274. Seoyun's Suspicion
274. Seoyun's Suspicion
***
August 28, Saturday, 1 a.m.
Serin, worn out from the scrim, was deep asleep by then, while Seoyun, still awake, sat alone in the living room, lost in thought.
"I wish it were just my imagination."
Seoyun, who had been muttering blankly, let out a faint sigh at the end.
Ever since the call with Jeanne d'Arc had ended, a subtle unease had refused to leave her.
—TSJ pro player Jeanne d'Arc. Yoo Eunha.
She wasn't normally someone Seoyun paid much attention to, but the contents of the call kept nagging at her, and she couldn't fall asleep.
The things I had said half-jokingly after my sister suddenly turned me into a fan.
Jeanne d'Arc had reacted far too strangely to them.
At first, Seoyun had wondered if Jeanne d'Arc was just playing along, but as she felt a growing disconnect in the woman's words here and there.
Those words began to feel less and less like a joke.
After her sister had gone to her room, Seoyun had searched for more information about Jeanne d'Arc, and what she learned was surprisingly unremarkable.
For all her fame, Jeanne d'Arc had almost no controversies to speak of.
In three years, there had been virtually no scandals with anyone, and almost no incidents or accidents.
An overwhelming career as a pro player, and a private life so spotless it could practically be called flawless.
Perhaps because her team belonged to SJ, known as the top name in the entertainment industry, no real flaws were visible.
"...She does seem like a good person."
Thinking back on the call, she had spoken amiably, from light remarks to words that seemed considerate of the listener, so compared to her known cold image, she actually came across as an even better person.
But right now, that made it feel even stranger.
Because she was too clean.
They say no one is so clean that dust wouldn't fall if you shook them, yet Jeanne d'Arc was a star with this much recognition and almost no known flaws.
A face anyone would call pretty, a successful pro player, and even a salary beyond ordinary imagination.
She was so perfect in every way that it was actually more puzzling why there wasn't even a single small dating rumor.
And for some reason, that was what bothered Seoyun now.
'If she'd dated someone, I might understand.'
As the very things others would see as better and more normal began to bother her, Seoyun wondered if she was being overly paranoid.
Was she jumping to conclusions on her own and viewing the woman strangely?
If someone had the kind of preferences she was imagining, they couldn't possibly stay unknown.
Jeanne d'Arc was famous enough that even Seoyun, who didn't play Another World, knew her.
She often appeared in ads for famous brands, and her close friend Chaerin frequently cheered for and liked that pro player.
But if she truly harbored "special" feelings for Serin, could that side of her really stay hidden?
Could someone this famous, someone who came up immediately in a search, really hide it for years?
By common sense, it was nearly impossible.
"..."
She found herself looking again at the image of Jeanne d'Arc on her smartphone.
"...She is pretty, though."
Her refined appearance and her characteristically indifferent expression would not have looked out of place even on a celebrity.
Even if she weren't a pro player, she was far prettier than most celebrities.
Still, it bothered her for no reason.
When talking about Serin, there seemed to be a subtle emotion in her unusually excited voice, and the conversation itself was far from ordinary—enough to feel at once that she thought of Serin as someone special.
'Because you're Serin's younger sister.'
'If it's Serin, then of course I...'
'You're Serin's younger sister, so how could I do that?'
As the words she had heard repeatedly overlapped, her uncertainty only grew.
In the call she had handed over afterward, Serin had seemed to treat Jeanne d'Arc casually, as if nothing were wrong.
So why was I so bothered?
"Ugh..."
She roughly ruffled her hair for no reason, sinking deeper into thought.
'Wait, if Serin's fine with it, then does it... not matter?'
The world now was 2031.
Society had become much more open, and perceptions of different kinds of people had improved.
Even if her sister had those preferences....
"...No, wouldn't that be a bit much?"
Because it was her own family, it suddenly felt far too real, and she felt like her values might shift.
'And there's no way Serin would be like that.'
Serin had shown almost no sign of it, and the woman called Jeanne d'Arc was only a suspicion.
It was all just her own delusion.
She picked up her smartphone and went over the information she had searched once more.
"No matter how I look at it, she's normal."
Jeanne d'Arc.
A pro player with unprecedented, unrivaled popularity.
There were even claims that the amount she personally earned in a year had now surpassed tens of billions of won, and her personal sponsors and brand endorsements included countless luxury brands.
There were even multiple articles saying that her activities alone, excluding her pro career, were worth hundreds of billions.
She had no room for controversy, and the more you looked, the more obvious it was that she was an ordinary, yet far too ideal, person.
There wasn't even a speck of controversy involving the same sex.
Occasionally, articles might show someone she liked that much.
But even when Seoyun deliberately suspected and looked into that side, there was no clue at all—not even a speck.
If someone had gone three years as a pro without a single such controversy, it was only right to see her as normal.
So when she thought about the fact that she was suspecting her like this, only a hollow laugh escaped.
"I'm not some paranoid lunatic... sitting here suspecting people on my own."
Tap. Tap.
Even as she closed the search tabs on her smartphone one by one, complaints slipped out.
She felt like a bad person for suspecting someone her sister had introduced with good intentions.
Looking back.
What Jeanne d'Arc had said could be trivial depending on the viewer, and maybe it only sounded that way because I was being overly concerned about my sister.
By any objective measure, Jeanne d'Arc was normal.
Hadn't even Serin, who was especially sensitive to people's emotions, treated her well?
Tap.
She turned off her smartphone and leaned blankly against the sofa.
"...I must have a serious case of sis-con, seriously."
She had just been worried because her sister always seemed to be in such unfair situations.
Maybe she had become overly conscious of her sister without realizing it.
As she stared blankly into space, a deflated laugh escaped.
"But how could I not worry about my sister...."
Now that even their parents, who used to look after Serin's mental state, were gone in an accident.
Now... she was the only one left who could look after Serin.
On the contrary, not worrying about Serin felt forced.
Thunk.
Seoyun, who had blankly flicked herself on the forehead, shook her head hard and tried to erase her thoughts.
Everything she had seen had a set answer.
The answer was already set. Yet she was denying that answer alone and trying so hard to suspect otherwise.
She even felt a surge of disillusionment with herself.
"Stop thinking. Just sleep. I've gone and caught a stupid case of suspicion. Serin would hate it too."
Click.
And so, as Seoyun finally headed to her room late,
suspicion toward Eunha settled in her heart.
***
Beep-beep-beep. Beep-beep-beep.
BaTalk! BaTalk!
The ringing alarm and the BaTalk notification sounded together like a noisy chorus.
Warm sunlight filled the space, announcing morning, and the woman whose snow-white hair shone brilliantly in the light lay in a thoroughly disheveled state.
White hair sticking out in every direction, pajamas completely wrinkled.
"Nngh..."
She even groaned as if the endlessly ringing alarms were getting on her nerves.
Beep-beep-beep. BaTalk!
But at the continuous sound, she finally waved her hand.
Rustle, rustle.
Having barely gotten hold of her smartphone, she unlocked it and blankly rubbed her eyes with her other hand as she checked the time.
8:14 a.m.
"...I slept a little past nine hours."
She had woken at the alarm she'd set to cut down on sleep, and though her eyes were definitely open, her mind was hazy.
She stretched widely, reaching her hands upward.
Small popping sounds rang out, and she felt the stiffness in her body.
"...I need to work out."
Smack.
She lightly slapped her cheeks, trying to wake herself up.
After getting seriously sick this Thursday, she had honestly come to a realization.
That she couldn't skip exercise.
This body seemed to revert to its original trash state the moment she took even a short break from working out.
Calling it a more dangerous body than expected... was a little funny, but.
If she didn't manage it properly, it wouldn't be strange for her to get that sick again at any time—this body really needed care.
After that, she did her own stretching and exercises to loosen up, and thirty minutes later, she left the room with her whole body drenched in sweat.
"Is Seoyun still not up?"
As she grabbed a towel and headed to the bathroom to shower, the question belatedly occurred to her.
She knew Seoyun was definitely still home.
But she hadn't come to wake her, and she wasn't visible in the kitchen or living room either.
Considering Seoyun's normally diligent personality, it was strange.
So she headed toward Seoyun's room.
Knock, knock.
"Seoyun, are you still asleep?"
Even after carefully speaking while knocking on the door, there was no answer.
Tilting her head, she moved her hand.
Creeeak.
When she carefully opened the door, the scene inside came into view.
The room looked plain with no decorations, but on the rumpled bed, she saw a woman curled up like a squirrel, asleep.
Seeing Seoyun sleeping soundly made her smile because she looked so cute.
"What... she's still asleep."
Seoyun was already small, and curled up like that, she looked like some little animal—adorable.
"She must have been really tired."
Wondering if something tiring had happened yesterday, she carefully straightened the blanket.
Swish.
As she covered her with the blanket and tidied her disheveled black bob so it wouldn't bother her,
"...Serin."
Seoyun suddenly spoke.
Startled, Serin looked at her and saw her blinking blankly.
She felt sorry, wondering if she had woken her.
"Did I wake you?"
"Yeah. I just... woke up."
She spoke in a sleepy voice and rubbed her eyes, and even that was cute.
"Sleep a little more. You seem really tired."
"...No, it's fine. Serin, what time is it now?"
"It's not even nine yet."
Sliding up slowly, Seoyun sat up, blinking, and when she saw Serin, her eyes widened as if in surprise.
"Serin. What's with your body again? You're covered in sweat. Don't tell me it's a cold sweat?"
"It's not like that. I just worked out a little."
Embarrassed to be seen like this, Serin pulled her body back, but Seoyun quickly grabbed her hand.
"What kind of workout did you even do? You're not overdoing it again, are you?"
"I'm not overdoing it, so don't worry so much."
"Well, that's a relief, but what's gotten into you? You, working out."
"I should take care of my body too."
Seoyun, who had been looking at Serin as if this were something new, soon turned her gaze to her hand.
"Are you going to shower now?"
"Yeah. I was just about to."
At Seoyun's question while looking at the towel, Serin nodded.
"Oh, Serin, then should we shower together for the first time in a while?"
At the unexpected suggestion, Serin quickly shook her head.
"No, why would we shower together?"
"Pfft. It's a joke, a joke. Seriously, look at you being genuinely disgusted. This is one thing that hasn't changed about you."
Serin laughed awkwardly at Seoyun's words.
No matter that she was her younger sister, she wasn't an eight-year-old kid, and showering together would be awkward.
"Anyway, no."
"Tch. What's the big deal between sisters?"
"I said no. Seoyun, just sleep more for once. You look tired too."
"No, it's fine. Then I'll get breakfast ready while you wash up."
With that, Seoyun also got up, and by coincidence, they left the room together.
As Serin was heading to the bathroom, Seoyun called out to her hurriedly.
"Oh, Serin. Is there anything you want to eat?"
"No, not really."
When Serin answered flatly, Seoyun looked at her as if dumbfounded, then smiled.
"You know it's kind of funny when you say it like that. I was sure you'd changed a lot, but right now it feels like you haven't changed at all."
"Really...?"
When Serin hesitated slightly as she answered, Seoyun replied with a smile in her eyes.
"Yeah. Because you're still my sister."
After that, as Serin left to shower with an odd expression, Seoyun took out an apron, put it on, and began preparing breakfast.
Chop-chop-chop!
Bubble-bubble!
She sliced the ingredients with practiced ease, and before long, she reached for the stew boiling vigorously.
Blowing on it, she tasted a spoonful of the stew and was momentarily impressed.
"It's good."
She didn't usually like spicy food. But having a spicy stew after so long was deliciously hot.
She remembered that Serin liked the spicy food she had made by chance, so this time she had prepared a spicy doenjang stew,
but compared to the sundubu stew she had made before, it felt a little lacking.
"...Should I add more cheongyang peppers?"
It already seemed spicy enough.
But considering Serin's taste, wouldn't spicier be okay?
Humming, Seoyun soon sliced a few more cheongyang peppers and added them to the stew.