124. A Date with Seoyun - (2)
124. A Date with Seoyun - (2)
***
Glug, glug.
As I poured drinks into cups, I glanced toward the living room.
The sofa had been completely reconfigured, its original L-shape now spread wide into a straight line. Seoyun was using features I hadn't even known existed as if she were perfectly familiar with them. My gaze kept drifting to her, lying comfortably on the now-straightened sofa.
She seemed to be browsing various items through the hologram, looking perfectly at ease.
Had she really just been upset about not hearing from me on time this morning? The Seoyun I saw now didn't look like someone who wanted to go out.
'...Is she disappointed or not?'
Her demeanor was so natural that I almost believed it, but I couldn't be sure. Maybe Seoyun was just pretending to be fine on the outside.
After pouring the drinks, I returned to the living room and set the cups down on the table.
Clink.
"Seoyun. You still have that much to look at?"
It felt like we'd been shopping for over an hour already. Yet she was still browsing through various shopping malls as if it weren't enough.
"Yeah. There's a lot. And honestly, just thinking about filling up the interior while looking through all this stuff is more fun than I expected."
Filling up the interior.
The original point of the shopping had clearly been to look at clothes for each other, but at some point the focus had shifted to picking out furniture and decor to fill the empty interior space.
"Do you really have to fill it?"
Seoyun sat up from the sofa and picked up her cup, but instead of answering, she looked around the interior once.
"Yeah. I think we should. The more I look at your place, Sis, the more it feels kind of bare? Even now, looking at it makes me want to fill it up. And I heard somewhere that a house with this much empty space isn't good for you psychologically or emotionally. Even if it seems pointless, having the space filled rather than empty gives a sense of abundance, and the person living there doesn't feel as lonely."
At Seoyun's words, I found myself looking around the interior once more.
To me, it just looked nicely decorated in a simple, modern design.
But after hearing Seoyun, the empty spaces did seem to give off a cold feeling, like a place where no one really lived.
"...I guess it could feel that way."
Honestly, I didn't really care either way if it got filled. I sat down next to Seoyun and looked at the hologram floating right in front of us.
"So did you buy the stuff you put in the cart earlier?"
After nearly an hour of shopping, the cart held only seven items.
Considering we'd looked at dozens of products, Seoyun had added remarkably little.
"No. I want to think about it a bit more before buying. And honestly, I'm not sure if the things in the cart are even to your liking, Sis."
When she first said she wanted me to buy her things, I'd assumed she'd pick out a lot, but the reality was different. Whether it was just her personality not to decide easily, Seoyun seemed to think quite carefully about what she bought.
Honestly, I didn't care what she bought, but Seoyun was strangely insistent on whether or not I liked it.
I repeated what I'd already said several times.
"I'm fine with you filling it with whatever you like, Seoyun. And I already said everything you showed me before was fine."
"..."
Thud.
Seoyun stopped fiddling with the hologram and stared at me.
When I stared back, as if asking why, Seoyun slowly parted her lips.
"Today, really... when I listen to you talk, Sis, I feel kind of weird."
"Huh? What's weird?"
"No, it's just... you say so casually that you like what I like, or that if I'm happy, you're happy... you never used to say things like that even when I asked you to."
She said it with such a peculiar look in her eyes that I started feeling weird too.
'Did I say something that strange?'
Even looking back, I couldn't understand what was so strange about it.
'Most people usually like it when you say stuff like this...?'
From my past memories, most people seemed to like it when I said things like that. Was Seoyun just different?
"Got it. If you don't like hearing that kind of thing, I won't say it anymore."
Seoyun visibly panicked and hurriedly spoke up.
"Oh, no, Sis! It's not that I don't like hearing it, it's just... it feels really unfamiliar. And if I had to choose, I'd want you to say things like that more often from now on."
Then, as if embarrassed by what she'd just said, she averted her gaze and fiddled with the hologram. It seemed like she just wanted me to show affection.
"...You really are cute."
"Sis...? Still, that—that kind of thing is a bit much."
Right after asking me to show affection more often.
......
The shopping continued for about another hour, but only two more items were added to the cart.
That brought the total to nine items.
Even all combined, the total wasn't a huge amount, so I repeatedly told her she could buy more, but Seoyun just said this was enough and got up.
Maybe because she'd been lying down for hours, she stretched her arms up high as if loosening up. Seeing Seoyun, who was only about 160 cm tall, stretch her arms out wide looked like a small animal having a good stretch, and it was just adorable.
"Come to think of it... we were so focused on shopping that lunchtime flew right by. You're hungry too, right, Sis?"
The time was 1:28 p.m.
It varied, but I usually ended my day by eating a late dinner after my stream, so honestly, this wasn't a time when I felt hungry.
"Well, a little...?"
But unlike me, Seoyun's eating schedule was probably different, so I answered that way.
"Sis, what should we eat today?"
"Hmm? What kind of food do you like, Seoyun?"
"...Me? I like meat. Any kind of meat is good."
"Meat sounds good. So, Seoyun, should we order in today?"
The conversation seemed to be heading toward Seoyun cooking again, so I got ahead of it.
"...Order in?"
"Yeah. There's no point in going through all the trouble of preparing food. Plus, if we grill meat ourselves, the cleanup is even more annoying. Let's just order in for today, okay?"
"Hmm... should we?"
I'd expected her to push back or ask why we'd order in, but Seoyun surprisingly agreed without resistance.
Unlike her usual sharp, decisive manner, Seoyun's attitude today seemed a bit more relaxed.
Before she could change her mind, I grabbed Seoyun's arm and pulled her back to the sofa.
"Come on, let's pick out the food together, Seoyun."
With that, I opened an app on my phone—not my usual delivery app, but one that only handled high-end restaurants.
The app was called "Gourmet," and it specialized exclusively in restaurants with higher price points. I used it occasionally for a change of pace.
"What... Sis, do you normally order from places like this?"
Seoyun asked, looking at my phone with a hint of surprise, and I shook my head.
"No. I don't normally eat from places like this. I just wanted to eat somewhere nice today."
Even I didn't order from restaurants that charged 100,000 or 200,000 won per meal.
I had the means, but I didn't feel the need to order from expensive restaurants. The prices were at least four times higher than normal restaurants, sometimes more than ten times, but the taste wasn't two or three times better.
"...Hmm. What would be good?"
"Seoyun, how about steak from this restaurant?"
"Oh, a restaurant is fine, but let's look around a bit more, Sis."
The Gourmet app had nearly all the well-known high-end restaurants registered, along with pretty much every high-end brand with any name recognition.
Sushi, pasta, steak, gourmet burgers, high-end desserts, and so on.
Even high-end brand restaurants you'd normally have to visit in person were mostly offering delivery.
......
After browsing the app together with Seoyun for a few minutes, we finally made up our minds. Surprisingly, when it came to choosing food, Seoyun didn't hesitate.
"I think two servings of steak, a dessert, and a salad would be good. What do you think, Sis?"
She pointed at each item in the cart as she spoke, and the selection all looked good.
"I think this is fine too. So should we order it like this?"
"Yeah."
After completing the payment, I found myself lounging on the sofa with Seoyun, and there was a strange addictiveness to it.
There's a saying that with appliances, bigger is better. It seemed to apply to furniture too.
The sofa was so big that lying on it together with Seoyun felt really cozy.
Poke.
Seoyun playfully poked my shoulder, so I poked hers back. Then Seoyun, mid-reach, suddenly leaned her head against my shoulder.
"Sis, this sofa is seriously so comfortable. It must have been expensive, huh?"
"Probably...?"
"What do you mean, probably... if it was expensive, it was expensive. So how much did you pay for it?"
"I don't remember exactly. A few million won, maybe?"
Since I had no way of knowing what the previous "me" had paid, I just guessed it was around that much.
At that answer, Seoyun, who'd been leaning on my shoulder, laughed in disbelief.
"Pfft... my sister must really earn a lot. The way you say a few million won like it's nothing."
"Well. I earn enough."
"Seriously, sometimes... it feels like my sister lives in a different world from me."
"...What different world? As much as I have to spare, I can take care of you just as much. And Seoyun, you don't need to agonize like you did while shopping earlier."
"Sis, with shopping, it wasn't really about the money. It's just that if I buy something unnecessary or something I don't like, it feels like I'm just adding clutter. So I think carefully when I shop, that's all."
I looked at Seoyun, wondering if that was really true, and she suddenly poked my cheek.
As if to say, don't talk about it anymore.
I laughed for no reason at her action, and Seoyun smiled brightly along with me.
"Pfft... anyway, seriously, Sis, it doesn't look like you do any skincare at all, but how is your skin this good every time I see you?"
Without answering, I just poked Seoyun's cheek the same way.
Just then, a notification came in on my phone.
—Ding.
*
————
[Delivery Complete Notice]
Thank you for your order. Your delivery has been completed at the designated location.
————
*
I checked, and it was a delivery completion notification.
"Is it the delivery?"
"Yeah."
Seoyun got up at my answer, and I got up too.
Even though we weren't really doing anything, I felt good.
A feeling clearly different from resting alone.
I thought maybe, sometimes, spending time like this with Seoyun wouldn't be so bad.