Chapter 64: Nursing Care (2)

Having someone else in this house – I still couldn’t get used to it.

This thought crossed my mind after the warm meal time had passed.

After putting away the dishes, So-yul immediately started cleaning up the pile of books in the corner of the room.

Though I tried declining saying I’d clean later myself, and offered to help, So-yul wouldn’t budge.

“What could a sick person help with? Besides, if I don’t clean now you’ll probably keep putting it off. Better I do it myself.”

“…”

She was a girlfriend who knew me too well.

There was no reason to stop someone wanting to help. Plus So-yul probably felt I caught this cold because of her. If this could help ease her feelings of debt, well, it wasn’t a bad exchange.

I obediently lay on the bed and watched So-yul focusing on cleaning.

So-yul wiggling her small body while moving books stacked like towers.

She even had to stand on tiptoe to clean the desk, showing how high I’d piled things.

I wondered how she’d organize without a bookshelf, but So-yul found a box somewhere.

Maybe she’d picked it up while at the mart earlier.

Being small, she couldn’t carry many books.

So she kept repeating the process of barely hugging a few books and moving them to the box.

Watching her working hard for me, my lips gradually curved up.

Honestly… it felt like I’d suddenly gotten a kind and pretty wife.

I wasn’t shameless enough to think about wives on day one of dating. It felt presumptuous. Plus So-yul might be disgusted if she heard me having such weird thoughts.

So I could only make idle comments:

“It’s like having a little sister.”

So-yul turned to look at me at these casually thrown words. Her expression wasn’t very bright.

“What? We’re the same age. Why am I your little sister?”

“Well… telling you might make you too sad.”

“That comment just made me really sad.”

So-yul made a “hmph” sound and turned her head sharply to look down at her feet. …No, maybe she wasn’t looking at her feet.

“It’s okay. It just means you can only grow from here.”

“…”

The moment I offered these comforting words, So-yul shot me a cold glare.

At times like this, I could only firmly shut my mouth.

After that, the randomly piled books and crumpled clothes were organized one by one through So-yul’s hands. The room where you could barely take a step became livable in just a few dozen minutes.

“Phew.” So-yul dusted off her hands and stood up after finishing cleaning.

Seeing her wiping sweat from her forehead made me realize how hard she’d worked.

“Thanks for working so hard cleaning.”

When I expressed gratitude quietly, So-yul smiled and answered:

“You don’t need to thank me for just this.”

“It’s not just anything. I might think of you later seeing the clean room. Then I might clean thinking ‘my girlfriend cleaned this so I shouldn’t mess it up.'”

“If you were that kind of person you would’ve cleaned in advance.”

Very true words indeed.

Soon So-yul returned from washing her hands in the bathroom and plopped down on the bed without hesitation.

A creaking noise came when her light body settled on the cheap bed.

For some reason, that sound echoed unnecessarily in my head.

So-yul’s scent and her faint breathing were the same.

I secretly moved my body to avoid being caught. Of course, in the opposite direction from where So-yul sat.

So-yul’s face showed a bitter smile as she glanced at me.

“…Why are you running away?”

“I’m not running.”

“Then what was that movement just now?”

“Your boyfriend moved away because he doesn’t want to give his girlfriend his cold.”

“Tch.”

When I gave this plausible excuse, So-yul clicked her tongue for no reason. Adding complaints that “You never let me win” was a bonus.

But seems So-yul had no intention of losing either.

Following this, she moved slightly closer and poked my cheek repeatedly with her milky white hand.

The soft sensation transmitted through her long fingers. Though it made me grin involuntarily from the ticklish feeling… she clearly seemed quite dissatisfied. If I left her like this, she might really get upset.

I asked without meeting her eyes:

“What’s wrong?”

“I wanted to poke your cheeks.”

“Why did you want to poke them?”

“Who knows? Maybe since I’m your little sister I wanted to play with my big brother.”

“…Are you still mad about that?”

“I’m not mad.”

As she said this, So-yul lightly pinched my cheek. Could it even be called pinching? It was more like gentle pulling.

“If you’re not mad why are you pinching my cheek?”

“Just thinking what an immature boyfriend I have.”

This was something I couldn’t just let slide.

“Why am I immature?”

When I asked with a snort, So-yul kept giggling as if amused.

“You wouldn’t have cleaned if I wasn’t here.”

“I would’ve eventually. Probably.”

“That’s exactly what people who never clean say.”

“Well, that’s true but.”

“Plus you probably wouldn’t eat properly. Even if you did eat, it’d just be convenience store lunch boxes.”

“Convenience store lunches are pretty good these days.”

“…And when you got lonely, you probably wouldn’t tell anyone about it.”

A suddenly serious comment that struck deep.

Only then did I look at So-yul’s face.

So-yul was staring at me with wavering eyes.

Her poking and pinching fingers gradually came to a stop.

Then that hand began gently stroking my cheek.

Her palm warmer than my fever-heated body soothed me. Her slightly trembling hand as if nervous was rather ticklish. Her touch full of affection seemed to seep into my very heart.

I wasn’t thoughtless enough to simply be happy about such skinship.

Meeting So-yul’s eyes, I whispered in a small voice:

“Han So-yul.”

“You know.”

So-yul showed a painfully fragile smile then:

“I imagined what you might have been like if I hadn’t come.”

“…Yeah.”

“Then thinking about you suffering alone in this empty house with no one and nothing… it hurt my heart.”

“…Hey.”

“You said you’d accept anything from me. Yet when you’re sick you don’t ask for anything.”

Ignoring my attempt to respond, So-yul showed a faint smile then:

“That’s why you’re an immature boyfriend. Dummy.”

She ended with these words.

While gently biting her pink lips as if holding something back.

I immediately sensed what she wanted to convey.

I wanted to do anything for So-yul. This feeling I’d had since we were fake lovers. I’d conveyed these same feelings when confessing too. Saying she could be clingy or complain to me, I didn’t mind.

But I hadn’t thought about the reverse.

It must have been no different for So-yul. As my girlfriend, she’d naturally want to take care of and help me too. Foolishly, I hadn’t considered these feelings.

Enduring when sick, bearing when tired, swallowing when lonely.

The emotions I’d held back not wanting to worry So-yul had ended up worrying her instead.

This result wasn’t good for anyone.

Then things should rightfully change from now on.

“I understand.”

I answered while hiding my embarrassment and placed my hand over So-yul’s.

When my larger palm overlapped hers, So-yul’s shoulders trembled slightly.

“From now on I’ll rely on my girlfriend too. Instead of holding everything in alone, I’ll tell you when I’m sick, when things are hard, when I’m lonely. …So you won’t worry too much.”

Just sharing each other’s pain isn’t enough to be called “real lovers.”

I wondered why I hadn’t known such an obvious fact until now.

Maybe I was this clumsy because I’d never shared love with anyone before.

It seemed there would be plenty more things to learn together with So-yul going forward.

“Yeah.”

So-yul nodded seeming satisfied with my answer.

Her hunched shoulders and downcast gaze probably showed belated embarrassment.

Then finally, she whispered very quietly:

“…That’s good enough. Big brother.”

“…Pfft.”

When I couldn’t help but laugh, So-yul shot me a dissatisfied look. Seeing her start pinching my cheeks again, she probably wanted to ask why I was laughing.

Because she looked cute trying to hide her shy feelings with playfulness.

I decided to swallow those words since I’d probably really get my cheeks pinched if I said them.