A Rude Awakening and a Rash Promise

‘Hmm… just how long have I been asleep?’

When I awoke again, the sun already hung low in the sky, hinting at its descent. Its faint, yellow rays pierced through the window, striking my face with an irritating warmth.

Rubbing my swollen eyes, I slowly pushed myself up from the bed. My gaze then drifted, taking in the surroundings of the room.

It was undoubtedly a room brimming with a maiden’s charm. Posters of shojo manga adorned the walls, and both the curtains and bedsheets were a delicate shade of pink.

In one corner lay several fluffy teddy bears. Nearby, on the desk, cute trinkets were arranged alongside a neatly stacked collection of cosmetics.

Beyond all this, there was one more thing.

‘What the hell are you doing, you idiot?! Are you seriously a pig?!’

This furious outburst came from Serena, who was screaming at the top of her lungs in front of the computer on the desk.

Ah, I seemed to recall what had transpired.

After dropping my sister off at school that morning, I had simply fallen asleep on her bed.

However, it seemed I had slept a little too long this time.

I vaguely remembered lying down around eight in the morning. Now, the alarm clock on Chen Si Yi’s nightstand pointed to seven in the evening, meaning I had slept for nearly eleven hours.

I involuntarily scratched my head, a troubled expression clouding my face.

‘No way, did I… again?’

‘Yes, your after-effects have kicked in once more.’

The speaker was my sister, Chen Si Yi. She had just entered the room, wearing a pink bunny apron over her school uniform, a cooking spatula still clutched in her hand.

‘Oh, you’re back already, Si Yi?’

‘Of course! It wasn’t my turn for duty today, so I rushed back to cook as soon as school ended, worried you’d be hungry.’

‘I see…’ I offered an embarrassed smile. ‘After a whole day of classes, you still have to cook for your brother. You’ve worked so hard.’

Though my sister was only a first-year high school student, I, having gone through it myself, was acutely aware of the heavy academic burden that came with high school.

Moreover, my sister attended an elite private school, where the competitive pressure was undoubtedly intense.

The thought of my sister, toiling all day at school only to return and prepare both breakfast and dinner for me, instantly brought a blush of shame to my face. I was about to offer another word of thanks, but Chen Si Yi cut me off.

‘Wait a minute, Lin Yan, aren’t you getting up yet?’

Chen Si Yi suddenly tilted her adorable head, gazing at me with an inexplicable fervent intensity in her eyes.

Before I could fully grasp what was happening, she pouted her lips and shook the spatula in her hand.

‘Did you forget? You said last night you’d teach me how to cook!’

‘Eh? It seemed there really was such a thing.’

It was only with my sister’s reminder that the memory resurfaced. Last night, spurred by the truly unpalatable meal she had prepared and my own uncomfortable heat, I had impulsively made that rash promise.

‘Ah, I suddenly wished I could go back on my word.’ ‘After all, I was terrible at teaching others, and cooking certainly wasn’t something one could master in a day or two.’

‘Without consistent practice, there would be no progress whatsoever.’

I couldn’t help but sigh, instantly blaming my impulsive self from the previous day.

Yet, seeing my sister continuously blink her eyes, with the word ‘expectation’ practically etched onto her face, I still nodded and smiled, agreeing to her request.

Coincidentally, Serena, who had been battling away at the computer desk, had also just finished her game. Two prominent ‘FAILURE’ characters flashed across the screen, prompting her to leap from her chair in agitation.

‘Aaaah, damn it, I dropped a rank again! I knew I shouldn’t have risked playing ranked matches. Waaah, now I’m a Bronze noob again!’

‘Hey, no way. Didn’t I just help you reach Silver yesterday? How did you drop back to Bronze in just one day?’

‘Shouldn’t there be a rank protection period? Just how many matches did you lose while I was sleeping, you idiot? Are you deliberately trying to make my contract harder?!’

Watching Serena, her face flushed crimson with anger from losing the game, on the verge of burying her face and weeping, I was momentarily speechless, unsure of what to say.

Beside me, my sister’s expression was naturally as helpless as my own. However, what surprised me slightly was that my sister showed not a hint of astonishment at Serena’s intense gaming obsession, as if this scene was an everyday occurrence for her.

After sighing with a flutter of her cherry lips, Chen Si Yi approached, her brow furrowed. To my utter astonishment, she reached out, grabbed Serena’s cheek, and then vigorously twisted it as if it were clay.

‘Ow, ow, ow, that hurts!’ Serena, whose face was being twisted by Chen Si Yi, instantly snapped back to reality from the shadow of her gaming defeat.

Presumably due to the intense pain coupled with her game loss, glistening tears welled up at the corners of her eyes.

‘Waaah, Si Yi, why are you twisting my face?’ Serena’s voice was exceptionally aggrieved. ‘I didn’t even do anything…’