“Here’s a steak grilled to well-done and medium. As for the cut…”
Corbin and I were currently seated for a meal.
Not on the first floor of the private jet with bedrooms or bathrooms, but on the second floor.
It was my first time walking around inside an airplane while in flight, but it was more comfortable than I expected.
There wasn’t much shaking in the air, and the pilot was doing a great job, so honestly, it felt pretty normal.
Of course, it was natural to feel a little sense that we were on a plane.
Yet, the seats and various sections inside the private jet were indeed comfortable.
The facilities were so good that you could almost call it a hotel.
“Lindera, this is how you cook steak.”
“…Is it the same as what the chef does?”
“But it’s way different from the steak I grill at home.”
“That’s true, but I can’t help it, right? I’ve only been learning to cook for about two years.”
Corbin suddenly brought this up after taking a bite of his steak.
It was a bit of an absurd statement, but honestly, I understood where he was coming from.
I mean, it was definitely not comparable to the meat I grill at home.
“…The butter aroma, and the juiciness…”
Even though it was well-done and not rare, the juiciness was surprisingly evident, and it was tender rather than tough.
It was a perfect example of a well-cooked steak.
Maybe it was on par with a restaurant we used to frequent?
No, considering the taste produced on an airplane, it might even be better than that.
“How’s the medium?”
“It’s delicious. The juiciness… Maybe I should have gone with medium-rare?”
“Oh…”
I wasn’t too sure, but it was definitely tasty.
It might just hit the nail on the head with Corbin’s taste.
Though, it did feel a bit saltier than what we usually had in a restaurant, so maybe that’s why.
“But Corbin.”
“Yeah?”
“Why did you order wine if you’re not even drinking?”
“Oh, this?”
“Yes…”
He ordered wine alongside the steak, but he wasn’t even drinking it.
What was the point…?
I just couldn’t wrap my head around it.
Instead of ordering something like cola or cider…
Why order alcohol when you hardly drink?
“When you order expensive steak at a restaurant, it seems a bit bare without wine, right?”
“…Is that so?”
“Just having an expensive bottle of wine on the side looks classy.”
“…Is it that significant?”
Honestly, I didn’t care much.
I was just casually sipping my wine.
The alcohol content of red wine wasn’t that high, and one bottle wouldn’t be a problem.
I was merely curious about why Corbin wasn’t drinking.
“Well… I didn’t really order it with the intention of drinking a lot.”
“In that case, it doesn’t matter much, but I thought you don’t drink wine because you don’t like the taste.”
“Come on, that’s not true. I’d rather enjoy my steak, eat it all, and then drink for a bit instead of downing alcohol quickly and getting tipsy.”
If he felt that way, I had nothing more to say.
In reality, Corbin didn’t drink much at all.
And it was still lunchtime.
Better to take it easy than rush through the drinks and lose composure… right?
Anyway, after finishing lunch with steak in the sky, Corbin and I went back downstairs to explore other rooms.
They weren’t just rooms with bedrooms or seats, but there were even spaces where the two of us could spend time together… kinda like private chambers.
It felt similar to the private rooms we had on the ship.
“Oh…”
“I just passed by this place, but it definitely looks…”
“Nice.”
The lighting was subtly set, and the screen was larger than those in the seats.
Plus, we could close the door.
It was likely a place to hang out without the staff of the jet keeping an eye on us.
Having a separate bedroom and seating, it didn’t seem necessary to create another space like this.
“The sofa is really comfy.”
Corbin and I walked into the room and closed the door.
I was a bit surprised to see a locking mechanism, but I didn’t think too much about it.
The fact that it had a lock was just a minor detail.
“This is better than the seats outside.”
“I think so too.”
“It’s not like we can hear people wandering around, and I don’t think anyone’s looking at us… it’s definitely more comfortable.”
“Are you planning to just lie down right away?”
“Do you want to lie down, Lindera?”
“…There isn’t really room, is there?”
After locking the door, Corbin immediately lay down on the sofa.
Despite being on a comfortable private jet, both of us were a bit introverted.
We couldn’t just sprawl out easily with people around.
“Hmm… Want to lie down on top of me?”
“You’d just complain about how heavy I am in less than five minutes, so no thanks.”
“…I can’t argue with that.”
Inside the room was basically a sofa and a big screen, with a display case as well.
It contained drinks, books, game consoles, and various leisure items.
Everything inside was likely protected to avoid breakage due to turbulence during the flight, and most were made of unbreakable materials.
This place felt far more like a personal space to spend time in than the seating area.
“…Oh, Lindera, there’s a window here.”
“Is that so?”
Corbin, who had been lying down, sat up and I joined him, both of us comfortably in our spots.
We watched the scenery outside the window and turned on the TV through the screen.
“…This is relaxing.”
“…It sure is.”
With the TV on, we just sat quietly.
Corbin wrapped one arm around my waist, and I leaned casually against his chest.
Had about an hour passed like that?
While watching the TV and the sky outside, Corbin suddenly poked around under the sofa and found something.
“…There’s a button here?”
“…Should we not press it?”
“It’s there for a reason, right?”
A button underneath the sofa.
It had no explanation about what it actually did.
Corbin just happened to touch it, and we were watching it curiously.
Maybe it was something we shouldn’t press…
“I don’t know. Should I just press it?”
“Wait, Corbin…!”
Click.
“…Hah.”
While searching the display for a manual or something, Corbin just did something reckless.
Ignoring what I said, he pressed the button, and I could only watch from a distance.
Corbin remained seated on the sofa.
Whirring…
“Wait, what.”
“…?”
Whirring…
Suddenly the sofa started to elongate.
I’m not exaggerating, an additional part of the sofa emerged from inside.
“…Huh.”
“…Wow.”
“…Is this a good thing?”
“It seems like it’s not some weird function, so… isn’t it fine?”
Whatever it was, it seemed good.
Honestly, the sofa was a bit cramped for both of us.
We could only barely sit next to each other, and it felt a little tight… but now it seemed we had successfully extended it.
Was this actually a good thing…?
“This is… not just a sofa, is it?”
“It feels even better.”
“That’s true.”
I immediately laid down.
Yeah, lying down was definitely way better than sitting.
I was a bit surprised that the sofa suddenly got longer, but lying down was the best.
“It definitely feels nice to lie down like this.”
“True that.”
With the TV still playing, Corbin and I lay there quite comfortably.
Without a blanket or anything, I intentionally hugged onto Corbin’s body like a pillow.
While I had a slightly higher body temperature than Corbin, being close like this felt just a bit warmer than merely lying down.
And, of course, it was nice to be touching.
With Corbin right beside me, there was no reason to not be close.
“Let’s change the channel. Why on earth are we watching a wildlife documentary?”
“I wondered what was so entertaining about it since Charlotte liked it lately.”
“…Was this what she was watching while I was doing the dishes on the weekend?”
“…Yeah.”
“……..”
Honestly, I thought it seemed typical for daughters to have such program preferences.
No matter how I thought about it, it just didn’t strike me as something little girls would dig.
Charlotte had been making noise while I was washing dishes, and this was the reason.
“She insists on watching this every Sunday afternoon. It’s like she keeps asking for it.”
“…Hmm.”
“…I don’t get what’s so fun about it.”
“Me neither.”
“I see…”
Somehow when we changed the channel, we ended up on the documentary that Charlotte watched every weekend, and we were just sitting there.
Originally, I intended to suggest changing it to something else.
But hearing it was Charlotte’s favorite, we were still watching it for now.
“Oh, a lion.”
“Oh…”
From herbivores to a scene with the lions.
“Oh, a hunt…”
“Wow…”
The lions engaged in a chase after the previously featured herbivores.
“Oh… an elephant. It’s so powerful…”
“Oh…”
And then the lion pride taunted the elephant nearby, getting seriously trampled.
“Is the elephant really the strongest land animal?”
“Size matters, right? Of course.”
“Looks like size really is everything in nature…”
“Even among people, size plays a huge role in fights. How much more so for them.”
“Oh… Lindera.”
Somehow…
Somehow…
The discussion topic felt shockingly low in intelligence.
Both I and Corbin knew this, yet…
The pride of lions, having escaped from the elephant, now ambushes a herd of impalas nearby.
“Wow…”
“Whoa…”
…was surprisingly entertaining.
Somehow, just sitting idle and staring at it made sense as to why Charlotte enjoyed it.
I thought we could even watch documentaries together at home next time.
“…Lindera, I feel like we shouldn’t watch any longer.”
“…Let’s switch channels quickly.”
Of course, once I regained my senses, I immediately changed the channel.
Honestly, I felt like if we watched any longer, we’d turn dumb.
No, I already felt like I was getting a bit foolish…
It was my first time feeling this brain-dead at an altitude of 10,000 meters. It was beyond helpless.
Two adults, with one daughter, watching wildlife documentaries on a plane was genuinely dizzying.
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