Upon arriving at school, Alicia met Emma, who was waiting outside after finishing a meeting with the teacher.

Emma, who had been idly kicking pebbles with a worried expression, noticed Alicia and quickly ran over.

“Is it over, unnie?”

“Yeah.”

“What did they say? Do you have to be scolded a lot?”

Alicia, who wasn’t curious at all, smiled at Emma’s pretending-to-be-concerned question.

“No, Emma. The teacher was surprised because you’re usually so good. They said there shouldn’t be such incidents in the future.”

“Yeah. I won’t let it happen again.”

‘If there are no more incidents in the future.’

Thinking to herself, Emma tightly held Alicia’s hand.

In response, Alicia also smiled, holding her sister’s hand firmly.

“Unnie, before we go back, I need to meet my friends for a moment. It won’t take long, so please wait.”

“Sure. I got it.”

“We agreed to meet in front of the greenhouse, so meanwhile, you can enjoy that. It’s beautifully built.”

Emma looked up at Alicia and grinned.

“Your mood might improve if you go there.”

She was concerned too.

She shouldn’t have shown any signs in front of her younger siblings, but she didn’t even have the luxury of doing so.

“Yeah. Let’s go. I want to see it.”

“Okay.”

With Alicia’s approval, Emma excitedly led Alicia.

After walking for about 5 minutes, a large glass building came into view.

In front of it, two girls of Emma’s age, who had gathered together, waved their hands.

Alicia also knew Emma’s friends.

“Emma!”

“Oh, were you here?”

Emma also waved her hand to her friends and headed towards them, pulling Alicia along.

“Hello, unnie.”

“Hi. It’s been a while.”

As Emma’s friends rushed towards them, Alicia greeted them while watching the kids for a moment.

Seeing the bright, cheerful kids made Alicia involuntarily smile.

When Alicia was in the same grade as Emma, she didn’t laugh or talk loudly due to her personality.

Moreover, at that time, she was busy going straight home after classes.

‘Huh? Why? At that time, there were no siblings, and Father was there, and I wasn’t particularly busy.’

Alicia chuckled at the memory that seemed trapped in that brief period.

At that moment, Emma tugged on Alicia’s sleeve.

“Unnie, I’m going to look around the greenhouse. I’ll call you after talking to the kids.”

“If it’s going to be short, should I wait here?”

“No. It’s a secret conversation. I’d appreciate it if you stepped aside a bit, unnie.”

Saying that, Emma exchanged glances with her friends and grinned.

‘Well, she’s at that age. Anything can be a secret conversation with friends.’

Smiling as if finding it cute, Alicia nodded and moved away to give them space, heading into the greenhouse.

Perhaps because it was after school, there were no people around.

“Well built.”

That was the only comment.

Alone and not in the mood to do anything, Alicia sat down on a quiet bench where there was no one.

The flowers were fragrant, and the sunlight coming through the glass ceiling was warm, but there was no leisure to enjoy.

So, she closed her eyes for a moment and stayed that way.

“Alicia?”

The voice she most wanted to hear, but a voice she couldn’t hear in this place, reached Alicia.

From a distance, Eric, slowly approaching her, came into view.

“Uh.”

“Alicia.”

Alicia slowly opened her eyes to see Eric standing in front of her, looking at her as she got up from her seat.

She always thought that if she met Eric again, tears would come.

Still, when they meet, they should greet each other. Ask how each other has been.

And then, she wanted to say that she missed him.

And then, she wanted to be embraced in that long-missed embrace.

But Alicia couldn’t do anything, just stared at him blankly.

“Hello. How have you been?”

He greeted her first.
As if they had parted ways just yesterday and met again today.

As if nothing had happened.

Despite feeling grateful and thinking that she should respond, Alicia’s lips, cruelly, refused to move.

“I missed you.”

Continuing to snatch away the initiative like this was awkward.

Nevertheless, since words still wouldn’t come, Alicia eventually reached out her arm.

Fortunately, her arm responded, and Alicia lightly embraced him as he approached.

Pushed by the solid arms that enveloped her, she sank further into his embrace.

“Have you been well? I missed you.”

Only then did her lips open.

⭐⭐⭐

“Oppa.”

“My brother-in-law is inside.”

Edward chuckled and pointed inside.

They hadn’t discussed it at home and had called Eric out after finishing the school interview.

“Hello. Brother Edward.”

“Hello. You guys helped a lot. Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. It’s our specialty.”

Saying so, Emma’s friends laughed heartily.

Perhaps because Emma exaggerated a bit and requested their help, the kids seemed quite enthusiastic.

“Moreover, it’s so romantic. Continuing love despite parental opposition, the tender affection overcoming hardship and adversity.”

“Hardship and adversity. Overcoming them, love becomes even stronger!”

“······Emma. It’s not that extreme, is it?”