episode_0085

“Hmm… this is a headache.”

“Mm… today… I’ll take a break for real today and start grinding from tomorrow.”

From the morning, we roughly went over the process.

We met each other and even had a small engagement ceremony.

We were supposed to prepare a gift set, but both of us completely forgot about it.

Next, we roughly set a date for the wedding.

Up to this point… this is our process.

If there are ten steps in total, it feels like we’ve only covered about 0.5 steps.

There’s so much more to do in the future.

Selecting photos for the wedding invitation, taking the remaining ones, finalizing the wording for the invitation, making the wedding dress fitting appointment… and then what comes next… Oh, I don’t know.

I just wanted to take a break until today. I really plan to work twice as hard starting from tomorrow.

“Hmm… let’s do that.”

“I’ll leave it to my future self tomorrow.”

“Alright. I should leave it to my future self too.”

We lay on the bed, placing our phones beside us.

“I didn’t expect it to be this complicated. It’s not like I didn’t anticipate the money we need to spend… sigh.”

“Yeah…”

Watching my brother roll around on the bed while sighing, a slight curiosity popped into my mind.

“But… you’ve been married once before, right?”

“Mm… I just submitted the marriage registration form. That counts as getting married.”

It means there was no wedding ceremony.

“…We didn’t have one, did we?”

My brother hesitated, his expression turning more serious.

“…Let’s go do it.”

“Huh?”

He immediately got up and grabbed the car keys.

“Let’s go. We can do it today.”

“Oh. Oh!”

In essence, we were like a boyfriend and girlfriend living together.

Both of us had forgotten about it.

Why did we end up preparing for the wedding without submitting the marriage registration?

Following my brother who hurriedly changed clothes, I also changed into something else quickly.

That’s how we made hasty preparations and rushed out.

“Sorry.”

Why did I only realize this now?

“Registering a marriage is just… really easy. You fill out a few forms, submit the marriage registration, and it’s done… But why did we overlook this before? We talked about it before but just brushed it off…?”

“Divorce… that’s done properly, right?”

My brother’s expression clouded slightly before returning to normal.

“Yeah. I hired a lawyer for the divorce.”

I’ve heard that registering a marriage is easy, but divorce is difficult.

Even though things seem a bit off, I felt happy living moment by moment with my brother.

I never even thought about registering our marriage. It felt like we were already married.

Maybe my brother felt the same way.

“And… um.”

Seeing his hesitant expression, I knew he wanted to add something but stopped himself with his hand over his mouth.

I understand he’s trying to reassure me.

“Well, it’s fortunate. I’m a bit dissatisfied that I’m not your first, but anyway, we’re going to get married, right?”

“…Right.”

“But why do you look so upset? Did you do something wrong to me?”

Technically, he did something wrong, which is why we’re going now, but I decided to see it in a cute light.

“Forget the past and just think about our marriage. Please focus on me.”

I want to forget too.

And I hope my brother won’t dwell on the past.

*

We arrived at the district office.

Have I been here before?

Probably not.

It’s my first time, and usually, people don’t visit the district office.

But they say you can only register your marriage at the district office.

So, we entered the office, filled out the forms, starting with our names.

I continued writing down the information, wondering why they included questions like consanguinity when they wouldn’t allow it if we were actually related.

Then, with our IDs and various documents, we were done.

“So, are we officially married now?”

“Yes.”

We left the district office and got back into the car.

It didn’t quite hit me yet that we were married.

It’s really simple, indeed.

“Now can I call you ‘darling’ for real?”

“Yes, you can. My dear wife.”

And divorce must be difficult.

Great.

Now, with societal constraints in place.

As of today, my brother is married. I have become a married woman.

Marriage is easy, but divorce is difficult.

I’m fine with that.

Because I won’t get divorced.

No matter what anyone says, I won’t do it.

When the fact that we got married again in the car sinks in, my brother looks at me.

“Shall we… go for lunch?”

“…Huh?”

It felt like there was something I needed to say.

“Don’t you want to eat anything?”

“Well… we don’t have any plans today. I’ll prepare something.”

He still seems to have some lingering guilt as he smiles wryly at me.

But I want to go home.

Because there are things I need to do.

What day is it today? Does my brother know?

“What are you making?”

After lunch, I still lingered in the kitchen, and my brother, who must have found it strange, came out of the room.

“Want to taste it?”

He scooped a bit with a spoon and fed me.

“Isn’t this level of sweetness good?”

“Mmm… yeah. It’s delicious.”

My brother glanced at the calendar for a moment, then his eyes widened as if he had just remembered something.

As expected, I knew he wouldn’t know.

Whether it’s a weekday or a weekend, he seems to think only about going to work on weekdays and occasionally gets up to go to work even on public holidays.

So I wonder how he prepared the ring for our hundredth day anniversary.

Yes. My brother is the best.

“What day is it today~!”

“…White Day.”

The reason I wanted to take a break today was actually because of this.

“Well. You were busy on Valentine’s Day, right? So I tried making something.”

Even though it’s commercialized, I didn’t buy things like snacks or that sort of stuff.

I really bought chocolate online after a long time.

It’s plain dark chocolate.

I pondered where to buy it, but the answer was only online.

I guess I’ll have to go throw away the styrofoam tomorrow.

“But baking… isn’t it? You know how to do this too?”

“Well… I’ve quit, but I remember.”

The reason I dislike baking.

It’s because I’ve tried baking before.

That’s why I dislike it.

Ugh, I hate it.

You have to melt the chocolate at the right temperature.

It’s not like bread; even this changes its taste depending on the temperature.

No matter how much I dislike it, since my brother will eat it, I have to make it delicious.

It may seem like I’m starting baking after a long time, but I won’t do anything other than making chocolate.

If I were currently dating someone or feeling affectionate towards them, I would have bought an expensive chocolate.

I’m a wife.

So I’ll make handmade chocolate.

…Would a wife do this?

I’m not the only one doing this, right?

What should I do when I want to do something special for someone I love?

“Oops. I spilled it.”

I deliberately spilled some chocolate to play a little prank.

I showed it to my brother, slightly smeared on my collarbone.

It wasn’t hot.

I was checking the temperature of the chocolate with a meat thermometer.

“Will you eat it…?”

Looking at this, my brother will surely feel embarrassed.

I imagined him hesitating slightly but not disliking it, moving his hands back and forth, focusing on my chest.

“Chew…”

“Heh…”

“It’s delicious.”

Such fantasies were shattered in an instant.

He swiftly approached and cleanly licked the chocolate off my chest with his mouth.

He savored the chocolate as it descended down my chest, using his tongue to savor it and relishing the taste.

It’s not my brother who’s embarrassing; it’s me who has become so.

“Pervert.”

“Huh??”

He casually stirred the melting chocolate.

Surely my face must be flushed.

I turned off the stove, thinking it was due to the steam rising from the pot.

A heart-shaped mold made of silicone.

Although I bought it along with the chocolate… well, I’ll have to use it next Valentine’s Day.

Carefully pouring the chocolate into the mold.

Once it sets in the refrigerator, it’ll be done.

It would be nice to decorate it beautifully, but there’s none of that.

As long as it tastes good.

“Mmm… There’s a little left.”

The mold was filled with chocolate, yet there was some left.

“Would taste good spread on bread.”

A good idea.

Though that’s a good idea as well…

Perhaps a better way. I felt mischievous again.

I lightly spread the chocolate with a spoon and tasted it.

Not swallowing, just in my mouth.

“Hmm?”

My brother looked at me with curious eyes as I ate it as is.

“Hmm?”

It was a gift of sweetness blending with my tongue.

“Mmm…”

The chocolates mixed together.

The already sweet kiss became honeyed as the chocolates blended.

“So… how is it? Tasty?”

“…Not sure.”

“Then one more time.”

We kissed until the remaining chocolate was gone.

Overflowing with happiness, I didn’t even notice my stomach feeling full.

We must do this again next year.

*

“Mm. They’re all done now.”

After some time, I came to see if all the chocolates were made.

“Here. Try one.”

“Oh… thank you.”

Embracing me, my brother tasted the chocolate happily.

“It’s delicious.”

“Great then. Lucky me. My skills haven’t declined.”

I smiled contently.

We’ll be getting married soon.

Well, we’ll get married, but not have a wedding… that kind of thing.

Nothing was prepared, but at this moment, I had no worries.

Because tomorrow’s me and tomorrow’s my brother will handle it well.

If it were just me alone, I wouldn’t know what to do.

But with my brother here, I’m reassured.