Please Give Your Little Sister Some Attention Too
I wanted nothing more than to toss that proposal straight into the trash and tell Maru to get his head on straight, but the ever-perceptive Maru grabbed my wrist and stopped me cold.
Then, as if steeling himself for something, he drew in a deep breath and turned to Jisoo and Nabom.
“Guys, about what I said earlier—I'm not the only one who's confident we can pull this off, right?”
“I think I can do it too. That's why I agreed.”
“We might not know for sure, but if Chan-nim—no, if Chan's doing it, then of course it's possible! Are you looking down on us?!”
“…I only said it because I thought it was doable too… So put that bat away, wherever you even pulled it from. …What were you planning to do with that bat, anyway? How did you even bring that to school in the first place…?”
“Ugh…. It's a novel, so this much should be allowed…!”
“…Could you not suddenly break the fourth wall all by yourself? That just makes things awkward.”
“What? What are you guys even talking about? What was supposed to be possible before that?”
But seriously, what was up with that bat…?
Well… since the wall came up, maybe it was a wall-smashing bat or something?
But with that red paint smeared on it, it looked unpleasantly horror-movie-ish.
While I stood there in confusion, Maru and Nabom bickered back and forth until Maru finally snatched the bat from Nabom and hurled it out the window.
Then he left Nabom in Jisoo's care and turned to me.
“You. You were thinking something like, ‘There's no way these brats could actually pull this off,’ weren't you?”
“…I wouldn't go as far as ‘brats.’”
“…So that really was it. Well, whatever. The point is, we've got a proposal for you.”
What kind of proposal could make him look at me with such a solemn expression?
“Your worry is that even if we start a YouTube channel, we won't get popular, right?”
“…Yeah.”
“So all we have to do is prove that if we do YouTube, we will get popular.”
“…I… guess so?”
“So here's our proposal. We film just one video. If that video hits a hundred thousand views within a week, you quit your part-time job and join our club activities instead.”
“…A hundred thousand?”
These kids really had no idea how the real world worked. An account that was barely even created, one single video, and a hundred thousand views in a week?
…Hmm.
…Or maybe that was just how high schoolers thought?
Yeah, maybe I was being too pessimistic.
After everything I'd been through this past year, there was a good chance I'd turned weirder than the average kid.
And with them going this far, I didn't really feel like coldly turning them down again and again.
Besides, they'd clearly put thought into it—when I accepted this proposal, there was no downside for me whether the plan succeeded or failed.
At this point, all I felt was gratitude.
“Heh… Alright. If you're going that far, I've got no reason to refuse. But we're not uploading the raw footage, right? Do any of us even know how to edit?”
“Ah, none of us do… but we've already found someone with the skills.”
“Huh…? Did you pay them?”
If they'd gone that far, it wasn't my fault, but I'd still feel terrible about it.
I might not know the details, but I could tell Maru was thinking of me.
He could always just pay off the debt for me, but he was careful not to hurt my pride that way—and at the same time, he didn't want me sacrificing my entire high school life just working part-time jobs.
It wasn't like I was hoping for that, but now that he knew my situation, Maru would step in and pay everything off the moment I was driven to the brink.
He just wasn't doing it because I didn't want him to, and because I hadn't been pushed that far yet.
Thankfully, Maru shot down my assumption.
But then…
“No, not that. Strictly speaking, she's your underclassman—and my little sister.”
“…Wait, …Ara goes to this school?”
“……My little sister's gonna cry…. You've never seen her even once? Or rather, you didn't know?”
“You know how it is… my social circle's tiny.”
Honestly, I'd completely forgotten.
It should have been obvious—she was a year younger than Maru and me, so of course she'd be entering as a freshman this year.
Even a stray neighborhood dog would have known that.
“No wonder she kept coming to my room every day asking if you knew she went to the same school…. I told her there was no way you wouldn't know, but turns out it was true….”
“……Ugh.”
Had I hurt her, Ara…?
Ever since we were little, she'd always clung to me more than anyone, calling me “Chan oppa, Chan oppa,” so the thought stung even more.
“Hey, you idiot. If I'm at this school, of course my little sister would be at the same school too, right?”
“…I've got nothing to say. If I had to make an excuse… I've been way too busy this past year. I didn't have any room to breathe… Sorry.”
It was a truly pathetic excuse.
Like a husband who was so busy with work he dumped all the childcare on his wife.
No matter how busy I'd been, was it really possible I hadn't shown my face even once? At the very least I should have sent a single call or text.
Haa… I really felt like a complete piece of trash….
No, it wasn't just a feeling—I actually was trash.
I just hoped Ara hadn't been too hurt because of me….
“You don't really need to apologize to me…. Ah, whatever. You can deal with my sister being mad at you yourself.”
“Yeah….”
I needed to start thinking about how to soothe Ara first.
Just as I'd known Maru for fifteen years, I'd naturally known Ara for just as long.
Even so, if she'd just been a regular close little sister, this wouldn't have been such a big deal—but my screw-ups didn't end there.
As I mentioned earlier, Ara had always been especially attached to me since we were kids.
Maybe even more than to her actual big brother Maru.
At the graduation ceremony celebrating Maru and me finishing middle school and heading off to high school, that same Ara had cried and promised she'd work hard, and asked me to please come find her at the entrance ceremony when she finally started high school.
The reason she hadn't come looking for me until now was probably because she was sulking that I'd forgotten our promise.
…Thinking about it again, I really was an insane piece of trash. Ara, this pathetic oppa is sorry…. Truly.
“Anyway, I'll let you know over text when we're filming the video, so we're doing this, right?”
“Yeah… alright.”
Ah, damn. My chest felt tight.
What a fucking idiot….
I fretted over how to cheer Ara up, then decided that finding her as soon as possible was the priority. I hurriedly parted ways with the others and headed down to the first-year floor.
But which class was Ara in again…?
Come to think of it, I hadn't even known she'd enrolled here, so of course I had no idea what class she was in.
“Ah, damn, I should've asked Maru before I left. Am I an idiot?”
With no other choice, I dialed Ara with a slight sense of tension.
But then—
The customer is unable to take your call at this time. Please try again later.
The connection cut off before it even rang once.
If she'd blocked me, it would have rung for about a minute before disconnecting, but since it cut off immediately, Ara must have rejected the call right away.
She's really pissed, huh.… Makes sense….
Still, I had to meet her somehow. While I was fretting over what to do, I realized she might leave school before I found her, so I stopped a female underclassman who was walking by.
“Ah, sorry. I'm a second-year senior—do you know which class Kim Ara is in?”
“Ah, ah? Yes, yes! I know! She's in the same class as me!”
Luckily, I'd picked the right person on the first try.
That aside, if they were in the same class, homeroom must already be over.
“Oh, really? What class are you in?”
“I'm in Class 1! Do you have business with Ara?”
“Yeah. I've got something I need to apologize for.”
“Ah, then you'd better hurry!”
“Thanks! If you ever come find me later, I'll buy you something tasty.”
Leaving the bright and kind underclassman behind, I hurried toward Class 1.
I hoped Ara hadn't already left for the day, and just as I arrived, Ara was coming out the back door.
When it came time to actually call out to her, I hesitated a little from the nerves—but then Ara spotted me.
She flinched for a moment, then hesitated just like I had.
And then, as if making up her mind, she started walking toward me.
“Ah, Ara….”
“…….”
……She was coming toward me?
Huh?
She walked right past me and kept going on her way.
Without a single change in expression, she completely ignored me.
I stood there blankly, watching until she headed outside, then snapped out of it and chased after her.
But damn, she was fast.
It almost felt like she was running.
…….
No, wait.
No, she really was running?!
“Hey, wait a second! Ara, stop! I really have something to say! Wait… Aaaagh! Ah, Ara! Oppa's hurt! Ara, Oppa's leg is broken! Araaa!!”
A guy sprawled out on the street yelling at the top of his lungs—I could feel everyone staring.
Ara, who'd been ahead of me, glanced back for a moment with a worried look, then immediately twisted her face into pure contempt.
The feeling of being looked at with contempt by the little sister who'd always liked me….
She stared for a bit, seeming to wrestle with something, then at least came over to me.
…It was incredibly embarrassing, but since it was working, I decided to set my dignity aside for a moment.
……Haa.