My Feisty Sisters Are Coming After Me

Chapter 4

—–CROW—– 

I opened my eyes to a familiar ceiling. A dreary room filled with men, a stale smell that wouldn’t go away no matter how much I cleaned. 

The wake-up call blared from the speakers, and I sat up with a stiff body, starting the day’s routine…

“Ugh!  Gah, gasp, what a freaking awful dream.”

I bolted upright in bed and slapped my cheeks a few times to make sure I was really awake.  A military dream, the last thing I wanted to see even in my sleep.  This damn head of mine, trying to kill me.

“My heart’s still racing. My chest feels tight…huh?”

I was about to break out in a cold sweat, but the blanket next to me felt strangely soft.  No, more like…squishy?  The texture was too strange to be a pillow, so, thinking I was still half-asleep, I turned to look.

“Whoa?!  S-Su-jeong Noona?”

“Mmm…mmh.”

“Ah, s-sorry! You can go back to sleep.”

My hand had landed on Su-jeong Noona, who was frowning and curled up. I quickly pulled my hand away, tucked the blanket up to her shoulders, and patted her back to help her fall back asleep.

“Hmm…mm.”

“Phew, thank goodness.”

Thankfully, Su-jeong Noona’s breathing evened out, and I sighed in relief, trying to recall last night’s events.

‘I was listening to Noona…comforting her while hugging her, and then we fell asleep together? Su-jeong Noona fell asleep first, so I couldn’t wake her.’

It wasn’t strange that she’d fallen asleep, exhausted from crying, since she was always an early sleeper. The problem, however, was that a grown-up brother and sister had spent the night in the same bed.

Well, I could ignore it if I wanted to, but…perhaps because of the sensation I’d felt in my hand just now, my face flushed, and I scratched my head furiously.

‘Damn it, am I still half-asleep? What am I thinking? Get a grip, Yang Ji-gu.’

Scolding myself in the third person, I erased the earlier mishap from my mind.  It had been so long since something like this had happened, I blamed it on being in the military for too long, and carefully climbed out of bed.

-Rattle, rattle.

“Huh? What’s that?”

“Hey, Yang Ji-gu, are you in there? Why is the door locked?”

“Huh? G-Geum-bi Noona?”

“I can’t find Unnie, so are you with her? Or do you know where she went?”

I was about to wash my face to clear my head before Su-jeong Noona woke up, but Geum-bi Noona was rattling the doorknob on the other side.  Fortunately, Su-jeong Noona had locked the door yesterday, so we weren’t caught immediately, but it was only a matter of time before I was subjected to needless questioning.

‘She usually doesn’t come to my room… Did she come looking for Su-jeong Noona because she wasn’t in her room when she woke up?’

If that was the case, it meant she had already checked the second floor. If I stalled any longer, the other siblings might come too, and the situation could escalate.

“Uh, I haven’t seen her~? Why, isn’t she in her room?”

“No. I checked the second-floor bathroom and the first-floor bathroom, but she’s nowhere to be found.”

“Maybe she went out?”

“Her phone is in her room. Who goes out without their phone these days?”

“R-right.  Her phone is in her room…”

“Just open the door.  What are you hiding?”

“No, wait a minute.  Noona…!”

I tried to send Geum-bi Noona away somehow and wake Su-jeong Noona in the meantime, but Geum-bi Noona, as action-oriented as her fiery personality, wasn’t giving me an opening.  On the contrary, as I continued to stall, her voice grew increasingly suspicious.  As if recalling what happened earlier this morning and last night, her hand on the doorknob became more forceful.

“Yang Ji-gu, open the door.  Is Unnie in your room? Huh?”

“No, that’s impossible. Wait, I’m changing clothes…”

“Since when do you close the door to change clothes?”

“I-I always close the door to change.”

“You’ve never locked it before.”

“I have a right to privacy.  Let’s respect each other, okay?”

“I would, normally.  But Unnie’s missing!  Why are you so calm? And why do you keep refusing to open the…?”

“I was jerking off! I had a morning wood, so I was taking care of it, happy now?!”

“Huh? …Wha…?! Ugh, uh?”

Panicked, I blurted it out without thinking.  It seemed to be an unexpected blow, as Geum-bi Noona stopped rattling the doorknob, seemingly flustered.  Soon, a stammering voice, unlike her usual self, trailed off like an echo.

“S-sorry. I, I didn’t know. I’ll just go then. Tell me if you see Unnie! R-really sorry…!”

As her footsteps faded away, I finally breathed a sigh of relief and collapsed onto the bed.  At that moment, I heard a startled gasp from behind me.

“…Su-jeong Noona?”

“Ah, uh, hehe…Good morning, Ji-gu.”

Su-jeong Noona had been sound asleep, so when did she wake up?  She was sitting awkwardly, wrapped in the blanket, her eyes glancing at me nervously.

‘Well, with all that commotion, it would be abnormal if she hadn’t woken up.  Ugh, why am I so tired already…?’

I felt a wave of exhaustion, greater than when I heard Su-jeong Noona’s confession last night.  Rubbing my forehead, I shook my head as if to shake off my embarrassment.

* * *

Around lunchtime, I was alone in my room, engrossed in a YouTube video, when I heard a knock.  Su-jeong Noona peeked her head in, opening the door slightly.

“Can I come in, Ji-gu…?”

“Yeah.  Just in case, close the door behind you.”

“Okay…ha.”

Su-jeong Noona entered, naturally locking the doorknob just like yesterday.  It had caused a misunderstanding this morning, but it also prevented a bigger problem, so in a way, it was a relief.

“Um, you know…I’m sorry about this morning.  You got a strange misunderstanding because of me.”

“Don’t worry about it. If Geum-bi Noona had found us together, I would’ve been in much bigger trouble.”

“Hey, what’s the big deal about being in the same room? We used to do that all the time.”

“That was before we became adults.  Besides, being together for a bit and…sleeping together all night are different.”

“Ah, yeah, I guess you’re right.  Yeah, you’re probably right, Ji-gu…”

Su-jeong Noona apologized for the morning incident, but she seemed to brush it off lightly.  However, when I scratched my cheek and avoided her gaze, she seemed to realize the issue and blushed.

“Um, come sit down.  Didn’t you have something to say?”

“Huh? No…was that all you wanted to say?”

“Oh, was it? Sorry, I jumped to conclusions.”

“No, it’s not something to apologize for…So, can I just sit here for a bit since I’m already here?”

“Of course. Make yourself comfortable, Noona.  Here’s a pillow.”

“Thanks…hehe, it’s soft.”

Su-jeong Noona had only come to apologize for the misunderstanding with Geum-bi Noona, but because of my assumptions, she ended up staying in my room.  Embarrassed by my overreaction, I avoided her gaze, but she, with the pillow on her lap, looked at me intently and asked,

“What’s wrong, Ji-gu? Why are you looking away?”

“It’s nothing.  I just…feel like I was trying too hard to be sweet.”

“Huh? Not at all. I liked that you treated me comfortably, like you used to.”

“Like I used to…?  Wasn’t it the same as usual?”

“Ah, what I meant was…it wasn’t any different from usual.”

“Huh? So, in the end, nothing much has changed…ah, I see.”

I was puzzled by her words, then suddenly understood the hidden meaning.  Looking closely, Su-jeong Noona was only smiling calmly on the surface.  Her demure kneeling posture and the way she tightly clutched the pillow revealed her anxiety.

“Honestly…I was a little scared.  Not in a bad way, but I thought…I might not be able to treat you the same way as before.”

Su-jeong Noona’s confession last night.  That she was most likely the one Mom was talking about, the one who wasn’t blood-related. Perhaps the reason she had fallen asleep in my room was because of her anxiety.

As that thought crossed my mind, I stopped avoiding her gaze and found myself sitting next to her.

“Uh? J-Ji-gu?”

“What?”

“Nothing…you suddenly came closer.”

“We were closer than this yesterday.”

“Huh?! Th-that was…sorry.  I wasn’t myself then.”

“I was fine.”

“…Huh?”

“I liked it.  That you relied on me like family, like you always do.”

Returning her words from last night, I gently put my arm around her shoulders.  It was a replay of last night.  I didn’t hug her tightly or offer my chest like before, but as if waiting for it, Su-jeong Noona carefully leaned her head against me.

“If you say things like that…I’ll end up relying on you again.”

“You can rely on me.  That’s what family is for.”

“…Really? Are we…still family?”

“Of course. No matter what happened in the past, you’ll always be my family, Noona.  It won’t change.”

Whether we were blood-related or not, it didn’t matter.  The Su-jeong Noona in my memories was the same, and the Noona leaning on me now was the same too.

“So, whenever you’re having a hard time, come to me like this.”

“…Like now?  Always?”

“Yeah. Until Mom comes back and tells us everything, I’ll lend you my shoulder.”

“…Hehe. Our Ji-gu, you’ve really grown up.  I’m a little flustered.”

“Don’t say embarrassing things to your family. It’s awkward.”

“Ah, your face is red!  Gotcha, gotcha.”

“Ugh, stop poking my cheeks.  Are you a child? I said I’d comfort you, not be your toy! Ouch.”

“Heehee, but you like it, don’t you?  You’ve always enjoyed it when I did this since you were little.”

“No, I don’t!  It’s just better than being tormented by Geum-bi Noona, so I put up with it. Don’t get the wrong idea.”

It was certainly better than being pinched and having my ears pulled.  But as if she hadn’t heard me, Su-jeong Noona continued to poke my cheeks and ruffle my hair.

-Knock, knock.

“Yang Ji-gu, are you in there?”

“Gah?!”

“Huh?  Gasp…!”

We were interrupted by a knock and Geum-bi Noona’s voice.  We both covered our mouths at the same time and quickly exchanged glances.

‘I’ll answer.  Stay quiet, Noona.’

‘Okay.  I’ll pretend I’m not here.’

I nodded and raised my voice towards the door.

“I’m in here, what?”

“Can I come in?”

“No. I’m a little busy…what is it?”

“What are you so busy with?”

“Just…playing games.”

“What game?”

“You wouldn’t know even if I told you.”

“You’re not doing anything weird, are you?”

“Huh?!  N-no, I’m not!”

Geum-bi Noona was picking a fight, as if she just came to tease me.  When I snapped back, the knocking turned into the rattling of the doorknob.

“Why is the door locked?”

“Because…I want it to be.  Why, is there a problem?”

“Yeah, there is.”

“What?”

“Unnie is in your room right now.”

“…”

Su-jeong Noona and I exchanged glances again. But this time, we couldn’t communicate silently, and as we held our breath, Geum-bi Noona’s voice rose.

“I saw Unnie go in earlier. What are you two doing that you need to lock the door?”

Rattle, rattle, the doorknob turned, as if confirming it was locked.  

Unable to offer any excuse, our hearts pounded so loudly that I felt like they could be heard outside.

—–CROW—–