Ch.74My Brother (1)

After spending an entirely wholesome April Fool’s Day as young adults,

Do Hamin would still come straight to my house after school for kendo lessons,

then come up to my room where we’d study for exams together.

As the weather had fully transitioned into spring,

both Hamin and I would naturally be drenched in sweat after finishing a kendo session,

so before starting our study sessions, we’d both take quick showers.

After all, we couldn’t sit together at the same table

giving off that damp, humid smell of sweat.

There’s no way we could concentrate on studying.

For various reasons.

As a result, Hamin and I always carried the same scent of shampoo and body wash

when we entered my room to study.

Ah, of course we absolutely did not shower together.

Hamin used the shower in the converted bathroom at the dojo on the first floor, while I used the bathroom on the second floor.

We were clearly in separate rooms.

“Ah, that feels refreshing. Hamin, want something to drink while we study? I put that Zero Lime you brought earlier in the fridge—want to share it?”

“Thanks, but I’ll stick with the coffee I brought, just in case. I don’t want a repeat of last time where I fell asleep here. I’ve set alarms to match the train schedule this time.”

“Y-you’re so thorough…”

Though Hamin had decided to continue helping with my exam studies even after the April Fool’s Day incident,

one thing that had changed was that he had started putting up stronger boundaries than before, whether consciously or not.

In addition to the Zero Lime that served as payment for his kendo lessons,

Hamin started bringing coffee or caffeinated drinks from the convenience store.

This was to prevent the unfortunate incident of falling asleep during our study sessions.

On top of that, he showed remarkable dedication by setting minute-by-minute alarms

to ensure he’d wake up in time for the train, just in case he did fall asleep.

‘It’s fine, I know his password anyway, so if he falls asleep later I can just change it…’

“Just so you know, I’ve changed my phone password too, so don’t try to guess it wrong five times and lock my phone.”

“Ah, why?”

“So you were thinking about it after all…”

As an added measure, he even changed his phone password

to prevent me from unlocking it, changing his alarms, or sending messages pretending to be him,

like I had done before.

What a simple guy, using his birthday, January 1st, as his password.

Well, he probably changed it to his mother’s birthday or something similarly predictable.

With a little thought, I could probably figure it out, but…

“What are you doing? You need to focus on the problem. Why are you writing numbers that have nothing to do with the question?”

“I’m decoding a password.”

“We’re studying quadratic functions right now. Look at the problem, not my phone.”

“Tch.”

Given my previous offenses,

Hamin now made sure to keep his phone close at all times,

which meant I had no opportunity to crack his password.

“See? When you focus on the problems, you solve them quickly. Earlier you were stuck on just one problem.”

Of course, his boundaries didn’t mean he was creating distance or trying to get away from me.

If anything, our conversations flowed much more smoothly than before.

That is, provided I didn’t try to play tricks on him.

Compared to when I always had to initiate conversations and make suggestions, this was truly remarkable progress.

“Did I just do well?”

“Hm? Yeah… you solved it perfectly. Why?”

“If I did well, praise me more. Pat my head and tickle my chin too.”

“Eh… you’re not a puppy or a kitten, do I really have to go that far?”

“What, you don’t want to?”

“Ah, fine… I’ll do it. The, the door is properly closed, right?”

Hamin’s large hand rested on Miss Ban Do-young’s head and carefully moved in a clockwise direction.

The rotation and weight felt quite nice. It was calming.

Saying it like this makes me sound like a puppy,

but Hamin’s hands were not only large but also slightly warmer than average,

creating a pleasant sensation of warmth spreading throughout my body the moment he touched my head.

Perhaps due to his poor handwriting and frequent note-taking,

I could faintly feel the hardened callus on his ring finger.

Even that texture wasn’t unpleasant.

“What’s wrong…? Is something strange?”

“No, just keep going.”

Though he seemed somewhat awkward, Hamin naturally placed his hand on my head and stroked it.

Having crossed a major threshold through April Fool’s Day, Hamin no longer seemed so afraid of physical contact with Ban Do-young, the world’s most beautiful girl.

The proof was that his hands didn’t tremble

when stroking my head or touching my chin.

“What time did you go to bed yesterday?”

“Um… around 2 AM, I think.”

“So you only slept for three hours before rushing to school? You’ll die at this rate.”

“It’s fine. You know the saying—sleep three hours to pass, sleep four hours to fail.”

Hamin now stuttered and trembled much less when talking with me.

I suppose he’d become better at expressing his thoughts to Ban Do-young.

“My mom said they used to have that phrase posted above the blackboard when she was in school.”

“Ah, that. Come to think of it, I think we had that in my high school classroom too…”

“Huh? We had that in our classroom?”

“Hic!”

Sometimes I’d get too comfortable talking with Hamin,

and I’d blurt out whatever came to mind, including stories from before my possession.

It’s fortunate that Hamin didn’t get suspicious, though there were a few dangerous moments.

Still, the fact that he didn’t try to distance himself from me might mean that he had secretly accepted wanting to be close to Ban Do-young.

“Did you fool your mom well last time? Hehe. I even sent her a text saying ‘I love you.'”

“Yeah… I managed to cover it up. Mom thinks I sent that text you sent. Of, of course, today I’m going straight home after finishing the planned material! I won’t make the same mistake again.”

“Our Hamin has become such a delinquent. Proudly saying you’ll deceive your parents.”

“…It’s all because of you. If we’re being honest, this all started because you said you didn’t want to do the mandatory evening study sessions.”

“That’s true… So what do you want to do? Should we go back to how things were? With what you’ve taught me, I think I can reach my target score even without you supervising me.”

“…”

Hamin hesitated to answer.

Well, if he had wanted to distance himself from me, he could have told his parents about what happened on April Fool’s Day

and cut off this relationship long ago.

In a way, Ban Do-young was the perpetrator in all this,

and Hamin was the victim who had been played with, a toy in Ban Do-young’s game.

“What do you think? It’s good for you because you can go back to being a model student, and it’s good for me because I don’t have to bring your ugly face to my room every day. Right?”

“…No, I want to stay like this until the exams are over.”

But despite everything, Hamin chose to stay by my side.

“Really? You want to stay by my side even if it means deceiving your mom and sensei? You filial traitor.”

“It’s because you keep trying to veer off into other topics whenever I let my guard down. As we agreed, I’ll stay until the midterms are over. That’s what we decided from the beginning, so I’m not running away in the middle.”

“Hooh… I’ve seen countless authors who say that and then pull a hiatus.”

“Are you the one who actually wants to run away…?”

“Wh-what! Do you think the great Ban Do-young would run away from someone like you? Who do you think you are?”

“If you don’t want to run away, then finish solving this problem. Your hand stopped moving.”

Hamin casually brushed off my question about whether he wanted to get away from me

and redirected my attention back to the problem he had created.

“Ugh… how did you figure out I didn’t want to study? Damn, my mind has been violated…”

“Don’t use that kind of language carelessly. This is exactly why I have to stay with you. What if you write something like that in an essay answer? I’d be implicated as the weird person who taught you.”

“I-I know where to draw the line, okay?”

“Well, I hope so…”

The invisible wall Hamin had put up against Ban Do-young wasn’t meant for escape.

Rather, it was more like a preventive measure to avoid situations he couldn’t take responsibility for.

A mental wall to avoid being swept away by his instincts

and to prevent harm to both himself and Miss Ban Do-young.

And beyond that, there was also the author’s wall

to maintain the all-ages rating of this webtoon.

An attitude of trying to avoid situations where they couldn’t hold each other accountable.

In some ways, it might seem like he’s being a coward trying to avoid risks, but in my case, it felt somewhat different.

“And don’t mockingly call me a model student… Didn’t you say you’d keep calling me Hamin?”

I don’t want to start a relationship driven by instinct.

I want to build a serious relationship from the same level, on equal footing.

“I’ll keep my promise until the end, so you keep doing what you decided too.”

“What I decided…?”

“…To call me Hamin until the day you die.”

“Oh, ohh…”

That’s probably what our cherry boy Hamin is thinking.

If so, as the main heroine, I have no choice but to comply with his request.

“Keep working on that problem. I’m going to the bathroom for a moment.”

“The, the bathroom?”

“Why… why are you looking at me with such round eyes?”

“Number one? Number two?”

“…Number one.”

“Really just number one? Not actually number two?”

“Wh-what are you trying to say?”

I’ve also had one change since the April Fool’s Day incident.

I’ve developed an interest in what’s inside Hamin’s pants, something I had no interest in before.

To put it crudely,

I’ve become incredibly curious.

What exactly does that guy’s thing look like?