5. Keeping Our Distance
“Son, did you hurt your neck?”
“Ah… it’s just a little scraped.”
“Be more careful.”
I’d gotten caught by Mom with the bandage on my nape. It didn’t even hurt that much… just a bit swollen, like a cupping mark. It wasn’t like I could tell her my sister bit me, and any excuse would’ve been awkward, so I’d covered it with a bandage. Guess it caught her sharp eye anyway. Is that level of observation what lets her make a living as an instructor?
“Son, how about getting a part-time gig?”
“A part-time job?”
“You were a driver in the military, right?”
“Yeah.”
“And Gyeo-ul starts school tomorrow.”
“...What’s that got to do with anything?”
“Give your sister a ride to and from school. I’m not using the car anyway, so I’ll give you the keys. You know the way.”
“Huh?”
I nearly dropped the spoon I was holding.
...She wants me to be her personal chauffeur?
The school’s right next to my old high school, so I knew the location, sure…
“It’s only a 30-minute bus ride. Why drive her?”
“It’s just 20 minutes by car.”
“That’s only 10 minutes saved. Is it really worth it?”
“Even with a mask, public transport is crowded. Who knows what could happen.”
Ah, so that’s the reason. It wasn’t incomprehensible, but wasn’t this a bit overprotective? Sure, “college entrance exam student” was a cheat code, but still.
“Plus, you two have gotten closer since you got discharged.”
“...Not really?”
“Then use this chance to bond. In the end, siblings are the ones you can rely on most.”
...It sounded like experience talking, so I had nothing to say. She wasn’t wrong.
“...How much are you paying?”
“50,000 won a day.”
“Well, if Gyeo-ul doesn’t mind…”
Round trips twice a day were maybe an hour and a half total, and 50,000 won for that? Not bad. Plus, getting the car keys meant escaping the pedestrian life.
“I already told her, so don’t worry. She said she’s fine with it.”
“...Why does it feel like the decision was made without me?”
Judging by her tone, even if I’d refused flat-out, I’d still be in the driver’s seat tomorrow morning. Felt kinda crappy being swayed by pocket change.
“What, you wanna skip it and the allowance too?”
“No, not that.”
...Still, 50,000 won a day was sweet. Twenty school days a month was a million won. Three digits? That ain’t pocket change.
“Oppa, you can drop me here.”
“You’ve barely started and you already know the way.”
First day of school. I dropped her off near the front gate after the absurdly short summer break ended. Seeing her in uniform really drove home how much time had passed. I hadn’t noticed amid the chaos, but her height was up to my chin now. When I enlisted, she’d only been at chest level. They say girls stop growing after middle school, but apparently not all of them.
“School ends at 4:30, so wait at the mart out front then.”
“No after-school study?”
“Nah, heading straight home.”
“...You don’t have friends or something?”
“You think I’m you?”
Harsh. I had friends, at least. Canceled plans with one last time because of you, even if it was half an excuse.
“I have friends. Our houses are just in different directions.”
“Oh? Must suck.”
“...What sucks?”
For once, she made a face that suited her—glaring daggers. Genetics, huh? Look how the kids heading to school were glancing our way and veering off.
“Just in case: if you run into my friends, don’t act like you do with me.”
“What’d I even do that was so wrong?”
“Don’t pretend to be all buddy-buddy. It doesn’t suit you.”
Kim Gyeo-ul from our house treated her big bro like some dangerous creature. Sure, my face was a tiny bit sharp… but I went to a good college, and if I didn’t scowl, I was a perfectly handsome guy. Personality too—picking up my little sis from school? That was practically saint-level.
“Do I seem that harmful?”
“...On the outside.”
“...That’s too much.”
If we’re talking harm, wasn’t the sister who actually wounded her brother more dangerous? Even stray cats didn’t bite this hard when you petted them.
“Anyway, I’m going.”
“Text if you have plans or something comes up.”
“Yeah.”
“Call after they end too.”
“Why?”
“I’m getting paid, so I gotta do the job. Gotta pick you up.”
“...Overprotective.”
“You’ll get it once you’re the employee—bosses worry.”
It wasn’t a huge allowance, but more than my military pay, so I should work harder than I did in service, right? Gotta be loyal to the real boss, not Mom’s homeland.
“...You’re late. Bye.”
“Alright, drive safe.”
“You drive safe.”
She slung her bag over both shoulders and turned away. Had I talked too much in front of the car? Why were all those stares prickling? I watched her trudge to the gate, then pulled out.
Something’s off. I’m discharged, but why does my personal time feel even shorter? Dropped her off in the morning, ate lunch, took a quick nap—boom, it was 4 already. Rushed to wash up, threw on decent clothes, and sped to school. Picking her up would hit 5, then dinner and cleanup to 7. Gym after, and the day’s done. Was I scammed into a bad contract? Gripping the wheel with that ominous feeling, I spotted her in the distance. With two girls in the same uniform.
“...Hah.”
“What, friends?”
She let out a huge, exasperated sigh. Didn’t her tension melt the second our eyes met?
““Hi~””
The super short friend and the kinda short one bowed. The tiny one looked familiar—where from? On the tip of my tongue.
“...We done? I’m out.”
“Whoa, your eyes are identical. You’re Gyeo-ul’s oppa, right?”
“Uh? Yeah, that’s me.”
“...Oppa, why the sudden formal speech?”
“Can’t be casual with strangers.”
Talking casually to new people felt like fake-friending them. And she was the one who told me not to act out of character.
“Gyeo-ul’s friends?”
“Yeah, she said we could see her oppa, so we tagged along.”
“Me too.”
“...They followed on their own.”
She pointed at them with a tired face.
...I’m not a zoo elephant. If I had fans, why in such useless places?
“Gyeo-ul told us about you~”
“She talks about you lots~”
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah, it’s always oppa this, oppa that! Yesterday she was even singing about missing you.”
“...”
She shot her friends a pitiful glare and climbed into the passenger seat. Those two giggling at the sight? Even the densest person would know they were teasing. It was vacation until yesterday—way more time together than not since discharge. If anything, she’d be sick of me, not missing me.
“Let’s go.”
“Leave them?”
“Doesn’t matter. Hurry.”
She urged me like move it, then leaned over to shut my window. Awkwardly waved at her friends bowing through the glass and pulled onto the road.
“...You and your friends get along great.”
“You serious?”
“Obviously joking.”
“Hah… That’s why I didn’t want them to see you.”
She slumped forward in her bag-strapped seat and sighed deeply. Tch. Fun to tease her myself, but being the target together? Not so comfy.
“Why’s everyone so nosy about other families?”
“Friends get curious about family.”
“...How’d you feel if I showed you off to my friends?”
“Hell no.”
Not worry for her—just didn’t trust those punks. They wouldn’t pull crap on a friend’s sister, but slander, defamation, libel? They’d try it on me.
“Same reason.”
“They seemed nice, though.”
“...You say that after seeing them?”
“Close enough to tease like that. Otherwise, you’d have ditched them.”
“...Kinda happened.”
Honestly, sometimes I wondered why I was tight with my high school crew. We clicked on words alone, but half the time their chatter felt like group monologue. Still fun when we hung out.
“...And oppa, what was that earlier?”
“What.”
“Why formal with my friends?”
“Feels weird being casual if it’s awkward.”
“Your voice got all low and weird too.”
“Like on the phone sometimes. What’s the big deal?”
“It’s creepy.”
“That’s how I always sound on calls with you.”
“Hearing it face-to-face is weird.”
Goosebumps on the arms hugging her bag tight—masochistic urge crawling up from my heart’s depths. Her hating it that much made my mouth itch. Something vile to make her shudder and tremble on hearing it… Hmm…
“...Oppa, don’t think weird stuff.”
“Huh? Not at all?”
“Your Adam’s apple twitched. Don’t lie.”
“...Gyeo-ul.”
“Say something gross and I’ll bite.”
I swallowed hard, saliva and words alike. One more bandage and I’d have no excuse.