episode_0067

On a weekday when my older brother was away for work.

I texted Naye unnie.

[Unnie?]

[Is this Ji-hye?]

[That’s right. I’m Naye unnie, right?]

[Yes! Unnie♡♡]

“…Huh?”

I was slightly surprised.

[You said you’d contact me…]

[I got a little busy. Sorry for not taking your number and contacting you right away.]

[It’s okay♡♡]

Seems like she really likes hearts.

I remember her shy face.

Imagining her quickly typing out a reply on her phone makes me chuckle a bit.

She must be cute.

[What do you usually do, unnie?]

[Umm…♡ Cleaning?]

[Oh… after work.]

[Cleaning♡]

Can’t tell if she’s joking or serious.

Maybe she really just lives by cleaning if it’s her.

[Actually… I upload photos on the internet…]

[What kind of photos? Show me too!]

A shy unnie taking pictures.

Is she into capturing landscapes or healing things like passing cats?

“Really?”

The response that usually comes in a second hasn’t arrived for over 30 seconds.

I definitely read it.

“Oh. Oh!! Forget it! I’m just cleaning. Cleaning is the best way to live♡♡♡♡♡”

“…What.”

She’s making me more curious.

I want to ask, but she probably won’t tell me, right?

“I want to see a photo taken by the pretty unnie.”

“Oh… please don’t forget?”

I don’t want to trigger her shyness, but I’m still curious.

Curiosity always gets the better of me.

“I want to see a photo taken by the prettiest unnie I’ve ever seen.”

“Uhh… I can’t.”

“I really… want to see it.”

This time, no response for over a minute.

No, 2 minutes.

Oh. It’s been 3 minutes.

“Unnie… are you sleeping?”

I seem to be using dots without realizing it, trying to convey my words more realistically.

“Unnie~”

“Oh.”

The photo came up.

It disappeared within seconds of hitting the download button.

“Who is this…?”

She’s not the unnie I saw last time.

Definitely not a landscape.

It’s indoors, and honestly, she only goes out like this.

“Unnie? Is it you?”

“It’s me… it’s me. Strange, right?”

More like cosplay than strange.

Wearing a blue wig, she winks in a school uniform, sitting on the bed with her knees apart, taking a selfie.

“It’s pretty. It suits you well, doesn’t it?”

“Really!? Is it true?”

I prefer this shy smile while taking a picture over bowing deeply.

“Do you post any suggestive photos or anything like that?”

“No! No… I just post privately for my own satisfaction! Really… trust me.”

Well, that’s a relief.

Thinking of deleting it, I suddenly had a good idea.

“Unnie. Where did you buy the school uniform?”

I want to have a school uniform date with my brother.

***

“Is this okay?”

“He’s just an ordinary handsome high school student, right? I feel like I need to check his ID.”

After a fiery Friday following unnie’s recommended site, it was Saturday.

I took out the hidden school uniform and dressed my brother without him knowing.

I think I might fall for him.

I already have.

“I’ll put it on too then. Look forward to it.”

“…I will.”

I put on the school uniform.

I couldn’t enter high school, but I had seen it.

The tie is short, and the shirt is tightened appropriately according to the curves of the body.

Awkward, but he looked like an ordinary high school student.

“Zap!”

As for the priest’s uniform, the skirt was short.

And when a student who was really cold in the morning put on a coatless high school and got on the bus, there was no warmth.

“The cutest in the world.”

“A little more.”

“Even if you say you’re a minor, I might believe it.”

Approaching closer.

“More, more, more ♡”

“…So lovely, I feel like I’m going crazy.”

“Ah…♡”

When asked for more, the older brother covers his face slightly with his hand.

Embarrassed but honest.

“Shall we go outside now?”

Amidst the faint smell of new clothes, she smelled her brother’s scent abundantly.

“Uh… that’s a bit…”

“If we go to an amusement park or something, everyone will think we’re just high school students, right?”

If the reason my brother hesitates is age after all.

But he really looks like a high school student.

“…Still.”

“Then can my brother wear something different?”

I really want to go on a uniform date.

If my brother doesn’t agree, even if it’s just me.

“…It won’t work. If I wear something different, it looks like I’m dating a minor.”

“Then should I wear it?”

But my brother alone will probably cause misunderstandings.

Without the uniform, my brother is just a handsome guy.

“…Yeah.”

In the end, my brother agreed.

Even if I try to force it, he will eventually accept it.

With strength, I can never beat my brother no matter what happens, but my brother and I are not like that.

I retreat and push back because I am precious.

So if I really want something, I’ll force it.

Because I know my brother will accept it.

“Thank you. I wanted to try wearing a uniform once. Because I’ve never worn one before.”

“…Ah. I see.”

My brother let out a subtle admiration as if he realized something.

“Yeah. Let’s go to the amusement park. But I’ve never been inside one.”

My brother gently stroked my head.

Although my head may be a mess, perhaps to someone else, it might be enviable.

“Really?”

“Yes, for real. I’ve never been there before. Will you come with me if I go?”

“So, are you going to hold my hand and follow me?”

“Yes. Please take care of me.”

We quickly got ready.

It was simple, just grabbing our phones and putting on a light jacket.

For food… I decided to just eat inside the aquarium, if it still allows that.

It was nice back then, but thinking about it now makes me freeze.

“…Should we start wearing our school uniforms from now on when we go out?”

“Should we?”

“What about the neighbors… or people we occasionally run into…”

I hadn’t thought about this.

“Should we change in the car?”

“Y-yes.”

Hiding everything that could be hidden under the jacket, I put my wallet in a paper bag and came down.

Faster than anyone else, my brother rushed down to the parking lot, found the car quietly, and I followed him and got in.

“…Did we really need to go this far…?”

“It’s a first experience. How beautiful it is right now.”

My brother leaned back in his seat, took a deep breath, coughed continuously as if he heard something, and suddenly started laughing, making me even more puzzled.

“Haha… somehow it’s fun. What were we doing? We could have just walked to the parking lot. Running was honestly weird.”

After laughing for a while, he seemed bothered by my gaze and cleared his throat with a fake cough.

Upon careful consideration, it’s somewhat true.

And we almost left the house like a record, confirming that we locked the door, then running to open the elevator door and go down.

As soon as the door opened, we ran around in the underground parking lot, my brother looking for the car while I followed him.

In the vast expanse of the underground parking lot, they say if you shout from one end to the other, your voice flies like an arrow.

With a wide stride, it seemed like I would be faster than myself, but the distance didn’t seem to diminish, so we ended up getting into the car at the same time.

“Ji-hye…?”

“Pfft….”

It was literally true. There was no need for this.

Leaning back slightly in my seat, I couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

What are we really doing? We seem like fools.

*

“This time it’s Lo-fi.”

“Oh… Jazz?”

After laughing for a while, we finally calmed down and set off.

Time flew by, and we arrived 10 minutes early.

10 minutes early… 10 minutes early… 12 minutes early….

“Is the navigation system broken?”

“…It’s less than a 5-minute drive, seriously.”

As my brother said, we were stuck in traffic.

When it detects traffic changes, time decreases, and when it detects it again, this time it increases.

“Do you think all these people are going to the amusement park?”

“…I hope not. Really.”

If just these cars fill up the parking lot, it will be packed, even more so with people. If all of them enter the amusement park… I dread that too.

My brother fiddled with the car and soon turned on his phone, while I searched for another song.

“They said today is a less crowded day… I’m not so sure.”

“Yeah… me neither.”

The fact that there are no people at the amusement park means failure, so ultimately we have to assume there will be people.

In January and February… Of course, it will be crowded, and in March, everyone goes to school, so in April and May… there will be more people due to field trips or other reasons, and in May and June, summer is popular, and July and August are summer vacation, and September and October are approaching autumn, so there will be more people.

“Ugh….”

I stopped thinking.

Since it’s a weekday, there might be fewer people, maybe in March… or September? But we missed all those opportunities, so we’re in a bit of a pickle.

Thinking about being hit by people and hitting others made my head ache for a moment.

“But still… I think we can figure something out.”

“…Figure out?”

“Yeah. Figure out. That’s what money is for in times like this.”

My brother held up the phone.

I still didn’t understand English, but as if understanding my feelings, my brother fiddled with the phone and soon a message came through.

“…?”

“Give it here.”

With a smile on his face, my brother took my phone.

He handed it back after signing up, then took it again.

What was he doing while driving?

Honestly, I wondered what he was doing since he wasn’t even looking ahead, but the car was going and stopping on its own.

“Now do you see what it is?”

When I got my phone back, something had appeared.

“……Oh.”

If the reason the amusement park made the app was for tickets, it seems like we bought tickets first.

“It’s convenient, isn’t it…?”

“Convenience is just the beginning now.”

I still didn’t understand my brother’s intentions.