My Younger Sister Was My First Love

39. Obirak

Do I need my younger sibling’s permission to change my game ID?

Normally, it wouldn’t be necessary, but since the person who created it is the one involved, the story becomes a bit ambiguous.

Maybe I don’t know.

If I change it secretly and they find out later, they might feel upset.

Especially since our nicknames are set together, it felt like we were a pair, so I had a stronger sense of responsibility.

So I gave advance notice.

“Either let me change my name or get a divorce. Choose one.”

“Oppa…! How can you say something so harsh…?”

“You’ve changed. You seem to have lost your affection for me.”

“So… I admit I’ve been neglecting you. But isn’t divorce a bit too much?”

“Yeah. I’ve spent so much money and effort to maintain our relationship at this level! Do you know how hard I’ve worked?”

“I’m sorry. Yeah, I was wrong. I’ll try harder. We can start over from the beginning.”

If others had overheard our conversation, they would have thought it was ridiculous, but fortunately, we were alone in our sanctuary.

We were in our living room.

“It’s late. Choose one quickly.”

The short comedy ended there.

I threw out the options again in a dry tone.

“Ugh! Why do you want to change it? What’s the reason you want to change it in the first place?”

“It’s uncomfortable when I’m with other people.”

“But isn’t there a reason for that? You’ve been using that name just fine until now, and suddenly, what’s the problem?”

“…It’s hard when my friend asks me to play together.”

“Are you talking about online friends? They don’t even know you’re my sibling. Just do it.”

“Real-life friends.”

“Which real-life friend?”

“Min-ju.”

At the mention of Min-ju’s name, Ji-hee’s attitude, which had been like a scolded wife, did a 180-degree turn.

“Oh no, I’d rather die than get a divorce. Oppa, absolutely do not change your nickname. Even if you’re reborn, you’re still Ji-hee’s oppa.”

“Oh, did Min-ju marry you or something? You’re looking at it so strangely.”

“Would that aunt even think of marrying you if I got a divorce?”

“There’s no remarriage feature in the game, anyway. Even if you want to, you can’t. And what’s with Min-ju?”

Even if it were possible, receiving a paid item would only happen once, so there’s no need to do anything about Min-ju.

“This is too much… Did you even plan to play the game with that aunt? It’s a game I introduced you to, anyway.”

Ji-hee pretended to wipe away tears like a pitiful heroine.

“It’s not like the game belongs to you just because I introduced it to you. Anyway, are you changing your name or not?”

I thought our conversation had ended, so I sat on the couch and started fiddling with my phone screen.

“…Don’t.”

My head naturally lifted up at her unexpectedly sorrowful voice.

Ji-hee came over weakly, her steps heavy, and plopped down beside me.

“I… acknowledge that I was neglectful of you as your wife, Jun-ho.”

“Pffft.”

I failed to hold back my laughter.

At the mention of “wife,” I burst out laughing.

“No, no, what kind of wife is that?”

“Even though it’s just a game, once you’ve made a lifelong commitment, isn’t that a lifelong wife?”

“These days, it’s not like that in reality either.”

“Are you saying our dad got remarried and is now dodging us?”

“No, modern marriage has entered the realm of individual freedom and choice, no longer bound by traditional norms.”

I suddenly felt like I was scolding my parents, so I quickly switched to a textbook-like tone to recover.

“I’ve already been caught by my sister, and it’s all over at that point. Just live with that name.”

“You can do it with someone else besides me, right?”

“This is an old game, and I know it too. You and someone else can do it, right?”

The nickname change negotiations ultimately fell through.

“Ugh, I need to get back to the game. I can’t do this. I’ll just focus on this and ditch my studies.”

“I was wrong, so please don’t do that.”

“You’re telling me to ignore this when your husband is blinded by another woman and only looks at her?”

“Let’s stop talking about husbands and wives now.”

Although that’s the setting in the game, it felt strange to bring it up in reality.

“Do you have any questions about your studies?”

“Just a few math problems. The rest is nothing much.”

“Are you doing well in your exploration? You seemed to have a long way to go during the last mock exam.”

“My brother said to try to catch up by June, so I’m studying and just need to wait a bit.”

“Alright.”

I started preparing dinner with the available ingredients, and as Jihee entered her last evening study session, I wanted to do the laundry.

Laundry.

The only household chore that Jihee and I divided separately.

While I usually handled most of the household chores like cooking, cleaning, and recycling, laundry was something I found difficult to take on.

There were a few reasons for this.

Firstly, it was awkward to wash Jihee’s underwear.

Since we weren’t blood-related family, I didn’t want to touch her underwear, which might give off a weird impression.

It could easily lead to misunderstandings.

If I did it, I might feel uncomfortable too.

Secondly, there was the type of clothing.

Unlike my casual clothes that could be thrown in and washed together, Jihee had a lot of diverse and fancy clothes that required separate care.

The worn-out clothes she wore at home could be washed together, but I was clueless about what needed to be dry-cleaned or hand-washed.

So, we agreed to do our own laundry.

This was a clause we established after our parents left for abroad.

It’s already been two months.

The two of them have been gone for two months.

After a few days, I carried the half-full laundry basket to the washing machine.

Let’s see.

I’ll just put this away neatly, answer the math questions cleanly, and then I’ll be done.

I was feeling satisfied with my smooth plan.

“……huh?”

Inside the washing machine.

There was something dark and mysterious.

I reached in and grabbed it.

And then I felt a strange, prickly sensation.

It was a texture I couldn’t find on my own clothes.

I took it out, and it was Jihee’s black bra.

It was still damp, and it seemed like she had forgotten to dry it yesterday.

Hmm… what to do…

Should I just quietly put it away with my clothes and pretend I didn’t see it?

Or should I wait until later and bring it up?

Either way, it didn’t seem like a big deal, considering how close we were.

We’re family, after all.

Except in situations like this, of course.

“Hyung, what are you doing?”

I was sitting there, staring at Jihee’s underwear, when I heard my teacher’s voice and suddenly jumped back.

“Whoa! You scared me!”

I was more surprised than hurt.

“I was looking everywhere and couldn’t find it, so I thought maybe it was somewhere else.”

Even as I fell, my hand still clutched Jihee’s underwear.

“It looks like you forgot this.”

I quickly handed the bra back to Jihee, as if I was holding a time bomb.

“Do you think I was just touching it?”

“No, I’m the one who found it, so I’m the one who should be upset.”

“Really?”

Oh, the saying “烏飛梨落” (when the crow flies, the baby falls) came to mind.

I had forced myself to memorize it for Korean class.

“Yeah, really.”

“Didn’t you smell anything?”

“What’s there to smell? I’m not a pervert.”

“But you were touching my sister’s bra pretty eagerly.”

“What’s going on? Were you watching me?”

If you have something to say, just say it quickly!

I got up, still feeling the pain in my back from the fall, and decided to finish what I was doing.

Until I put the laundry in and pressed the washing button, Jihee just stood there, watching me silently.

“There’s time to study now. Why aren’t you going in?”

“It’s oppa’s fault. Even if I go in, I won’t be able to study.”

“That’s just an excuse.”

“Do you want to ask ajumma if that’s an excuse or not?”

“‘Your son is rummaging through my underwear, so I can’t focus on my studies.'”

This is a fight with no end in sight.

“Hah… So, what’s the point? You found me, didn’t you?”

“It’s related to studying, but I’ll talk about it later.”

Jihee slowly twirled the underwear in her hand.

Her expression looked quite suspicious.

I could feel my saliva automatically dripping down my throat.

“Oppa.”

“Why.”

“Oppa, just bring me one of your underwear.”

“What?”

“Go to your room and bring me one of your underwear.”

It wasn’t that I didn’t hear her; the problem was the content of her words.

“……Why?”

“Why did you rummage through my underwear, and now you’re just going to ignore it?”

“So, you want me to bring you underwear? No way. What would you do with it?”

“It’s a secret.”

Jihee brought her index finger to her mouth, striking a cute pose like a cartoon character.

……Will you give it to me?

“No way.”

“Aah! Bring it! You pervert!”

“No, you’re the pervert! Am I the pervert for touching the remaining laundry?”

“Ugh, I don’t know. I’ll just take it by force.”

Jihee turned her back and stormed out to the balcony, then started running towards my room.

“Hey, hey!”

“If oppa doesn’t give it to me, I’ll take it myself!”

This was a genuine chase between 20-year-old and 21-year-old siblings.

I chased after Jihee, who was running at full speed, and burst into my room.

-Drrr

The drawer opened.

-Flap

The sky-blue square panties were held triumphantly in Jihee’s hand, like a victory flag.

“Put it down, Jihee.”

I warned her in a serious tone.

“What’s the reason?”

“You’re not going to take someone else’s underwear, are you?”

I’m not 10 years old, and you’re explaining this to me at 20?

“It’s not ours.”

“We agreed on that back then. We wouldn’t touch each other’s underwear, so we’d each do our own laundry.”

“Hmm, so you remember that and were touching my bra? That’s really sly.”

“Ah, come on! I said I’d tell you as soon as I finished studying!”

Jihee seemed to be moved by my desperate plea and burst out laughing, nodding her head.

“Okay, I’ll return it.”

“Thank you.”

“But it can’t just be like that.”

“Then what?”

I just wanted to get my underwear back, so I listened to her explanation without a fuss.

“Take this, oppa.”

The black underwear Jihee handed me was the one I had touched just a while ago.

“…Do you want me to take this?”

“Are you saying I should wear the underwear you’ve been touching again?”

“Got it. Then I’ll throw this away, and you give me back my panties. Now.”

“…Are you really going to throw it away right away?”

“What’s the point of keeping it?”

“It’s not like it’s good for anything?”

I shot back at her, feeling like she was trying to tease me with a strange provocation.

“Jihee.”

“Yes?”

“Don’t you think you’re having some weird misunderstanding? Underwear is just underwear, each with its own purpose.”

“What are you talking about?”

“If you say it’s good for something, wouldn’t you think that about this plain, design-less thing?”

I was half-joking.

So, I told her to take back the underwear and wear it.

“…Sorry. I was short-sighted.”

I accepted her apology.

It was good that Jihee returned my panties too.

But.

“……Wait a minute.”

I was shocked by Jihee’s next action.

No, I couldn’t help but be shocked.

Jihee’s two hands, which had gone inside her own pants, were facing her back.

And what came out with her hands was a famous underwear brand with a gray lettering strap.

“So, is this okay?”

What was going on?