Day One
We still had a little time left on the room, but Hui-gyeong was completely spent, so we just rested until checkout.
After we returned the key and stepped outside, it was somewhere around evening.
"I'm hungry."
She murmured it with her head resting against my shoulder.
I slipped an arm around her waist and answered,
"We did work out pretty hard."
"Let's hurry home and eat dinner."
"Want me to buy something?"
She shook her head at the offer.
"We've been eating out all day. You've already spent a lot, Oppa."
"I don't mind."
"Save it. You have to save. We need to be ready for later."
"Later?"
"Mm… we could get sick all of a sudden, or… a baby, maybe…?"
She was trying to sound casual, but I could feel her body heat up just a little with embarrassment.
Speaking of which—hadn’t I just poured everything into her bare?
"True. It could happen in one shot."
"Huh? What do you mean, one shot?"
"Well, earlier I just… went ahead and did it."
It was too embarrassing to say straight out on the street, so I tried to dance around it, but she didn’t catch on. While my little sister stood there looking blank, I checked around us and whispered carefully,
"Without a condom…"
"Ah… aah!"
Her face went red and she bit down hard on her lower lip. Looking at her now, that seemed to be the habit she had whenever she got embarrassed or was trying to hold something in.
"Th-that’s fine."
"Why?"
"I’m on the pill for my cycle."
"Huh? That stuff works for that too?"
I’d never heard that before and raised my voice in surprise, then hurriedly shut my mouth. I could feel people looking. Hui-gyeong pinched my side where no one could see.
"You’re going to be the death of me, Jo Gyeong-hun."
"Sorry."
"It prevents pregnancy and it regulates my cycle. So don’t worry too much."
"Oh."
That means I can finish inside her as much as I want, right?
It had only been my first time, but the feeling of throbbing and coming inside the woman I loved was the best thing in the world. The sense of conquest, and the affection of knowing Hui-gyeong was accepting and holding my seed—it felt so good.
"What do you mean, ‘oh’? The chance isn’t zero, so until we actually plan for a pregnancy, condoms are mandatory."
To anyone watching, we must have looked exactly like a young couple or newlyweds. Having a conversation only lovers could have, I finally felt it for real—Hui-gyeong was my woman now.
Just to be sure, I pulled her waist in tight and asked,
"We’re husband and wife, right?"
"…Yeah. I decided that the moment I made up my mind to be with you, Oppa."
It was childish talk, the kind kids play at, but it had become real. And the weight of it was something else entirely.
Being actual siblings was already a huge obstacle, but even setting that aside, the real-world problems were massive.
First: our family was a complete mess. I had to get rid of Dad, but with the tutoring situation it was still too early.
Second: Mom. I didn’t even want to imagine how she—so dependent on me—would react if we told her we were becoming independent.
Alright. Put the family problems on the back burner for now. Focus on the issues any normal couple or married pair would face.
Right now, a place to live. Whether we stayed with Mom or not, we needed a home to start a household in.
Ironically, that problem looped right back to the first one: Dad’s existence. Unless I drove him out myself, the second he sniffed out that I had even a little money, he’d come running and raise hell. He already had a track record—he’d cleaned out every bit of emergency cash Mom had scraped together, even raided Hui-gyeong’s piggy bank. What the hell was I supposed to do with a man like that?
In the end, I’d have to handle it according to plan.
Once Dad was out of the picture, I definitely wanted to move somewhere else. Leave every bad memory and every wound behind in Gwanseo-dong and get out.
By the way—Hui-gyeong still thought I had no money. What made her choose me anyway? She even talked about wanting a child. I wanted to know if she had any real thoughts about the future.
"Oppa, what are you thinking so hard about with your girlfriend right next to you?"
I must have been lost in my own head too long. She jabbed my side in mild complaint, so I kissed her cheek.
"I was thinking about what comes next."
"What comes next?"
"A house, a kid, things like that."
"Mm… it won’t be easy, right? But I think if we keep trying, it’ll work out."
"Trying~?"
"Trying~. If we keep thinking and keep moving, opportunities will come."
I was surprised by how brightly she said it. Hui-gyeong beamed and pressed herself closer against me.
"And didn’t we just start day one today? The future’s nice and all, but please focus a little more on the wife standing right next to you."
She kept switching between “girlfriend” and “wife,” but the way she acted cute and openly showed she liked me was so lovable I couldn’t stand it.
"I love you, Hui-gyeong."
"Hnn…!"
The words slipped out again without thinking, and she let out a little sound and stopped walking. Twisting her body, she looked up at me with a resentful glare.
"You’re making me feel it out on the street…!"
"What’s wrong with telling my wife I love her?"
"I just clenched and now the stuff you came inside me is dripping out."
Dripping out?! The semen I’d finished inside Hui-gyeong?!
The brand-new fact hit me so hard I stopped too. She kicked me in the butt with her foot.
"Idiot! Did you think it just gets absorbed in there?!"
She growled it as quietly as she could so no one would overhear. I couldn’t hold back—I pulled her waist in tighter and whispered right against her ear,
"Later, can you show me the inside of your panties?"
"…Am I really supposed to trust this man and spend my life with him?"
Completely fed up, Hui-gyeong pulled free of my arms and strode ahead with long steps. I hurried after her, but my head was still full of what came next.
It really did feel like the time had come to start moving, even if only little by little.
Dinner time.
The three of us sat around the table eating the meal Mom had prepared, talking about our day—that was how these evenings usually went. But tonight someone at the table was radiating pure murderous energy. I had a pretty good idea why, but I didn’t have the courage to say it out loud.
"Eat a lot, Oppa."
Normally Mom sat next to me and Hui-gyeong ate across from us. But today, after we’d gone out and sealed our marriage with sex, Hui-gyeong sat down beside me like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Right next to her husband.
"…?"
Mom, suddenly robbed of her seat, tilted her head. But there was serious force in her eyes. The way she stared at Hui-gyeong with a smiling face and wide-open eyes was downright eerie.
Hui-gyeong paid her no mind. She pulled her chair in, picked up her chopsticks, and eyed the main dish of the night—grilled mackerel. She plucked a big chunk of flesh, carefully checked it for bones, then gently laid it on top of my rice bowl.
"Th-thanks?"
Hui-gyeong propped her chin on her hand and smiled bashfully at me.
"Eat a lot, Oppa."
She told me to eat, so I had to eat. I scooped up a spoonful of rice and was about to shove it in when a bunch of japchae glass noodles tumbled down on top of it.
"I made the japchae Gyeong-hun likes today. Eat plenty~."
"What? I just put mackerel on Oppa’s rice."
"Mackerel’s too salty—Gyeong-hun doesn’t like it~?"
"So Mom made a side dish Oppa doesn’t even like?"
Ever since Big Brother Tae-sik finished his business and came back, the two of them had been weirdly cold with each other, but I had zero idea why they were suddenly going head-to-head like this.
No, seriously—why am I stuck in the middle?
Can’t the two of you go outside and talk it out?
"Gyeong-hun likes japchae better, right?"
"Oppa likes the mackerel I deboned for him better, right?"
"Oh my, so that was the idea~. Gyeong-hun likes the japchae Mom made better!"
"Who said he likes japchae?! Oppa hasn’t said a word yet!"
"Well, Mom’s always prepared meals for Gyeong-hun, so I know even without him saying anything~."
"Ugh!"
Hui-gyeong, the mackerel you deboned for me was still cooked by Mom. This whole contest doesn’t even make sense…
I swallowed the pointless quibble and loaded my spoon with rice, mackerel, and japchae all at once. Of course it was delicious. I chewed thoroughly, swallowed, and was reaching for my chopsticks again when Hui-gyeong stopped me for a second.
"Oppa, rice grain."
"Hm? Here?"
"Hold still."
I tried to wipe it off myself, but she leaned in and plucked the grain stuck to the corner of my mouth with her fingers. Then she brought it to her own mouth.
Slurp.
"You’re such a messy eater, Oppa."
And with that she picked up a piece of cucumber kimchi and set it on my rice.
"You eat some too, Hui-gyeong."
"I’m happy just watching you eat, Oppa."
…This is stressful.
I loved feeling how much she loved me, but Hui-gyeong—we’re sitting right in front of Mom. Aren’t you being way too obvious about the whole “we’re siblings but we’re genuinely in love now” vibe?
"……."
Mom’s smile had completely vanished; she was just watching everything Hui-gyeong did. In that uncomfortable air I hurriedly shoveled rice into my mouth, and every time I did, Hui-gyeong added another side dish.
"I love watching our Oppa eat well."
In the end I polished off dinner at lightning speed, like a crab hiding its eyes from the wind, and had to stand up from the table. While clearing the dishes I snuck a glance—Mom’s rice was still completely untouched.
As I passed her on the way to the sink, I caught a tiny mutter.
"…Thieving little cat."
I must have misheard.
But even if I had, the voice was cold enough to freeze my blood.