Let's Go to Hawaii
Let's Go to Hawaii
"No—why?"
The question slipped out before I could stop myself.
"Weren't you expecting it to be just the two of us?"
I didn't understand.
At least I had thought I'd be enjoying the trip with Aria alone.
"Brother, if you say it so openly, Seo-yeon or Victoria might get hurt, you know?"
She wasn't wrong.
Aria was being generous by suggesting we all go together, and I was the one picking a fight over it.
In fact, Seo-yeon and Victoria both wore expressions that said maybe I'd spoken out of turn.
Still, there were things I needed to hear.
"At least I want to hear the reason."
"I've said it before—if you wanted more women, Brother, I wouldn't mind."
"You know I never wanted that, and I never planned to add anyone."
"Then let me ask you one thing, Brother. After you come back from Hawaii with me, if Seo-yeon asks you to go on a trip with her, can you honestly refuse?"
"Well, of course I—"
The moment I tried to say I could, I closed my mouth.
There was exactly one reason I couldn't refuse.
"You can't, can you? Because you decided to rebuild your relationship as siblings."
Aria knew it too.
If Seo-yeon asked to travel alone with me simply out of love for me, I probably would have refused.
But if she brought up our relationship as siblings, I probably wouldn't be able to refuse.
The man Baek Si-hyeon could refuse the woman Han Seo-yeon.
But the older brother Baek Si-hyeon could not refuse his little sister Han Seo-yeon.
There were too many things I hadn't done for her, too many things I'd turned away from.
How could I refuse in that situation?
When I fell silent, Aria smiled softly and took my hand.
"I don't resent your kindness, Brother. I have no intention of doing so."
"Aria."
"Besides, trips are more fun when they're lively, aren't they? From my perspective, rather than watching you go off with another woman behind my back, I'd prefer to have you right in front of me."
After saying that much, Aria leaned toward me and whispered in a small voice near my ear.
"More than anything, Brother, do you think you could endure it...? Spending days alone with me, dressed in what's practically nudity...?"
I couldn't guarantee that either.
Wasn't I the one who said we'd move to the next stage only after resolving the immediate matter first?
But in truth, I had no confidence I could enjoy a trip alone with Aria without crossing the line.
For the sake of my resolve, it would be better to travel all together. At least there would be more eyes watching.
Aria, seeming satisfied with my reaction, finally pulled away from me. Then she spoke as if making sure the other two could hear.
"And from my perspective, rather than agonizing while watching you travel alone with Seo-yeon, I'd rather have you somewhere within my sight."
"In that case, Aria, isn't there no need to bring me along?"
Victoria wore an expression of incomprehension.
Aria smiled nonchalantly and said,
"Well, it'd be lonely to be left out all alone, wouldn't it?"
"Left out, you say."
"Besides, Victoria, the way you look at Brother has changed lately, hasn't it? Before, your gaze said you wouldn't care even if he rejected you, but just now, when he said he wanted to travel alone with me, you looked quite shocked. Did you know that?"
"...Ugh!"
Victoria faltered as if Aria had hit the mark, which was rare for her.
Aria giggled and pressed Victoria.
"I won't ask what happened between you two. It's more fun to deduce it myself. Timing-wise, was it around when Victoria collapsed?"
Even I flinched at her sharp deduction.
Victoria now hung her head low like a criminal.
"You don't need to make that face, Victoria. It's not like I dislike it."
"...Why is that? Are you saying it's fine if I steal Si-hyeon away?"
"Well, you're too pure to seduce a man and toy with him as you please. You probably intended to seduce Brother and get me back into the music world, but I was certain that was impossible."
I thought I understood what Aria meant.
Victoria had both pride and self-respect.
For someone who pursued fairness, seducing a man with false love was something she couldn't even consider in the first place.
In fact, if Victoria had wanted to play dirtier, there were plenty of means she could have used.
She could have driven a wedge between Aria and me, or whispered false love to me.
But Victoria hadn't done that.
She had declared to my face that she had fondness but not love.
And at the same time, she'd said that even without love, marriage was possible—and that if we married, she would absolutely never be the first to betray.
"So you're saying someone like me is no threat at all?"
"Yes. Though it's a little different from the threat you're imagining."
Had Victoria taken that as an insult?
To Victoria, who looked slightly angered, Aria said,
"That's why I said it's different from the threat you're imagining. I'm not saying the probability of you making Brother turn his eyes to you is zero percent."
"Then what do you mean?"
"I mean you'll never be able to control Brother however you like. If anything, he'll be the one controlling you."
Aria stated it flatly.
Victoria didn't answer.
"You don't need to be embarrassed. It's only natural, isn't it? The one who falls first loses."
"I haven't fallen yet."
"But you will soon."
"Then before that happens, I'll simply seduce Si-hyeon and make him mine."
"Try it if you can, Victoria. But to do that..."
"I'll have to climb aboard the opportunity you've created. Very well, Aria. I gladly accept your proposal to travel together."
At Victoria's answer, Aria smiled as if welcoming it. At that reaction, Seo-yeon, who had been quietly watching the situation, also stepped in.
"Brother, I want to go too. But this isn't a request as your little sister. Like the other two, I want to go as a woman who loves you. Brother, would you... hate it if I came along?"
"Hate it or not, there's no room for that. The island belongs to Aria anyway. She's given permission, so there's no need for me to argue further."
"I'm asking about your feelings right now. If you say you don't want me to come, I'll drop out."
If I said I didn't want her here, would that completely sever Seo-yeon's feelings for me?
Could we go back to being ordinary siblings?
But the words wouldn't come easily.
I'd already wounded Seo-yeon's heart countless times, and now, about to leave the deepest wound of all, guilt overwhelmed me.
Only then did I feel I'd begun to grasp Aria's intention.
The meaning of her words—that she could do anything for my happiness.
Aria didn't want me to endure pain.
In the long term, maybe it would be better to reject both Seo-yeon and Victoria now.
Victoria wasn't yet at the level of being clearly in love with me.
She could probably brush it off, thinking we simply weren't meant to be.
Seo-yeon worried me a little, but if she could get through it, a much better future would be waiting for her.
After all, to be with me—her own biological older brother—she'd have to give up a great deal.
The pain of heartbreak would fade someday.
Someday.
When would that be?
Of course, the person being rejected suffered the most, but rejecting someone still weighed heavily on me too.
Even more so when the other person is a little sister he'll have to keep facing.
Aria was doing this because she wanted me not to suffer even that pain—just to be happy.
For that one thing alone, sacrificing even her own happiness.
Then I needed to steel my resolve too.
"Let's go together, Seo-yeon."
"Are you really okay with it, Brother?"
"Like Aria said, trips are more fun when you go together."
I didn't want to lie about my own feelings.
Holding someone I didn't even like would be nothing but deception.
But separate from that, I also needed to face the other two more seriously.
Because that was Aria's wish.
Not rejecting them simply because I already had Aria in my heart—but rejecting them only when I was truly certain my heart wouldn't waver in the slightest—that way I could refuse them both with a clear conscience.
Seo-yeon answered calmly.
"I told you clearly. If I go on that trip, I won't be able to remain just your little sister."
"Then try harder. So that I can see you not as a little sister, but as a woman."
"Ha, so you're provoking me?"
Seo-yeon finally let out a small laugh.
I answered with the same smile.
Seeing this, it really did feel like we were biological siblings.
"You'll have to work hard. Aria already succeeded."
"There's a long way to go. And I have a lot of obstacles to overcome."
"If you're going to give up, now's the time?"
"If I were going to, I'd have done it long ago. Before I told you how I felt."
Even if Aria had already crossed the finish line, I had only resolved not to use that as a reason to reject the other two.
Seo-yeon still had many mountains to climb.
She needed to find a way around the barrier of us being biological siblings, settle things with Hancheon Group, and above all, capture my heart.
But for now, this was enough.
"Victoria, same goes for you. If you want to make me turn my eyes to you, you'll have to work hard."
"I'm newly realizing I've fallen for a bad man. Well, I never intended to give up from the start. At the very least, it's true that I need to stay by Si-hyeon's side to provoke Aria."
"Be careful? The star in your heart might change."
When I deliberately brought up something only the two of us would know, Victoria's face flushed bright red.
"Ugh, Si-hyeon!"
She hadn't asked me to keep it secret, but even so, it apparently wasn't something to blab about in front of Aria, the person directly involved.
But since I had no intention of saying more anyway, I answered with deliberately exaggerated attitude.
"I'm a bad man, so I should act like one. Right?"
Now that I'd resolved to choose multiple people, I felt like I'd grown shameless too.
But if anything, I needed to be at least this shameless.
Everyone was facing me with their own resolve, so shouldn't I answer that resolve in my own way?
Perhaps sensing that my reaction had clearly changed from before, the three of them each reacted differently.
Seo-yeon, as if using this chance to close the distance with me, burned with even more enthusiasm.
Victoria, apparently unused to this side of me, watched me with a flushed face.
But Aria wore a calm expression, as if it were only natural.
"Aria, you're surprisingly composed even with Brother acting like that. Is that the composure of the principal wife? You might get overtaken by me or Victoria, you know?"
"No, it's not so much the composure of the principal wife..."
Aria paused for a moment.
I was curious too.
Naturally, I'd assumed she was relaxed because she'd already been chosen by me, but apparently that wasn't it.
After thinking for a long while, Aria opened her mouth.
"Brother is a sadist, you see. The closer you get, the more he shows his sadistic side, so you two should prepare yourselves."
"Sadist?"
Perhaps because it was a completely unexpected answer, Seo-yeon asked again.
Victoria didn't ask again, but she clearly looked curious.
"Yes. Putting a collar on me, pinning me down so I can't resist... Of course, I'm fine with anything Brother does to me."
Even I, shameless as I'd become, froze on the spot.
I wanted to protest that I had no such hobbies, but I'd already done similar things, so I had nothing to say.
Even so, surely Aria wouldn't tell them exactly what happened last time—
"Last time too, when Brother actually did those things to me, my heart raced..."
"Hmm, Brother. So that's your taste."
"Si-hyeon, don't tell me you were excited when I knelt and apologized to you last time too?"
Their gazes stung.
Maybe making the two of them lose interest in me wasn't as hard as I'd thought.
If I just resigned myself to social death and told them what Aria and I had done, they'd probably run off on their own.
"If Si-hyeon wishes it, I'm fine with about what we did last time."
"I-I'm okay with it too, as long as it's not too extreme. Whips seem like they'd hurt, so that's scary, but choking or something..."
Setting aside Victoria's reaction, Seo-yeon's reaction was almost frightening.
Choking, she said.
"What do you normally watch...?"
"Y-you're the one saying you put a collar on Aria and tied her up!"
"No, but choking is too dangerous."
No matter how I thought about it, Seo-yeon's tastes seemed more dangerous than mine.
Whips, choking.
I was genuinely curious what she watched on a regular basis to produce reactions like that.
"That's right. Brother is kind, so he didn't do anything that dangerous."
"Then besides the collar and tying up, what did he do?"
"Would you like to see?"
At Seo-yeon's question, Aria smiled playfully and brought my hand to her cheek.
"But I can't. I've permitted you two to become Brother's women, but my disheveled appearance belongs only to Brother. Isn't that right, Brother?"
"Well, showing that kind of thing outside is a bit..."
It wasn't exactly something that should be shown in public.
Aria, as if she'd expected my reaction, giggled.
"So, Brother putting a collar on me while I was practically naked, pinning my wrists and tying me up, putting his fingers in my mouth, and kissing me—all of it is a se~cret. Right?"
Clang—!
At that moment, the fork Seo-yeon had been holding clattered loudly onto her plate.
Seo-yeon's face was now flushed as if about to burst, from the tips of her ears down to the nape of her neck, and her mouth just opened and closed without forming words.
In that instant, I knew instinctively.
I was fucked.