episode_0083

After leaving the hotel, we immediately changed Tachibana’s cell phone and went to a nearby hamburger shop.

In fact, there were plenty of decent restaurants near the station, but we chose this place because Tachibana said he had never had a hamburger before.

“Sister, sister! Please answer the phone!”

“No, it’s right in front of me, what… Besides, I didn’t even give you my number?!”

While I was waiting for my Beef Shrimp Deluxe Burger to arrive, Tachibana called me on his newly activated cell phone.

“Heh, of course I memorized it.”

Tachibana smiles confidently.

Is it normal for me to memorize my cell phone number? I heard that kids these days don’t even memorize their parents’ numbers.

Thinking about it made me shudder, so I refused Tachibana’s call.

“Umm… I sent a text too… .”

Wooowoong─

As soon as Tachibana finished speaking, my phone vibrated, and when I looked at the table, which was shaking louder than I expected, I saw that the order bell was also vibrating.

[Hello, Sister Haru!]

I saw the bright message on my phone screen, smiled, and got up from my seat.

“I’ll go and come back.”

“I’ll go too!”

Since it’s usually served on one tray, there’s no need to get up for both.

As expected, the two hamburger sets were placed on one tray, and even that was taken away by Tachibana, so I ended up sitting down empty-handed.

“Tachibana, you’ve lost half your life. Don’t you want to eat a hamburger?”

“That’s right… .”

I played around with the ketchup by opening it and squeezing it onto the corner of the plate, but the reaction I got was completely different from what I expected.

Tachibana looks around at the packaged hamburgers, finding them interesting.

A bitter smile appeared on his lips, as if he had taken my words to heart.

“Tachibana, have you ever had French fries?”

“Yeah… Hmm?”

I felt like I was playing a joke, so I stuffed a French fries into Tachibana’s mouth to lighten the mood.

Bam bam.

Very slowly shortening French fries.

Tachibana, who was munching on French fries with his lips pursed, soon opened his eyes wide in admiration.

“It’s delicious! Please give me some more!”

Tachibana, who had neatly disposed of the French fries in my hand, nodded his head and smiled brightly.

Then where… .

This time, I stacked two French fries and dipped them in a generous amount of ketchup.

“Okay, French fries are usually best when eaten two or three at a time.”

“Really? It can get even tastier here… .”

Tachibana ate the French fries with a face full of emotion.

Muck muck.

It has white hair and red eyes, so it feels like feeding a rabbit.

“Okay, one more.”

“Yes!”

Tachibana was cute because he would eat whatever was given to him, so I ended up feeding him a whole bag of French fries without realizing it. If I did that, the main dish, the hamburger, would not be as tasty.

“Peel off half of the packaging and hold it tightly while eating so that the filling doesn’t spill out.”

Since we had to eat anyway, I told Tachibana the proper way to eat a hamburger.

“Half… Taken off… It’s a bit racy. A food called a hamburger.”

Tachibana awkwardly follows along and removes the hamburger wrapper.

Ignoring the useless footnotes that followed, I took a big bite of the hamburger first.

I chose the most expensive burger for Tachibana, who was having his first time, but it was as big as it was expensive, so it was quite difficult to put it in my mouth.

“Um… .”

It doesn’t go in.

After failing at the first attempt, he briefly calms down his frozen lips.

And then again wow-

This time I had a feeling.

Softly split bread, crunchy lettuce, the flavor of beef that fills your mouth, and plump shrimp that create a wonderful texture.

It could have felt oily, but the spicy and tangy sauce that remained at the end erased even that small weakness.

Tachibana, sitting across from me, seemed to share the same sentiments as me.

Tachibana squeezed his eyes shut, opened his mouth as wide as it would go, and took a big bite, following me.

Tachibana’s expression also changes colorfully as his tightly closed lips move while holding food.

“This, this is…!”

Tachibana suddenly looked around with a startled expression, then stuck his head out and whispered.

“Is it okay to sell this kind of food in such a shabby store?”

“Shabby… ?”

It certainly doesn’t feel luxurious. The interior is also filled with primary colors like red and orange, so it looks a bit cheap. But that’s what makes the fast food restaurant stand out.

“Anyway… does that mean it’s delicious?”

“Yes, in fact, it’s so expensive that it makes you think it’s not really expensive food.”

After saying that, Tachibana started eating the hamburger with great enthusiasm.

“My throat is blocked, so I’ll drink some cola.”

“Wow, my throat is itchy!”

“Do you feel good? You’ll get addicted in no time.”

“One day, you speak just like a weak old man.”

What’s up with Mr. Weak?

Such trivial conversations were cut off by the taste of the hamburger, and before we knew it, we were left holding only an empty package.

However, if you are not careful with the food called a hamburger, the fillings can spill or get on your lips.

It was no different for Tachibana, who was a rich girl, no, maybe because it was her first time eating it, she buried and ate more than Mirae did when she was in kindergarten.

“Tachibana, wait a minute.”

I got up with my butt slightly lifted and wiped Tachibana’s mouth with a tissue.

“One day, Sister Haru is good at seducing women.”

“Because she’s like a daughter.”

“So you were tempted by the future transfer?”

I have nothing to say.

I threw a tissue in front of Tachibana, telling him to clean it up himself, and cleaned up the leftovers from our meal.

* * *

“It’s completely dark now.”

When I came outside, darkness was falling all around.

I said I would be back before dinner… .

“Okay. Sister Haru, are you going home? It’s dangerous to go home at night, so I’ll take you there.”

The thought that you were the most dangerous rose to the surface of my mind, but I forced myself to swallow it and shook my head.

“If it’s East Zone 2, you have to take a completely different bus. No. It’s late, so I’ll catch a taxi and drop you off in front of your house.”

Tachibana’s parents… no, Mom? Anyway, Mom and Mom will be worried, so it would be my duty as an adult to send them back as soon as possible. Since I have a child of the same age, I can fully understand their worries.

“Hwaaang─!! Sister─ Where is Sister─!”

As I was standing on the street trying to catch a taxi, a girl with her hair tied into pigtails came out of the alley, crying loudly.

People just glance around, busy going their own way.

“Tachibana… Tachibana… … ?”

I called out to Tachibana next to me to ask for his understanding, but strangely, I didn’t hear any sign of him.

And then when I turned my head forward again, Tachibana, who had clearly been next to me, was already in front of the child.

“Are you separated from your parents? Do you remember any phone numbers or anything?”

Tachibana continues to talk to the child so that he doesn’t feel anxious, while checking the child’s wrists and the back of his neck to see if there is anything that could identify him.

“Sigh… Without knowing… Sister… disappeared… Hehe… .”

“I see. It’s okay. I’ll find it soon.”

Tachibana wiped the child’s tear-filled eyes with his thumb, then squeezed the child’s tiny hand and pointed at me with the other hand.

“Hey, there’s a master at finding your sister!”

“Master… … ?”

“Yes, a master. It means he is very good at finding things.”

I was just watching Tachibana’s skillful response, when I was startled by the sudden name and looked around.

me…?

“I don’t think so… .”

“Oh, no! Masters are supposed to be humble.”

“Humility… ?”

“Um… I mean, I don’t brag!”

I see.

We don’t know if we’ll be able to find her, but if we wait at the place where we lost our sister, she’ll definitely come looking for us. Until then, all we have to do is reassure the child.

“Ahem, you were looking for me. I’m the master of finding sisters.”

In that case, it would be best to go along with Tachibana’s pranks.

I felt a strange sense of pressure and approached the child, pretending to be an old man without being asked to do so.

“Wow, master! Something is strange!”

“Phew… .”

“This, it’s not strange.”

There was no need to even act.

My face turned red for a moment, but the child stopped crying and seemed happy, so I decided to continue acting a little longer.

“So, where did the pretty girl lose her sister?”

“There… I was at the park… My sister said she was going to buy a drink… But she didn’t come for a long time, so I went to look for Yeji… .”

Sniff, sniff.

As they talked, Yeji felt her sadness build up and started to cry again.

Children lack patience and become anxious easily. This anxiety is especially heightened when they are left in unfamiliar places or outdoors.

I wonder if he’ll leave me behind and go somewhere. I wonder if he’ll hate me and abandon me.

However, since they are very proactive, they often go out and look for you even if you leave them for a little while.

Perhaps Yeji’s older sister is wandering around the park, desperately looking for her. It’s not that far away, so it won’t take long, but if Yeji’s older sister moves to another place, things will get even more complicated.

“Let’s go back quickly.”

I stood opposite Tachibana and held Yeji’s hand.

“The master’s speech has changed! It doesn’t seem like he’s a master!”

“That’s right. What happened?”

Two people who suddenly got along well and started teasing me.

I wanted to give Tachibana a piece of my mind for being so playful, but when I saw Yeji smiling brightly with her reddened eyes open, my desire to do so quickly disappeared.

“It’s so great to go holding hands with my sisters! Yeji, let’s jump! ”

“Okay. Sister Haru, can you not let go of my hand?”

“I can hear the forecast. Okay, one, two!”

“Gyaaaah! This is fun!”

So when we arrived at the park after playing with Yeji, a young voice rang out from the other side of the park.

“Yeji! Come out and stop hiding! Because my sister lost at hide and seek!”

A girl who, as if she wanted to believe that it was hide-and-seek, was looking for Yeji with a sad face. She looked like she was in the upper grades of elementary school at best.

“Is that your sister?”

“Yeah! My sister!”

Yeji ran towards the girl shouting, ““Unnie-”,” and hugged her as she turned around in surprise.

A girl who hugs Yeji while trembling, but ends up bursting into tears.

I was about to turn my back and leave so as not to interrupt such a touching sisterly reunion.

“Thank you, sisters!”

Yeji grabbed our feet from behind.

“Don’t make things hard for your sister, take care!”

To the girl who was bowing her back and the Yeji who was waving her hands, we shook hands and said that we were truly parting ways.

I feel a little empty inside, wondering if we’ve developed any affection in that short time.

I went back out onto the street and teased Tachibana for no reason.

“Tachibana, you’re not ordinary at handling children, are you?”

“I learned it from a kind older sister.”

Tachibana moved closer to me and tapped my shoulder with his. I used the momentum to push Tachibana’s shoulder back and smiled.

“What a great person. Take good care of him.”

Tachibana also had a good guide by his side.

I was especially relieved that we weren’t family. If we were family, there were a lot of little issues that we could have overlooked and overlooked.

“… What is it? Self-praise?”

“I…?”

Was there anything in what I just said that could be misunderstood as self-praise? After all, it was Tachibana who first reassured the child.

“It’s okay if you don’t know.”

As he said that, Tachibana laughed coolly and put his arm around me, then grabbed my hand and started shaking it gently up and down.

“Why are your hands suddenly…?”

“No, I feel a little empty. Rather, isn’t this okay between friends?”

And it didn’t stop there, the slender fingers dug between my fingers.

“Even if we’re just friends, I don’t think we’d get along.”

Even if you wiggle your arms and try to strain, your hands won’t loosen up. Instead, they’re just tightening so much that the space between your fingers is getting wet.

Even Tachibana confidently pointed to the alleyway as if he had found some evidence.

“No? Look, that’s how intense it is, how fiercely… ?”

There were two women with their faces close together, as if they were about to kiss.

“Hyunseo, it rained today and I lost half of the time I was billed? What should I do? Our Hyunseo will take responsibility, right? Okay?”

A woman wearing a lot of accessories and an expensive-looking coat pushed a short-haired woman who looked about my age and height into the wall.

“Fuck, why do I have to take responsibility for that… you disgusting bitch… .”

A short-haired woman who has completely lost where to run, and therefore looks up at the woman with poisonous eyes.

“What? Ha, haha… Our Hyunseo has grown a lot, hasn’t she? She says bad things to her sister. Is she acting up these days?”

“읏… … .”

As the argument escalated, the woman in the coat grabbed the short-haired woman by the hair and pushed her against the wall.

No matter how light it is, there is a concrete wall behind it.

The short-haired woman turned her head with a distorted face to avoid hitting her head, and her eyes met mine as I stared at the scene.

The eyes of the short-haired woman, who had been frowning the whole time, gradually widened. My eyes also widened just as much as the short-haired woman’s.

Oh Hyun-seo… .

I’ve never properly remembered your face before, but when I saw you face to face, it came back to me clearly.

“Less than… ….”

“Hyunseo, where are you looking? You should be focusing on your sister?”

It was a little different from the Oh Hyeon-seo I remembered.