My Younger Sister Was My First Love

56. Truth and Sincerity

Question 1.

What’s the probability of using a condom right after opening the package?

Is it also possible to take out the contents and use it somewhere else?

Logically speaking, the answer is a clear X.

21-year-old Park Min-ju isn’t a kid.

Although I’ve never bought or used one, I’m old enough to know how the process works.

Then comes the second question.

Who is the man who used this?

I quickly put the box back in its place, and my heart started racing.

A strong candidate.

It seemed like the only candidate was someone living in this house, and the probability was too high.

Of course, I wouldn’t rush out and grab Lee Jun-ho’s collar just based on this.

It’s not like I can make a conclusion without even hearing the story.

But still……

The shadow of suspicion in my mind was slowly taking shape.

I turned my head, and Ji-hee’s pure white bedspread caught my eye.

If he used this, then Jun-ho over there…….

-Kiik!

The sound of the door opening startled me, and I froze.

“I’m back!”

It was Ji-hee’s bright and cheerful voice.

Ji-hee pulled out a chair and sat down next to me.

It was strange when I thought about it.

Did she really not know about the existence of this paper box, knowing that I was coming and cleaning everything so thoroughly?

The floor was spotless, but the desk where she studied was a mess.

That was a bit…….

Everything seemed suspicious.

Where did the coincidence start?

Where did the calculation begin?

Even my decision to tutor her seemed dubious.

Did she really want to learn?

Maybe this whole situation was…….

“Unnie.”

“What’s up?”

The sensation of her fingernails on the back of my hand made me let out a silly sound.

“Why are you like that? Are you okay?”

“Yeah, sorry. What were we talking about again?”

“Unnie’s recommended private mock test?”

“Yeah, that’s what I was saying earlier. I’ll check if I have any materials left at home and let you know next time.”

“Thank you. I feel relieved!”

Even as we were talking, my eyes were fixed on the paper box.

I stood there, frozen like a cursed statue, unable to do anything.

Consciously, I tried to make eye contact, hoping to say something, but Jihee showed no reaction.

What’s the truth, anyway?

“Shall we stop here for today?”

Jihee smiled brightly and pushed her chair back, flopping down on the bed.

“Let’s do that. I’ll come back on Thursday or Friday. Which day is better for you?”

“Thursday.”

“Okay. Then I’ll come at the same time on Thursday.”

“I’ll take you.”

As I tried to leave the room, Jihee stuck close behind me, following me out into the living room.

Junho was lounging on the sofa, watching TV with a carefree expression.

He looked completely worry-free, and my mind, already confused by the condom, grew even more complicated.

Could it be true that he did that with his younger sibling?

I believed it.

No, I wanted to believe it.

My favorite guy couldn’t be so shameless as to do that and still call me over, could he?

“Did I do well?”

“Yeah, you’re right. If Jihee learns properly, she’ll improve quickly.”

“Our next lesson is on Thursday.”

Jihee casually put her arm around mine, as if it was a familiar gesture.

It was strange, but I felt goosebumps.

Although it was a friendly gesture, my body trembled as if it had encountered a stranger’s touch.

“Then we can go home from school together on that day too.”

“……Yeah.”

As I grabbed my bag and headed out into the hallway, Junho offered to take me to the bus stop, putting on his shoes.

…Maybe it’s better to ask just in case?

I was hesitant to bring up the condom found in Jihee’s room.

If it was an item that had nothing to do with Junho, it would mean I had carelessly invaded the family’s privacy.

As Junho put on his slippers…

“Can I come too? Is it okay, unnie?”

I forced a awkward smile, nodding my head.

“Yeah. But Jihee, you can just stay home.”

“Right. Jihee, you can just study at home.”

“Aww, I just got out of tutoring. It’s my break time. Break time.”

“Then why don’t you go home and rest?”

“I don’t want to. I want to see our unnie off. Let’s go!”

Jihee smiled sweetly and grabbed my wrist, pressing the elevator button as she passed by Junho.

“I’m not listening to you anyway.”

Junho grumbled good-naturedly, following us out with a brotherly air.

The bus stop was right in front of the apartment complex, so we couldn’t exchange more than a few words.

“Be careful, Unnie. Thanks for coming today.”

In front of the bus stop.

I shook my head at Jihee’s overly polite attitude.

“No, no. It’s just an hour, what’s the big deal?”

“One hour for a Korean student is expensive, you know.”

“That’s not true, and Jihee, you’re just a friend to me, like a little sister.”

“Yeah, Unnie is friends with our oppa, too.”

Considering Jihee’s feelings for Junho, it was harder to pretend I didn’t know what she meant.

I was saying this, but…

[You shouldn’t cross the line and stay as a friend forever.] like that.

Originally, I wanted to use this opportunity to get closer to Junho, but…

The vinyl ripped open in the box shook my determination and plan to the core.

Haa… I should ask at school, separately.

No, can I even ask about this?

“Hey, the bus is here.”

Junho, who seemed to know my heart, pushed me onto the blue city bus, gazing at the electronic board.

“See you tomorrow!”

As I sat by the window, the siblings waved goodbye to me, and I smiled and waved back. The two of them gradually disappeared into the distance, following the path they came from.

The bus door closed, and just before it departed, the red light came on.

I unintentionally watched the backs of the two people growing farther away for a while.

The younger sibling seemed to be saying something.

The older sibling reacted, turning their head slightly.

Before long, the younger sibling, who was called “dongsaeng,” sneakily put their arm around the older sibling’s arm.

-Wheeee-

The bus departed with perfect timing.

Like an unfinished novel, I couldn’t tell if Junho shook off their arm or left it as it was and went home.

I leaned my forehead against the glass window.

The vibration of the tires scraping against the asphalt resonated through my skull.

“…I don’t know.”

What was genuine?

What was the truth?

Even though I was right next to Junho, I couldn’t tell.

* * *

The end of April.

The morning of Jihee’s second mock test dawned.

April is a month without official mock tests from the education office or evaluation institute.

So, I had to find private mock tests online, here and there.

I think it’s ridiculous for students to question the quality of the questions, but some mock tests definitely had too many outdated problems.

Let me know if you need any further assistance!

Since family issues were the problem, I had picked out the ones I thought were okay after trying them out myself last year and prepared them in advance.

7:30 am.

As I set the table, Teacher Dong, with a sleepy face, rubbed his eyes and started eating.

“Jihee.”

“……yeah.”

“Very sleepy?”

“……yeah.”

“Didn’t you sleep well last night?”

Instead of answering, Jihee nodded and put a bite of egg roll in his mouth with his chopsticks.

“Even if you practice on your own at home, you need to practice condition management before the test.”

A mock test is a mock test.

It’s literally a practice test.

You can’t just sleep late the night before and take the test half-asleep.

Lacking real-life experience is not good in many ways.

“I need to dope a bit.”

“Dope?”

This isn’t a sports competition, and we’re taking a mock test, so what’s the need for doping?

“Yeah, I need to get 60 points.”

“What did you do? Did you take some sort of stimulant?”

“No…… I listened to the lecture at 2x speed and finished the rest of the part.”

“……How much?”

“About 10 lectures?”

Considering that one lecture is usually an hour long, that’s around 10 hours.

Even if I listened at 2x speed, that’s still five hours of studying.

So, what time did you sleep, huh?

His face, worn out from fatigue, was a sight to behold at that moment.

“Ha…… why did you do that? You could’ve just taken it next time. You’re almost in a state of not having slept at all.”

“Eh. I suffered so much to prepare for today’s test, so why not take it? I want to take the test.”

“If your condition isn’t good, you might not get a good score even if you studied hard, you know?”

Jihee, with a hint of sleepiness, opened his eyes wide and countered.

“If I don’t get a good score, isn’t that good for Oppa?”

“What?”

“If I don’t go to the celebration with you, isn’t that good for Oppa? I just want to stay home and rest.”

It wasn’t a wrong statement.

However, as someone who’s half a teacher, it was strange for me to see my younger sibling fail a mock test.

My effort and family education would certainly be reflected in the score.

“I never taught you to study to fail. I taught you to do well.”

“So, let’s just take the test as is. Let’s get it over with and sleep afterwards.”

“I’m telling you in advance, we’ll take the test until 4 pm. There’s no pause button.”

“Is it okay to sleep during lunchtime?”

“Is it harder to sleep when it’s like this?”

If Jihee had made up her mind to take the test, I would have just given her advice accordingly.

It was like taking a nap before an English listening test, which was bound to result in a ridiculous mistake during the listening part.

“Yeah.”

“Yeah, sleeping ambiguously makes you even more tired. You might as well finish everything and then sleep.”

“Yeah, I’ll try.”

As soon as we finished eating, I quickly cleaned up the table.

And then I realized I had forgotten to order the test papers and test desks for the 5th of May.

I’ll make sure to prepare everything by then.

Today’s test site was, unfortunately, set up like the dining table in March.

I dragged a chair from the room and set up the proctor’s seat.

“Okay.”

8:20 am.

I handed the prepared test papers to Dong-teacher in the room.

“If you find anything weird while solving the problems, let me know.”

“Uh-huh. Even if you say it’s weird, they can’t replace the test papers anyway.”

Jihee, who was leaning on her chin, spoke in a tone as if she was one of those students who always had something to say.

“I’ll do it.”

“Really?”

“The test has started. Focus. You need to get at least one more question right to attend your favorite festival, you know.”

“I’m already good at Korean.”

I envied her. I envied her so much.

As I nodded my head in understanding, Jihee read the test paper quickly, like she was reading a newspaper, and checked the answers rapidly.

…After finishing everything, please review it.

Before an hour had even passed, Dong-teacher, who had collapsed, started making soft, gentle breathing sounds.

Should I wake her up or not?

Should I wake her up or not?

Should I wake her up and make her review the test?

Or should I just let her sleep and go to bed?

At least until the Korean language test, I wanted to keep track of time, so I shook Jihee’s shoulder at exactly 10 am.

“Jihee.”

“…Mm-hmm.”

“Go to sleep.”

“Why…?”

“You can’t even focus because you’re too tired from taking the test.”

Jihee, who was lying down, slowly raised her head like a ghost in a horror movie.

“No way. I finished everything.”

“Only people who are 100% confident in getting 100 points don’t review their tests.”

“It’s there.”

“What?”

“It all seems to match.”

“Even so, it’s meaningless to take the next test in this state.”

“Do you want me to comfort you like that?”

“It’ll only mess up our daily routine if we stay here any longer.”

Jihee turned her upper body and leaned her forehead against my abdomen.

“If you really want to comfort me, come to bed and do it properly.”

“Get up.”

“Are we going to sleep together?”

“Why would I sleep with you?”

“My body is warm, so I sleep well.”

“No way.”

The memory of the day I first brought Minju home came to mind, and my ears began to burn.

“Don’t you think my cold hands and feet are a good match?”

Even in my dazed state, I wanted to do that.

With a resentful heart, I grasped Jihee’s cheeks with both hands.

“Mwah.”

Her cheeks stretched out like rice cakes.

Jihee looked at me with a slightly foolish expression, as if she didn’t expect me to do this.

“Be serious. Be serious. I prepared seriously too.”

Jihee shook her head from side to side while her cheeks were still grasped.

And the result was…

[Korean Language 100]

[Math 67]

[English 64]

After finishing the grading, I fell into deep despair.

No way. Is this really…?

Can I really pass?

I couldn’t speak.

As I stared at the answer sheet, Jihee wrapped her arms around my neck from behind and pressed her cheek against mine.

I felt a soft sensation.

The shampoo scent also started to tickle my nose.

“…Is this your celebration, Oppa?”

Her language was strange and awkward, unlike her bright smile.