episode_0189

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[Lee Jiyoon]

– What the hell does that mean?

– Say it in a way I can understand.

– You want me to break my pride?

– Strip naked in front of my sister, lie face down, and declare my defeat or something?

[Seo Woojin]

– That wouldn’t be too bad either…

[Lee Jiyoon]

– What?

[Seo Woojin]

– Just let her win a little. Just a tiny bit.

– Don’t push so hard to win like you’ve been doing with Hayun noona…

[Lee Jiyoon]

– So.

– You better explain properly what you mean by “losing to that sister of mine,” you idiot.

[Seo Woojin]

– Ah. It’s nothing big.

– I think noona’s mood will improve a lot by today, tomorrow at the latest, or maybe by Sunday?

[Lee Jiyoon]

– So? What?

[Seo Woojin]

– Just time it right around then…

– Noona, just glare at her softly.

– I’ll handle the rest.

[Lee Jiyoon]

– …That’s it?

– Just glare softly?

[Seo Woojin]

– Yeah.

– That’s enough.

[Lee Jiyoon]

– …Feels a bit lacking, though.

– What’s glaring supposed to accomplish?

[Seo Woojin]

– It’ll work.

– Don’t worry about it.

– Because you and your sister…

– Are more alike than you think.

189

…Anyway, to sum it up.

One.

Starting today, Friday, Seo Woojin will be staying at our place over the weekend (Saturday and Sunday).

Two.

During that time, he’ll pay more attention to my sister than to me.

Well, that’s nothing new, so it doesn’t mean much.

Three.

I should subtly read the mood and then…

Glare at my sister?

That’s it?

“…Hmm.”

Glaring at my sister probably means… I should somehow show that I’m in a bad mood.

It doesn’t have to be glaring—I could just act annoyed or something…

But it doesn’t really matter.

I get the gist of it.

The complete opposite of how things have been.

Instead of me provoking my sister’s jealousy under the excuse of “for Seo Woojin’s perverted tastes,” this time, it’s the reverse.

Not me feeling superior while my sister gets jealous.

But my sister feeling superior while I act jealous.

“….”

Of course, my jealousy would just be an act to reel her in.

Still, the idea doesn’t sit well with me.

I wanted to see my sister jealous.

Like, her eyes welling up with tears because I took Woojin from her, insisting she’s the girlfriend…

That kind of thing.

Well, anyway, I more or less get it up to this point.

It just reinforced my impression of him—“So he’s one of those guys who looks normal but is actually a huge pervert, huh? Total freak.”

But the last thing Woojin said…

That was the hardest to accept.

That I resemble my sister.

Where?

My eyes?

Fine, I’ll give him that.

Both my sister and I have the exact same deep green irises.

But I can’t think of anything else.

Hair?

When I was little, I had black hair like hers,

but aside from a few remaining strands (like gray hairs), it’s been white for a long time now.

Same with our faces.

They’re as different as black and white. Others might think differently, but to my eyes, that’s how it is.

If I had to stretch it, our height and body proportions are somewhat similar,

but no one would say we look alike based on just that.

What’s left… personality? Habits? Speech?

Dunno.

Aside from our eyes, I can’t think of a single thing we have in common.

…Hmm.

Maybe guys see it differently?

“What are you doing? Standing dangerously close to the crosswalk.”

“…Ah.”

I’d been mentally cursing Woojin for a while after he brushed off my question about how we’re alike with a vague “This and that.”

A familiar hand blocked my path as I absentmindedly stepped forward despite the red light.

It was my sister’s hand—we were walking home together.

Stopping at the edge of the sidewalk, I stared at her blankly before taking a step back.

“…Thanks.”

“….”

“Haa… Must be tired…”

“….”

A high-level provocation (by my own standards), implying that my hour with Woojin yesterday was thrilling—

or that I’d been secretly texting him all night (which I hadn’t).

But my sister didn’t respond, just shifted her gaze toward the road.

…Could’ve at least said something.

Is this the first time she’s been like this?

Ironically, I’m the one feeling awkward now.

“….”

“….”

If I had to pinpoint the biggest change since my provocation the other night, it’d be this.

My sister has become a lot quieter.

The sister who used to chatter nonstop—

about how she loved the sound of rain when it rained,

the crunch of snow underfoot when it snowed,

or just how nice the weather was when it was nice—

was gone.

At the academy, she was still bright and cheerful around her friends,

but beside me, she wasn’t like that anymore.

…Not that she was angry,

just staring straight ahead with a calm, almost napping-like expression.

“….”

Somehow,

seeing her like that…

Maybe Woojin was right?

Maybe my sister and I do look a bit alike?

“…Ah.”

Wondering if something was on my face, I briefly recalled the times I’d checked my reflection in the mirror for similar reasons.

Click.

The traffic light turned green.

“Grab a basket and follow me.”

“…Okay.”

A discount mart near home.

The reason we came here without even changing clothes was simple:

Our fridge had emptied out faster than expected lately because a certain guy had been joining us for dinner.

So technically, I’m just here to carry stuff, but…

Considering my sister’s strength, did she just bring me along to use me like a slave?

Like some petty revenge?

A silly thought, but knowing my sister, she might actually do something like that—a quiet laugh escaped me.

Ugh. So petty. So petty.

If I were in her shoes right now?

My cheek would’ve been bright red by now.

…If it were me, I’d have—

“You fucking bitch.”

“How dare you lay a hand on my boyfriend?”

—held her other cheek in place so she couldn’t dodge,

and smack.

Smack.

I’d have slapped her until she apologized.

But unlike me, my sweet-natured sister just gritted her teeth, muttered “Crazy bitch,” and walked away.

…If she had hit me, I’d have gone straight to Woojin to get “treated”…

And then…

Come home even later.

Maybe gotten hit again.

Wouldn’t that be something?

“…One basket is enough?”

“For now, yeah.”

Hmm.

Maybe I’m overthinking it.

Running my tongue lightly over the inside of my cheek, I grabbed a pitch-black basket and quickened my pace to catch up to her.

“What are we buying?”

“We’ll browse the veggies first… Then we might stop by the butcher. The meat here isn’t great.”

“Meat? You haven’t been to the hospital lately, so you’ve got money to spare…?”

“It’s not for Woojin.”

“…I didn’t even mention Woojin.”

“You were about to.”

“…Yeah, I was.”

“Sigh… The meat went into kimchi stew and doenjang stew last time. We’ll probably buy a bit more today, but…”

“…Wait… What if you drop the veggies throwing them like that?”

“I tossed them so you could catch them easily.”

“…I missed.”

“…Tch.”

Onion. Carrot. Green onion. Chili peppers. And tofu as a bonus.

I trailed behind her, basket in hand, as she handed me vegetables one after another.

I usually only go to convenience stores, so it’s been ages since I’ve been to a discount mart—I have no idea where anything is.

After a while of mindlessly following her ponytail as it swayed…

“….”

I started noticing a strange pattern in the greens she was putting in the basket.

Chives.

Cabbage.

Asparagus.

Walnuts.

And oysters.

…If you added eel (a staple in places like this), it’d be complete.

Foods that are… good for stamina.

“…One basket should be enough. Let’s go.”

“Ah, okay.”

What’s this?

Is she mocking me?

“Lee Jiyoon, no matter how hard you try to provoke me, you’re still destined to be my errand girl”?

…Hmm. Dunno.

My sister’s too naive to think this far ahead.

She probably just ended up with these ingredients while preparing food for Woojin.

My sister, whose thoughts are painfully transparent, scheming like this?

No way.

I might do it,

but it doesn’t suit her.

My sister’s more the type to…

“What do I do, what do I do?”—pace around in panic before getting robbed,

then growl at me from the sidelines.

“…You said you were coming. Why are you just standing there?”

“…Coming.”

I lifted my gaze from the basket.

The only thing in sight was my sister’s back as she glanced at me over her shoulder before walking away, her steps light and cute as usual.

Alternating between watching her and the basket, I let out a soft sigh and headed to the checkout.

I thought the rainy season was still far off.

Mid-April, long past the lingering chill of winter.

My sister and I walked under a light drizzle of powdery rain.

In one hand, a white plastic bag with a conspicuously protruding green onion.

In the other, a pitch-black plastic bag holding what was it—2 geun? 3 geun? Anyway, meat.

“Hurry. It might turn into a downpour.”

“….”

Then why not carry one of these bags for me?

Up until now, I’d only suspected, but by this point, it really does feel like my sister’s petty revenge…

Biting back the words I wanted to say, I adjusted the plastic bags and flexed my fingers.

Maybe because it’s been a while, but my fingers were pale from the pressure of the bags.

…Now that I think about it, even combined, these probably don’t weigh 5 kg.

Guess my lifestyle of “as long as I have enough strength to move a mouse, it’s fine” is catching up to me.

Half the people around us had umbrellas.

The other half trudged along the wet pavement like us.

My shoes could’ve easily gotten soaked from the puddles in the cracks,

but I didn’t care.

I was aiming for that.

If my sister’s going to be petty, why can’t I?

Of course, if we start arguing about who messed up first, I’d have no defense.

But if I were the type to nitpick like that,

I wouldn’t have touched her boyfriend in the first place. Duh.

Just as the rainwater soaking my clothes was starting to feel genuinely unpleasant—

“Noona.”

“…Oh, Woojin?”

“….”

At the entrance of the alley leading to our house,

Seo Woojin appeared, holding an umbrella.

“Why are you here? I texted you to go ahead earlier.”

“I ended up leaving later than I thought, and then it started raining. I had a feeling you might not have brought an umbrella.”

Should I call it an ahjussi umbrella?

Large, heavy, and pitch-black—he smiled warmly at my sister under its cover.

Honestly, his acting skills are impressive.

Like the old folks say, he’s as sly as a weasel.

If he weren’t a healing-type transcendent, he could’ve been an actor.

Despite only thinking about devouring both me and my sister, he becomes this considerate the moment he’s in front of his prey.

…Anyway, I wouldn’t mind if he shared the umbrella with me too.

With that thought, I shuffled closer—and briefly locked eyes with him as he talked to my sister.

“…Hi.”

“…Yeah.”

But of course, no conversation followed.

If you could even call that brief greeting a conversation—that was it.

After about a second of eye contact, he shifted the umbrella to cover my sister and made space for me.

Enough to cover my head and one shoulder.

The other shoulder?

Left perfectly exposed to the rain.

“….”

…Paying more attention to her than me.

Like he said this morning—just endure it for a few days.

I know that.

I know this is the right approach.

But still,

it doesn’t feel great.