Jealousy (3)
Could it be... jealousy?
That night, Lee Hayoon lay in bed, tossing and turning, her eyes wide open as she finally faced the truth. Then, a moment later, she squeezed them shut again. No, ha, don't make me laugh. There’s no way I’m jealous of Jiyoon. That’s ridiculous. It’s not like they did anything major; wasn't it just that they were stuck together because of the Treatment?
But this complicated feeling wouldn't easily go away. ...Something, that. It’s... subtly bothering me, I guess you could say. Yeah. That’s the perfect way to put it. "Jealousy" feels like a bit of an overstatement.
"Huuuuh..."
The weather in late March was chilly enough to make you forget the word "four seasons." Because of that, Lee Hayoon pulled her blanket up to her lips and fell into deep thought with her eyes closed. Even now, over in Jiyoon’s room, just one living room away, Woojin’s voice was probably leaking out little by little. Saying it like that makes it sound weird, but... I mean she’s on a call with Woojin while playing games late at night. She says it’s easier to talk than to type, or something like that. ...Anyway, the "bothering" I mentioned earlier included every little behavior like that. To put it briefly, it’s about "my boyfriend being too close to my younger sister." Somehow, I’d managed to come up with a phrase that sounded like the title of a Japanese manga.
"...They can be close. Yeah, yeah."
Lee Hayoon muttered to herself, rustling as she shifted in bed, continuing her train of thought. Unlike me, who is a year older, they’re the same age. From Jiyoon’s perspective, she’s just found a friend to play games with. From Woojin’s perspective, since she’s my sister, he just wants to treat her well without any trouble. If you look at it one by one, it’s a perfectly reasonable situation. In fact, if they were like cats and dogs, growling every time they saw each other instead of how they are now, that would be much more troublesome.
My brain could make a fairly rational judgment. But, human hearts aren't always that rational, are they? It’s annoying for no reason. It’s irritating for no reason. ...Maybe, just maybe, "jealousy" is the right word after all.
"Ugh..."
It’s kind of funny, though. The object of my jealousy isn't some gorgeous girl who appeared out of nowhere, but my own sister who has loved games more than men for her entire twenty years of life. ...No. If nothing else, she is a gorgeous girl. The number of confessions she received during middle and high school, just from what I heard through the grapevine, is at least...
"......"
Ugh, damn it. Why am I doing this? I could just be honest with them, right? Jiyoon, don't get too close to Woojin. Woojin, spend time with me instead of playing with Jiyoon. Of course, I can't say it that bluntly, so I’ll just beat around the bush a little... Oops, my phone... my phone...
***
I’m getting tired of this game. ...No. Since I was never interested in it to begin with, maybe "it’s getting hard to endure" is the more accurate expression. At first, I played hard with the single-minded obsession of "I’m going to get close to Lee Jiyoon," but now that I’ve achieved about 30% of that goal, I don't really know why I’m clicking the mouse so hard at a person. If the game had actually suited my tastes, I wouldn't have had thoughts like this at all. It seems I’m just not cut out for this kind of game. Wouldn't something like an adult game be a much better fit for me? At least those are arousing.
"Ugh..."
1:00 AM. If it were people like Lee Jiyoon or CZ, it might be different, but for a normal person, it’s about time to get sleepy. I told them I was going to head out first, then exited Discord while rubbing my stiff eyelids with my fingertips. ...What am I going to do about that idiot? Seriously. She showed so much joy the moment I said I was going to sleep, but as soon as I logged off, Lee Jiyoon turned off Discord right away too. She must have wanted to do something with Lee Jiyoon while I wasn't there...
Next time, should I just let her hear the sounds of me having sex with her? I feel like inserting a line into the mic like, "I'm cumming inside." I want to throw in a line like, "I’m going to fuck you until you pass out, so say it yourself, stand up." I want to include the sounds of Lee Jiyoon trying to hold back her moans, only to fail and go, hic, hieek, twitch. Well, I’ll be able to do it someday. Someday.
It was just as I flopped onto my bed.
"...What is it? At this hour."
I was about to shut my brain off, but I slowly reached out toward the vibration coming from my pillow. What I saw was a small notification. ...There was a KakaoTalk message at this hour. Did Lee Jiyoon send it? If she had something she wanted to say to me, couldn't she have just said it on Discord earlier? Who knows. Well, maybe she thought of it late after lying down to sleep.
I checked the notification icon and pulled down the top bar. The name I saw was Lee Jiyoon’s... sister.
It was Lee Hayoon, sending a very meaningful message. ...What is this? She’s never contacted me at this late hour before. Did something happen?
Hmm... I answered as carefully as I could despite being tired, but what came back was a response full of questions. Looking at that tiny single character, I let out a deep sigh and sat up. Since she was acting like that, it became uncomfortable to lie down and text. Why is she acting like this? Suddenly.
Since she’s never contacted me at this time before, is it something important? I’ve tried dragging female villains into bed for "practice," but this is my first time actually dating, so I’m a bit weak at this... While I was pondering several possibilities because of her unusual behavior, Lee Hayoon spoke up first.
I figured I could be a little honest about that. I had already told Lee Hayoon that I didn't really like games, and she knew full well that I was forcing myself to play them to keep Jiyoon company.
With my confirmation, the chat cut off for a moment. She said she had something to ask, and it was just this? I waited a bit longer, thinking it couldn't possibly be this bland, and about a minute later, a new message arrived.
But, how should I say this... she seemed a bit clumsy. Several messages with no real content were sent. And then, the chat cut off for a long time again. Why is she really acting like this? If she has something to say to me, I wish she’d just say it quickly. It was frustrating because she was dragging it out as if she’d contacted me without thinking about what to say. If I could see Lee Hayoon clutching her phone and tapping her feet on the bed, or rolling around because she didn't know what to say, it would be one thing, but this wasn't FaceTime; I couldn't see any of that on KakaoTalk. I just wish she’d finish quickly so I could sleep...
I yawned lightly, rubbed under my eyes, and tapped the phone screen.
Earlier I thought it was just about the game, but is it something that requires a deep breath? Fine. I don't know. Do whatever you want. With that feeling, I lay down comfortably and rested my phone on my chest. I only noticed that the phone didn't vibrate when the screen was on after I saw the screen light up again.
*****
My sister is strange. ...Ah. No, that’s not it. "Strange" isn't enough to describe my sister. So I should change the sentence slightly to be much more accurate. Lee Hayoon has gone crazy. And she’s gone completely, utterly crazy.
"Hehehe..."
"...Why are you like that from the morning? Seriously, why? Did you eat something wrong?"
"Huh? ...Hehehe..."
"......"
Of course, I knew she was a bit weird even normally, but today she’s even more so. Her mouth, which usually spits out all sorts of stories like a squirrel, is only busy laughing today. The seasoning of the soybean paste stew is slightly off. It’s not inedible, but it’s a bit salty. She seemed to have completely forgotten to take the side dishes out of the fridge, so I just took them out myself. ...She even burned the fried egg.
"..."
Why is she like that? Did she win the lottery? Or maybe... they say she’s become quite skilled at controlling her strength lately because she trusts Seo Woojin and gets hurt a lot. Maybe an academy scholarship? I, who couldn't think of any reason, pointed at my sister with the chopsticks I was using to poke at the fried egg and said,
"Lee Hayoon."
"Why?"
"I asked why you’re like that from the morning. You’re not the village idiot."
"...Eh...? Did I do something weird?"
"It’s hard to explain because it’s not just one or two things."
"...Hehehe. I see. Hmm."
"So what happened..."
"Nothing special! Just... I’m in a good mood today. Puhuhu..."
"..."
It’s a severe case. I sent her an absurd look and decided to just give up on getting an answer from my sister. Either way, my sister is a person with a very simple way of thinking, like a bright puppy. The reason she’s like that... if I invest about 5 minutes observing her, I’ll be able to guess it soon.
-Vrrrrm
"...?"
Just as I was about to start dissecting my sister’s expression, the phone I left on the table vibrated lightly.
I have to hang out with Hayoon-noona in the evening.
I’ll probably be with her until late at night, so you shouldn't play games today either and just get some rest.
If I’m not there, that guy will just come crawling to you again.
...It contained content that was a little, no, very bothersome.