There were a lot of people today, but also plenty of people helping in the kitchen, so once dinner time arrived, the entire table was filled with all kinds of delicious food.
"Cheers!!!"
Ichin looked at the beer in his glass, then at Yagami Kou, Umiko, and Hazuki staring at him like hungry tigers. He could only smile bitterly, shake his head, pick up the glass, and down it in one go.
He set the cup down and immediately grabbed some food to ease the burn.
"Buuurp~ Ha! That hits the spot!"
Kou downed her beer just as quickly, burping without a shred of elegance before grinning widely. "Beer in winter is the best! Ichin, another one!"
"Take it slow, Kou."
Ichin refilled both their glasses and said, "There's so much good food on the table. If you get drunk too early, you won't get to eat any of it."
"True. Fine, fine—we have the whole night anyway, I'll pace myself."
Sitting beside him, Utaha kept placing food onto his plate. "Ichin, drink slowly, okay?"
"Don't worry, I will."
As he spoke, he noticed the glass of red wine in front of Utaha and couldn't help but chuckle. "You're drinking too?"
Utaha smiled. "I can't help it. Everyone's so enthusiastic, I can only drink a little."
"Mm, just don't drink too much."
The moment he finished speaking, Haruno leaned over from the other side and wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Come on, Ichin—cheers!"
Seeing the cup she handed him, and catching the scent from the clear liquid inside, Ichin froze.
"White… liquor? Haruno-nee, where did you even get this?"
"Hehehe~~"
Haruno stuck out her tongue, her cheeks slightly flushed. "Authentic Moutai~. My dad loves drinking, so I used some connections to get a few bottles. I kept one for myself. Want a taste?"
"Nope. Hard pass."
Ichin shook his head immediately. He had no problem with other alcohol, but white liquor was where he drew the line. Even the good stuff—he just couldn't handle the smell.
Seeing that he refused, Haruno didn't insist. After clinking glasses with him, she went off to join Hazuki and Umiko to drink the white liquor together.
Hazuki wasn't experienced with white liquor at all, but Umiko had often been dragged to dinner at Ichin's house while in Shanghai, where Ichin's dad had shared drinks with her before—so Umiko handled it fine.
Elsewhere, Eriri, Aoba, and Nene—none of whom were good drinkers—huddled together sharing the plum wine Hazuki brought.
Compared to other drinks, plum wine was much easier for them to handle. But its alcohol content wasn't low, and since it didn't taste very alcoholic, it was easy to get drunk without noticing. So Hazuki had only given them one bottle to split.
Not that it mattered—there were plenty of rooms here. Even if someone got drunk, they could all squeeze in and sleep it off.
As everyone continued drinking, the atmosphere grew warmer and livelier.
Fueled by alcohol, they soon started asking about Ichin and Utaha's wedding plans—then even moved on to the topic of kids.
Ichin took a bite of ribs and laughed. "Didn't we already say? The wedding will be after graduation. Only one year left anyway. And as for kids—come on, we can't have Utaha show up to the wedding with a big belly, right?"
Kou raised her hand with a mischievous grin. "Hehehe, well, that wouldn't be ideal… but you could bring the baby to the wedding!"
"…"
Ichin and Utaha both froze.
They did NOT expect Kou to come up with that idea.
Imagining it, it did sound amusing—but it was completely unrealistic.
If Utaha really got pregnant, her studies would become a mess, not to mention her work. And after giving birth she'd need time to recover; there was no way they could hold the wedding immediately. The timeline would only get pushed back even further.
Ichin shrugged. "Yeah, no. That's not happening."
Utaha nodded with a laugh. "Exactly. And neither of us planned on having a kid so soon. We're only twenty-two."
Everyone finally came to their senses—there was really no reason for the two of them to rush so much.
Toyama Rin narrowed her eyes. "Can't help it… in our minds you two have been together forever."
"That's true," Aoba agreed. "When we joined the company, Ichin and Utaha were already dating. Aaah~ time flies. And now you're married."
Shinoda Hajime laughed. "They're married now, but Aoba—you're still this tiny. Your height hasn't changed at all."
"Ahhhh! Don't say that out loud!!!"
The moment height was mentioned, Aoba instantly panicked, wrestling with Shinoda as everyone burst into laughter.
It was true—so many years had passed. Aoba was no longer eighteen or nineteen, yet her height had stubbornly stayed at 150 cm, not growing a single centimeter.
And of course, when Aoba's height was teased, someone else got dragged in too—Sakura Nene.
Her height was even shorter than Aoba's, not even reaching 150.
Nene glanced between their heights, but instead of getting angry, she proudly puffed out her chest.
She might lose in height, but in one area… she was light-years ahead of Aoba!
"Hm?"
While arguing with Shinoda, Aoba looked left and right—then locked eyes on Nene.
"Nene… were you talking about me behind my back?"
Nene hadn't expected Aoba to be so sharp and quickly shook her head. "Ehh? No no no! Absolutely not!"
"You totally were! That guilty face!"
And so, the party became even more chaotic.
Taking advantage of the distraction, Ichin finally got a moment where nobody was forcing alcohol on him and he could eat in peace.
After eating two more chicken wings and putting some food on Ichin's plate, Utaha glanced toward Haruno's group and noticed something—Yukino had barely spoken the entire evening. She mostly just ate and drank quietly. But her expression wasn't abnormal, and she had seemed fine earlier in the kitchen while cooking.
Utaha took a sip of wine, narrowed her eyes slightly, and decided to check on her after dinner.
The celebration party for Ichin and Utaha's marriage lasted until 11 PM. After finishing dinner, everyone moved to the living room with their drinks, sitting wherever they liked, talking and laughing deep into the night.
By late night, no one went home. They squeezed into the remaining rooms on Yagami Kou's floor downstairs, laid out futons, turned on the heater, and slept comfortably.
After everyone had settled, Haruno and Yukino carried the completely drunk Ichin and Utaha into the bedroom.
Holding her own slightly fuzzy head, Haruno said, "Let's go, Yukino. Time to rest."
"Mm. Sis, you go back first. I'll clean up the living room and then join you."
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