The Sister’s Perspective – 2

February 28th. Weather: Clear.

On that evening, with middle school entrance just around the corner, I suddenly received a call from Ye-rin.

“UmmYe-rin, I’m just asking out of curiosity, but are you being serious right now…?”

“Would that be a problem…?”

—Of course it would…!

Neither Ye-rin nor I, nor my Oppa or Jin-hyuk Oppa are strangers to each other.

When Ye-rin suggested that we go to school separately and have lunch separately, I was beyond surprised—I was amazed.

…What is this, are you trying to mark your territory?

I really, reaaaally like the usual Ye-rin…!

That mature and calm girl—I don’t understand why she goes haywire like a broken truck whenever it comes to my Oppa…

If I had clearly said “that’s a bit…” here, it was obvious she would try to persuade me with all sorts of reasons she had prepared before calling.

But Ye-rin.

Although I might not have earned Ye-rin Certification Level 1 because I was pushed aside by someone, I think of myself as Level 2, you know?

Based on my experience, with Ye-rin at times like this, I needed to offer a compromise rather than saying “no.”

“It’s not so much a problemhow about we move together two days a week? We haven’t had many chances to hang out as a group of four!”

“… Two days?”

“Yes, yes! The rest of the time, we can do as you said—I’ll go with Jin-hyuk Oppa, and you with my Oppa. What do you think~?”

At my suggestion, Ye-rin made a small sound, going “Umm…” as if she was contemplating.

…Is this really something to think about so hard? I thought, but it was a familiar aspect of my friend that I was used to, so I waited patiently. Soon, Ye-rin carefully spoke up.

“……Would one day be enough?”

Huhu, that’s so like Ye-rin.

Does Ye-rin know?

That I suggested two days from the beginning because I knew she would react this way.

Given Ye-rin’s personality, she wouldn’t ignore my opinion, so I thought if I said two days, she might compromise at about one day~ And indeed.

Ye-rin might get angry if she knew my real thoughts.

But what can I do?

To deal with Ye-rin, who can be endlessly troublesome when it comes to my Oppa, I had to become troublesome too.

After secretly finishing our conversation, which some of the parties involved didn’t know about.

I sent a message to Jin-hyuk Oppa asking to walk to school together on the first day of school.

—Ah, was Jin-hyuk Oppa looking at his phone?

He replied immediately saying yes.

He probably thinks all four of us are going together?

I couldn’t help but smile as I imagined both Oppas being surprised on that day.

What should I say~? Something like “Oppa had somewhere to go, so he left first” should be fine, right?

I would feel guilty if I put too much effort into lying to Jin-hyuk Oppa as if I were really lying, so this level of flimsy excuse was just right.

Of course, my Oppa, the victim of this lie, would be a bit confused…

But still, Oppa would prefer to go with Ye-rin alone anyway, so yes.

So, Oppa. I’m counting on you that day, okay?♡

**

April 1st. Weather: Cloudy.

Sigh.

“Hey, first-year.”

…I never thought this would happen to me?

I had imagined it in my head, but I didn’t think it would actually happen.

“Crazy bitch, look at her not answering.”

“Ha, do you not have a mouth?”

I wasn’t speechless because I was scared of the situation, but because it was so absurd.

A classmate told me that two second-year female seniors were calling for me, so I wondered what it was about and went out to the hallway. There stood two seniors who had clearly dressed up as if to say “please pick on me~”.

Since I had never seen either senior before, I asked why they called me, and they told me to follow them first, so I did.

I was dumbfounded by what came out of the mouth of Female Senior #1, who was wearing thick lip balm that didn’t suit her at all.

“Why do you keep flirting with our Jin-hyuk, you crazy bitch?”

“…Me?”

“Meeee~? Look at her acting up.”

“Oh my, look at her eyes. Are you crazy, for real?”

From the start, as if they had some disease where they had to laugh after every sentence, the two seniors kept giggling among themselves and cursing as naturally as breathing. I thought about just ignoring them and going back to the classroom.

But just as even a worm wiggles when stepped on, these two idiots—these slightly lacking seniors might also wiggle if I did that.

Taking a deep breath, drawing the character for “patience”…

“Our Jin-hyuk doesn’t like girls like you, so stop showing off. Got it?”

“…You’ve been saying ‘our Jin-hyuk’ all this time, so you must know him well?”

Ah, I tried to be patient~!

But I couldn’t hold back anymore because the words coming from that mouth, which seemed like it would smell of cigarettes, kept bothering me.

“What, are you upset? We’re such close friends that we know him wayyy better than you, so go seduce some other boy because you’re jealous.”

“If we see you again, you’re dead, so be careful~?”

With those final words, they walked away laughing among themselves, showing no interest in my response. Looking at those slightly lacking… no, those two idiots.

Snap-

I heard the sound of something breaking.

…So you want to play this game?

I was well aware that Jin-hyuk Oppa’s looks were beyond just handsome, so I had been prepared for this kind of love quarrel at some point.

But actually experiencing it made it difficult to laugh it off like stepping in dog poop.

Just as I took out my phone to contact Oppa, I thought of Ye-rin.

Although I didn’t think it would happen given Oppa’s physique these days, if Oppa were to get hurt somehow, there would be no escaping Ye-rin’s wrath.

…I should get Ye-rin’s permission first. Ask if I can use Oppa.

I wondered if he wasn’t my own brother, but somehow, I felt like I needed Ye-rin’s permission.

—

When I returned to the classroom, Ye-rin, who happened to make eye contact with me, asked where I had been.

After I enthusiastically relayed what had just happened, using gestures,

“…Really?”

“I’m telling you~!”

When I whined “hiing” and hugged Ye-rin, she patted my back as if asking if I was okay.

…But Ye-rin, I’m pretty sure we were similar in size, but what did you eat to grow this bi-

“…Are you okay? Let’s tell Oppa or the teachers right away. They might do something else later even though they walked away now…”

“Yeah, so I was thinking of telling my Oppa first, is that okay?”

“Yes, let’s contact him right away.”

…Honestly, I’m a bit touched.

I thought Ye-rin might say no because Woo-jin Oppa could get hurt, but seeing her genuinely worried about me made my heart flutter a bit.

Han Se-ah, you dummy.

There’s no way Ye-rin wouldn’t look out for me just because of Oppa.

I felt sorry for drawing a line in my mind on my own.

—

Since the break was almost over, I sent a message to Oppa during the next break. Not long after, the back door of the classroom opened with a loud bang.

“Ah, Oppa!”

“… Han Se-ah, what you just sent. Is it true?”

“Yes, two scary seniors were—”

“Forget it, what are their names? Those bitches.”

…Oh, is he really that angry?

Of course, I had told him knowing that my Oppa wouldn’t just let it go.

As if he absolutely wouldn’t let it go.

Even I had rarely seen Oppa this genuinely angry, so I was a bit worried for those two seniors.

“Are you okay, Oppa…?”

“Ah, yes. Sorry for startling you. I’m fine.”

When Ye-rin next to me flinched a bit at Oppa’s unfamiliar appearance, Oppa seemed to realize his mistake and quickly relaxed his expression, smiling awkwardly as he spoke.

The Ye-rin sedative works well…

Seeing him try to smile even in his extreme anger because Ye-rin was startled, I thought Oppa was really impressive in his own way.

When I told him the two seniors’ names, Oppa nodded as if he remembered them.

“Did you tell Jin-hyuk? What did he say?”

“I haven’t told Jin-hyuk Oppa yet. I was afraid he might blame himself.”

“…That’s right, he would do that. Good job.”

“Right? And I didn’t want to worry him~?”

Since Oppa seemed too angry, I spoke playfully to lighten the mood, and Oppa’s large hand touched the top of my head.

“…I was worried too. Oppa will take care of everything soon, so wait here.”

Seeing my Oppa stroking my head slowly with a voice that seemed to say he couldn’t be stopped.

“…Yes, thank you, Oppa.”

And sorry…, I muttered quietly, and Oppa grinned as if I had said something silly and turned around.

That back view was exactly the same as when we were younger, when Oppa would run to me whenever I was crying and firmly protect me from the front.

The fact that in Oppa’s eyes, I still looked like a fragile sister who needed protection, and in my eyes, Oppa still looked like a reliable brother who would protect me.

Thinking that we were such a consistent sibling pair, my eyes turned a bit red.

—

His promise to resolve it quickly wasn’t a lie; Oppa really returned soon.

With those two seniors on either side of him.

“We meet again, I see?”

“You bit—”

“Hey.”

“………..Sorry.”

When I scratched a bit, the two seniors who were about to flare up immediately flinched and bowed their heads as soon as Oppa spoke quietly.

He’s not some kind of mad dog trainer…

“Apologize properly. Say what I told you on the way here.”

“…Hey, Han Woo-jin, if we knew she was your sister, would we have messed with her?”

“We already said sorry, why do you have to go this far with a junior…”

“……I’m really. REALLY holding back a lot right now. Please, don’t make me say it twice.”

“”Se-ah, we’re sorry, we won’t do it again……””

Honestly, Oppa’s appearance as he trembled with both fists, eyes tightly closed, as if really holding back.

—Even I find it scary…

Seeing the two seniors apologizing to me while trembling, I almost felt sorry for them for a moment.

…But I still have to do what needs to be done, right?

I took out my phone and held it up in front of the two seniors.

“…What is it?”

“Take a look.”

[Seo Jin-hyuk]

-Oppa. Do you know Kim Ba-da and Moon Dam-bi? I heard they’re second-years.

-?? I don’t know them. First time hearing those names. Why? Are they friends of yours?

-The two seniors said they’re close with you…?

-??????????? No, they’re not. Absolutely not! The only girl I’m close with is you, Se-ah;;;

-Right~?

“You were saying something about ‘our Jin-hyuk’ earlier… but Jin-hyuk Oppa says he doesn’t even know who you two are~?”

“……Is this really Seo Jin-hyuk?”

“You can tell from the number and profile, can’t you~? Oh, maybe you two don’t even have Jin-hyuk Oppa’s number, so you wouldn’t know~?”

Ah, finally I feel better.

The two seniors stared at my phone in disbelief.

But since nothing would change no matter how much they looked, I continued to show them as if to say “look all you want,” and soon the two people, whose souls seemed to have left their bodies, trudged out of the classroom.

“Ah~ Oppa, sometimes this kind of thing isn’t so bad, right~?”

“You’re so mean. Don’t say such dangerous things.”

I laughed at the sight of Oppa chuckling and tapping my head once.

To escort my hardworking Oppa, no, just for today, the Great Emperor Brother, back to his classroom, I left the classroom.

“This won’t happen again. If it does, tell me right away.”

“Yes! Our Oppa, you’re pretty cool, huh?”

“What are you saying.”

When I squealed and hugged Oppa, he pushed me away with a disgusted expression.

Hey, you like it.

“Oppa, I thought Ye-rin would tell you not to call me, like she does with Jin-hyuk Oppa?”

“Huh, why?”

“Because if there’s a fight or something, you could get hurt. Ye-rin is the president of the Hardcore Woo-jin Fan Club, after all.”

“…What’s that ‘hardcore’ whatever? And dummy, of course Ye-rin would tell you to call me.”

“Why’s that?”

Oppa looked at me as if I should know that already.

“…Ye-rin experienced something bad in the past, right?”

“…Yes.”

“Someone like Ye-rin, who went through that, wouldn’t just sit by if you might experience something similar. If I hadn’t stepped in, Ye-rin would have.”

Looking at Oppa speaking with such certainty.

This is what Ye-rin Certification Level 1 looks like.

I’m still at Level 2, I thought.

I had thought I knew Ye-rin pretty well.

…But I still have a long way to go.

Oppa, do you know?

Ye-rin believed you would definitely resolve this, and.

You believed that Ye-rin would definitely have helped me somehow.

I envied the confident belief you two had in each other.

It’s a secret from Oppa, but.

In the past, I used to think, why would a girl like Ye-rin like our Oppa~? Is her eyesight bad~?

But just for today, I thought that maybe our Oppa might be a bit too good for her, just a tiny bit.