episode_0170

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Scrrrtch.

The sound of a chair scraping faintly in the distance makes my eyes flutter open.

A crumpled wad of paper tucked under my arm.

A pristine white desk just beyond my arm.

And when I lift my head, a quiet classroom with only a few students left.

…Looks like

I ended up sleeping straight through until dismissal.

“Ugh…”

Couldn’t they have woken me up if they were done? How cruel.

Maybe they felt awkward since we’re not close.

Or maybe they just couldn’t be bothered.

“Nnngh…”

I stretch lightly to loosen my stiff limbs, rubbing my eyes carefully with one hand.

…Unnie always scolds me when she sees me rubbing my eyes, saying, “You’ll ruin your eyesight like that.”

So, does that mean she plans to go her whole life without ever rubbing her eyes?

A soft laugh escapes me at the random thought as I continue stretching.

Not that it has no effect—sure, maybe a little.

But is it really enough to ruin your eyesight that badly?

Wouldn’t pulling all-nighters gaming do way more damage?

I mean, ever since computers became a thing, way more people started wearing glasses, right?

“…”

But,

for some reason,

it does seem like my eyesight’s gotten worse.

[Seo Woojin] – I kinda just played along for now. – Told her you once asked me at the PC bang if I thought your sister was really pretty. – Also mentioned that before we started dating, when you treated my headache, you seemed kinda weirdly hostile toward me.

“……?”

[Lee Jiyoon] – What the hell is this all of a sudden? – And what do you mean, played along? With who?

[Seo Woojin] – Hayun-noona. – Thought you were acting like a lesbian in front of her lately. – Figured this might help.

If I’m seeing things like this right after waking up,

I must really be—

170

Me? Acting like a lesbian in front of Lee Hayun? What kind of bullshit is that?

No wonder Hayun’s been acting weird since this morning…

That’s all just your delusions, you idiot.

I’ve thought it over, and I’ve never done anything that could be misunderstood like that.

Couldn’t you have just had some weird dream while dozing off?

A lez—lesbian? What the hell…

And now you’ve dragged incest into it too, you perverted bastard…

Fingers flying across my phone, I fire off a rapid string of messages before Woojin sends a short reply.

– Sorry. – I thought you were doing it on purpose.

What kind of ridiculous answer is that?

On purpose?

Think about it logically—what reason would I have to pretend to be a lesbian in front of my sister?

What would I even gain from that?

If anything, if she was going to misunderstand, wouldn’t it make more sense for her to think I hate her?

When you think about it, I… basically stole you from her, didn’t I?

Practicing, my ass—I was the first to smother you between my thighs behind her back.

I was the first to give you a careful blowjob behind her back.

I was the first to give you my… virginity.

Even creampies—I was first.

So, logically, wouldn’t it make more sense for her to think I hate her rather than like her?

Not that I do hate her, but…

Well, there’s something like… inferiority, I guess? But it’s not hate, more like…

I do like her.

Yeah. I definitely like her.

Just not in that way.

…Ugh, damn it.

“Woojin, why would you even think that… Ugh…”

In the narrow alley on the way home.

Frustration overflowing.

Confusion piling up.

A little embarrassment mixed in as I jab at my phone screen—thankfully, the full story comes out soon enough.

– You, uh… seemed like you wanted to have sex with me in front of Hayun-noona. – …No?

“…”

The process was completely off,

but the conclusion?

Dead on.

A little sister who practices sex for her sister.

A little sister who, while her sister is on the phone, clamps a hand over her mouth and comes harder than usual.

Add those two together, and the answer is obvious, isn’t it?

Oh, so she gets off on fucking her sister’s boyfriend.

Especially when she’s on the phone with her sister, teetering on the edge of getting caught.

The more turned on she gets.

What a hopeless, perverted freak.

But if you pour fuel on the fire by making her think I’m a lesbian…

Even if the three of us do end up together, I won’t be able to do anything dirty with you.

You idiot.

[Lee Jiyoon] – It’s not… entirely wrong, but— – Calling me a lesbian—what the hell am I supposed to do with that, you moron?! – Are you telling me to have sex with my sister? Huh? – Just the thought of it makes me wanna puke…

[Seo Woojin] – I just thought you had some kind of plan. – Noona suddenly asked me if you were a lesbian, that’s all. – Figured you were using it as an excuse for something…

[Lee Jiyoon] – Ugh… I don’t get why she misunderstood, and now you’re—ugh…

[Seo Woojin] – I’ll text her that it’s not true.

[Lee Jiyoon] – Don’t. At this point, she’ll just think I asked you to say that. – Just stay quiet like you only just realized it was a misunderstanding. – Don’t interfere.

How the hell am I supposed to fix this?

All I had was a simple idea—just get Woojin and my sister drunk—but now this sudden lesbian misunderstanding? How do I even handle that?

If I just go to her and explain it’s a misunderstanding, will she just go, “Oh, okay~ I thought~” and drop it?

“…It’ll be fine.”

It has to be.

I’ve never done anything remotely lesbian-like in 20 years, so the misunderstanding should clear up fast.

She’s probably just overthinking something weird.

Pressing my temples in the middle of the narrow alley, I soon find myself in front of our house.

After sending Woojin a string of curses—complete with strategically placed vowels—I head up the stairs.

“…”

Normally, Unnie would be out with friends or at her part-time job, but today, of course, she’s home.

Beep beep beep beep.

I punch in the door code, and a familiar pair of sneakers greets me.

Of course,

they’re Unnie’s.

“Ugh…”

This is insane.

Who’d have thought I’d ever have to explain that I’m not a lesbian?

Honestly, I’d rather just pretend I didn’t notice and bolt straight to my room.

It’s only a second from the front door anyway—I could actually do it.

…But,

that’d just make the misunderstanding worse.

With the sound of the door locking behind me, I pivot slightly toward the living room.

“…Unnie. You here?”

“Y-yeah…”

But her voice doesn’t come from her room or the living room—it’s mine.

…She came to confront me, huh?

Swallowing a sigh, I keep my tone casual.

“What? …You’re in my room? Why?”

“Um… I need to talk to you…”

“Oh. Talk.”

I cannot smile.

I have to keep my usual blank, thoughtless expression.

If I look even slightly happy she’s in my room, she might take it the wrong way.

I cannot sound affectionate.

Same reason.

Absolutely.

If the topic of lesbians comes up, I must look utterly disgusted.

To clear the misunderstanding in one go.

To make sure this never comes up again.

“What did you want to talk about?”

“Well… Umm…”

Letting my bag strap slide off, I step inside to see Unnie still in her school uniform, perched on the edge of my bed.

Unlike me, trying my hardest to act natural and unawkward, she’s visibly tense—so much so that it’s making me nervous.

…She really believes I’m a lesbian, huh?

Whether as a kid or now,

I’ve never done anything that could be misunderstood like that—

I swear.

“I’ve got a game to play with Woojin, so can you hurry up?”

“…J-just give me a second. I need to mentally prepare…”

“…Drama queen.”

“Haa…”

I toss my bag near the dresser,

hang the coat Woojin bought me on the wall hook,

and deliberately drop his name in front of Unnie, feeding my twisted desires just a little.

…Unnie. You’ve never gone raw with your boyfriend, right?

Whispering something like that is one of my lifelong dreams, but…

Given the situation,

and the fact we’re not that close,

I settle for something more subtle.

Something only I can savor.

Just saying his name.

“J-Jiyoon-ah.”

“Yeah.”

“I just wanted to ask, umm…”

“What? I’ve got stuff to do, so hurry up.”

Hayun fidgets with the zipper of her fleece jacket over her uniform, hesitating.

I plop into the computer chair across from her,

and she finally speaks.

“…Do you like me?”

“…”

Like a squirrel twitching its paws, Unnie finally voices the question.

I wonder what she’d have done if I said yes.

Was there no option to phrase it less directly?

Her question couldn’t have been more blunt.

“…Did you have a dream or something? Me confessing to you?”

“No, it’s not that… It’s just, lately, your behavior’s been kinda suspicious…”

“Suspicious? How?”

“Well, for one… why have you been cleaning so much lately? Even doing laundry…”

“Didn’t want you to overwork yourself. Satisfied?”

Easy.

The truth? I was washing your clothes, stained with cum.

The blanket soaked from having sex with Woojin behind your back.

The blanket drenched after masturbating to the sounds of you two fucking over the phone.

But if I just say I’ve matured, she’d never suspect a thing.

Kill two birds with one stone—

clear up the lesbian misunderstanding too.

“…And why did you suddenly clean my room…?”

“It was filthy. That prize plushie was just rolling on the floor… Anyway, it was a mess, so I did it.”

To air out the stench of cum in your room.

To get rid of any stray hairs Woojin might’ve left.

Instead of the honest answer,

It was filthy.

“Then what about…”

“I already explained. Is there still something weird?”

“…Just one more thing.”

“Ugh… I still don’t get why you misunderstood, but I’m not a lesbian, okay? So…”

“Jiyoon, you and Woojin got really close all of a sudden… That’s kinda weird too.”

“…”

Because he’s your boyfriend.

Instead of the honest answer,

two perfectly reasonable excuses pop into my head:

He treated my headaches.

We game together a lot.

But my mouth

chooses something else.

“What’s weird about that?”

“You’ve had tons of guys treat you well before.”

“…Sure, I guess. So?”

I haven’t.

They were all just guys pretending to be nice because they couldn’t control their lust.

Woojin’s the only one who didn’t pretend.

From the first time we met in the infirmary, he never did anything creepy, right?

Just treated my headache like it was nothing.

When it came back, he even came to the café where I worked to help.

And even when he asked me to help him practice for dates with you,

he never looked at me with disgusting eyes.

“Plenty of them were into gaming too.”

“…Maybe. I wouldn’t know.”

They weren’t.

Out of all the guys who “confessed” to me with lines like “I wanna fuck you so bad,”

not a single one in my class talked about games.

They were all into soccer.

Basketball.

Picking on weaker kids.

Game talk?

At best, occasionally.

That’s it.

Compared to the losers who’d eavesdrop on my gaming conversations and pretend to be interested just to get a word in,

Woojin—who just happened to share my hobby—was way better.

“But you and Woojin got close so fast. Looking back, it doesn’t make sense.”

“…”

“Like… were you trying to cut into the time I spend with him?”

“…You’re writing fanfiction now. Fanfiction.”

“…”

“It’s not like that, it’s just…”

So much I want to say.

So much I can’t.

Sifting through it all,

I land on:

Thud.

“…He’s hot, okay? Woojin. That’s why we got close.”

“Huh?”

“There. Misunderstanding cleared up, right?”

“I mean… I guess…”

“If we’re done, get out. I’ve got a game to play.”

“Huh…?”

Before she can process my answer, I shove her out of my room and slam the door shut.

“Ugh… Haah……”

My heart pounds loud enough to drown out everything else.

Too loud.