Welcome to Our Home
Well, welcome to our home! The moment we arrived, I started packing right away. After a quick tidy-up, I let Soyun in and we began gathering my things together.
“Ooh… so this is Eunseo’s place….”
“Why are you looking around like some kind of pervert…?”
The way Soyun’s eyes swept over everything the second she stepped inside felt a little dangerous. A chill ran down my spine, so I crossed my arms and asked. She just burst out laughing and said it was a joke.
…It was a joke, right?
“Anyway, there’s basically nothing in the fridge. Most of what’s here is either included with the apartment or stuff I’m planning to throw out, so there isn’t much to take.”
“Really? What should I start with?”
“Umm… over there, can you grab the cup ramen from the cabinet and pack it up?”
“Okay! Got it.”
After handing her a task, I headed into the bedroom.
Hmm, the bed’s gotta go…
“Hey… you’ve got bedding at your place, right?”
“Yeah! There’s a bed in the guest room, so you don’t need to bring any!”
“Got it.”
Then I guess I can just toss the blankets too.
“I’ll need to bring the computer as well….”
I crawled under the desk, unplugged every cable, and tried to lift the tower.
“Nngh—” “Hrk—!”
“……”
Why is this thing so heavy? It never used to feel this heavy before…
“Haa…”
In the end I gave up and decided to call Soyun for help with the PC. First, though, I opened the closet.
Rows of flashy clothes I still wasn’t used to hung inside. I pulled out every skirt and dress I knew I’d never wear and threw them straight into the trash. What I could actually see myself wearing—shirts, sweaters, hoodies, jeans, dolphin shorts—went into boxes.
All the clothes I was discarding got stuffed into trash bags and tossed into a corner for now.
“……” “Haa… I should pack these too…”
Even the underwear that made me feel weird just looking at it went into the boxes. I carried everything out to the living room, then grabbed the monitor (at least that was light enough) and called for Soyun.
“Hey, could you give me a hand?”
“Hm? Sure!”
While I’d been busy, Soyun had already finished cleaning out the kitchen and was now sitting at the table, scrolling on her phone.
“By the way, have you been living off nothing but cup ramen?”
“Yeah.”
“…Is that even healthy?”
“I dunno. Hasn’t killed me yet, so probably fine.”
“……”
Under her weird stare, I walked ahead into the bedroom.
“So, what do you need help with?”
“Umm, the bed… we’ll just call someone later to deal with that. The PC tower’s too heavy, so could you move that?”
“…Yeah! Got it!”
She looked like she was holding back a laugh for a second there. Suspicious, but whatever. Soyun hoisted the tower like it weighed nothing and marched straight out of the room.
I followed her out to the living room, grabbed a box of clothes, and headed for the door after her.
After a few trips back and forth, we finally got everything packed. I decided to keep the coffee pot and microwave from my old place instead of throwing them out; I could always sell them later. Most of the dishes were going to Soyun’s anyway. Clothes and the computer went straight into the trunk.
“Ah, just a sec.”
“Okay! I’ll wait in the car.”
“Yeah.”
After sending Soyun ahead, I called the landlord.
The ringtone played a few times before a voice answered.
[Hello?]
“Ah, yes, sir. It’s the tenant. I’m moving out.”
[Huh? Oh, really? You still have time left on the lease.]
Technically he was right—there were still about two weeks left.
“Ahaha… yeah, but I won’t be able to pay next month’s rent. I’m moving in with a friend. I’m leaving the bed behind since it’s too much trouble to move… is that okay?”
[Yeah, that’s fine. So the place is empty now?]
Luckily, the landlord agreed to let me leave the bed. Just in case there were any scratches on the floor, I mentioned it anyway.
“Yes. If you find any problems when you check, please let me know.”
[Sure. You said you can’t even pay next month’s rent, so I’ll let the small stuff slide.]
“Ah… thank you.”
The same guy who’d threatened to kick me out over late rent was suddenly being generous. I almost said it was fine, but since I really didn’t have the money, I just thanked him and hung up.
“Haa…”
With a sigh, I opened the passenger door and climbed in beside Soyun.
“Who were you talking to?”
“The landlord.”
“Ah… the guy who tried to kick you out last time for not paying rent?”
“Yeah. This time he said he’d overlook it as long as there’s no major damage.”
“Oh… that’s great!”
“Yeah, it worked out.”
“Then let’s head to our place!”
“Sure…”
Vrooom—
I still couldn’t get over how weird it was to see Soyun driving. She was so bad at games, yet…
“We’re here!”
After what felt like a long drive, we finally pulled up to Soyun’s apartment.
“Mmmph— Ah, we’re here already?”
“Pfft, yeah. Let’s hurry and move the stuff.”
I must have dozed off; the second I woke up my words came out slurred. Soyun just smiled and ruffled my hair before getting out of the car.
…Felt like she was treating me like a kid.
“Haaam…”
Falling asleep in the passenger seat wasn’t exactly polite, but whatever. I was exhausted.
“Time to move the boxes…”
Whatever… I’m too tired today.
I grabbed the box of ramen and headed up to Soyun’s place. Since it was an apartment, we could actually use the elevator—unlike my old building—and soon reached her front door.
“Welcome to our home!”
Soyun threw both arms in the air the moment she stepped inside and set the box down.
“Whoa…”
Her place really was spacious enough to brag about. It looked pretty clean too—probably because she cleaned often.
“Umm, your room is over there, right across from mine!”
“Ah, got it.”
I followed her to the room she’d assigned me and set my stuff down.
“…Shouldn’t the cup ramen just go in the kitchen?”
“…Oh, right!”
“……”
“D-don’t look at me like that! I just got excited and got a little confused!”
“Yeah…”
When I gave her the “are you actually dumb?” stare, Soyun started making excuses in a panic. Well… anyone could make a mistake like that.
“Okay, let’s put that on the table and go get the rest of the boxes!”
“Yeah.”
We carried the ramen box back out to the living room, set it on the table, then headed down to the elevator again.
“Phew…! We finally got everything moved!”
“Haa… huff… C-can I rest for a bit…?”
“Ah, sure! Go rest! I’ll start on dinner.”
“Thank you…”
Soyun looked completely fine, but my stamina was completely drained. I felt like I was about to collapse.
The once-empty room now had a desk, computer, and wardrobe, making it feel like an actual living space. The wardrobe turned out to be one Soyun used to use. I nearly had a heart attack when I opened it and found underwear inside.
…Soyun, on the other hand, had been delighted to “find” clothes she thought she’d lost.
“Haaa…”
I flopped onto the bed and let out a long sigh. My feet dangled off the edge as I stared blankly at the ceiling light.
“…Hey!” “Eunseo!”
“Mmm… yeah…?”
“Dinner’s ready! Come eat!”
“Ah, okay…”
Had I fallen asleep again? When I opened my eyes, Soyun was shaking me awake. I sat up groggily for a moment, then shuffled out to the living room. A delicious smell hit me immediately.
“Whoa… what’s all this?”
“Hehe, I felt like showing off my skills for once!”
“…You’re this good at cooking, yet…”
“…What?”
“N-nothing! Let’s eat.”
My inner thoughts had slipped out. Feeling the sudden murderous aura, I quickly changed the subject, sat down, and took a bite of the braised hairtail.
“…Mmm! This is really good!”
“Heh, right? I’m pretty decent at cooking!” “Eat up! Tell me if you want more!”
“Okay.”
That’s how we had dinner together. It tasted even better than I’d expected.
“Huu… I’m so full…”
“What? You already finished everything?”
“Yeah… I don’t eat much to begin with.”
“That’s because you only eat cup ramen!” “Anyway, I’ll clean this up tomorrow…” “I’m gonna go stream. You should rest too.”
“Okay…”
I could’ve done the dishes, but Soyun insisted on leaving them for tomorrow. I headed back to my room and, out of habit, sat down in front of the computer and turned it on.
“Hmm…”
While I was sitting there with nothing particular in mind, I noticed a Mico notification.
“Who’s this…?”
It couldn’t be Soyun—she was streaming. Curious, I opened Mico and saw a message from someone I didn’t recognize.
…Judging by the way they talked, it had to be the president.
The message had been sent about an hour ago. She probably got my ID from Soyun.
The reply came almost instantly.
A picture followed right after.
“Oh…”
Black hair, purple eyes, and a halo floating above the head. The inner layers of the hair were purple too—it didn’t look half bad. The outfit was some kind of white dress.
“Kinda… gives off that menhera vibe.”
I let out a dry laugh at the avatar that perfectly matched the image the word “menhera” brought to mind.
“Hmm…”
This was starting to feel real. Well, it was a company, so of course it would.
Once the conversation with Iseo ended, I opened Mytube and started listening to songs I usually enjoyed.
“I wonder what would be good…”
Hopefully something decent would turn up.