episode_0026

The sound of my heart pounding as it touched my lover’s body was transmitted to me.

Sarang, who had called Arami by her name without any particular reason, seemed very nervous at seeing her get so angry.

“… Let go of love.”

“Why are you over it? I was just having fun with my love.”

“I told you to let go.”

“Oh my, I don’t understand.”

The eyes of the beautiful girl who was looking at me were burning brightly.

I could see his shoulders shaking as if he was still harboring those shitty thoughts from earlier.

“Dear, are you upset because of me?”

“Oh, no… I was just, uh, embarrassed… because I washed my hair this morning, so I thought it would really stink now… Sis, I’m, really okay.”

As Sarang spoke while still in my arms, Arami seemed to have nothing more to say.

I was fine like this, so there was no point in making a fuss here.

“Sigh… .”

With a sigh that felt like the house was going to collapse, Arami bit her gums and turned around.

And then he slammed the door shut with a bang and disappeared into the room.

“Ah… What should I do? I think my sister is really angry.”

“Why are you mad? We were having fun, weren’t we?”

“Ah, this isn’t fun! Let me go now… .”

After dealing with that tough girl every day, I was once again struck by the fact that I had such a cute younger sibling who I loved so much.

I hug Sarang closer to my arms, rest my chin on his forehead, and rub my face.

“You don’t like it? You’re not going to let it go?”

“Ah… Really… .”

And now, a slightly blurry memory of the past came to mind.

“… Are you still ticklish?”

My love, who had come to our house to play with my uncle, cried and made a fuss, saying that she wanted to play with me and Arami more when I told her that we were going to go home.

Every time that happened, the man who had been quietly watching started tickling Sarangi’s side, and soon Sarangi’s loud laughter filled the whole house.

“Oh, no! I don’t get ticklish… .”

But, at my words, Sarangi’s body already began to flinch.

“Really?”

“Eek!”

All I did was raise my index finger and pretend to poke her in the side, but Sarang-i jumped in surprise.

“Ha, don’t do that! I told you I really don’t get ticklish… ?”

“Hehehe. Okay. Just kidding, just kidding.”

Love takes a deep breath as if she believes my words perfectly.

“Hggyaaak!!”

I didn’t miss that gap.

Cook- Sarang’s whole body twisted at the pricking finger.

And although she seemed to be struggling to escape from my arms, it was impossible for her to escape my firm hold on her, and so the living room was filled with her laughter like before.

“Heehee… Heh, heh heh… P, please… Heekyaaak!!”

“Hehehe, it’s the same as before. Love, you’ve only gotten bigger?”

“Oh, no! Gyaaang!”

“Is that right?”

“Oh, that’s right! That’s right, please, ha, hahahaha!”

Sarang eventually burst into idiotic laughter and collapsed in my arms.

“So what, I won?”

“Haa… Haa, huh… We’ve never even fought before… .”

I sat Sarang-i back down on the sofa with a satisfied expression on my face, who was sobbing and exhausted.

“Oh, I forgot to order the delivery of Love to Play with You.”

“Ugh… I never asked you to play with me… .”

“So you don’t like chicken, cheese balls, and wedge potatoes?”

“… I’d like a large cola.”

I also burst out laughing at the determined voice of Sarang who said she would pack everything she needed to pack.

“Kuhaha, hahahaha! Okay. I’ll, hehe… do it all.”

“Whew… They say there’s no such thing as a free lunch, but I feel like I’ve earned it with my body.”

“Oh my, you little thing is talking nonsense. Do you want to try hitting me with your body for real?”

“Ah, nooo!! I, I really don’t have any strength right now? So, ha, please just let me see this once.”

He chuckled at Sarang’s playful appearance and the sudden change in her appearance, and then delivered everything Sarang wanted.

“It’ll take 30 minutes. Should I watch TV?”

“Yeah… I just want to sit still and watch TV… .”

“If anyone heard me, they’d think I was really bullying them.”

Sarang shook her head slightly from side to side at my words and buried her back deeper into the sofa.

“Ah… But, what about you, Unnie? I think you misunderstood me earlier… .”

“Okay, she’s not a kid, so she’ll do whatever she wants. I’ll call her later when the chicken comes. What should I watch on TV?”

“… I have some dramas that I’ve been putting off, can I watch them by linking my ID?”

“Oh, of course it’s okay.”

“Hehehe… Thank you.”

I gently handed the remote control over to my very polite lover.

Sarang bowed her head to me again and smiled brightly.

And I quietly stroke Sarangi’s head.

He smiled at her fingers digging through her soft hair and at her small, trembling movements.

“Ah… … .”

Sarang’s open mouth slowly closed, and soon the corners of her mouth rose upward.

The expression on his face seemed brighter than ever, but it made my heart ache for no reason.

Surely, Sarang must have spent days crying and whining, and even now, her heart is rotten and torn, and she may break at any moment.

It was the same for Arami this year.

I tried to pretend that I was okay in front of my parents and I, but I would secretly wipe away my tears in my room or bathroom.

Because of those memories, the hands that stroked Sarangi were even more careful.

I continued to caress it as if I was touching something precious, and I was cherishing it so that it wouldn’t break.

“I, I… TV… .”

“Uh… Look. Look as much as you want.”

“Cow, hand… a little… .”

This time, Sarang’s face turned as red as a carrot.

I tried to recall the old memories that had faded away again.

The fog that had been clouding my mind slowly disperses in the gentle breeze, and my memories gradually become clearer.

“Ah! I remembered. I remember when you got mad at me when I patted your head before… .”

“Ah… That, that’s… .”

“That? Do you remember?”

Even back then, my face turned this red.

And I remember him running away screaming at me.

“Back then… My brother, I, I kept treating me like a kid, so that’s why I did that… .”

I don’t remember the exact time, but it must have been when Sarang was in elementary school.

Even now, I feel like a child to you, so I’m sure my treatment back then wasn’t wrong.

“Ha! You were a kid then and now, right?”

“Oh, no! I’m going to be an adult soon… And I’ve grown up a lot!”

Sarang-i got angry and shouted quite loudly.

He also jumped up from his seat, and it seemed as if the wind was blowing from his nose.

“Really? I don’t think so.”

“Oh, really? I mean, I really grew a lot, right?”

“Really? Look back.”

“… Yes?”

“Turn around. Look back. Even Kira.”

“Ah… Yes!”

Love who turns around quickly at my words.

And I put my back to Sarang and reached out my hand.

“Oh… But will it reach my chin? Look back again.”

The palms of my hands were positioned at the base of Sarang’s head and the base of my neck.

It looked similar to Arami’s year, but I thought that if I did well, I could be bigger than Arami.

“Yes, yes?”

“Turn around again.”

I grabbed the shoulder of the person I was talking about and spun him around 180 degrees.

Then, Sarang’s long hair fluttered in the air, and soon they faced each other.

“Oh, you’re really taller than Arami?”

“Ah, uh uh… … .”

Sarang’s crown was located just below my chin.

I remember that Arami was a little smaller than this year.

But, although he had clearly grown a lot in size, he was still a child to me.

“Still, a kid is still a kid. Has the ink on your ID card dried?”

“Ah… Uh, Uh… Yes?”

“Hehehe, no. I’m joking, I’m joking. Let’s watch the drama again.”

I grabbed Sarang’s waist, who was still standing there dumbfounded, and sat her back down on the sofa.

“… Don’t you watch dramas?”

“Ah! Look, I’ll see… .”

After looking at each other for a while in silence, Sarangi is startled by my question.

I wondered if I had done something wrong, but there was absolutely no clue.

I began to worry that maybe I was being too friendly when we met after such a long time.

I did it out of joy, but it suddenly occurred to me that from Love’s perspective, it might seem like I was being too pushy.

“You said you were going to stay at my house?”

“… Yes.”

“Where do you go to school?”

Anyway, he was my younger brother.

What if it’s a little awkward now… I spoke to Sarang again, little by little, slowly, with the intention of approaching her like that.

“Oh, it’s close. But, my father’s company is in the opposite direction, and I have to take the bus to school. Did you check the time?”

“Ah! Yes. Huh, I checked… .”

“It’ll take some time to commute to school. I have to wake up early in the morning.”

“Yes… I’m a little worried because I sleep a lot.”

“Then, what about the academy? You didn’t go to the academy?”

“Ah… I contacted my teacher at the academy… I told her that I wanted to rest for a bit… .”

Sarang tried hard to give me a bright expression.

However, the sadness contained in the voice that gradually became hoarse could not be hidden.

“Oh? That’s good. Then come hang out here after school. Oh, or do you want to just stay here? It’s close to school, so that might be better.”

It was something I said without thinking.

It was something that just came out without any thought.

And I thought that Sarangi couldn’t do that.

“… … Is that okay?”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Excuse me, is it really okay for me to stay here with you?”

“Ah… … .”

I was surprised by the unexpected reaction and my words trailed off.

And as I was deciding what to say to Sarang’s expression that was darkening in an instant, my mouth opened again on its own.

“Then, of course it’s okay. But, but I have to ask my parents and him, him… .”

I pointed my finger towards the room of A-reum, the girl I’m living with now.

“Wow! Really? Really? Then I just need to get your permission, right?”

“Uh, yeah. Of course. I like it.”

Since I couldn’t take back the words I had already said, and because Sarang’s expression had brightened incomparably to before, I smiled awkwardly.