. I didn’t think my sister would make such a scary expression.

“Oh, no. I guess I was just hallucinating because I was tired.”

“Oh, really? Then wash up quickly and rest. Sister will prepare dinner.”

As expected, my sister was the same as usual. It was just my mistake. I let out a small sigh of relief and nodded.

… … … … …

Showers are really nice. I really like the feeling of warm water soaking my whole body.

“Whew―― Today is the end too!

… … Ah.”

But as soon as I left the bathroom, a familiar feeling of shame washed over me. The panties I had taken off carelessly were gone, and there were neatly folded underwear, a new shirt, and shorts.

“Uh, uh… … Seoyeon noona, again… … ?!”

I told my sister several times that I would wash my underwear, but she didn’t listen at all.

‘Autumn, this is normal in any family. What’s there to be ashamed of among family members?’

I couldn’t stand up to her when she spoke to me like this. But every time I was forced to wash my underwear like this, I couldn’t help but feel my face get hot.

But my underwear wasn’t in the laundry basket or the washing machine. Even my sister, who was supposed to be preparing dinner, wasn’t in the kitchen. Where on earth did my sister and my underwear go?

I quietly changed my clothes and headed to my sister’s room. Through the slightly open door, I could hear my sister’s strange breathing.

“Sup――Haa… … .”

… … … Suddenly taking a deep breath?

Not wanting to pry into her private life, I stepped away from the door and called my sister loudly.

“That, Sister――?”

I called my older sister, and a few seconds later I heard a response from inside the room.

“Oh, sorry! The food is already prepared. Just serve it.”

Seoyeon came out of the room in a strangely hurried manner, her face flushed and her breathing slightly labored.

Maybe I was just doing some light stretching. I pretended not to know about her private life and headed to the kitchen with her to prepare dinner together.

Steam rose from the savory soybean paste stew, japchae with a rich sesame oil aroma, and appetizing fried eggs. A variety of side dishes filled the table.

“I will eat well――”

We sat together at the table and turned on the TV. I picked up my chopsticks to pick up some side dishes, and as usual, my sister started putting side dishes on my rice bowl.

“I, I can do it too… … … .”

“It’s okay. I’ll do it for you.”

My sister’s excessive consideration always made me feel embarrassed, but I still felt truly grateful that such a wonderful person was considerate of me.

At that time, I suddenly saw some familiar names on the TV news.

“The clash between extreme human-centered groups and extreme open-dimensional gate groups continues.

In particular, the human-centered group ‘Humanity Defense Society’ had the nickname ‘Rice Monkey’ because they had a monkey mask, meaning primate, and rice, the staple food for humans, as their banner, right?

The armed conflict between them and the dimensional gate opening group, the ‘Pan-Dimensional Coexistence Alliance’, has become more serious recently.

Among them, the ‘Humanity Defense Association’ has recently been committing armed robberies, and the police are investigating――”