My Younger Sister Was My First Love

33. Mock Exam

There are many ways to express gratitude.

For trivial matters, you can simply say “thank you” and be done with it.

If you want to go further, you can give a heartfelt gift.

But asking to touch someone’s chest is just…

“No way.”

I firmly refused.

“What’s wrong with that? You don’t like it or what?”

Jihee looked at me with a pleading gaze, as if she had done something wrong.

“You’re my dongsaeng. Which oppa touches their dongsaeng’s chest in this world?”

“That’s because dongsaengs refuse or dislike it, so they do that. I won’t sue you even if you touch me. I won’t spread it around anywhere.”

If I had permission.

If such a world really existed.

Would it be okay for an oppa to touch his younger sister’s chest? Really?

Am I really that stupid?

Lately, I haven’t been able to respond quickly to Ji-hui’s words.

My brain, which could solve even the so-called “killer” math problems with ease, seemed to shut down whenever I heard Ji-hui’s voice.

I feel like I’m getting more and more stupid.

“No way.”

“Be clear. Do you mean you can’t or you don’t want to?”

The conversation had left the realm of reason and entered the territory of likes and dislikes.

Would it be okay to touch Ji-hui’s chest?

Do I want to touch Ji-hui’s chest?

My gaze naturally fell from her face to her neck and then down to her chest.

I’m definitely curious….

“I don’t want to.”

I closed my eyes tightly.

What am I even thinking about?

“Why not!”

Ji-hui raised her voice in response to my answer.

“I don’t want to. Don’t touch me.”

“Are you really not interested? This is something that no one else would do for you.”

“Then it’s even more reason not to touch you. And if you want to thank me, you can do something else. What’s with this chest obsession?”

“I saw it on the internet! If you let someone touch your chest, it’ll solve all your anger issues!”

Haha.

I guess it’s true that the internet can ruin people.

“That’s probably because those people are lovers or something.”

“We’re lovers too.”

“Don’t talk nonsense.”

“Love is love! It means we’re people who love each other. We’re family, so we don’t love each other?”

“Who calls their family lover? Anyway, it’s not about the chest or anywhere else. Don’t say things like ‘let someone touch your body.’ Just don’t do it.”

“Tch…….”

Ji-hui’s face turned red with anger, and she suddenly started putting her hand inside her t-shirt.

“What are you doing?”

Her white fingers inside her t-shirt began to move.

“You’re touching your own chest.”

“So what? Why are you doing this all of a sudden?”

Although I couldn’t see her skin, the scene was both shocking and indecent.

“Oppa, regret it. I’ll explain just how indecent this is.”

The wrinkles forming on her t-shirt continued to give away the location of her fingers.

The sound of rustling and the three-dimensional volume of her movements.

“It’s really, completely soft. The softest part of my body.”

“Alright, alright, stop it.”

My soul seemed to escape through my lips.

“Hmm, now you want to touch it, right?”

“No, I definitely won’t touch it, so stop.”

“Ha, really? You’re so arrogant. You’re the one who said it, right? You won’t touch it, but later you’ll cry and want to touch it, won’t you?”

“I’m not crazy, so I won’t make such a request to you while crying.”

With a swooshing sound, Jihee’s arm slipped out from under her T-shirt.

At the same time, cold sweat dripped down my forehead.

This was evidence that my body had frozen.

Jihee approached me with a proud face, her arms crossed.

“Don’t pretend to be innocent. You don’t know what people are like.”

I shook my head repeatedly at her deeply meaningful whisper.

“No matter what people do, I won’t do that, okay?”

Unless I got struck by lightning and lost my mind, I wouldn’t beg Jihee to touch her chest while crying.

“Is that so? I’ll be watching. Then.”

The crafty, devil-like teacher returned to her room with a smirk.

I was exhausted, and as I prepared for my meal, I couldn’t help but think.

What if I had really touched her just now……

What if I had really grabbed her……

“Are you crazy? Lee Junho.”

I slapped my forehead hard with my hand.

Someone, please stop my imagination button.

* * *

Saturday morning.

The day of the first mock exam at home.

Although Jihee was taking it alone at home, I did my best to create an atmosphere for her.

I prepared the test papers as if real students were taking the exam.

The size and texture of the test papers were important.

Of course, I would make sure to mark them correctly and submit them.

The only drawback was that I didn’t have a single-person desk.

I thought about letting her take the exam alone in her room, but that wouldn’t be good.

A spacious and unfamiliar environment would be better than a cozy and familiar one.

So, I decided to set up the exam on the dining table instead.

If the desk wasn’t too expensive, I thought about buying one online.

If that was prepared, next time I would let her take the exam alone in the living room.

The exam was set to start at 8:40 am.

Since we agreed to keep the time precise, I had to wake Jihee up earlier than usual.

-Ding ding ding

“Jihee.”

I knocked twice more, but there was no response.

Usually, this would be enough to wake him up, but it seemed like an extra hour of sleep was definitely needed today.

In the end, I opened the door, turned on the light, and faced the still-dreamy teacher, Jihee.

“Jihee, wake up.”

His eyelashes, as if refusing to wake up, trembled slightly.

I gently shook his shoulder to wake him up, and Jihee’s eyes slowly opened.

“……Oppa.”

“Wake up. We have a test today, so we need to get up early.”

“……Just five more minutes.”

“No way. The test is important, and we need to treat it like a real exam. I told you about it last night before bed. Why didn’t you set your alarm?”

“……If you wake me up now, I’ll give you a kiss.”

I knew it was just something he said in his sleep, but still.

Saying he’d give me a kiss was like making a international treaty or something.

What was surprising was that I slightly flinched, thinking he might actually do it.

“I said I’ll get up, so I’ll get up.”

But he didn’t budge.

I didn’t back down and managed to sit him up straight.

“Get up. I’ve prepared breakfast.”

“Already……?”

“Yes. We have a test today.”

Teacher Jihee, who had been half-asleep during breakfast, suddenly regained his composure when it was past 8 am, his usual wake-up time.

“Does the test start at 40 minutes?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll sit here and take it. Where will you sit, Oppa?”

“Here.”

I pulled out a chair from the living room and sat at a distance suitable for a proctor, planning to spend the day like this.

“Are you not uncomfortable sitting there all alone?”

“It’s okay. I’ll move around during breaks, and if I need to, I’ll go to the bathroom. Some people even go to the bathroom during the test.”

Up to this point, everything was thoroughly researched.

“You can go to the bathroom now if you need to.”

“Okay.”

I tried to create a solemn atmosphere.

I hoped Jihee would take this seriousness as seriously as I did.

“Have you checked that there are no problems with the test questions?”

“Yes.”

“Let’s start.”

The first test was Korean.

It was the one subject Jihee was exceptionally good at, and the only one I didn’t help him study.

To be honest, it was amazing that he got a perfect score in Korean while messing up all the other subjects.

Compared to other subjects, Korean required relatively less memorization, but it still had areas that needed to be memorized.

You don’t easily get it wrong if you don’t memorize grammar rules and the like.

I was reading a book I bought yesterday, and at the same time, I was checking on Ji-hui, who was solving problems with a carefree expression.

Not a single mistake was made.

She was reading the question like a newspaper and marking the answers with confidence.

Usually, talented students like her would easily solve many problems.

On the other hand, students who lacked strategy and didn’t get good grades, like me back in my school days, would be scribbling all over the place.

I thought she would do well on the test, but…

The problem arose when there were 30 minutes left on the test.

Ji-hui had finished all the problems and was lying down with the test paper and answer sheet facing downwards.

When our eyes met, she gave me a quick wink.

I wanted to tell her to review her answers, but that would go against the rules we set for today.

No proctor would instruct a student on how to use their remaining time.

Still…

I pretended to read again, and Ji-hui started staring at me, making a flower shape with her hands like she was being recorded on CCTV.

Every time our eyes met, she would wink, so I had to avoid eye contact.

Wait, isn’t she my proctor?

The situation had turned into a younger sibling watching over an older sibling who was taking a test.

As soon as it hit 10 o’clock, I immediately collected Ji-hui’s OMR card.

“Ji-hui.”

I had a lot to say.

“What’s up, Proctor Oppa?”

“Review your answers after finishing. Don’t do anything weird.”

“I didn’t do anything weird, though.”

“You did. You kept winking at me and staring.”

“I wasn’t looking anywhere else; I was looking straight at you. And isn’t winking at the proctor considered cheating? Isn’t there a rule about that?”

“Anyway, don’t look at me and look at the test paper instead. Even if you finished, do you really think you got everything right?”

Even I, who was confident in my studies, would always review my answers thoroughly when taking a test.

“Yeah! Want to grade it now? I’m sure I got everything right!”

I wanted to crush her confidence, but it wasn’t the right time yet.

Grading is done all at once, and the scores are revealed, which is the point.

“Ah, don’t give up on math and try to solve it until the end. Got it?”

“Hmm… Korean is easy since we have time left, but we won’t have time for math.”

“That’s right. I trust you.”

After taking a break and sitting on the couch together, we returned to our respective seats.

Ji-hui didn’t cause any trouble during math time, and the same went for English, Korean history, and the investigation period.

“Ugh, it’s hard.”

After finishing all the tests, including the investigation, Ji-hui collapsed onto the table, resting her cheek on the glass.

The sun had already set, and the sky was painted with a reddish-orange hue.

“You worked hard.”

“Oppa, too. You must’ve hurt your back from sitting still for so long.”

“No.”

“Do you want a massage? Lie down.”

“Let’s grade the papers first.”

Even if we don’t correct the mistakes right away, it’s better to grade them neatly.

I brought out the answer sheets printed in the room and started grading with a red water-based sign pen.

I didn’t take the test, but my heart was pounding mysteriously.

It was a moment when I vaguely understood the mind of a parent with a student taking the exam.

“If there are five 4-point questions, then the total would be…….”

It’s only been a month since we started studying properly.

If we got good grades just because we studied, that would be weird.

So, I didn’t have high expectations and prepared a encouraging comment in my heart, saying we could do better next time.

But, as expected…….

“1, 4, 4.”

Each score for Korean, math, and English.

What surprised me wasn’t that Ji-hui did well on Korean.

Math was a 4th grade level.

Of course, it’s a remarkable achievement for someone who used to get 7th or 8th grade levels, but objectively, it’s a difficult score to acknowledge as good.

But what really shocked me was…

“Is it true that you got everything right except for the parts you didn’t study?”

The fact that Ji-hui didn’t make a single mistake.