Chapter 44: Date (4)
Chapter 44: Date (4)
A karaoke room.
It wasn’t a space I was particularly familiar with. The type of person who feels at home in a karaoke room is a rare breed; most people don't have much of a connection to them.
At least, that was the case for me. I’d go once in a blue moon with friends, but I never actually enjoyed singing.
Kang Yu-min was probably the same. Usually, when she and I went with friends, our roles were limited to shaking the tambourine, clapping, or snacking on the side.
But unlike Yu-min or me, Yuri was the type of person perfectly suited for a karaoke room.
You could say she was the rightful owner, chosen by the karaoke gods themselves.
Heading toward one with such a master made my mind race.
When she said kissing between family members was normal, I’d just gone along with it, overwhelmed by her momentum. But no matter how much my brain had been warped by the concept of incest, I knew that wasn't true.
Maybe if it was on the cheek or the forehead.
Even then, if it happened too often, you couldn't just call it "normal family behavior"...
And she wanted to do it ten times. I stepped into the karaoke room behind my sister, feeling like livestock being led to the slaughter.
Yuri handled the entire check-in process with practiced ease.
It happened in the blink of an eye. Before I knew it, I was alone with my sister in a private, sealed room.
"Oppa, do you want to go first?"
Why on earth am I here? Even as the thought crossed my mind, I shook my head reflexively.
"No, I’m not very good at singing... Please, just let me off this once..."
"Huh?"
"Never mind..."
"Oppa, you’re being weird again today."
My sister picked up the microphone, giggling.
Yuri hummed to herself as she scrolled through the song selection.
To be honest, I didn't have great memories of karaoke rooms.
Back in middle school, I was on the smaller side. I couldn't even resist when the girls, who had already finished their growth spurts, bossed me around.
I would have much rather gone home to play games, but I ended up being dragged wherever those girls went.
The karaoke room was one of those places. The shock of being forced to sing by them was something else.
And the awkwardness of standing there blankly after the song ended?
I hadn't sung much since then. At most, I’d do it if I was with a comfortable loser like Kang Yu-min.
Though even Yu-min doesn't really sing unless we’re doing a duet in the bathroom.
Sigh. I watched my sister, who was now fully immersed in her song.
Is she really planning to do it here?
Or did she just suddenly feel like coming to a karaoke room because the topic came up?
I desperately hoped it was the latter, but I knew all too well that things rarely go my way. In fact, in situations like this, things usually spiraled toward the worst-case scenario.
Bracing myself, I tried to squeeze out some kind of excuse. Or at least a plausible justification my conscience could accept.
The only saving grace was that Yuri wasn't forcing me to sing.
I sipped my drink and listened as Yuri belted out several songs in a row.
"You’ve got great stamina."
"Huh? You don't need stamina to sing, do you?"
"Don't you?"
"I guess? I don't know."
Yuri tilted her head. In the dim light, she flashed a smile.
"Then, do you want to sing, Oppa? Give me a break."
"I, uh, I don't really like singing."
"Oh, come on. Sing something. A love song!"
Normally, I would have said, "What kind of sister asks her brother to sing a love song?" while picking one out anyway.
But right now, I couldn't. I suddenly felt like I shouldn't.
It was almost an intuition. Perhaps an instinct sensing danger.
Whichever it was, I knew I shouldn't cross that line, so I hesitated before picking a decent song that wasn't a love song.
English text appeared on the screen. The album art flickered by—a white man in a fedora, smiling brightly.
"Wow... Oppa, you sing stuff like this too?"
Instead of answering, I gave a small smile and gripped the microphone.
Fortunately, singing in front of family was okay. How should I put it? Even if they teased me, it wouldn't really hurt.
I sang the song, which was entirely in English.
It was a calm track. Midway through, I remembered someone saying you shouldn't sing slow, gloomy ballads after the mood has been hyped up.
But who cared?
I finished the song and exhaled, feeling a bit refreshed.
There was no point in trying to save face in front of family anyway. I had poured all my pent-up anxieties into the song.
"Wow, Oppa, you’re actually really good. Why do you hate karaoke if you’re that good?"
"Huh? No, this is below average."
"You’re so humble! Too much humility is a poison, you know."
"You’re overpraising me. If you keep this up, I’ll get embarras—"
"Do you think it's okay to kiss now?"
Thanks to her, I forgot what I was even worried about.
My body froze. I couldn't even pretend I hadn't heard her, so I just stayed silent.
In front of me, my sister sat with her chin resting on her hand, smiling. Her dark eyes seemed to glow in the darkness.
"Oppa?"
"Y-yeah?"
She was calling me. Had she changed her mind? I answered with a flicker of hope.
"Do you hate the idea of kissing me?"
She was persistent. It was a question I couldn't possibly answer.
As I sat there in a suffocating silence, my sister’s expression turned sorrowful.
"Do you even hate the idea of me pressing my lips to your cheek or forehead?"
"No, it’s not that..."
It was a trap. I knew it. But I couldn't help but fall for it.
The nineteen years I’d spent with my sister flashed through my mind. It was a long time, soon to be twenty years.
A sister who was born just as our mother passed away. A cute younger sister who had always acted bright despite the shadow of death hanging over her.
The toddler who took her first steps became a girl; the elementary schooler who ran to me with a toothy grin. That child grew into a middle schooler, and even through puberty, she never stopped being affectionate.
Those memories filled my brain. The thought that this was something I shouldn't do surged within me. It swept over me like a storm.
"I—"
Time flowed to the present. That tiny thing had grown up and was now looking at me with a seductive expression.
The simmering desire in her gaze, that sticky, lingering look...
It was so foreign. It felt like she wasn't the sister I knew.
If the girl in front of me weren't my sister, I could have at least tried to rationalize it. But I couldn't. I sat there, feeling like my breath had stopped, and my sister slinked over to sit beside me.
She sat flush against me, our bodies touching. I could feel her body heat through her thick, opaque stockings.
"If it's 10x Stamina, isn't it too good to pass up?"
"...I guess."
"If you have ten times your current stamina, you can do anything."
"True."
"So, let's just do lots of smooching with your sister... and get the reward?"
It sounded like a devil's whisper. I couldn't believe this was my cute, kind sister; I thought I might be dreaming.
Even though I knew that wasn't possible. A hollow laugh escaped me. My sister’s leg pressed closer to mine, and before I knew it, she had slid onto my lap.
"Wait, Yuri..."
"Mmm, what is it?"
"This position is..."
"Huh? You used to hold me like this all the time when we were little."
She tilted her head. Her hair swayed, and her eyes locked onto mine.
"Or do you hate me sitting like this now?"
No, how could I? In fact, I’d felt a bit left out ever since she stopped wanting to be held.
But I couldn't tell her the truth. That was exactly what she wanted.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
"Could you get down? This is... a bit indecent for a grown man and woman."
"I don't want to. I want to be like this with Oppa."
I kept my eyes shut tight. The sound of her giggling echoed in my head.
"This is my condition. In exchange for letting you get the reward by kissing me... we’re going to do it like this."
"Yuri..."
"So, shall we?"
There was a certain heat to her words. As I remained frozen, her arms wrapped around my neck.
This was wrong. I shouldn't. I tried to resist.
But when I opened my eyes, Yuri’s face was inches away. Our eyes met.
"Yuri. Seriously..."
Chu.
I flinched at the sudden warmth.
I blinked. The heavy warmth pressed against my eyelid made all my thoughts evaporate.
"...Huh?"
"Mmm? What’s wrong?"
She drawled her words playfully. It was an unmistakably clear act of aegyo. I processed the sensation of Yuri’s lips on my eyelid.
"Ah, did you... think I was going to do it on the lips?"
"Uh, well."
"Oppa, you pervert. Did you want to kiss your sister? I know I’m pretty, but still."
She grinned at me. Only then did the tension leave my body, and I let out a dry laugh.
I’d been worried over nothing. My brain must have been completely broken to be having such delusions.
Right, there was no way Yuri would do that. She was such a good girl. I even let out a sigh of relief.
"Do I seem like such a bad girl? The kind who would steal a kiss on the lips just because I told you to kiss your brother?"
"No, of course not... Our Yuri is so good. There’s no way."
[Kiss your younger sister, Kang Yuri. 1/10]
[Reward: Explosive increase in user Kang Yu-jin’s stamina (10x current)]
I answered her while glancing at my smartphone, feeling relieved to see the number go up.
This way, there was no pressure. If we just went back and forth and kept it playful, it would be fine.
I smiled with newfound confidence, and Yuri smiled back at me.
Her arms were still wrapped around my neck, and she was still sitting on my lap.
Even if the position was a bit scandalous—
"But, actually."
"Yeah?"
"I am a bad girl."
"...What?"
Her lips approached. Even though it was just a playful graze, the warmth spread vividly across my lips.
I froze, unable to move an inch.
My Adam's apple bobbed as I swallowed hard, and Yuri’s ragged, heated breath tickled my skin.
On my exposed collarbone, on the bridge of my nose, on my eyelids and lips that she had touched in turn.
As I sat there in a daze, Yuri whispered.
"Fooled you."
And then, her lips came back.