episode_0052

“Oh, how already?”

“I was just taking a walk around the neighborhood. Alone and lonely… .”

“Oh, I see! Oh, so… Don’t stand there and sit down quickly. I made a lot of kimbap, so we can eat together.”

One day, Tachibana gestured for him to come in.

Some people sat there with a disgruntled expression, thinking they were intruders, but at least no one was cruel enough to send away his daughter’s friend who was out for a lonely walk for a day.

“Ahem, sorry for the late introduction. My name is Serika Tachibana, and I am a student council member with Mirai Yang.”

Tachibana responded to Haru’s kindness with a smile, took off her shoes, and stood in the middle of the mat. She gently lifted the hem of her white one-piece dress and greeted him elegantly.

“Thank you for inviting me to such a precious occasion. I wanted to spend time with my friend, Mirae Yang… An unexpected opportunity came.”

Fearing that he might be a burden to Haru, he shifts the reason he came to Mirae.

However, Mirae, who knew Tachibana’s dark intentions, looked at Haru with an expression full of discontent.

I wish I had just flatly rejected him… .

“I never called you. We’re not even friends.”

“If you tell your friend in the future… .”

Haru, who was embarrassed by the cold treatment, tried to stop his daughter, but soon became overwhelmed by the atmosphere and kept his mouth shut.

“These people are old friends. The third-year senior and… the chef?”

As if all that day’s effort had been in vain, Tachibana began to manipulate the people around him one by one as if nothing had happened.

“That’s right. Sister, I heard you met at a restaurant.”

Narin clapped her hands and tapped Hannayeon on the side with her elbow.

A conversation that flows naturally. Tachibana’s choice to choose Narin as his first opponent was the best.

“Hello.”

“Hello! I was very rude back then because I suddenly barged in.”

“No… It’s a restaurant, so… .”

After successfully overcoming the high wall called Hanna Yeon.

“If you think so, thank you! Oh, by the way, I haven’t thanked my senior either. I survived thanks to your help back then.”

“No, no. I should thank Seo-hoo.”

“Senior is kind and humble! If it weren’t for you, Seo-hu wouldn’t have been able to come down from the tree.”

“Oh, is that so? I’m sorry for teasing you a little bit, but… .”

Tachibana, who had even received Narin’s shy smile, turned his attention to the chairman who was sitting silently at the end of the mat.

“And this person… .”

“Hello. I am the future aunt of the sheep.”

Lee Seol Group Chairman Lee Ha-neul also showed unexpected composure and reached out to Tachibana.

I simply wanted to make a good impression on my nephew’s classmates. I didn’t want to be a nuisance to my nephew’s school life.

“Oh my, if you are the future aunt of Yang… Since you are Haru’s older sister… You are like my sister-in-law!”

Tachibana gently shakes his clasped hands up and down. He expresses his joy while neatly organizing even the somewhat complicated family relationships.

“Oh, sis… I have a daily dose of… .”

However, only one word remained and kept spinning around in Lee Ha-neul’s head.

‘Sister.’

A faint breeze blew on the small embers that remained in Lee Ha-neul’s heart.

“Execution? Isn’t that what you say to your wife’s older sister?”

While Lee Ha-neul was unable to come to his senses due to the unexpected blow, Haru tilted his head and expressed his doubts.

However, Tachibana faced the day with a very confident attitude, saying that there was nothing strange at all.

“That’s right! I… Ugh… !”

“Follow me for a moment.”

At the same time, Mirai suddenly stood up and covered Tachibana’s mouth.

“Wooow… ?”

To Mirai, Tachibana was like a time bomb that could explode at any moment.

Of course, leaving Tachibana alone could also be a solution. There was no way his mother would accept him. He also wanted to let Tachibana go first and see how his mother would react.

But what if, by some slim chance, his mother accepts Tachibana’s confession?

As long as there is even a slight possibility of that happening, I can’t let Tachibana stay with his mother.

“I thought I was going to get killed… .”

“I won’t kill you. Mom wouldn’t like it.”

“That means, if Sister Haru allows it… .”

Tachibana, who was dragged to a dark place behind a public restroom, trembled as he acted like a squirrel trapped under a lion’s claws.

“Even if that’s the case, the future sheep won’t be able to kill me.”

Of course, acting is just acting. Just because a tiger acts like a squirrel doesn’t mean it becomes a real squirrel.

Tachibana smiled leisurely despite being pushed against the wall. Mirae sighed deeply as she watched Tachibana like that.

“How much of it is true?”

I didn’t want to be fooled by Tachibana’s pranks any longer.

To establish an alternative, you must first understand the true intention.

Tachibana seems to be quite fickle, so his feelings for his mother may just be a momentary illusion.

No, it had to be that way. For the sake of all the times I had waited in silence. I wanted to avoid having my plans ruined by an intruder who suddenly barged in.

“All of them.”

But there was something the future had overlooked.

“Miss Mirae, please let go now.”

Tachibana is quicker than you think.

“Or else it would crash and break. Of course, it would be difficult for the cowardly Mirae Yang.”

The fact that I’ve already noticed a lot.

Tachibana, who had passed by Mirae briefly, eventually whispered in a low voice.

“Then let’s just stay like this.”

It’s a declaration of war.

“One day, with my lovely daughter and sister.”

It was a declaration of war sent by Tachibana, who had noticed the future’s feelings.

* * *

After we finished eating all the food in our lunch boxes and ran out of things to talk about, we went to the department store a little early.

Besides, the future doesn’t look very good.

I secretly offered her the menstrual pain medication I had brought just in case, but Mirae shook her head, saying that it wasn’t something like that.

“Sister, how about this?”

On the other hand, Tachibana’s tension is high as always.

“Huh… ?”

My eyes were focused on Mirae, who was absentmindedly wandering around the department store, so I accepted what Tachibana offered me without even realizing it.

“I think it suits you so well. It feels like the clothes are wearing you, not the customer wearing the clothes! The weather is getting warmer, so you should get some spring clothes, right? Your proportions are great, and your hair style matches your clothes. You’re so innocent and pretty! Come on, trying them on is free.”

As if he had been waiting for this moment, an employee suddenly ran over and pushed me on my back to the changing room.

I can’t come to my senses because they keep knocking on my door from the side.

They say salespeople only hire people who are silver-tongued, but at this rate, I was going to end up buying things even if I had no intention of buying them.

And it’s a one-piece dress, how am I supposed to wear this?

“Oh my, these are totally customer clothes, right? Oh, I don’t know! If you try them on and like them, I’ll just give them to you. No… I’ll get in trouble with the boss if I do that, so I’ll give them to you at a discount… Anyway, I don’t have time to think about it!”

Are you just giving it to me? No, are you saying you’re giving it on sale?

My head was dizzy from the torrential downpour of words.

But still… wouldn’t it be better to try it on once and then reject it if I’m going to keep suffering like this?

Fearing that the staff would continue to follow me, I ended up going into the changing room holding a pure white one-piece dress similar to the one Tachibana was wearing.

Sarak, Sarak─

Perhaps because the surroundings had suddenly become quiet, the sound of fabric rustling felt unusually loud.

He takes off his vest, pulls down his jeans, and unbuttons his shirt from top to bottom.

And when I came face to face with the black sports bra and plain gray panties, my head started to turn cold.

Am I crazy, am I really going to wear this?

Come to think of it, there was no need to try it on. I could just spend some time with it and then go out and hang it up again. There was no way the staff would force me to buy it.

Squeak─

At that moment, the wooden locker room door opened carefully.

What the heck? Did you come in to check whether I should wear it or not? Is it okay to do this?

“Shh, be quiet.”

But the person who entered the locker room was not an employee.

Tachibana, who has white hair as clean as a snow field untouched by human feet.

A child with doll-like, neat features suddenly came in with a mischievous smile.

“Hmm… .”

Tachibana, who had barged in out of the blue, stood there blankly for a moment, looking at me.

“More than meets the eye… .”

The mysterious red eyes that seem to suck you in don’t seem to want to leave any one place.

“Isn’t it cute?”

“Ears, what do you mean cute!”

Noticing where Tachibana’s gaze was lingering, I covered my chest with both arms and retreated to a corner of the changing room.

There is no such rudeness as this.

Of course, it wasn’t explicitly stated as ‘small’, but isn’t the meaning similar?

First of all, if a person comes in without knocking while changing clothes, they are already out.

“I meant good.”

Tachibana took a step closer to me, muttering something meaningful.

If you came in by mistake, you should get out quickly. Why are you coming in more instead?

“Hey, let’s go out first. I’ll change and get out of the way right away.”

“You don’t have to do that. I came in because my sister is here.”

Tachibana’s slender arms wrapped around my waist.

Soon, the distance between us became close enough that we could almost feel each other’s breaths, and our vision filled with facial features so graceful that it felt unrealistic.

“I have something to tell you. Don’t panic and listen.”

The soft fabric feels ticklish against my bare skin.

But before I could even feel it, a sweet scent filled my nasal passages, and I was left without even knowing what I should be embarrassed about.

“It seems like my sister has forgotten me… .”

The calm voice that followed made my heart ache.

Moreover, even the corners of her eyes, which always had a bright smile, were curled up sadly.

“I have never forgotten my sister for even a moment.”

For some reason, I can’t take my eyes off Tachibana.

“Sister, I like you. No, I love you… .”

I ended up saying things I shouldn’t have said.