episode_0103

33. But it has to be him… (2)

I approached him and hit him on the head with a ‘thud!’ to calm him down, as he was shaking so hard that the room was shaking.

I grabbed my brother, who was about to collapse, and moved him to the sofa where he was sitting.

” Second brother… No matter what, it’s like that for the patient… ”

” Oh! Don’t worry, I’ll cure everything! ”

While I was treating my brother, who had passed out for a moment after taking a tranquilizer, the door opened and a woman came in.

” What’s going on?! Ouch! ”

” It was just something that happened between family members. It’s nothing. Just tell the outsiders that the earthquake occurred because of the Namsan Tower. Okay? ”

” Oh, okay! I understand. ”

She went out as instructed by Jia. I looked at Jia as if asking who she was.

” She’s just a friend who helps me and my oldest brother. But really… are we dating? ”

” Yeah… We haven’t been dating for very long, but… ”

” Hmm, so that means you were building a wall until then? ”

I just smiled faintly at Gia who asked me that.

” Sigh… ”

” Hehe… I didn’t know it until now… but actually, from the beginning… I might have fallen in love. The goddess who made me into a woman’s body is a little crazy. ”

” I know. I heard it earlier. So are you okay? It could be a forced, manipulated emotion… ”

” Hmm… No, that’s not it. Really. Even if she’s a crazy goddess, she wouldn’t be that crazy. It’s just that I fell for him so quickly.

In the end, falling for him was… my choice and my feelings were right. ”

I looked at Jia and spoke firmly. She nodded as if she understood.

” Well, I guess he’s not a bad friend. Should I call you Oppa… No, Unnie now? Or… Little Sister? ”

” Of course it’s my sister… ”

” I’m 28 now. ”

” Already, you’ve grown so much…”

” I see that you’ve decided to turn 22 now… Hmm~ ”

Jia calculated her age and mine, then smiled meaningfully and asked me.

” But, you still haven’t told your boyfriend… that you were originally a guy, right? ”

” What?! Why… tell me that! You can’t! ”

” Right? Then, if we’re family, then oppa is now… my ‘sister’? ”

” What…? ”

Little sister…? I couldn’t understand what on earth Jia was trying to say. But soon, when I remembered talking about age, goosebumps ran down my back.

” Oh… No…? Huh? Ji-ah…? ”

” You should call me ‘Jia Unnie.’ not ‘Jia.’ Okay? If you don’t want to get caught by your boyfriend~ ”

” Ugh… you…! ”

As he was glaring at Jia, who was telling him to call her older sister, his brother, who had been unconscious, woke up.

” Then, I guess I should call you ‘oppa’? Okay? ”

” Haha! Is that so? From now on, I should call my eldest brother ‘Oppa’ instead of ‘Hyung’. Huh? What do you think? Charlotte~ ”

” Oh my… Really… ”

I was so angry at the sight of the two of them teasing each other… but then I remembered that they had teased me like this before, and a small smile formed on my face.

” Haa, really, those two haven’t changed at all even though they’ve aged. Yeah, I got it. ”

” Really? Yay! The youngest is finally escaping! ”

Jia smiled and hugged me as if she was happy, and Hyung… no, Jisung oppa… hey… anyway, oppa looked at us like that and asked me as if he remembered something.

” Oh, so who is the guy that ‘corrupted’ you? ”

Oh my god, I thought you forgot…!

*****

After that, we created the setting by reorganizing our titles for each other.

I am now the youngest of the two, ‘Yoo Ji-soo’. The ‘younger sister’ I was separated from when I was very young.

Ah! Of course, the fact that he was a man… is our secret.

” My little sister, you beat this big sister to get a boyfriend~ So where did you go? Huh? ”

” What?! Why… why are you asking something like that?! ”

” Hmm, looking at that reaction… you already kissed, did you finish it already? ”

At those words, I saw a tongue breaking the stone floating in my hand with a ‘cracking’ sound… no, I saw my brother’s figure.

” Kkeu… I haven’t done it yet… ”

” Wow~ Then, then? How far? Huh? ”

Jia clung to me like a little child who found something funny and started asking questions, while my brother just watched and destroyed something.

” Before I met you two… I wanted to protect even the little memories I had left… ”

As I turned my head away from their gaze and scratched my cheek, Jia stroked my head.

” Huh~ It’s great. But, does that mean… if we weren’t here, you would’ve just attacked your boyfriend? ”

” Ugh… T, that’s not right… ”

Suddenly, my brother got up from the sofa, opened the door, and went out.

” Okay, I should go see that guy quickly. ”

” Hey, wait! What are you going to do! ”

As I ran quickly and grabbed his arm, he looked sad.

” Ugh, I don’t want to let my little brother go yet…! ”

” Tongue… no, oppa… ”

” I’ll do it on behalf of my parents… I’ll stop it! ”

He said, hitting his brother’s head.

” At that time, you should find a partner too. Don’t block other people’s paths. ”

As if shocked by what had happened to me, this time he approached Zia and started crying.

” Our youngest is already… ”

” Oh, stop fooling around and hurry up and go. I have to meet you again and… talk. ”

Ji-ah pushed her brother away and headed towards the room where Hyun-seok and Yeon-seo were. Behind her, her brother was slowly approaching, slumping down.

Still, we were glad that the three of us could spend time talking to each other like this, and as we headed to our rooms, we had time to talk about the times when we were apart.

Time goes back to what I thought I would never have again.

The broken wristwatch in his pocket has stopped.

As if to say, Yu Ji-seok’s perspective ends here.

The clock on the device on my wrist ticks away.

Yujisoo. As Charlotte, her perspective will continue in the future.

*****

When we arrived at the room, Hyunseok had already finished showering and was wearing clothes and wrapping his hair with a towel.

We suddenly opened the door and appeared, and her eyes were wide open through the towel, as if she was surprised by our presence.

” Charlotte? Right? ”

” Oh, so… ”

While I was trying to explain to him, Ji-seong Oppa suddenly approached him and grabbed him by the collar.

” You’re the guy who stole my little brother? ”

” Huh?! What are you talking about all of a sudden…! ”

” Oh, Oppa! Stop it! What are you doing! Hyunseok, are you hurt anywhere? Huh? ”

I pushed my brother away who was grabbing my collar, held Hyunseok in my arms, and glared at my brother.

” Seriously, I told you earlier. I decided not to do this..! ”

” Sorry, but if you were going to take my little brother… you had to do something like this…! ”

When I glared at him, saying, “Tingle!”, my brother avoided my gaze and whistled. Then, suddenly, Hyunseok tapped my back, and I let go of the man I was holding.

” Phew, I thought I was going to die from the suffocation in my chest… ”

” Oh, that… Sorry. ”

” No, it’s okay. It was… good… ”

As he spoke with his face turning red, I felt embarrassed and just lowered my head.

‘Ugh… When Hyunseok says that, my body feels a little hot…’

As Hyunseok and I remained still, Yeonseo stroked my head.

” Our Bul-yeosi… Let’s stop with dirty thoughts and why are you two here? And what do you mean by being siblings? ”

When Yeonseo told me to stop having dirty thoughts, my gaze turned to her and I buried my face in Hyunseok’s arms.

Of course, my brother and Jia, who were watching that… My sister was looking at me as if she had seen something she shouldn’t have seen.

” Hey there! ”

At Yeonseo’s call, the two looked at her and began to explain the reason they had come to see her and tell her about me.

” Oh, sorry. Um, so… ”

” It’s Yeonseo. Seo Yeonseo. ”

” Yeonseo? Ah~ You’re Yeonwoo’s younger sister who leads Garam Settlement, right? Yes, my older sister bragged about her younger sister a lot, and it was worth it. ”

” Are you my sister…? No, let’s talk about my sister, so are you and Charlotte siblings? ”

” That’s right. The sister you lost a long time ago. Charlotte, who Yujisu and you have been living with. ”

” Hmm, really? ”

Yeonseo looked at me as if she couldn’t believe me and asked, and I nodded and answered yes.

” I’ve been in this world for so long… My memories have faded… I wanted to tell you. It’s just that the timing… ”

” Okay. Tell me more later. Chi… We’re friends… ”

Yeonseo, who was avoiding my gaze as if embarrassed, asked her brother and sister again…

” Well, I guess Charlotte is your sister. So why did you come to us? ”

” Just look at the face of the guy who made my little brother his own….sob! ”

Ji-sung oppa suddenly falls over while holding his side, and Ji-ah unnie stands next to him and strikes an elbow.

” Sigh, the story really isn’t progressing. Hmm… Our first impression… wasn’t good, was it…? I apologize. ”

As Ji-ah bowed her head and apologized to Hyun-seok and Yeon-seo, the two looked at each other and nodded, and Hyun-seok opened his mouth.

” It’s okay. We understand. The situation is pretty serious right now. ”

” Thanks for saying that. Well, let’s sit down and talk… But what is that smell…? ”

I lowered my head and stayed still as my sister sniffed the air with her nose, ‘sniff, sniff’… and Hyunseok hugged me as I was.

” Haha… Something… happened yesterday. ”

” Ah… I, I see… Ahem. ”

” Ugh… ”

Yeonseo was laughing with her mouth covered, and Ji-ah… seemed to have noticed something happened to me and Hyun-seok, and her face turned red…

We sat across from Jia, who was sitting on the sofa with her brother Ji-sung.

In the suddenly quiet atmosphere, I was so embarrassed that I lowered my head and leaned against Hyunseok’s embrace, praying for time to pass quietly.

We could only hear each other’s breathing, but the only thing that resonated in my ears was Hyunseok’s heartbeat. Perhaps because I was tired from yesterday, I just fell asleep… in his arms.