Ichin opened the bedroom door and pulled the suitcase inside.
The layout of the room was almost exactly as he remembered. The only difference was that, since he had gone abroad to study, the desk wasn't piled up with books anymore.
On the bookshelf, aside from a few books, there were various collectible figures and models Ichin had accumulated, along with game discs and cartridges.
These were all part of his childhood memories—things he planned to keep forever.
The room was clearly cleaned regularly by his mom—it was spotless. After finding out he was coming home, she had even changed the bedding to a fresh set.
However, seeing the two pillows laid side by side did make Ichin feel a little awkward.
Then again, it made sense—his mom hadn't even mentioned preparing the guest room for Utaha. It was obvious she meant for the two of them to share a room.
But whatever, it wasn't like they hadn't already been sharing a room for quite some time. What needed to be known was already known.
Utaha hadn't brought much clothing, so Ichin quickly made space in his wardrobe and put everything away.
Then he unpacked her laptop and set it up on the desk, along with various other items—some books, skincare products, chargers, and the like.
Once everything was tidied up, Ichin headed to the kitchen. He washed and sliced some apples, then added some longan and tangerines to the fruit tray and brought it out together.
"Here, have some fruit," he said.
As he looked up, he saw his mom holding a photo album, animatedly talking to Utaha.
"This one—this was taken on Ichin's first day of kindergarten. He cried his eyes out, wouldn't even step inside. But by the time we picked him up that afternoon, he was all smiles and didn't want to leave!"
Utaha sat next to her, listening intently. When she saw Ichin walk in, she smiled and said, "So you were this adorable when you were little, Ichin—your face was so round!"
"…"
Ichin sat down silently, setting the fruit tray on the coffee table. He glanced at the photo album in his mom's hands, already feeling mentally drained.
_Sigh… who doesn't have a few dark childhood moments?_
At least it was just childhood stuff. And thankfully, as far back as he could remember, he'd never wet the bed or anything truly embarrassing. It wasn't that bad.
"This one—this was during a kindergarten performance. Even back then, girls really liked him. They all wanted to play with him every day."
"Huh?"
Ichin blinked, quickly scooting closer to look at the album. "Mom, don't make things up!"
"Make things up? How am I making things up? The photos are right here," his mom said, showing the album with a proud smile. "Look—see? All girls standing around you."
Staring at the photo, Ichin said in disbelief, "Seriously? I don't even remember this. And how come I've never seen these pictures before?"
"Because there are two albums," his mom replied smugly. "You've never gone through all of them. This one? I picked and saved these pictures just for this moment—when you got a girlfriend. I didn't expect to be using it this soon, though."
Utaha, of course, was on his mom's side now. She smiled and playfully poked Ichin's arm. "Wow, Ichin, you were quite the ladies' man."
"They were just little kids, how is that anything like charm?" Ichin rolled his eyes. "And come on, that was kindergarten. Who remembers that far back? I only remember liking to play. Everything else is kind of a blur. We moved once after that, and I didn't go to elementary school in the same district, so I don't remember any of my classmates."
His mom nodded. "That's true. We moved because your dad was starting his business, and later we bought this place and stayed ever since. Oh, by the way, Ichin, are you going to meet up with your high school classmates? No reunions during winter break?"
"Probably not. If I go, I'll have to bring Utaha—and I don't want to traumatize them."
Ichin shrugged and said, "We're only in our second year of high school. Reunions and all that can wait until after the college entrance exams. I'll probably be back next summer anyway, and by then I'll likely have to start worrying about things with the studio here."
Among his high school classmates, there were indeed a few he was close with. But with the New Year around the corner, and since he'd rather spend time with Utaha, he decided not to reach out just yet—a message during the New Year would be enough.
After snacking on some fruit, it was getting late. Plus, they'd had a long day with the flight, so Ichin's mom told the two kids to go shower and get some rest.
Before that, though, Ichin gave Utaha a quick tour of the house so she could get familiar with the rooms, finally ending back at his bedroom.
Looking around the room, Utaha remarked, "So this is your room, Ichin? It's… more ordinary than I imagined."
"It's not like it was supposed to be anything special, right?" Ichin said, walking over to the wardrobe. "Alright, you go shower first. If you're curious about my room, you can explore more after your bath. I've already put your clothes in the closet."
"Okay, then I'll go wash up first~"
Utaha happily picked up her toiletries and pajamas, then left the room for the bathroom.
Ichin, meanwhile, powered up the computer that hadn't been turned on in a while. After checking its condition and installing some necessary software, he got in touch with Hazuki over in Japan to check on the day's work progress.
Even though Ichin had flown back home today, everyone else had done their tasks well.
Still, Ichin knew this was only because it was the first couple of days. They'd probably start slacking off a bit later.
But it wasn't a big deal—he'd already adjusted their workload, and as long as they got the demo portion done first, it would be fine.
After catching up on the studio's progress, Ichin ended the chat with Hazuki and started installing more programs on the computer.
This home setup wasn't particularly high-end—just a 10th-gen i7 with a 2060 GPU—but it was more than enough for programming tasks.
As he was tinkering with it, the bedroom door opened.
"Ichin~ I'm done showering. Hurry up and go now," Utaha called.
"Alright," he replied.
Turning around, he saw Utaha's face glowing from the steam of the bath, her skin soft and dewy, her hair already blow-dried.
He walked over with a smile and hugged her, planting a kiss on her cheek before grabbing his change of clothes and heading out.
As soon as he closed the door and turned around—he jumped.
"!!! Mom?! What are you doing here?!"
"I was looking for you, obviously." Ichin's mom beckoned him over and led him into the living room. Looking at him seriously, she said, "Even though I let Utaha stay in your room, you better keep yourself in check at home. Got it?"
_Of course she was going to say that._
Ichin's expression didn't change. He calmly nodded, "Don't worry, Mom. I know. I'll go shower now."
After Ichin disappeared into the bathroom, his dad, who'd been sitting on the couch watching TV, turned to his wife and said, "Honestly, you don't need to say anything. Those two have been dating for a long time. It's fine. Instead of worrying about that, why not think about what you're going to wear for New Year's Eve dinner? Want to go shopping tomorrow for something new?"
"Oh! You're right! And I can take Utaha along too—show her around properly!"
With that, she rushed straight to Ichin's room to tell Utaha about the plan.
...
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