Chapter 6 Shaken
Wavering
Chapter 7
SCREEEECH!
After giving it some thought, I decided certain people should never be allowed behind the wheel.
First, the infamous "Kim-yeosa" drivers people joked about.
Second, my mother and aunts back on Earth—the Park women were a menace to traffic.
And third, the worst of the lot: Park Ha-rin.
SKREEEEE!
The next time Ha-rin offered me a ride, I was getting out. I didn't care where we were.
"Gwaaah!"
I clung to the overhead handle. The seat belt dug into my chest as the car hurled me from side to side.
The scenery streaked past, but Ha-rin didn't even consider slowing down.
"Stop!"
VROOOOM!
We swerved at the last possible second, missing the guardrail by mere centimeters.
Ha-rin floored the accelerator and wrenched the steering wheel as if she were trying to kill us. Her expression, meanwhile, remained infuriatingly serene.
The multibillion-won sports car tore between lanes without signaling. Horns blared behind us. Ha-rin didn't so much as blink.
The road was in chaos. Inside the car, no one dared speak.
I sat in the passenger seat, and Se-eun kept perfectly still in the back.
Ever since our parents died, Ha-rin had dictated when this family was allowed to talk. One glance at her eyes told me today was no exception.
She cut off another car with a vicious turn of the wheel. I nearly swore aloud.
HOOOOONK—
The driver behind us sounded his horn, then abruptly stopped.
Maybe he'd decided it was safer not to provoke the lunatic in the expensive sports car.
I wanted to crawl under the seat. How could she drive like this without a trace of shame?
Worse, if her mood soured, she might actually hit someone on purpose.
"The police didn't even give you shoes or something to wear?"
Without easing off the accelerator, Ha-rin glanced at my bare skin.
The road was flying past at a lethal speed, yet she kept looking at me instead of the windshield.
Please, for the love of everything, watch the road.
'How am I supposed to answer that?'
If I said too much, the senior policewoman who'd dealt with us might pay for it. Ha-rin hadn't looked pleased with her earlier.
"They said there wasn't much point. I smelled like smoke, and my feet were covered in ash. I'd only ruin whatever they gave me."
『Park Ha-rin's Suspicion Level - 23.8%』
Ha-rin's gaze darkened.
I held my breath.
『Park Ha-rin's Suspicion Level - 17.3%』
A moment later, she softened her expression into an affectionate smile.
"I see. I didn't know that. But next time, Si-hyun, think of yourself first. You're more important to me than anyone else. You don't need to worry about what happens to other people, understand?"
"Mm..."
"Whatever happens to them..." Her voice trailed off. Then she grew serious.
"Park Se-eun."
Se-eun stiffened in the back seat.
"Y-yes...?"
"Why did you drag Si-hyun off the bus?"
Ha-rin smiled as she asked, but the question carried a threat.
Se-eun was a better liar than I was. Surely she wouldn't fall for it.
"Big Brother suddenly looked sick. I thought he was going to throw up, so I made him get off."
It was the explanation we'd rehearsed.
A perfectly reasonable excuse. It had to be.
'There were plenty of passengers. Even if she got the bus footage, it wouldn't prove what we were thinking.'
Ha-rin's gaze shifted to the rearview mirror.
She studied Se-eun's reflection for a few seconds before looking away.
One corner of her mouth lifted.
"Oh, you should have told me! You had me worried for nothing. And then neither of you answered my calls. Do you have any idea how..."
She turned that immaculate smile on me.
"...anxious I was?"
"..."
Even a smile from her could make me break out in a cold sweat.
One careless remark would give her another reason to question us. I kept my mouth shut.
"And Si-hyun, what happened to your phone? I was calling you before the fire started, wasn't I?"
Se-eun and I both faltered for the briefest instant. We'd prepared for this question, but hearing it still made my stomach clench.
Couldn't she just leave it alone? Of course not.
I forced my mouth into a sheepish smile.
"I-I broke it, Sis. It was me. I'm sorry."
"...You? Why?"
She demanded an explanation without saying another word.
I remembered the frantic display I'd put on at the station and lowered my eyes as though I couldn't endure her disapproval.
"There was this awful ringing in my ears. My head went blank, and before I knew it, I'd smashed the phone. I'm sorry, Sis."
"...The fire too? Like before?"
"...Y-yeah."
Her eyes turned cold again. But she would accept it. She had to.
After all—
'You never mind it when I'm the one acting unstable.'
I hadn't thrashed around and beaten the floor at the station for nothing.
In the game, Ha-rin was almost pleased whenever Si-hyun showed signs of paranoia, delirium, or uncontrollable anger.
She could forgive any instability she recognized in herself. Even now—
"Hehehe."
Her mouth was twitching with barely suppressed delight. Was she actually happy we had something in common?
'My performance at the station must have made her feel closer to me. When it comes to Si-hyun, her judgment has always been warped.'
That was the weakness I was betting my life on.
Ding.
『Park Ha-rin's Suspicion Level - 11.3%』
I lowered my gaze and spoke miserably.
"Should I... go to the hospital?"
"Hospital? Why?"
"Sometimes I get so angry I can't control myself. Doesn't that mean something's wrong with me?"
Ha-rin reached over and cupped my cheek.
"It's okay, Si-hyun."
Her voice was gentle, though excitement glimmered beneath her smile.
"You're not bad."
The darkness in her eyes still sent a shiver down my spine.
『Passive 'Optimal Progression' is currently being applied.』
It was easier to endure now. I managed a nervous laugh.
Before I knew it, Park Ha-rin's hand was groping my bare legs... This is sexual molestation of a minor.
And for God's sake, watch the road.
#
Back at the mansion, I felt like a guest in someone else's life. It was enormous enough to house a small army of servants, yet only the three of us lived there.
'Sure, I'm absurdly rich. But why are the only people hired to clean this mansion middle-aged women? Couldn't we at least hire some pretty young maids? Honestly.'
I was covered in ash, so I headed straight for the bathroom.
I soaked in a high-tech bathtub, distracted myself with a few videos, and finally collapsed onto the king-size bed.
"Hoo..."
Ha-rin had let the incident pass without a real interrogation. If anything, my apparent breakdown had put her in a better mood. Her driving had somehow become even worse.
Remembering that smile was enough to make me sweat.
'Why did I have to end up in a nightmare of a game? Couldn't it have been a cheerful dating sim? Still, at least I can miss school.'
The original Si-hyun might have cared about perfect attendance. I certainly didn't.
'And with Ha-rin's influence, I'd probably get into Korea University no matter how badly I did. Not that I'd feel great about the illegal admission.'
University was the least of my concerns.
What bothered me was something far more immediate.
'Wasn't Ha-rin supposed to be a wealthy celebrity? Since when could she order the police around like that?'
I had benefited from her influence, so I wasn't in a position to complain. But that didn't make the difference from the game any less unsettling.
I'd seen corruption on Earth too. This had been something else entirely.
'Is everyone just openly corrupt here?'
For the moment, that was the simplest explanation.
I'd never known Ha-rin's influence extended this far.
'Has this version of her changed? Or has she been cultivating officials behind the scenes?'
Neither possibility was reassuring.
The longer I thought about her, the more vividly I pictured her face.
It was a face that hardly seemed real.
'That bitch... just pointlessly pretty.'
Her silver hair was so mysterious it felt unreal, and her golden eyes were utterly cold and merciless. Her skin was snow-white, as if it had no pigment at all. Her features, like CG graphics, even oozed sensuality.
'...Let's admit it. Any human being would be swayed by Park Ha-rin.'
At first sight she gave off a noble yet bewitching impression, and on top of that her figure was fantastic, so as a man there was no way I could hold out.
Her bust was a 75F, her hips were femininely wide, and her long, straight legs, thanks to a pleasing balance of toned muscle and soft flesh, made you happy just to look at them.
On top of that, her gaze, which always chased after me as if it craved me, was no different from a succubus's... Honestly, as long as I was a man, there was no helping that I flustered.
That was how refined, elegant, and sexy yet peculiar a woman she was.
Whenever I met those eyes, sharp enough to cut, I felt a life-threatening danger. But because she was so excessively alluring, I also felt a fear that I would be trapped inside them and never find my way out.
By now, I was at the point where it was hard to tell whether this was the protagonist's feelings or my own.
'...Get a grip. Park Si-hyun.'
To me, female siblings were nothing but a loathsome breed.
Just thinking about what those women had done to me still made my teeth grind.
Some orangutan-looking things kept pulling a petty kind of tyranny on the one lone man of the house every day, ordering him around left and right, and the rotten-onion stink of their body odor mixed with their powder, leaving my stomach churning every single day.
Some people might envy me for having sisters, but if they lived with them for even a few days, they'd realize, 'Ah, so that's why nobody has a sister complex.'
'Damn it... Still, Park Ha-rin isn't my real older sister, is she?'
Before I even noticed my thoughts slowly sliding toward dangerous territory, the door of the roughly fifty-pyeong room swung wide open.
"Si-hyun. How's your body...?"
It was Park Ha-rin, bundled in an office outfit that clung tightly to her entire body.
Of course, her presence was overwhelming in a way that couldn't even be compared to the older and younger sisters of the real world.
Her skirt was short, so the elastic band of her stockings peeked through.
The moment I became aware of it, blood rushed to my lower body, which was hidden under the bathrobe I was wearing.
'...Huh? Wait, stop...!'
I couldn't let myself be humiliated like a dog like this.
Hurriedly, I hid my big guy inside the robe.
At that, Park Ha-rin, whose eyes had widened for a moment, came closer, chuckling softly.
"Our Si-hyun... you've been up to something naughty, haven't you?"
You know it's not what it looks like... Get out.
But Park Ha-rin's eyes only shone even brighter. The fervent interest directed at me wasn't even hidden. A lewd flush rose on her face, making her look, at a glance, as if she were aroused.
Her snow-white hand came down toward my lower body.
'Oh, shit...? No way.'
At the moment I flinched, her flashy manicured nails yanked my cheek outward.
"Don't do that kind of thing behind your older sister's back. Understand?"
"...Mm. Yeah."
So she's telling me to do it out in the open, then?
Either way, Park Ha-rin kept stealing sidelong glances at my big guy and couldn't tear her eyes away. Strangely, her cheeks seemed to be flushed red too. Her breath also seemed to have grown a little ragged.
'Is she aroused...? Well, she is the one-track virgin whose only target is Park Si-hyun, after all.'
Yet Park Ha-rin doesn't pounce on me. It's because she has severe obsessive-compulsive disorder, which keeps her from ever going against her parents' wishes.
─Family is also a member of society. So you have to take good care of your younger siblings. Ha-rin.
As long as the norms of society remain, Park Ha-rin strictly upholds her duties toward her family.
Therefore, even toward Park Se-eun, for whom she has few feelings, she fulfills the minimum responsibility simply because they are family.
'But three years later, society collapses. From that point on, Park Ha-rin is freed from her obligations as a member of society.'
That's exactly when it gets dangerous.
From the moment the constraints of society vanish, Park Ha-rin becomes completely unshackled and begins acting unpredictably.
Park Ha-rin lowered the hand that had been stroking my cheek and felt along my shoulder.
"Your body... seems to have gotten better. You haven't been exercising, have you? And your muscles seem to have suddenly bulked up too."
"Huh? Uh... Y-yeah, right."
I can't say it's because of a skill. That's a non-stop train to a bad ending.
Then it happened.
"!"
Suddenly the back of my head was seized, and my face was buried in Park Ha-rin's full bosom. A dizzying fragrance filled my nose completely.
Park Ha-rin, with eyes still giddy with excitement, drew close and whispered.
"You like your big sister, don't you?"
"...Huh?"
"You know you're all your big sister has, right?"
"Uh... uh..."
An inexplicable chill washed over me, and my heart trembled. I couldn't tell whether it was because of Park Ha-rin's eerie gaze or the frenzied affection contained within it.
Yet the answer I had to give my older sister was already decided.
"Y-yeah... I-I've got no one but you too."
"That's right. That's how it should be. Yes, it has to be that way."
With a frightening grin stretching the corners of her lips, Park Ha-rin stroked my head and then let go.
And then, showing off her fantastic backside, she walked away.
Then, suddenly stopping in her tracks, she glanced back at me sidelong.
"Is there anything you want? Like your sister's panties, or her stockings? You stare at them every day, don't you?"
Her smile crinkled her eyes, and it was so lethal it was bad for the heart.
Wait, did she just say stockings... stockings...?!
"A-ah, no, it's fine..."
I fucking want them. But I shoved down the heat rushing to my forehead and barely managed to shake my head.
"Oh well. Too bad. If you want them, you can always sneak them out."
Park Ha-rin snickered and cast me a strange look. Her eyes grew narrower and narrower, and that gaze lingered for a while.
"Then rest. Make yourself as comfortable as you can."
As her long, rippling silver hair slipped out of the room, the breath I had been holding finally leaked out. Just being close to such dangerous beauty made my heart pound anxiously, and it felt perilous.
Thankfully, as Ha-rin disappeared, the tension drained out of me in an instant.
I fell onto the bed back first. Keeping the back of my hand over my forehead, I closed my eyes.
'Anyway, that woman is fucking dangerous.'
I thought my heart wouldn't settle down for a while, but my body must have been exhausted, because I drifted off to sleep before I knew it.
And last night, I had a wet dream.
#
The next morning, following Park Si-hyun's routine, I went to the room sealed off with mirrors.
There, just the two of us, I ate an uncomfortable yet luxurious breakfast with Park Ha-rin.
Park Se-eun eats breakfast alone in a normal kitchen. It's pitiful, but why do I envy that kid right now?
In the end, after getting my fill of staring up Park Ha-rin's skirt, I left for school.
The sense of moral transgression was no joke, but a woman's absolute territory was a place a man's eyes simply could not help but be drawn to.
'A man simply can't resist a woman's axe mark.'
Even the chairs were made of clear glass, so the shape of her butt was fully reflected in the mirror. And since she kept shooting me sultry sidelong glances and crossing and uncrossing her legs, I couldn't help but look. I had the distinct feeling I'd been taught that not looking was bad manners.
'...So these were Park Si-hyun's memories. The source is completely ruined.'
I repeated to myself over and over that Park Ha-rin was my real older sister. Only after finishing a sticky embrace with her could I finally leave the house with my head held high.
Of course, my school uniform still had a listening device sewn into it.
Se-eun and I exchanged a glance and left for school without speaking.
At the bus stop, an unwelcome sight greeted us.
Kang Yu-seong. Again.
"Hey, why'd you skip yesterday?"
"None of your business... I mean, I've been feeling awful."
I couldn't be bothered to explain, so I offered the first excuse that came to mind.
"Se-eun..."
"She's on her period."
"No..."
"Don't talk to her. She's sensitive. And it's not like the blood only comes out of her. It could come out of you too."
He was trying to get Se-eun's attention again. Naturally, I cut in before he could.
Se-eun stared at me like a vengeful ghost. Any second now, she looked ready to murder me herself.
Then she silently mouthed a message.
'Have. You. Lost. Your. Mind?'
What? I was helping her. Why was she so angry?
Some people had no gratitude.
"...Se-e..."
"Yeah, I'm right here, Park Si-hyun."
"No... I didn't call you."
"Oh, really?"
"Se-eun..."
"Yeah, what?"
"...Why are you the one answering?"
Judging by her expression, I'd just taken another hit to Se-eun's Affection Level. I'd have to repair the damage somehow.
She was still glaring at me when Kang Yu-seong and I reached the school and got off.
Her glare alone was enough to make me want to die, but Kang Yu-seong and I arrived at the school first and got off.
As we approached the entrance, Yu-seong finally lost his patience.
"Hey, what the fuck? Why are you acting so weird all of a sudden?"
I came close to losing mine as well.
'Why am I acting strange? Because I'm trying not to die, you idiot.'
I offered a few vague reassurances as Yu-seong grumbled the whole way to our classroom.
Every student in the room was male.
Dongcheon Boys' High School.
Ha-rin had forced the original Si-hyun to attend Dongcheon Boys' High School. The thought of him befriending girls had apparently been unbearable to her.
'Back to an all-boys school. Wonderful. At least she can't force me into an all-male university too.'
It was enough to bring tears to my eyes.
I'd pictured the school romances I'd never had on Earth: laughing, flirting, and maybe finally dating someone with this ridiculously handsome face.
'Get a grip. With Ha-rin watching you, that's a death wish.'
I sat down, thoroughly defeated.
A giant of a boy rose from the seat behind me. Nearly two meters tall, with the face of a hardened thug, he glared at Yu-seong and me before bellowing:
"I'm disappointed in you, Si-hyun! Yu-seong! We promised to go hunting together in-game yesterday! I was so lonely!"
He thrust his phone at us. An animated girl winked from the screen and called out:
「Big Brother! What took you so long?!」
Every head in the classroom turned toward us.
Yu-seong and I exchanged helpless, mortified looks.
Who the hell was this guy?