My First Housewarming Party
“I know it’s weird….”
So embarrassing.
Siu looked at me, appearing a bit flustered.
No, rather than flustered, it was closer to a look of someone trying to hold back laughter.
I suppose it is funny to see me wearing clothes like this.
Siu stuttered slightly and gestured for me to come inside.
“C-come on in. For now.”
“Ah, right. That’s right….”
“What’s wrong?”
“J-just a second.”
I almost walked in, leaving the roll of toilet paper I’d set down by the door behind.
I went back to the door and retrieved the toilet paper.
Seeing that, Siu gave me a look of utter disbelief.
“What is that?”
“A h-housewarming gift…. You need a lot of toilet paper, right….”
“…That’s a gift that’s truly like you. Thanks.”
Siu lightly snatched the bundle of toilet paper from my hands and headed inside.
Following him in, I found the place was wider than I’d expected.
It didn’t feel like a place where someone lived alone.
I heard Sia was living on her own too, but where does she get the money for all this?
Even after we were inside, Siu didn’t tease me.
Instead, he was quiet. It seemed he chose to speak less because he knew he’d just end up teasing me if he opened his mouth.
So, I broke the silence first.
“Hey, this place is huge….”
“It is a bit big. Compared to the studio I had before.”
“Then why were you living in that other place?”
“It was a promise to my parents. They said they wouldn’t help me with anything like this until I graduated college.”
“So you moved into a place like this as soon as you graduated?”
“Yeah.”
At some point, he must have put the toilet paper away, because his hands were empty.
“Want to take a look at the room before Sia gets here?”
“Is there anything to see in a room…?”
“There is.”
Siu nodded and opened the bedroom door with a look of pure confidence.
What could possibly be in there to make him look so triumphant?
The door swung open.
‘What is this room…!’
The room of my dreams.
It was packed with the merchandise and manga books Siu had collected.
One side of the room was entirely dedicated to figure display cases, and the shelves were filled with various dolls and acrylic stands.
The other side was lined with bookshelves, and the empty shelves were being used as display racks.
“Wooooah…!”
Since Siu and I shared many of the same tastes, this room was enough to captivate me completely.
“I moved everything from my parents’ house when I moved in this time. There was more than I thought, huh?”
I walked up to the display cases and examined them one by one.
“Hey, why do you have so many acrylic stands? You said they were a waste of money….”
“I bought enough of them to realize they’re useless.”
Among the items on display, there were some familiar ones.
‘So he kept them here….’
It was the keychain we’d bought at the illustration festival we went to together.
I stepped away from the display, stood in the middle of the room, and spun around to take it all in.
“This is really great…. This room.”
“Right? Making a room like this was on my bucket list.”
“It’s nice. I wanted to do that too….”
I couldn’t help but stare at the ‘Heavenly Room’ with my mouth agape for a long time.
Forget the housewarming; I wanted to stay here forever.
I didn’t want to leave.
While I was admiring the Heavenly Room, the doorbell rang.
Sia arrived right on time.
As soon as Siu opened the door, Sia’s voice echoed from the hallway.
“Eunhae, oh—no, wait, the sister is here too? Ugh, seriously, I keep wanting to put ‘brother’ after the name Eunhae. I’m still not used to it.”
I stepped out of the room.
“We’re the only ones here, can’t you just call me brother…? I’m still not used to being called sister either….”
Sia looked me over, her eyes widening, and she pointed a finger at me quite rudely.
“What! That outfit—!”
I dressed like this because of you. Why are you so surprised?
“You’re the one who picked it out….”
“No, I didn’t think you’d actually wear it—! You seemed so forced into buying it, I thought you wouldn’t!”
So Sia knew that, huh?
I see.
‘Could I have just not worn it then…?’
Sia spread her palm and gestured up and down at me.
“Brother, brother, doesn’t it look good? I picked it! No, wait. Eun—, the sister picked it!”
Siu grabbed the back of his neck with one hand, clearly not wanting to be part of this.
“Yeah, well. It does look good.”
He muttered it indifferently and suddenly headed toward the kitchen.
“What’s with him? No soul in that voice.”
Sia seemed a bit deflated, but I was fine with Siu’s reaction.
Actually, it was more comfortable that way.
If Siu had looked at me and said something like ‘you’re cute,’ I might have hit him with everything I had.
Calling him a lunatic, of course.
Looking over, the kitchen Siu had gone to was already filled with various pots and ingredients laid out.
“I’m going to start cooking now, so go sit over there and rest.”
Cooking? Is the host supposed to cook for a housewarming party?
I thought we’d go out or just order something.
“You knew how to cook…?”
Siu didn’t answer, just adjusted the induction stove. A beep sounded.
“…Well, I can make simple things, right?”
Sia stood next to me and started watching with me.
“What are you making?”
“Uh, the dish for today is—”
“Wait, let me guess.”
“What? You’re the one who asked.”
Saying that, Sia dragged me into the kitchen to look at the ingredients.
Since I was dragged along, I took a look too.
First, I saw pasta noodles. So, pasta is a definite.
I found a sauce jar, too. It was tomato sauce.
And large shrimp. Olive oil? Dried… chili peppers? Garlic…?
Do you put those shrimp in pasta?
Then what are the chili peppers for?
Do you put garlic in pasta too?
Sia suddenly raised her hand.
“Correct! Pasta and Gambas!”
Siu didn’t even turn his head as he spoke.
“Correct.”
Gambas…?
“W-what is Gambas…?”
Siu and Sia stared at me simultaneously.
It’s possible not to know what Gambas is.
“You don’t know Gambas?”
“It’s possible not to know Gambas.”
“Right. It’s possible not to know…!”
As expected, Siu is the only friend I have.
“It’s just shrimp soaked in oil.”
“That description makes it sound gross….”
“No, brother. How can you describe Gambas like that?”
“It’s true. You just put shrimp in olive oil.”
“Well, I mean, you’re not wrong, but…. You left out way too much.”
“But this is easier for Eunhae to understand, right?”
Sia looked at me with a ‘is that really true?’ expression.
“Yeah….”
“Ha, you two really get along well.”
We were in the living room. There was nothing to do in the kitchen anyway.
Siu only showed us his back and didn’t leave the induction stove. He occasionally went to the sink.
Sia tapped the floor in front of her.
“Come sit over here.”
“Yeah…?”
As soon as I sat down, she looked at my face and pinched my cheek with her thumb and index finger.
“Yep. You put it on well, didn’t you? Your skin is totally like a baby’s. Baby skin.”
“I’m older than you….”
I felt it as I said it, but it wasn’t very convincing.
If anything, Sia seemed more like the older sister. No, wait, in this body, is she the older sister?
I lunged at Sia in retaliation, but I was easily subdued.
…I’m even losing to Sia in physical strength.
“Yes, yes. I understand~”
From then on, Sia treated me completely like a toy.
Should I not have told her to drop the honorifics?
Still, I didn’t push her away too aggressively.
Maybe because the person touching my cheeks was a girl, it didn’t feel that repulsive.
Actually, I was starting to think I liked it.
After we spent some time like that, Siu brought a large pot to the dining table.
“It’s all done. Come over here and sit.”
While I wasn’t paying attention to Siu, the dishes were already prepared on the table.
The pot he just set down must have been the last dish.
Shrimp soaked in oil.
Just as Siu said, the shrimp were drenched in oil.
Just looking at it, it seemed greasy, but is it really that delicious?
And then, I noticed the pasta in front of my seat.
The plating was fantastic.
“Hey, you. Are you a chef? Why does this look so high-end?”
“I put in some effort. Usually, I just make things roughly.”
Sia sat down and added her two cents.
“Brother doesn’t usually make it like this, so he really did put in some effort.”
All three of us sat at the table.
Siu sat across from me, and Sia sat next to me.
That was the formation that happened as Siu set the food down.
“Let’s eat.”
“L-let’s eat….”
“Looks delicious.”
I heard the sound of cutlery hitting the plates.
Shall I try some?
I twirled the pasta noodles with my fork until it was a bite-sized portion and popped it into my mouth.
“Delicious—!”
Sia said exactly what I wanted to say.
“Brother’s pasta is the real deal. You have talent.”
“Yeah, it’s really delicious….”
Siu ate the pasta he’d made without a word.
“The only thing I know how to make is ramen….”
“Pasta is like ramen, too.”
“Pasta is?”
“People think it’s fancy because it’s Western food. It’s easier to make than you think, and the ingredients are cheap. You can really eat it like ramen.”
“What about the Gambas?”
“That’s just putting oil in a pan, adding shrimp, and stirring it around.”
“Easier said than done….”
I picked up a shrimp that was swimming in oil and put it in my mouth.
It wasn’t as greasy as I’d thought.
If anything, it was slightly spicy. It tasted a bit different from how it looked.
The Gambas was delicious, too.
“This is good too….”
“I’m glad.”
I ate a bit more pasta and a couple more shrimp, and my stomach had already reached its limit.
“Siu. I’m not saying this because it’s bad, but I’m seriously so full….”
Half of the pasta was still left on my plate.
“Then give it to me. It’s more annoying to throw away leftovers.”
“Aren’t you full?”
“I’ve got plenty of room.”
Siu took my plate and finished off all the remaining pasta.
Watching that, Sia made a look of utter disgust.
Siu hadn’t even been eating that gluttonously.
We finished dinner. Not much time had passed, surprisingly.
The travel time to get here was still longer than the time we’d spent at Siu’s place.
“That was delicious…!”
But what do we do now? Is it over after giving the gift and eating?
“What do you want to do now? Want to talk a bit before heading back?”
But it’s a bit of a shame to go home right away….
Ah, come to think of it.
“Alcohol! Let’s drink…!”
“You really wanted to drink that day, huh…. I don’t have work tomorrow so I’m fine, but Sia, are you okay with that?”
“I think it’s fine as long as it’s not too late? I have school tomorrow, so I’ll just drink a little.”
“Well, if everyone’s okay with it, let’s drink.”
“Yeah…!”
Siu opened the fridge door to check the contents and returned empty-handed.
“But there’s no alcohol in the house right now. Come to think of it, there’s cooking wine. Wine… is that not quite right?”
No matter what, wine isn’t really the vibe.
What I want to drink is beer. Beer.
The beer I couldn’t drink last time.
I showed my enthusiasm. Just how much I wanted to drink.
“If there’s no alcohol, we can just go buy some…! I’ll go!”
“No, I’ll go.”
“The host should stay home. I’m the one who asked to drink. I’ll go buy it…!”
Sia grabbed my shoulder.
“Then should I go with you?”
Siu waved his hand in a gesture for us to go.
“Sure. You two go get it.”