Chapter 11
Usually, people think of weekends as days off.
Of course, I'm one of them.
But maybe because I went to the hospital with my sister just yesterday?
With every passing day, it feels like the numbers on a countdown clock are clicking down... one by one.
So having the time to take it easy, like on a weekend, feels almost like a waste.
“…Is she still asleep?”
It was a little past eight in the morning.
It was early, sure, but wouldn't my sister, back when she was still working, already be up by now?
I don't want to waste precious weekend time.
But that doesn't mean I want to disturb my sister's sleep, either...
As I was debating, I heard a tiny sound.
Too rough to be called breathing, it was definitely some noise coming from beyond the bedroom door.
And then,
“…Pfft.”
I heard my sister give a short laugh.
What? Was she awake?
When I opened the door a moment later, I met my sister's eyes as she lay sprawled carelessly on the bed, looking at her phone.
“…What are you doing? Get up.”
“Mmm? Honey, come here. Lie down.”
She abruptly patted the spot beside her and invited me to lie down with her.
“Get up. Wash up and eat breakfast.”
“Nooo.”
“How long are you going to keep this up?”
“Your big sis is unemployed now, you know? It's totally legal for me to stay like this every day.”
“That's... true.”
After convincing me with the invincible logic of unemployment, my sister showed no intention of getting up.
She slowly rolled over twice, making room for me beside her.
Then she waggled her head as if telling me to hurry up and lie down.
“Come on.”
“I was going to make breakfast.”
“Your big sis ordered delivery.”
“Huh... Without telling me?”
“Hurry up, this is really funny. You know it, too.”
What could she be talking about?
The bed wasn't too narrow for the two of us to lie down together...
Thank goodness.
I wasn't particularly keen on it, but I lay down beside my sister anyway.
“This, this. You know it, right?”
“I do.”
The video my sister was watching was a variety show that had ended ages ago, probably almost ten years back.
An old-generation variety show, with low image quality and dated subtitles and humor.
“Honey, your big sis's arm is tired.”
“Just ask me to hold your phone for you.”
“That's not it... I want to hear you ask, ‘Want me to hold your phone?’”
“Why?”
“Sigh... Sighhhh... My husband is so oblivious!”
Had I done something worthy of a sigh?
I wasn't upset, but somehow it felt like I'd been scolded without knowing why.
I took the phone from my sister's hand and held it up, and with my other arm...
Remembering what happened on the sofa last time, I let her use my arm as a pillow.
“Mm! I like this.”
“What did you order?”
“I wanted toast, so I ordered toast.”
“I think today’s garbage day. Do we have anything to throw out?”
“Hmm... There are a few boxes...”
Lying together on the bed, watching an old variety show and having an utterly ordinary conversation.
It wouldn't be strange if you called it a conversation between siblings.
It'd be the same even if you replaced the word “siblings” with “married couple.”
Maybe my sister was thinking the same thing, because she stopped talking and looked at me.
“Your big sis likes this kind of thing.”
“What? Old-fashioned variety shows?”
“Those are nice, too, but I mean this kind of ordinary small talk.”
“That's just because I'm your little brother, so you're comfortable with me.”
“That's true, too, but... it's nice, isn't it?”
“What's nice?”
“Just... just everythinggg...”
With her head resting on my arm, my sister stretched out loooong.
“I'm sleepy.”
“You must be tired from going to the hospital yesterday.”
“Should I sleep some more...?”
“Go ahead if you're sleepy.”
“But I ordered toast.”
“I'll put it in the fridge.”
“No.”
“Because it'll taste bad cold?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
My sister grabbed the arm I had near her head with both hands.
Then she tapped her fist against it, as if hammering in an invisible nail to pin it down.
“Don't get up until your big sis does.”
“Are you a kid?”
“Then are you an adult?”
“…Legally, I am.”
“I don't knooow... I'm sleepy. Haaah.”
“If you're going to sleep, take your morning meds first.”
“……”
“…?”
“……”
“Sis, I'm not falling for it.”
“……”
Can someone really fall asleep this fast?
Is that scientifically possible?
Ding-dong—
The doorbell rang.
It was probably the toast my sister ordered.
I was less worried about the toast sitting outside the cold front door and getting colder by the second,
than about my sister, who'd fallen asleep in an instant, waking up again at the sound of the doorbell.
“Hey. Sis. Lee Hyuna.”
Of course, there was no answer.
With my arm as her pillow, my...
“…Honey.”
If she didn't wake up when I called her that, it meant she was really asleep... so I tried it once.
“……”
Press, press, press.
I pressed the volume buttons on the side of my sister's phone, which I was holding, and turned down the video's volume.
...All right. I just pressed the lock button and turned off the screen.
I didn't think watching an old variety show on mute by myself would be funny at all.
Instead, well...
I'd rather take another look at the pretty face right here beside me.
No, what do I mean, one look? I'm allowed to look at my own wife.
Two times, three times... I could just take in her peacefully sleeping face, free of worries.
So that later, when I thought of my sister, I could remember this lovely sight before I remembered the times she was sick.
***
“Phew...”
My ear feels a little... ticklish.
“Hmm... So you really have no intention of getting up, huh?”
It was my sister's voice.
Had I dozed off, too?
How long had I been asleep?
If I suddenly opened my eyes and got up, my sister would be startled.
How should I get up naturally without startling her...?
“Then, until you get up, your big sis will make brunch...”
“No.”
“Oh, Mom! What? Honey, you were awake?”
“I just woke up.”
“J-just now? You really just woke up?”
Her questioning tone sounded a little suspicious.
I could sense a trace of anxiety, as if I had to have just woken up.
“Why?”
“I thought you were asleep... so I-I changed my clothes here.”
“…What's the big deal between siblings?”
“W-what kind of thing is that? There are lines we have to respect!”
“Then... what's the big deal between a married couple?”
I honestly didn't care.
To begin with, can siblings be interested in each other's bodies?
Uh... I don't know. At least I'm not.
“But, Sis.”
“Y-yeah...?”
“We used to go to the bathhouse together when we were little, right?”
“Hey! That was when we were tiny babies.”
“If I think about it, I might remember what it was like back then...”
“D-d-don't! Don't you dare? D-don't remember it!”
Like I'd remember.
I was just teasing her because it was funny to see her face turn bright red as she grabbed my shoulders and shook me around.
“Let's eat. I'm hungry. You must be hungry, too, right?”
“…You don't remember, right?”
“I don't particularly want to remember.”
“W-what did you say?”
Why was she getting worked up?
Anyway, I took my sister out of the bedroom, and we started our day.
First, I got the toast that had been delivered ages ago.
This toast would be breakfast and lunch for us. Of course, I wasn't planning on eating it cold as it was.
It wouldn't be as good as when it was freshly made, but reheating the bread and fillings in a frying pan would make it much better.
“Did you learn how to cook?”
“No. I just picked up bits and pieces while working part-time.”
I melted a little butter in the pan and set the bread on it.
My sister stood close beside me, quietly watching.
“Mom is really, really good at cooking. Right?”
“That's right.”
“Then why can't I cook...?”
“Mom was really bad at cooking, too. Until she was in her twenties.”
“Really? I didn't know.”
“Then she met Dad... and she wanted to pack him lunches and make all sorts of food for him, so she practiced.”
“And then she got better?”
“Yeah. But did you take your medicine?”
“Mm-hmm.”
I took apart the toast, warmed the fillings in the pan, then stacked them back together.
Putting them back in the wrappers would be a hassle, so I put them on plates and cut them into manageable pieces.
“Sit down. Let's eat.”
“I want coffee.”
“What kind?”
“Black.”
I opened the cupboard and took out a coffee stick.
I filled the electric kettle with water, turned it on, and got a cup ready.
My sister, waiting for her coffee at the table and slowly swinging her feet, looked at me and said,
“Having a husband is so convenient. Maybe I should've gotten married earlier.”
“…You should have.”
I meant she should've had a real marriage and a real husband, instead of a fake husband played by her little brother.
I guess that wasn't what my sister meant.
“So you mean you would've married me even if I wasn't sick?”
“No.”
“What! Don't toy with my feelings.”
I set a plate in front of my sister, who was pouting, poured hot water into a cup,
then tore open a stick of instant coffee and stirred it in.
“Let's eat.”
“What are we doing today, honey?”
“I think we need to go to the supermarket this evening.”
“Want me to come with you?”
Hmm... what should I do?
I remembered the nurse's warning that we should avoid long outings if possible.
Did grocery shopping count as a long outing?
“Will you be okay? You haven't forgotten what happened last time, have you?”
“That time, I took my medicine a little early, then went to the movies and the supermarket.”
“Then take your medicine with you this time.”
“Should I?”
“Take breaks while you're shopping, too.”
The reheated toast was decent enough.
My sister was sipping coffee and taking bites of her toast, chewing with her cheeks full.
“And tomorrow...”
“Tomorrow! I have something to do tomorrow.”
“What?”
“Mom and Dad said they want to have a meal with us. They're coming over this way.”
“…Me, too?”
“Huh? Of course you have to come.”
My sister was right. Of course I had to go, too.
We're family, after all.
“But why all of a sudden? Are they coming because you're sick?”
“That's part of it, but it's Mom and Dad's wedding anniversary.”
“Oh.”
“Then isn't this kind of like a formal meeting between the families?”
“What are you talking about now?”
“Why! It is. A meal with the parents from both sides—the in-laws and the bride's family.”
Supermarket tonight, and a family meal tomorrow.
Sounds good. Nice and ordinary.
Other than the possibility that Mom and Dad might realize there's something going on between my sister and me, there's nothing in particular to worry about.
No way they'd find out, right?
...Just in case, I should take my ring off before we go.