Lily (End), Vien (1)
Lily (End), Vien (1)
"-....chys."
Kkum-beok kkum-beok. My eyes were closing.
"-...stachys."
What time is it now? I'm so sleepy.
"Stachys."
Lily noona's voice snaps sharply, pulling me out of my daze.
I was walking. Was I walking while dozing off with my eyes open?
"What are you thinking about so deeply?"
Lily noona asks, but I wave my hand.
"Ah, I just had something to think about for a moment."
I couldn't bring myself to say I was dozing off. It was bound to be terribly rude.
However, keeping what I wanted to say bottled up didn't mean the dissatisfaction in my heart disappeared.
Should I tell her not to hang out this late anymore?
... Right. I should do it. As naturally as possible.
"Today was fun."
Lily noona greets me in front of her lodging.
A faint smile lingers on her face.
Forcing my unfocused eyes open, I also greet her back.
"We played way too late today. Next time, let's part ways a bit earlier. Go on in, noona."
I raise my hand to say goodbye.
But she, who had been smiling and saying goodbye, arches one eyebrow.
"... Did I hear that wrong?"
Seul-geuk. Noona slowly turns her head to look at me.
Whew. Thinking she might get angry, I had planned to casually slip the words in and leave.
She didn't look like she had any intention of letting even a single detail like this slide.
Still, I can't back down. The words are already out of my mouth.
Catering to her mood all day and then completely ruining her mood right now would be a foolish thing to do, but there is no other moment to say this if not now.
When we hang out late, I have to say let's not hang out late.
I can't just be dragged around by her all the time.
Whining to hyung about how hard it is and making him deal with everything, only for me not to change—that would be a true nuisance to hyung.
I stood facing her.
"Um... because we played much later than before today. I think it'll be hard to always hang out like this."
Not in a serious tone, but in an everyday tone, I convey my feelings without provoking her.
But fat chance.
"That's because we had a lot to do today. Besides, we can only meet one day this week, aren't you even sad about it?"
"No... it's not like we'll never see each other again, we just have to wait 4 days and we'll meet."
".... I even bought you a gift, yet you say such upsetting things?"
"The gift was appreciated, noona. But this isn't right."
"What isn't right?"
Does she really not know?
I thought as I looked at Lily noona gazing at me with a brazen expression.
She refused to lose even a single word.
-Jjireureu. Jjireureu
As I keep silent, crickets chirp.
There were only the two of us in the alley.
At a time when everyone else had gone into their homes to rest, only the two of us were just now parting ways.
I hope that through this brief silence I kept, she would realize how late it was.
I wanted her to realize how unnatural it was for only the two of us to be out at an hour when no one else was roaming around outside.
"Meeting from dawn and hanging out until late at night just isn't right."
"Why isn't it right? Stachys, do you want to see noona get angry?"
I can feel the atmosphere turning a bit serious.
It was an unfamiliar moment for me, who had always backed down.
But what does Lily noona even have to be angry about?
If anyone's going to be angry, it should be me, who acted like a pack mule until late.
Maybe because I'm tired, I'm taking things a bit more sensitively.
"... Noona... why are you getting angry...?"
"I work hard to find fun places to take you around, and I look up famous restaurants to go to. But you're trying to ignore my efforts."
It might have been an effort on noona's part.
Yeah, maybe I didn't appreciate that.
But it goes both ways.
Do they know how much effort I'm putting in, running around without a single day of rest to cater to their moods?
And while it's a pity to deny her efforts, she didn't even ask for my opinion.
I forcefully suppress the urge to say, 'I never asked you to do that.'
Because I know how much of a hurt it would be.
Instead, I ask:
"Are those efforts for me, or for noona?"
"For us...!"
"... Us?"
I tried to hold back my anger, but a surge of frustration hit me.
I take a step closer to her.
It is a dark night.
Though I couldn't see her expression, Lily noona, whom I expected to stand her ground, stepped back in evasion.
"Us?"
What kind of relationship are we even? You said we're like family.
You said let's be like real siblings, with a noona and a dongsaeng.
After saying that yourself, why do you keep making things hard for me?
It's completely not for my sake.
"Aren't we family? What kind of family hangs out this much?"
"... F-Family comes in various forms."
"Hoo..."
I don't want a long argument. I'm tired and I want to rest.
I hate this kind of emotional battle.
I've always hated quarreling.
To end it quickly, I need to get straight to the point.
When I take another step forward, she steps back another step.
"Noona."
"... Huh?.. Yes?"
Moving backward before she knew it, she bumps into a wall.
"I'll ask just one thing."
"S-Stachys?"
Her voice was flustered. I expected her to fly into a rage, so this was unexpected.
Perhaps because this is the first time I've ever acted like this, she couldn't help but be flustered.
"It's something I've kept getting confused about."
Even though I already think it's not... I'm going to ask anyway.
Because saying this will shut her mouth.
Even though she was blocked by the wall and had nowhere left to go, I approached her.
I closed in on her until we could feel each other's breath.
Lily noona couldn't face me and turned her head slightly to the side.
"So you have to answer me completely honestly, without any lies. Got it?"
It's dark, so her expression isn't very visible.
The moon is hidden behind clouds, so there's no light either.
But I could see her nodding her head.
.
.
.
.
.
.
"Lily noona, do you like me?"
"Hk...!"
Lately, the distance between us had been way too close.
Over the past month, everyone had been calling me out without a single day off.
Each had their own reasons, but we'd had skinship of all sorts several times.
There were plenty of reasons to be suspicious.
This wasn't just applicable to Lily noona.
What hyung said also served as a catalyst for my suspicions.
She drops her head low. Her expression wasn't even visible anyway, so why is she doing that?
"I l-like you. As a younger brother."
Lily noona, who had been silent for a long while, answered with a trembling voice.
"You know that's not what I asked."
"Why are you suddenly asking that?"
"It's important. Answer me straight."
Lily fell silent for a long time once again.
Whew. When I let out a sigh of frustration, she flinches and trembles.
Just when the silence dragged on so long that I thought... could she really like me?
The moon, which had been hidden inside the clouds, peeks out.
Moonlight illuminates Lily noona.
At the exact same time, she raises her head.
Her expression is visible all too clearly.
Red hair and red eyes.
As if she has made up her mind, she takes a deep breath.
And then she says to me with a resolute expression and voice, without a single flicker of hesitation:
"No, Stachys. I don't like you as a man."
.
.
... See?
"... You don't like me, right?"
"Yes, Stachys. I don't like you."
Even when I asked one more time, there was no change in her expression.
Even as I gaze intently at her, she remains with that same resolute expression.
"... Exactly. It's not like that, so why are you acting like this? This might be a family's sense of distance to noona, but to me, this is a lover's distance. Starting today, unless there's something special, meeting from early dawn until late at night ends today."
"Meeting until late ends today...? Where is such a thing!"
"I don't care how long noona stays angry about this. I'm not going to back down on this point."
I can see her clenching both fists tightly.
They are even trembling.
"I won't back down either. Go ahead and do whatever you want!"
Noona shoots words at me, and then
Pak! She, who had been cornered against the wall, pushes me.
Then she turns her body and goes inside the house.
Kwang!!
She slams the door shut fiercely. As if to let me know just how angry she is.
I let out a deep sigh.
Why on earth is she being so unreasonable?
It's not like I said let's not meet at all, I'm just saying let's meet a little bit shorter.
How much did she love working me like a laborer?
You don't hang out like this with other friends.
Or is she trying to make up for what she couldn't do for her departed younger sibling by doing it to me?
It didn't seem like that, though.
Like after a battle, my hands are trembling faintly and my heart is pounding thump-thump.
Sleep had also vanished before I knew it.
How am I going to face her again later?
I'm already worried.
Still, I had to go back now.
Because in a few hours, I have to meet Vien.
Coming into the house, I blinked my aching eyes.
The series of events with Lily noona had already left my mind.
My body wanted rest.
I threw my body down and lay on the bed.
How long will I be able to rest...
"Stachys, wake up."
Someone shook me.
"Uhn..?"
Silver hair and silver eyes. A petite physique.
"... Vien?"
It felt like not even a few seconds had passed since I lay down on the bed and closed my eyes, so why is Vien here?
"Vien, were you hiding in my house...?"
"Stop talking nonsense and get up. It's morning."
Already?
I rolled my eyes and looked out the window.
"It's dark, isn't it night?"
"I'm telling you it's morning!"
It had definitely become brighter than I remembered.
I couldn't believe it.
My break time is already over?
"Vien, I'm seriously so tired I feel like I'm going to die, can't I sleep just a little longer?"
"What? Just how long did you play with Lily to be like this!"
"Just a little. I'll sleep just a little..."
Chalssak!!
A sharp pain was felt on my back, but I just flinched once and stopped.
Harboring the vain hope that if I just endure this, I can sleep again?
"Get up quickly! Right now is my time!"
She talks as if I'm an object.
It felt like neighborhood kids fighting over a swing, shouting, 'It's my turn to ride!'
"Stachys. Get up before I get mad!"
Ah.... Tears are about to fall.
It hasn't been long since I fought with Lily noona, and I don't want to fight again.
I hoist my body up from my magnetic bed.
As I move, she speaks in a slightly more lenient voice.
"Hmph. If you're that tired, go sleep in the carriage for now."
"... A carriage?"
What on earth are we doing today that she even prepared a carriage?
"... We're riding a carriage?"
"Today we're going to a faraway orphanage."
Ah, right. She was a saintess.
Is she saying let's go do some volunteer work or something?
Still, knowing I can take a sound sleep in the carriage gives me a little bit of strength.
"Wash up and come out quickly. We're going to see kids, is it okay to be reeking of body odor?"
"Ha... alright."
Pushed by her nagging, I go in front of the mirror.
I see my reflection looking even more emaciated than yesterday.
I look like someone who caught some disease.
Do these girls really want to drag a person like this out?
I couldn't understand it with my brain.
Vien's voice can be heard.
-'Stachys! And why is your room such a mess!'
Because of you guys. I like things neat too, you know.
But I didn't voice those thoughts.
-'I'm telling you to live by cleaning up a bit!'
"Vien, don't touch anything."
I said that beforehand because it's uncomfortable for her to touch my things for no reason.
-'W-What? I was just trying to tidy up a bit, why are you like this?'
"It's uncomfortably unnecessary. Just leave it be."
Dudadada.
Suddenly, the sound of Vien running over this way can be heard.
"Hey! Are you uncomfortable with me?!"
She shouts in a loud voice.
Oh, jeez. She startles me right out of my dozing, half-asleep wash.
"Keep it down. Everyone around is sleeping."
Renting a small room at an inn, I always live walking on eggshells around the people in neighboring rooms.
I wet my hair with the drawn water.
"Just answer me quickly!"
Why is she so full of energy?
Ah, she must have rested well yesterday. I'm jealous.
"It's not that I'm uncomfortable with you, it's that I'm uncomfortable with you touching my stuff. Don't misunderstand and go sit down."
She has a personality that can't stand hearing harsh words.
Even if she talks harshly, she's soft-hearted inside; if someone curses at her on the street, Vien is the type to mope all day long.
Still, a saintess is a saintess.
She didn't just up and change from being raised hearing only sweet words at the church.
Having cleared up the misunderstanding from my words, she dropped the force from her throat and muttered:
"Hmph. You should've said so from the start. Besides, where is there to sit in this pigsty?"
Oh, seriously. It's not a pigsty. It's like this because of you guys.
Just when I was thinking whether I should flick her forehead, she hummed and turned back around.
-'Stachys, breakfast?'
Unable to hold back even that short while, she chatters.
"Lily noona cooked something for me a while ago. It's in the magical food box, so let's take it out and eat."
Dudadada.
The sound of Vien running back is heard once more.
"Vien, stop running-"
"Lily came all the way to your house and cooked for you?? When?"
This time, Vien's expression looks serious.
"Why, remember that time last morning when you guys forced your way into my room? When noona cooked breakfast."
"... Ah, that time... I thought.. you haven't let anyone else into your house since then, right?"
"Aside from you who broke in without permission, no. That aside, how did you even get in?"
"... The door was open though...?"
Ah, did I not lock the door when I came in? I was too tired to remember.
"Don't just walk in because it's open."
"Then should I scream in the hallway? You weren't waking up! And it was dawn!"
"You know it was dawn? Earlier you said it was morning."
I said while shaking the water off my hair with a towel.
Thinking I finally caught her properly, I looked toward Vien triumphantly, but she was already gone.
-'Come out quickly. Let's eat.'
... She always runs away whenever she's at a disadvantage.
.
.
.
Vien only came out of my room after eating all the food Lily noona had made.
I wondered where all of that fit in that petite frame.
"Was it good..?"
I asked, dumbfounded, at Vien walking while clutching her adorably bloated belly.
"It wasn't good."
I felt an itch to flick her forehead.