Chapter 77
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 77
Chapter Title: Finally in the Room
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With those final words—"let's talk again once we hear from Mom"—we each dispersed to our rooms.
Normally, I'd lie on the bed fiddling with my phone, take a casual shower, and wait for the sisters who'd come visiting at night.
But today, for some reason, I felt like walking, so I circled the front yard over and over.
'Just got home—if I head out right away, it'll look suspicious, yeah.'
One more step and I'd be out the gate, but I racked my brain for excuses to just pace in the yard instead.
No one was around to hear my justifications, but putting them in order inside my head left me feeling a bit refreshed.
'Self-rationalization, or self-brainwashing? It's all in how you look at it... Heh.'
Too spineless to actually leave the house, too restless to stay shut away in my room like a coward.
The more pointless steps I took, the more my mind twisted and turned away from that glaring reality.
'It's not just me—everyone's the same. No matter what excuses we spout... we keep our true feelings locked up tight.'
Humans struggle to face their own problems but yap endlessly about everyone else's.
I let my thoughts tumble chaotically over the Chinese restaurant fiasco, things at home, and all the entanglements before that, picturing my family one by one lying in their beds beneath my feet.
"Hwayeon's probably... about half sincere, half messing around."
That was likely how it started for her.
She'd never taken our family's adoption issue or my relationships with my sisters seriously at first.
Since it wasn't her problem, she'd approached it mostly out of curiosity and amusement.
Given her personality, she'd probably planned to subtly comfort me while at it... but that damn alcohol twisted everything.
"Once she became a part of it herself... she straight-up changed her stance."
She could've brushed it off as a one-night mistake, but the mood that day made that impossible.
And that tiny spark grew into a blaze because of her rivalry toward my sisters—especially not wanting to lose to Geumbi.
"Geumbi... things are more complicated on her end. She tried to hold me back, but ended up wading deeper herself."
The opposite of Hwayeon—my thing with Geumbi had seeped in slowly, like sinking into quicksand.
Misunderstandings, warnings, slip-ups, and instincts formed a chain reaction.
Honestly, I didn't hate it either, so even knowing my body was giving in, I didn't pull my legs out.
"We should've stopped midway. It crept in so gradually that even Geumbi herself didn't notice until it was too late."
Then it was the same as with Hwayeon.
She started minding someone else, and pointless pride and posturing made her actions bolder.
Of course, Hwayeon was part of that dynamic too.
But the biggest influence was surely Sujeong—the one Geumbi had tried to protect from the start.
"Come to think of it, it all started with Sujeong. Sigh... I should've just given her a light hug back during that first counseling session and left it at that."
Why had I let her sleep with me?
Why create all those situations where others could misunderstand, and then fumble excuses whenever I got grilled about it?
Thud, thud... thud... thump.
My foot, turning at the edge of the yard, bumped into the weathered stone wall.
"Sujeong, on the other hand... why did she let things get this far?"
Unlike the other two, Sujeong could've acted much sooner.
She could've warned me firmly in front of the others like today, pulled me closer to bind me, or kept her distance to set boundaries—she had every ability and right to do so.
"If she had, I wouldn't have hesitated, or ended up trapped in this mess from overthinking... right?"
If Sujeong's words were all sincere, she surely would've done it.
She's kind and considerate, but as the eldest, she's always been firm about family squabbles or discord.
The fact that she hadn't meant... she was deeply troubled by the revelation that either she or one of the younger ones was adopted.
Or Mom's return kept getting delayed, leaving her unsure how to proceed.
Or maybe I'd overestimated her, and Sujeong got swept up in the mood like the rest.
"......Or maybe Sujeong's been steering things so I'd keep agonizing..."
My forehead lightly bumped the wall after my foot, as I ran through hypotheses.
Each one made sense yet felt flimsy—nothing I could pin down as truth.
But that's the world for you; it's all about perspective.
And since this was our family matter, wasn't it fine to assume the version that seemed most plausible to me?
"She kept me agonizing on purpose... waiting for something to happen with one of us? Why? When she's always the one preaching against it...?"
I picked one possibility at random, and my thoughts sank into the answer written there.
It might not be true, but I couldn't shake the imagination that 'maybe it was.'
My pounding heart shoved evidence my way.
The first one to share my bed and get entangled with me.
The one who'd kept watch over my relationships with the others.
The one who'd urged me to leave home once it became clear I'd gone too deep with Geumbi or Hwayeon.
If that's what she wanted... the answer was so blatantly obvious, it was ridiculous I hadn't seen it sooner.
"What if she was tempting me... to make me choose her?"
I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head vigorously.
There were limits to self-indulgence and arrogance—what kind of delusion was I spinning about Sujeong?
But my unrelenting heart thrust forward one final piece of evidence.
While the other two kept physical contact with me amid all sorts of incidents...
Sujeong had never once touched my body first.
If that was truly her way of luring me to approach her—
"Wind's picking up. Time to head inside."
The sky was clear, not a single cloud in sight.
There had been a few fluffy clouds during my shift earlier, but unlike near the café, our neighborhood stayed clear even into the night.
Naturally, there wasn't even a gentle breeze strong enough to waft clouds along.
Knock knock knock.
I knocked three times on the door, confirmed no answer, then knocked three more.
I waited about five minutes, but still no response from inside.
'If I call out loud, the next room over will hear too? Geumbi, Hwayeon, and Mokhui are probably in their rooms.'
The second-floor rooms were all adjacent, making it hard to speak loudly.
I considered waiting longer in front of Sujeong's door, but standing in the hallway risked bumping into someone.
So I just opened the door and went in.
The knob wasn't locked, and there was Sujeong... hugging a pillow propped against the bedhead, blinking her eyes wide.
"What? You were here—why didn't you answer?"
"Oh, uh, I... didn't hear. I was listening to music."
"Music? No earbuds in your ears?"
"Ah, yeah, I took them out just now. I... felt like someone was knocking."
Sujeong wasn't one for lies usually.
But her reaction right now didn't ring true.
Her flustered eyes, fidgeting fingers, lips still flapping after she finished speaking.
The white earbud case on the desk a bit away from the bed lent credence to my suspicions.
"Mind if I sit for a bit?"
"Yeah... but you're already sitting..."
"You've barged into my room plenty of times."
"I didn't. I always knocked and got your permission first, Jigu."
"Then give me permission too. Scoot over?"
"That's what I'm saying... you're already pressed up against me. Why ask now?"
Sujeong grumbled softly, but she couldn't retort loudly for fear of the next room hearing.
I seized the opening to settle right beside her.
For a moment, the two of us stared at the opposite wall, waiting for an invisible hourglass to run out.
Tick.
Tick tick.
Tick.
Tick.
Was it two minutes or three?
The moment the last grain hit bottom, I turned to her.
"Any word from Mom?"
"Not yet... She's busy with work, and still not feeling well. Let's not rush her—just wait."
"Yeah, probably best."
"...But Jigu. Why'd you come to my room?"
"One more question first. That text you sent Mom from the restaurant."
"Uh, yeah... Why bring up the text?"
"What'd you say? We didn't check it together earlier."
"Huh...? Why are you suddenly curious about that?"
Sujeong lying wasn't all bad.
Having seen her reactions beforehand let me easily spot when she was cornered.
Plus, what exactly was cornering her.
"Did you actually nudge Mom in that text? About the adoption, or pushing her to come home sooner?"
"No, Jigu... Like I said earlier, Mom's really busy."
"Sujeong."
"Yeah."
"You said before, right? As the eldest, you're most likely the adopted one based on memories."
"Yeah... I did. Why?"
"After that, you came to my room and we've spent nearly every night together."
"Wha—why bring up Mom and then shift to that...?"
"Do you actually want to resolve our issue quickly?"
"J-Jigu. Your eyes are scary... Don't make that face, okay? Jigu...?"
So this was what scared Sujeong.
Not facing a scary person or situation.
But when a long-hidden truth was about to surface... she feared most having her secrets exposed.
"You've done it from the start. Every time someone pushed to hurry Mom, you oddly dragged your feet."
"Th-that was... out of consideration for Mom..."
"In the end, we just sat around waiting."
"Well, yes, but..."
"What did you want by making us wait? What did you want me to do?"
"Jiguuuu..."
Thud.
My hand shot out before I knew it, slamming against the wall.
Sujeong, trapped between my arms, huddled her shoulders and trembled.
Only then, seeing my reflection in her eyes, did I realize it.
The side of myself I'd been ignoring, and the emotions seething inside.
"If you don't tell me honestly... I might really get mad, Sis."
It was a lie.
A guy already fuming was arrogantly mouthing off to his own sister like that.