She Had Nowhere to Go… So She Came Home With Me

After that, the atmosphere between us became much more natural.

The awkward, blind-date-like tension was gone. We could finally be at ease with each other.

Sometimes it takes just a small moment to bring people closer.

Though I suppose a first kiss counts as a pretty big moment.

We ended up holding hands all the way until morning.

And it was as if the night had been prepared for us—not a single customer came to interrupt.

It was only around dawn that people started trickling in, and reluctantly, I let go of Yi Yi’s hand.

Newly formed couples always want to be glued together. Back when I was the one on the receiving end of that dog food, I always thought: wouldn’t that kind of constant closeness get annoying?

But now that it was my turn, I finally understood—it really doesn’t get old.

Happy moments always end in the blink of an eye.

I used to feel like night shifts dragged on forever, but today, time slipped away before I knew it. The store manager walked in to greet us at shift change.

“Good morning…” He paused when he saw Kaori was still there, blinking in surprise. “Huh? Kaori, you’re still here? Oh, waiting for A-Qi to leave together?”

“Yes.”

Seeing Yi Yi nod, I asked, puzzled, “Wait, Manager. Is Yi Yi’s shift schedule different from mine?”

“Yeah, didn’t she tell you? She works from ten at night to six in the morning.”

Hearing that, I turned to look at Yi Yi again, touched. She’d stayed for me.

She smiled at me. “It’s fine. Two hours isn’t that long.”

“Yi Yi…”

The manager scratched his head. “Looks like I didn’t think this through. I didn’t realize you were here for A-Qi. No wonder you refused when I suggested daytime shifts… It makes sense. You’re not like A-Qi. Having you work the register at my little shop is overkill.”

Hey, old man, using me as a stepping stone to praise her?

Though he wasn’t wrong. Kaori was so beautiful that if she worked during the day, she’d definitely attract a lot of customers.

But then again, someone with her looks working at a convenience store at all was already a waste.

She could just start a stream and make more money than this. This was real beauty, no filters or touch-ups needed.

“Well, how about I match your shifts with A-Qi’s?”

“No need, it’s fine. The way it is now works.”

“Are you sure? Well, then, I’ll pay you for ten hours if you stay…”

“No need. I’m choosing to stay and wait. You don’t need to count this as work time.”

From the conversation between Yi Yi and the manager, I could piece together what happened.

The manager had complained to me before about having to stay at the store until midnight before he could go home. At his age, it was taking a toll on him.

But he also felt it would be unfair to make me stay even longer when I was already doing overnight shifts alone.

So when Kaori applied for the night shift, he wanted to stagger our schedules a bit so he could go home earlier.

“That wouldn’t be right…”

“Really, it’s fine. Besides, there might be times when I leave first.”

Huh. So she wouldn’t wait for me in the future.

That stung a little… But I suppose she didn’t have to wait for me every time.

“Well… if you’re sure.”

The manager glanced at me sympathetically, as if we were in the same boat.

From his expression, I could tell he was probably remembering coming home at night only to find his wife hadn’t waited for him—she’d already gone to sleep.

“I’ll take over from here. You two should go home and rest. Good work.”

“Okay.” “Ossu.”

Yi Yi went to change out of her uniform first. While I waited, I mentioned to the manager that I’d accessed the security footage. He nodded understandingly and gave me a knowing look.

His expression practically said, “Young people sure have energy.”

When Yi Yi came out in her own clothes, I changed as well, said goodbye to the manager, and walked out of the convenience store.

The morning sun beamed down. I looked up at it, squinting, my eyes stinging a little.

I shook my head to pull myself together and asked Yi Yi, “Yi Yi, where do you live? I’ll walk you home.”

She’d stayed with me until morning; the least I could do was walk her home.

But unexpectedly, Yi Yi just shook her head.

“I don’t have a home to go back to anymore.”

“Huh?”

I was stunned at first, but then I quickly understood.

“Did you… already cut ties with your family?”

Yi Yi nodded.

That was incredibly fast. Way too fast.

I wasn’t just surprised by the idiot’s efficiency, but also by her parents’ decisiveness.

No matter how much they treated their daughter as a commodity, you’d think they’d at least pretend to hesitate, to show some reluctance.

But they didn’t even bother with that. They agreed immediately, without a second thought.

I was starting to doubt if Yi Yi was even their biological daughter. She probably wasn’t.

Now I understood why Yi Yi was so shocked by the price the idiot offered.

It really came down to that famous line:

He just offered too much.png

Still, that was pretty heartless, kicking her out like that…

“True, they’d already lost patience with me since my hair turned white. They couldn’t wait for me to leave. But this time, I was the one who asked to leave. And since Mr. Idiot’s payment arrived immediately, they let go without hesitation.”

“Oh. So that’s why you came to work at the convenience store?”

“No. I came here because of you, Darling.”

“To see me specifically?”

“After leaving home, I wanted to see you right away. But I didn’t know where you lived. So the only place I could think of was this convenience store.”

I see. At first, I thought Yi Yi got the job because her parents cut her off financially, and she just happened to choose this store because I worked here.

But it turned out, just as the manager said, she wasn’t here for the money. She was here for me.

Then a realization hit me.

“Wait. Then where are you staying now?”

“I haven’t decided yet… Darling, where would you like me to stay?”

“…”

Gulp.

Looking at Yi Yi’s hopeful gaze, I swallowed and licked my lips.

This wasn’t a hint. It was a direct invitation.

She was waiting for me to say it.

But was this really okay? Was there no problem? We’d known each other for less than two days.

This was moving way too fast. Almost like a shotgun wedding.

Even though my head was full of doubts, my honest mouth betrayed me and spoke the words.

“If you don’t mind… well, would you like to stay at my place?”

“Yes. I would love to.”

And so, sweet cohabitation with my girlfriend began on the very same day we started dating.