Alpha Of The Reversed World

Chapter 17: Shopping

So, the two arrived at the local supermarket without ever letting go of each other’s hands.

They walked for almost 15 minutes, still holding hands. At first, Moonbyul, feeling awkward, hesitantly followed half a step behind. But soon, she returned to her usual cheerful self.

For Moonbyul, the supermarket was just a place to buy large quantities of frozen food or snacks. Naturally, the fresh produce section was almost new to her, and she looked around like a country bumpkin who had just moved to the city.

"Wow... This place is huge," Taeyang said, squeezing her hand tightly.

"From now on, when I tell you to go shopping, choose from here. Don’t just buy frozen food all the time."

"...Well, frozen food is delicious too."

"Eating only that will make you die early. If you really want to eat it, go to the army and eat as much as you want."

Taeyang stood in front of the shopping cart and asked, "Do you have a 100 won coin?"

"No. I didn’t even bring my wallet."

"Oh no. Is there a place that exchanges coins?"

While pondering, someone approached them.

"Excuse me..."

It was a woman in her mid-20s.

She had already finished her shopping, with a shopping basket on her shoulder and an empty cart. She hesitantly pushed the cart towards Taeyang.

"Here. You can use this..."

"Oh, thank you."

Taeyang bowed his head with a light smile. Seeing this, the woman seemed to make up her mind and took out her phone from her pocket, offering it to him. Or rather, trying to offer it.

"Um, but could I have your number...!"

Moonbyul quickly intervened between them. She pushed back the phone the woman was offering and forced a smile.

"No, it’s okay. I found some coins."

With that, she pulled his hand away.

"Let’s go, oppa."

"Uh, yeah."

"Ah..."

The woman clicked her tongue in disappointment but didn’t pursue further, just watching Taeyang walk away.

After some distance, Moonbyul let out a sigh.

"Wow, she’s really weird. I’m right here, and she’s trying to hit on you?"

"Well, we do look a bit alike. She probably thought we were siblings."

Moonbyul exploded in annoyance.

"In the first place, this is a matter of female pride! We were even holding hands... holding hands... hands... ugh..."

Moonbyul, who was about to get really angry, stumbled over her words as she looked at their still-clasped hands. Finally, she let out a big sigh and clammed up.

"I don’t know."

"What don’t you know?" fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com

"Never mind. I don’t want to talk about it. Here, a 100 won coin."

Taeyang inserted the coin into the cart handle. He pulled out the cart with one hand and smiled wryly.

"Now we have to let go of our hands."

Taeyang wiggled the hand they were still holding.

"Oh. Uh. Yeah..."

Moonbyul slowly let go of his hand.

Of course, to push the shopping cart, they had to let go of each other’s hands. But knowing something and accepting it are two different things.

After letting go, Moonbyul sighed and glanced at the shopping cart. They had held hands for almost 20 minutes, so her palm was sweaty.

But she didn’t feel dirty at all. In fact, if no one was watching, she might have even wanted to smell it.

Taeyang didn’t even bother to wipe his hand and just grabbed the cart, so he didn’t seem to mind.

She carefully placed her hand on the shopping cart handle.

Of course, to be more specific, she placed her hand on top of Taeyang’s hand, which was holding the shopping cart handle. She didn’t want to be too obvious, so she used her thumb and index finger to hold the cart, and gently placed the rest of her fingers and part of her palm on top.

Taeyang looked at her in surprise.

"Ahem."

Feeling a bit self-conscious, she added an unnecessary explanation.

"It’s hard to push alone!"

"Yeah, it is. Are you helping me?"

"Well, why else would I be holding it?"

Taeyang nodded and smiled.

"Wow, you’re so thoughtful. You’ve really grown up."

With that, he patted Moonbyul’s butt lightly. Even though it was a gentle tap, she jumped up in surprise.

"Ahh! That hurts!"

"Oh, right. You’re bruised."

Taeyang awkwardly smiled and took his hand away. Moonbyul rubbed her sore butt with a strange expression, pouting her lips.

"I should have just endured it."

Moonbyul muttered softly to herself as she walked slowly, matching Taeyang’s pace.

They pushed the cart together and arrived at a section piled high with onions. Taeyang picked up one of the red nets filled with onions.

"Onions are best from late spring to early summer. Of course, they’re available year-round, but they’re less pungent then. It’s a bit early now."

Taeyang pressed the onions and explained.

"Actually, in a big supermarket like this, they’re all pretty much the same. You can’t check everything, so it’s best to know how to avoid the bad ones."

Dry skin, firm texture, no sprouts, and even color.

Taeyang explained various methods based on his experience as a househusband and internet knowledge. After rummaging through, he chose a net.

"For onions... this one looks good."

Moonbyul pretended to listen calmly, but inside, she felt incredibly embarrassed.

She always ate whatever Taeyang prepared for her, without caring about how much effort he put into each meal or what thoughts went into choosing the menu.

Sometimes, she even complained about the lack of meat after seeing the whole table set, or insisted on ordering delivery food. Whenever that happened, Taeyang would step back and end up eating the day’s meal alone.

Even choosing simple onions required this much care. She couldn’t imagine how much effort went into preparing a meal. She felt so guilty that she wanted to die. Oblivious to Moonbyul’s inner thoughts, Taeyang happily moved on to the next few aisles.

Meanwhile, the cart filled up with various vegetables and fruits. Taeyang stopped and pointed to the vegetables displayed on the wall.

"Look. These are the chives you’ve been complaining about lately. They’re in season now. They’re not very tasty, but they’re good for you. The easiest way to cook them is to blanch them and dip them in soy sauce."

He kept smiling.

Moonbyul bit her lip and took a deep breath before calling out to him.

"Oppa."

"Hmm? What? Don’t you like chives anymore? I guess we did pick too many vegetables."

"No. It’s not that. Do you like shopping that much?"

Taeyang blinked at the unexpected question. It wasn’t a question that required much thought. He answered simply.

"Not really? Honestly, I don’t have any strong feelings about it, and it’s more of a chore."

"But you look so happy..."

Taeyang snorted at that. She seemed to have a huge misunderstanding.

"Come on. It’s not like I’d be smiling like an idiot if I came alone."

He picked up a pack of burdock wrapped in clear plastic and poked Moonbyul’s neck with it.

"I’m happy because I’m with you."

"...Really?"

"You don’t believe me a lot, do you?"

"Well, I got fooled a lot when I was young."

"...By me?"

Taeyang pondered for a moment, rolling his eyes from side to side.

Of course, when Moonbyul was young, he had teased her with jokes like Santa is real, the Earth is flat, or dinosaurs are still alive and living in Children’s Grand Park.

But still... really?

"When you were younger, you said I was your favorite."

"Oh."

So that’s not it.

Taeyang felt half relieved and half amused.

"Why do you think that’s not true now?"

"Well, there’s Ahyeon noona, and you meet other women... If you had any conscience, you wouldn’t say I’m your favorite."

"Still, how can you compare them to you? We’re family and friends."

Taeyang stated firmly.

"Moonbyul, you’re my favorite."

Of course, he only barely won with the family advantage, but Taeyang didn’t add that part. Besides, love and affection are different feelings.

"So..."

Moonbyul paused for a moment. She asked carefully.

"If you register your marriage with Ahyeon noona, you’ll be family. Who will be number one then?"

"Uh... um..."

Taeyang turned his head slightly, avoiding the pointed question.

"I knew it!"

"Hey, that’s too hard a question! We’re not even married yet."

"Whatever."

That wasn’t what she really wanted to ask. If she’s family, she’s always number one. So...

If I’m not family, not a real sibling, will I no longer be the priority?

She couldn’t bring herself to ask the question lingering on her tongue. Feeling uneasy, she followed Taeyang, who was walking away with the cart.

"Wait for me!"

At least for now, as his silly little sister, she was number one.

That was enough to satisfy her.

Yes. For now...

*

The way back was much harder than the way there.

They bought quite a lot, and Taeyang naturally tried to split the load, but Moonbyul insisted on carrying it all herself.

Moonbyul pushed open the front door with her body and dropped the bags inside. She staggered to the sofa and collapsed.

"Ugh... I’m so tired..."

"I was going to have it delivered, but the wait was too long," Taeyang said, smiling as he comforted her. Either way, thanks to her, he had an easy trip home.

"My shoulders are going to fall off."

"Yeah. Our Moonbyul worked hard today."

Moonbyul carefully brought up the topic. The real reason she insisted on carrying everything was to say this.

"So, since I worked so hard today..."

She tried to sound as casual as possible, but it wasn’t easy. Her voice trembled slightly as she tried to hide her nervousness.

"Can you... massage my shoulders a bit?"

Taeyang, who was organizing the bought ingredients and putting them in the fridge, replied lightly.

"Sure? Then I’ll do it after I finish organizing."

"...!"

Thud!

Moonbyul, who was comfortably lying on the sofa and fiddling with her phone, rolled off the sofa.

"...Really?"

Even though she asked for it, she couldn’t believe it. She blinked her eyes in disbelief.

Taeyang, on the other hand, nodded again, looking bewildered.

"Why would I lie?"

Moonbyul first checked the smell of her top. She had walked quite a bit, so it might smell a little...

"I, I! Then I’ll go take a quick shower!"

She rushed into the bathroom.