Chapter 22
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: Date (13)
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The shower room was filled with hot steam.
I awkwardly stepped inside.
Since it was so late, I had planned to shower at home.
But little sister persuaded me, saying it was already late anyway and the family would all be asleep by now, so I decided to shower here before heading home.
My body wasn't actually dirty, but the sweat made me feel sticky.
Shoooo...
Since it was late anyway, I figured I'd take a relaxing shower and enjoyed it slowly.
As I washed under the warm water, my mind started to settle a bit too.
Once I finished and stepped out, we'd go back to being normal, close siblings like always.
No need to overthink it.
-Drip.
I leisurely savored the hot shower and stepped out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel.
"…"
When I emerged from the shower room, little sister had already slipped into bed and pulled the covers over herself.
"Sis?"
"…"
"Sis?"
If she'd fallen asleep, that would be a huge problem.
Still wrapped in my towel, I approached little sister.
"Snooore…"
"…"
Even up close, she showed no reaction—just steady breathing.
I checked a few ways to see if she was faking it, but she really seemed asleep; not a twitch.
'This is tricky.'
Even if the family wasn't asleep yet, I had an excuse for coming home at this hour.
I could say I lost track of time drinking after such a long while without booze.
But if it dragged on to 3 or 4 AM?
Just saying I was out drinking late would sound pretty lame.
If coming home late from drinks was our usual routine, they'd buy it no problem.
But we'd always been back before midnight under big sister's watch since we were kids.
Neither little sister nor I were big drinkers anyway.
"Haa…"
Feeling a twinge of worry, I grabbed my clothes and got dressed first.
They were sweaty and a bit sticky, but not unwearable.
Fully dressed, I sat beside her to wake her, deliberately making noise.
The racket should've been annoying, but she didn't stir at all.
"Sis."
"…"
"Sis?"
Even calling again got no response.
"Hmmm…"
I knew I should shake her awake by force, but seeing her sleep so soundly made me want to let her rest easy.
As an S-rank Tanker, stamina was no issue, but yesterday's drama must've worn her out mentally.
After agonizing briefly, I decided to leave her be.
Curfew was already blown anyway.
What's another 2 or 3 hours at this point?
Plus, no calls yet meant the family was probably asleep too.
I relaxed a little and lay down beside little sister.
Sharing the blanket with her wrapped me in her cozy warmth.
Home was under 30 minutes away, so I set a clean 3 AM alarm and let her breathing lull me to sleep.
"Ha-seong."
"…"
"Ha-seong!"
I woke to hands shaking me.
The first thing in view was little sister's pretty face.
She pinched my cheek with a worried look.
"Ack…"
As I let out a short groan of pain, she whispered softly.
"It's already 4:30."
"4:30?"
I jolted upright and checked my smartphone.
Sure enough, it read 4:30 AM just like she said.
"Ugh…"
I'd definitely set the alarm for 3, but exhaustion must've snuck up on me; I slept right through it.
Little sister too, apparently.
Kicking myself for the blunder, I scrambled out of bed.
Later than planned, but still some buffer before the family's wake-up time.
If I hustled now, I could slip in unnoticed.
"Hurry, let's go."
As I rushed to get ready, little sister beamed.
"No need to panic. No calls at all so far."
"…"
"Everyone's probably still asleep. Take it easy—plenty of time till morning."
I felt uneasy, but she was right; no word from home.
Thinking of big sister's and little sister's personalities, they'd have blown up our phones if they knew we weren't back.
No contact meant we were still in the clear.
Still, playing it too loose felt dicey.
"What if we slack and get busted…?"
"Better to roll in at 6 AM. You can say you got up early for a walk."
"Hmm…"
"5 AM's too early for that excuse, right?"
"…"
Her logic wore me down bit by bit.
I holed up at home 365 days a year, but I kept up with exercise.
Little sister took early morning walks sometimes too.
All in all, the walk alibi rang true.
"So, what do we do till then?"
"Kill time chatting at the apartment park."
"Grabbing milk?"
"Sounds good. Strawberry for me."
We settled on the plan and left the hotel.
Outside was still pitch dark; sun nowhere in sight.
Been forever since I stepped out this early.
"Hoo…"
I deeply inhaled the crisp dawn air and hopped in the car.
Little sister slid into the passenger seat like it was routine.
Vrooom.
We cut through the dark heart of Seoul before sunrise.
Intersections always jammed with cars were deserted now.
The usual driving stress felt lighter today.
Actually enjoying the drive, I glanced sideways.
Little sister stared blankly out the window in silence.
She looked lost in complicated thoughts—probably replaying yesterday.
Gazing at her, I itched to ask when she'd cooked up yesterday's plan.
But past midnight, we were back to plain siblings, tacitly agreeing to bury last night.
I swallowed the question.
-Screech.
We finally reached the apartment, parked, and headed not home but to the convenience store in the complex.
Per plan, we'd kill the hour at the park with sis.
Straight chatting for an hour sounded dull, so grabbing bread and milk would fill our stomachs and fly by the time.
-Ding-a-ling.
The convenience store, visited after ages.
Little sister snagged her strawberry milk as mentioned.
I grabbed a cream bun and chocolate milk.
"Have a good night."
"Yeah."
We bid the weary clerk farewell and headed straight to the park.
Creak creak.
Little sister and I sat side by side on the park swings.
Swinging gently while munching the cream bun.
Little sister stopped swinging and scooted closer slyly.
"You still love these cream buns."
"Huh? You knew?"
"You've loved them since you were little. How many times did I buy them for you on the walk home from school?"
I gazed at the bun, memories slowly surfacing.
Sure enough, I recalled being thrilled whenever she brought one.
"Whoa, you're right…"
"Sigh, wasted all that spoiling on you. Don't even remember the good stuff."
"Sorry, sorry."
To apologize, I split the cream bun in half and offered her a piece.
Figured she'd take it by hand.
"…"
She stared at it intently, then instead of grabbing it, opened her mouth and took a bite right from my hand.
Tucking her loose bob behind her ear, she chomped away heartily.
After devouring half, she flashed a satisfied smile.
"Mmm, nothing beats snatching from my little bro."
Seeing that jogged my memory of her always swiping my cream buns as kids.
Back then, clueless that she'd bought them with her measly allowance, I'd grumble every time.
She'd pat my head like I was adorable.
Thinking back now made my cheeks burn with embarrassment.
After reminiscing, I spotted cream smeared on little sister's mouth.
Eating so messily, like she was ageless.
Now that we were back to just close siblings, I tamped down the reflex to wipe it and said instead.
"You've got cream on your mouth."
"Huh?"
She swiped her finger across her lips and checked.
Cream galore on her fingertip.
Staring at it, she looked up with a playful smirk and leaned in.
"Wanna wipe it off for me, little bro?"
"…"
Her smile rattled my resolve.
If sis was asking, wasn't it fine?
Sibling stuff, right?
After a brief internal tussle, I decided it was harmless enough between sibs and reached to wipe the cream.
That instant.
Bzzz.
My quiet smartphone buzzed to life.
Feeling a guilty pang, I halted and checked it.
The sender was my younger sister.
A bit creeped out that she was awake, I read the messages.
[Where are you?]
[Shit, we're fucked!]
[Big sis has been waiting up all night for you and sis!]
[She said not to tell, so I waited till I could sneak to the bathroom to type this—hurry!]
"…"
My face drained pale reading it all.
Looks like big sister hadn't slept a wink last night.
We're screwed.
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(Da-jeong Jeong's School Days)