My Younger Sister Was My First Love

45. Whatever

“D! Di! E!”

The feeling of finishing an exam was no different from high school days.

“It’s finally over. What a relief.”

As I finished the last exam, a unique sense of relaxation spread throughout my body.

It may not be as big as the college entrance exam, but an exam is an exam.

I tried not to think about it, but I must have been tense.

“Hyung, I’m going to grab drinks with Kyungho and the others. Want to come?”

Jihoon, with his bright and cheerful face, casually extended an invitation that resonated with my feelings.

“Today?”

“Of course, today! On a memorable day like this!”

“But didn’t you not study much for the exam?”

“Aww, come on. You can play hard after working hard, right?”

He was right.

It was a tempting offer, but unfortunately, I couldn’t attend today.

I had a prior commitment with Minju.

I rejected Ji-hee’s invitation and Ji-hwan’s persuasion, and for a moment, I indulged in the groundless delusion that I was a popular person.

It’s been three people who want to hang out to celebrate the end of the exam.

Whenever I think of my high school days, when I was always alone, I want to give myself a round of applause.

“Sorry, I have a prior commitment.”

“Ah! Are you serious? You’re really going to ditch us?”

“There’s a prior arrangement.”

“No way. Who is it? A girl? If it’s a girl, I acknowledge it.”

“It’s a girl.”

Min-ju is a girl too, after all.

“Then I’ll go too.”

“Why are you going there?”

“……Hyung.”

Ji-hwan’s expression was stern and serious.

“Why?”

“Be honest, hyung. You’re still in contact with Saerom, aren’t you?”

Even though it’s been a while since our meeting, Ji-hwan still talks about Saerom as if she’s a real person.

“I’m not. I don’t even have her number.”

“Then who is it? Did you go to a meeting or something with someone else?”

“It’s not like I don’t have anyone to meet just because I didn’t go to a meeting.”

“Hul. Is it someone from our school?”

“You’re older than me. Not a kid.”

“Who is it? Ah! Hurry up and tell me!”

Our relationship today was not a budding romance like flowers blooming in spring, but a clear and transparent one.

“It’s Min-ju.”

“Min-ju who? The Park Min-ju I know?”

“Yes.”

“The two of you?”

“We made plans a few days ago.”

“Hul. I didn’t expect Jun-ho hyung to be like that. You only talked about Saerom at the meeting, but now it’s Park Min-ju at school?”

Neither of them had any ulterior motives. This kid.

How could you suspect your own brother?

“It’s just a drink with a friend. There’s nothing between us.”

“Ah. Is your sister a schoolmate of yours?”

“Yes. Almost 10 years.”

“Hey. Even if there’s no such thing as a friend between a man and a woman, do you think your sister would call you without any feelings?”

“Why are you saying the same thing as my brother?”

“Ah. What was her name again? The one who resembled Saerom.”

“Ji-hee. Lee Ji-hee.”

“Did Ji-hee say the same thing? Really? Hmm……it seems like we might get along well somehow.”

If I took one more step, I thought Ji-hee would ask me to set up a meeting, so I quickly took out my phone.

“Anyway, you guys have fun. I need to make a call.”

“Hyung, tell me about it later.”

“What’s with the ‘later’?”

I hung up on Ji-hwan and headed down to the first floor of the Humanities Building to call Min-ju.

[Hello?]

[I just finished. Where are you?]

[I’m at the study room. Want to come?]

[Are you not going to come out? If you’re not, I’ll come down, and if you are, I’ll go up.]

[Hmm, then I’ll come down. Just 10 minutes.]

The weather outside was quite nice.

I leaned against the pillar at the entrance, savoring the warm spring air and waiting for Min-ju.

This time last year, and the year before, I would’ve been holed up in the academy.

But as a college student, I was allowed to enjoy the leisurely scenery, which made me feel a bit sentimental.

I also thought about my younger sibling at home.

Ji-hee would probably experience a similar scenery if she got into college next year.

Right now, she’s just studying hard every day, but I hoped she’d have a fun year next year.

“……I Jun-ho!”

I turned around to the direction of the voice and saw Min-ju, wearing a black beanie and a student council windbreaker, walking towards me.

She didn’t look like she was dressed up for a date.

Rather, she looked like a college student during exam period.

“Did you come?”

“How was the test?”

“It was tough today. You know, Professor Park’s class.”

“Ah, that professor is notoriously harsh.”

Min-ju also seemed to have bad memories of that class, immediately chiming in.

“So, where are you headed today?”

It was 4:30 pm.

Considering we had to leave by 9 pm, it was neither a short nor a long time.

“Let’s eat around here.”

“Okay.”

“You’ve been to that place? Daju Restaurant.”

“Where is it?”

“It’s right in front of us. Ah, you don’t know because you’re still new here, right?”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at her slightly boastful tone.

It was amazing how much my chest could swell from this.

There were many things that could make me proud.

According to Min-ju, the restaurant we were going to was a famous spot among those who had explored the school’s surroundings.

As we walked deeper into the alley, a slightly rundown-looking restaurant appeared.

“Aunt! One order of chicken stir-fry and a bottle of soju, please!”

The side dishes already looked delicious, and the aroma of the master chef wafted through the air.

The customers were quite many, even at this early hour.

“Is soju okay?”

“Yeah, it’s fine.”

“Soju is a must for dakgangjeong.”

The food hadn’t even arrived, but Min-ju was already filling our glasses.

With a clear clinking sound, we finished our toast and downed the soju in one shot.

“Wow, this is it.”

Min-ju’s gesture of wiping his mouth with the back of his hand made me feel like I was at ease.

Yeah, I wouldn’t act like this in front of a guy I liked.

“I-Junho.”

“What.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“What’s with the serious tone?”

You can ask comfortably.

“Just a minute.”

Min-ju picked up his phone, which was on the table, and started searching for something.

“Is this you?”

The screen showed two people, a man and a woman.

One was me, and the other was Ji-hee.

The important thing was that I had never seen this photo before.

“What’s this? Where did you get this?”

“I didn’t take it. It was just uploaded.”

“Where?”

“On your dongsaeng’s profile picture.”

I also took out my phone and searched.

The red dot indicating a recent profile change was on [Dongsaeng♥]’s profile.

I had said it was okay to change it, but to upload a photo like this……

No, when was this taken anyway?

Ji-hee’s arm was around my arm, and the background looked like the day we went to the Han River.

I was looking away, pretending not to know, and Ji-hee was smiling brightly at the camera, making a V-sign.

“Do you guys usually do this?”

Instead of answering Min-ju’s question, I reached for my glass.

I downed the drink in one shot, without even savoring the taste.

For some reason, the bitter taste of the alcohol rose to the surface.

“…We sometimes go out together.”

“No, it’s not the fact that you go out that’s the problem, it’s just that this is……”

Min-ju seemed to understand what I was saying.

Especially with the status message of just one [♥], it was unmistakably a couple’s pose.

“Are you two a couple?”

“At least, looking at this, it seems like it.”

“But I didn’t know they would post a photo taken with me and say they knew about it.”

“Did Jihee ask you for permission to do that?”

“Yeah. She asked me suddenly yesterday, and I told her to do as she pleased. Sigh…”

I should tell her to take it down when I get home.

The photo had too many elements that could be misinterpreted.

“This is a bit… a sensitive topic, isn’t it?”

“What’s wrong with it?”

“Jihee, do you maybe… like me or something?”

Each word was laced with hesitation.

I knew that drinking too much too quickly would get me drunk, but hearing those words made it impossible to hold back.

“Minju-ya.”

The soju was poured into the glass, filling it to the brim.

“No, that’s not it. Honestly, it’s a bit… you know, it’s easy to misunderstand! You two have only known each other for a few months, and even if you call yourselves family, you’re still strangers, and it’s not like you’re actually related…”

Minju’s words were like a series of excuses, and it seemed like they were trying to justify something.

But I also knew that it was impossible to dismiss Minju’s words as baseless nonsense.

There were several points that raised suspicions, and Minju had likely reached this conclusion through reasonable deductions.

If Minju were to hear the story behind our relationship, they would likely be convinced, not suspicious.

I didn’t want our secret as siblings to be exposed.

It was dangerous for Minju to dig deeper into our relationship.

“Minju-ya, Jihee is my sister.”

“I know, but no matter how I look at it…”

“I understand what you’re saying, but that’s not it. It’s not possible from the start.”

“Junho, aren’t you being too optimistic? You don’t have any dating experience, so you can’t realize it, and you’re just thinking like that on your own.”

I didn’t want to say this, but…

“I got rejected by Jihee in the past.”

The heated argument that had been spreading like wildfire was suddenly extinguished with one phrase.

The atmosphere felt like the entire world had turned into an air-conditioned room.

The sounds from other tables seemed unusually loud.

“What do you mean? You confessed to Jihee?”

Minju asked me with an awkward laugh, like they were meeting a cousin they hadn’t seen in 10 years.

“In middle school. Ah, exactly during the winter break between middle school and high school, I confessed to Jihee.”

The confusion was palpable.

“You mean the girl who rejected you in the past is…?”

“Yeah. That’s Jihee.”

I told this story not only to clear up the misunderstanding but also because I trusted Minju.

We were close, after all.

We’ve known each other for a long time.

My secret is safe with Minju.

This was a trust born from the favors she had shown me until now.

“……Did you and Jihee have an affair, even Grandma knows?”

The questions that followed were relentless, leaving no room to catch my breath.

“What can I say? It’s a secret until I die. That’s it.”

“No, you…”

“Anyway!”

I cut off Minju’s words, not wanting the conversation to drag on.

“Jihee doesn’t like me romantically. If you knew how miserable I was back then, you’d never think that.”

The chicken stir-fry had been cooking for a while, so it was quite flavorful.

I savored the broth.

Wow.

This was indeed a perfect match for soju.

It was only delicious when it was cooked to perfection.

Minju and I silently devoured the side dishes for a while.

It was an unintended mealtime.

“Lee Junho.”

“Yes.”

“……Sorry.”

Somehow, I ended up receiving an apology.

This didn’t feel right.

What did Minju have to apologize to me for?

“No, it’s not you who should apologize, but Jihee, who uploaded that weird photo.”

“But……then……doesn’t that mean you don’t have any feelings about it?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You liked that girl, and you ended up living under the same roof with her.”

“That’s true.”

“Don’t you feel any romantic emotions towards her now?”

I couldn’t meet her gaze.

I was terrified that my hesitation might be discovered.

“……None at all.”

It was already difficult to sleep at night because of Jihee, and now it was getting even harder.