Chapter 53
“Phew….”
Some time later, it was 9:00 a.m. the next morning.
Hyeonwoo was pulling himself together while smoking a cigarette on the balcony, something he hadn't done in nearly six months.
“...That was too stimulating.”
Dark circles hung heavily beneath Hyeonwoo's eyes as he blew smoke from his mouth.
He sighed and exhaled cigarette smoke, his face looking utterly exhausted and worn out.
He hadn't slept all night because of the image of Seolhwa's naked body in nothing but a shirt, which had been seared so deeply into his mind the previous night.
He didn't know why Seolhwa had been dressed like that, since she hadn't told him, but the sight had been perfectly imprinted in Hyeonwoo's eyes.
“...She was cute.”
When he realized that he had fallen even more in love with her because she had looked cute rather than sexy, he became aware that he really had fallen for Seolhwa.
At the same time, Hyeonwoo was overcome by a deep disgust at the fact that he was a lolicon.
“Cough…. Maybe my body doesn't handle cigarettes well after such a long break….”
Since his body seemed to reject cigarettes after nearly half a year, Hyeonwoo couldn't suppress a severe coughing fit, so he put out the rest and returned to his room.
“...I should wake Seolhwa.”
Before his thoughts gave him an even worse headache, Hyeonwoo decided to stop thinking and wake Seolhwa first so he could get through his morning schedule properly.
He sprayed some odor-neutralizing cologne to get rid of the cigarette smell lingering around him, then entered his older sister's room, where Seolhwa was sleeping, to eat breakfast with her.
“Mmph….”
Upon entering the room, Hyeonwoo found Seolhwa sleeping peacefully and breathing softly, the exact opposite of his own exhausted appearance.
Unfortunately, she had changed into a hoodie instead of a shirt.
“Haaahm….”
“......”
Normally, Hyeonwoo would have woken Seolhwa immediately, but for some reason, he simply observed her sleeping soundly.
The side profile of the person he loved, sleeping so comfortably in a completely defenseless state.
Perhaps she was having a pleasant dream, because Seolhwa wore a faint smile, filling his complicated mind with dopamine.
Before, he had simply thought, ‘She must be sleeping comfortably!’ But after realizing that he loved her, even that sight felt different.
Sleeping.
Walking.
Eating ice cream.
Every single one of those things she did was adorable.
“...It would've been nice if Seolhwa were an ordinary girl.”
But Hyeonwoo soon felt a little regret that he couldn't honestly convey these feelings to her.
Hyeonwoo liked Seolhwa.
But regardless of how Hyeonwoo felt, Seolhwa had her own perspective.
Hyeonwoo found it virtually impossible to make the hopeful assumption that Seolhwa liked him simply because he liked her.
Although Hyeonwoo had come to see Seolhwa as a member of the opposite sex because of her appearance and the things she did, from Seolhwa's perspective, Hyeonwoo was still just the same-sex friend she'd always known….
...At least, that was what Hyeonwoo thought.
“Even if I confessed…. Seolhwa would only feel awkward.”
From Seolhwa's perspective, someone she'd always regarded as being the same sex as herself was confessing that he liked her in her changed form.
He would definitely be rejected, and their relationship would be ruined forever.
At least, Hyeonwoo thought so.
So Hyeonwoo decided to remain by Seolhwa's side as her friend and watch her smile happily from beside her.
To stay by her side as nothing more than a friend and be part of her life.
Until someday, when Seolhwa had grown up in her own way and started a family of her own-
“...No, I don't like that.”
Thinking of Seolhwa starting a family with someone else filled him with a powerful sense of rejection.
If that happened, he would fail to confess to the person he loved first and let someone else take her away.
He hated that more than anything.
Even though he knew it couldn't happen, he still didn't want anyone to take her away.
Those contradictory feelings plunged Hyeonwoo into deep anguish once again.
Love really was a complicated emotion.
Ding-dong-
“Huh?”
Just then, the intercom in the living room suddenly rang.
“Who could that be…?”
There was no one among Hyeonwoo's acquaintances who would come to his house this early in the morning.
So when he checked the intercom screen to see who it was, Hyeonwoo couldn't contain his shock.
“S-Sis…?”
The figure on the intercom was a woman with yellow-dyed hair tied to one side and a mature figure.
...And, in complete contrast to that, she was a strange woman wearing odd sunglasses and smiling brightly like a child.
It was Hyeonwoo's older sister, Lee Hyunjin.
“Why now of all times….”
Rather than welcoming his sister, who had returned from America at the worst possible time, Hyeonwoo could only stare at her in shock.
“I knew she'd be back around now…! But why today of all days…?”
Hyeonwoo had also thought that it was probably about time for his sister to return.
That was why he had been slightly flustered and hesitant when Seolhwa said she would stay for one night, but….
He had figured there was no way his sister would return on that exact day, so he let Seolhwa stay anyway.
And that unlikely possibility had become reality.
“Could've at least texted me that you were coming back….”
If she had sent him a text the day before, he could have done something somehow….
He tried blaming his sister for suddenly returning without sending a message, but soon realized it was pointless.
Hyeonwoo knew his sister well enough.
If it was his sister Hyunjin, she was exactly the kind of person who would show up at home without saying anything, calling it a surprise….
“What am I supposed to do...?”
The biggest problem was that Seolhwa was currently asleep in the house—or rather, in Hyunjin's room—wearing nothing but Hyeonwoo's hoodie.
When Seolhwa's brother had come last time, Minjun had seen Hyeonwoo and Seolhwa alone together and mistakenly thought they were a couple living together.
On top of that, he had mistaken Hyeonwoo for a lolicon and looked at him with disgust….
So if his sister caught Seolhwa in this state, it was sure to become a huge hassle.
‘Damn, what do I do…?’
Ding-dong, ding-dong-
“Urk….”
With his social standing on the line, Hyeonwoo was agonizing over what to do, but he still didn't come out.
"Just call me already…!"
Hyunjin kept pressing the doorbell, determined to carry out her surprise even though it had already been discovered, and Hyeonwoo trembled with exasperation, feeling he might go insane.
If the doorbell kept ringing like this, even Seolhwa, who was a heavy sleeper in the morning, would wake up, and the situation would obviously become even more complicated.
“I have to do something somehow….”
Hyeonwoo thought about how he could get through this situation safely, but no good solution came to mind.
Meanwhile, the bell continued ringing, and he had no choice but to trudge toward the front door.
======
"YO- At last, your big sis has returned from America, little bro!"
As soon as he cautiously opened the door, Hyunjin announced her return with an inexplicable amount of energy, as though she had been waiting for him.
She looked as if she expected him to be startled by her surprise and happily welcome her back.
"Uh…. Oh, yeah, you're back, Sis…."
But Hyeonwoo had no time to worry about such trivial matters.
His mind was filled entirely with thoughts of how to get through this situation without letting Seolhwa be discovered.
"What the…. It's been ages since you've seen your sister. Aren't you happy to see me?"
Hyunjin seemed a little sulky when Hyeonwoo gave such a lukewarm reaction to the surprise she had prepared.
So Hyeonwoo forced a smile and tried to welcome his sister warmly.
"No, no, I'm happy to see you. Yeah, really happy."
It was a lie.
Right now, Hyeonwoo felt like sending his sister straight back to America.
"Oh, yes, yes. A little brother who reacts so lukewarmly doesn't get a present."
Hyunjin instantly saw that his smile was forced and, sulking at her boring little brother, tried to go straight into her room, but-
"Wait."
Hyeonwoo stretched out his arm and stopped Hyunjin from going to her room.
"...What? I'm tired from the long trip, okay? So move your arm and get out of the way."
After such a long flight, Hyunjin wanted to sleep in her room as soon as possible, but Hyeonwoo stood firm in front of the door without moving, like a wall.
"Um…."
Hyeonwoo racked his brain, trying to think of a way to keep his sister out of the house, but….
"Rather than going straight inside…. How about we walk around outside for a bit before coming in…?"
"Huh?"
No matter how hard he thought, he couldn't come up with an answer, so he ended up throwing out an unreasonable suggestion.
Hyunjin stared at him as if asking what kind of stupid thing he was saying.
"No…. I thought going out together as siblings once in a while would be nice for reaffirming our family bond…."
"I've had plenty of outings already, haven't I?"
Hyeonwoo desperately made up excuses to keep Hyunjin from entering the house, but they had little effect on her when all she wanted was to go lie down in her room right now.
"Or you could go back to America right now!"
"I literally just got back to Korea…?"
Anyone could tell that Hyeonwoo was trying to hide something as he continued acting awkwardly and preventing her from entering the house.
"...Are you hiding something in the house?"
"...I'm not hiding anything."
Hyeonwoo denied it for the time being, but the slight pauses in his replies were practically an admission that he was lying.
"Hmm…."
Hyunjin quickly realized Hyeonwoo was lying, and as she pondered what her little brother might be hiding-
"Aha…. I think I know what you're hiding."
"H-hiding something…."
At Hyunjin's smile, which seemed to show that she had figured everything out, Hyeonwoo felt a chill run down his spine.
"You…. You did something suspicious in my room, didn't you?"
“Urk….”
Since Hyeonwoo had hidden Seolhwa in Hyunjin's room, he couldn't help panicking the moment she brought up the room.
Just as he wondered whether he had been found out, judging by Hyunjin's eyes, which seemed to have noticed everything-
"Yeah…. You're a man too. You might get aroused by your beautiful big sis."
"What…?"
But perhaps it was because they were siblings after all.
Hyunjin was somehow just as romantically oblivious as Hyeonwoo, and she ended up making a spectacularly wrong assumption.
"Hehehe... Don't worry, Hyeonwoo. Your big sis can understand everything. What can you do? My overflowing beauty even bewitched my little brother. It's not your fault."
"Haha…. That's funny, Sis."
The woman Hyeonwoo had fallen for was the exact opposite of this narcissistic sister, but Hyunjin seemed to have mistaken him for a siscon who had fallen for her.
"But we're siblings, so I can never accept those feelings of yours. So fold those feelings away neatly."
Watching Hyunjin spout nonsense with a benevolent look in her eyes, Hyeonwoo wanted to tell her to stop deluding herself because he had no intention of folding up his feelings, but he decided to keep quiet for now.
"I'm very understanding, so don't worry! As long as you don't put your hands on little girls, your big sis can forgive you.
"Hahahaha…."
Hyeonwoo could only listen in a cold sweat as his sister mentioned that one exception.
Because someone who could easily lead to such a misunderstanding was sleeping in Hyunjin's room-
“Mmm…. Hyeonu….”
“Huh?”
“Eek…?!”
But then.
The voice of the one person Hyeonwoo absolutely couldn't let be heard right now came from behind him.
Anxious, he slowly turned his head-
"It's morning…. Yaaawn…. Why is it so noisy…?"
There stood Seolhwa, rubbing her sleepy eyes.
“Uh…?”
Hyunjin tilted her head to the side, trying to identify the voice and see whether someone else was in the house.
And the figure she caught a glimpse of was a blue-haired girl with a somewhat young-looking face, wearing only a top that looked as though it might slip off and looking sleepy.
‘What the? A child...? More importantly, why is she wearing only a hoodie….’
At that moment, Hyunjin's brain, steeped in countless romance manga, began racing as she tried to figure out what was happening.
There was a fully grown adult man in an otherwise empty house and a young-looking girl.
And the girl looked extremely sleepy and was wearing her little brother's ill-fitting hoodie.
Putting all of that together-
‘Could it be that my little brother brought a child like that home and did those kinds of things…?!’
For all that rapid reasoning, she had arrived at a spectacularly wrong conclusion.
“S-Seolhwa, get into the room for now…. Kheup!”
Hyeonwoo hurriedly tried to usher Seolhwa into the room, but before he could, his sister grabbed him by the collar.
“There are lines a person must not cross….”
“S-Sis…?”
Hyunjin's dead-eyed, terrifying expression sent a chill down Hyeonwoo's spine.
"And a grown adult touching a child like that is jumping rope with those lines!"
"I-I mean, it's a misunderstanding…."
"No explanations needed!!"
"Guh…!!"
Hyunjin, who had badly misunderstood the situation, began beating her little brother indiscriminately, declaring that trash had to be removed from the world.
“Mmm….”
Meanwhile, this was what Seolhwa saw as she watched the scene.
When she came out to see what was making so much noise, Hyeonwoo was being beaten by his sister.
"Was that a dream…."
Seolhwa decided this must be some kind of bizarre dream and returned to her room.