My Feisty Sisters Are Coming After Me

Chapter 58

—–CROW—–

The AC was on to dry the wet clothes, making the room chilly, so we pulled the blanket up to our shoulders.

I kept some distance from Hwa-yeon, creating a small gap between us under the blanket.

As if that thin layer of air were a thick wall, I curled up as much as possible, careful not to touch her skin.

“*Oppa*, are you cold? Why are you shivering?”

“It’s because I’m right under the AC. I’ll turn down the fan before we sleep, so don’t worry.”

“Hmm~ Or do you want to come closer? I’ll move more to the outside.”

“Weren’t you just whining about there not being enough space? And telling me not to come near you because it’s creepy.”

“That was before we were lying down together… We’re already sharing a blanket, what can I do?  I have to make space even if I don’t want to.”

“You’ll fall off if you keep moving. I’m fine, so stop fussing.”

“*You’re* the one shivering right now.”

“Anyway, where were we? Were we going to talk about my *noonas* first?”

Perhaps realizing that I was suffering because of her clothes, Hwa-yeon was being considerate, which was unusual.

But it was my own fault, and considering what we were about to talk about, being close to her wouldn’t be a good idea.

“Just so you know, there’s nothing weird going on between me and my *noonas*.  It’s best not to get your hopes up.”

“I wasn’t expecting anything… but you saying that makes it seem suspicious.”

“That’s why I’m telling you not to expect anything.  Sigh, where should I even begin?”

“How close have you been with my *unnies* lately?  Start there.”

I had drawn a line beforehand, but I could see Hwa-yeon’s eyes sparkling even in the darkness.

Figuring it was better not to look, I stared at the ceiling and put my arm over my forehead.

“First… you know I’ve been sleeping with my *noonas* a lot lately, right?”

“Huh? Sleeping together? You and my *unnies*…? I’ve never heard of this!”

“What?  Didn’t you ask knowing that?  Even if you didn’t know, you must have seen something.”

“Not at all… I don’t leave my room at night except to shower.  I just thought you were sometimes in your room and sometimes in theirs.”

“…I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

“What, what? Why are you sleeping with my *unnies*? How do you sleep? Do you take turns every night?  Are you going to their rooms every night…?”

“Don’t get excited already. It’s nothing to make a fuss about.”

Since she had asked so sharply at the pub, I thought she knew about this.

It felt like I had thrown fuel on a dormant fire, and I groaned, rubbing my forehead.

“Um, how should I put this… there’s nothing weird going on.  We’re literally just sleeping. It’s in my room, and we all lie down together, so there’s no chance for any of us to be alone.”

“What’s that…? You’re really just sleeping and coming out?  The three of you, side by side?  Nothing else happens?”

“Hey, what do you think is going to happen between us? *That* kind of thinking is weirder.”

“Ugh, that’s true, but… it’s still not normal. Why are you doing that every night?”

“After what Mom said, both of them have been really anxious.  They said they felt suffocated and couldn’t sleep when they were alone at night, so we started sleeping together to help with their insomnia.”

“Insomnia… so *oppa* is like a body pillow?  Like a bamboo wife for my *unnies* to cuddle?”

“Why do you assume they’re cuddling?  We don’t even hold hands!  We just lie next to each other, quietly, like now.”

I waved my hands at Hwa-yeon, who kept adding unnecessary details to her imagination, and explained the situation using our current position as an analogy.

As if finally understanding, Hwa-yeon mumbled and toned down her intensity.

“Hmm… I see.  What Mom said must have been a serious issue for my *unnies*. Until it’s revealed who the adopted one is, they must be confused about whether or not it’s them.”

“I’m telling you, it hasn’t been confirmed that *I’m* the adopted one.  You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?  You just *want* me to be the adopted one.”

“No, well… I’m not doing this without reason.  Honestly, a lot of the circumstances point to *oppa*.”

“What circumstances?  The stuff about my *noonas* is a misunderstanding, so leave that out.”

“Well… *oppa’s* the only man in our family, right?”

“The probability of being born male or female is fifty-fifty for everyone.  It’s just a coincidence, isn’t it?”

“*Oppa* is also right in the middle age-wise.  And everyone else is born a year apart, but you’re two years apart from everyone, isn’t that suspicious?”

“How is that suspicious?”

“Our parents wanted a son, so they adopted *oppa*.  Things like that were common in the past, right?  ‘The family line must be continued by a man’ and all that.  Preference for sons!”

“So you’re saying Mom and Dad adopted me? For the future of the family line?”

“Isn’t it plausible?  They had a good relationship before my *unnies* were born, but after having daughters in a row, their relationship became strained.  Then they adopted *oppa*, their relationship improved, and then they had me and Mok-hee… Ow! Why did you hit me?”

“I hit you because that’s ridiculous. Where do I even begin with that?”

Without realizing it, the hand that was on my forehead smacked the side of Hwa-yeon’s head.

Even in the dark, I could feel her glaring at me, so I flicked her forehead again and sighed deeply.

“Ha… my dear sister, let’s think logically, shall we?”

“Huh?  Okay…”

“First. If it was because of the family line like you said, would they entrust something so important to an adopted child?  Especially when they’re not infertile?”

“Well, Mom and Dad aren’t narrow-minded people, so maybe they didn’t care about blood relations…”

“Then second.  If they’re as globally-minded and trendy as you say, would they decide to adopt just because ‘only a son can carry on the family line’?  Do you really think so?”

“…Maybe they thought differently in the past…”

“And lastly, third.  Even if all of that is true, they wouldn’t have had more children after adopting me, right?  You and our youngest sister might have been sons, so why would they jump to conclusions and adopt beforehand?”

“Well, you know, relationships are unpredictable. Maybe they weren’t getting along when they adopted *oppa*, but then they made up and… it just happened… hehe?”

“Yang Hwa-yeon.”

“Yes…”

“You know that doesn’t make sense, right?”

“Ugh, yeah… now that I think about it, it doesn’t. I was wrong, sorry.”

We had taken a long detour, but with this, I had completely cleared up the suspicion about my adoption.

Of course, I still didn’t know the truth, but at least it was clear that Hwa-yeon’s absurd theory was wrong.

“Anyway, I got close to my *noonas* for the reasons I mentioned earlier. It’s absolutely not because I’m adopted and they’re taking care of me, so let’s end the misunderstanding here. Got it?”

“Okay… but *oppa*, then nothing more than that happened with my *unnies*, right?”

“I told you. We just got close naturally because we’ve been sleeping together lately.  What else would happen?”

“But do you really get that close just from sleeping together?  Really, really… you just slept?  Right?”

Seriously, she was sharp in the strangest places.

I was aware that I had been vague, but Hwa-yeon moved closer, clinging to me as she questioned me persistently.

‘I’d better not talk about the rest… it’s not something I can talk about without filtering.’

There were some things that adults shouldn’t share with children.

I shrugged as if it were nothing and quickly changed the subject.

“That’s all that happened in my room. We might have brushed against each other in our sleep, but nothing more than that.”

“Hmm~ really?  That’s strange, my gut feeling is never wrong.”

“Put away your weird sensors and tell me your story.  How did this whole curiosity thing even start?”

“Huh?  What, what started…?”

“I let it slide at the pub because you were flustered, but the more I think about it, the more it doesn’t make sense. I understand being interested in a man’s body, but why me?  And so suddenly?”

“Ugh, that’s… it’s a long story.”

“It’s okay. We’re sleeping here, so we have plenty of time. Don’t hold back.”

“Ugh… fine! You said you’re still sleeping with my *unnies*, right?  Do I need to let them know you’re not coming home tonight?”

“I texted them that I was drinking with you and that I might be late.  I’ll just text them again before we go to sleep.”

“Ugh, so thorough about unnecessary things… really.”

She had been so aggressive earlier, but now that it was her turn to explain, she couldn’t even speak properly.

But it didn’t matter how pitiful she looked in the dark, and her clinging to me was only choking her.

She wouldn’t be able to handle the pressure from being so close.

I deliberately coughed to give her a hint, and after hesitating, Hwa-yeon fidgeted with her fingers and confessed.

“There are a few reasons… it started when my friends at school kept asking me for relationship advice…”

“Relationship advice?  You?”

“Yeah.  Apparently, I seem like someone who’s experienced… And I took a gap year, so I’m a year older than my friends. They have all sorts of expectations of me.”

“I can see that.  When you’ve just graduated high school, a one-year age difference seems huge.”

In a few months, they would realize they were all the same age, getting drunk and throwing up together.

But since their first semester hadn’t even ended yet, I could understand why she was struggling.

“I tried to give them advice as much as I could.  But as the conversations got deeper, it became hard to make things up without any experience…”

“Making things up is the problem in the first place.”

“Put yourself in my shoes, *oppa*!  I couldn’t ignore their expectant gazes…”

“So you approached me as a solution? Then why didn’t you just ask me about men’s psychology in relationships?”

“…The ‘deeper’ part was… a little more than that.”

“Huh?”

“You know, like… holding hands, hugging, and then… things beyond cuddling!”

Beyond cuddling, huh?

So, like, getting physical?  These kids these days, moving pretty fast.

‘Well, at that age, guys are always yelling “sex” in group chats.  I guess this kind of interest is common for both genders…’

I figured it out and kept my mouth shut, so Hwa-yeon hesitantly moved on to her next excuse.

“And also, at the cafe, they were saying… they saw me talking to *oppa* before, and they said you seemed pretty popular…”

“Really?  I’ve never heard that. Who said that?”

“Why are you suddenly curious?  Are you going to ask for their number if you know?”

“No, nothing like that, just curious. I don’t even know the names of the other part-timers besides you.  Why are you so defensive?”

“Hmph. Anyway, after hearing that, I thought *oppa* would know this kind of stuff, so… I kind of made a move.”

“‘Kind of’? It was completely blatant.”

“W-Was it that blatant?”

“You suddenly grabbed my butt and asked me to teach you about men using my body.  Don’t you think that’s a bit much?”

“W-When did I ask you to teach me with your body?! Of course, you could explain it with words! I was just thinking about how to ask… and since you were so close with my *unnies*, I just threw a fastball.  Don’t twist my words!”

“If you call it a fastball yourself, it doesn’t seem like I’m twisting your words.”

“Anyway, I absolutely didn’t mean it like that! …90% of it, anyway.”

“What about the other 10%?”

“Well, at first, I said it out of spite, but after I said it, I started thinking… what if it actually happened…?  It’s not like I can’t imagine it, right?”

“So you realized it after you said it.  And then?”

“Um, so… like in dramas, I thought, ‘Would it be okay if he was adopted?’ but it was just for a moment!  And I didn’t think *oppa* would just touch me… so I tempted… no, that’s not it. I just tested the waters a little!”

She changed her words midway, but the gist was that she made a move because she trusted me.

The direction of that trust was strange, but Hwa-yeon’s situation was complicated, so I decided to understand.

‘I can relate to the “it just happened” part these days. Things like that can happen when you’re cornered.’

I folded my hands on the pillow, rested my head on them, and thought.

It was a tangled mess, but to summarize, Hwa-yeon didn’t have any malicious intent. And just today, she had been concerned for me at the cafe and taken care of me at the pub.

“Um, *oppa*. But since you said it’s not confirmed yet, it’s okay now.  I… I went too far, didn’t I? I’m sorry…”

Seeing Hwa-yeon apologize, unusually subdued after finishing her story, I casually, nonchalantly, asked in a barely audible voice,

“How much do you want to know?”

“…Huh?”

“How curious are you?  You must have a limit in mind.”

“Um, well… *oppa*, really?”

“You’re not asking to experience anything physically, you just want to talk, right?  As long as we don’t cross the line, I don’t see why not.”

Talking about this kind of thing between siblings wasn’t normal, but it was better than her learning about it from some unreliable source.

Knowing Hwa-yeon, she might actually do that, so I acted nonchalant and checked her limits.

Judging by her words and reactions so far, I didn’t think she’d bring up anything too sensitive.

I felt relieved… or perhaps complacent.

I had forgotten.

That innocent children were the ones who would casually ask questions like, “How are babies made?”

“*Oppa*… what does sex feel like?”

“…Huh?”

“I-Is it really that good? Does it feel like you’re flying?  Does it feel like your head is… exploding?”

The space that had been between us was gone.

Hwa-yeon, who had been gradually moving closer, naturally pulled my arm and wrapped her hand around it.

Her breasts, smaller than my *noonas’*, but with a definite presence, pressed against my arm.

Whether intentional or not, her other hand slowly moved down towards my waist.

We had been talking while keeping our distance at the cafe, the pub, and even in bed.

But the moment my flustered hand landed on Hwa-yeon’s shoulder, our conversation rapidly accelerated.

—–CROW—–

#READ at DarkstarTranslations