The Women (1)
One day, Hye-mi sensed something strange and peculiar.
A sweet, electric charge between Zixu unnie and Kang-jun oppa. It lasted only a fleeting instant.
Ever since they had returned from that dreadful labyrinth a few days earlier, she had felt that Zixu unnie’s gaze had shifted. When she looked at the senior there was respect, adoration, and… a touch of affection.
Yes, affection. That was definitely affection—!
It was a woman’s intuition. Yet no one else seemed to notice. Not the senior, not Hana unnie, not Kumba oppa, not Selah unnie. Every last one of them—! Hye-mi decided they weren’t dense; her own instincts were simply exceptional.
She felt as though she now carried an enormous secret. It churned strangely in her stomach, a tangle of emotions. Pity and anxiety mixed most strongly—pity as a fellow woman, anxiety because they shared the same man.
Whenever she walked with Zixu she felt men’s and women’s eyes prickling over them. Hye-mi couldn’t help feeling a little cowed. Even though she adored her unnie, she was still a girl her age with her share of vanity about looks. Comparison was inevitable.
It wasn’t jealousy. Just a quiet regret that she might have been a little prettier. And envy of her unnie.
Unnie is so pretty.
Hye-mi had never seen a woman as beautiful as Zixu in real life. Surprisingly, though, Zixu claimed she had barely ever been confessed to.
“Why? Someone like you should get them every single day.”
“No. Really, never.”
Hye-mi reasoned it out. It had to be that cold expression. Everyone supposedly had their own self-defense mechanisms for survival, and Zixu’s face seemed to serve exactly that purpose—weeding out the unworthy at a glance.
In all their countless conversations, Zixu had never once brought up men first. Hye-mi always started it. She seemed that indifferent to romance.
In truth Hye-mi had felt a little relieved. If Zixu liked Kang-jun, anxiety would have been inevitable. What man would dislike a woman that beautiful?
Yet Hye-mi had read it in Zixu’s eyes. Affection.
No, it’s still too early to be sure.
Whether it was affection for him as a man or respect for him as team leader remained uncertain. So she watched a little longer.
September 8th, 11:01 a.m.
When Zixu unnie asked the senior, “Would you like a cup of coffee?” hearts flickered in her eyes. Suspicious.
Same day, 2:17 p.m.
The senior’s name came up briefly in conversation and unnie’s gaze shifted subtly. …This one’s a little ambiguous.
Same day, 6:07 p.m.
During dinner Zixu unnie’s and Kang-jun senior’s eyes met. No words. While watching, Hye-mi accidentally dropped a few grains of rice. She quickly scooped them up and ate them before the senior could notice and tease her.
September 9th, 10:22 a.m.
Ate chocolate cake with unnie. Wow, it was seriously delicious. Gotta bookmark that place. Unnie said she’d buy it again next time.
Same day, 4:10 p.m.
Unnie came out of the senior’s room. Since I was sitting in the living room watching, she looked a little tense. This definitely warrants reasonable suspicion!
Same day, 11:22 p.m.
Senior’s dick is go—
Hye-mi decided she would never figure it out this way. A girl with only a little college education trying to read someone else’s heart with half-baked deduction was nearly impossible.
One head alone wasn’t enough. So she decided to borrow another.
“Hana unnie…”
“Yeah, Hye-mi?”
Hye-mi wanted to borrow a little of Hana’s insight.
“Has Zixu unnie changed at all?”
“Changed?”
“Yes.”
“…Ah, right!”
Hye-mi’s eyes went round. Yes—Hana unnie had been thinking the same thing—!
“She cut her hair really prettily. I was going to ask her for the salon name too.”
Her kind smile was so pleasant to look at. …Yes, innocent Hana unnie probably didn’t know much about those things between men and women.
So Hana unnie’s head was a failure.
After fretting, Hye-mi decided there was no other way.
She would have to break through directly—.
First she would ask the senior casually.
But Kang-jun senior was extremely busy these days, leaving early in the morning and returning late in the afternoon. The only chance to ask was during their secret nighttime meetings.
“Haang, ang, ang, heung, ang, ang, aaang—!”
The moment he came in, before she could even open her mouth, he thrust into her—failure.
So she waited for the next day, determined.
“Senior, slee…uph.”
Hye-mi tried resisting once, but that only seemed to excite Kang-jun more. That night he pounded her rougher than usual.
“Haang, ang, eung, ah, aheung, eung—!”
…When she opened her eyes it was already daytime—failure.
So this time Hye-mi went to Kang-jun’s room herself.
“Senior, I… have something to ask.”
Kang-jun closed the door and grinned.
“Something to ask?”
He pulled his cock free.
“Then ask.”
“No, senior. Th-that’s not—!”
She resisted, but in the end she ended up with him in her mouth—failure.
Because the moment they were alone the situation always slid that way, Hye-mi had no choice but to change targets.
To Zixu unnie….
She chose a quiet weekend morning.
Knock knock. She tapped on Zixu unnie’s door. At the soft “Who is it?” Hye-mi answered.
“It’s me, unnie.”
The door opened at once. How could a bare face be this pretty?
“Oh, Hye-mi. What’s up?”
Compared to before, Zixu’s coldness had thawed considerably. She no longer kept a blank mask all the time. Especially with the team, she made an effort to offer a small smile.
Hye-mi knew. Inside, unnie was a truly warm person.
“Unnie, can I come in for a bit?”
“Of course. Come in.”
The room smelled lovely—Zixu unnie’s scent.
The door closed quietly. Hye-mi perched carefully on the edge of the bed. Zixu sat beside her little sister and watched the lowered profile.
“…What’s wrong? Something on your mind?”
Hye-mi suddenly felt a strange guilt. When she thought about it, wasn’t she the one who had been playing around with Kang-jun senior? Whether Zixu unnie liked him or not was her own feeling, her own heart. Not something for Hye-mi to meddle in.
I’m only asking. It’s not like the feeling itself is wrong.
She was simply too curious how Zixu unnie felt about the senior.
“Unnieee…”
“Mm.”
“I have something to ask.”
The instant the words left her mouth she remembered Kang-jun pulling his cock out and saying “Then ask.” …It was a relief unnie didn’t have one of those.
“What is it?”
Zixu still looked completely unaware. Hye-mi slowly turned her head toward her. Their eyes met.
“About the senior… how do you feel about him?”
Zixu’s eyes widened a fraction. Completely unexpected. She seemed to be trying to read Hye-mi’s intention.
“…He’s a good team leader. Why?”
“No. Not that. …As a man.”
Ah. At the words “as a man,” Zixu flustered in a way that was unlike her. Long practice at living kept it from showing on her face, but her answer came a beat late.
“…A man? He’s a good person.”
“Nooo, not that either, unnie. …Do you like Kang-jun senior?”
Zixu had already considered that this question might come. She had decided she would simply say no—yet somehow her mouth would not open.
…She realized that when you liked someone too much, even the lie of “no” became impossible.
“Unnie.”
Zixu could not answer.
“You like him, don’t you?”
She stayed silent again. Hye-mi’s voice grew firmer.
“You like him, right?”
Zixu managed, just barely, to nod. Relief flooded her at the same time as fear.
She liked Kang-jun so much. She liked Hye-mi a great deal too. …And she hated the thought of this peace being broken.
“You like him…”
Hye-mi slowly turned her face forward again. The two of them sat in silence for a long while.
“…I… actually, I like the senior too.”
Of course Hye-mi still believed unnie knew nothing about her relationship with him.
“I’m sorry, unnie. I’ve been hiding it all this time. …Just… just because I was afraid I’d look like some girl who flaunts it.”
“No. That’s understandable.”
“I… I… actually… actually…”
Hye-mi dragged the words out as if announcing something monumental. Zixu already had a fair idea what was coming.
“…I’ve slept with the senior.”
Zixu had no idea what reaction she was supposed to give. Stay calm? Pretend to be a little surprised?
Receiving no reaction at all made Hye-mi nervous. She carefully lifted her head and looked at her unnie. The expression was complicated—lost, not knowing what to do.
What do I do. What do I do.
Hye-mi bowed her head deeply again.
What now. What now.
Zixu’s own mind was racing just as hard. So she simply said the first thing that came to her.
“Oh… since when?”
“Actually… it’s been a long time. About… a year…”
“I see. …I’m similar. Around then, I think.”
“I’m sorry for hiding it. It wasn’t with any bad intention. Really.”
Silence settled once more.
Hye-mi still knew nothing of the relationship between Zixu and Kang-jun. In fact Zixu felt a small measure of relief. Looking at her little sister’s reaction, it seemed better that way.
The younger girl was heartbroken. Guilt crushed her chest.
Unnie is so pitiful.
She felt like a criminal for snatching away the person her unnie liked. …Unnie had never done a single thing wrong to her.
On the contrary, she had always tried to take care of her. Thinking back, Zixu always looked after Hye-mi first.
Whether they were eating,
training,
or exploring.
Whatever it was, she always came to Hye-mi and asked if anything was wrong, if she was all right. And often she would gently stroke her hair, eyes soft and wistful.
Hye-mi had betrayed that person. She had played with feelings.
Sob… heuk…
Tears spilled. She was sad. Too sad.
Zixu gently wrapped her arms around her little sister’s shaking shoulders.
“Hye-mi, it’s okay. Yeah? Don’t cry. If you cry, my heart hurts too.”
“I’m sorry. Unnie, I’m sorry. …I’m sorry. Unnieee… heung.”
Hye-mi buried herself in Zixu’s warm embrace. Unnie pressed her nose into the crown of her little sister’s head.
Unnie is more sorry. Unnie is the worse bitch.
But she could not bring herself to say it.
Hye-mi cried for a long time. When the tears finally eased she looked up at Zixu with pitiful eyes.
“Unnie… what do we do now? What do we do?”
“Hye-mi.”
“I… like the senior and I like unnie too. I… I like everything. What are we supposed to do?”
Her chin crumpled again. Zixu closed her eyes and once more buried her nose in her little sister’s hair.
Hye-mi sniffled a little longer, then pulled away. Her eyes held a new resolve.
“Unnie.”
“Yeah.”
“Then… let’s just do it this way.”
Zixu smiled warmly.
“How?”
Hye-mi slowly opened her mouth.
“We tell the senior everything.”
“…Huh?”
Zixu’s eyes went round the way they had at the very beginning. Hye-mi spoke firmly.
“We tell the senior… and let him decide.”