Reveal Your Identity!
Thank goodness. If she'd asked why I lied, I wouldn't have known what to say and would've been in real trouble, but she just said it was okay. Not only that, but she didn't pry any further, which put my mind at ease. Part of me wanted to ask if she really wasn't going to question me, but I held back in case she turned it around on me. I was already grateful she wasn't asking, and then she even inquired about whether I hadn't felt lonely living alone in the mountains and listened to my story.
She seemed to believe me a bit too readily, which felt suspicious, but as I'd said before, if she meant me harm, she would've done it already, so there was no need to doubt her. After a year cooped up by myself, I had a mountain of pent-up grievances, but spilling them all to her felt like it'd make me sorry toward her. Besides, I'm not great at talking even on good days—there's no way I could've explained it properly anyway.
Still, I couldn't just keep it all bottled up, so I gestured with my hands and feet to describe the inconveniences I'd faced. Seeing her nod along understandingly made my chest tighten unexpectedly, and I ended up rambling on.
"S-so... while I was living there... the food ran out..."
Before I knew it, I'd even explained why I'd come down from the mountains. Of course, I hid the part about mistaking it for another world and holing up for a full year. How could I admit something that embarrassing? The day she found out would be the day I died of shame.
"Ah... so you came down because you ran out of food?"
Once again, she asked in that understanding tone. Yeah, that's it...! I nodded vigorously.
"Hmm... Has there been anything tough about coming here?"
"Tough... points...?"
Tough? If anything, it was all conveniences... But since she was asking about hardships, saying it was comfortable would've been weird, so I thought it over carefully. If I had to pick something... yeah, it was just that this world had awakeners and such, which wasn't familiar compared to where I'd lived before.
"Awakeners...?"
"Awakeners?"
"Seeing them for the first time... it's just unfamiliar..."
After all, where I'd lived originally, there weren't even superpowered people, let alone awakeners. And hearing about these weird monsters popping up and awakeners fighting them back—I'd thought it was like reading some novel at first.
Her face filled with questions as she asked me,
"There were no awakeners... no, no people with special powers where you lived, Seol-i?"
I nodded. Her expression turned serious for some reason. Uh... did I say something wrong? I'd heard there were things called returners or whatever, so maybe she was probing to check my identity. She'd said it was fine and she wouldn't abandon me, but digging into personal details was a whole different story.
"Seol-a... your parents really..."
I shook my head. I'd been an orphan since forever. I'd lived in an orphanage, scraped by with multiple part-time jobs after barely gaining independence, and somehow managed college. Luckily, tuition was mostly covered, but living expenses were another beast.
To me, parents were like a dream. I'd watch families come into the shops where I worked and feel envious.
"So you really lived in the mountains?"
I nodded.
"Every day?"
I flinched for a second. I hadn't lived there my whole life. But I couldn't exactly say I'd suddenly been transported to the mountains from the city and survived a year there. She hadn't pried earlier out of consideration, but now she might ask why I never left. What would I even say then?
"Yeah... it must've been really tough."
Phew... thinking back, my life had been full of hardships. I'd endured without parents, telling myself it was my fate. But then dropped into some mountains alone, deciding the outside world was a scary other realm, holing up in my room without talking to a soul, messing around by myself until food ran out—and poof, turns out it's the modern world. I knew I was an idiot, but it felt so empty.
Even so, crying was something to do alone... Especially not in front of sis—more than anyone. I turned away to avoid her gaze. I mean, it wasn't even that sad, and this kid body's tear ducts were just weak, so it might look like I was faking it.
Did she not see, or was she pretending? As I grew anxious wondering if I'd slipped up, I suddenly felt her sit beside me—and then her arms wrapping around me from behind. I felt her breath on my back.
"...?"
Before I knew it, sis had pulled me into a back hug.
"It must've been so hard..."
Her voice was thick with sorrow. Hard... yeah, it had been. Balancing college and multiple jobs as a student was brutal. With nowhere to lean on and no one I knew, it doubled the pain. Then suddenly alone in the mountains. I'd judged the outside as a frightening other world and shut myself away. It was stupid and idiotic, but the physical strain vanished—only to be replaced by utter isolation, no one to talk to. Even my sole outlet, the internet, was gone.
Like that, cut off from the world, I'd lived alone for a year—short if short, long if long. A year might seem brief at a glance, but without human contact, just hobbies to fill the time? Way too long. Maybe that's why I obsessed over magic even more.
Not just magic—I clung to anything I could do. Potions and magic were all I had then. So I researched nonstop, practiced spells daily. If I didn't, I felt like I'd lose myself.
I hung my head. Saying this now was weird, but if she learned my real self, she'd be disappointed. She was the first to treat me this kindly. No one had ever cared before.
"I... I lied to you... and there's so much I haven't said..."
That made the guilt hit harder.
"Is it... really... really okay...?"
I'd apologized for lying earlier, but I was still deceiving her. Hell, if you got technical, there were tons of lies. If it all came out, I'd deserve her contempt and curses right then.
Maybe she already knew who I was. I'd heard there were ways to identify returners—tech made to find their families and hometowns. Really, could a sinner like me even be happy?
"Can I... even be happy...?"
"Of course...!"
Her voice trembled. What was wrong? Was she crying? Why? There was no reason to. I'd barely shared what I'd been through, yet she was crying for me? Nothing I'd said was sad or unfair or even relatable. I'd only answered questions, after all. I'd vented about the discomforts and anxieties of living alone, but that was it.
She didn't know the full story. Still, I gripped her arms tight.
What did any of that matter now?
"Thank you..."
Right now, this moment was precious. I was so grateful to sis. A debt I'd never repay in a lifetime. Just one short day, but she felt kinder and closer than anyone. A stranger yesterday, an acquaintance today, and...
"Really... thank you, sis..."
Now, my sister.