Chapter 35 Part 2: Christmas

“Eww!”

My hand holding the pen trembled.

The heat on my face showed no sign of going down.

Since Shine was in a deep sleep, I started studying alone.

The problems I faced alone were like high walls.

I couldn’t solve a single problem.

I needed Shine.

But I couldn’t wake her up.

I desperately concentrated and concentrated again.

The problems that came into my eyes were definitely not difficult.

I already knew the formulas and answers to these problems.

But I can’t solve the problem.

“Here. Drink this and do it.”

Amy poured me a cold cola.

I held out both hands and took the large cup, and gulped down the cola.

The cold cola flowing into my body lowered my body temperature.

I calmed down a little and slowly took a deep breath.

“Jeff, do you want a present for Christmas?”

“A present?”

“Yeah.”

I let go of the pen in my hand at Amy’s question.

It was foolish to continue to hold onto an unsolvable problem.

When Shine wakes up, we should solve it together.

I was deep in thought at Amy’s question.

If I could, I wanted Lucy’s magic wand from *The Little Witch’s Great Adventure*.

“Is Santa really there?”

“Of course.”

“But he’s never visited me before.”

I said with a sigh.

I wasn’t sure if the Santa that Amy was talking about really existed.

“This time it’ll be different.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Santa had never visited me in my life.

Maybe that was why I couldn’t easily believe Amy’s words.

It’s better not to have unreasonable expectations.

If your expectations are high, you’ll be disappointed.

It was an experience I felt deeply in my bones as a child.

When I was a child.

What was your first Christmas like?

Cold and hungry…

I picked up a pen and started spinning it in my hand, lost in my old memories.

The pen spinning in my small hand.

As if I was falling into the rotation, I was lost in my old memories.

When I grew up a little and started thinking, I realized that there was a day called Christmas.

It snowed a lot that day.

The snow slowly falling on the huge pile of trash made the surrounding temperature cold.

It was a hungry and cold day.

It was rare that I didn’t, but anyway, after learning the concept of Christmas, I rarely did favors for others.

Santa’s presents that only good children could receive.

I wanted to receive them.

I don’t remember the contents of the presents I wanted now, but they were really useless.

The pen that was spinning around stopped spinning at some point.

I naturally moved the pen to solve the problem.

That day was like that.

I wanted to be a good child and receive a present.

I gave the canned food that I had hidden until the very end to an old man who was starving.

He ate the canned food right there without saying thank you.

That day just passed like that.

All I had left was an empty can and a piece of straw with holes in it.

Without anything special happening, I spent the night watching the snow fall from the sky.

On a cold day, I looked up at the night sky, shivering and enduring my hunger.

When would Santa come?

However, Santa did not come until daybreak.

“Um…”

I put down the pen.

Would it be different now?

“Can I really believe it?”

“What do you mean?”

“That Santa exists.”

I looked up at Amy and asked.

Really, could I believe it again?

“I promise, Jeff. I will let you meet Santa this Christmas.”

Amy has never lied to me.

So she is someone I can trust.

I nodded cautiously.

“Would you like to tell me what gift you would like to receive?”

“But Amy, it’s Santa who gives gifts.”

“Ahhh…”

Amy closed her mouth as if she was momentarily shocked by my words.

She closed her eyes as if she was deep in thought for a moment, then suddenly got up from her seat.

Judging by the small smile on her lips, a bright idea seemed to have occurred to her.

“Okay, Jeff. Let’s send a letter to Santa.”

“A letter?”

“Yeah. I’ll write down the gifts I want in the letter.”

“But I don’t know Santa’s address.”

“It’s okay! I know!”

Then that’s good.

I nodded absentmindedly.

Amy jumped up from her seat as if she was excited and left the room.

“Jeff?”

Shine, who woke up to the sound of Amy leaving, opened her mouth while rubbing her eyes.

Her voice was full of sleep.

I shifted my gaze to Shine.

Shine, my family with me.

Sister.

Sister?

A question arose from the faint sense of rejection welling up inside me.

My childhood memories clearly began with the garbage mountain.

However, no matter how much I tried to recall my memories, I couldn’t find Shine in that garbage mountain.

“Shine.”

“Huh?”

“We’re family, right?”

“Jeff?”

Shine’s expression hardened at my words.

She walked over slowly and sat down next to me.

“I don’t know. Shine. I thought back to the old days, but Shine wasn’t there.”

I rubbed my eyes with both hands as I spoke.

My head hurt.

“It’s strange. I didn’t have a family.”

Shine smiled slightly and reached out.

Her hand wrapped around my head.

A soft, embracing hand.

She lightly pulled my body.

I didn’t resist and let myself be held in her arms.

I closed my eyes gently in the soft, warm warmth.

“Shine. I feel really strange these days.”

“No, Jeff. It’s not strange.”

“No. I’ve really become strange.”

I mumbled as I dug into Shine’s arms.

“The math problems were so hard… but now they’re easy.”

I shifted my gaze and looked at the desk.

Shine’s gaze was also directed to the same place as mine.

While I was lost in my old thoughts, my hands naturally moved and found the answer to the problem.

“It’s strange?”

Shine didn’t say anything.

I looked up at Shine and opened my mouth.

“Shine. Why wasn’t there Shine in the old days?”

I spoke, recalling my memories of living in the garbage mountain.

I was always alone there.

If, instead of being alone, Shine had been by my side, wouldn’t I have been able to consider the memories of that day as a slightly happier time?

Shine, who was looking down at me, smiled and reached out her hand.

Her small hand covered my face.

Shine’s voice came through my covered eyes.

“Jeff never stayed there.”

Along with Shine’s quiet voice, a noise rang in my head.

Chic-chic-

My ears hurt.

I shook my head and covered my ears.

But the noise didn’t go away.

Shine’s hand moved slowly.

A gentle hand that brushed my hair.

Every time her hand moved, the memory of the huge mountain of trash subsided.

As if filling the empty space, memories of my time with Shine came back clearly.

A happy memory of living in a house with a pretty red roof and a large yard built in front of it.

“Jeff stayed here, right?”

“Ugh…”

I nodded absentmindedly.

When I heard it, it seemed right.

Thump-thump-

At that moment, I felt a small warmth on my forehead.

Hot liquid dripped down my forehead like water droplets.

I raised my hand and touched my forehead.

“Shine?”

My tightly shut eyes opened.

Red.

The first thing that comes into view is Shine’s face.

She has her nose covered with a distorted expression.

Blood was running down her hands.

It was dripping down my forehead.

“Shine!”

I got up from my seat in a hurry.

The blood on my forehead flowed down and ran across my face.

Panicked, I looked around and pulled out a bunch of tissues.

My hands were shaking.

My vision was blurry.

Tears were welling up in my eyes.

“Jeff. Don’t cry.”

Shine took the tissue I offered in a calm voice and covered her nose.

The tissue in her hand turned red.

“Uh… Where does it hurt?”

“I’m fine.”

Shine was the one who was bleeding from the nose, but I was the one who was shaking.

Shine’s calm voice calmed my body that was filled with excitement.

Calmly, I pulled out more tissues and wiped the spot where Shine’s nosebleed had fallen.

But I couldn’t wipe it completely.

The chair, the table, and even my forehead.

A long blood stain spread thinly and hardened.

Amy returned not long after that.

Amy, who had come with a pretty set of stationery in her hand, let out a high-pitched scream as she saw me and Shine covered in blood.

“Jeff! Shine!”

Shine and I opened our mouths to explain the situation, but Amy picked us up and quickly ran out of the room.

Arms and legs shaking back and forth.

Eyes changing quickly.

And so, we arrived at the small ward where Ravin was.

“Ravin!”

Boom!

Amy, who couldn’t open the door because she was holding us in both hands, kicked open the door of the ward and stepped inside.

The door that fell after her kick slid across the floor, collapsing a huge shelf in the corner of the ward.

There was a loud crash.

As I looked around, hanging there, numerous bottles of medicine on the shelf fell, spilling their contents.

Ravin, who was resting on a large chair, looked at us and opened his eyes wide.

“Amy?”

“Ravin! Take care of them!”

Amy flew towards Ravin with an urgent voice.

Surprised by her movements, Ravin jumped up from his seat and looked at me and Shine.

I couldn’t help but smile awkwardly as I looked up at him.

“Hello?”

“Hello Ravin.”

Shine and I waved at Ravin.

“Bleeding…”

“Shine had a nosebleed.”

Amy’s breathing, which had been panting from excitement, slowly began to calm down.

“Nosebleeding…”

“Yes.”

Shine nodded at my words.

Only then did Amy begin to examine Shine’s appearance closely.

She had wiped it off, but the bloodstains had hardened quickly, and she couldn’t erase them all.

The thin bloodstains were all over her nose and mouth.

“You’re not hurt?”

“Yeah.”

Amy sank to the ground as she did.

Amy slid down to the floor, closing her eyes and hugging me and Shine tightly.

“Thank goodness…”

I twisted my body with an awkward smile.

It was because the strength in Amy’s hands was strong, but her loving concern felt a little burdensome.