episode_0021

It was almost evening the next day when my twins and I returned home.

‘I guess I’ll sleep there.’

I closed my eyes after hearing Hayun and Yunha’s words and fell asleep in an instant.

As expected, the fact that I was busy looking for the twins all day and stayed up all night had a big impact.

It seemed like the two people who were supposed to wake me up had also fallen asleep.

When I woke up, the sun was starting to set in the red sky, and I saw Hayun and Younha sleeping with happy faces, hugging me tightly.

By the time I returned home with the two whining children, it was already quite late.

When I saw the sight of everyone in the house waiting with anxious faces in the living room, my vision became truly dark.

I think I listened to Han Chae-yeon, the oldest person in this house, nag me for almost two hours.

That’s right, the person who left around 6pm the previous day stayed out all day with the twins without any contact.

Even if there were ten mouths, there was no way they could say anything.

However, I couldn’t tell the truth because I had a feeling that if I told the children that they had been kidnapped by their biological parents and that I was late to save them, it would not end in nagging them.

In the end, the next time something like this happens, be sure to contact us in advance. He was only released after making a promise.

“Hey…I have something to tell you.”

Dinner time that day.

Younha and Hayun told everyone the secrets they had kept hidden from their families.

After hearing about the two people’s plans in advance, I advised them that even if Hayun was like that, it might be difficult if Yoonha’s secret becomes known.

‘are you okay. My brother told me that time. My sister says she needs me. Then it’s not scary.’

He said this with a very serious face, so I had no choice but to agree.

For your information, when we were talking, I asked about what happened after I fell asleep that day, but both Hayun and Yunha didn’t tell me, saying it was a secret as if they had promised.

Judging by the fact that he told me to close my eyes, I guess he just wanted to sleep in the park together.

Since they are very foolish, it is not strange that they thought that way.

“…Hmm, I see.”

This was Jin-ah’s reaction after hearing Hayun and Yoon-ah’s secret.

He just said those words and quietly went back to his meal.

At first glance, I may seem like a cold person, but I know that.

It’s just that I’m not good at expressing myself.

As proof of that, he kept glancing at Yoona throughout the meal.

Sujin asked, as usual, ‘Can you bring good luck? Then, on this test, please let me show only what I know.’ I couldn’t tell if he was serious or joking, and as a result, the only one who showed the most normal reaction was Yuna.

“Uh…is it okay to tell us that?”

“It’s okay. There is no problem if you have an older sister.”

“That’s right. Because Younha and I will never fall apart!”

“Sister too…”

I felt relieved while listening to the conversation between Yuna and the twins.

The other people had been together for at least half a year and had a general idea of what kind of person he was, but Yuna, who had recently joined, did not know that yet.

I was really glad that Yuna was exactly the person I thought she was.

“Why?”

Ran, who was sitting in the newly ordered children’s chair, came up to me and tugged on my sleeve.

[Do not hurt.]

Before I knew it, such words were written on the tablet I had brought.

I followed Ran’s gaze and lowered my head, where my right wrist was located.

A long, multi-branched red mark that looks as if it had been cut by something sharp.

This was a wound that occurred when the twins’ father was beaten mercilessly in the warehouse.

“It’s okay. Because I just passed by. If you apply medicine, you will get better quickly.”

The slightly raised sleeves were pulled down to cover them.

As I took a quick look, I realized that, fortunately, Ran was the only one who noticed the existence of the wound.

“Keep it a secret from others. Because I’ll worry for no reason again.”

When I whispered that softly, Ran puffed out her cheeks ever so slightly.

Although Ran could not speak, she had a very colorful expression.

And this is the face you see when something unpleasant happens.

“Instead, I will give you the ice cream from the freezer later in strawberry flavor.”

“…!”

“How about it? Can you keep it a secret?”

Ran’s mouth opened slightly when he heard my suggestion.

This meant that I was very happy.

“No.”

However, Han Chae-yeon’s words that interrupted her took away her joy.

“Can’t it?”

“Because I slept without brushing my teeth yesterday. No snacks for the time being.”

“…”

“Then there’s nothing we can do.”

I shrugged my shoulders.

Ran’s head lowered slightly by about 10 degrees.

Ah, I became sullen.

Ran really likes sweet things, but she hates shepherd’s teeth.

Even though I nag him every night, he tends to skip meals, so a few months ago, I had a cavity and went to the dentist.

Since I was going through a lot of hardships at the time, I brushed my teeth regularly for a while, but it seemed like the effect of the medicine had worn off.

Unlike before, when I was happy, I feel a little sorry to see her trudging back to her place holding the tablet, but unfortunately, I can’t go against Han Chae-yeon.

‘sorry.’

In my mind, I apologized to my poor family’s youngest child.

**

Household work in the share house is done on an on-duty basis.

Although it is called an on-duty system, it is not a system in which one person takes on all of the daily household chores.

It would take a long time if I did the housework alone in a house with 8 people.

Basically, everyone is left to clean up their own rooms.

Things that must be done every day, such as washing the remaining dishes, laundry, cleaning, and separating trash, are rotated by setting a number for each day.

For example, if you washed the dishes yesterday, do the laundry tomorrow and clean the living room the day after.

Han Chae-yeon’s further explanation was that doing housework every day can be made a little less boring by doing it this way.

“Hey… I want to ask you something.”

Yuna, who was assigned to wash dishes with me, opened her mouth.

“…The secret between Hayun and Younha earlier. Did you know?”

“Well, that’s right.”

I answered casually and wiped the dishes that had been cleaned of detergent with a clean, disinfected dishcloth.

“How did you feel when you first heard it? To be honest, I still can’t quite believe it.”

Unlike Ran’s case, the twins’ secret was quite far from common knowledge.

It’s also interesting that there is a constitution that allows you to do anything with luck if you put your mind to it, and a constitution that causes unhappiness, and they are twin sisters who share the same blood.

It is quite difficult to accept it straight away as normal.

“Well, I was surprised at first too. I didn’t really feel it either.”

If I hadn’t won 50 consecutive games of rock, paper, scissors with Hayun, I wouldn’t have believed it either.

“Yuna, what did you think when you first heard it?”

“I was similar. I couldn’t believe it at first, but I didn’t think they would lie about something like this. And above all…”

“More than anything?”

“Younha seemed very anxious. So I realized. This is a story that took a lot of courage. And.”

While she was talking, Yuna’s hands, which had been washing dishes, suddenly stopped.

She stared blankly at the sink with tap water flowing for a moment, then immediately started washing dishes again as if nothing had happened.

“…I can’t do that.”

“…”

“Even when other children at the facility were talking about their unfortunate past, I couldn’t tell my story. Because I was scared. How will people react after hearing my story? Just thinking about it makes my heart sink…”

I remained quietly silent.

I felt like I would miss Yuna’s faint voice, which seemed as if it would disappear at any moment if I made even the slightest sound here.

“So, I think these two kids are really great. Being able to reveal your past to others means that you have faced your own wounds in some way.”

“You can do it too.”

The constant sound of flowing water suddenly stopped.

This was because Yuna, who was momentarily startled, turned off the faucet.

“I hope so.”

I didn’t turn my head.

Because I thought that was what Yuna wanted at the moment.

“So. Why don’t you take this opportunity to tell me?”

“…what?”

After remaining silent for a moment, Yuna asked me in a clear voice.

When Yuna turned around, her face was the same as usual.

“There’s definitely more, right? There are other things that really surprise me.”

“Uh, um…”

“How surprised you were earlier. I didn’t really show it, but when I first heard the story, I thought my heart would stop.”

“What should I say…”

“Oh, of course there is.”

When I hesitated to answer for a moment, Yuna asked as if she had been waiting.

“…Because I respect individual privacy to the extent possible. I have no intention of saying it myself.”

“Then please give me a hint. At least prepare your heart so that it doesn’t fail like it did today.”

“…Hint?”

“At least I wonder if there is anything more shocking than Hayun and Younha.”

I thought about it for a moment.

Among the remaining kids, there is something that can be done in moderation…

“Oh, now that I think about it.”

“…Didn’t you try to blatantly change the subject just now?”

“I’m not trying to divert you, but I had something to tell you, but I forgot to tell you.”

“…?”

Yuna puts a question mark above her head.

“You said last time that you wanted to work part-time, right?”

“Oh, yes, I did. But what does that matter now…”

“I talked to my mom and she asked me to come out tomorrow. Why did you go to a cafe last time? There.”

“…Yes?”

“I heard that as a special service, they will give you a free pass for the interview and 1.5 times the minimum wage, but of course, the weekly holiday allowance is separate. Also, tomorrow is your high school’s opening anniversary, right?”

“Really?”

“Real.”

Yuna’s face went blank at the shocking news.

‘Phew, that’s a relief.’

I internally sighed with relief.

It wasn’t intentional, but it seemed like he somehow managed to get through it.