“Yawn…”
As soon as I opened my eyes, I saw that it was still dark outside.
Normally, the sun was up when I woke up in the morning, but today was different.
It must be because it’s winter; even in the morning, the sun doesn’t rise early.
It felt a bit strange, but I was still enjoying the rare experience of a season other than summer.
If I could feel this kind of change more often, it would be great… but that probably won’t happen.
“Yawn…”
I ended up sleeping earlier than usual yesterday due to the fatigue accumulated on the way here.
I was lying in bed with Corbin watching a movie on TV… and must have fallen asleep just like that.
Unlike my last memory of being awake with the TV on, it was now turned off.
It seemed that Corbin turned it off after he noticed I fell asleep first.
“Phew…”
“…Sigh.”
I had opened my eyes, but I still couldn’t get up properly.
Well, that was understandable given that Corbin was hugging me.
He had even placed his head right on top of mine.
It was hard to escape from this embrace…
“Huff…!”
I had no choice but to use a little strength to break free.
It felt nice to be held, but it was too hot in the warm room, especially with the blankets piled on top.
On top of that, he was holding me tightly with both arms… it was pretty hot.
Unlike when I was in a house with air conditioning, it was genuinely hot right now.
“Ugh… so hot…”
I finally freed myself from Corbin’s arms and got out of bed.
Finally.
Corbin must have noticed me moving, but seeing him still asleep, he probably was also tired.
Anyway, after escaping Corbin’s embrace and the bed, I headed straight for the refrigerator.
It was hot because of the heating, and with the blanket on, it was really warm.
“Glug, glug…”
I took out a 500ml bottle of water from the fridge.
I liked the warm room, but upon waking up, it was way too hot.
I gulped down the cold water by myself.
“Ahh…”
I drank almost all 500ml, it was quite a lot.
Of course, I didn’t drink exactly all of it; I downed more than half in one go.
“Ahh…”
After finishing it, I finally felt a bit better.
Last night before going to bed, I felt more cold, but waking up, I felt quite hot.
I slightly regretted turning up the heating before sleeping.
I thought it might be better to lower the heating a bit next time I sleep.
Of course, warm is nice, but?
“Shall I brew some coffee?”
It wasn’t just any room; it was a top-notch one, so it had a coffee machine.
It was morning, and I needed to wake up a bit.
Corbin wasn’t really fond of coffee, so it was just for me.
-Beep!
Anyway, I decided to make some coffee first.
I added two spoons of sugar to an appropriate coffee cup and started brewing espresso.
There was a bit of noise, but maybe because it was a good coffee machine, the sound wasn’t too bothersome.
The grinding of the beans was unavoidable though.
“Hmm…”
By the way, I wondered how long that guy sleeping on the bed intended to stay asleep.
After brewing the coffee, I sat down on a chair, sipping my drink while glancing over at him, curious.
Since I fell asleep first, it was natural that I woke up before Corbin.
“…Shall I look up where to go today?”
It seemed like Corbin had been searching for places to go, but I hadn’t looked up the advantages of Zone 16 yet.
I still had some time, so it shouldn’t be a problem at all.
“Hmm… Skiing… Illumination Park… Whiskey Museum…”
Oh.
This actually looks interesting.
After seeing too many usual options, I found something unique.
A whiskey museum.
I couldn’t help but be curious about it.
Even though it wasn’t a place to get totally smashed, I was intrigued.
“Should I wake him up soon and check it out…?”
It sounded like a fun idea.
But I had a bit of concern.
It wasn’t the kind of low-alcohol place; it was a whiskey museum.
If I were to be serious, Corbin could get tipsy from even a little whiskey.
Would he get completely drunk after tasting a variety of whiskeys?
“Hehe…”
It seemed like it would be entertaining.
But I wasn’t planning on letting him wander around in this cold weather drunk.
So, for now, it would be on hold.
It might be better to go skiing together instead.
“…Can he ski well?”
I wasn’t sure.
I was hopeless at games.
However, when Corbin and I went bowling before, I did surprisingly well, so who knows?
Worrying about whether I’d be good at skiing was just pointless.
Although in my opinion, I wasn’t likely to do well…?
*
“Where are we going?”
“Hehe… we’ll arrive in a bit.”
“…?”
We were traveling in a self-driving car.
Corbin had entered the address before getting in, so he had no idea where we were headed.
In that situation, I was smiling at Corbin, knowing the destination while he was clueless.
“Linera.”
“I promise we’ll get there in less than 10 minutes, so just wait a bit.”
“…Okay.”
Thankfully, Corbin didn’t question this aspect too much.
Honestly, if he didn’t go along with it, there wasn’t much he could do.
“Hmm… I can’t decide on a destination since I don’t know the way.”
“That was the plan.”
“Feels like I’m learning something strange from the boss.”
“That might be true?”
Well, I couldn’t deny that.
Due to someone who had never revealed our travel destinations, I had gotten a bit used to keeping secrets.
Had the boss not done that, I might not have felt the need to hide our destination either.
“Hehe…”
“…Is it alcohol?”
“Yes?”
“…It feels kinda related to alcohol.”
“What are you implying?”
“No… It’s just that Linera usually doesn’t smile like this, so it seems suspicious.”
“……”
I never knew someone thought that way of me.
Of course, it’s true that I liked alcohol.
“I’m not that into it, really.”
“You bought expensive liquor with your last paycheck.”
“…Well, that can happen, right? I bought it because I usually don’t drink any beverages.”
“Hmm…”
“Honestly.”
Corbin looked at me with a meaningful gaze, but I really just had that thought when I bought it.
For no particular reason, I rarely drank beverages at home; mostly just water and the fruit juice Charlotte drank.
While Corbin loved carbonated drinks, I wasn’t really a fan of them.
Honestly, buying some alcohol… isn’t that reasonable?
Or not.
“Hmm… It is alcohol.”
“…Eh, yes?”
“The place we are headed, it’s definitely related to alcohol.”
“…….”
No way.
I couldn’t immediately respond, looking at Corbin as our eyes met.
“How did you figure it out…?”
“You’ll see.”
“…No, but I haven’t mentioned anything and didn’t give any hints…?”
“I just know.”
“……..”
Seriously, how did he know?
I couldn’t quite wrap my mind around it no matter how hard I thought.
How on earth did he read my thoughts just by looking at my face?
Was it some kind of magic?
I was solo amazed at Corbin’s incredible ability, staring at him with wonder as I kept my hand on the wheel, driving the car that was meant to be self-driving.
“What I meant was… We’re headed to the whiskey museum.”
“Just as I thought.”
“…Was it not good?”
I asked that question out of the fear that Corbin might not like it.
After all, Corbin wasn’t much of a fan of alcohol.
He couldn’t hold his liquor and didn’t seem interested in it… so if he wouldn’t enjoy it, I’d think about going somewhere else.
It was merely something I was interested in, not a must-see or anything.
Plus, there were many places we could go in the area besides the whiskey museum.
“It’s fine. I wouldn’t mind going.”
“Oh, really?”
“…You seem to like it a lot?”
“No, I’m just genuinely curious if you’re okay with it…”
At that moment, I widened my eyes and turned my body completely towards Corbin.
I was genuinely just wondering if he was all right with it.
There wasn’t any other reason… probably?
“But what kind of alcohol is there?”
“Probably, there will be some major whiskeys. Jason, Jack Daniel’s, Johnnie Walker, etc… you can expect the well-known ones to be there.”
For sure, the famous ones would be there.
The whiskeys I mentioned to Corbin were common enough to find at convenience stores.
Of course, since he didn’t care much about alcohol… it seemed he’d have no idea what I was talking about.
“I don’t know any of those.”
“You’ll know once you see them. I bet you’ll recognize the packaging.”
“Really?”
“Yes, especially in summer, Jack Daniel’s is often chosen as one of the most popular whiskeys. That’s for sure.”
“If Linera is saying that, it seems its recognition is quite decent?”
“…Didn’t I just say that.”
This is why I shouldn’t talk about alcohol with someone clueless about it.
Of course, after arriving at the whiskey museum, I was really more than ready to let Corbin taste just a little bit.
I imagined that after about five shots, he’d be too tipsy to move properly…
“Hehe.”
“Why are you laughing?”
“I just remembered something funny.”
“…?”
Corbin looked at me with confusion, not understanding why I was laughing, but after a moment, I couldn’t help but laugh at the thought of Corbin getting drunk.
It was hilarious to think he’d show his drunken self in front of strangers on this trip, not to mention he wasn’t my wife or a colleague.
Of course, the most amusing moments would be when it was just the two of us, yet considering Corbin’s future reactions, either way seemed fine.
In conclusion… I had a feeling that after we arrived, it would be incredibly fun.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.
