episode_0178

. …Well?

Of all things, when told not to have sex with Jiyoon anymore, his response was… “Well?”?

Did I really hear Woojin’s answer correctly?

At this point, it’d make more sense if I just hallucinated it.

…Nah, no way.

How could anyone possibly say something like that?

Must be a hallucination.

A misunderstanding.

Normally, the response here should be “I understand,” right?

Yet there I was, blinking stupidly as I stared at Woojin.

“…”

At Woojin, who was wearing a slightly troubled expression.

178

“…What? ‘Well?’”

“…Yeah.”

“No, how does that even make sense? Jiyoon is… my sister, for starters.”

Ah.

So when people are truly flustered, they don’t raise their voices—they actually speak more quietly.

Stuffing this unwanted information into my head, I kept staring at Woojin.

…Are you insane?

Saying “Well?” to being told to stop means you plan to keep doing dirty things with Jiyoon.

What the hell is that supposed to mean?

Even if—just hypothetically—you were planning to keep seeing Jiyoon behind my back,

at the very least, you should’ve said “I understand” here and then met her in secret later.

What kind of audacity—

Wait,

are you even human?

“Noona. I kinda get how you must be feeling, but… …Haa…”

“…?”

“…How do I even explain this?”

But Woojin’s reaction was completely different from what I’d expected.

I thought he’d shamelessly argue that he should still be allowed to have sex with Jiyoon—

if he had, I would’ve at least slapped him clean across the face and gotten it over with.

But instead, he still looked troubled.

Like he was debating whether he should really tell me.

Hesitating hundreds of times.

Running a hand over his mouth.

“Why? What’s the reason?”

“…”

In the end, I was the one who caved first.

Frustrated, I nudged him to explain his reaction, and Woojin—now covering half his face with one hand—let out a deep sigh.

Right. Now that I think about it, it is weird.

He’s not insane, so there must be a reason he answered like that.

Who in their right mind would say something like that?

Well, for example, maybe Jiyoon has some kind of leverage over Woojin—

“The thing is… Jiyoon really… likes me.”

“…”

“…A lot more than I thought.”

“…”

…So that’s it.

Not sure if it was intentional,

but she’s exploiting his weakness—his sympathy, a trait reserved for decent people.

“…Noona.”

“…I’m listening.”

Maybe my response came out too stiff.

Woojin, who had been visibly uncomfortable since bringing it up, let out another deep sigh before continuing.

“First… Haa… You already know about Jiyoon and me having sex behind your back, right?”

“…Yeah.”

“She begged me to keep it a secret from you, saying it’d just be once, so I couldn’t refuse…”

“I know that too. …Most of it.”

“And then…”

One by one.

As Woojin recounted what had happened between him and Jiyoon, I swallowed back my sighs.

…Strangely enough, I already knew most of it.

To be precise, I’d pieced it together from Jiyoon’s hair in Woojin’s bed and all the suspicious moments I’d noticed before.

Hearing it from his mouth didn’t make me feel any better.

But at least the doubts I’d had were now confirmed.

…Ah, so Jiyoon really was the one who clung to Woojin first.

Her saying she wanted to watch us have sex because my tastes were weird wasn’t for my sake—it was just her own ulterior motive.

That time she left the house for hours, saying she was going to a PC bang with Woojin? She wasn’t at a PC bang—she was at Woojin’s place.

And when I called to ask why she was so late, she was in the middle of having sex with him.

…No wonder Jiyoon

kept saying weird things like, “I think I’ll be later than expected.”

And why she didn’t come home until dawn.

And why her voice kept cutting off mid-sentence, interrupted by awkward gasps and moans.

And why Woojin snatched the phone and, sounding oddly breathless, rushed to end the call.

Looking back, it was all suspicious.

But it was real.

Lee Jiyoon. You were having sex with Woojin while taking my call.

“So, what exactly are you trying to tell me?”

Finally, I spoke as calmly as possible and looked Woojin straight in the eye.

I get that you feel sympathy for Jiyoon.

And I get that, just as I suspected, Jiyoon was the one who initiated things with you.

But I still don’t understand what you’re trying to say.

“So because Jiyoon likes you that much… you’re going to keep doing dirty things with her?”

“It’s not that, but…”

“Not that? Then what?”

“I think Jiyoon… needs time.”

“Time?”

“Yeah. Time to… detach her feelings from me.”

Time.

…Time for Jiyoon—who’d been sneaking around with my boyfriend—to get over him.

Time for the sister who’d secretly slept with him to move on.

At that, I let out a deep sigh and leaned heavily against Woojin’s desk to the right.

I wasn’t angry.

Well, honestly, I was angry,

but it was still at a level I could control.

It’s just… how do I put it?

Part of me thought, I just want you to cut ties with Jiyoon right now.

Another part wondered, Maybe Woojin has some feelings for Jiyoon too?

And another conceded, Fine. Maybe giving her some time, like Woojin said, would be better.

All these thoughts just made me sigh over and over.

…Well, where else would Jiyoon find a guy as good as Woojin to develop feelings for?

It’s not like she had any ordinary guy friends around.

If I hadn’t started dating him first, it wouldn’t have been weird for Jiyoon to be with Woojin.

But that’s just a “Huh. Yeah, that makes sense.” kind of feeling.

The idea of you and Jiyoon having sex? I hate it…

Honestly, I’d prefer if Jiyoon just stayed as your gaming friend from now on.

“Haaa…”

I melted the orange candy Woojin had given me earlier in my mouth and compromised—just one step.

If you start keeping your distance from Jiyoon from now on… fine. I’ll accept that.

…For about a week—

no, if I really push myself, maybe two weeks—

I think I can endure it somehow.

“…Woojin.”

“Yeah.”

“How much do you like Jiyoon?”

“…Hard to put into words.”

“It doesn’t have to be exact. Just give me a general idea.”

“…”

“Hurry up.”

“…Well, she keeps trying to hug me from behind.”

“Jiyoon—hugs you—? Ugh…?”

“Ever since that time, she’s been texting me nonstop about wanting to go to the PC bang…”

“…You’re kidding… No, haa…”

That just means she wants to have sex with you.

She acts so indifferent at home, but in front of Woojin, she’s like that, huh?

What kind of face does she make when it’s just the two of them?

Jiyoon clinging to Woojin, rubbing her face against him, whining about wanting to have sex—my stomach churned at the mental image.

“…Look.”

“…”

Woojin turned on his phone and showed me a glimpse of his chat with Jiyoon.

…Jiyoon was the one begging to go to the PC bang.

It wasn’t a lie—it was real.

“…Jiyoon writes really long messages to you, huh.”

“…”

“When she texts me, it’s just short replies. Sometimes just initials.”

“…”

“…This bitch. Seriously…”

On the other hand, seeing Woojin’s replies—making excuses to turn her down—reassured me a little.

It proved he wasn’t secretly sneaking around with Jiyoon but was just being dragged along by her persistence.

As for Jiyoon…

…No, forget it.

I don’t like that she was sending him such carefully crafted texts to hook up behind my back.

But it’s not like she could’ve been obvious about it to me either…

As my sighs for my sister kept piling up, Woojin cautiously spoke up.

“Noona. I know this is wrong too…”

“…Wait. I get what you’re saying, so just… give me a second…”

You called me a pervert for liking rough stuff,

but you’re into… what, NTR?

Guess you’ve got some weird kink too, huh?

If I tease Jiyoon about this, will she throw a fit?

Will she say she had to do it? That she’s not a pervert like her sister?

Grumbling to myself, unable to even lean back properly in the backless chair,

I glanced at the infirmary door and, just in case, lowered my voice to a whisper.

“…Fine. I get it. She needs time.”

“…”

“But on one condition.”

“…What condition?”

“One week. No, two. I’ll give her exactly two weeks.”

“…”

“No meeting Jiyoon beyond that. …I can’t compromise any further.”

“…Okay. I’ll try to convince her.”

“And one more thing.”

There’s one person who doesn’t want to see Woojin with Jiyoon anymore.

And one person who, completely disregarding my feelings, just wants to keep having sex with Woojin.

And one person who, out of pity, reluctantly humors Jiyoon.

I couldn’t find a solution that would satisfy everyone,

but there is one compromise that would at least make it bearable for all.

“…Don’t meet Jiyoon behind my back.”

“Ah, I was actually planning to tell you whenever I met h—”

“No, no. That’s not what I mean…”

“…”

“Don’t go to your place and secretly have s…ex with Jiyoon…”

I don’t want us tiptoeing around each other.

It’d just create more things to clean up.

…And the walls are thin, so I’d hear everything.

It’s incredibly… perverted, but—

Anyway, the most straightforward solution,

and the one most favorable to me, is—

“…Just come to our place instead. So I know exactly how much you and Jiyoon are doing it.”

Whispering this, I stuffed both hands deep into my fleece pockets and continued.

“You have to do it with me… more than you do with Jiyoon.”

“…”

“…Why are you looking at me like that? Did you plan to only do it with Jiyoon for two weeks?”

“…No, that’s not…”

“If I only hear Jiyoon’s moans at home, it’ll really feel like she’s your girlfriend. Idiot. …What does that make me…?”

“…”

“Ah, whatever, uh… I’ll talk to Jiyoon about it.”

“…”

“…You don’t like the idea?”

“…No.”

After that,

it took less than 30 seconds

for Jiyoon’s signature reluctant “Fine.” to arrive via text.