A Sibling Boundary

The innocence of children is sometimes cruel.

Aria, in her younger days, had been one of its victims.

"The fact that I was different from everyone else—I hated it so much back then."

Her halting Korean, her blue eyes, her silver-white hair and even her eyebrows.

To children, "different" was simply a target for exclusion.

"I always wanted to go back to Sweden."

They pointed fingers at her, called her a monster, ignored her, ostracized her.

Actions that would leave deep wounds in a young child's heart.

And on top of that, there was something neither Father nor Linnea knew, but I did: the incident that had dealt the decisive blow to Aria's heart.

It was something a boy had said.

That their mom had married a man who already had a kid.

Because they were innocent, they drove the blade into another's chest without a second thought.

Innocence is ignorance.

He had said it simply because he wanted to see someone else hurt, without understanding what his words meant or how much weight they carried.

But young Aria couldn't easily tell her brother or her mother any of it.

Because they would worry.

In the end, Aria was that kind of child.

A child who valued the people around her more than herself.

Come to think of it, it had been the same when she confessed to me.

Even while confessing the unrequited love she had kept all that time, she said that if I already had a girlfriend or if I didn't like her, she would give up cleanly.

For the happiness of the person she loved, she could give up her own feelings at any time. That was what Aria had said.

Without realizing it, my arms tightened around Aria.

"The reason I ran away from home was actually something really trivial, too. It wasn't that I didn't want to go home—I just wanted to go back to Sweden, so I left ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the house on impulse."

It would be strange if she hadn't wanted to go back.

At a young age, she had suddenly left the hometown she'd been living in and ended up in a foreign country, and even there she had faced discrimination.

"My Korean was still halting, and I didn't know the streets, so I got lost. In the end, I just sat on the swings in this park and cried pathetically until the sun went down."

"At ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the time, I honestly thought my heart would stop. I kept worrying that something might have happened to you."

"But you didn't scold me, Brother."

I remembered this too.

I drew on every connection I had and asked around, searching the entire area based on reported sightings of Aria.

And only after the sun had set did I find Aria, crying alone in this park.

"I remember everything you said to me back then, Brother."

"What did I say?"

"First, you held me and said you were so relieved I was safe."

Honestly, I didn't remember that day clearly. I'd been making calls left and right and running around the whole neighborhood all day, so of course my head had been a mess.

But hearing Aria's words brought it back, faintly.

"Right. I did say that."

I'd been drenched in sweat from running around the neighborhood all day, but I hadn't had the luxury of caring about that.

I just remembered being so glad Aria was safe, and wanting to feel that reality, so I had held her.

"Why didn't you scold me back then?"

"Because there was no need to."

"It's embarrassing to say it myself, but I think I made you and Mother worry terribly..."

Aria averted her gaze, her face flushed.

"You were already reflecting on it. I was worried that if I scolded you on top of that, you'd feel like you had nowhere left to go."

"Brother..."

Aria's voice was slightly tearful.

Since she was sitting on my lap, I couldn't see her face unless she turned her head.

But it wasn't hard to imagine what kind of expression Aria was wearing right now.

"Because I'd heard what had happened to you back then, Aria."

It's embarrassing to say it myself, but back then I'd been part of what you'd call a "popular" crowd.

Though I swear I wasn't running wild doing bad things. It'd be more accurate to say I hung around with the social butterflies rather than the delinquents.

Honestly, I don't think we were that close. We don't even keep in touch now. They probably just kept me around because having a tall, good-looking guy in the group was a benefit in itself.

In short, I was like the visual member of an idol group.

Still, quiet as I usually was, that was the first time I'd stirred up all my connections and gone around asking questions.

Thanks to that, everyone figured something was up and used their own networks to ask around, and as a result, I was able to find out where Aria was and hear what had happened without much trouble.

"I still remember it vividly. You told me back then that starting tomorrow, you'd cast a spell so that only happy things would fill my days."

"Ah... Right. That did happen."

A spell, huh.

At best, they were elementary schoolers—the age when the older kids in the neighborhood were the scariest thing around.

All I had to do was tell the guys I knew what had happened to my little sister. They came down hard on the younger guys, those guys did the same to the ones below them, and everyone was kept in line.

So the kids, already scared out of their wits, apologized to Aria the next day and never did anything like that again.

It wasn't something I regretted, but it was embarrassing. I had no choice but to pass it off to Aria as a "spell."

"I'm sure that day was what made me fall for you, Brother. You found me when I was lost, and you really did cast a spell on me so that only happy things filled my days. But what made me happiest was what you said to me."

This, I remembered.

Before we went home, holding Aria in my arms like this, swinging on the swings, I had said:

"It was the same then, and it's the same now. No matter what happens, I'll be the place you can come back to, Aria. Because I'm your brother."

"...That's not fair. How could I not fall for you when you say things like that?"

We were silent for a while.

Aria wasn't looking this way, but even from behind, I could see that her ears had turned red.

Creak, creak—only the sound of the old swing squeaking echoed through the park. There was still no one around. It felt as if only the two of us were left in the world.

"Come to think of it, that was around when it started."

"What was?"

"When you started studying Korean hard, and when you started clinging to me."

I remembered when Aria's Korean had suddenly started improving by leaps and bounds.

Before that, I had looked after Aria and taken care of her, but she had seemed wary of her new brother.

But after that, she studied Korean diligently, and whenever she was bored, she'd come to my room wanting to spend time together.

"Well, after that, I started thinking of Korea as my home instead of Sweden. Because that's where my beloved brother is."

From around that time, Aria's world must have begun revolving around me.

"So you'd been in love with me since then. But you sure managed to hide it until you went abroad to study, huh?"

"Huh? I, I think I was pretty open about my affection for you even back then..."

"...Wasn't that just sibling affection?"

It was true that Aria had clung to me after that.

Sure, she'd cling to me saying, "Big Brother, I wike you!" and hug me, and I'd hold Aria in my arms in the same room while I read or played games, but those were all things siblings could reasonably do.

"Well, yes. I was young back then, after all. I didn't really know the difference between romantic love and sibling affection—I was just happy being by your side, Brother."

"So you figured out the difference around when the study-abroad talk came up, then."

"Yes, that's right."

It wasn't a hard deduction.

Because originally, Aria had absolutely hated the idea of Linnea sending her abroad to study.

But at some point, Aria had cleanly accepted it and said she would go.

"Don't tell me the reason you suddenly agreed to study abroad was also..."

"Well, because I can't marry you in Korea, Brother. If I wanted to prepare in advance, I had to go back to Sweden. And besides, since it might be hard for you to find a job right away in Sweden, I wanted to have everything ready to support you, too."

"Ahaha... Well, I appreciate the thought."

I did appreciate it, but being a kept man is a bit much.

I'd probably never surpass Aria's wealth in my lifetime, but that aside, being a brother who lives lazily off his little sister's handouts isn't a good look.

"Right. What did Linnea say? You went from not wanting to study abroad to suddenly saying you would."

"That's fine. Mother already knows. She was the one who told me in the first place that half-siblings can legally marry in Sweden, and that's what persuaded me."

"Wait, what?"

That might have been the second most surprising thing I'd heard today. The first was her saying that I was more precious to her than everything she'd built up until now.

"No, so Linnea already knows?"

"Yes, and I got her permission! When I told her I was in love with you, she thought about it for a long time, and then said that if it was you, Si-hyeon, she was okay with it. She said that even if you're half-siblings, siblings marrying is a bit much, but compared to me dating some strange man, a kind and capable brother like you would be better."

"I, I see."

Linnea, are you really okay with that?

I'd probably need to have a talk with Linnea at some point.

"This is purely out of curiosity, but is there a reason your speech and the way you address me changed?"

"That's, well... If you promise not to get angry, I'll tell you."

"I promise."

I was curious about the reason, and in the first place, there was almost nothing Aria could do that would make me angry at her.

Aria turned her head slightly and met my eyes. Her face had been red before, but now it was completely beet-red as she—

"J-just before I left to study abroad. I wanted to know what kind of woman you liked, Brother, so I secretly went through your computer. And then—"

"Stop."

I covered Aria's mouth.

If I hear the next words, I'll die.

I'm definitely going to die of sheer embarrassment...!

Aria saw my reaction and laughed playfully, then turned her body the other way and sat on my lap, hugging me.

Honestly, it was a fairly compromising position.

"Ah, Aria? Why all of a sudden..."

"I, if you wanted, Brother, I'd be okay with anything you did to me. For example, being roughly pinned beneath you while you grab my hair like reins..."

"Please, just stop."

Having my sexual preferences laid bare by my little sister's own mouth was more agonizing than I could have imagined.

I would have denied it if I could, but since she said she'd already seen everything, denying it would just be laughable.

"Okay. Since you don't like it, Brother, I'll stop talking about this. But I meant it when I said I'd be okay with anything you did to me."

"W-well, let me say this in advance: preferences and reality are two different things. Both the part about being called 'Brother' and the other preferences."

"Oh my. Would you actually prefer ‘big brother’ to ‘Brother’?"

"Well... I actually prefer ‘Brother.’"

It's definitely not because I have ulterior motives.

Honestly, a preference is a preference—what can you do.

But separate from that, I had absolutely never projected my desires onto Aria just to satisfy some secret urge—not with the way she called me “Brother,” and not with my other preferences either.

Just because someone has unusual tastes doesn't mean they act them out in reality. Almost no one does.

A fantasy is most beautiful when it stays a fantasy.

Of course, it was also true that I was happy she fulfilled that fantasy.

"Okay. Then I'll keep calling you ‘Brother’ from now on."

My eyes met Aria's as she said that.

It struck me anew, but seeing her up close like this, she really did have beautiful eyes.

Like jewels, or something between a shining blue sky and the sea.

I should start being honest with myself.

I still wasn't sure whether what I felt for Aria was love. But it was true that my heart had been pounding over the past few days.

At the very least, it meant I was now seeing Aria not just as my little sister, but ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠as a woman.

"You've gotten pretty."

"Huh?!"

Aria's playful smile vanished in an instant, replaced by embarrassment.

"Why are you so surprised? You must have heard you're pretty countless times already."

"Because a compliment from someone I don't care about and a compliment from the brother I love are completely different! Really, you never do this normally, and now you suddenly ambush me like this... It's not fair!"

"So you didn't like it?"

I whispered into Aria's ear while holding her.

"Ugh, it's not that I didn't like it..."

Aria was trying hard to avert her gaze, her face flushed.

It seemed my little sister did not handle being on the receiving end very well.

Though she didn't seem to dislike it.

Still, I should probably stop teasing my little sister about now. Continuing this conversation in this position was starting to make me feel strange too.

"Let's get up. We should go home."

"Okay."

Aria puffed out her cheeks adorably, looking slightly dissatisfied, or maybe wistful, but she obediently climbed off my lap.

And just as I was about to stand ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠up from the swing—

Aria's lips touched mine.

A soft, tender sensation, with a light scent of lemon and flowers.

After a moment that felt like eternity, our lips slowly parted.

"That's revenge for teasing your cute little sister."

Aria turned away from me, her face red.

I stood there stupidly, touching my lips with my fingers.

"U-um, Aria. This is..."

"It's still, still within the line between siblings."

I couldn't see Aria's face, but her voice was trembling.

Siblings, siblings, huh.

Could a light peck where lips briefly touched and parted really be considered within the line between siblings? Did close siblings do this kind of thing?

Maybe they did. Parents sometimes gave their children light kisses on the lips, after all.

Honestly, I didn't know. My head was a mess from the sudden shock, and my thoughts couldn't keep up.

Only the faint lingering scent of lemon and flowers swirled around, tickling my brain.

The whole way home, neither of us said a word.

Only the warmth of our clasped hands stayed with us, leaving its mark on both of us.