In the room, with Se-ah.

The house is empty for the first time in a while, early in the morning.

A very quiet house, without Joo-ah, Eun-ha, or Ji-hye, greeted me.

I wet my throat, which had been dry all night, with water, and after letting out a yawn, my body began to wake up. I ate a simple meal with food from the refrigerator.

,Boring.’

I couldn’t help but feel bored at the quietness I was experiencing for the first time in a long time.

Perhaps it was because of the emotional boredom I had experienced while living with my younger sisters. This boredom wasn’t bad, but I couldn’t stop the loneliness that came with it.

,Should I go out? Ah, but even if I go out, there’s nothing to do… Ah.’

I was thinking about the VR room when Se-ah suddenly came to mind.

I hadn’t contacted her separately, nor had I visited her.

I even called Hyun-ji, but the fact that I hadn’t contacted Se-ah made me slightly question things.

If she said it was because we were close, I wouldn’t have anything to say, but it was still strange that she hadn’t come to see my face, so I sent her a KakaoTalk message.

[Where are you?]

,Is she still asleep at this hour? Should I just go to the VR room and play some games? The kids said they wouldn’t be back until tonight.’

I had already been told in advance that they wouldn’t be back until tonight, so I needed something to kill time.

Gaming is the most common thing to do, but if the broadcasting equipment breaks down while I’m tapping away at the computer in my room, it’ll be a headache.

More than anything, I don’t want to cause any problems by touching the computer that Joo-ah set up for broadcasting.

If I’m going to have fun for the first time in a while, I might as well play games and say hello to the VR room owner, so I grabbed my clothes.

Uuung-

[I’m at home]

The reply that came with the KakaoTalk’s unique vibration sound was unexpectedly that she was at home.

It would be surprising if she got angry at me for not coming to see her,

It’s surprising that she’s awake at this early hour, but if I show it, I don’t think I’ll get a good reaction, so I replied normally.

[VR room ㄱ?]

[I’ll do it at home]

[Why do it at home? Let’s play a 2-person ranked game at the VR room.]

[I don’t want to go. If you’re not happy, then Oppa should come over.]

,Knowing that I have an uncomfortable relationship with her parents.’

It’s not that I can’t go to Se-ah’s house, but it’s strangely uncomfortable.

They don’t give me the stink eye to leave, but I know that I won’t be treated well if I stay there for too long.

Se-ah knows this well, but the fact that she’s telling me to come to her house, is it because it’s empty?

Just in case, I asked.

[If the house is empty, I can go. Is the house empty?]

[The two of them went on a trip, so come if you’re going to.]

[Should I buy something when I go?]

[I don’t need anything, just tell me before you come.]

[Then I’ll go now, so get ready.]

[Okay.]

I changed my plans and headed to Se-ah’s house.

I’m sorry to the VR room owner, but if I’m going to have fun anyway, it’s more fun to play with Se-ah… More than anything, I was curious about her face since I hadn’t seen her in a while.

I put on my coat and opened the door, feeling the cold wind blowing in as I moved.

–

,Are you really empty-handed?’

,You said you didn’t need anything, didn’t you?’

,I didn’t know you were the type of person who couldn’t distinguish between polite words.’

,Yikes… Do I have to listen to polite words from my younger sister? If you need something, I’ll buy it now.’

,Do whatever you want. Should I just go back to playing games then?’

,Looking at that attitude, I’m just not going to buy anything… But…’

It’s winter weather now, so cold that it’s so cold that it chills your bones.

Even at home, if you don’t wear clothes, your body will tremble from the low temperature, but Se-ah was soaked in sweat in just a short-sleeved shirt and dolphin pants.

Even I, who had just come in from outside, felt the temperature in the house was chilly, but Se-ah was sweating.

,What the hell were you doing that made you so sweaty?’

,I was playing a game.’

,No, it’s fine to play games, but how do you have to play games to get this sweaty…’

,Why all of a sudden? I used to sweat a lot and take off my clothes when I played games. I don’t do it anymore, though.’

,…If that’s the case, I think you can just take off your clothes…’

She was so soaked in sweat that I could see her bare skin on her back and chest.

I could understand if it was summer, but was there a reason to sweat so much in this chilly house?

To be like that in the middle of winter, anyone would think she was exercising to lose weight.

Se-ah turned around and looked at me before going into her room, as if she had noticed my gaze.

,Am I too sweaty? The sweat smell will be worse in my room.’

,I’ve played games with you at the VR room, do you think I’d care about that?’

,The room isn’t well ventilated, and I didn’t open the window… I was playing games until just now… and I didn’t shower today either…’

,When did you ever? Just go back to playing your game, you said I can watch in spectator mode, right? Or we can go to the VR room and play together.’

,I’m a bit… I have a package coming to my house today, so I can’t really go out.’

,Is it important? You can just send it to the security office, right?’

Se-ah shook her head as she opened the door.

,It’s expensive. And it’s a quick delivery, so it’ll be here within an hour, right?’

,What the hell did you buy…’

As soon as I entered, I quickly took off the clothes I was wearing and ran to the window because of the stuffy heat that filled the room.

Even though I didn’t even think about the fact that Se-ah’s clothes couldn’t withstand the outside temperature, I immediately opened the window.

,I’m freezing, why are you opening the window?!’

Se-ah, who had quickly gotten into bed, protested in an annoyed voice.

Even so, I can only stand the heat and the smell to a certain extent.

As soon as I entered the room, the heat was so stuffy that it was hot, and the smell of sweat, I felt like this was too much.

,Even so, ventilate the room a little, you brat! Am I your mom that I have to tell you things like this?’

,It’s cold outside, so if I keep it warm like this, I can save on heating bills and I can wear thin clothes…’

,Don’t talk nonsense! What is this, the VR device is completely soaked in sweat and you didn’t even wipe it. Don’t you clean your room, huh?!’

I couldn’t help but let out a sigh of “Oh my god.”

Even so, the cleanest thing in the room is the bed, and the next cleanest thing is the VR device soaked in sweat, is this for real?

Dust piled up in every corner of the room, and there were loose hairs and flakes of skin.

In this environment where I had to doubt if this was even a room, I couldn’t just watch the game.

,Where’s the rag?’

,Why are you looking for a rag?’

,Before I use the sweaty clothes you’re wearing to clean the room, tell me where it is quickly.’

,…There might be one in the bathroom. You’re not going to clean the room, are you…’

,Even if I get caught by your parents and get scolded, I’m going to clean this room. Aren’t you going to clean too?’

Se-ah resisted fiercely, wrapping herself in a blanket.

A strong look in her eyes that said she would never do it no matter what I said, which would have worked well normally, but not today.

How did she regress instead of grow while I wasn’t looking?

Instead of feeling happy to see her for the first time in a while, I was more concerned about when she would grow up.

,Then don’t come out of the blanket even one step.’

After warning Se-ah, I ran to the bathroom, washed the rag, and immediately started wiping the dust off the room.

Only after washing the rag more than ten times was the dust in the room roughly cleaned up, and then I brought the vacuum cleaner and swept the floor.

I don’t know what kind of room she had been living in, but the cleaning was only finished after emptying the dust container of the cordless vacuum cleaner twice.

All the warmth that had been left in the room disappeared, and only the cold air from outside remained, evaporating the sweat from Se-ah, who was in the blanket.

Se-ah, who was in the blanket, looked at me wiping away the sweat after finishing cleaning the room, glared at me resentfully, and opened her mouth.

,I’m not wearing any clothes inside, so I have to put on clothes now.’

,Put them on. How can you make such a mess of your room and live like this? You go to the VR room because you don’t clean your room.’

,Th-that’s not it, it’s just that it’s easier there because I don’t have to clean…’

,How come you haven’t grown at all in almost 2 years…’

,Grown in what way…’

Grown, should I say…? There were some things that had grown.

Her height was the same, but her hair and chest had definitely gotten bigger, even now.

Of course, I didn’t look at it very closely, but her big chest was right there under the white shirt that was exposed on the blanket.

Even if I went back to the memories in my head from the past 2 years, it wasn’t that big.

Just in case, I slowly opened my mouth.

,Did your chest get bigger?’

,…I don’t know.’

,I think it got bigger in my memory?’

,Ah, so what if it got bigger, huh? I’m old enough, so stop it because it’s getting harder to find underwear because it’s getting bigger.’

,No, I was just saying that the kid seems to have changed since I saw you for the first time in a while, but you’re telling me to stop.’

Now that I’m slowly looking at her, Se-ah has changed too.

The most noticeable things were her hair and chest, but even though she seemed to have gained a little more weight than before, there was a subtle feeling that she didn’t look fat.

The childish atmosphere had definitely turned into an adult, and I could see that her expressions were more diverse than before.

I haven’t seen everyone, but it was right to say that Se-ah had changed more clearly than everyone else.

,You used to be like a kid, but not anymore. You’re getting older too.’

,Don’t tease me because it’s a pain in the ass to get older and bigger… Men wouldn’t know this pain of not being able to find a bra that fits.’

I was about to continue, but Se-ah quickly continued first.

,Don’t tell me to buy it online, because it’s so hard to buy it online too.’

,How big did it get that you’re complaining? Move over a little, I’m going to lie down too.’

I was sitting and talking, but the cold was slowly seeping into my body, so I went into the bed and took some of the blanket and lay down.

Se-ah watched me lie down and followed suit, then turned her head and looked at me.

Other than the atmosphere, I could see that she hadn’t changed much from before.

The feeling that she was like a child had disappeared, and I felt like she had finally become a real woman, so I couldn’t help but laugh.

,Why are you laughing…’

,No, you used to be like a kid, but now you’re a bit more like a woman.’

,I was a woman before too. I just acted a bit childish…’

I laughed at those words and had a random conversation, then suddenly remembered something and changed the subject for a moment.

,Ah, right, I have to ask this.’

,What? Do you have something to ask me… What’s my chest size or something?’

Instead of answering, I flicked her forehead and opened my mouth.

,No, how have you been for the past 2 years? If you don’t mind, tell me about it.’

,You didn’t contact me once and now you’re asking? I’m going to play a game.’

,Don’t do that, we have some time, so it’s okay to listen to your story.’

,…’

Se-ah turned her back and was silent for a moment.

Then she slowly opened her mouth and started telling me the story of what happened after we broke up.