episode_0561

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“So it’s true that you’re interning at the same place as her.”

“Why would I lie about that…? Ugh, I’m tired…”

“Go home and rest. Noona said she’s leaving work early today to make dinner.”

Inside the taxi on the way home.

After sitting in silence the whole time, I finally spoke up cautiously once Seol Da-bin had gotten out first.

“Come to think of it, you two didn’t say a word to each other earlier. Still awkward, huh?”

“Of course it’s awkward, you idiot. I’m not as easygoing as Ha-yoon… And she’s my senior too…”

Lee Ji-yoon and Seol Da-bin.

Honestly, the way the two of them acted when we went to pick them up earlier was painfully awkward.

I kinda expected it, though.

Even if she’s Lee Ha-yoon’s friend, that doesn’t mean she’s Lee Ji-yoon’s friend.

Plus, this kid’s always been terrible with strangers—no way she’d feel comfortable just because of the whole ‘my sister’s friend’ thing.

Considering she barely interacts with even Yozora and Han Su-ah, who are in the same class…

It’ll probably take a long time for these two to get close.

At least a month, at the bare minimum.

Might even take longer than that.

At this rate, I wouldn’t be surprised if Seol Da-bin brings up ‘…Should we just hide it?’ again, like in our last conversation.

But it hasn’t been that long yet.

For now, I’ll just wait and see.

“Noona was worried. Said the department store got wrecked pretty bad.”

“She’s overreacting. If I hadn’t been caught off guard, I would’ve just immobilized him. But that crazy bastard suddenly dropped from the ceiling…”

“No, she already saw on the news that you’re fine. She was more worried about whether you’d have to pay for wrecking the department store.”

“……The government’ll handle it, right? Probably?”

HS Department Store.

Since it’s under Hanseol Group—Han Su-ah’s family’s company—it’s not like destroying part of the emergency staircase would cause any real trouble.

Even if there were issues, I could just take care of it.

But more importantly, judging by the atmosphere, Ji-yoon doesn’t seem to have any idea about the connection between the department store and Han Su-ah…

I thought about using this to create some kind of link between them, but I gave up after less than five seconds.

If that naive kid—who was already happy just pretending to be newlyweds—got involved, there’s no telling where things would go.

“Well, the government probably will handle it. You’ve been all over the news, and your popularity’s skyrocketed.”

“…? Popularity? What popularity?”

“You and your senior got posted all over internet communities.”

“…Huh?”

So the topic shifted back to what happened earlier today.

After rummaging through my pocket for a moment, I turned on my phone and showed Ji-yoon a screenshot of a news article with her face on it.

At the same time, Ji-yoon’s shoulder lightly brushed against mine.

The screenshots—though they were all different.

Some were literal screen captures.

Others were grainy photos taken of the TV screen with a phone camera.

And the timestamps were all over the place.

Of course they would be.

A villain incident causing part of a department store’s emergency staircase to collapse was bound to draw attention,

and in the middle of it, Ji-yoon and Seol Da-bin ended up on the news.

Even just counting the people who frantically tried to capture the moment, there were already this many.

“You were super nervous, huh?”

“O-of course I was, you psycho…! You have any idea how many cameras were there?!”

She was trying hard to act like she wasn’t, but after spending so much time together, I could tell.

She was so nervous she was practically shaking.

Teasing her a little, Ji-yoon—who had been leaning against me quietly until now—started punching my shoulder hard enough to make loud thud sounds.

For someone from the magic world, she sure takes after her sister—her punches hurt.

“Anyway, why did you save all these on your phone…?! Are you a stalker or something? Huh?”

“I was just curious since you were all over the internet.”

“All… over…?”

“I told you earlier. You got posted in all sorts of online communities.”

“Posted…?”

“It’s because you’re pretty. It’s not like they posted you in a bad way, so don’t make that devastated face.”

“Pretty…, …….”

“Look. Even here, everyone’s saying you’re pretty, right?”

“…Pretty?”

“Yeah, you are. At least, someone like you.”

“…….”

Sure, if you scrolled through the comments, there was no shortage of sexual harassment, but I didn’t need to mention that.

So I just turned off the screen and handed my card to the taxi driver up front.

Looking out the window, I recognized the rows of multi-unit houses coming into view.

Then, I got out with Ji-yoon, who still looked like her head was spinning.

Just as we were opening the front gate and stepping inside—

“…Hey. Seo Woo-jin.”

Thud. The gate closed behind us, and her voice reached me.

Instead of heading up the stairs like usual, I turned to look at Ji-yoon.

“…Do you really think that too?”

“Think what?”

“…That I’m pretty.”

“Yeah.”

The past year.

And the ten years before that.

My thoughts haven’t changed.

So I answered immediately, and a moment later, Ji-yoon’s small hand tightly gripped the coat I was wearing.

It felt different from the punches earlier—much softer.

“…So you think I’m pretty too?”

“…….”

Maybe it’s just my imagination.

But she feels closer than before.

Her hair—completely different from Ha-yoon’s—is closer than before.

Her deep green eyes—identical to Ha-yoon’s—are closer than before.

And her voice—

“…Compared to Noona?”

“…….”

“Am I… prettier than Ha-yoon?”

—Ji-yoon’s voice, similar yet not quite the same,

is closer than before.

“Noona’s pretty. And so are you. I think you’re both pretty.”

“That’s not what I asked. I’m asking who’s prettier.”

“You really wanna hear that?”

“Yeah.”

“…What if it’s not the answer you want?”

“It will be. It’s fine.”

“You sound pretty confident.”

“Well… You shoot way thicker cum when you’re with me.”

“…….”

“Especially when you alternate between me and Noona during sex… You even shoot clumpy, jelly-like stuff sometimes…”

“You’re not a pervert, but you were keeping track of that?”

“You’re worse. …Getting rock hard from Noona’s dangerous days, then carefully pouring all that cum into me on my safe days… You’re way more of a freak. ……You damn pervert.”

I already know the answer.

It’s not like both of them are here—this is just between me and Ji-yoon.

Choosing the wrong answer would be harder.

So after taking a deep breath—

Staring into Ji-yoon’s upturned eyes,

I kept my gaze locked with hers and—

“…Mmph, ah…, ……♡”

Before we even got inside.

Right outside the house.

I started making out with my girlfriend’s little sister.

“…Haa. You’re still dodging the answer…?”

“…You want me to say you’re prettier than Noona. That you turn me on more. Stuff like that, right?”

“Then say it already. …Hurry.”

“Sigh…, …You’re prettier.”

“Nope. Put more feeling into it.”

“…Compared to Noona, her little sister is prettier.”

“Hehe… So I’m more your type than Noona?”

“…Yeah.”

“……Ah, what about that senior earlier?”

“…Senior?”

Even though my phone already had a message from Ha-yoon asking when I’d be back—

…We kept going until we heard footsteps outside the gate.

“Senior Da-bin got her picture taken a lot too, right……. …Do I turn you on more than her?”

“…Yeah.”

“…Well, I guess that’s a pass. Honestly, it feels like you should be bowing to me~”

Mixing our ragged breaths,

we kept at it

for a long time.

Roughly three days.

Seol Da-bin, who had been trying to get closer to Lee Ji-yoon after they started interning at the same office, ended the week without any real progress.

If she asked Ji-yoon to eat lunch together, Ji-yoon would respond.

But they’d just eat lunch—nothing more. No sense of growing closer.

If she tried to strike up a conversation, Ji-yoon would engage.

But since the only topic she could bring up was ‘Lee Ha-yoon,’ it always hit a dead end.

It’d be easier if she at least knew Ji-yoon’s interests.

She even bought bungeoppang on the way back from interning with another senior sidekick to share.

Or tried complimenting her looks to win her over—but like before, nothing worked.

At best, she just kept things from getting worse.

Then the weekend arrived.

[Seol Da-bin] – When is everyone coming? – Are you planning to arrive right on time?

[Baek Seo-yeon] – I’ll be there soon.

[Seo Woo-jin] – Still on the subway. – Should make it before the meetup time.

A group chat with Seol Da-bin, Seo Woo-jin, and Baek Seo-yeon.

Seol Da-bin, who had arrived at the meeting spot 15 minutes early, fiddled with her mask and checked her phone.

…She’d expected this, but the first of Woo-jin’s partners she’d be meeting was none other than Senior Baek Seo-yeon.

Given that they’d already seen each other in that state in the infirmary, Woo-jin must’ve thought it’d be fine for her to meet Seo-yeon first.

Personally, she would’ve preferred meeting someone else first, but it was only a matter of time anyway.

If today was Seo-yeon, then next time would naturally be someone else.

So then…

“…….”

…What about that blonde girl she’d briefly run into last time? Was she still…?

Standing off to the side of the bustling street, she tried piecing together her hazy memories—

“Seol Da-bin.”

Tap tap.

Someone poked her shoulder with a finger as they spoke.

She naturally turned her head toward them.

“…Nice to meet you.”

“Ah, yes. Senior…”

She didn’t remember her being this pretty whenever they crossed paths at the academy.

Did she put extra effort into her appearance today?

Far prettier than usual—

“That pervert will be about 10 minutes late.”

“Huh?”

“He was always like that when meeting me. …Guess you wouldn’t know yet.”

“…Ah, right.”

“…….”

And the way she casually shared something Da-bin hadn’t even been curious about—

This was a Baek Seo-yeon unlike any she’d known before.