Chapter 78
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 78
Chapter Title: Quietly Embraced Her
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Sujeong sis was on the tall side, and her chest... well, she was the type with curves in all the right places.
But right now, trapped between my arms and trembling, her frame felt unusually small.
'That's why her expression is so clear. Maybe because her whole face is right there in front of me.'
Looking down at her, Sujeong sis's eyes were rolling more fiercely than her hunched shoulders.
It looked like she was scrambling for an excuse, or maybe just plain scared.
I brushed her hair behind her ear and whispered right by it.
"Sis? You gonna answer me or not?"
"Eek?! J-Jigu... What do you want me to say...?"
"Whether you properly pressed Mom about it, or what you wanted me to do. Pick one and spill."
I'd cornered her with no escape, then shoved options at her like she was teetering off a cliff.
Even so, she didn't choose right away, but as I watched silently, she lowered her gaze and mumbled.
"Mom's busy... so she said to contact her when I had time, if possible."
"That the text you sent today?"
"Yeah. If I got through, I was gonna call and talk details."
"So basically, you didn't pass on a single thing?"
"...Our stuff isn't the kind you can just blab about over text."
It wasn't an unreasonable point.
Me and Hwayeon, Geumbi sis, and Sujeong sis herself. None of it was suitable for texting.
'Even so, it doesn't change that she was just stalling again.'
This confirmed it.
Sujeong sis had no intention of resolving our issues urgently.
Given her personality, her consideration for Mom wasn't 100% a lie.
But I pressed into the truth lurking behind it, lips brushing her nape.
"J-Jigu?! Even if... this is too close...!"
"Now for the second answer. While you were dragging your feet, what were you hoping I'd do?"
"Wha? N-No, I... I already answered one, isn't that enough?"
"I said pick one to answer first. One down means you owe me the other now."
"Ugh, that's cheating... You're sneaky. Dirty, even."
"Who's the one who played dirty for weeks?"
Sujeong sis whined about how unfair it was, voice cracking, but it fell on deaf ears.
A few minutes of me tricking her versus weeks of her toying with me.
Who was worse was obvious.
So this much payback was fine.
I slid the hand from her hair to wrap around her waist.
Lips grazing her nape like a light bite, I issued my final warning.
"Last chance. If you don't spill everything, I can't hold back anymore."
"C-Can't hold back... what're you gonna do?"
"You heard everything about me and Hwayeon. And me and Geumbi sis."
"Eek?! J-Jigu... No, you can't. Not between family...!"
"I'm never doing that stuff with you again."
"...Huh? Wait, wha? Huh?"
Her trembling body froze solid in an instant.
She tried to read my face for sincerity, but with mine buried in her nape, she couldn't look straight at me.
"No more sleeping together with you. No more hugs or kisses or any skinship. Can't go back to how it was before, like you said, so I'll just keep my distance."
"Jigu? J-Jigu...? Look at me, let's talk slow, okay?"
"That's what you wanted, right? That's why you kept testing me, warning me not to cross lines."
"Nooo! That's not it... Totally different... Ugh."
As I pushed her right to the edge, Sujeong sis finally hugged me back with her own arms.
Her palms quivering against my back transmitted her anxiety perfectly.
Pretending I couldn't resist her honesty, I cradled her gently and stroked her hair like I'd never cornered her at all.
"There we go? My sis wouldn't want that, right?"
"Yeah... Of course not. Who'd wanna split from family they've lived with forever... overnight."
"Then why all that time? I won't get mad, promise. Tell me slow."
"...For real? You really won't get mad?"
"Nope. I was pissed at first, but I kinda get your feelings."
Her testing the waters or tempting me knowing it'd fluster me had given me headaches.
But thinking of the obvious reason why... it felt too awkward and embarrassing to just rage.
Being honest about your feelings isn't a crime.
If she was probably adopted, and clung extra to one family member amid that... her heart must have been-
"Jigu, truth is..."
"Yeah."
"I wanna stay family with you... as long as possible."
"Got it."
"Not just you, obviously. We're all family, all precious."
"I know."
"But thinking I might be the only adopted one makes me so anxious. What if I'm different? It eats at me."
"Yeah... uh-huh?"
"So if our bond deepens, even if things change on the outside, we could still be family. That's why..."
"...Hold up, sis? Say that again?"
Something felt off midway.
My 90% spot-on guess veered completely off by that last 10%.
With her resolve set, Sujeong sis pulled back a bit and looked me dead in the eye.
"If possible, I wanna marry you and live here together forever. Then we could all stay one family like always."
"...Wha, huh?"
Firm gaze, resolute tone.
Just like I'd seen through her lies before, I knew instantly this was sincere.
So even knowing it wasn't that, shock made me blurt it out anyway.
"So you're saying... you don't actually like me like that? Don't see me as a guy?"
Regret hit the second it left my mouth.
Sujeong sis's lips parted slightly, her face more flustered than mine.
As she awkwardly fiddled with her hair, my face burned beet red instead.
"N-No, sis, wait. That was just me guessing based on everything so far...!"
"Uh, Jigu? W-Well, I do love you... but not like, consciously as a man, not enough to straight-up seduce... "
"Stop, stop! Fine, my bad. But can you blame me for misunderstanding? You strip and throw yourself at me every chance you get!"
"I-It wasn't 'cause I liked it either! I figured I had to go that far to make your head spin and you'd pounce, take responsibility... "
"What the hell kinda logic is that?! That's worse! Just say you liked me for real!"
"Eek?! No, I don't not see you as a guy sometimes, but not enough to tempt you like some pervert... "
"That's even worse! God, ugh. You're the one who tricked and seduced me—why am I the embarrassed one?! Arghhh."
Unable to bear the shame, I covered my face with both hands and rolled around on the bed.
Sujeong sis watched with eyes full of pity, apology, and embarrassment.
Every glance made me want to crawl into a hole.
About ten minutes of bed-shaking chaos later.
Finally calming, I lay there sighing deeply, looking up at her.
"Seriously... how much do you love this family? It's straight-up obsessive. Totally nuts."
"Hm, I think loving your own family is pretty normal."
"Normal people don't plot to seduce their sane little brother. What if I actually jumped you?"
"Then we'd get married and live as family under one roof again... Ahem. I-I know, okay? It was a pretty far-fetched plan. I was aware."
"Yet you went through with it all. Man, your stubbornness picks the weirdest hills."
The more I thought, the more absurd it got—now I could only laugh.
As I alternated between belly laughs and sighs while tossing, Sujeong sis fidgeted and added one excuse.
"But... there was reason to it. I'm like 99% sure I'm adopted."
"Why? You said Mom never got back."
"True, but after hearing from her, I checked the study albums."
"Albums? What albums?"
"Found ones with all our childhood pics. Family trips, graduations, everything."
"Oh yeah, those. But why those?"
I knew we had family albums around, but the big ones were probably in the first-floor study, managed by Mom and Dad.
Wondering what she'd seen, I flipped over, ears perked.
"It was the kindergarten graduation and elementary entrance pics."
"Yeah."
"Mokhui on down to Geumbi, all in order."
"And?"
"...Mine were nowhere."
"Huh?"
"Hwayeon, you, Geumbi—all have pics with Mom and Dad. Just me, zilch."
This wasn't casual bedtime story material.
As her voice sank lower, I sat up and moved closer.
"What do you think, Jigu? We were all kids at the same time, same kindergarten and elementary. Why am I the only one missing?"
"Sis..."
"I know Mom and Dad wouldn't do that. They loved us all equal, no favoritism."
She rushed through memories like defending herself.
"But maybe... they only collected the real family's... and kept mine separate?"
Tears rolled down her smiling lips with those last words.
Experiencing firsthand how cruel it is to smile through sobs.
"So even knowing it wouldn't work, knowing it was crazy... I thought if you came to me first, it'd be okay..."
"Enough, sis. Stop talking."
"Sorry... I know I shouldn't have. I'm sorry, Jigu... Hic."
If she'd really done it out of bad intentions, how nice that would've been.
I could've resented her freely, blown up, made up routinely, and laughed easily like before.
Worried about the next room, Sujeong sis buried in my arms and stifled quiet sobs.
Still, her tears soaked into the fluffy pajamas.
She'd hated them as childish back in school when I got them as a gift.
The blue pajamas Sujeong sis bought me, dozens of fish patterns swimming soggily as they got wet.