It's Mine!
The first thing I did when we got home was search for my phone. Right now, nothing was more important to me than that smartphone that would finally be mine. Of course, I couldn't let my sister see what a pitiful sight I was making of myself, so I pretended to just stand there calmly while furtively scanning every corner with my eyes.
But no matter where I looked, it was nowhere to be seen. Well, she said she'd bought it in advance, so it probably wasn't still in its packaging. Maybe she thought I didn't know much about phones and had set everything up for me before handing it over.
And sure enough, after telling me to wait a moment, she went into her room and came back out with a sleek, pristine smartphone that put my old one to shame. She handed it to me.
"Here, your phone."
Ooh, this is it. I turned the phone over in my hands, examining it from every angle. I'd only ever used phones for reading novels, watching anime, or YouTube anyway, so yeah, I didn't really know how they worked. It was actually more convenient to get one that was already fully set up like this.
So, I guess I can take it now? Thinking that, I reached out and grabbed the phone she was offering—
"But!"
Ah! Where'd that come from?! I looked up at my sister in surprise.
"Answer right away when I call!"
Uh, isn't that obvious? Nodding along as I thought that, my sister suddenly looked like something had just occurred to her.
"Come to think of it, you probably don't even know what a call is, huh?"
I do know what a phone call is, thanks. Of course, I didn't say it out loud, so she must've assumed I was clueless. "Wait just a sec," she said, pulling out her own phone and fiddling with it.
A moment later, an alarm rang from my phone. Was she seriously about to teach me what a call was?
"There! I labeled it 'Sister,' so when the screen pops up like this, you tap this?" She showed me the screen and pointed to the green icon.
I already knew all this, but admitting it would've ruined the moment, so I nodded like I was clueless.
"Press this and swipe it out like so, and it'll pick up!"
Got it.
"I'll be upstairs on the second floor, so give it a try?"
Sure, that's easy enough. Huh?
"W-Wai—"
Wait a minute. Talking face-to-face was already hard enough for me—I relied on expressions and gestures—and now she expected me to handle a phone call? If anything, I'd just keep stammering until the conversation fell apart and we hung up awkwardly.
But my voice was too quiet anyway, and she didn't hear me as she headed upstairs. I stared blankly after her, then looked down at my phone screen. It was still blaring insistently for me to answer.
Screw it. It'll work out somehow. I stretched my finger toward the icon and swiped to accept.
There was a brief connecting tone, and then my sister's voice came clearly through the speaker, calling my name.
Having used my old crappy phone with its tinny sound quality, this felt downright magical.
"Whoa..."
Ah, did I get too caught up in the moment? It was my first time with a phone this good, so a gasp of admiration slipped out before I knew it.
—Seol-i. Satisfied?
Satisfied? That's not a word someone receiving such kindness should use. Why was this sister taking care of me like this?
A sudden doubt crept in, but I shook my head. Wouldn't that be like suspecting her? No, I should just be grateful—instead of questioning her like this.
I must've gone quiet for too long, because her voice came through again, asking if I was okay.
"Y-Yeah... I'm fine..."
I startled myself saying it. My voice had come out clearer and stronger than I'd expected. Maybe because we weren't face-to-face? When she was right in front of me, even speaking was a struggle, let alone conversing. But at a distance like this, the words flowed way better than before.
Yeah! I'd been thinking freely in my head all along, so it wasn't weird that I just couldn't say it out loud. From now on, we could talk over the phone—no more problems.
A silly grin spread across my face.
—Seol-i! Say it one more time!
"S-Say wh-what...?"
What did she want me to say? I caught that she wanted me to repeat something, but then her voice cut off after "one more time."
Maybe she was thinking of what she wanted to hear? I waited quietly, but no matter how long I held on, nothing came.
What the—did something happen?
"H-Hello?"
Why the silence?
—Ah... could you maybe call me 'sister'?
Uh... sure, that's not hard. If we're around strangers and I need to address her, I'd have to say 'sister' anyway. 'Noona' still felt more natural, but that was a compromise I could make.
"S-So... um... sh-should I call you... s-sister...?"
Almost said it. But damn, it was embarrassing to actually say it. From now on, maybe we should just text. Even over the phone, this felt mortifying.
—...What? I asked you to call me sister, you powered through the embarrassment, and now... nothing?
Come to think of it, there was no real need to stay on the call this long. Why were we still talking? No special reason, right? Wait—
Was she deliberately dragging this out to help me get over my shyness and inability to talk to people properly?
If that was true, how much more was this sister planning to pour into me? Was she seriously using up her own time to fix my personality?
I never imagined she'd go this far. As I thought that, a response came from the now-silent sister.
—Yeah. 'Sister.'
Her voice was calm and gentle. For some reason, it made my eyes well up.
Suddenly wanting to cry like this might seem baffling. I took a deep breath to steady my trembling voice, but pushing down the lump that had risen in my throat—even for a moment—was tough. I let out the tiniest whimper to calm myself.
I couldn't understand why I was on the verge of bawling again after already crying my eyes out earlier. I'd never been the type to sob through tough times alone. Even in harder situations, I'd grit my teeth and bear it. So why now? It was a mystery.
But regardless, I was overjoyed. No one had ever cared about me this much before.
An orphan like me, always alone even in the orphanage—once I stepped into society, all I got was utter indifference. I told myself it was normal and tried to tough it out, but my ingrained introversion kept everyone at bay.
That's how I ended up diving deeper into novels, anime, and YouTube. It was inevitable, really—they soothed my loneliness.
And then I ended up like this, too scared of the outside world to leave my mountain house for a whole year. I finally got why movie characters name volleyballs like Wilson and treat them like companions.
After calming myself alone for a bit, I let out a small sigh. If I burst into tears now, she'd worry again—or worse, call me a crybaby over nothing. I didn't mind the crybaby label from her, but still... I'd rather show strength than bawl like a kid in front of her. I used to be a guy, after all.
Forcing a smile, I said,
"Thank you."
I meant it from the bottom of my heart. Back then, I'd only come down because I ran out of food, but now I knew it was the right choice. If my supplies hadn't run out, I'd never have met her.
I'd still be holed up in those mountains alone, trembling at the dwindling stockpile until it was gone and I had no choice but to descend.
I wasn't certain we wouldn't have met some other time, but coming down quickly like this felt like a stroke of luck.
Truly. I was truly grateful.