Chapter 20
A familiar scene from the cartoons I watched as a child: an angel and a devil arguing inside someone's heart.
That's what's happening inside my heart right now.
‘She asked me to do it, didn't she? Didn't I decide I'd do everything she asked me to?’
‘Even so, is it normal for siblings to kiss? There are lines you have to respect.’
‘If you were going to respect those lines, you shouldn't have gotten married in the first place. And you liked it while you were kissing.’
‘……’
‘You liked it, didn't you? You even used your tongue, right? You didn't want to be the first to stop, did you?’
Enough. Enough.
That's far enough.
Don't agonize over something your sister isn't even bringing up out loud.
“Are you done, honey?”
“Uh… yeah. Let's go. You took your medicine, right?”
“Mm-hm!”
“And you brought your evening medicine, too?”
“Of course~”
“All right. Let's go.”
I'm going out with my sister today.
That doesn't mean we're going to spend time alone together, though.
Suyeon, the friend we happened to run into at the restaurant the day my sister and I picked out her wedding dress and ate out.
I'm meeting my sister's friend.
“But do I really have to come? Wouldn't it be more comfortable for you to hang out with your friend alone?”
“No way! She's my closest friend, so I have to brag about my husband.”
“Won't she recognize me? She used to come over to our house a lot.”
“Nah, it'll be fine! Besides, Suyeon said she was curious about you and told me to bring you.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. She kept asking where and how I met my handsome husband.”
“…So what did you tell her?”
Since we can't tell her we're siblings, we have to make up some story, right?
Should we get our stories straight beforehand…?
“So… I told her we'd first met when we were so young we couldn't even remember it.”
“What kind of answer is that…?”
“It's true, isn't it? And doesn't it sound kind of romantic?”
“I guess it is true…”
There's no way siblings would remember the first time they met.
We'd been together since we were so young that our memories of those days had faded away.
“Anyway… as long as she doesn't recognize us, it'll be fine.”
“You don't have to worry so much~ We were so young that she probably doesn't remember us well.”
“I guess so?”
“Let's go! Hurry.”
“Okay. Let's go.”
What kind of person was Suyeon again?
Honestly, I don't remember very well either.
Aside from the fact that she and my sister had been such a good match as seatmates that they'd been together since they were kids, I barely know anything about her.
…Let's forget about yesterday for a bit.
Right now, the important thing is not to act suspiciously and give her a reason to catch on.
***
“Hyuna! Over here, over here.”
“Suyeon~”
A cafe downtown.
Maybe because it was late morning, close to noon, there were hardly any other customers.
I follow my sister, who has already hurried ahead and hugged her friend.
“Here, say hello. My boy...friend.”
“Oh my! Hello~”
“…Hello.”
This is something new, too.
Just when I was getting used to playing my sister's husband, I've now become her boyfriend.
A demotion…?
“Sit, sit. I already ordered for us.”
“Really? Thanks~”
I take the seat beside my sister.
I'm nervous. Maybe as nervous as I was when we had dinner with our parents.
“So? Give me the whole story. You're getting married soon, right?”
“Of course~ I even have pictures from when I tried on dresses. Want to see?”
“No way… Hurry, show me!”
“……”
The good thing is that I don't really have to say anything, right?
Well, if I were meeting a friend after years apart, after spending years together before that, I'd have plenty to talk about, too.
I just… sit there quietly listening to their conversation, and when the buzzer on the table vibrates, I get up to pick up our coffees.
“Honey! Come sit down, quick.”
“Huh?”
“I was just telling her how you proposed to me.”
“How did it happen? I mean, what made you think, ‘She's the one!’?”
Th-this is a difficult question.
My sister knows that, yet just smiles brightly as if telling me to hurry up and answer.
What am I supposed to say…?
“…Well, your smile is pretty. And you're cute… and you're considerate, in your own way.”
“Eee! You're so cheesy, honey!”
Smack-
I got a whack on the back.
…Still, I wasn't lying.
“Oh, right! I heard you're living together now?”
“Uh… yes.”
“Then… how far have you gone?”
“Hey! You're crazy, seriously!”
My sister says that, but… isn't she grinning way too broadly?
A-and why are you looking at me? You want me to answer?
“Well, um…”
“You're so shy~ Hyuna, you tell me.”
“Us? Hehe… We can't show you here.”
Show what? What are we showing?
You're joking, right? You are, right?
This won't do. I'll just say it.
“K-kissing. We've kissed, that's all.”
“My husband is saving himself for marriage.”
What was that supposed to mean?
Unlike me, who was pretty nervous, my sister seems to be thoroughly enjoying this situation, this meeting.
“Your boyfriend proposed, you said. Then who confessed?”
“I did…”
“I did…!”
Our answers… overlapped.
And we both stopped at the same time.
Startled, I looked at my sister, and she was staring back at me with her eyes wide open.
“What? Who did it, Hyuna?”
“…T-together! We did it together.”
“Y-yes… It just sort of happened, we did it together.”
“It's fate, fate! Get married! Oh, you're getting married soon.”
“Y-yeah! It's fate.”
“Then does your family know? Your parents, and you have a younger brother, right?”
As if they would.
My sister doesn't have a younger brother.
She only has a husband here, no younger brother.
“…I-I do, right? I-I told them about us, so it's fine.”
“Wow… you know you're the first one among our classmates to get married, right?”
“Hehehe… I'm always number one, you know?”
“That's right, that's right. Hyuna was really good at studying back in school. Oh, you said you two had known each other since you were kids?”
“Yes… th-that's right.”
I keep stumbling over my words.
Still, at least the conversation about my being her younger brother was quickly brushed aside.
“Hyuna was so popular~ There must've been a reason she never had a boyfriend.”
“Y-yeah? R-right? We're, we're… what do you call it… made for each other!”
My sister suddenly grabs my hand and raises it high.
Is “made for each other” really the right thing to say in this situation?
“But you liked each other for so long, and you only got as far as kissing?”
“…Mm-hm.”
“When was it? Your first kiss.”
“……”
“……”
Our hands are still clasped together, and suddenly the conversation falls silent.
Maybe because we'd just answered at the same time with conflicting answers, neither my sister nor I can speak.
I decide to keep quiet here and wait for my sister to answer, but—
“Uh… y-yesterday.”
“Yesterday? Yesterday… you mean yesterday?”
“Y-yeah.”
Why are you being honest about that, too?
You were already set to get married, and your first kiss was yesterday?
That's a little strange.
I should say something. My sister seems a little flustered, too.
“I-I was… I wanted to take things slowly, in that regard…”
“Ooooh… you're so considerate?”
“O-of course! My husband is so sweet.”
“In what way?”
“…He lets me rest my head on his arm.”
Even if you can't think of anything else to praise me for, Sis.
How can you leave it at that?
“A-and, and… he's handsome.”
“And…?”
“And… he holds my hand, buys me flowers, and tells me I'm pretty all the time…”
I know we haven't been married long, but somehow I feel kind of pathetic.
I feel like I need to step up.
After that, the conversation shifted away from me and turned to my sister and her friend's stories.
It was actually pretty interesting to hear about my sister's college life, which I hadn't known much about.
Bzzzt—
“Ah… wait a sec. I need to take a call from my boyfriend.”
“Mm-hm! Take your time~”
Suyeon steps outside the cafe for a moment to answer the call.
Now that it's just the two of us, we're still holding hands.
“Haaah… I-I didn't mess anything up, did I?”
“Probably not?”
“What about you, honey? You seem just like usual on the outside.”
“I was a little nervous at first… but I'm relaxed now.”
Maybe holding my sister's hand tightly helped a little.
But her hand feels just a little… a tiny bit colder than usual.
Is it just because the air conditioning is so strong in here?
“Sis. Did you take your medicine before we left?”
“Hm? I did.”
“Your hand's a little cold.”
“Mmm…”
My sister closes her eyes and concentrates, as if quietly sensing something.
Even though I think it's probably just unnecessary worry, it's hard to shake off the unease.
And just then, Suyeon comes back into the cafe.
“Hyuna… what should I do? My boyfriend says he's waiting outside my place.”
“Huh? Were you supposed to meet today?”
“No. Honestly, ugh… Anyway, I should get going. I wanted to have lunch together…”
“It's okay, let's eat next time. Bring your boyfriend next time, too.”
“Should I?”
“Yeah, yeah. Hurry and go, your boyfriend's waiting…”
“Okay… I'll see you again, too, sir~”
“Y-yes. Take care.”
With that, Suyeon leaves, and now it's just the two of us in a cafe that's gotten quite crowded.
I feel the tension snap away.
Maybe my sister feels the same way, because she lets out a big sigh and flops forward onto the table.
“Phewww…”
“At least she doesn't think we're siblings.”
“……”
“Right, honey?”
“……”
“…Sis?”
No answer.
Whether I call her honey or Sis, it's the same.
My sister's hand, which had felt a little colder than usual, is limp.
“Sis? You said you took your medicine. Sis?”
“H-huff… haah… h-hah…”
My sister's breathing is too labored and rapid.
It's completely different from when she'd slowly taken deep breaths at the supermarket.
She can't even lift her head from the table.
“Are you okay? Can't you speak? Sis? Sis?”
“Hos… h-huff…”
Hospital.
We have to get her to the hospital. Right now.