My Younger Sister Was My First Love

96. By the Sea

“Hmm.”

“Mm.”

My younger sister and I, who rarely reacted the same way, did so as we got off the train and left the station.

“Just a neighborhood?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s too quiet.”

“But the station is just a station, right? If you want to be impressed, go see the sea.”

Check-in was at 3 pm.

Until then, we were just wandering around.

Our schedule was already set, so our destination was decided.

“Let’s get on the bus first.”

At 21, it’s possible to drive and own a car, but what’s the point?

Today, I felt extremely uncomfortable about not having a car.

“Do we have to get off here and walk for a while? It says it’s a 15-minute walk.”

Jihee checked the map on her phone and puffed out her cheeks with a sassy tone.

“There’s no choice.”

“What if we sweat and smell bad?”

“Summer is originally like that. We’re going to the beach, swim, and shower anyway, so just bear with it until morning.”

Jihee whined, asking if I wouldn’t dislike her even if she smelled bad.

“No, I won’t dislike you. You’re family. Would you dislike family just because they smell a bit?”

I teased Jihee, saying that family wouldn’t dislike each other, and she seemed to enjoy it.

“……Is that right?”

Dongsaem’s face lit up at the mention of family.

“Ah, you know too, oppa? ‘Oppa’ is done! Our oppa.”

“Don’t put me in a weird frame like that.”

“Why? You’re praising me for being affectionate.”

My younger sibling patted my head.

“You’re doing well! Keep it up like that!”

It was like a professional sports coach’s tone.

The first place we decided to go was a cafe in Gangneung where you could see the sea at a glance.

Jihee originally liked taking pictures at places like this.

Instead of going there after swimming and feeling sticky, I thought it would be better to go in clean and then head to the beach and swim before returning to our accommodation.

“Aircon, stat.”

As soon as the cafe building came into view, Jihee grabbed my wrist and started running wildly.

“Hey, hey, just go. It’s better to run since it’s hotter.”

“I don’t know, I don’t know, I’m going to die.”

As soon as the automatic door opened, the artificial cool breeze blew in.

“I’ll survive.”

Jihee nodded and closed her eyes tightly.

I also felt a thrill at the sudden coolness.

It’s really too refreshing.

“Oppa, I’m going to die from the heat. Why don’t we just stay in the room? Seriously.”

“But we said we’d go to the beach.”

“There’s a pool at the hotel. If you want to see my bikini, wouldn’t you be satisfied with just the pool?”

Jihee’s serious tone made me hesitate a bit.

Although I didn’t want to see her bikini, I did want to go to the beach.

It was true that there was a student consideration, but there were things I wanted to do as a college student too.

“It’s true that it’s hot, but I want to go to the beach. It’s been a while since I last went.”

Let’s make our intentions clear. Jihee smiled at my words.

“Do you want to?”

“Yes.”

“Then we have to go, no matter what.”

The reason for her acceptance was unusual.

“I’m a little sister who does whatever my oppa tells me to do.”

“But why didn’t you refuse to join the intensive training program?”

“Sorry, but that’s not something I can include.”

Anyway, I didn’t want to get into a pointless argument, so I ordered coffee and took a seat by the window.

The ocean view I saw on the blog was breathtaking.

The sky reflected the ocean, making it a deep blue.

“It’s completely beautiful.”

“That’s right.”

“Is it too good?”

After that, we didn’t have much conversation.

Both Jihee and I were mesmerized by the scenery, just gazing outside.

“Hey.”

“Yes.”

“It makes me think of when I came to the ocean.”

Jihee continued to speak, her gaze fixed on the window.

“I don’t have many childhood memories, but I clearly remember coming to the ocean with my mom and dad.”

“Is that before they got divorced?”

“Yes. Before my mom left our house.”

Jihee seemed to be reminiscing about something, gazing at the waves.

“It’s not like I remember everything, but there’s one thing that’s really clear in my memory.”

“What’s that?”

Jihee turned to me and took a sip of her coffee.

“It’s when my mom and dad held my hands, one on each side, and swung me like a swing.”

I pictured the scene in my mind.

A younger-looking uncle than now.

A face I couldn’t recognize, but Jihee’s mother, who resembled Jihee.

And little Jihee, running around between them.

“Maybe that was my last family trip.”

The atmosphere became somber, and I instinctively rubbed my nose.

“Well, it’s okay. We can take many new trips with our new family now.”

“That’s right. Instead of my dad, my oppa can hold my hand too.”

Jihee placed her hand on top of mine, which was resting on the table.

“How long are we going to stay here?”

“Until around 11? We can eat lunch, swim, and head back to our accommodation around 11.”

“That sounds good.”

After that, I was dragged by Jihee’s hand to the photo spot, where I had to play the role of a photographer.

I didn’t even take my own photos, but I had to take pictures of others. I didn’t have the skill to take beautiful photos.

Jihee, who couldn’t take it anymore, started giving me a photography lesson, pulling me along.

“Got it? Just up to the thigh like this! You have to do it up to this line.”

“……Got it.”

I was trying my best, but…

Getting scolded was always bitter.

But before I could even savor the bitterness, the next thing was a couple’s shot.

“What’s going on.”

Jihee stuck her forehead to my chest, then stretched out her arm in front of me.

“Let’s take a selfie here.”

“Like this?”

“Yeah. We have to send it to our parents! We’re having a great time thanks to them.”

Under the pretext of taking an authentication shot, a series of overly affectionate two-shots followed.

Especially when Jihee brought her face close to mine, it was clear to anyone that it was a couple’s photo, exuding an aura that was hard to ignore.

“This is going to be my profile picture.”

“No way.”

“Oppa will edit it for you, so don’t worry.”

“Don’t do it.”

“Then I’ll just send it to Democratic Unnie.”

“Why are you doing this to me?”

“Why? It’s because I want Democratic Unnie to get angry.”

Her excessive audacity sometimes made me speechless.

“Don’t do it.”

“I don’t like it.”

“If you keep doing that, there won’t be any skinship today.”

Honestly, I thought this strategy might work.

It seemed like I might get scolded, but…

“……Really?”

The long, slender fingers dancing on the phone screen stopped moving.

“Yeah. Really.”

“Oppa, don’t touch me?”

“You won’t touch me, and I won’t let you touch me either.”

Intense eye contact.

Jihee gave me a displeased look, then tucked her phone into her pocket.

“I’ve accepted it, so you have to keep your promise too? You said I could touch you?”

And then Jihee’s hand reached into…

“No! Yeah!”

My left pocket bulged out with Jihee’s hand inside.

If I had done it discreetly from behind, it would have looked more natural, but since I did it in front, it seemed awkward.

“Take it off!”

“You said I could touch it.”

“No, who does that? There are people watching. What are you doing?”

A real couple passed by, giving us a curious glance.

“Why.”

“What’s with the why.”

“You endured sending a message to Unnie Demi, who Oppa has a crush on, but you can’t even endure this?”

The problem was that Jihee’s hand didn’t stop there.

Slowly, slowly.

Like a caterpillar eating a leaf.

Jihee’s hand was moving very slowly towards the center, twitching.

“Ah, seriously.”

In the end, I had to use force to pull out my younger sibling’s arm.

“……You said I could touch it.”

“This kind of thing should be done in a place with no people around. You don’t need to make a big deal out of it, even if it’s just my girlfriend.”

As soon as Jihee heard the words “just my girlfriend,” she withdrew her hands.

“……Sorry.”

“Haa……It’s not like that. Let’s go eat now.”

“Can I hold your hand, then?”

Jihee, who had suddenly become shy, glanced at me and approached.

“……Yeah.”

“Alright, I’ll just hold this.”

We headed back the way we came, holding hands.

The strange thing was that when Jihee intentionally did something provocative, it felt less awkward than when she treated me like a normal boyfriend.

Jihee didn’t tease me anymore, and I didn’t shake her off.

“Oppa.”

“Yeah.”

“Did you say Oppa is good at swimming?”

“Just so-so?”

I only learned how to swim at the neighborhood sports center in elementary school.

“How about you?”

“I can’t.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I never learned.”

“Then we shouldn’t go too deep, okay?”

“It’s not like that. If Oppa is with me, we can go.”

Saying this made me feel like we were reciting a cliché from a disaster movie right before the incident occurs.

After talking about the sea and swimming, we went to a restaurant we had previously checked out and had lunch, then arrived at the beach.

The sun was shining brightly in the middle of the sky!

The sound of laughter bursting out from all directions!

Since we had to change our clothes first, we agreed to meet again in front of the locker room.

Of course, I was the first one to come out.

I was wearing the trunk swimsuit we bought with Jihee that day, along with a black T-shirt.

It took Jihee over 10 minutes to come out.

“Oppa!”

Her pale, smooth skin was starkly visible.

I scrunched up my face the moment I saw her.

“What did you do with the thing we were supposed to bring?”

“I didn’t bring it,” Jihee said with an innocent tone.

I shot her a skeptical look, and she shook her head vigorously like a motorized toy, as if to emphasize her innocence.

“Really? You’re really telling the truth?”

“I took good care of it.”

“Aww, it’s better than leaving other things behind, at least.”

Jihee seemed to brush it off and pulled me to rent a mat.

The rental fee was quite expensive.

Ugh, we should’ve brought it from Seoul.

Or maybe not.

If we had brought it, we would’ve had to carry it back and forth on the train, so it might’ve been better to rent it here.

As we walked towards the beach, hand in hand, I was still calculating the cost in my head.

“Let’s do it here!”

Jihee chose a spot in the middle of a decent sandy beach.

We spread out the mat and sat down side by side, enjoying the sea breeze.

“Oppa.”

“Yes?”

“You didn’t apply sunscreen.”

“Yes, I didn’t.”

“Tsks!”

Jihee rummaged through her eco-bag and pulled out the sunscreen.

“Thanks.”

“Huh, do you want me to apply it for you?”

“Do I have to?”

I was only wearing a T-shirt, so I thought I could apply it myself.

“Yes, you have to.”

Jihee didn’t wait for my consent and started applying the sunscreen, smearing it all over my face and neck.

It felt strange, even though she wasn’t touching any weird parts.

Especially the back of my neck – why was she applying it so meticulously?

“That’s enough. Stop.”

“Just up to here.”

Jihee made a slapping sound on her calf and came over to me with a sulky face.

Her bikini and perfect pose made it difficult to look away.

“Shall we go now?”

“What’s with you? Why are you eating alone and leaving?”

“What’s wrong?”

“I want to get sunscreen too!”

Jihee chuckled and lay down on the mat.

“I don’t want to ride. Oppa.”

My little sister looked up at me with a playful tone.

“Do you know you have to apply it thoroughly to every nook and cranny?”

Yeah.

This is classic.

Like a couple applying sunscreen to each other.

But what caught my attention was not her skin, but Jihee’s swimsuit.

“Jihee.”

“Yes?”

As I reached out my hand, I realized that what I was seeing was not a mistake.

“Why is the strap of your bikini like this?”

Jihee’s bikini strap, which should have been new, looked like it was about to break.