Do You Have a Boyfriend, Senior?
The penalty my sister imposed that day was to pick up every single strand of her hair that had fallen on the floor.
Even though her hair was short for a girl, it was still much longer than a guy's and incredibly thick, so the floor was absolutely crawling with strands.
I grumbled the entire time, armed with wet wipes, crawling around on all fours and collecting each hair one by one.
My sister squatted in front of me, giggling nonstop, pointing here and there with her finger and teasing me. "There's one over here~ And one right there~"
Every time I followed where she was pointing and accidentally got a full view of her squatting lower half, I would instantly blush and whip my head away.
Finally, after gathering every last hair, I stood up, thumping my aching lower back, and muttered with a heavy sigh.
"Seriously, there were so damn many... Thank god your hair is on the shorter side, sis..."
"Hehe, really? What should I dooo~ I'm gonna start growing it out now."
"Wh-what...? You've always kept it short, and now suddenly...?"
"Yesss! Hehe, Namhyuk, you're in big trouble now. If I grow it any longer, this floor's gonna turn into a real hair hell. I know because I used to have it long back in high school."
...It was going to be way longer than this, writhing all over the floor like a swarm of earthworms...? Just imagining it made my head spin...
I squeezed my eyes shut, pressed a hand to my forehead, and shook my head vigorously. My sister beamed and, just like last time, grabbed my arm tightly and rubbed her cheek against it.
Seriously, why was she suddenly deciding to grow out her perfectly cute short hair...? It looked so good on her already...
Wait a second. Could it be because of what I said earlier about liking girls with long hair...?
"...Hehe..."
When I stared at her with wide eyes, half in disbelief, she grinned right back at me with that mischievous smile.
In truth, I didn't really have any particular preference for hair length. Long or short, the important thing was that it was my beloved sister.
My sister with long hair... I couldn't quite picture it, but honestly, she'd look beautiful no matter what she did.
I let out a small chuckle and gently stroked her hair.
"...You'll look pretty, sis."
Her eyes widened, and she nodded enthusiastically with a bright smile. Then she blushed, gave me a shy little grin, and said,
"Hehe, just wait a little~ Hihi."
***
The next day at lunch, Jiyoung walked toward the subway station where she had agreed to meet Hyejung. She was dressed just like last time, in leggings and a sports bra top.
As she walked, a message from Namhyuk came in, so she checked her phone.
[Sis]
[Wanna get lunch?]
[Nono]
[I'm heading out, got plans lol]
[?]
[With who?]
[The one who said she'd teach me how to work out]
[With the angel club president]
A moment later, another KakaoTalk message arrived.
[But just to ask]
[Is it a guy?]
Jiyoung's cheeks flushed as she smirked. So Namhyuk cared about things like that. It felt kind of nice...
[Lol]
[It's a girl]
A reply came shortly after.
[That's a relief]
Jiyoung lowered her head, giggling quietly, when Hyejung suddenly popped up right in front of her and called out, startling her so badly she let out a shriek.
"Um, you're Jiyoung sunbae, right?"
"E-eek...!"
"Ah... A-are you okay? I saw you walking over and was just trying to say hi..."
Hyejung looked equally startled, eyes wide. Jiyoung patted her racing heart and answered,
"Ah, I-I'm fine... Haha..."
When Jiyoung waved her hands awkwardly with a forced smile, Hyejung finally relaxed and flashed a bright grin, gesturing ahead.
"That's good. Shall we go eat right away? I did fasted cardio this morning, so I'm starving."
"Y-yes, let's...!"
Hyejung shoved her hands into the pockets of her oversized hoodie and strode forward with long, confident steps.
Her stride was surprisingly wide for a girl, so Jiyoung practically had to jog just to keep up.
As Jiyoung panted along behind her, Hyejung turned back with a casual smile and asked,
"Sunbae, is Japanese food okay?"
"Ah, yes, I like Japanese food."
"Really? That's great. I love sake-don so much. But it's super high in calories... Guess I'll just have it today. Speaking of which, are you on a diet too, sunbae?"
"Uh... well... yeah..."
Of course, Jiyoung had never dieted a day in her life. The only saving grace was that she naturally ate like a bird, so she didn't gain much weight anyway.
Though the soft belly she'd built up over years of endless beer, late-night snacks, and lazy bed-based breathing exercises certainly told a different story.
Jiyoung tried her best to hide her stomach from Hyejung while smiling awkwardly. Meanwhile, Hyejung seemed delighted to have found a fellow dieter and laughed brightly.
"Let's work hard together. Just today, okay? Hehe..."
After that, Jiyoung and Hyejung went to a Japanese restaurant, ordered their meals, and sat across from each other in silence, both staring at their phones for a while.
Jiyoung pretended to fiddle with her phone while sneaking glances at Hyejung.
...She looked so charismatic when I saw her at the club meeting last weekend, and even up close she's incredibly sharp and put-together... Plus that cat-like face is insanely cute. She must be really popular... I'm jealous.
Eventually Hyejung noticed Jiyoung's gaze, set her phone down, and smiled brightly.
"...By the way, have you already graduated, sunbae?"
"Huh? Ah... no, not yet..."
"Oh, so this is your final semester? I'm starting to look into things too since I'll be graduating soon. Are you thinking about getting a job?"
"Well... yeah, I guess..."
Ugh... Of all topics, she had to pick the one I hate most... This pathetic senior has zero advice to give her junior. If you want to graduate and become a jobless bum, just live like me...
Jiyoung broke into a cold sweat, her face pale, and forced an awkward smile. Hyejung, completely oblivious, rested her chin on her hand, sighed, and continued.
"Grad school just feels like a total waste no matter how I think about it... Did you go to that job fair Hynix held the other day? The average GPA for bachelor's graduates was..."
As the conversation about employment dragged on and Jiyoung's expression grew darker, the food finally arrived, cutting Hyejung off.
Hyejung looked at her sake-don, licked her lips, and her eyes sparkled.
She picked up her phone, snapped a quick photo of the meal, and was about to dig in when she suddenly remembered something and asked Jiyoung,
"Oh! Do you want to take a picture too, sunbae?"
"Ah, no, I'm good. I don't really use Instagram or anything..."
Hyejung's eyes widened in surprise as she scooped up a big spoonful.
"Eh? You don't have Instagram, sunbae? I was sure you'd have tons of followers."
"Eek... Not at all... But someone like you, president, must be super popular..."
"No way, I barely have any. It's just my friends. Still, you sent me a DM last time, so you must have an account, right? Should we follow each other?"
"Ah, sure..."
After accepting Hyejung's follow request, Jiyoung secretly checked her profile and saw she had over 700 followers.
H-holy... She's a total social butterfly... The club president really is on another level...
While Jiyoung sat there feeling completely intimidated, timidly poking at her food with a spoon, Hyejung smiled mischievously and spoke up.
"By the way, sunbae, you have a boyfriend, right?"
Jiyoung jumped at the sudden question, her face turning bright red as she shook her head violently.
"N-nope...! I-I don't...!"
"Eh? For real? I was sure you'd have a super handsome boyfriend."
Hyejung looked genuinely surprised, eyes round. Then she narrowed them playfully with a sly grin.
"...But there must be at least one guy who likes you, right? Hehe..."
For a split second, Namhyuk's face flashed through Jiyoung's mind. Of course, it wasn't that he liked her—it was that she liked him.
Jiyoung turned beet red, looking extremely flustered, and waved her hands frantically.
"No, no, there really isn't..."
"Really? Not even a guy friend?"
"G-guy friend... Just one close younger brother figure..."
"Hmm...? A close younger brother, huh...? Hehe."
Hyejung looked at her with clear suspicion, chuckling as if she didn't quite buy it.
Then, as if something suddenly occurred to her, she frowned, stared off into space for a moment, and finally shook her head with a soft smile before going back to eating.
"...Sorry, I talked too much while you were trying to eat. I tend to eat pretty fast... Please finish up."
"Y-yes..."
After they finished eating, the two headed straight to the gym. Jiyoung first signed up for a membership at the front desk, then followed Hyejung to the women's locker room.
Since Jiyoung was already wearing her workout clothes, she didn't need to change and simply waited while Hyejung did. Hyejung stopped in front of her locker and casually pulled off her hoodie.
When Hyejung stripped off her top and even her bra without hesitation, Jiyoung got a little flustered and quickly looked away.
Even though they were both women, Jiyoung spent most of her time cooped up at home and rarely saw anyone besides Namhyuk, so seeing another person's bare body felt slightly uncomfortable.
But Hyejung didn't seem to care at all. She turned around with her chest completely exposed and casually asked,
"Sunbae, did you get assigned a locker? It's way more convenient if you just leave your workout clothes here."
"Ah, y-yeah, I'll do that next time. Today I just wore them over..."
"Honestly, washing workout clothes all the time is such a hassle, and it's not like we're wearing them for anyone to see. Leaving them here is just easier."
Hyejung laughed lightly as she slipped on a sports bra, then left the locker room with Jiyoung.
After that, they did some simple stretching together, then hopped on the treadmills for about an hour until their food had digested. After walking for around thirty minutes, Jiyoung started lightly jogging at Hyejung's instruction.
"Huff... huff... huff..."
Just that much was already killing Jiyoung. But Hyejung stretched languidly, as if her body was only now warming up, and said,
"Sunbae, we should check your basic fitness level first, so let's just do fifty bodyweight squats, nice and easy."
