101. House Viewing
“Get up, Oppa. Sleeping again?”
“Ah... sorry. I must've dozed off.”
I'd been hugging my warm, fluffy Gyeo-ul, messing around with her, and before I knew it, I'd nodded off. But come on, I should've planned ahead and slept earlier. Things were gonna get busy after midnight.
“Did you get a little sleep too?”
“I dozed off a bit, but not as dead to the world as you.”
“Good. Get some rest now. Can't have you getting sleepy later.”
“...What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Who knows?”
I let go of the protesting Gyeo-ul in my arms and climbed out from under the covers. Brr, cold. It wasn't even that chilly out, but after clutching such a toasty pillow, everything felt frigid by comparison. As I rubbed my goosebumped arms with my palms, Gyeo-ul noticed and fussed over me.
“Cold, Oppa?”
“Yeah, guess it's the short sleeves.”
“Want my cardigan? You let me borrow yours sometimes.”
Nope, scratch that—she wasn't worried; she was just grabbing her cardigan and flapping it teasingly in my face.
“...Stop stealing my stuff.”
“Eww, no way?”
The second I issued my no-theft decree, she wrapped the blanket around herself like a cape, poked her head out, and grinned at me.
...God, I swear. I don't think I've ever looked forward to tomorrow this much.
“Oh, Oppa. Time for dinner.”
“Yeah, about that time?”
“Yeah, it's past six. ...I'll make it.”
“...You?”
“You skipped lunch after all that nonsense, so I'll handle dinner. It's cold out—how about stew?”
“...You know how to make stew?”
“Of course. I'll whip up some soft tofu stew. It'll be amazing.”
Gyeo-ul popped out from under the covers and scurried past me to the kitchen.
...Do we even have soft tofu? Can she really make stew? Half excited, half skeptical, I followed her, only to find...
“...Hey.”
“What? I am making it.”
She pulled a soft tofu stew meal kit from the fridge. Okay, fine, she was making it... and it probably tasted good too...
“...My cooking skills aren't there yet, so bear with it.”
I was a little disappointed at first, but seeing her act all confident then grumble like that melted it away. Whatever—whether she boils it or grills it, if Gyeo-ul's cooking, it's Gyeo-ul's cooking. Gratitude suddenly welled up, and I slipped my arms under hers from behind, hugging her tight.
“Oppa! I have to make dinner! Let go!”
“Nope.”
“I'm getting the knife! Let go!”
“No need for a knife—the ingredients are pre-chopped.”
“...That's why I'm getting the knife.”
Her response was scarily intense for a joke, making me flinch, but I held on stubbornly. ...Okay, it was a little scary.
“Haa... seriously. ...Pervert.”
“Pervert? I'm just hugging you all innocent-like.”
“Innocent? You're groping my boobs and sniffing me.”
“Hey, I didn't touch your boobs. My hands just happened to brush the undersides while hugging.”
Finally, I wouldn't let go, so she sighed deeply in defeat, slipped her own arms into my embrace, twisted around to face me, buried her nose in my shoulder, and sniffed. Then, like retaliation, she snuck her hand under my T-shirt and fiddled with my chest.
...Mine's just hard muscle anyway. As I felt her kneading-or-poking-I-couldn't-tell touch, she suddenly burst out laughing.
“Puhahaha...”
“...Why're you laughing?”
“Oh, just... something's hilarious.”
“What?”
“Suddenly making dinner, and here we are hugging and sniffing in the kitchen... we're such idiots.”
“...Yeah, pretty idiotic.”
Her giggling convinced me, and soon I was chuckling too.
...Fair enough. They say laughing makes you happy. Happiness makes you laugh. Ah... I'm so damn happy.
***
I scarfed down the delicious pork belly soft tofu stew Gyeo-ul made, brushed my teeth, and flopped onto the sofa. I know you're not supposed to lie down right after eating, but... today, I just wanted to. Everyone's got that fantasy, right? A rest day to soothe your weary body. Rolling around with the one you love, eating the dinner they made, lounging on the sofa watching TV—
“Oppa. Coffee.”
“Ah, thanks. ...But I just brushed.”
“Brush again. You gonna skip the coffee I went to the trouble of making?”
“No way.”
She even brought it to me. I took a natural sip and—
“...Oppa. My thigh isn't a pillow.”
“You use my thigh as one all the time.”
“Yours is firm—good for your neck. Mine's squishy; it'll ruin your health.”
“Feels comfy to me.”
I chatted while using her thigh as a pillow, squeezed her calf a few times, sipped more coffee while fiddling with my phone—
“...Oppa. It hurts.”
“Leg numb?”
“Yeah. Switch.”
“Switch?”
“Gimme your knee.”
I indulged her whining, then petted her hair like crazy in return.
“You like playing with my hair that much, Oppa?”
“Yeah. It's so soft.”
It healed my soul. Like floating on clouds.
“A thousand won per ten minutes.”
“I'll give you a million—let me pet it forever?”
“Million gets you a wig made from it. Pet that instead.”
“...I'll buy dinner later. One hour?”
“...Fine.”
She was in a good mood too, rambling nonsense, so we compromised, and I stroked her silky hair to my heart's content. Soft. Sweet. At some point, I'd realized I could taste sweetness through touch.
“...Oppa.”
“Yeah.”
“Are you a perv? Why're you petting my hair while... you know...”
“...Who told you to prance around in dolphin pants?”
...Blame her for being too sweet; I couldn't help the healthy rush surging through me. If she hates it, cover up. Though the girl wears short sleeves and shorts even in winter—what do you expect?
“...Hard to hold back?”
“Eh, only a few hours left—manageable.”
“A few hours...?”
“You said today. Three, four hours tops?”
“Ah...”
...Did she think we'd do it after waking up? Too naive. No way I'd sleep peacefully. At least not till we're both exhausted and pass out together.
“Ugh... um. Wait... just wait a sec, Oppa.”
“Huh?”
“I'll call you later—just wait!”
Her ears flushed pink as she bolted from the sofa to my room. ...She dashed to her own room first, rummaged around, hid something under her T-shirt, then slipped back into mine. What the hell? Not clothes, that's for sure. As my imagination ran wild, my pocket buzzed.
“Hello...?”
I picked up since it was Gyeo-ul, but it hung up instantly. ...Guess that's my cue? I finished the coffee and headed to my room, opening the door. Sure enough, she was waiting.
“...Hey, Oppa.”
It felt just like that time. The day Suneung ended, our first time. The only differences: this was my room, not hers; the tablet from the half-watched movie floated above the bed; and she'd loosely draped the blanket to flaunt her sexy black lingerie at me.
“...It's not midnight yet, Gyeo-ul.”
“...It is?”
She shoved her phone at me, pointing to the time: 00:31.
...What?
“...Hey, that's New Zealand time.”
“A day's passed anyway. See? Date changed too.”
Cheeky as hell. But... I couldn't find a single reason to refuse.
I swallowed hard.
“...Kim Gyeo-ul.”
“Ah, wait. N-not right away. I wanna do something first... stop.”
“Why?”
I stripped off everything but my underwear and climbed onto the bed. ...I'd held back a lot. Hell, I wanted to do it right there in the kitchen.
“Wait, wait... first this.”
She pulled something from beside the bed and put it on her head. ...Cat ears popped up. The same color as the gift I'd given her ages ago.
“...”
“Seriously, just a sec, Oppa. Stop. Not yet.”
“...Hold back or not?”
“Just this... then we can.”
I was ready to devour her with my half-crazed eyes, but her desperate block made me hold off one last time. Why does she torture me so well? ...Though she always lets me torture her back after.
“Lie down next to me first, Oppa.”
I lay beside her, staring up as she asked. The tablet from earlier was there. ...She turned it on.
“...O-okay, I'm recording?”
“...What?”
She fired up the camera, angled it to clearly capture us—grainy quality, but unmistakable—and hit record.
...Is she insane?
“Hey, what the hell!”
“Not like that! ...Something else.”
“...Gyeo-ul.”
“I said no, perv!”
“In that outfit?”
Her face burned red as she protested, but it held zero conviction. Not that I minded... ...Isn't this moving too fast? Did I teach her too well?
“...Not perv stuff. For real.”
“Then what?”
“Uh... well... I realized I don't have a recording of your voice. Or mine.”
“...Just record a call. We talk on the phone all the time.”
“What? Neither of us has call recording on.”
“Oh.”
...New phones? Nah, too many memories. Transferring's a hassle, and I don't wanna.
“Anyway... I have stuff I wanna say to you. Wanted to record it if possible.”
“Just record audio then. Or at least put on normal clothes...”
“I need our faces visible... makes it solid proof.”
“...Collecting evidence for court?”
“...After seeing what you do?”
Her ears still red, but the shyness faded as she teased me like usual.
...Sigh. No idea what she's planning. But if she wants to keep it... yeah, I do too.
“...So what now?”
“Mm... I'll just say what I wanna say to you. Like normal. Face-to-face. ...So you talk normal too.”
“...Normal?”
“Yeah. ...Like normal.”
We both looked pretty provocative for “normal,” but we'd done this dance before. Probably meant act like we do before sex? ...I could manage normal for thirty minutes. Tops.
But—
“Okay... here goes.”
“...Yeah.”
“First... I'm Kim... Gyeo-ul... Oppa, uh. Kim Ga-eul... my brother. Real, blood-related little sister...”
...Gyeo-ul wasn't normal from the jump.