Chapter 4
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: Suspicion
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I opened my eyes to a familiar ceiling.
A room packed with tiresome guys, a stale, musty smell that wouldn't fade no matter how much I cleaned it every day.
The wake-up broadcast blared from the speaker as I dragged my groggy body upright to start the daily grind...
"Hwah! Heok, heok, damn. What the hell kind of shitty dream was that?"
I bolted upright in bed and slapped my cheeks to make sure my eyes were really open this time.
A military dream, even in my sleep? Something worth killing over, this damn head of mine.
"My heart's still pounding. Chest feels all tight too... Huh?"
Sweat was already beading on my forehead that early in the morning, but the blanket next to me felt weirdly soft.
Not just soft—squishy? Even if I'd grabbed a pillow by mistake, the texture was off, so thinking I might still be half-asleep, I turned to look.
"Whoa?! S-Sujeong sis?"
"Mmm... Mm-hmm."
"Ah, s-sorry! Sleep more, yeah."
My hand had landed on Sujeong sis, who was frowning and curling up her body.
I yanked my hand away in a panic, pulled the blanket up to her shoulders, and patted her gently until she settled back down.
"Hnn... Mm."
"Phew, good thing."
Thankfully, Sujeong sis let out her steady breathing without issue, and I relaxed as I racked my brain for what had happened last night.
'I was listening to sis talk... hugged her to comfort her, and we must've fallen asleep like that? She passed out first, so I couldn't wake her.'
Sis had always been an early sleeper anyway, so it wasn't strange that she'd cried herself out until her eyes finally shut.
The only issue was that we full-grown siblings had spent the night in the same bed.
I could've brushed it off if I wanted... but that touch from just now made my face heat up for no reason, and I scratched my head furiously.
'Damn, am I still not awake? What am I even thinking? Get it together, Jigu Yang.'
I scolded myself in the third person and erased the earlier slip-up from my mind.
It had been so long since I'd had a thought like that—must be from rotting away in the military too long, I told myself as I carefully slid out of bed.
-Rattle, rattle.
"Huh? What's that?"
"Hey, Jigu Yang, you in there? Why's the door locked?"
"Huh? G-Geumbi sis?"
"I can't find unnie anywhere. You with her? Or do you know where she went?"
I was planning to splash some water on my face and cool my head before Sujeong sis woke up, but Geumbi sis started yanking hard on the doorknob from the other side.
Luckily, Sujeong sis had locked the door last night like she had before, so we weren't caught right away. But if I stayed like this, the needless grilling was only a matter of time.
'She doesn't usually come to my room much... Did she wake up, not see Sujeong sis next door, and come looking here?'
If so, that meant she'd already checked the whole second floor.
Dragging this out could bring the others running, making things worse.
"Uh, nah, haven't seen her~? Why, she not in her room?"
"Yeah. Checked the second-floor bathroom and first-floor bath too—no sign of her."
"Maybe she went out?"
"Her phone's in her room, though? Who leaves their phone behind these days?"
"R-Right, yeah. Phone's in the room..."
"Just open the door already. What're you hiding that you need to lock up?"
"No, wait. Sis, listen...!"
I was trying to shoo Geumbi sis off somewhere else so I could wake Sujeong sis in the meantime.
But with her fiery temper came equally explosive action—no gaps in her approach.
Instead, as I held out, her tone shifted to suspicion.
As if flashes of last night and this morning were crossing her mind, the rattling on the doorknob grew rougher.
"Jigu Yang, open up. Is unnie in your room or what?"
"No way. Hold on, I'm changing right now..."
"Since when do you lock the door to change?"
"I-I always close the door to change!"
"Not like this, you haven't."
"I got privacy too, you know? Respect that?"
"I'd respect it normally. But unnie's missing right now? Why're you so calm? And why're you stalling on the door...?"
"Ah, I was jerking off! Morning wood wouldn't go down, so I was handling it, happy?!"
"Huh? ...Wha?! Ah, uh?"
Panicking, I just blurted out whatever.
It was such an unexpected blow that Geumbi sis on the other side stopped turning the knob, sounding flustered.
Soon after, a stammering voice unlike her echoed out messily.
"S-Sorry. Didn't know. I'll head out then—tell unnie if you see her! R-Really sorry...!"
At the sound of her footsteps fading, I finally sighed in relief and flopped back onto the bed.
That instant, a flinch from behind me rang out way too loud.
"...Sujeong sis?"
"Ah, uh, hehe... Good morning, Jigu."
Sujeong sis had definitely been sleeping soundly, but when had she woken up?
Sis sat up awkwardly, wrapped in the blanket, shooting awkward glances my way.
'Well, with all that racket, it'd be weirder if she hadn't woken up. Sigh, why's the morning so exhausting...'
For some reason, a bigger wave of fatigue hit me than when I'd heard Sujeong sis's confession last night.
I rubbed my forehead and shook my head like my wrecked dignity.
Around lunchtime, I was holed up in my room bingeing NewTube videos alone.
A knock sounded, and Sujeong sis peeked her face through the cracked-open door.
"Can I come in, Jigu...?"
"Yeah. Uh, close the door behind you, just in case."
"Got it... Sigh."
Sujeong sis locked the door knob naturally, just like last night, as she came in.
It had caused that misunderstanding this morning, but it'd prevented a bigger mess, so in a way, it was a relief.
"Um, about this morning... Sorry. Didn't mean to get you in that weird misunderstanding because of me."
"Don't sweat it. If they'd caught us together, Geumbi sis would've chewed me out way worse."
"Psh, what if it's just hanging in the room? We did it all the time before."
"That was before we grew up. Plus, hanging out briefly... and sleeping through the night together are different."
"Ah, yeah, true. Mm, you might be right, Jigu..."
Sujeong sis apologized for the morning while seeming to brush it off as no big deal.
But as I scratched my cheek and averted my eyes, she seemed to realize the issue and flushed red.
"Anyway, come sit. Don't you have something to talk about?"
"Huh? No... That was all."
"Oh, really? Sorry, jumped the gun."
"No, nothing to apologize for... So, since you're here, mind sitting for a bit?"
"Of course. Make yourself comfy, sis. Here's a pillow."
"Thanks... Hehe, so fluffy."
Sujeong sis had only come to apologize for the misunderstanding with Geumbi sis, but my overthinking had her lingering in the room awkwardly.
Embarrassed for jumping ahead, I avoided her gaze, but with the pillow on her lap, sis stared straight at me and asked.
"What's wrong, Jigu? Why look away?"
"Nothing. Just felt like I was acting all sweet for no reason."
"Huh? Not at all? Actually, I liked how you treated me comfy like old times."
"Like old times...? Wasn't it the same as now?"
"Ah! I mean... it wasn't any different from usual, that's what I meant."
"Huh? So basically, nothing really changed... Ah, aaaah."
I was puzzled by Sujeong sis's words at first, then suddenly got the hidden meaning.
Looking closer, her face smiled calmly, but her primly kneeling posture and the hands clutching the pillow trembled faintly, betraying her anxiety.
"Honestly... I was a little scared. Not in a bad way, but... I might not be able to treat you just like before."
Last night's confession from Sujeong sis.
Mom's words about the one not related by blood... most likely being her.
Maybe that's why she'd fallen asleep in my room as is—out of unease.
Once my thoughts reached there, I stopped dodging her gaze and found myself pressed close to sis before I knew it.
"Eek? J-Jigu?"
"Yeah?"
"Just... you came close all sudden."
"We were closer than this last night."
"Hnn?! Th-That was... sorry. I wasn't in my right mind then."
"I was fine with it."
"...Huh?"
"Actually, it was nice. Felt good having you lean on me like family, same as always."
I echoed her words back and gently wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
A reenactment of last night. I didn't fully hug her or offer my chest like before, but Sujeong sis leaned her head carefully against me like she'd been waiting.
"Say stuff like that... and I'll wanna rely on you again."
"Rely away. That's what family's for."
"...Really? We're still family, even now?"
"Obviously. Whatever happened back then, you're family through and through. No change."
Blood-related or not, it didn't matter.
The Sujeong sis in my memories was the same, and the one leaning into me now was too.
"So yeah, whenever it's tough, come find me like this."
"...Like now? Always?"
"Yeah. Until Mom gets back and we talk, I'll lend you my shoulder the whole time."
"...Heh. Our Jigu really grew up, huh? Got me a little excited, hehe."
"Don't say embarrassing stuff to family. Makes me shy, ahem."
"Ah, you're blushing! Eii, eii."
"Eek, no poking my cheeks. You a kid, sis? I said I'd comfort you, not play with toys? Ow."
"Hehe, but you love it? You've enjoyed sis doing this since you were little."
"No I haven't? Better than Geumbi sis's pinching and ear-tugging, so I just took it. Don't get the wrong idea."
It was better than getting pinched or having my ears yanked all the time.
But she didn't hear me—Sujeong sis kept poking my cheeks and ruffling my hair after that.
-Knock knock.
"Jigu Yang, you in there?"
"Eep?!"
"Heh? Hn...!"
Mid-play, a knock and Geumbi sis's voice rang out.
We both clamped our mouths shut at the same time and quickly exchanged glances.
'I'll handle it. Stay quiet, sis.'
'Mm, got it. I'll pretend I'm not here.'
We nodded, and I raised my voice toward the door.
"Yeah, I'm here. What?"
"Can I come in?"
"Nah? Kinda busy right now... What's up?"
"Busy with what?"
"Uh, just... playing a game."
"What game?"
"Y-You wouldn't know it anyway."
"Not doing something weird again, right?"
"Eek?! N-No!"
Was she just here to tease, or did she pick a fight right off the bat? That was Geumbi sis.
As I yelled back indignantly, the knocking turned to doorknob rattling.
"Why's the door locked anyway?"
"That's... my prerogative. Got a problem?"
"Yeah, I do."
"What?"
"Unnie's in there with you right now, isn't she?"
""...!""
For a split second, Sujeong sis and I locked eyes again.
But this time we couldn't make a peep—holding our breath, Geumbi sis's voice rose from outside.
"Saw unnie go in earlier. What're you two doing that you locked the door?"
-Rattle, rattle—as if confirming it was locked, the knob turned.
In a situation where excuses wouldn't fly, our heartbeats seemed loud enough to reach outside.