My Younger Sister Was My First Love

69. Starting Tomorrow

The words Minju had said came to mind.

Jihee’s words, that I wasn’t in my right mind.

Surprisingly, even at that moment, I couldn’t deny those words.

“So, as punishment for deceiving you, I’ll either sleep with you for a week or, if you don’t like that, I’ll kiss you every morning?”

“Yes.”

The punishment I had imagined was on a completely different level.

Isn’t the usual punishment for siblings just running errands or something?

Or doing chores?

Anyway, I would have accepted any punishment at that level, but this was a series of actions that couldn’t be called punishment.

“But why is this my punishment?”

“Are you saying I have to choose between two things I don’t like?”

“It’s not that I’m uncomfortable with that kind of thing, but rather, I can enjoy it too, you know.”

I’m a man, after all.

And I’m a man who liked Jihee.

Is it really a reasonable punishment to kiss a beautiful girl like her?

Is that the kind of price someone who’s committed a crime should pay?

“Then enjoy it more.”

Jihee took a step closer to me and wrapped her arm around my waist.

“Enjoy it so much that you can’t think of anyone else. I’ll give you the excuse.”

“What are you saying?”

“You’re lying to me and going to meet another girl. In our family, Dad is enough.”

As soon as the old man’s name was mentioned, the atmosphere became heavy.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oppa, don’t you know? Our dad is that kind of terrible person.”

“No. Say it again.”

“Now that I’m saying it, our dad’s words can’t be trusted, and he’s got a bad habit of womanizing.”

The punishment Jihee had in store for me was wiped clean from my mind.

It was as if a bolt of lightning had struck, leaving me unable to move.

The old man was a philanderer.

The old man was a philanderer.

Those words were no different from saying that Mom’s new husband was trash.

“……Is that true? What you said about the old man?”

Jihee leaned her face against my chest and slowly nodded her head up and down.

“……Yes.”

I felt uneasy.

It’s unbearable, becoming increasingly anxious.

Mom. Is Mom okay?

Even if Dad had an affair in the past, he really loved Mom and got remarried, right?

At least, there’s no evidence of such a past.

“Oppa.”

“Yes.”

“Are you anxious?”

Jihee seemed to see right through my emotions, filling the space between my fingers with her own.

“I’ve lived my whole life feeling the emotions you’re feeling right now, Oppa.”

The scent of shampoo, faintly tickling my nose.

Jihee leaned in closer, as if trying to dig deeper.

“It’s especially important to rely on family who are close by when you’re feeling confused like this. You know that.”

“Jihee-ya.”

“Where can you go to talk about this? It’s not like you can go around saying that Mom’s remarriage partner is a two-timer, spreading rumors about him. That’s like smearing mud on your own face, and spitting on Grandma’s face too.”

I completely agreed with Jihee’s opinion.

I couldn’t say a word anywhere.

And it wasn’t even confirmed that Dad had done it.

Only Dad knew the truth, but I didn’t want to believe that Mom had made a wrong choice.

Mom is such a good person.

She’s suffered so much.

If this remarriage ends up being because of Dad’s affair, then I……

Thinking of Mom, I grasped Jihee’s hand even tighter.

“You can tell me if you’re worried. Oppa. You can even curse our useless dad, and I’ll forgive you. Can’t you? I’ll curse him even more harshly.”

The tone was getting more aggressive.

“Did you ever see him cheat on Mom when we were with her?”

“I didn’t see it directly, but I can’t give you a clear answer. Our dad introduced his girlfriend properly for the first time to Grandma. The rest, I just found out somehow.”

I was panicking.

But I believed that Mom was a good person who would make her happy.

I thought that even if she was neglectful towards me and Jihee, she would make Mom happy.

My trust was on the verge of being shattered.

“What do we do? Should we call her now?”

As Jihee’s calmness was being lost to anxiety, she stroked my head like an older sister.

“Oppa.”

“Yes?”

“There’s nothing we can do about our parents’ choices.”

A learned helplessness.

At least, Jihee’s tone just now felt like resignation.

“There’s nothing we can do.”

“So what can we do? Call our dad and interrogate him about the affair? He’s not the kind of person who would tell the truth, and even if he did, would we tell Grandma to divorce him right away?”

Jihee’s words made me shut my mouth tight.

We both made a mistake.

If I made a wrong choice, it would only lead to family conflicts, and that was clear.

It was a situation where it was hard to suspect anything without solid evidence.

Moreover, since I was on the other side of the ocean, I had no means to verify it.

As my sanity returned, I refocused on Jihee in front of me.

Jihee’s past.

Jihee’s scars.

I felt like I could understand, if only a little, why Jihee had such strange tastes.

Although we grew up in the same single-parent household, the gap between us was enormous.

Let’s imagine it.

If our mom had been a cheater and had left me to meet other men every day, could I have gone to a good university?

Could I have been doing well like I am now?

It’s ridiculous.

It was absolutely impossible for my mental state.

“You… So, you’re doing this to me because of what that old man did to you?”

I asked for confirmation, my eyes locked onto Jihee’s without releasing their hand.

Jihee didn’t avert their gaze.

They just looked at me pitifully.

“That’s true, but who would like someone who lies? Oppa.”

“That’s true.”

“So, can you answer me now?”

Although Jihee’s request had been quite unreasonable, it was still unresolved.

I knew Jihee had presented me with absurd options.

However, in my heart, I wanted to alleviate Jihee’s anxiety.

The father who lied and abandoned his child, and the oppa who did the same.

The younger sibling who begged to be loved, screaming with their whole body.

Everything was abnormal.

But Jihee’s heart was…

“……I’ll do it with a kiss.”

Spending the night together was a bit much, but a kiss seemed possible.

“Ah, what a shame. If you had asked me to sleep together, I would have automatically included a kiss as an option.”

“Did you choose this because you thought I’d say that?”

“Should I have spoken more pitifully?”

“It won’t work.”

Honestly, I might not have been able to kiss first even if Jihee had asked me to.

“Then do it.”

“What?”

“Starting from today.”

“As in, when I wake you up in the morning.”

Jihee placed my hand on her lap and then ran towards her room.

“It’s not 8 o’clock yet. I’ll go back to sleep!”

Jihee poked her head out of her room, giving me a playful and charming smile.

“Want me to wake you up?”

The door slammed shut with a loud bang.

* * *

Jihee might have really gone back to sleep, but I couldn’t.

There were three things that worried me greatly.

Mom. Jihee. And Minju.

It was difficult to ask Uncle about his past stories.

Of course, if I asked Jihee directly, she might give me an answer, but I wasn’t sure if that was a wise thing to do.

That would definitely expose the scars of Jihee’s childhood.

At the same time, I felt strongly that I had to know as a family member.

Was our mom’s husband really okay?

Or was there something already going on between them during their romance?

My concerns about family didn’t stop there.

Jihee.

My younger sibling.

When I heard about Jihee’s gloomy past, I strongly felt that I had to do something.

The boundaries of emotions were ambiguous.

Was this love between a man and a woman?

Or was it familial affection?

Pity for a pitiful person?

Regret over first love?

Even I was being swept away by unclear emotions, and I couldn’t help but rub my face with my hands.

Haa.

In the midst of all this, I had to go to school and see Minju again.

She, who had been a reliable ally, had transformed into a new source of worry overnight.

Minju liked me?

Even thinking about it with a clear mind was unbelievable.

How could anyone like someone like that?

No. If you treated someone like that, who would like it?

It was an impossible task for elementary school student Lee Junho to recognize elementary school student Lee Jihui’s signals.

Minju’s confession was in a state of limbo.

I had clearly expressed my intention to reject her, but Minju seemed to be asking for another chance.

It was as if she was saying, “Look at me without colored glasses from now on…” Hmm.

To be honest, I didn’t feel like meeting her right away; instead, I wanted to avoid her.

My energy was drained.

Just having Teacher Dong suck the life out of me was enough.

As I rolled my head around, time flew by quickly.

As the clock approached 8, I felt my thoughts and body stiffen.

It was because of the promise I made with Jihee.

[When waking up in the morning, wake me up with a kiss]

I’ve had a few kisses, but I’ve never taken the lead or done anything with my lips.

Just like Jihee wrote in her letter, I had no skill in kissing.

It was a structure where I couldn’t do well because I wasn’t a professional.

But becoming a master through my younger sister was a painful story in itself.

I had no romantic experience, but kissing was a professional job.

A dark route.

Kissing skills through my younger sister.

As I thought about this, a silly laugh escaped me.

Yes. I was also due for a collapse.

Maybe it was a relief that I had been holding on until now.

I closed my eyes tightly, then opened them and checked the clock before getting out of bed.

As I opened the door and went out, the bright morning sunlight told me that a new day had begun.

I did some stretching, which I never usually did.

Like someone stretching before getting into the pool, I shook my entire body’s muscles.

“……Let’s go.”

I took bold steps like a brave warrior, but it was only a short distance to the dining table.

With a thudding sound, I arrived at Jihee’s door.

I clenched my fist and knocked twice, then opened the door.

“Jihee, wake up.”

The same lines as always.

As I flipped the light switch, Jihee’s face appeared from under the blanket.

……Is she really sleeping?

Her sleeping pose was different every day, but Jihee often slept with her right side facing up and her back slightly arched.

But it was different now.

It might sound funny, but it was like she was waiting for a prince, just like Snow White.

Her hands were neatly placed on her waist, and her lips were slightly pouting, as if she was holding back a smile.

As I stood there looking at Jihee, I became increasingly embarrassed and decided to end it quickly.

My face approached hers rapidly.

As our noses almost touched, I quickly brought my lips to hers and shook her shoulder.

“Jihee, it’s time.”

-Passionate kiss

It was the moment when the blanket, which had been kicked away by my younger sister, fell to the floor.

“Let’s play with me!”

“What?”

Jihee, who had jumped up, grabbed my collar and held on to it tightly.

“I told you to wake me up with a kiss.”

“No. We just did it.”

“Is that a kiss? Even kindergarten kids do it better than that!”

The teacher’s dissatisfaction with the performance didn’t stop there.

“Ah! Do it again! Again! I’ll do it better this time, so wake me up again.”

“……Just get up instead.”

“No? Didn’t we agree on a penalty? Are you not going to do it properly?”

“No. Then should I just stick out my tongue or something?”

“Ah, geez. You didn’t even brush your teeth. Should I do it for you?”

This is crazy.

I slapped my forehead, making a loud noise.

“Okay, let’s just end it here. It’s the first day, so I’ll let you off.”

“This is ridiculous. Why do you get to decide, oppa? Ah, fine. Whatever. Let’s just get it over with.”

“Why.”

“I’ll show you how it’s done starting tomorrow.”

It was a bit awkward, but Ji-hui stood up straight in front of me, her eyes fixed on mine.

“A demonstration by a skilled instructor is about to begin.”

Her slender fingers wrapped around my cheeks.

She pulled my face towards her, her lips puckering up to meet mine in a passionate kiss.

“Ha…….”

As our lips parted, I could finally exhale the hot breath I had been holding in.

My ears felt like they were burning.

I couldn’t meet my dongsaeng’s eyes.

“Is this how we’re going to do it from now on?”

I started to wonder if I should watch some porn before bed to get serious about it.