episode_0039

“Sigh… Ah….”

“What are you doing?”

“I was wondering if you could taste the salt when you eat the salty sea breeze with your mouth…”

“Oh… I want to try too.”

“Huh?”

We arrived at the beach.

What are we doing on the sandy shore?

I thought my older brother would laugh at me like a fool.

“Mm… Mm… Oh. Is this the taste of the sea?”

“Well… It tastes like salt.”

In reality, just looking at the sea is enjoyable.

Just watching the waves rushing in and retreating like a spinning top, it’s addicting.

It’s nice to do something while hearing such sounds, right?

That’s why there’s something called white noise.

Like the sound of seagulls in a city soaked by rain, or the sound of seagulls in a city that’s really hard to hear.

“Hug me. Embracing each other here felt like a longing dream.”

Is that something lovers do when they come to the sea together?

The recent photo I posted on Instagram was quite popular.

The woman is beautiful, and the man has a crazy appearance.

The number of followers, which had been stuck at 0, suddenly rose to ten thousand.

Even the unnis took notice. So the only people I followed were my brother and the unnis.

Unni Suhyun… told me to get married, and Unni Sua seemed happy to do it, so I tried.

I’m always grateful to Unni Sua.

Well… that was fine up to that point.

But for some reason, many photos of couples playing on a seaside trip came out.

The warm sun shining on the sea, illuminating the wet sandy shore reflecting in the water, and once again reflecting brightly on the couples.

I wanted to do things like feeling excited from the height and kissing each other.

“It’s warm when we hug. Right?”

“Yeah… I like it.”

“Please… kiss me like this.”

I closed my eyes slightly apart.

You probably gave each other a brief kiss for taking pictures.

A long and deep kiss.

I feel my brother’s love fully.

I felt possessive as if he might take my tongue away.

I felt completely belonging to my brother.

I don’t get tired of it.

The situation changes, the atmosphere changes, and every moment is thrilling.

“Sigh… Oppa….”

“Oh… Did we do it for too long?”

“Uh… I love you….”

He held me as my strength waned.

“I’ll go slower next time. I must have rushed it.”

Maybe the freshness has already disappeared… I don’t know.

“Ah…”

“Suck!”

“Ah?”

My brother just picked me up as I staggered.

This way, will he allow the kiss? I want to, but my body is like this.

Should I exercise? But where on this soft body would muscles attach?

I don’t want to exercise and become firm.

And I hope my brother can fully feel this softness.

“Sigh…”

“Are you feeling better?”

“Uh… Sorry every time.”

“Don’t apologize. It’s a habit. You keep apologizing.”

“What can I do about being sorry? I’m just sorry.”

My brother ponders while stroking his beardless chin.

My brother looks cool even when he’s thinking, but it’s a big problem if you just stare at him thinking he’s cool.

It’s best not to think and give an answer immediately, but if he thinks and gives an answer…

He comes up with the weirdest and most bizarre answers.

Military-style… FM?

Remember how close you were to getting mad back then.

No, were you mad?

“Jihye.”

“Oppa!?”

“Um… Can I speak first?”

“You know I trust you, Oppa?”

What should I do?

I’ve decided to trust my brother now.

“Um… Um? I was going to ask for your opinion.”

Right. That’s weird.

“What… What is it?”

“To me…”

[“To me… no, to oppa?”]

“Yeah. To me… speak informally.”

Strange… or rather, unusual?

If oppa asks me to speak informally….

A 5-year… difference.

Then it shouldn’t be like this.

“Is… is it still okay?”

“It feels awkward. Hearing apologies makes me feel like I’ve done something wrong for no reason. Or… that honorifics? There’s that too, right.”

Rather than strange… it feels like a wall that needs to be crossed has been built….

It’s a process that should gradually become familiar.

Until the day comes when we call each other casually and not formally.

“Oppa… hello…?”

“Uh… it’s awkward.”

Everyone says hello.

What’s better… I wonder.

Oh, I remembered.

“Do you want to… um. Date me, oppa?”

“…You’ve become cute.”

“Sigh… I don’t want to. I’ll do it later.”

When I confessed for the first time, I thought about switching to casual speech since I used formal language… but it was just unnecessary curiosity.

It’s embarrassing. Awkward.

“Oh why~ You’re cute. Really adorable.”

“Later… please let me do it later….”

I might have fallen into Eastern etiquette, but it’s too awkward.

After saying it, I got caught up in thoughts of whether it was right.

“I can do it, so why does Ji-hye feel awkward when she does it.”

“Oppa is… older than me, that’s why….”

“You were in the military… right.”

“…Uh, yeah… is that so.”

I was immediately caught by logic.

In fact, even with a 23-year-old, I used casual speech.

And although oppa may be trying not to forget that I used to be a man, he keeps bringing up old stories.

Does he not care?

Even though I changed from a man to a woman, the fact that I used to be a man doesn’t change.

He treats me just like any other ordinary woman.

While still remembering that I used to be a man. Really…

“Alright… um. Can I use casual speech… then?”

“Yeah. You can do it as much as you want.”

If it were my colleague or junior, casual speech would come naturally.

But now… it’s different. He’s my boyfriend, the coolest and proudest to me.

Still feels awkward.

“Okay… oppa?”

“…Ji-hye is truly the best. The cutest person in the world, I feel like I’m going crazy.”

Looking at me, he covers his mouth and squints his eyes as if he really likes it.

Being called cute is definitely a compliment to me, and I should feel good about it, but right now I was just full of embarrassment.

“Ah… stop. Please stop.”

“I was going to hug you, should I stop?”

This oppa is really over the top when joking around.

“…Hug me.”

How could I refuse.

“Ji-hye and I probably use the same shampoo. Why does yours smell better?”

“I think… your scent is better.”

Entering his embrace, I feel his warm body.

Inside the padding, there was a thin t-shirt, making the scent stronger.

“Every time you say that, my heart hurts.”

“I don’t know. It’s just how it is.”

“Ha… it’s kind of childish.”

“…Uh. Let’s stick to honorifics. It feels like I’m doing something wrong.”

“Hehe… really?”

While laughing, he hugs me properly.

“Let’s take a picture together….”

“Sure. Ji-hye might look beautiful just as she is in the photo.”

“Ugh… oppa won’t come out properly either?”

Maybe the phone isn’t good, or maybe oppa just looks too handsome.

He looks much more handsome in person.

“But there’s no tripod or anything. Is it okay?”

“Just fold it like this and take a picture. Whatever I do, it turns out well.”

“Aren’t you the same?”

“Um… anyway, let’s take the picture.”

Beautiful.

I already know that.

Because I know, it’s even harder for me to say that I’m beautiful.

What’s this, it’s like the witch in Snow White.

How am I so pretty… I wonder.

I set the timer on the phone and took a picture hugging each other from afar.

“Oh… it’s not showing.” ]

“Because of the backlight, it’s dark. The atmosphere feels off.”

“Hmm… This isn’t what we intended to capture, right?”

“Right. We need to take it again.”

Once, twice, thrice. And then ten times.

No matter how many shots we took, our images didn’t come out right.

“Let’s just hold it and take a picture. Being close to each other is what matters.”

“That… sounds good.”

You know those sentimental photos?

That’s what I wanted.

“Hmm… Should we ask someone else to take it for us?”

“What? No, it’s fine.”

“No, I want to do this myself. I need to preserve my girlfriend’s cute look.”

Without hesitation, he ran off to where people were.

Should I honestly say such things without any change in expression?

It should be embarrassing.

“Ah…”

The words felt truly heartfelt, making my heart race wildly once again.

“I brought her!”

While trying to hide my flushed face and failing to cool down, someone else besides him was coming along.

“Wow… I’ve never seen her before. Is this what they call destiny?”

A woman… a woman?

“Hmm… Jihye. I… searched for you because there’s no one else with a good camera who can take good pictures….”

Messy long hair, round glasses. Checkered shirt and loose pants.

Should I be mad about this?

Looking at the woman who confidently raised her good camera, I decided to just accept it.

She seemed like she could look pretty if dressed up, but she didn’t seem to care and instead showed interest and amusement towards me.

“I’m really confident that I can take good pictures. If you’re not satisfied, I’ll show you a photo I took.”

Already exuding an air of ‘I’m experienced in photography’ based on appearances, how could I not trust her?

“Oh… I’ve seen this before.”

“Really? I’ve been going around taking pictures of various couples. Would you like to try… getting a shot?”

“Please… Miss Photographer.”

“Oh my. There’s no need to bow. In fact, I should be the one asking for your favor.”

This person seems to be the one who takes kiss photos against the backdrop of the sea that I knew.

An expert… a true professional.

“Oppa… I think this might be the best thing you’ve ever done.”

“Oh… Thank you?”

“Well then… as a trial, let me take a picture first.”

Holding the camera, adjusting poses and angles without signaling, she started taking pictures.