Chapter 132
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 132
Chapter Title: Sun-ha 3
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“Huh? Isn't that Sun-ha?”
Sun-hu oppa spotted me and grinned happily.
I reflexively bowed my head.
“Ah, no, it's not.”
Was it because I felt ashamed for running off without a word?
For some reason, I just couldn't act like I knew him.
“It's Sun-ha, right? I hadn't seen you around the set lately, so I figured you switched part-time gigs?”
“I said it's not!”
Why was this happening?
Why was I snapping at oppa like this?
Out of all the convenience stores in Seoul, he had to show up at the one where I worked, right during my shift.
It felt like God was forcibly tying together a thread that had been cut—like some fated reunion.
I was happy that oppa had noticed I was gone, so why was I getting mad?
Sun-hu oppa stared at me like he couldn't believe it.
Of course he would. I'd acted all friendly before, then suddenly pretended not to know him overnight.
“……Sorry. Let me ring you up.”
I went through the motions, bagged his items, and handed them over.
“Have a good one.”
“……Thanks.”
And just like that, he left.
No.
Don't go, oppa.
Tell him you're sorry.
Tell him you're actually Sun-ha, his little sister.
……But my lips wouldn't move.
Oppa had finally found his 'real family.'
Someone fake like me couldn't barge in there.
I couldn't get in the way of oppa, who had just started spreading his wings.
……I'd only be a burden to him.
Tears were welling up.
I'd promised myself I wouldn't cry anymore.
I rushed into the storage room and sobbed for a good while.
By the time I came out, there was no one left.
A few days passed since then.
I'm still working my convenience store shift.
I'd quit the broadcasting station gig to avoid Sun-hu oppa.
If I really wanted to dodge him, I should've quit this one too.
But I didn't.
What if he found out I was here and came looking again?
Did I want to see him or not?
I didn't even know my own heart.
……Probably, I did want to see him.
I was hoping oppa would come back on purpose, force me to explain why I'd acted that way.
Deep down, I wanted him to acknowledge me as his little sister.
Even though I didn't have the guts to say it myself.
Like a child.
I hated this about myself.
Today had been nothing but bad luck from start to finish.
Customers spilling cup ramen, homeless guys coming in asking for cash loans.
And now this.
“Hey, kid, how old are you?”
“……”
“You're pretty. You remind me of my daughter.”
A creepy fifties guy with a sleazy grin.
Guys like him all think the same thing anyway.
No matter how broke I am, I'm not hanging out with creeps like you, mister.
Just get lost.
I'm already in a foul mood.
“Kid. Gimme your number. I know an easy job where you can make bank. A pretty girl like you doesn't need to do hard labor like this, right?”
“Don't have a phone.”
“No phone? Then what's that in your hand?”
This was pissing me off.
Even rejecting him felt exhausting, tiring. Just talking to him made me want to puke.
I ignored him, refusing to respond, and his face hardened as he raised his voice.
“Hey. You think it's funny 'cause I'm talking nice?”
It wasn't that his nice talk was funny.
The guy himself was a joke. Why couldn't he see that?
“Hey! Answer your customer!”
“Ah!”
He reached out like he was going to grab my arm.
I dodged on instinct, but his hand grazed the back of mine.
Goosebumps exploded all over my body.
“Get out! It's all on CCTV! If you don't leave, I'll charge you with sexual harassment!”
I felt wronged and furious.
Why did I have to deal with trash like this?
“What? Sexual harassment? Try it, you little bitch!”
Any normal adult would've backed off at 'sexual harassment.'
Even an innocent person could get ruined over a claim like that.
But this guy was even more unhinged than I thought.
Maybe he had nothing left to lose.
“Kyaa!”
He was trying to climb over the counter.
I huddled in the corner, screaming.
I never imagined he'd go this far.
His unexpected move blanked my mind.
Someone, anyone, help!
“……What do you think you're doing? To a girl who could be your daughter.”
“Who the hell are you? Let go!”
Really?
Someone was helping.
A guy grabbed the creep's collar, stopping him from vaulting the counter.
“Sun-hu oppa……!”
The one person I'd desperately wished for in that moment.
My oppa.
“You sure you're okay? We don't have to report him?”
“Nah. Guys like that? You'd never get through them all. Not worth the hassle.”
I said it while straightening up the items the creep had knocked over.
Sun-hu oppa pitched in to help.
“Does that happen a lot?”
“All the time. At least once a day.”
“For real?”
This was my first time seeing someone lunge like that, but the pests hitting on me or trying to get my number? Every day.
Oppa looked worried at my words.
“What? You worried?”
“Of course I am. Lucky I was here today.”
Oppa was worried about me.
My heart fluttered ridiculously at something so small.
“So what brings you here, oppa? You live nearby?”
“Nah, home's pretty far.”
“Then why? Oppa, you stalking me?”
“……No, it's not like that…… Sorry.”
He looked mortified at my teasing.
Did he have a guilty conscience?
Showing up right when things went south was suspicious enough.
Were you hoping for this?
“I couldn't stop thinking about how you'd gotten mad at me that day…… I came to ask why, but I chickened out and just watched from outside.”
“Wow. Total stalker.”
“……Sorry.”
If some other guy pulled that, it'd creep me out.
But coming from Sun-hu oppa? It thrilled me with goosebumps of joy.
I kept wanting to smile.
He'd been thinking about me that much.
“I don't know why either. You keep sticking in my head, worrying me. That's why. I won't do it again.”
Please keep doing it.
If you stop, I'll be the one in trouble.
“Still, tell me why. What made you mad back then?”
“Oppa, you really have no idea why I was mad?”
“Sorry…… I really don't.”
His reaction was kinda funny.
Of course he didn't know.
I didn't even know myself.
If I had to pin it down, maybe because he didn't remember me?
Or because he was living happily now?
But blaming him for that felt too harsh.
“Forget it. I'm not mad anymore.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. You helped me out, so we're even.”
He visibly relaxed at that.
But……
Did that mean he had no more business with me now?
I didn't want that.
Maybe I should just come out with it?
Tell him I'm Sun-ha, his little sister.
But that would make us real siblings, wouldn't it?
“Huh? What?”
He asked as I stared at him.
My heart pounded wildly looking at oppa.
This wasn't a sister's feelings for her brother.
I knew that much.
This was love.
I'd fallen head over heels for Sun-hu oppa.
“……I should probably quit this job anyway. That creep might come back.”
“Yeah, good idea. No thoughts on going back to the broadcasting station?”
If I could, I'd love to.
Working there meant seeing Sun-hu oppa often.
And the noonas were all great people.
But that wouldn't satisfy me.
I didn't want to just watch from afar. I craved a deeper connection.
Not as brother and sister, but as man and woman.
Maybe that's why I'd gotten mad.
Sun-hu oppa was the first man I'd ever loved.
My first love.
So maybe I couldn't accept it.
That we were actually siblings.
That we'd been doomed from the start.
……But.
Oppa didn't know I was his sister.
The moment I told him I was his real little sister, we'd be blood-related.
And there'd be no going back to seeing each other as man and woman.
So, I decided not to say anything yet.
If I just crossed that line first.
Then it wouldn't matter if I was his real sister or not.
“Oppa, you got money, right?”
“Money? Not really?”
“Why not? You're a celebrity.”
“I'm just starting out. I get allowance from Mom and Noona too.”
Oh, right. This was his debut project.
What now, then?
“Why the money talk? You need some?”
“You'd lend it if I said yes?”
“Depends on the amount and what for. I'd have to borrow from Mom or Noona anyway.”
Even oppa had to borrow from his new family?
I didn't like that.
“What's up? Something happen? Parents sick or whatever?”
“No parents. I'm an orphan. Live in a facility.”
“Ah, yeah. Got it.”
“I'll be an adult soon, so I gotta make money. I could stay at the facility longer, but I wanna get out ASAP. Too many bullies, creeps trying weird stuff.”
“……Weird stuff?”
“You know what I mean. How girls like us get treated in those places.”
No need to spell it out.
A vague hint, and he'd imagine the worst.
Sure enough, oppa's face turned grave.
I hadn't specified anything, so it wasn't a lie, right?
“That's why I wanna be independent fast, but school and part-time work is wearing me out. No time, no money. They give 5 million won for independence funds, but that's not even enough for rent.”
“Yeah…… probably.”
“So, can't you be my sugar daddy, oppa?”
“……Sugar daddy?”
“Yeah. You feed me, house me, give me allowance. And in return, I'll……”
“Sun-ha.”
Oppa cut me off with a serious look.
“Do you even know what you're saying?”
“Of course. I'm propositioning you. Compensated dating? All my friends do it.”
“Sun-ha, you……”
“If you don't want to, fine. I'll find someone else. Even ask that creep from earlier.”
I didn't mean it, obviously.
I figured saying that would make him worry enough to hear me out seriously.
“Girls like me with no skills? Prostitution's the only way to live decently. So if I'm selling anyway, better to a guy who pays top dollar. Beats working at a brothel for randoms, right?”
“Sun-ha.”
“Don't lecture me if you're not gonna help. What do you know? You got adopted into a good family, never wanted for anything.”
“……”
Oppa’s already serious face darkened further.
Maybe I'd gone too far.
I'd only meant a little sarcasm.
But it probably hit oppa hard.
His life had changed after getting adopted from a place like mine.
He must've had his own thoughts on it.
“……Okay. I'll do it. Be your sponsor.”
“Really?!”
I thought he'd haggle more.
Surprisingly, he agreed easily.
'Guys go crazy for high school girls.'
That props team noona's words echoed in my head.
I felt happy and sad at the same time.
Oppa was just another guy after all.
“Yeah. I'll feed you, house you, give allowance. But in return……”
Sun-hu oppa looked me straight in the eye.
Don't stare like that. My heart's racing.
What are you gonna make a high school girl do, you perv?
“In return, Sun-ha, you study.”
“……Huh?? Study?”
Study? Out of nowhere?
I was stunned by the unexpected demand.
“Yeah. You said you can't do better 'cause no skills? I'll pay tuition, so go to college. Learn what you want, do what you love.”
“Uh……”
……That wasn't what I meant.
How'd this turn into that?
“CSAT's coming up soon, right? Quit the job, study as much as you can till then. I'll give you money.”
“Oppa, that's……”
This isn't sugar daddy stuff. It's a scholarship!
“No prostitution, no sponsors till you graduate. After that, do what you want. Till then, I'm your sponsor. Got it?”
Sun-hu oppa seemed pissed.
Under his stern glare, I could only nod dumbly.
It wasn't exactly what I'd hoped for.
……But it made me so happy I could cry.
That he wasn't just another guy, that he truly cared about me.
And I.
Fell for that oppa even harder.