My Feisty Sisters Are Coming After Me

Chapter 8

—–CROW—– 

Su-jeong Noona didn’t talk with me or lean on my shoulder to catch her breath like yesterday.  She simply lay down on the bed as soon as she came in, closed her eyes, and curled up.

“Are you going to sleep like this tonight?”

“Yeah…is that okay?”

“Yeah, it’s okay.”

Su-jeong Noona’s small hand fidgeted, grabbing my sleeve. 

Unlike Geum-bi Noona, who dragged me around forcefully, Su-jeong Noona’s hand felt unstable, as if it would slip away with the slightest movement.

So, I took her hand and placed it firmly on my waist.  Su-jeong Noona’s closed eyes flinched in surprise, but I ignored it and turned to pat her back, as if soothing a child clinging to me.

Slowly, with my gentle touch, Su-jeong Noona, whose shoulders had been tense, relaxed her expression.

“…Hey, you’re just my younger brother. You surprised me.”

“You surprised me first.”

“When did I?”

“Who wouldn’t be surprised when you suddenly climb into their bed in the middle of the night?”

“…This is normal skinship between siblings.”

Su-jeong Noona threw my words from earlier back at me, puffing out her cheeks as if refusing to be argued with. It was ridiculous that it was considered impudent when I did it, but normal skinship when she did it, but I decided to quietly comply with her for now.

“Did something happen with Geum-bi Noona today?”

“…Nothing.  Nothing much happened.”

“Really?”

“Why do you ask? Did something happen between you and Geum-bi, Ji-gu?”

“She just asked me some things, and I answered appropriately.  I almost died keeping secrets, though.”

“I see…You’ve worked hard, thank you.”

She said nothing happened, but it didn’t seem like that was entirely true.  If she were really fine, there would be no reason for her to seek refuge in my room or to close her eyes without even bringing up what was troubling her.

‘Was the atmosphere that bad?  Well, even Geum-bi Noona said she couldn’t ask Su-jeong Noona anything and came to me instead.’

I didn’t hear any fighting…so maybe they were both feeling disappointed and hurt.

This was difficult.  We needed Mom to come back soon to resolve this.

“Noona.”

“Yeah?”

“Did you hear anything from Mom about when she’s coming back?”

“Not really…sorry, I should have asked earlier.”

“It’s okay. It’s only been a day.”

“Still, it would be good to know when she’s coming…I’ll try contacting her tomorrow.”

“Thanks, Noona.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Instead of acting as a bridge between them, I decided to wait for someone else who could help.  So, I hadn’t done anything in particular, but it seemed to be enough for Su-jeong Noona, as she pulled me closer by my waist.

“Ugh, Noona, I keep rolling over like this…”

“Then roll over.”

“Then I’ll be clinging to you.”

“Then cling to me.”

“…Isn’t that a little embarrassing?”

“We slept just fine yesterday.”

“That’s because you were exhausted from crying, and I just closed my eyes for a moment and fell asleep.  The situation is a little different now.”

“How is it different?”

“We’re both…wide awake.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

I tried to pull away, feeling like we were too close, but Su-jeong Noona didn’t loosen her grip.  No matter how I tried to reason with her, my voice grew smaller with each of her rebuttals.

‘Am I being too sensitive? But after what Geum-bi Noona said…’

I decided to be careful until the truth was revealed.  I made up my mind and was about to speak firmly to Su-jeong Noona again, when—

“Ji-gu, you’re my younger brother, right?”

“Huh?”

“You were, you are, and you always will be my younger brother, right?”

“Of course…but…”

“Then it’s fine. There’s no problem, so don’t try to distance yourself.”

“Um, but Noona, ugh?”

“Or Ji-gu…would you treat me differently…if I weren’t your real sister?”

Su-jeong Noona, who had her eyes closed until now, looked up at me.  I hadn’t noticed because her head was down, but there were faint traces of tears in her eyes.

“We’re family…and it won’t change, right? Didn’t you say that?”

Su-jeong Noona threw my words back at me once again.  As expected, I gave up on arguing and gently hugged her.

“Of course it will.  Whether you’re my real sister or not, you’ll always be my Noona.”

“Right…? Hehe, I see.”

I affirmed my words and stroked her hair, and Su-jeong Noona finally seemed relieved, nuzzling her face against my chest.  Her action seemed more like that of a younger sibling than an older sister, but I didn’t say anything and just pulled the blanket up higher.

‘The door is locked, but…it would be embarrassing if someone saw us.’

Even though there were no cameras, I instinctively hid us from view.  Of course, I wasn’t having any strange thoughts about my Noona; it was just a natural instinct for psychological comfort.

‘She’s clinging to me, expecting me not to react…no matter how I think about it, both Su-jeong Noona and Geum-bi Noona seem like real sisters.’

They think alike.  It would be more suspicious if they *weren’t* sisters.  Of course, there were differences in the details.  Geum-bi Noona was testing my reaction as a man, while Su-jeong Noona was checking if I considered her family.

‘…Let’s keep this a secret forever. If I say they’re alike, they’ll both get mad and nag me.’

Making that resolution, I played with Su-jeong Noona’s hair until she calmed down.  She clung to me so tightly that I even ruffled her hair on purpose, but she still didn’t let go all night.

In the end, we spent another night together in the same bed, just like yesterday.  With us closer than before, I subtly shifted my waist away from her around dawn.

* * *

I woke up around sunrise.  Su-jeong Noona seemed to have become a late sleeper recently, as she appeared to be sleeping later than me again today, following yesterday’s pattern.

‘It’s fine.  I’ll just cover my head with the blanket and sneak out so no one sees me.’

Just in case someone came in like yesterday.  Thinking I should shower first, I sat up, but felt something unexpected beneath me.

“Ugh?! What’s this, a hand…?  Huh?”

I was relieved that both my hands were safely on Su-jeong Noona’s back and the blanket, but Su-jeong Noona’s hand was on my butt.

‘Did it slip down while she was sleeping?  I should just move it, huh?’

“Mmm~”

The moment I lightly touched the back of Su-jeong Noona’s hand, her hand squeezed my butt cheek.  As if she were grabbing bread or pizza in her dream, she kept kneading it, and I wriggled my waist, struggling to pull away.

“Ha…ha…phew…You’re not awake, are you, Noona?”

I quickly got out of bed and looked at Su-jeong Noona, who was wrapped in the blanket.  She was smiling blissfully and twitching her lips, but her eyelids didn’t move, so she didn’t seem to be awake.

“Her hand is moving…that’s a little suspicious.  Ah, it’s probably nothing.”

Thinking she just had a weird sleeping habit, I left the room. I went to the kitchen for a glass of water before showering and ran into Geum-bi Noona.

“Oh, Noona? You’re already up?”

“…And you are too.  You’re up early.”

“Yeah, I went to bed early last night for once.”

“Hmm~ really?  I see.”

Geum-bi Noona was already filling a glass of water, so I waited my turn.  After exchanging morning greetings, an awkward silence fell between us, and I felt an urge to scratch the fingers I had held with her yesterday.

“You’re getting water, right? Here’s a cup.”

“Ah, thanks, Noona.”

“Change the setting if you want cold water.  I just had lukewarm water.”

“Okay, I’ll keep that in mind.”

“By the way, Ji-gu.”

“Yeah? What now?”

“Su-jeong Unnie isn’t in her room again today.”

“Pfft—!”

I was taking a big gulp of water to clear my head when Geum-bi Noona’s words hit me like a curveball.  Fortunately, I only spat out water, which wasn’t a problem since I was about to shower.

“Do you have any idea where she is? Or…should I check myself?”

“No, um, well, Noona…”

I slowly turned my head, and Geum-bi Noona, standing there with her arms crossed and glaring at me, was definitely a problem.  I racked my still-foggy brain for an excuse—

“Ji-gu, something terrible happened…oh? Geum-bi?”

Su-jeong Noona walked out of my room.  Geum-bi Noona’s eyes turned sharp as a hawk as she looked at her.

“Unnie, why are you coming out of *his* room again?”

“Oh, that’s…I had something to do with Ji-gu.”

“Ji-gu is right here.”

“Yeah, so I was waiting for him in his room.”

“Really? You weren’t in there since last night?”

“Th-that’s impossible…? Hehe.”

Su-jeong Noona’s awkward laugh only fueled Geum-bi Noona’s suspicion.  I anxiously searched for an opportunity to intervene, worried that yesterday’s scene would repeat itself.

But it was Su-jeong Noona’s next words that extinguished the flames.

“Th-that’s not important right now. I just talked to Mom, and…”

““ …!””

Geum-bi Noona and I flinched simultaneously.  Su-jeong Noona had said she would contact Mom yesterday, but we didn’t expect a reply so soon.

‘Is it because of the time difference?  A text sent early in the morning here would have been received in the evening there.’

Our eyes focused on the phone Su-jeong Noona was holding. She gulped and spoke slowly, making sure we heard her correctly.

“Mom…was in a car accident.  She’s not seriously injured, but she’ll have to be hospitalized for at least a month…”

““ …What?!””

Even though Su-jeong Noona spoke clearly, we couldn’t help but ask again.  

What she had poured on the flames to extinguish them wasn’t water, but gasoline.

—–CROW—–