Chapter 48 Part 2: New Year Event

Amy returned a long time after the announcement that it was lunchtime.

“Sorry!”

I collapsed on the bed from hunger, staring blankly at the door, when Amy burst through the door and shouted.

She had several large pizza boxes in her arms.

“Amy!”

“Sorry, guys! I’m a little late for work…”

“It’s okay!”

I jumped up from my seat.

I couldn’t come to my senses because of the strong smell of pizza.

I licked my tongue and waited for Amy, and she came into the room and placed the pizza box on the table.

“Wow…”

Rain, who had collapsed on the bed like me, got up as if she was entranced by the smell of pizza and started to approach me.

“You haven’t eaten yet, have you?”

“Yes.”

Shine and I were no different from Rain.

We staggered to the table and sat down.

Amy looked down at us and smiled awkwardly.

“Why are you so late?”

“Because of the New Year’s event.”

Amy answered Rain’s question.

The New Year’s event…

I think I did it once at the lab, but I couldn’t remember anything more than that, as if I was obscured by the fog.

All I could remember was the vague feeling of having done something.

As I searched through my hazy memories, I opened my mouth wide as I looked at the pizza in front of me.

“What do you do at the New Year’s event?”

“Just this and that. We all get together and eat delicious food, sing songs, watch movies…”

Shine asked Amy, seeming interested in the idea of a New Year’s event.

Ignoring their conversation, I picked up the pizza.

It was way past lunchtime, so I was really hungry.

I needed this pizza to calm my rumbling stomach.

I rolled up the pizza and stuffed it into my mouth.

My cheeks puffed out as if they were going to burst.

“Has time already passed that much?”

Rain, who was eating the pizza, said as she took out her cell phone.

I too could feel the time passing by in an instant at her words.

“I can feel myself getting older day by day.”

When Rain muttered softly, Amy’s expression distorted strangely.

“Are you serious?”

“Of course. My body is not like it used to be.”

Amy just looked down at Rain without saying anything.

I was able to eat all the pizzas that Amy brought without missing a single one.

The four of us finished off the pizzas.

I, who was caressing my swollen belly, collapsed on the bed.

I was so full that I couldn’t move.

“Ugh… I’m full.”

Today’s work was all over.

I still had a nap and [Little Witch’s Great Adventure] to watch, but thanks to the art study I did with Rain, I wasn’t able to solve those annoying problems today.

“I think it’s time to go.”

Rain, who was lying next to me, muttered softly and got up.

“Are you going already?”

“Yeah. Because I had a lot of fun.”

With my belly full and my back warm, I started to feel sleepy.

Blink blink.

I blinked and blankly looked at Rain, and she smiled and said,

“Guys, raincoats! Don’t forget!”

Shine and I lay down next to each other and just nodded.

“I told you not to force the kids.”

“I didn’t force them. I just asked them not to forget.”

Amy and Rain talking like close friends.

Amy, who had finally met Rain, returned to the room and started putting away the pizza boxes.

“Did you study hard today?”

“Yes…”

I answered desperately, lifting my heavy eyelids.

“Really?”

“Of course….”

A yawn bursting out.

With her mouth wide open and tears welling up, she buried her face in the blanket.

“Oh, my. Shine isn’t going to sleep?”

“Yeah.”

Her consciousness was sinking heavily.

I heard Amy and Shine talking, but I didn’t respond.

It was nap time.

Since they said that sleep is important for growing taller, naps must be important too.

Only mumbling came out of my mouth that was struggling to open.

Right after waking up from my nap, I finished my day as usual.

However, a change came to my routine.

Amy was busier than usual.

Amy disappeared without a second thought.

Amy was calling me from here and there more often.

Because of that, I ended up spending more time alone with Shine.

“I guess Amy is really busy.”

“I guess so.”

I started solving math problems while talking to Shine.

The pen moved smoothly.

Problems were solved easily.

My blurry vision became clearer, and my head felt clearer.

“It’s not hard anymore, is it?”

I nodded absentmindedly at Shine’s voice as she looked at me and spoke.

She was right.

It wasn’t hard anymore.

It was as if I had remembered something I had forgotten, as if I was revisiting something I already knew.

I was able to solve all the problems without any problems.

Why couldn’t I solve them before?

It was a question that I couldn’t solve.

After solving all the problems, I started rolling the pen on my finger.

It was a habit that came out unconsciously.

But the pen slipped out of my hand and rolled on the table.

It was out of place.

It felt different than usual.

But I couldn’t tell exactly what it was.

Feeling frustrated, I let out a sigh for no reason.

“Isn’t it fun?”

“No. It’s fun, but…”

I wiggled my fingers as I answered Shine’s question in a small voice.

Although I was enjoying the fact that problems that I couldn’t solve were easily solved, I didn’t find the fundamental fact of studying fun.

Perhaps Shine wanted me to become interested in studying.

“Is it better when it’s difficult?”

I shook my head desperately, recalling past memories.

“No! No! I like it now!”

“Really?”

Shine nodded and picked up her pen again.

She began to study more than the amount of work assigned for today.

There was a small smile on her lips, as if she was enjoying learning itself.

“Shine.”

“Huh?”

“Today’s study is over.”

“Really?”

Shine put down her pen without any regrets at my words.

Since Amy hadn’t come back yet, I couldn’t get graded.

I rubbed my cheek on the table and asked Shine.

“What should I do now?”

“Should I go to Rain?”

“Rain said she was busy too.”

I answered, recalling what Amy had said.

I think Rain was also an executive.

She was the team leader who led a team, so she was also very busy preparing for the New Year’s event.

That day, after eating pizza and before taking a nap, that was the last time I saw Rain.

“Is the New Year’s event that important?”

“I guess so.”

I touched my pouting lips.

Victor also seemed busy preparing for the New Year’s event, so there was no one here to play with us.

“Going to Lavin?”

“It’s too far. And Lavin said she was on vacation.”

“I see…”

Shine limply hugged my body.

Her arms wrapped around me gently and Shine’s head clung to my side.

I slowly stroked her head and said,

“Shall we go to the park?”

“Will we meet Jin again?”

Shine flinched at my suggestion and answered.

Everyone seemed busy, so I wondered if the leader would be at the park at this hour.

“I think it’ll be okay.”

I muttered and jumped down from the chair.

Shine, who was hanging on to my body, also got down from the chair with me.

“Are you really going to the park?”

“Yeah.”

I checked the time and grabbed my bag.

Inside the bag, I filled it with my sketchbook, colored pencils, and crayons, just like before.

I also packed a coffee mix to drink without Amy knowing.

“Jeff.”

“Huh?”

“Be honest. You’re going out because you want to drink coffee, right?”

I rolled my eyes here and there at Shine’s words.

It was true that I was bored, but it wasn’t like I didn’t want to use that as an excuse to drink coffee.

“Oh… No?”

“Really?”

Shine muttered and took the coffee mix out of his bag.

“Oh…”

“Then you don’t need this?”

Shine put the coffee mix he took out of his bag back into Baekshi’s back.

“…Does Shine hate coffee?”

“No.”

“Then wouldn’t it be better to take it with you?”

“But if you eat this, you won’t be able to sleep at night.”

I couldn’t argue with Shine’s words.

She was right.

I touched the corner of my mouth and put my bag on my back with a small sigh.

Just before leaving the room, I grabbed my pen and headed to the table.

“Why?”

“Amy might come by mid-way.”

There was a small notepad on the table.

I took it off and wrote on it.

I’ll go to the park.

My crooked, ugly handwriting, I don’t think it was like this before.

Right after I finished writing the last word, I couldn’t put the pen down, and my fingers twitched.

“Jeff?”

“Yeah. I’m done.”

I put the pen down at Shine’s urging.

The pen, which had fallen limply, slowly rolled and stopped in front of the workbook Shine had opened.

“Let’s go.”

Shine and I left the room, holding hands.

Maybe it was because it was the holiday season due to the New Year’s event.

The hallway, which was usually full of people, was empty.

We ran excitedly through the empty hallway and stopped in front of a convenience store.

It seemed like the clerk hadn’t taken a vacation, so the convenience store was operating normally.

I asked Shine.

“Should I buy a sandwich?”

She nodded.

Right after I bought a sandwich and a drink at the convenience store, I put them in my bag.

Last time, I had a sandwich stolen by a thug like Jin because I was carrying it around in a convenience store bag.

There was no guarantee that something like that wouldn’t happen this time, so I had to be careful.

The yellow bag was full.

A small smile appeared on my face at the solid weight.

“Where are we going today?”

“Um…”

Where should we go today?

There was a place to play catch, but catch was out of the question because Shine hated hard balls.

While I was pondering Shine’s question, I was able to arrive at a wide staircase.

Every time I come here, I always feel that the stairs were really high.

Why didn’t they install an elevator here?

Shine and I started climbing the stairs with our mouths shut.

We realized that if we talked while climbing the stairs, we would get tired faster.

But maybe it was because we had gained some stamina.

We were able to climb the stairs to the park without stopping.

We were out of breath, so we went to a corner of the stairs and sat down to rest.

“There aren’t many people.”

Just as she said, there weren’t many people in the park either.

It seemed like all those people who were there were on vacation.

I caught my breath and immediately got up from my seat.

If there weren’t many people, it meant that I could run around and play with Shine to my heart’s content.

“Let’s go!”

I said, holding out my hand to her.

Shine, who was sitting on the steps, gently held my hand and stood up.

The subtle warmth that was transmitted to my fingertips made a tingling sensation rise in one side of my chest.

We stopped at the entrance of the park and began to look around carefully.

The park was wide open, and I could see everything from quite far away.

“Jin, I guess.”

I nodded to Shine.

There was no way she would be there.

“Today, we’ll stop by the pond, pass the rabbit farm, and come back via the blue bridge.”

I said, pointing to the large map at the entrance to the park.

Today’s course was decided.