The Comfort Named Relief
I sprang up like a coiled spring.
Hari, who had tumbled off my stomach in a panic, knelt there staring up at me with wide, rabbit-like eyes.
I had no time to worry about the dirt staining her skirt or the embarrassing situation at the front of my pants.
“Hari, sorry! If Seonyu tells Haru noona while she's still misunderstanding, we're in deep shit. I'm heading out first!”
“Wha—huh?! W-Woohyun!”
Hari reached out too late.
I didn't even glance back as I bolted from the Cultivation Area.
Only one thought consumed my mind.
I had to stop this absurd situation from reaching Haru noona's ears, twisted and exaggerated by Seonyu's mouth.
That obsessive urge filled my vision completely.
Tatata-tatata!
Lush vines whipped mercilessly at my pant legs as I charged through.
Under the Artificial Sun's golden light, dirt clouds billowed up,
and the greenhouse's steamy, humid air flooded my lungs,
but I couldn't afford to catch my breath.
Haru noona was the head of the household.
Ever since Mama stopped functioning, she'd been suffering alone—I knew it all too well.
Sweat trickled from my forehead, stinging my eyes.
'If noona hears that I used the command as an excuse to roll around with Hari in broad daylight...'
Just imagining her disappointed face made my heart shrivel.
My long-time crush.
The kind soul who'd cared for me since we were kids.
I didn't want her to see me as some beast.
If I had even a shred of choice left—just a little, please... please...
I never wanted to hurt Haru noona like this.
“Ha Seonyu! Stop right there, you fucking bitch!”
I bellowed at the top of my lungs, but Seonyu's figure ahead was already out of sight.
She moved like lightning, used to prowling the exploration zones like it was nothing.
My feet sank into the soft, mushy soil,
but finally, the firm grass in front of the Mansion was underfoot.
Panting raggedly, I shoved open the creaky front door.
Bang!
“Haru unnie! Th-that crazy bastard outside—!”
The moment I burst through the entrance, Seonyu's shrill, trembling voice exploded from the living room.
I didn't even kick off my shoes properly before charging in.
“No! Seonyu, it's a misunderstanding!”
My desperate shout drew the eyes of the two in the kitchen straight to me.
Seonyu stood with her back to the table by the sink, jabbing a finger at me, huffing and puffing.
Her cheeks flushed red down to her neck, her heaving chest rising and falling wildly.
And behind her.
Haru noona, mid-dishwashing at the sink, stood frozen with the water still running.
Whoosh—
The pouring water was the only sound filling the kitchen's silence.
A soapy plate dangled in noona's hands.
Her brown eyes flicked between Seonyu's flushed face and my sweat-and-mud-caked mess.
“With Min Hari, the two of them, in the corner of the tomato field! They were on the ground, hugging tight!”
Seonyu screamed like she was possessed.
“That jerk's pants were bulging out front, panting like a beast! I saw it with my own two eyes!”
Her unfiltered, graphic description set my face ablaze.
“Hey! Watch your mouth! When did I ever pant like a beast?!”
I pointed back at her and yelled.
“My foot caught on a tomato vine and I tripped! Hari tried to grab me to stop the fall, lost her balance, and we both went down!”
“What a joke! If you tripped, why were you stuck together like that?! No attempt to get apart, just staring into each other's eyes all gooey!”
“We were startled by the sudden fall and couldn't get up right away! Don't twist it like that!”
“Twist?! That pose you were in was the twisted one! You think I don't know you were posing just like in those books?!”
Our shouts hammered against the wooden walls of the Mansion.
We bickered often, sure,
but never over something this sleazy and blatant, veins bulging in our necks.
Seonyu and I tore into each other amid extreme tension and shame.
Thud!
Haru noona set the plate down in the sink.
She slowly turned off the faucet.
Creak... drip. Drip.
With the water silenced, only our ragged breaths filled the living room.
Haru noona untied her damp apron and walked toward us.
Her face wasn't angry or flustered—just exhausted and weary.
“Seonyu.”
Her calm, low voice dropped like a stone.
“Don't yell. My ears are ringing.”
Seonyu's jaw dropped at that single line.
She looked baffled that noona's reaction was so lukewarm after her bombshell revelation.
“Unnie! Aren't you mad?! What if they were really trying to do that outside! Without even telling you, just the two of them—!”
“It's not that, Seonyu.”
Haru noona cut her off cleanly.
Noona's eyes fixed on Seonyu.
“It's Mama's command.”
A chilling silence froze the living room air.
Seonyu's lips quivered.
“What...?”
“Even if they really were trying something outside.”
Haru noona's gaze slowly shifted from Seonyu to me.
Her eyes, staring into mine, were dark as a deep swamp.
“We have no right to stop them. We should be relieved, actually. It means we're all escaping death's door.”
It felt like my heart was being crushed in a bare fist.
Haru noona's dry acceptance.
Before even hearing my side, embracing the idea of me with someone else as a means of survival...
Had I become just a tool to save this greenhouse in her eyes?
“Noona...”
My voice cracked pathetically.
“No... it's really not. I swear, we just fell.”
I took a step toward noona.
“I wouldn't... impulsively do that with just anyone. I don't want you thinking of me that way. Really...”
At my pleading gaze, Haru noona's eyes flickered faintly.
Just anyone?
I couldn't know how that odd distinction landed in her ears.
Seonyu couldn't stand the weird tension between us and ruffled her hair in frustration.
“Ugh, this is pissing me off so bad!”
She stomped her foot and spun away.
“Whatever! Do what you want! I don't wanna see any of it—tripping or rolling around!”
Seonyu stormed toward the stairs, thudding up to the second floor.
Bang!
Her door slammed shut, the echo resounding down to the first floor.
That little shit...
In the end, only Haru noona and I remained in the living room.
In the suddenly still space, we stood facing each other, a small distance apart.
Noona's chest rose and fell softly.
She'd acted composed in front of Seonyu, but clearly, turmoil raged inside her too.
Her hands clutched the hem of her clothes tightly.
“Woohyun.”
After a long pause, Haru noona finally spoke.
“You're covered in dirt.”
Her gaze went to my shoulders and back.
“Did you scrape yourself when you fell? You can't get hurt. We barely have any ointment left from the exploration zone.”
Her voice was gentle, as always.
It sounded like nagging, but brimmed with deep affection.
That kindness made tears well up in relief—and resentment.
Even now, she was treating me like a little brother... I hated that.
I really hated it.
Why couldn't she see me as a man, just once...?
“I'm fine. Just a bit of dirt.”
I mumbled awkwardly, reaching back to brush it off.
But before my hand got there, Haru noona stepped closer.
“Hold still. You can't reach your back anyway.”
She circled behind me.
The distance vanished in an instant.
A faint scent of kitchen cleaner wafted from her, mixed with her sweat-dampened body warmth.
Pat, pat.
Her soft palms began dusting the dirt from my back and shoulders.
Normally, I'd accept this casual touch without a thought.
Like hanging laundry or brushing off dust—a natural family gesture.
But not now.
Each time her palm pressed through my shirt, the heat raced down my spine, electrifying it.
'Foreplay requires prior physical contact and emotional rapport...'
The line from the book Woohee noona had read aloud echoed like a warning in my head.
My back muscles tensed rigid.
“Relax a bit. Pfft—you're like a rock.”
Haru noona chuckled softly, tapping my shoulders.
But I could feel her hands trembling faintly through the contact.
She felt it too—this touch meant something different now.
Swipe, swish.
Her palms slowed as they dusted, tracing the contours of my back muscles almost caressing now.
“Woohyun.”
Her voice from behind was husky, laced with emotion.
“It really was... just a fall, right?”
There was steel in her question.
“Yes, really.”
“You didn't... kiss Hari... or touch her?”
I held my breath at the blunt question.
Her palm lingered near my shoulder blades, her warm body heat seeping into my skin.
“No.”
I swallowed hard.
“Not with Hari.”
Noona couldn't miss the implication in those short words.
Not with Hari.
So, with who did I want to?
I felt her breath quicken slightly.
“That's a relief.”
Haru noona whispered so softly.
Was that relief at the command's deadline being delayed, or personal solace that I hadn't kissed another girl?
I couldn't tell.
She pulled her hands from my back and slowly stepped around to face me.
Her face was still flushed, brown eyes darting uncertainly.
“Go wash up, Woohyun. You stink of sweat.”
She forced a gruff tone, eyes dropping downward.
“And after... wait in the living room. I'll talk firmly to the others. Don't try carrying this burden alone.”
Without meeting my eyes, she hurried back to the sink.
I stared blankly at her retreating back, then slowly headed to the first-floor bathroom.
My heartbeat thrummed wildly, tangled with the lingering warmth of Haru noona's touch on my back.