The Random Box

Ding!

The alarm chimed, and the message window I'd grown all too familiar with appeared before my eyes.

"How's a Korean supposed to hold back? Obviously it's yes!"

The instant the notice came up that I'd cleared the tutorial, I opened the random box I'd just been handed.

"Yeah, this is definitely a good item. Question is, who do I even use it on..."

I couldn't grasp the full shape of the effect, but there was no doubt it was a good item. Even so, picturing myself with not a single woman to try it on, I had no choice but to despair over my social life.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

I was sunk in the misery of not even having a chance to use the thing when the sound of someone punching a code into the door lock reached me.

Chirrrrip!

"Hey! Why aren't you answering me!"

The lock released, and my little sister, Lee Harin, strode straight into my studio with a paper bag dangling from one hand.

"Oh, you showered? It's the weekend. What's gotten into you?"

"What do you care whether I shower or not. More to the point, tell me what was so important you barged all the way in here."

I took the paper bag out of her hand and asked why she'd come.

"Can't you tell by looking? Mom sent side dishes, so I brought them. Give her a call later."

"Yeah, yeah, I got it. Now get out."

Now that I knew why Harin had shown up, I told her, flat and final, to get out of my studio.

"Oh! And I'm staying at your place for a while, so just know that."

I'd told her to leave, but Harin didn't care. She brushed past me, flung herself onto my bed, and dropped the bomb as if it were nothing.

"What?! Why? You said even a trainee gets housing from the agency, so you've been living there!"

The announcement threw me, sure. But honestly, whatever was going on with her on the inside, she had short hair and a cute face, and her singing was decent enough to listen to. When she'd joined some small entertainment company as an idol trainee, our parents hadn't really objected. Of course, the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fact that the kid was hopeless at studying probably played a part.

They'd even had a lawyer check the contract for problems before she left home for the agency dorm. For that same kid to suddenly say she was staying here... something had clearly gone wrong.

I should've been suspicious the second this bitch showed up with side dishes for no reason!

"Hey! Talk. Now. Or I'm asking Mom."

"...So, the company was having trouble bringing in outside investment, and we hit a cash crunch. They ended up having to sell the dorm we ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠were living in, so I had no choice but to move out."

I kept pressing, and only then did she seem willing to talk. She set her phone down and explained how she'd ended ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠up here.

"And?"

I tipped my chin, face lukewarm, telling her to keep going.

"Honestly, it's touch and go whether our album even comes out... Let me crash here for a bit. Orabeoni♡"

Harin laid on an aegyo that didn't suit her in the slightest.

"Mmm. Out."

I met her aegyo with a bright, fresh smile and told her once again ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to get out of my studio.

"Why! Is this your house? Mom's the one paying the rent—who are you to tell me to leave!"

The moment I told her to go, she showed her true colors. Her face twisted hard, and she came at me.

"Enough! Out, you brat! If the agency went under, go sit quietly at home. Why are you trying to leech off someone else's place!"

"It hasn't gone under yet! I am going to debut! And the members promised we'd practice together, so it's easier if I'm here in Seoul!"

"Then crash at one of the members' places! You're debuting, aren't you!"

"Ugh, whatever, whatever! Anyway, I'm staying here for a while, so just deal with it!"

"Fuck!"

She flopped back onto the bed like she was daring me to do something about it and started fiddling with her phone. A nasty word slipped out before I could stop it.

"Anyway, what's the Wi-Fi password?"

"...I told you to get lost."

Shameless as if she'd plated her face in steel, she asked for our Wi-Fi password, and I swallowed my anger and told her one more time to get out.

"Whatever. It's a birthday or a phone number, obviously... I'm in."

"You crazy bitch?!"

I glared at Harin, already pulling up NewTube on my cracked Wi-Fi.

"Aww, what~. You can't even lend one little place to your cute little sister?"

"Cute, my ass. You leaving before I hit you?"

"So what do you wanna eat today?"

I balled a fist at her as she slipped back into aegyo, but she didn't care one bit. She opened a delivery app and started picking what we'd eat.

"...Haa. Order whatever."

"Obviously you're paying, Oppa~!"

The moment she caught on that I'd finally given up, Harin broke into a wide grin and shook my wallet—which she'd already swiped—at me.

"...Haa. Fine. Make it something cheap."

I sighed again at her shamelessness, sat down at the desk, and booted up Legend of Legends.

Wait. Whatever else she is, that kid's still a girl!

I'd given up on kicking Harin out and was waiting on matchmaking when it hit me in a flash—a fact that suddenly mattered a great deal.

Then I can actually try the item, can't I?!

Thinking of the Tipsy Soju sleeping in my inventory, I stole a glance at Harin's happy face as she lay on the bed, scrolling the delivery app and fretting over what to eat.

Objectively, ignore the personality and the blood, and she looks fine. Perfect for testing the item.

In this moment, getting my virginity out of the way mattered more than what society thought or what my conscience said. More than anything, it might have been the eight years I'd spent in this room with every desire choked down.

Well. I never had much of a conscience about this kind of thing to begin with. And they say incest used to be common, back in the day. Probably.

Entertaining a thought that would have destroyed our parents if they'd heard it, I stopped caring that a match had already popped and started laying plans to lose my virginity.

"Hey. I'm drinking tonight, so make sure you order something to go with it."

Plan set, I kept playing like nothing was wrong and told Harin—still glued to the delivery app—that I was having a drink tonight.

"You're drinking tonight? Then what about me?!"

Just as I'd expected, Harin bit down hard on the bait and reacted on the spot.

Simple as ever.

"You? Little kids who haven't even taken the college entrance exam yet can drink juice."

Watching her clamp onto the hook, I rode the thrill of everything going to plan and kept talking.

"Why?! I'm twenty too!"

"Mmm~. Early-year babies don't count."

"Damn it, why are you like this! Every other early-year kid is already drinking. I should've started college this year just like the rest of them... Mom made me start a whole year late, all the way back in kindergarten, so I wouldn't enroll the way you did!"

"And yet your birthday's January first~. That's just how it is."

My needling set her off, but I breezed right past her temper and kept poking.

"Oppa, you're supposed to learn how to drink from a grown-up."

Under the steady provocation she must have decided this wasn't working, because she switched tactics and started buttering me up.

"That's true. First time I drank, I learned from Dad."

"So couldn't this be the chance for you, my grown-up orabeoni, to teach little old me how to drink?"

The second I sounded agreeable, Harin beamed and even broke out a stiff, fake polite register to stroke my ego.

"Hmm..."

Yes! ...But even if she is my sister, isn't this a little too stupid?

On the outside I pretended to think it over. Inside I was cheering that everything had gone exactly to plan—and, at the same time, worrying about a little sister who'd fallen for it this easily.

"...Fine. While we're at it, I'll teach you properly. I'm the adult here."

I dropped the act, puffed myself up, and—just as I'd planned from the start—agreed to drink with Harin.

"You'd better mean it. If the food shows up and you start changing your story, I won't let it go!"

Harin, with no idea what I was thinking, lit up at the thought of getting to drink and quickly paid for the food on my card.

She already had the order picked out.

"Then I'll go buy the alcohol. Stay put, and when the delivery gets here, take the food."

Even now, the fact that she was paying for food on my card was absurd, but I decided that was a minor problem for the moment. I quit the game and got ready to stop by the convenience store for soju.

This month's allowance was starting to worry me a little, but once I framed all of it as an investment in losing my virginity, the money didn't worry me at all.

"Okay. Be careful, and don't be too late, Oppa!"

Whether she was trying to stay on my good side until the drinking started, Harin didn't talk back. She even went so far as to hand me my wallet herself—such kindness(?).

"Yeah."

Go ahead and enjoy yourself while you can. I'll be collecting interest, too. Hehehe...

I flicked a glance at Harin, who looked thoroughly pleased with herself, hid the black little scheme behind my face, took the wallet, and headed for the convenience store out front.