Four Family Members, Two Relationships. (2)

,Suspicious.”

,Don’t say weird things from the morning, Oppa, you’re already in your 40s?”

,Seya-ya, you’re already 40 too.”

,What does my age of 40 have to do with Oppa’s nonsense? So, what nonsense are you talking about?”

,…Jiho and Seonhye are suspicious.”

,In what way?”

,That’s…”

The morning at the VR Room is bound to be quiet.

Except for the people who play games in the VIP room all night, there are no customers, so sitting at a table and drinking a beverage was the daily routine.

I finished inspecting the second branch and returned to the first branch, living the same pattern for five years, but these days it felt particularly different.

,It seems like Jiho and Seonhye are secretly being intimate with each other.”

,Intimately? Are you saying they’re dating or something?”

,…Maybe?”

,…?”

Seya’s expression wasn’t bright either.

,It’s not funny to joke like that from the morning.”

,I don’t want this kind of joke.”

,Then why are you saying that?”

,Because I’m seriously anxious, that’s why!”

I can’t help but be anxious.

Parents, us, and even the children, three generations of incest?

Why is our family like this? Is affection between siblings some kind of family tradition?

I couldn’t help but worry as it seemed like that kind of atmosphere was blooming even in the children.

,Even if I’m really anxious…it’s true that there’s nothing I can do about it.”

That hit the nail on the head. It’s not something that can be stopped by trying to stop it.

More than anything, I couldn’t stop it because I hadn’t seen a decisive scene.

I can’t just stop them because I suspect they’re close as siblings, and if they really aren’t, the children will look at me strangely.

They’re just close enough to laugh and chat with each other, but if I suddenly barge in saying, “You guys are committing incest!” it’s natural for the children to look at me strangely.

,…That’s right. There’s no reason to stop them, and there’s no way to stop them. Because there’s no evidence.”

,Unless you catch a decisive scene, in the end, Oppa is just worrying for no reason.”

,I’d rather be relieved if it’s just worrying for no reason. But…no matter how I look at it, it doesn’t seem like that…”

Seya patted my shoulder.

,It’s okay. It probably isn’t, what reason would they have to be so obvious?”

That’s also true. There’s no reason to show off in a sibling relationship.

It’s dangerous, but if they get caught by our parents, especially since they’re only middle schoolers, they’ll definitely be separated.

There’s no reason to show off the relationship to that extent, so I nodded at Seya’s words.

,…I guess if it were real, they’d usually hide it, right?”

,Of course, they’d hide it. It would be tough if they were caught and got beaten up by Oppa or Jihye and had to live apart.”

,Can’t they meet after school? You can’t stop that.”

,They go to the same school, what’s the point of stopping that? What are you going to do if they meet at school, is Oppa going to go and stop them?”

,I can’t do that either… Keung…”

,That’s right, it would be a headache if they really had romantic feelings for each other, but you can’t say anything unless it’s certain.”

The bullseye of bullseyes. I can’t push them without evidence, but I can’t forcibly find evidence either.

No matter how suspicious the children are, it’s too much to risk losing their trust in order to find evidence that they’re doing something weird.

I can’t install a camera in their room, and I can’t hide a recorder either.

It’s like installing landmines in the barn where the cows still live just because I’m worried.

,I’m going crazy. No matter how I look at it, it seems right, but there’s no evidence…and I’m worried.”

,Aren’t you worrying too much?”

,How can I not worry about children having affection for each other as siblings?”

,…You’ve completely changed since becoming a father.”

,Me? How so, do I seem a bit like a꼰대 kkondae (old fart)?”

,Not that, but more like you’ve become more worried? Rather than being petty like before, it just shows that you’re getting older.”

,I’m forty, so it’s natural…”

,It’s because you have unnecessary worries. Just leave them alone, isn’t it okay as long as they don’t have kids even if they live together?”

True if it’s true, wrong if it’s wrong.

No, well…there wouldn’t be a problem if they don’t get married.

If they don’t have children, there’s no risk of getting sick, right?

But if siblings live together for three generations, that’s a problem in itself, a problem!

It’s not like our family has a disease that makes you die if you don’t commit incest!

,It’s not like our family has a disease that makes you die if you don’t commit incest.”

,…Oppa’s family is our whole family.”

,I don’t accept the opinions of cousins.”

,No…everyone is a cousin. And from the paternal side…I only knew that because Oppa told me.”

,Okay Sujeong-ah, just our family’s genes.”

,Maybe, but let’s just leave the kids alone for now. If you keep thinking like that without evidence, only Oppa will get a headache.”

I already have a headache, but it’s definitely not good to push the kids without evidence.

Worry is worry, and it’s because of worry that I’m suspicious, but it could be my excessive worry.

Yeah, I believed that and took a light deep breath, calming my mind.

,…Yeah, it’s probably not, yeah, it probably isn’t.”

,But if it’s true, don’t scold them and just quietly reason with them, and talk to Jihye too.”

,Thanks. Ah, right, that’s not what I came here to talk about, was it?”

I showed Seya the papers I had printed out in advance.

Seya, who received them, looked at me and asked before even reading them.

,What are these papers?”

,It’s about the second branch’s profits. Since you’re the owner, look at this and decide what to do.”

,Ah~ but it’s more profitable than I thought? I thought it would be fine as long as it just maintained the status quo.”

,We’re making a lot from food. Especially from the beverage category, so I think we can bring in more.”

After that, we continued with the store talk with Seya.

–

,Oppa.”

,What’s wrong? Do you need some allowance or something?”

,…No, Oppa, I’m old enough now and I earn money too, I don’t need that!”

,Ah, sorry. My image of you is still like that, so, what’s wrong Juah-ya?”

In the quiet dawn, Juah opened the door to the room that used to be a storage room, which I had turned into a computer room for my use, and came in.

She carefully came in, sat on the chair behind me, and quietly asked me.

,Do you happen to know about the sounds coming from Jiho and Seonhye’s room every night?”

She had mentioned before that she was suspicious, so it seemed like she came to talk about that.

I was a little nervous. Could it be what I was worried about?

Please no, you guys, three generations of siblings can’t do that.

What would our family become, please don’t do that.

I asked without showing it as much as possible.

,Suddenly? What kind of sounds are you hearing?”

,The sound of them talking every night?”

,…Is that a problem?”

I let out a sigh of relief without making it obvious.

Juah hesitated for a moment at my words.

,Um…how should I put it…it’s just that I’m a little suspicious because I hear those sounds every night?”

,Isn’t it normal to joke around and play every night? Even if they’re middle schoolers.”

,That’s true. But, doesn’t it seem suspicious that they fight with each other while playing games every night?”

,Every night? I didn’t hear it in my room…”

,It’s because my room is right next to theirs, but even if they play games together these days, it’s a bit much to do it every night, right? Since they’re my nephews and nieces, I’m naturally concerned.”

It’s definitely a bit strange to do that every night.

But on the other hand, I also thought that it could be possible to do that every day.

At 15 years old, it wouldn’t be strange to be crazy about games, but to be suspicious just because I hear game sounds…even if I’m worried, it doesn’t seem right.

No matter how suspicious I am, I can’t be suspicious just because they’re playing games. But I couldn’t easily dismiss Juah’s words.

It’s too far-fetched to be suspicious with this, but the fact that there’s even a reason to be suspicious is important.

,Every day? Without missing a single day?”

,Yeah…except for weekends? It’s rather quiet on weekends, I guess they just sleep.”

,…Both of them? Come to think of it…”

,Yeah, Oppa, you’re at home, so you should know. Have you seen them go out together on weekends?”

Now that I hear it, that’s true.

Instead of going out together on weekends, they’re just cooped up at home…

No, then isn’t that evidence that they’re healthy?

If they said, “We’re going to the PC Bang on the weekend!” there’s no way to stop them, but they’re deliberately staying at home.

…It’s ambiguous, I feel like I’m trying to be suspicious but instead proving their innocence.

,Then isn’t that rather healthy?”

,Oh, is that how it is?!”

,That’s right, if they go out and play on the weekend, they can avoid it enough, but they’re deliberately staying at home…”

,Oppa is right. Um, I just came to talk about it in case. So, what are you doing?”

Only then did she pull up a chair and look at the monitor.

But even if I showed her, Juah wouldn’t know.

,I’m organizing the VR Room’s ledger.”

,Ugh, I really hate numbers.”

,…Don’t say that, since your sponsorship amount and tax settlement are also here.”

,Ah, really? Thank you!”

She smiled brightly like when she first started broadcasting and watched my work from the side.

I wished that my worries about my two children were unnecessary and finished the day with work again today.

But even while finishing the work, I couldn’t hide my anxiety.

The anxiety hidden in this ambiguity, I was already starting to suspect that they were spending the weekend quietly.

A middle schooler spending the weekend quietly at home? Not even playing games, just quietly?

It was a situation where I couldn’t help but be suspicious. They’re not doing anything and just sleeping, staying at home for the entire weekend?

,It’s definitely a situation where I can’t help but be suspicious.’

I hoped that this anxiety wouldn’t grow any bigger and would just fade away.