The man has changed… mostly in appearance…

Winter came without change.

When that human, my oppa, said he was going to work, consulted with my uncle, and left for work, I was so surprised I almost fainted, but now I’m used to it.

My uncle never told me what kind of work he was doing, only telling me to wait until winter, and wouldn’t give me an answer.

So, I quietly worked and waited.

I even refused orders for postings to other regions, saying I had something to do this winter, and stayed at home.

After my oppa left for work, there was a big change at home.

One was that Mom said she was sick of looking at Dad’s face and was going down to her hometown for a while.

And Dad said he wanted to ask Mom for forgiveness and went down with her to stay there.

Mom’s feelings about Jua were, “If she doesn’t turn out like your dad, she’s still my daughter,” and she readily accepted her.

Thanks to that, Jua took over oppa’s room and became a full-time streamer, but her start wasn’t entirely smooth.

After oppa left for work, Jua felt a bit more mature.

For a while, she cried her eyes out because oppa, who always accepted her childishness, was gone, but now she’s become a slightly more mature…unpredictable troublemaker sister who stayed at home.

She earns way more money than me, so Jua is practically the one supporting the family and doing the housework.

…Wait, at this point, isn’t she just an adult, not just more mature?

After that, the first one to make a fuss was Eunha.

As a younger sister who you could say is an oppa-obsessed person, she was shocked enough to make the world end when she heard that oppa had left for a while to work, but surprisingly, her reaction was indifferent.

Her reaction was indifferent, but she must have been quite shocked, as she took two months off work and lazed around at our house.

She would barge in next to Jua when she was streaming to promote her webtoon, and draw pictures for Jua’s streams when she was off work, making me wonder if she wasn’t part of our family now.

She even terminated the contract for her apartment and entrusted the money to me, saying she would be staying with us for a while, so I couldn’t kick her out. Plus, she helped Jua with the housework, so it was easy for me.

She was the most comfortable younger sister after oppa disappeared. What was so great about that oppa? Seeing Eunha cling to me affectionately and smile as soon as he disappeared, I didn’t wish for oppa to not come back… I do want to see him, though…

Since our parents also went down to the countryside and the rooms were empty, the three of us were able to endure oppa’s absence in a friendly… atmosphere.

–

After that, the first one to stop by the house wasn’t Se-a eonni, but Hyunji.

When she heard that oppa had left home for work, she made a meaningful remark that he had gone to train to keep his promise to me, but she came to hang out at home without any problems and went to school.

Oh, and sometimes she would come to our house to play games and play VR games, and it’s a secret that I would scream at her to clean up the countless strands of hair that fell out.

It’s definitely not because if oppa knew, he would say, “Why don’t you just clean it up?” Anyway.

Hyunji had the least reaction, so there wasn’t much to talk about. She came to our house with the same relaxed and mysterious atmosphere as always and slept on the sofa…

She was also a cousin whose image had changed a lot since we lived together. To put it a bit harshly, I even thought that Hyunji might be oppa’s real sibling, not me.

Se-a eonni was the only one who didn’t come home.

Even Hyunji often came to our house, saying it was nice to hang out with just the girls, but Se-a eonni didn’t try to come to our house any more than the VR room.

When Jua secretly asked her, her answer was a childish, “I think I’ll miss oppa if I’m there,” but it wasn’t incomprehensible.

And everyone unanimously told me that I was very stoic.

In fact, I brushed off the question of why I, as the de facto first wife, wasn’t interested in my husband and why I was so calm, with countless words hidden inside.

Starting with, “Do you think I’m less worried than you guys?” to “I’m the one who’s most anxious right now, what do you guys know?”

“How long have you guys known oppa that you’re already pretending to be worried? I’m the one who’s worried right now, but I can’t just sit and watch.”

“I’m putting off my future to wait, but do you guys even know that? If you say that kind of thing one more time, I’m going to make a laurel wreath out of your hair and put it in your coffin…” I wanted to say things like that, but I held back.

‘Think what you want. He’s coming home soon anyway, it’s something that can be dealt with when he comes and says whatever he wants.’

Hearing only that he would be home soon, I took a vacation around the day he was supposed to come and waited.

There are many things to talk about, but it’s something I need to do after seeing his face… I’ll have to see when he comes.

–

[The government has announced that it is positively considering marriages between siblings to cope with the gradually decreasing population. There is also talk of preparing for genetic diseases by allowing marriages between second cousins only once, which shows how lacking the country’s population is.]

“Euhwaaaam… Ah, I’m so sleepy. When the hell is the bus arriving? I’m tired of listening to the news as a lullaby.”

I’ve been dozing off on the bus home for about four hours now, and I’ve slept so much that my body is stiff and I can’t even fall asleep.

Even though I’m on the bus going back after finishing my life away from home, I’m not homesick or longing, but just thinking about when I’ll get home.

I forced my creaking joints to turn again and prayed that the bus would arrive at the terminal near my house soon.

As the boring time of staring blankly at the seat in front of me continued, sleep came over me, and just before I fell asleep, the bus announcement came on.

[The bus will arrive at the terminal soon. Please check to make sure you haven’t forgotten anything.]

At that, I immediately stretched and looked out the window.

The familiar scenery of the terminal near my house, the scenery I saw when I came to pick up Eunha, came into view.

“Wow, I really lived through it. Honestly, I thought I was going to die while working… I really… came back alive…”

The bus stopped, and I took the bag I had been using and got off the bus, enjoying the air.

The neighborhood I returned to after a long time felt like it was waiting for me without much change.

Except for the repainted terminal entrance, it looked the same, but I scratched my shaggy beard and looked around.

‘I should have shaved before coming. Ah, my beard is itchy.’

I was only thinking about going straight home, but when I thought about it again, I forgot that I had to walk through the streets to get home.

Perhaps because I had been on the ship for so long, even walking on the ground felt awkward, and I walked towards home with hesitant steps.

Every time I exhaled, white steam appeared in front of me, and the cold wind that blew made me realize that I was on the ground.

Just yesterday, I was balancing on a rocking ship for years, but now I’m trying to balance awkwardly on stable ground. It seemed that there was a reason why people who had been on ships for a long time had land sickness.

“…Ah.”

When I arrived near my house, I saw them selling strawberries at a nearby supermarket.

When I saw the fruit that I couldn’t eat well on the ship, I bought it without realizing it and started walking back home.

–

‘Is it normal to take more than 10 minutes to find my house after only being gone for a year? If I told Ji-hye about this, she would nag me a lot. Calling me an idiot.’

I walked and walked for 10 minutes, looking for my house until I felt a familiar atmosphere.

The house I barely remembered arriving at welcomed me as always, but I ran into the biggest problem when I tried to open the door.

“…Ah…the password…”

There was no way a guy who barely found his house would know the password, so I had no choice but to call Ji-hye.

Ttururu- Ttururu-

“…”

“Ye, hello…?”

The dial was definitely cut off, so she answered the phone, but I couldn’t hear anything.

Even if I’m a dumbass who lost his house, I didn’t misdial. Just in case, I checked again, and the name Ji-hye was clearly written there.

“Ji, is that Ji-hye…? Say something.”

“Why did you call?”

I didn’t have the courage to answer her blunt words.

Even so, would I say to my younger sister, whom I haven’t seen in almost two years, “I forgot the house password, what was it?”

I had no excuse even if she got angry at me for coming home after a long time and that’s all I had to say, so I had no choice but to hesitate.

“You forgot the house password, didn’t you?”

“…”

“Yes or no, if you don’t answer, I won’t open it.”

“Hoo, yeah, that’s right. I forgot the house password and can’t get in front of the house. I’m sorry, but can you tell me the password?”

In response to my words, Ji-hye hung up the phone instead of answering.

As I stared at the empty phone wallpaper, I muttered that I shouldn’t have asked, and then I heard the sound of the door opening.

Bbiik- Ttiririk

Is Jua at home and opened it for me? I was relieved and about to go into the house.

A hand pressed down on my mouth with a finger, blocking me.

She had hair that reached her waist, but she didn’t look much different as she looked at me.

“There’s something you say when you come home, right? The greeting we say at our house.”

Ah, I know that. No matter how long I haven’t been home, it can’t compare to the years I’ve lived in this house.

…Oh, so the reason I couldn’t find the house was because my body knew it and walked there naturally, not because I memorized it?

That face glaring at me as she lightly kicked my shin for making useless imaginations.

How long has it been since I’ve seen that glaring face? I smiled without realizing it and said.

“Ah, right, right, I’m home.”

At my words, she turned around and went into the house, answering in a small voice that only I could hear.

“…Welcome home.”

I came back home.

I’ll have to live here a little longer to know if it’s changed or not.

The person who welcomed me was not much different.