Vien (2)
Vien (2)
"Stachys. Wake up."
Someone pinches my cheek.
It stung quite a bit, but I didn't dare try to block it with my hand and instead just lifted my eyelids.
Silver bob cut half-up ponytail and silver eyes.
"... Vien?"
"You slept enough, you idiot. We're here."
Vien was pinching my cheek.
We're here...? Where...?
.
.
Ah, the orphanage.
I was inside a carriage.
Since dawn, I had taken a carriage bound for the orphanage, and when Vien surprisingly told me it was okay to sleep, I had fallen asleep.
I thought I had slept straight, but when I opened my eyes, I found myself lying down.
My head had been resting on Vien's thigh.
My senses slowly came back to me, and startled, I straightened my body up.
It felt like Vien was about to curse at me.
"Um... Sorry. I thought I was sleeping properly..."
"Hmph. It's already done and over with, you know?"
Vien said, brushing off her thigh with a pat-pat.
I was a little grateful she hadn't woken me up until now.
It was a moment when Vien looked a bit like a saintess.
Had I slept quite a long time?
For the first time in a while, I wasn't sleepy. Instead, perhaps because I had slept lying down in the carriage, my whole body felt stiff.
"Get off now."
Vien got up from her seat and got off the carriage.
Still half-asleep, I just watched her.
I rubbed my eyes.
I couldn't be entirely sure since I had been sleeping, but it didn't seem like we had just arrived.
The surroundings weren't bustling at all; it was extremely quiet.
Neither the cries of the horses, the coachman's voice, nor anything else could be heard.
"Vien, how long has it been since we arrived?"
"We just arrived."
That was probably a lie. She must have said that to be considerate of me.
I felt needlessly grateful.
The laughter of children could be heard from afar.
The feeling that we had come to the orphanage finally hit me.
Squinting at the bright sunlight, I got off the carriage.
Vien was already walking toward the orphanage far in the distance.
"Eh...? Vien noona!!!"
"Vien eonni!!!!"
And the children who spotted Vien came running toward her.
The children threw their bodies and clung to Vien.
"Don't hang on me!"
Vien shouted, but the children didn't even pretend to listen to her.
The children hugged Vien as if they had become cicadas.
"Ugh..! My clothes will tear!! Get off!"
"Noona! We missed you!!"
"Why did you come so late, eonni!!"
Vien couldn't move an inch and suffered.
A laugh escaped me.
It was amusing to see Vien, who always teases me, helpless and taking it, and the sight itself was just heartwarming.
After staying like that for a while.
The children's gazes shifted to me as well.
"Noona. Who is that hyung?"
"Eek. Isn't that hyung sick? He looks so exhausted."
"Idiot, he's eonni's boyfriend!"
"What...? No way! Noona is mine!"
Various children spoke their thoughts without hesitation.
At the same time, they were holding tightly onto Vien.
Vien's popularity was immense. It wasn't my first time coming along with her for volunteer work, but it was always surprising. I figured it was proof of how much effort she put in behind the scenes.
"What?! Wh-Why is that idiot my boyfriend! He's not?!"
"Eh? He's not?"
Vien, who had only been shouting "Stop it! Get off!", jumped up at the mention of a boyfriend.
A somewhat mature-looking little girl asked.
"O-Of course not!! I'm not going to meet an idiot like that, I'm going to meet someone much cooler!!"
"... What's wrong with me?"
I interrupted their noisy midst.
Just yesterday, Lily noona told me I wasn't boyfriend material anyway.
My self-esteem felt like it was getting chipped away a bit.
"Hyung!! Who are you? Vien noona is mine, so if you touch her, you're dead!"
A little boy, looking about 7 years old, declared with spirit.
Finding that appearance cute, I stroked his head.
"Got it. But according to Vien, to become her lover, you have to be much cooler than me. Can you do that?"
I rolled up one sleeve to show off my arm.
The child backed away with a tsk-.
With kids, simplicity is the best.
"Wow, that oppa's muscles are huge.."
"I wanna play with that oppa!"
One of the girls clinging to Vien abandoned her and ran over to me.
However, she stopped in her tracks with a kek sound.
Vien was holding onto her clothes.
"No. You guys will play with me. That idiot will play with the boys."
"Whaat? No! I want to play with that oppa too!"
Then Vien's expression stiffened completely.
"Listen to me."
The atmosphere turned chilly.
The child was startled by Vien suddenly turning serious.
You shouldn't think of Vien as a typical saintess.
She is different from typical saintess figures who are benevolent, patient, pure, deep-hearted, and overflowing with empathy.
She used to be like that.
In the past, like other saintesses, she strictly used polite language with everyone and prayed in front of people who were struggling.
However, as my connection with her grew longer, I learned something: that wasn't her true nature.
She was reluctant to shake hands with people who had strange things on their hands, and she struggled to hold it in when she heard harsh words.
She found it boring to listen attentively to topics she had no interest in.
Since she was an orphan raised in the church, it was inevitable for Vien to become a saintess, but living as a saintess didn't suit her aptitude.
When was it that she changed into her current self?
... Was it after the first day we drank alcohol together?
I had been surprised when she told me that even as a saintess, she could drink alcohol.
Furthermore, she had a bottomless capacity for alcohol.
I drank so much back then that my memory of what she said is hazy.
Anyway, for Vien, turning deadpan like this with the children is nothing.
If things don't go her way, she is stricter than you can imagine.
"If you keep not listening to me like this, I won't come often in the future."
"Ah! Okay!! Okay! I won't play with that oppa!"
Threatening kids. Nice going, Vien.
I only thought it to myself.
.
.
.
.
The kids' stamina was terrifying.
They kept playing without even a break.
Perhaps because they were boys, whenever I took my eyes off them for a moment, they were doing dangerous things,
and if I couldn't pay attention to the other children because I was stopping them, fights would break out—it was like that.
This makes me think that's why Vien didn't disturb my sleep in the carriage.
"Whew... I want to rest."
I had intentionally made a mistake in the kids' game to get eliminated and was sitting down.
Tap-tap.
Someone poked me.
I turned around and it was Vien.
"Were you playing with them well?"
Seeing her face, complaints bubbled up.
You leave all the hard-to-handle boys just to me?
"Vien. You're really going too far."
"What's going too far?"
Vien plopped down next to me. The sun was setting.
And wandering around doing this and that with the kids, I realized it was a beautiful place.
The high mountains in the distance, the stream just a short walk away, and the grassy fields surrounding the area were all beautiful.
It made me think that if it weren't for taking care of the kids, it might have been a nice resort spot.
"You left all the boys to me? I didn't know they'd have so much energy."
"Hmph. Did you think it would be comfortable after coming to volunteer?"
I've never once thought I wanted to volunteer.
Of course, that doesn't mean it's unrewarding.
However, aside from the children's joyful faces, what remains is an exhausted body.
Sigh. Fine. But if it's like this, the Wish Ticket has been used, right? With me staying here until tomorrow.
Vien, sitting next to me, looked at me in bewilderment.
"What kind of nonsense is that?"
"... Huh?"
Had Vien forgotten about the Wish Ticket?
Then what am I doing right now? Anxiety washed over me.
I explained it to her.
"Why, last time you guys decided to give me a Wish Ticket instead of venting your anger."
"I know that much, you know?"
You know? But what is this reaction?
"And yet you say staying until tomorrow is your wish! I told you my wish is to stay up all night!"
"... What?"
I know her initial wish was staying up together all night.
However, since we came all the way here, I thought the plan would have changed.
Wasn't helping out here until tomorrow for her sake the wish?
"No, what is there to do here once the kids go to sleep that we'd stay up all night."
"That's none of Stachys's business, and if you said you'd grant a wish, you have to grant it properly."
"This wasn't the wish, doing this here...?"
"How could this be a wish, you're supposed to do this naturally!"
Vien snapped back sharply.
"No, why is that natural, Vien...."
"It's time spent with me. Then during that time, no matter what we do, that's not the wish!"
That's such a stretch.
It's not like I become a slave during the time we spend together.
Why is there no consideration of my opinion on how to spend the time?
Vien sometimes has a habit of viewing me too much like an object, like a possession.
Today was twice as hard, and this wasn't a wish or anything?
And I have to stay up all night on top of that?
Fatigue came rushing in all at once.
Even so, since this wasn't the wish, I couldn't just throw it aside and go rest.
"Hyung!! It's over! Come back and let's do it again!!"
The children shouted from afar.
The children smiled brightly at me.
I couldn't just abandon these kids and leave just because I was tired.
Judging by Vien's tone, talking it out didn't seem like it would change anything.
This wasn't the first or second time we've had a conversation like this.
Already in an exhausted state, I didn't want to get even more exhausted arguing.
"... Alright, Vien. Alright, so don't get mad. Yeah. It's true you've never changed your wish."
Come to think of it, my fault is bigger.
I should have checked from the start.
I'm the idiot who didn't do that and just guessed, "Ah, this must be the wish," because I was tired.
"... Then you're staying up all night with me, right?"
"Yeah. Let's do that."
"Hehe."
She lacks patience and gets angry quickly, but if you remove the reason, she cools down just as fast.
To live comfortably with Vien, it's better to just listen to what she says.
Because of that, I seem to always listen to Vien.
I dusted off my butt and stood up.
"Vien, then I'll go play with the kids a bit more."
"Yeah. Okay. Oh, Stachys?"
"Hm?"
"It's almost time for dinner, so keep that in mind."
"Got it."
With those words, I headed toward the children.
To play with the kids, I relaxed my expression and forced a smile onto my lips.
But the reality is:
My eyes are heavy. My legs are heavy. I'm sleepy.
"Kids!! Slowly!! Don't run, line up!"
I raised my voice to cut through the noisy children's voices—how many times was this today?
But being kids, they didn't even pretend to hear.
Bumping into each other with a commotion, splashing water on one another, they noisily received their food rations.
"Can I imitate that hyung well?"
"Let's see you try!"
"Kiddies!! Slowli!! Don't run!!"
I could also hear the voices of children teasing me.
A snort of laughter escaped, but my energy was also drained.
Vien wasn't here, saying she had some business with the orphanage director for a moment.
I even wonder if she ran away for a bit.
"Hey there!! You mustn't take your friends' food!"
"But it's not enough!"
"Your friend is lacking just as much. Let's endure it a little."
The food being handed out was bread. It wasn't big, nor was it soft. The amount wasn't large either.
It was bread prepared precisely to match the head count.
-'Hey, let's go fill our stomachs with water.'
-'Then our stomachs will make a lot of noise...'
As I handed them out, a slightly heartbreaking voice could be heard from behind.
"I'll hand them out one by one, slowly."
Feeling the atmosphere grow chaotic again, I said to the kids.
"Thank you."
Some children received it with a bowing waist, while others tore off pieces of their own bread to give to children who looked like their younger siblings.
Since the amount of food was small, the distribution ended quickly.
I also set aside portions for Vien and the director, who weren't in their seats.
And just as I was about to pick up the last remaining, smallest piece of bread—my dinner—a boy came up in front of me.
It was that boy whom Vien had declared as hers earlier.
Coming over while glancing sideways, I could roughly infer why he had come.
"Oh, future husband of Vien. What's up?"
"..."
However, he didn't easily open his mouth.
Well, since he felt a sense of rivalry toward me, it wouldn't be easy to ask for help.
Fidgeting for a long time, he asked in a crawling voice.
"Hyung... is there by any chance any more...?"
I had expected it, but it was sadder than I thought.
Children acting like this has something that makes your chest ache.
It reminds me of my childhood.
I think one of the things I said most often to my hyung was 'I'm hungry'.
Then my hyung would get food from somewhere and feed me.
How hard must my hyung have worked to get that small amount of food.
Did my hyung feel this emotion back then looking at me too?
"Are you hungry?"
Nod-nod. Then he glanced once at my face and once at my arm.
".... And to get more muscles than hyung, I have to eat a lot."
I burst into loud laughter.
Ah, so that's the reason too.
Thinking it was so cute, I pressed my forehead.
I had intended to give him my share anyway, but now I wanted to give it to him even more willingly.
Glancing around at the other children once, I whispered to him.
"Here. Eat this. There was one left. It's a secret from the other friends, okay?"
The boy's eyes became sparkling as he received the bread with both hands.
"Thank you, hyung!!"
"Shh. I'm giving you a lot all by yourself, so it's a secret. You have to be quiet."
"Okay!!"
"Now go hide somewhere and eat quickly."
Nod-nod. He nodded his head vigorously, tucked the bread under his clothes, and scampered off somewhere.
I wouldn't be able to eat dinner, but my heart grew warm.
And eating something when you're this sleepy just makes you even sleepier.
At that moment, I saw Vien walking over from afar together with the director.
"Vien. Director. Please come quickly."
The director was an old grandmother with a warm smile.
Hearing my words, Vien ran over first.
"Stachys, did you wait?"
"No. I ate it all."
At my answer, Vien's lips protruded in a pout.
"You couldn't wait for that and ate alone? Are you a pig?"
I originally planned to wait and eat together, but since things turned out this way.
I handed her the bread. I decided to ignore her words.
"Did you talk everything over with the director?"
"Yeah."
"What was it about?"
"You'll find out soon."
Then she took a bite.
The director soon approached as well.
She was sending me an apologetic gaze.
"To someone who worked hard all day, not even treating you to a proper dinner... I am truly sorry."
"It's fine. Please don't say things like that."
"That's right! We're fine!"
"Oh my... Your face looks so emaciated, yet I can't do anything for you, so my heart is so heavy."
The elderly director reached out her hand toward my face.
However, my face looking like this isn't really the director's fault, it's the fault of the person next to me.
-Smack.
Naturally, the director and I were slightly startled, and even Vien looked surprised.
"Um... Th-That is. Stachys's face is messy, so it's better not to just touch it. We're going to eat now, is it okay to make your hands dirty?"
"... Vien-ssi, Stachys-ssi will get hurt. Let's decide to only say nice things to each other."
Vien glossed over her impulsive action and shoved bread into her mouth.
Fumbling, she also let go of the director's hand.
The director shifted her gaze back to me.
"And I made such a mistake again... I almost touched your face without thinking of Stachys-ssi's feelings. I apologize."
"It's fine. It's okay. I don't mind."
At my words, the director smiled benevolently.
"Truly, you are a broad-minded person. I've seen many people come to volunteer, but it's been a long time since someone took care of the children as diligently as Stachys-ssi."
"Ahaha... It's because the kids are cute."
"Right, Stachys? The kids are cute, aren't they?"
Just stay still for a second, Vien.
As expected, she talks a lot.
She was standing next to me with her arms crossed triumphantly.
She seemed to have already eaten all her bread.
"That's why I told you to come."
So that was the reason we came here.
To show them to me because the children are cute.
I knew the intention was good, but...
Actually, kids are cutest when viewed from afar.
Taking care of them is.... honestly tough.
Even just now, that was said after omitting a lot.
"Even if they're cute, difficult is difficult. Thank you for your hard work. Both of you."
Can the director read minds?
She seemed to know how to make people feel comfortable.
It brings to mind the saying: "Kind words are for one's own dignity, not for others."
Every time she spoke, a halo seemed to shine around her.
"Stachys-ssi. The least I can do for you is... I know a very pretty place that others don't know about. I will tell you the location, so go and spend some good time with Vien. From now on, I will take care of the children. I am only sorry that this is all I can do for you."
Vien nodded and looked at me.
She seemed to be asking, 'Isn't this great?'
Judging by her calm expression, it seemed everything had already been decided.
I was wondering how we were going to stay up all night.
So this was it.