episode_0035

“Eeee!”

My hand holding the pen was trembling.

The heat on my face showed no sign of going down.

Since Shine was in a deep sleep, I started studying alone.

The problems I faced alone felt like a very high wall.

I couldn’t solve a single problem.

I needed some shine.

But I couldn’t wake her up.

I desperately concentrated and concentrated.

The problem that came into view was clearly not difficult.

I already knew the formula and solution to this problem.

But the problem cannot be solved.

“Okay. Do this while drinking it.”

Amy poured me a cold cola.

I held out both hands, took the large cup, and drank the cola in gulps.

The cool cola flowing into my body lowered my body temperature.

After calming down a little, I slowly took a deep breath.

“Jeff, what gift would you like to receive on Christmas Day?”

“A gift…?”

“Yeah.”

I put the pen out of my hand at Amy’s question.

Because it was foolish to continue to cling to an unsolvable problem.

When Shine happens, we have to solve it together.

I was deep in thought over Amy’s question.

If I could, I would like to have Lucy’s magic wand from [The Little Witch’s Big Adventure].

“Is Santa real?”

“Of course.”

“But I’ve never come here before.”

I said with a sigh.

Amy wasn’t sure if Santa, as she said, was real.

“This time it’ll be different.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

In my entire life, Santa has never visited me.

Maybe that’s why I couldn’t easily believe Amy’s words.

It’s better not to have unreasonable expectations.

If your expectations are high, your disappointment will be great.

It was an experience I felt deeply as a child.

childhood.

How was your first Christmas?

Cold and hungry… .

I was lost in my old thoughts, and I picked up the pen and began to roll it over my hand.

A pen that rotates in a small hand.

As I fall into a whirlwind, I am lost in old thoughts.

When I grew up a little and started thinking, I realized that there was a day called Christmas.

It snowed a lot that day.

The snow slowly settling on the huge pile of garbage made the surrounding temperature cold.

A hungry and cold day.

Although there were rare days when I didn’t do that, anyway, once I learned the concept of Christmas, I rarely did anything kind to others.

Santa’s gift that only good children can receive. That’s what I wanted to receive.

I don’t remember now what the gift I had hoped for was, but it was such a useless thing.

The pen that had been spinning quickly stopped spinning at some point.

I naturally moved the pen to solve the problem.

That was the day.

I wanted to be a good kid and receive presents.

He gave the canned food he had hidden until the last moment to an old man who was starving to death.

He ate the canned food right there on the spot without even saying thank you.

That day just passed by like that.

All I was left with was an empty can and a piece of trash full of holes.

I spent the night watching the snow fall from the sky without anything special happening.

On a cold day, I looked up at the night sky, shivering and enduring my hunger.

When will Santa come?

But Santa didn’t come until daybreak.

“Um… .”

I put down my pen.

Would it be different now?

“Can I really trust you?”

“What are you talking about?”

“There is a Santa.”

I looked up at Amy and asked.

Really, can I trust you again?

“I promise, Jeff. I’ll let you meet Santa this Christmas.”

Amy has never lied to me.

So she is someone you can trust.

I nodded cautiously.

“Would you like to tell me what gift you would like to receive?”

“But Amy, it’s Santa who gives presents.”

“Ahhh… .”

Amy seemed momentarily shocked by my words and closed her mouth.

She had her eyes closed for a moment as if she was deep in thought, then suddenly got up from her seat.

Judging by the small smile on his lips, it seemed like he had a good idea.

“Okay Jeff. Then let’s send a letter to Santa.”

“Is it a letter?”

“Yes. Write down the gift you want to receive in the letter.”

“But I don’t know Santa’s address.”

“It’s okay! I know!”

If so, that’s good.

I nodded absentmindedly.

Amy jumped up from her seat in excitement and ran out of the room.

“Jeff?”

Shine opened her mouth as she rubbed her eyes, seeming to wake up to the sound of Amy leaving.

A voice full of sleep.

I shifted my gaze and looked at Shine.

Shine, my family with me.

Sister.

Sister?

A faint sense of rejection welling up inside raises questions.

My earliest memories as a child clearly begin with a mountain of garbage.

But no matter how much I tried to recall my memories, I couldn’t find Shine in that mountain of trash.

“Shine.”

“Huh?”

“Are we family?”

“Jeff?”

Shine’s expression hardens at my words.

She walked slowly and sat down next to me.

“I don’t know. Shine. I thought of the old days, but Shine wasn’t there.”

I spoke while rubbing my eyes with both hands.

My head hurts.

“That’s weird. I didn’t have a family.”

Shine smiled slightly and extended her hand.

Her hands wrap around my head.

A hand that gently embraces you.

She gently pulled my body.

I don’t refuse and I fall into her arms.

I closed my eyes gently in the soft, warm warmth.

“Shine. I feel really weird these days.”

“No, Jeff. It’s not weird.”

“No. I’m really weird.”

I muttered as I snuggled into Shine’s arms.

“The math problems were so hard… . But now they’re easy.”

I shift my gaze and look at the desk.

Shine’s gaze is also directed to the same place as mine.

While lost in old thoughts, my hands moved naturally and found the answer to the problem.

“Isn’t that weird?”

Shine didn’t say anything.

I looked up at Shine and opened my mouth.

“Shine. Why wasn’t there shine in the old days?”

I spoke, recalling my memories of living in a garbage dump.

I was always alone there.

If I wasn’t alone and had Shine by my side, wouldn’t I have been able to consider that day’s memory as a slightly happier time?

Shine, who was looking down at me, smiled and held out her hand.

Her small hands cover my face.

Shine’s voice could be heard beyond the obscured gaze.

“Jeff has never been there.”

A noise rings in my head along with the quiet voice of Shine.

Chick-

Chiiik-

“My ear hurts.”

I shook my head and covered my ears.

But the noise doesn’t go away.

Shine’s hand moves slowly.

A gentle hand sweeping through my hair.

Every time her hand moves, memories of a giant mountain of trash sink.

As if filling the empty space, memories of my time with Shine come back vividly.

Happy memories of living in a house with a pretty red roof and a spacious yard built in front of it.

“Jeff was here, right? ”

“Ugh… .”

I nodded absentmindedly.

When I heard it, it seemed like it was true.

Thud- thud-

At that moment, I felt a small warmth on my forehead.

Hot liquid dripped down my forehead like a drop of water.

I raised my hand and touched my forehead.

“Shine?”

My eyes, which had been tightly shut, open.

Red.

The first thing that comes into view is Shine’s face.

She had her nose covered with a distorted expression.

Blood flowing between her hands.

It was dripping down my forehead.

“Shine!”

I got up from my seat in a hurry.

The blood on his forehead flows down and across his face.

Panicked, I looked around and pulled out a bunch of tissues.

Shaking hands.

Blurred vision.

Tears welled up in my eyes.

“Jeff, don’t cry.”

Shine took the tissue I offered her in a calm voice and covered her nose.

The tissue in her hand turned red.

“Uh… Where does it hurt?”

“I’m okay.”

It must have been Shine who was bleeding, but I was the one shaking in excitement.

Shine’s calm voice calmed my body, which had been filled with excitement.

After calming down, I took out more tissues and wiped the spot where Shine’s nosebleed had fallen.

But it couldn’t be cleaned completely.

Chairs and tables.

Up to my forehead.

A long trail of blood spread thinly and hardened.

It wasn’t long before Amy returned.

Amy, who had come with a pretty set of stationery in her hand, let out a high-pitched scream as she looked at me and Shine, who were covered in blood.

“Jeff! Shine!”

Shine and I opened our mouths to explain the situation, but Amy picked us both up and quickly ran out of the room.

Arms and legs waving back and forth.

A gaze that changes quickly.

So, the place we arrived at was a small ward where Rabin was.

“Rabin!”

bang!

Amy, who was unable to open the door because she was holding us in both hands, kicked open the door to the ward and went inside.

The door that had been kicked by her went flying across the floor, collapsing against a large shelf in the corner of the ward.

A loud crashing sound is heard.

As I turned my gaze away from the dangling bottles, numerous bottles of medicine on the shelf fell, spilling their contents.

Rabin, who was resting on a large chair, looked at us and opened his eyes wide.

“Amy?”

“Ravin! Look at these guys!”

Amy flew towards Ravin with an urgent voice.

Startled by her movements, Lavin jumped up from his seat and turned his gaze to me and Shine.

I couldn’t help but look up at him and smile awkwardly.

“Hello?”

“Hi Ravin.”

Shine and I waved goodbye to Lavigne.

“Blood… .”

“Shine had a nosebleed.”

Amy’s breathing, which had been panting with excitement, slowly begins to calm down.

“Coffee…?”

“Yes.”

Shine nodded at my words.

Only then did Amy begin to examine Shine’s appearance closely.

I wiped it away, but I couldn’t completely erase the blood stains that had hardened quickly.

Thin, spread traces of blood were all over the area around the nose and mouth.

“Are you hurt?”

“Yeah.”

Amy sat there dumbfounded at Shine’s answer.

Amy slid down to the floor, closed her eyes, and hugged Shine and me tightly.

“Thank goodness… .”

I twisted my body with an awkward laugh.

It was because the strength in Amy’s hands was strong, but her loving concern felt a little burdensome.