My Younger Sister Was My First Love

4. Is This That Person?

LA. Los Angeles.

Not on the other side of the globe, but a major city in the United States that requires crossing the vast ocean to reach.

Even if you fly directly, it takes over 11 hours.

The four-member family, which had been struggling to make ends meet, was on the brink of collapse just one month after settling down.

“Mom.”

“…Yeah?”

Since Dad’s transfer news, Mom had been stuck at home, worrying about everything like a sick chicken.

“Can’t I just go with Dad?”

“What’s wrong with that? You and Jihee are preparing for college entrance exams.”

“When you’re around 20, you’ll be old enough to take care of yourselves.”

“In my eyes, you two are still kids.”

“And it’s not like Jihee will be left all alone if Mom and Dad go.”

I said it out loud, but I didn’t quite believe it myself. I’ve mostly grown up on my own.

It’s a matter of self-reliance.

Most kids from single-parent households with working moms and dads would be the same.

Jihee would likely have grown up that way too, so it wouldn’t be a big deal for us to hold on for just a year.

“If you’re worried about not being able to cook or do laundry, don’t worry and just go.”

“Junho, do you think Mom’s only role is to do household chores?”

Mom was determined to give up her happiness and stay behind.

I was against it.

If Mom sent Dad away and stayed behind in this state, this remarriage would be pointless.

Who would be happy with this remarriage, anyway?

“Whatever Mom can do for Jihee, I can do too.”

“Oh, come on. You don’t even have a driver’s license yet. Can you drive Jihee to her college entrance exam? Can you make her lunchbox too? You’re in college yourself!”

I admit it.

The sudden mention of a driver’s license was a variable.

“…I’ll enroll in a driving school before the semester starts. And honestly, I think I can make a better lunchbox than Mom.”

I could confidently say that I’m better at cooking than Mom.

“It’s still not okay. Mom, why are you like this?”

Mom shook her head, looking unhappy with my words.

Her excessively kind heart was holding back her own happiness, which didn’t sit well with me.

She had struggled to raise me on her own until I went to college.

And now, she’s trying to start an unhappy second chapter by getting remarried.

“What if Jihee says it’s okay?”

“Yeah?”

“If Jihee says she’s okay with Mom going with Dad, would you still not go?”

‘Don’t you think the kids are grown-ups now!’ Dad had already asked Mom if she wanted to go to the United States with him.

Mom closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and let out a sigh.

“…If Jihee says it’s okay, I’ll think about it.”

I went back to my room and pressed the number of [Dongsaeng♥].

* * *

An adult who doesn’t seem like an adult.

Parents who don’t seem like parents.

The world is full of things that don’t make sense.

You don’t need to look far for examples.

Even our dad, who’s right next to us, is that kind of person.

“Ji-hee, Ji-hee!”

Winter had arrived, with the cold air biting at our noses.

As I turned around at the familiar voice, I saw Se-hwa and Se-ho, the twins, walking towards me with their hands in their pockets.

“Se-hwa!”

I rushed over to her as soon as I saw her and put my arm around her waist.

“Ji-hee! When did you get here?”

“I got here a little while ago!”

“But isn’t today a school day?”

“Yeah, I played hooky~.”

What’s the big deal about studying?

I don’t get it.

Even though my dad pushed me to study, saying I had to get into a good college, I didn’t think it was worth risking my life.

Just look at my dad, who’s saying that.

What’s the point of getting into a prestigious university?

What’s the point of becoming a high-ranking executive at a large corporation?

After divorcing my mom, my dad still acts like a carefree twenty-year-old, indulging in his own ego and flirting with women left and right.

I’ve seen him with various types of women.

Company employees are a given.

Acquaintances from school reunions.

Even married women he meets at golf clubs.

That’s all I know, but there might be more.

As the product of my dad’s numerous and frequent love affairs, I couldn’t bring myself to admire or love him.

He said he’d take care of me, but he never came home.

When I called him, he’d ignore me, or if he did answer, he’d just say he was busy.

It was no use.

As an elementary school student, I’d cry and beg him to come home early, but it was all in vain.

I gave up.

There was nothing I could do.

It was around the time I was in the first year of middle school that I realized all those lonely times were because he was out meeting other women.

I realized that school was just a means for him to have a date, a kids’ cafe to help him with his social life, and my interest in studying vanished into thin air.

But even in those bleak and depressing times, there was a friendship that bloomed.

“I Ji-hee.”

Se-ho, who had taken out his wireless earbuds, looked down at me with a sulky face.

“Yeah?”

“Do you have money?”

“Isn’t there any?”

“Ah, I’ve spent all my allowance and it’s all gone.”

“Why don’t you borrow from Se-hwa?”

“I already owe her over 100,000 won, so that’s not an option.”

“Don’t you receive a generous allowance? Where did all the money go?”

“On a date.”

Se-ho was quite tall, over 180 cm, and his face was objectively handsome.

But somehow, I couldn’t bring myself to like him.

The irony was that despite having all these extreme, hateable traits, he could still be friends with me.

He wouldn’t confess to me, and I wouldn’t accept it even if he did.

“Who is it this time?”

“There is. A high school freshman.”

“Have some conscience, man. You’re 20 years old, and you’re going after someone three years younger. That’s not a crime or something?”

“I didn’t make the first move. She sent me a DM saying she wanted to meet.”

Se-ho’s actions were just like our father’s when he was young.

It was amazing how Se-hwa and Se-ho, despite being twins, could be so different.

Se-hwa also had an incredible, mesmerizing beauty, with a slender jawline and neck that could distract male students from their studies.

Her eyes, nose, and mouth were perfectly proportioned, a classic K-beauty.

But Se-hwa walked a completely different path from Se-ho.

While Se-ho captivated every girl, Se-hwa rejected every guy who approached her.

They were indeed like a sword and a shield, a perfect pair of siblings.

“Ah! I thought I could borrow money, so I followed Ji-hwi here. Ji-hwi, don’t you have 10,000 won?”

“I do have money, but not enough to buy my girlfriend tteokbokki.”

“She’s not your girlfriend.”

“Then I have even less intention of lending it to you.”

Se-ho grumbled a few words and left, saying he was going first.

Only Se-hwa and I were left.

After Se-ho left, Se-hwa grabbed my arm and pulled me into the café.

“So, how’s it going?”

There were no secrets between Se-hwa and me.

We were indeed soulmates, and she was an irreplaceable friend who had brought vitality to my dry life.

“Hmm… things seem to be going well!”

“Has anything changed in particular?”

“Father is going abroad.”

“Huh? Your father?”

“Yes. He received an assignment and has to go to the US next month.”

“What about that aunt of yours?”

“It’s still unclear, but I’ll try to tie everything together and send it to you.”

Just thinking about being alone with oppa at home makes me smile.

“Huh. Are you really going to fulfill your wish like this?”

“No way. That’s not it. We’re not real siblings.”

“Yeah, but if we were real siblings, wouldn’t that be a crime? Your current situation is much better, though!”

“Is that so?”

As I giggled, I told Sehwa about what had happened so far.

There was a high probability that oppa and I would end up living together alone.

It seemed like oppa was trying not to think of me as a romantic interest.

The more I told Sehwa, the more her smile grew, filled with curiosity.

Sehwa was the only friend who truly understood me.

“Haha, how do you live like that at home?”

“I don’t know.”

“Ijihee, are you going to sneak into oppa’s room at night or something? Or is it the opposite?”

Honestly, I had imagined that too.

But what I wanted from Junho oppa wasn’t just physical contact.

It was love and family.

The extreme lack of love my dad had shown me had awakened a very manic desire within me.

I started reading pure romance manhwa for the first time at 15, thanks to Sehwa’s recommendation.

At first, it was light and easy, with a school setting and stories of love between boys and girls of the same age.

Of course, I enjoyed those too.

Reading about cute and lovely couples was thrilling for 15-year-old Ijihee.

I learned about love through manhwa and understood it.

Sometimes, I even cried over sad stories.

But humans always seek more stimulation than that.

I gradually began to explore stronger, more mature content.

Shojo manga, especially those released in Japan, drew me in deeper.

The Japanese market was a place where all sorts of bizarre themes and inexplicable relationships flowed.

I could have easily fallen into BL or physical disability fetishes, but I got hooked on infamous Ince#st-themed content instead.

Of course, not all Ince#st was good!

Would I really want to see a trashy dad with a perverted relationship?

My one and only ideal was ‘oppa and younger sister’.

The forbidden love between siblings with the same surname was my favorite.

Ince#st-themed content really had something that drove people crazy.

The premise alone was overwhelming.

The love between oppa and younger sister was taboo.

It’s a dramatic situation that no one in the world can understand.

Even though they’re closer than anyone else, the process of the

Sehwa laughed as if she couldn’t believe it.

“Isn’t this the guy who confessed to you in English class during middle school?”

……Yeah?