episode_0578

.

Snow flurries pun.

Enveloping wei.

Energy qi.

A word like “atmosphere,” formed by sequentially combining such Chinese characters, belongs to a realm where intuition operates faster than logical thought.

Take, for example, the atmosphere of a school trip.

The excitement of friends around you, the joy of escaping the familiar streets of your daily commute, sharing a sleeping space with multiple friends, countless sights you’d never see in everyday life, the liberating feeling of breaking free from the suffocating stress of academics…

All these elements blend together to create the “atmosphere of a school trip,” but usually, no one consciously notices or articulates it.

All those long, drawn-out reasons ultimately compress into a single, simple one: “just because.”

No—even calling it “compression” is unusual.

Most of the time, people don’t even think about it at all.

But even so, right now—

“…Hello, sunbae.”

Very, very logical thoughts.

Took root in a corner of my mind before my instincts could react.

“Ah, Jiyoon-ah.”

“…….”

Monday.

First-floor café of the office.

A little earlier than usual work hours.

After receiving a call from Da-bin sunbae, I arrived at the office ahead of schedule and waited to greet her when she arrived shortly after.

“Did you order this for me?”

“…Yes.”

“You didn’t have to… I’ll pay for yours too. I’m your sunbae, after all.”

“No, it’s fine. I prefer it this way.”

Something happened between sunbae and me on Saturday.

So, naturally, I should make a good impression.

For instance… with bribes.

Anyway, it’s best to use every means available.

In that sense, today’s bribe was this café latte right in front of me.

I don’t know Da-bin sunbae’s exact preferences, but this is a safe choice, so the chance of failure should be low, right?

Given these circumstances, the word “awkwardness” quietly settled into the air between us.

“Really, you didn’t have to…”

“More importantly, you asked me to come early today…?”

“Ah, it’s nothing major.”

“…….”

But sunbae and I are somewhat close.

How close?

Close enough that if someone asked, “Name your three closest friends,” I’d hesitate before including hers.

Plus, Da-bin sunbae is, well…

To put it nicely, she’s striking.

To put it bluntly, she looks like a back-alley delinquent.

That thing I overheard last time—maybe it was just a mischievous prank to mess with me?

And since she’s also close to Ha-yoon, she might take this “minor” secret to the grave.

With thoughts like these swirling, the word “anticipation” crept into the air between us.

“…It’s about what happened on Saturday.”

“…….”

“Let’s head up to the office first. There are more customers here than I expected for this early.”

Until the moment Da-bin sunbae uttered that name,

the atmosphere had been tinged with that kind of feeling.

Now… well.

Forget “awkwardness” or “anticipation.”

The only word that fits is “What do I do?”

578

Since the first-floor café had more eavesdroppers than expected, Da-bin sunbae and I stepped into the elevator together.

Just a little further up, the reception room—practically our private space—was right ahead.

Once there, we could finally start our conversation… or so I thought.

But sunbae began speaking a little sooner.

As the elevator slowly ascended, she started.

“It was you, right? …The one in Ha-yoon’s room.”

“…Yes.”

A brief silence, but not a long one.

Without denial, I admitted it honestly, suppressing the urge to collapse from sheer embarrassment and instead staring holes into the elevator doors.

Trying to lie to sunbae would be pointless.

Unless Seo Woo-jin had desperately tried to shake her off last night, outright admitting it was the better move—lying now would only backfire.

So, in a voice barely above a whisper, I confessed.

Da-bin sunbae continued her questioning.

“How long has it been? The two of you.”

“…Almost a year…?”

“A year?”

“Since last winter…”

“Damn, you’ve been lucky not getting caught.”

“……Well…”

I was caught.

Not by accident, either—it was more like I let Ha-yoon see.

Because, obviously, that way was way more… satisfying.

But spelling out these details still feels a bit… yeah.

I’ll save it for later. When the time comes that I have to explain, I will.

With that in mind, I was about to dodge with a simple “Guess I got lucky” when—

“…What’s with that reaction?”

“…Huh?”

“Don’t tell me it’s not just me—you’ve been caught by Ha-yoon too?”

“…….”

…Exactly caught.

Even though the silence I just held couldn’t have been more than a second.

Without hesitation.

Perfectly.

For a second, I wondered if she could read my mind, but sunbae isn’t from the magic realm, so that’s impossible.

Probably just scarily perceptive.

In the end, as the elevator reached its destination, I let out a deep sigh and answered.

“I was… caught. A long time ago.”

“…Figures. Hard to hide something like that from family forever.”

“Sunbae, let’s talk inside. Here isn’t really…”

“Yeah.”

Thankfully, no one was outside the elevator.

I’d already noticed during my two-week internship that this area had little foot traffic, but today, I’ve never been more grateful for such useless trivia.

Forcing the conversation to pause, I glanced around like a sneaking villain before heading to the reception room.

Inside, the situation was similar.

I’d considered finding another spot if the cleaning lady was there, but this seemed fine.

And first things first… I should lock the door.

If the director barged in without knocking, that’d be trouble.

Naturally, my hand reached for the button near the handle and pressed it firmly.

Once I confirmed the door was locked, I sat across from sunbae.

Then, as I sifted through possible ways to start the conversation—

“By the way, Jiyoon-ah, don’t you have anything to ask me?”

“…Huh? Like what…?”

“You must’ve heard. …My condition for keeping the secret. Aren’t you curious about it?”

“…….”

“…Hm? Did the health teacher not tell you?”

“I-I heard, but… It’s just… hard for me to say it outright…”

“…Ahaha. Yeah, I guess it’d be awkward coming from you.”

“…….”

“Anyway, the thing is… …There’s a reason I set that condition. Right?”

“…Yeah.”

Earlier, I’d been staring holes into the elevator doors, but now—

I met Da-bin sunbae’s eyes, her face even redder than mine.

Despite wanting to stay composed, her embarrassment was contagious.

“I heard… that you’ve actually had an interest in Seo Woo-jin for a while…? That’s what she told me, at least…”

“…Ah, uh, yeah, that’s… more or less accurate.”

First impressions aside.

Every time we’ve run into each other in the office since.

Even during my internship, seeing her daily movements.

Even if she rolled up her sleeves to reveal arms covered in tattoos, it wouldn’t be surprising.

That’s the kind of person Da-bin sunbae is.

So seeing her blush while talking about Seo Woo-jin…

…Of course it’d rub off on me too.

Unlike last time, she doesn’t even seem drunk now.

Acting like a girl who’s been pining for years.

It’s so distracting.

“…Jiyoon-ah, this goes without saying, but…”

“…Yeah?”

“What we talk about now—it’s a secret from your sister, okay?”

“…….”

“Not just your sister. From everyone in the world. Got it?”

Obviously it’s a secret.

Lee Ha-yoon is already swallowing her 忍 (patience) three times a day because of me alone. If her friend got involved too, who knows how much she’d complain?

So, at least for now, I nodded, conveying my understanding.

“…Sigh… What happened the other night—I was a little drunk, so…”

“…I figured. I know what you’re usually like.”

“But even if I was drunk, I wasn’t lying.”

“…….”

“Even when I masturbate now… I don’t picture my childhood friend anymore. Just Ha-yoon’s boyfriend.”

Honestly, with secrets like these—

It’s not that I find it fun to watch everything blow up in my sister’s face.

Nor is it because keeping it all to myself, dark and sticky, is more entertaining.

…It’s for my sister.

Really.

I just feel bad for her.

“Hey, Jiyoon-ah, when you masturbate, do you ever feel like…?”

“…No. I don’t really… do that much…”

“Why?”

“I just… …have Seo Woo-jin…”

“…Ah. Ah.”

“…Since I’m home a lot, we… naturally ended up doing it often.”

“Hmm…”

“…….”

“…….”

“…….”

“…Ah, shit. Talking about this with my friend’s little sister is so embarrassing I could die… I’d rather be drunk like last time…”

As I watched sunbae flush over Seo Woo-jin, my gaze unconsciously drifted—not to her face, but to her body.

“…….”

That was all.

No other intention.

Just that.