Chapter 3
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: Late at Night
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"What's wrong, sis?"
"Can... can I come in, Jigu?"
Sujeong sis peeked her head through the crack in the door and asked.
If it had been morning, I would've nodded right away, but the time and situation made me hesitate.
'What could it be in the middle of the night? And without even knocking?'
Unlike Geumbi sis, who always burst through doors without warning, Sujeong sis never skipped her three polite knocks and the "I'm coming in" courtesy.
But right now, she'd stuck her head in unannounced, then asked for permission to enter properly.
Like she was sneaking around, trying not to get caught by anyone else.
Like she had something important to say to me alone, in my room.
"...Come on in, sis."
"Thanks. Mind if I step in for a sec?"
The first thing Sujeong sis did after entering was carefully close the door.
She shut it so gently that I almost didn't hear the lock click as she turned the handle.
'This is making me nervous for no reason. I'm already worked up from what happened this morning... Sigh.'
It was suspicious, but Sujeong sis wouldn't do anything weird to me.
My guess was that her behavior had everything to do with the "family secret" Mom had dragged out.
'No way... Nah, it couldn't be. It won't be. It... won't...'
One person in our family wasn't related by blood.
That night, after hearing those words, my heart had pounded wildly at the fact that Sujeong sis, the eldest, had come to my room.
"Mind if I sit next to you? You weren't sleeping, right?"
"Nah, I just brushed my teeth. Sit wherever, sis."
Sujeong sis climbed onto the bed and naturally leaned back against the wall.
I sat next to her, trying to play it cool, but I was worried the cold sweat trickling down my back would soak through my clothes and even the wallpaper.
"You here 'cause you have something to say?"
"Yeah... It feels like something I can only tell you. No one else."
I couldn't stand it and spoke first, but it was pointless.
I swallowed hard too obviously, and I couldn't look her straight in the face.
'She's the eldest in our family... so aside from Mom and Dad, she knows our family history best.'
Her memories from childhood might be fuzzy, but something like someone being adopted into the family one day.
Or that the someone in question was the family's only son, sitting right next to her now.
From this morning until now, she'd had more than enough time to think about it.
'Should've gotten some water ready. Ugh, my throat's parched.'
The tension bred suspicion, and suspicion turned to conviction through guesswork.
If it wasn't that, then why would Sujeong sis come to my room in the dead of night?
The last time we'd sat shoulder to shoulder like this was eight whole years ago, back in middle school.
Sujeong sis shared her warmth slowly against my skin, just like she had when I was going through my rebellious phase.
"You're burning up, sis."
"Probably 'cause I've been staying up late. Too much on my mind..."
The poster child for a regular life. She always went to bed at the same time.
So that had to be it. Not tension or guilt speeding up her pulse. No way.
"Can I ask what you wanted to say?"
"Sure. ...Sorry. I came here and now I'm just dragging it out."
"No worries. It must be tough to talk about."
"From your reaction, seems like you had a guess too?"
"Your behavior's way off from usual. Anyone in the family would notice something like this in the middle of the night."
"I see. In our family... yeah, you're right."
Ah, I'd messed up again.
Why'd I say "our family"? Idiot. Now it's even harder for her to bring it up.
The words "our family" had come from someone who wasn't related by blood.
I could feel how heavy her heart must be as she prepared to reveal the truth, even without seeing it.
"Sis, uh, honestly, I don't really mind that much."
"Huh...?"
"Blood or no blood, it doesn't change the time we've spent together. We've all lived under one roof for over twenty years, right?"
"Jigu..."
"So it's fine. Even if we're not from the same bloodline, we're still family. Right?"
I babbled to smooth over my earlier slip-up.
Praying it would ease her guilt a little... praying my forced smile looked even a bit genuine.
I forced the corners of my mouth up and turned to her. Tears were streaming down Sujeong sis's cheeks.
"S-Sis? Don't cry. Not over something like this."
"But still... sniffl... "
"Come on, I told you I'm okay. Geez."
I let out a big, casual laugh like it was nothing and gently pulled her into a hug by the shoulders.
Sujeong sis leaned into my chest without resistance, soaking my pajamas with her silent tears.
"This morning... what Mom said... Jigu."
"Yeah, sis."
"That... it's probably me. It has to be... sob."
"Yeah, okay. If that's what you think... huh?"
My hand stopped patting her back mid-motion.
It was pure shock, but that only made Sujeong sis start sobbing out loud.
"Hic. Pretty much certain... no one else it could be... sob."
Panicking, I quickly resumed, wrapping one arm around her shoulders and stroking her back with the other.
But Sujeong sis kept crying for another ten minutes or so, leaving me to hold her in that awkward position.
...All while replaying the shocking truth I'd just heard in my ear.
'Not me, but Sujeong sis? She's the one not related by blood to the rest of us?'
My hands didn't stop, but the stunned look on my face didn't fade either.
Thank goodness I was hugging her tight enough that she couldn't see it.
"Feeling a bit better now, sis?"
"Yeah... Sorry. Acting like a kid at my age, clinging like that."
"No big deal. I clung to you plenty when I was little."
"When Geumbi chewed you out for it? Heh, ancient history now..."
Sujeong sis's face as she reminisced looked somehow like she was imagining a day that would never return.
Her expression tugged at my heart in a different way, so I grabbed her hand and asked again.
"Sis, tell me straight. Why do you think Mom's story is about you?"
"Because... I'm the eldest daughter. I couldn't not know. I know when everyone came into this family, how we all grew up."
Sujeong sis's explanation was simple.
She'd been in the family first and watched the rest of us be born below her, so none of the others could be adopted.
In other words, she was the only one who could have been secretly adopted.
"But... that was when you were really little, right? I barely remember kindergarten, but you remember clearly?"
"Not everything... but mostly. Mom's pregnancy, her prepping at the hospital, even you guys as newborns."
"I see... Sorry. I basically just confirmed it for you."
"It's fine. We had to face it eventually. Better to be sure."
I'd pried too soon and just reopened old wounds for no reason.
Come to think of it, I could vaguely recall Mokhui's birth too. No room for denial here.
'Better change the subject. Keep this up and she might cry again.'
I didn't want to see that.
She'd always been the most mature, the one we all relied on. Seeing her weak side was even harder to take.
...Selfish as it sounds, I wouldn't even know how to comfort her right now.
"Hey, um, but why'd you come to my room, of all places?"
"Eek, sorry. Barging in at night with this... must've been a burden."
"Ah, no, that's not what I meant...! There are plenty of others upstairs. Why come all the way down to the first floor...?"
Am I an idiot or what?
I'd tried to shift topics and ended up sounding like I was blaming her. Watch your words, sigh.
"That's what you meant? I thought... maybe I was being a burden to you."
"Not at all. I like these heart-to-hearts. And if it's you, Sujeong sis, you can burden me all you want."
"Heh, what's that? You like baggage now? Not very driver-like."
"I've got my license, so chauffeur it is. Our trunk's huge—you could pile in all the baggage, real or not!"
"Not that much. Plus, you just said I wasn't baggage."
"Ah, I mean... not now, but next time. Lean on me anytime, that's what I meant. Haha."
"Sigh, anyway, thanks. Hearing that gives me a little strength. Hehe."
It turned half into banter, but Sujeong sis seemed cheered up, gazing at the ceiling with a smile.
A smile suits her face best. I hope she never has to make that gloomy expression again.
"I picked you because... you're the only one in the house I could talk to about this."
"Why?"
"Hwayeon and Mokhui are too young. Not something for twenty-one- and twenty-year-olds to handle."
"Mm, yeah. They act grown-up, but they're still kids."
Not all adults are the same.
There was a decent gap between mid-twenties folks with some college or work experience and those fresh out of high school.
'I'm twenty-three, barely mid-twenties... If that's it, I get why.'
Last question.
I scratched my cheek and brought up the first person who'd come to mind.
"But in that case, wouldn't Geumbi sis have been better? She's closer in age to you, and her room's right next door."
"Geumbi... after how she reacted today."
"Oh? Right. Yeah."
At the mention of Geumbi sis, Sujeong sis's face darkened instantly.
And just like that, I remembered what happened earlier, realizing why she'd hesitated.
"Not just that... Geumbi won't do."
"Huh? Why not?"
"...Just no. Absolutely not her."
But Sujeong sis just kept shaking her head firmly.
I didn't think much of it at first, but her bitten lip made me ask again.
"Is there... more to it?"
"...It's a secret. Just between you and me, Jigu."
"Yeah."
Sujeong sis squeezed her eyes shut and took a steadying breath.
I could feel through our clasped hands how tense she was, how hard she was trying to calm down.
"Even I don't remember everything perfectly."
"Yeah."
"Especially around age one... obviously, nothing from then."
"Yeah, makes sense."
"If—just if—it's not me... then there's only one possibility."
"...Ah."
I got it right away.
Her guesses were all based on her own memories.
And there was one person from a time she couldn't remember fully: Geumbi sis. She couldn't rule her out completely.
'She thinks it's either her who was adopted, or Geumbi sis was adopted before she could remember. One or the other.'
I could see why she'd hesitated to say it.
And why, after confidently saying it was her earlier, she'd held this part back until now.
"Eek?! J-Jigu?"
"Thanks. Like I said last night, I'm always grateful. I love you, sis."
"S-Suddenly? That's so out of nowhere... kinda flustered here."
"Not as out of nowhere as you barging in at night."
"When you put it like that... I got nothing. Hehe."
Unable to hold back at her admirable resolve, I hugged Sujeong sis again.
I hugged that foolish sis a little tighter, the one who'd planned to shoulder the truth alone if I hadn't asked.
But as her little brother, I was too embarrassed to praise her for being strong or mature, so my wandering hands just gently stroked her back.
"Mm, Jigu. Sorry to burden you in the middle of the night all around... but since you're already holding me, mind if I lean a bit more?"
"Lean all you want. Tonight, my arms are yours exclusively."
"Heh, spouting sappy lines now? You've really grown... my little Jigu. Hehe."
Sujeong sis laughed and happily nestled into my arms.
She rubbed her eyes against my chest like a kid, but I couldn't tease her for acting childish.
I just held her there in the dark, under the light.
The cold sweat had dried on my back at some point, but the front of my pajama t-shirt stayed damp all night.
First thing in the morning, I'd throw it in the wash.