Chapter 3
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: I Love You (2)
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“I love you, little sis!”
“Ugh, seriously!”
It had been a week since I began fervently confessing my love to my little sister.
At first, I felt an intense wave of regret surging up from the depths of my chest, but humans are creatures of adaptation, after all.
The more confessions I made, the less the aversion became.
What I really wanted was to pin my sister down and whisper sweet nothings all day to fill the quota, but sadly, back-to-back confessions only counted as one.
So I gave up on clearing the quest quickly and instead confessed whenever our paths crossed while wandering around the house.
I'd filled nearly half the count in just a week, so it was fair to say things were going smoothly.
If the quest target had been my older sister instead, I probably couldn't have done it so easily.
But fortunately, the target was my little sister, so I could deliver my love without much burden.
Every time, she threw a fit and earnestly begged me to stop.
If she didn't like it, she should've been born first. I had no intention of quitting.
Yu-rim Jeong, the youngest of the Jeong family and an S-rank Healer.
Lately, she had been gripped by tremendous fear.
The reason for Yu-rim's fear was simple.
Her brother, Ha-seong Jeong, had been acting extremely strange recently.
He'd started with sudden words of comfort and love confessions when she got home from work, but now his condition had worsened.
Now it wasn't just when she came or left for work—he made that sappy face and professed his love every single time they crossed paths in the house.
Of course, it wasn't like he was cursing her or outright insulting her.
But whenever he confessed his love, it gave her chills so bad she thought she'd prefer a barrage of curses.
Even when she'd spent ten hours glued to a critically injured patient with severed limbs, pouring heal after heal into them.
Even when an A-rank Dungeon Break unleashed a horde of ghost-type monsters that assaulted her mind.
She hadn't felt fear like this.
Her brother's love confessions—after a lifetime of him being a bully—struck her with even greater terror.
'Should I have sent him to the hospital back then after all?'
Yu-rim hugged her favorite doll tight and rolled around on the bed, lost in thought.
The only thing that came to mind as the cause of her brother's sudden change was that morning when he'd slipped on the floor and fallen.
She'd cleanly healed his external injuries with her skill, but maybe something had gone wrong with his brain function then.
'I need to get some counseling.'
She didn't have a medical license, but as someone who wielded the miracle of healing, Yu-rim knew plenty of people in the medical field.
Naturally, among those medical professionals were psychiatrists. And conveniently, one was scheduled to visit the Hunter Association today for mental health counseling for hunters.
Yu-rim resolved to seriously consult her about her brother's situation as she picked out clothes and got dressed.
Having finished preparing for work, Yu-rim cautiously opened the door.
Ever since her brother started confessing his love every time they ran into each other, she'd developed the habit of checking if he was nearby before opening any door.
After carefully scanning the surroundings, she confirmed he wasn't there and darted toward the front door.
Just as she thought she'd make it to work without running into him today.
Her brother popped out from the bathroom next to the entrance.
“Heading to work?”
“Ah...”
Seeing her brother's sly smile, Yu-rim realized she'd fallen right into a trap.
Lately, she'd started deliberately avoiding him, so he'd opted for an outright ambush.
“How long have you been waiting...?”
“I know your work schedule down to the minute. Been here since five minutes ago.”
Yu-rim was genuinely appalled.
How badly did he want to say those words to lie in wait in a dark bathroom for five whole minutes?
“Why are you doing this?”
“Just some encouragement from your big bro to his always hardworking little sis.”
“It's weird that you're doing it so suddenly...”
“I realized I've been too stiff all this time. From now on, I'm gonna work on expressing my emotions more!”
His playful expression made it seem like there was definitely some ulterior motive.
But the excuse he spouted was straight out of a morality textbook, leaving Yu-rim unable to argue back.
In the end, she gave up, hung her head, and slipped on her shoes.
Her beaming brother watched her with a grin and waved as he said,
“Have a great day today too. I always love you, little sis.”
“...”
Yu-rim left the house without a word, even to his encouragement.
Hunter Association building in Seocho-dong.
Yu-rim stepped out of her car and headed straight for the VIP elevator.
Her destination was the 14th floor.
It was the floor set aside for mental health counseling sessions that the Hunter Association held for its affiliated hunters.
The moment she pressed the button, the elevator shot up at high speed and arrived at the 14th floor in an instant.
As the doors opened and Yu-rim stepped out, a nurse sorting documents approached.
“Hunter Yu-rim Jeong, what brings you here?”
“Just popping in to see a friend.”
“Go right on in. Her schedule's free right now.”
“Thank you.”
Yu-rim headed straight to the counseling room.
She entered without knocking and plopped down familiarly in a chair.
Across from her, psychiatrist Young-hyun Choi, who had been reviewing documents, looked at her with a pitiful expression.
“Skiving off again?”
“No, counseling.”
“Bullshit. You don't even go into dungeons—what counseling?”
Yu-rim casually took the cocoa Young-hyun poured for her, sipped it, and let out a deep sigh.
“I have a real problem this time. It's about family.”
“For real...?”
Assuming as usual that she'd come to goof off, Young-hyun was surprised by Yu-rim's serious demeanor. She straightened up, switching from friend mode to doctor mode.
“What's the issue? Be honest.”
Yu-rim slurped the warm cocoa and muttered glumly.
“My brother's been acting weird lately.”
“How weird?”
“He fell and hit his head hard not long ago, blood everywhere. I healed him, but his attitude changed after that.”
“What exactly are the symptoms?”
Hearing about the head injury, Young-hyun thought it could be serious and gripped her pen.
Healing miracles could fix visible external wounds, but if there was brain damage, it was irreversible.
Yu-rim swallowed the sweet marshmallow floating in her cocoa and recounted her brother's recent behavior.
“Ever since the head injury, he's been confessing his love to me.”
“What?”
Seeing Young-hyun's eyes widen, Yu-rim realized the misunderstanding and waved her hands.
“Not the kind you're thinking!”
“Then what?”
“Hmm... If I had to classify it, it's like a family love confession?”
Young-hyun frowned at Yu-rim's vague words.
“Just give me an example.”
“Okay, I'll repeat exactly what he said to me before work today.”
“Go ahead.”
Yu-rim cleared her throat to mimic his tone as closely as possible and spoke.
“Have a great day today too. I always love you, little sis.”
“...”
“That was it.”
Young-hyun's stiff expression relaxed.
“That's it? No big deal.”
“No, it's not a simple problem!”
“Why? It sounds nice to me. Family getting along is great.”
“Argh, you don't get it 'cause you're an only child. How absurd this is.”
Yu-rim thumped her chest in frustration, but Young-hyun just smiled warmly.
“You don't like hearing 'I love you'?”
“It's not that I hate it...”
“Then it's fine.”
“...”
Looking at the silent, head-down Yu-rim, Young-hyun added one more thing.
“You've been a total bro-con since you were little. Always coming to me whining that he wouldn't play with you, and going on and on about him whenever we met.”
Yu-rim jumped in surprise and shot back.
“Th-that was ages ago! Kid stuff!”
“Still, you don't hate your brother now, right?”
Yu-rim quietly reflected on herself and nodded.
“Yeah.”
“Then just accept it happily. Seems like your brother wants to get closer to you too.”
“R-really?”
Young-hyun took a sip of her remaining coffee and gave her hesitant friend a brief piece of advice.
“After work, try approaching your brother more actively.”
“Is that doctor advice?”
“No, advice from your 20-year friend.”
Yu-rim sipped her now-cooled cocoa and gave a small nod.