Chapter 74
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 74
Chapter Title: The Mood Heated Up as the Food Went Cold
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I'd always known Hwayeon had a blunt side to her.
But wasn't this crossing the line a bit too boldly?
'Asking my sisters outright if they've had sex... Is she seriously nuts?'
I fiddled with my bowl, endlessly stirring my chopsticks without eating.
What could I do? My sisters were stunned silent by the question—what reaction was I supposed to have?
"Hmm~? What's with you all? Isn't this why we gathered—to talk about this stuff? I changed the subject before the food got cold, but why the weird reactions?"
"No, hey... Yang Hwayeon. Reactions? How are we supposed to respond to something like that... Ugh."
"Ow, Hwayeon, did you really... with Jigu... Eek, mmph!"
Hwayeon was the only one calmly tilting her head in confusion.
Geumbi had set her chopsticks down completely, stammering incoherently.
Sujeong, on the other hand, stuffed her mouth full of fried rice, mumbling to muffle her voice.
Normally, I'd have chimed in by now to lighten the mood.
But... I had no idea what to say.
"If you all can't handle it, should I go first? Tell you how far 'my brother' and I went that night?"
"Hey, you've been calling Jigu 'ours' this whole time—what? Since when did you start referring to him like that?"
"Hehe, that's exactly what I'm curious about. Geumbi sis, why are you suddenly so timid?"
"Yeah, you're the one who got weird out of nowhere. Did you drink booze instead of coffee at the café? How can you just casually bring up... this?"
"Oh come on, what's so hard about it? You've both been enjoying stuff with him for ages."
"En-enjoying? We never did anything like that! Jigu, you tell them. Have I ever used your body to get off or anything? Huh?!"
Geumbi, her face red as bubbling jjambbong broth, whipped around to glare at me.
I felt a bit unjustly targeted, but her teary eyes looked so desperate that I scratched my cheek and answered.
"Well... no, we haven't. I've never touched your body either, and you were always the one helping me out, Geumbi sis."
"See? Look! I'm not like some people who fool around with Jigu's body."
"Fool around...? Sis, are you saying that right in front of me?"
"Who else is here to hear it? Honestly, no shame at all. You got your own brother drunk and dragged him to a motel—what makes you think you're so great...?"
"What?! Yang Geumbi! When did I ever do that? Did you see it with your own eyes, huh?"
"Not 'sis' from you, but 'Yang Geumbi'? Yang Hwayeon, you really wanna go at it today?!"
Huh, how did the mood shift again?
I'd only sided with Geumbi a tiny bit, just one word, because she seemed at a disadvantage.
Emboldened, Geumbi scolded Hwayeon, who fired back in a huff, shaking the whole table.
I half-worried the black bean noodles and spicy noodles on the table would mix into some jjambbong-jjajang hybrid.
That's when a spoon clinked sharply against a plate from across the table, drawing everyone's attention.
"Both of you, cut it out and sit down. What are you doing at the dinner table?"
"Ugh... but sis."
"Sujeong sis heard it too, right? Geumbi sis just called me a total gold digger... er, snake."
"No more warnings—this is your second. Got it?"
"...Tch, fine."
"Eeeh... Okayyy."
As expected, Sujeong was the best at reining in sisterly squabbles.
Relieved that at least one person was keeping it together, I bowed my head slightly in thanks to her.
"What are you smirking at? Jigu, that goes for you too."
"Huh? Me? What did I do?"
"They both jumped up to fight, and you just sat there watching? If anything, you're the biggest cause here."
"Eh? Oh?"
"Yeah... kinda."
"True... Bro, you're being a little cowardly."
"What? Why's everyone turning on me now?!"
Shouldn't have thanked her so openly.
Sujeong crushed my relief without mercy, coldly aiming her ire at me.
Geumbi and Hwayeon quickly nodded in agreement, shifting all eyes back to me.
"From what the girls said, it sounds like you've all gotten pretty close with Jigu. Even after I warned you so much."
"Ugh. Sujeong sis... Look, it's just..."
"Save it—no need for obvious excuses. That's why I've been worried all this time, but what's done is done."
"Mmm..."
"But! That doesn't mean we'll tolerate this situation. You know that, right Jigu?"
"I know... I know. I'm sorry."
I could nitpick past events and find some injustices.
But in the end, I'd messed up too.
I bowed to Sujeong again, then apologized to the two beside me.
"Sorry for being wishy-washy and careless with myself all this time. Geumbi sis, Hwayeon."
"No, you don't have to apologize like that... Ahem. Ah, whatever. Truth is, I haven't exactly been perfect either."
"Yeah, bro. If anything, I kinda liked... Ahem! I don't think it was bad."
At least Geumbi and Hwayeon were comforting me instead—small consolation, excluding Sujeong.
It eased my guilt a bit, but then Sujeong glared, scanning all three of us.
"You two are just as bad. Saying you haven't done well means you messed up like Jigu, right? I didn't say to console each other—don't get it twisted."
"Eek?! No, I know sis... I know, but."
"Ughhh...! But Sujeong sis, from what you've heard, weren't you tangled up with bro too? Why pick on just us? Hmph!"
Sujeong scolded me, then turned the same treatment on the others. Geumbi pouted and grumbled.
Hwayeon openly puffed her cheeks, pointing out Sujeong's own behavior.
"Hwayeon, you didn't listen properly? I've only been managing things as your big sister to prevent problems in our family."
"Managing? What exactly did you manage?"
"...You haven't shared the details yet."
"Then let's lay it all out here! Sujeong sis, Geumbi sis—spill everything too while we're at it. No holding back, let's be totally honest!"
"Eek?! No, I said I get that you messed up... We don't have to go that far."
"Sujeong sis, you were just ripping into us earlier—why so timid now? Geumbi sis too, always hesitating when it's something bad for you."
"Hey, why drag me into it when I was quiet? ...Damn it, fine—let's spill! We're all guessing anyway, so what can't I say? It's not like I'm some slut fooling around."
"Geumbi sis, you always glance my way when you say that. Ha, slut? Hilarious! Let's see exactly who fooled around with who. Bro's our witness—no lying, hmph."
Hwayeon counterattacked, making Sujeong flinch and backpedal.
Geumbi, provoked alongside her, slammed the table and jumped in.
Our round table suddenly felt like a poker game with cards on the line.
And the first to show her hand was Hwayeon, who'd started the round.
"You both know already, right? The other day, bro and I went to a motel room and spent the night. Need more details?"
"Wh-what did you do at the motel? Gotta hear that much to know."
"Ow, Geumbi. Do you really have to pry like that...?"
"No, I'll tell. If it'll clear the air for sis, nothing to hide!"
"Ha, fine! Go on, spill it. Jigu's our witness like you said—no fibbing."
Geumbi, fuming from the taunts, gritted her teeth and pressed Hwayeon.
Sujeong beside her flailed her hands to intervene, but the two, fired up, ignored the frail gestures.
'But still, room or not—this is a restaurant. Digging this deep here? Sujeong's hesitating for that reason too... Hmm.'
Even fired up, Geumbi was cooler and more mature than Hwayeon.
Something seemed off beyond mere excitement.
Maybe she'd been curious from the start?
About how far Hwayeon and I had really gone.
A nagging doubt in her chest gained credence from Geumbi's secret gulp, and when our eyes met briefly, her flushed cheeks and averted gaze all but confirmed it.
'This is awkward... Can't hide it anymore. Sigh, whatever. Let it play out.'
As I agonized, staring at the bloated, overcooked fried jjambbong.
I covered my eyes and tried to tune out Hwayeon's slowly parting lips.
"So... how far did I go with bro? That night... I was drunk, and, uh, mm."
'Huh?'
Her bold, unflinching voice vanished, replaced by 180-degree stammering that echoed beyond the table.
For a second, I thought I'd covered my ears instead—my hands fumbled my face.
They were firmly over my eyelids. I parted my fingers halfway and glanced right at Hwayeon.
There was Hwayeon, who'd been smugly babbling at Geumbi moments ago—
"With bro... on the bed... ugh."
Her face redder than Geumbi's jjambbong broth, lips flapping like a goldfish.
'What's with her, suddenly... Oh, right. She had no guy experience before me, so talking about this is new for her too.'
Observing her, I recalled some freshmen who turned beet red at anything remotely spicy.
Hwayeon had played her card boldly to not lose face before her sisters, but she wasn't bold enough to flip it casually.
'Yeah, I'd be the same. Even just talking about sleeping with a guy in front of family is embarrassing—let alone if it's your housemate brother. Only a perv would chatter casually.'
She'd acted chill, but confessing openly brought belated shame surging.
Her face heated more with each hesitant lip quiver.
After stuttering starts and stops, she finally dumped chili powder on her black bean noodles, slurped them down, and clamped her mouth shut.
"Ha! See? Can't even finish."
"Munch munch, no I'm not? Got hungry suddenly—filling up first, slurp."
"Sure sure~ Whatever you say. Heh."
"Grr... What about you, Geumbi sis? If you're so great, you go first!"
"Hmm~ Is that it for you? All that big talk, then fizzle."
"Urk! Then you tell us, sis? What'd you do with bro in your room? Why drag him there every other day?"
"Jeez, trying to paint me as a perv like you? Hey, I was really just helping Jigu out. Not lusting after family like you."
"So what exactly did you two do!"
"Ah, I helped him... relieve himself a bit, that's all! Never took off a single piece of clothing, never let him touch me! Purely helping my little bro out, okay?!"
Hwayeon hit her limit and passed the baton with sauce-smeared cheeks.
Geumbi snatched the provocation, slamming down her own cards.
...Completely forgetting the other player right beside her.
"Geumbi? So you took Jigu to your room and... what exactly?"
"No, uh, sis? This is... Hwayeon kept prying, so... ugh."
She denied it but babbled on fluidly anyway.
With me as witness, no one would buy backpedaling now.
The heated room chilled with tense air.
Ignoring Hwayeon in spectator mode with flapping lips, Sujeong's gaze raked Geumbi up and down.
"So...... how, exactly, did you 'help' Jigu, Ms. Geumbi, my little sister?"
"Eek. No, sis, ow... Sisie..."
Geumbi tried slurping her cold jjambbong to shut up like Hwayeon.
But her hand toward the bowl was stopped flat by Sujeong's grip beside her.
In that instant, fearing arrows flying my way again.
I hurriedly stuffed my mouth with the last lukewarm fried rice.