Chapter 13
It's 8:20 now.
I'm currently trapped in my room.
There's still a little time before my shift starts, but I should get ready to leave soon...
I speak toward the door, which isn't locked but which I've been forbidden to open.
“Not yet?”
“I-I'm almost done! Three minutes, no... five! Just wait five minutes, honey!”
“Okay... Take your time.”
The reason I'm trapped in here, of course, is my sister.
Because she says it'd ruin the fun if I knew what was in the lunchbox ahead of time.
She says I can come out once she's finished preparing everything and packed it up perfectly.
A lunchbox... It's a little strange, having a meal my sister prepared for me.
Even putting aside the fact that I'm not sure I trust her cooking, I was usually the one who cooked for us back in school.
I feel a little bad making her go to the trouble, but how can I stop her when she wants to do it?
Let's do my best to enjoy it... That's the best I can do.
“You can come out now!”
Just then, my sister calls for me.
Leaving my brief confinement behind, I open the door and catch a pretty appetizing aroma.
I pretend not to notice the messy kitchen.
Instead, I turn my eyes to the lunchbox set on the table.
“Here! Take it with you, honey.”
“Did you already have this container?”
“I bought it when I was working, thinking I'd use it... but I was too lazy to cook, so I never used it once!”
“...I see.”
“Don't share it with anyone else. Eat it all by yourself, okay?”
Of course. Maybe what's inside is some kind of culinary abomination, so I have to take responsibility.
My sister takes one of the paper bags piled in the corner of the kitchen and carefully stacks the lunch containers inside.
Then she holds it out to me.
“By the way, Sis.”
“Yeah?”
“Couldn't we have just eaten this for breakfast before I left?”
“Th-that's for next time! Next time, you make breakfast, honey. Then we can eat together.”
It's cutting it close enough that I'll be late if I don't get going soon.
I'm glad she packed me a lunch, but... next time, it'd be nice to sit at the table and have breakfast together.
Still, for today, I'd better get going.
“All right. I'm off.”
“D-don't throw it away just because it tastes bad, okay?”
“I won't.”
Reassuring my sister, who's followed me all the way to the front door, I put on my shoes.
Before putting my hand on the door handle, I speak to my sister, who's standing there expectantly, as if waiting for something.
“You took your medicine, right? Your morning dose.”
“Mm-hmm!”
“Okay. I'm off... honey.”
“Have a good day, honey!”
***
“What's that?”
“Th-this? My sister made it for me.”
“Your girlfriend, right? Jiwoo told me you came in wearing a couple ring last time, hyung.”
Junyoung suddenly pops up beside me.
Come to think of it, Jiwoo isn't here today; it's just the manager and Junyoung at the shop.
“I told you, it's not like that.”
“Then are you going to eat that and work, Hyunjun?”
“Uh... is that okay?”
“There aren't many customers in the morning anyway, so do whatever you want.”
I usually don't eat breakfast on days I work part-time.
There's no particular reason; I'm just pressed for time getting ready to leave.
If my sister had asked me to eat with her, I might have eaten before leaving, but anyway, today I've got a lunchbox.
“Then I'll eat before I start.”
No sooner had I finished speaking than the manager popped out from the kitchen.
“Open it. Let's see what it is.”
“Me too! I want to see too, hyung.”
“Uh...”
Suddenly, I start to feel a little worried.
What if I open the lunchbox and find some hideous culinary abomination inside?
“Why are you taking so long? Aren't you going to eat?”
“O-okay.”
Unable to resist the manager's urging, I take the lunchbox out and set it on the table.
One container holds soup, one looks like an insulated food jar, and the other seems meant for something cold.
There are three in all.
“It's pretty big. Your sister really put some effort into this first thing in the morning.”
“You two must be really close.”
“H-ha, haha.”
First, I open the insulated container, which still feels pleasantly warm.
Inside are neatly arranged inari sushi, with scrambled eggs mixed with ham in one corner.
And on top of the scrambled eggs is a slightly crooked heart drawn in ketchup.
“...”
“Oh, this looks pretty good. Your sister can cook.”
“It's better than good, Manager! This is top-tier—”
“Quiet.”
At least the heart didn't look suspicious. Thank goodness.
Next, the container with the soup.
As soon as I open it, the savory aroma of miso soup wafts up.
It's a clean-tasting miso soup made with Japanese miso, not Korean doenjang.
“Rice and soup. So what's in the last one?”
“Uh... I don't know.”
“Dessert, hyung. Maybe fruit?”
“Is that so?”
I open the last container.
Just like Junyoung said, it holds peach slices cut with their skins on, along with cherry tomatoes.
And I see a short message written on a note stuck to the lid, which I turned over while opening it.
‘Enjoy your meal, honey♡’
“...Honey?”
“It says honey, Manager.”
“...”
Should I have just lied from the beginning and said my girlfriend made it?
S-she wouldn't think I'm dating my sister, would she?
“You punk... Are you embarrassed your girlfriend made it? You could've just said so.”
“Hyung, do you call your girlfriend honey?”
“S-shut up. Manager, you saw it all, right? Now go let me eat. You too, Junyoung.”
Thank goodness.
Well, who would suspect anything if they had a normal head on their shoulders?
That a brother and sister would call each other honey and live like a married couple.
Now... let's eat.
I pick up my chopsticks and take an inari sushi first.
A tense moment. I take my first bite, sinking my teeth halfway into an inari sushi.
...It's sweet and tangy.
Delicious.
“Must be niiiice~ I want a girlfriend who packs me lunch too...”
“You should ask Jiwoo to do it for you, Junyoung.”
“Oh, Manager! She's really not like that.”
“Didn't you go see the cherry blossoms together last time?”
Pretending not to hear the noise behind me, I scoop up some miso soup with my spoon and put it in my mouth.
Warm and smooth.
Delicious.
I'm a little surprised. Can Mom's recipe really make this much difference?
Was my sister not bad at cooking, but just someone who ignored recipes?
“Hyung, can I have one slice of peach?”
“Hm?”
One slice of peach... Well, I could give him one, but...
My wife gets childish and stubborn sometimes, so I don't think I can.
“No.”
She did tell me to eat it all by myself,
and I think she'll smile happily if I tell her, ‘I ate it all by myself.’
***
Clocking out, clocking out. The joyous moment of clocking out.
A happy trip home, escaping the manager's questions about when I'd bring my girlfriend in.
Just as I was waiting for the elevator, wondering if I should call my sister.
“Huh?”
A shop deeper inside the department store catches my eye.
Even from outside, I can see the vivid colors of all the flower petals. It's a flower shop.
Was there always a flower shop here?
I've never paid much attention to flowers, so it's hard to say for sure.
“...Should I buy some flowers?”
I did promise to buy her flowers next time,
and my sister really was beautiful holding white lilies on our wedding day.
I don't know if it was the lilies, the wedding dress, or my sister that was beautiful... but let's just go in.
I turn and walk over to the flower shop.
When I push open the closed glass door and step inside, a fragrant, damp green scent greets me.
“Welcome~”
A female employee watering the flowers with a watering can greets me.
Rather than trusting my clueless eye for flowers, it'd be much better to get this employee's help, right?
“Um... I'd like to buy a simple bouquet as a gift. Could you recommend something?”
“Who are you giving it to?”
“...My wife.”
“Oh my~ Newlyweds? How lovely~”
“H-ha, haha...”
Standing in front of a display filled with blooming flowers, the employee explains them one by one.
“The most popular choices these days are the roses and tulips here. If you like yellow, ranunculus is nice, too...”
“What's this flower here?”
“That's a peony! They start coming into season right about now, and couples give them to each other a lot~”
The name of the pink flower that especially caught my eye was peony.
I like the single flower blooming at the end of one stem for some reason.
“It has a strong fragrance, and its flower meaning is bashfulness. It's beautiful, but it usually wilts after about a week.”
“Then I'll take one of these.”
“Sure~”
While the employee takes out a peony and wraps it simply, the phone in my pocket vibrates.
It's a call from my sister.
“Hello.”
‘Where are you, honey? Are you done with work?’
“Yeah. I was on my way home when I saw a flower shop...”
‘Gasp! What is it? Is it for me? Are you buying me flowers?’
“...Yeah.”
‘What kind of flower? Hm?’
Her excited voice is full of anticipation.
But if I just tell her, it won't be as fun.
“I'll give it to you when I get home. You'll see then.”
‘What... what! Then what about the lunchbox? How was the lunchbox?’
“I'll tell you that when I get home, too.”
‘Whaaat? Then h-hurry home, okay?’
“All right. See you in a bit. Bye.”
I was going to hurry home anyway.
I should let her enjoy this flower, which will only last about a week, for even a few extra minutes.
Will my sister be happy if I bring this flower home?
I'm sure she will.
Oh, right. I won't forget to tell her about the lunchbox, either.
If I tell her I ate it all and it was delicious, my sister will... smile. Radiantly.
“Here you go~”
“Thank you.”
I take the flower from the employee and pay.
A single flower, and a lunchbox emptied clean.
If I have two pieces of good news, will my sister be twice as happy?
Even if not, so what?
Two flowers aren't twice as beautiful,
“Come again~”
“Yes. I... will.”
If I give her flowers twice, I can make my sister smile twice.
Maybe I'll buy tulips next time?