Chapter 181. Ending Just as It Started (2/2)

[Liar! Unni is a liar!]

[Seunghae.]

The older girl reached out to console the little girl, but she screamed angrily and flailed her arms.

The older girl frowned and leaned back.

[Ow!]

Because the little girl was flailing around recklessly, her hand ended up hitting the older girl’s nose.

[Ah….]

When the older girl grabbed her nose and dropped her head, the little girl saw this as an opportunity and began to hit and pull on the older girl’s hair.

[Se-Seunghae!]

After finally pulling the little girl off of her, the older girl let out an exhausted sigh.

Just how long had they been wrestling for? The older girl blinked, thick shades adorning her lower eyes.

[Medicine, take you medicine… please… it’s hard for Unni too….]

Raising a spoon holding a syrup-like liquid, she repeated the same words she had been saying for ages.

But perhaps oblivious to her older sister’s feelings, the little girl flailed her arms again and hit her sister’s hand away.

The spoon flew in the air, dropping the syrup everywhere.

[…Yoo Seunghae.]

The older girl’s voice sharpened.

[Don’t you want the pain to go away?]

[Uwaaah! Uwaaaang!]

[Take your medicine. Now.]

[Mooommy, Mooooomy!]

The older girl shut her eyes. Taking deep breaths to calm herself down, she picked up the spoon, drew another spoonful of syrup, and pushed it into her sister’s mouth.

No match for her older sister’s strength, the little girl reluctantly kept the spoon in her mouth. But soon, she opened her tiny mouth and Ptui! spat out the content. The syrup splattered all over the older sister’s face.

[I hate you, Unni! Go awaaaaay!]

At that instant, the older girl’s patience ran out.

[Yoo Seunghae! Are you really doing this?]

When she raised her voice, the startled little girl hiccuped. Soon, she tilted her head back and cried even louder than before.

[Uwaaaaaaang!]

Tears pooled around the older girl’s eyes as she watched her younger sister cry.

[What do you want me to do!?]

In the end, she burst out, unable to hold back.

[You think I don’t want to see them? I want to see Mom and Dad too!]

She screamed in frustration, not caring to wipe off the syrup on her face.

Although she was the older sister, she had just recently entered middle school. At just 14 years of age, she was still too young to bear the weight of losing both of her parents.

How much time went by? Just as the younger girl cried herself to sleep and the older girl sat around in the living room in a daze…

Beeps rang out from the password lock and the front door carefully opened. A young boy walked in, wearing the same uniform as the girl. In his hand was a white plastic bag.

The boy glanced at the little girl who had fallen asleep with tears streaming down her face. He then turned to the girl staring at him fixedly and smiled brightly.

[Can I come in?]

He said so after already being inside. The girl would have smirked at any other time, but she was too depressed at the moment.

[Why are you here?]

She spoke with a sharp tongue unwittingly.

[Get out.]

What did she resent so much? Her voice was filled with spite, unbefitting of her age.

[Aigoo~ What’s wrong this time, Madam Yoo? Hm?]

No one would have blamed the boy for being offended, but knowing that the girl’s resentment wasn’t directed at him, he took off his shoes and replied jokingly.

He hopped inside, placed the plastic bag down on the kitchen table, then took out a bundle of bananas.

Light flickered on in the girl’s eyes. When she went to the supermarket yesterday, she had hesitated several times to buy it.

Her younger sister had trouble swallowing food because of her swollen throat, and bananas were easy to swallow and also her favorite fruit. But because the cost of bananas had skyrocketed due to a recent blight, the girl had to swallow her tears and give up.

[How’s Seunghae doing?]

The boy asked as he peeled a banana.

[She just fell asleep… after a lot of trouble trying to get her to take her medicine….]

The girl murmured softly, her voice a bit gentler than before.

She wanted to throw everything aside and be cooped up in the room alone, but she felt bad kicking the boy out when he brought bananas to give to her younger sister.

But if there was one thing the girl didn’t expect, it was that the boy brought the peeled banana to her, and not the little girl.

[Here.]

When the banana touched her lips, the girl complaining about her exhaustion widened her eyes.

[You eat it.]

[H-Huh? I thought it was for Seunghae….]

[Seunghae is asleep. She can eat the remaining bananas when she wakes up. You eat one for now.]

The girl blinked.

[Come on. I know you like bananas too.]

Then, just like the girl did to her younger sister, the boy carefully shoved the banana into her mouth.

When she bit down reflexively, the teeth sunk into the soft fruit, and the scent of acacia filled her mouth fully.

Now that I think about it, I haven’t had dinner yet.

The girl muttered to herself and chewed on the banana without stopping.

Next, when she swallowed the fruit and looked up, she saw the boy looking down at her with a beaming smile.

Their eyes met.

[It’s good, right?]

The girl nodded her head without realizing, and then her face suddenly waned. Her eyes turned watery in an instant and, in the end, burst out into tears.

[I… I’m… really… a horrible older sister….]

The boy jumped in a startle.

[Hah? What do you mean? It would be hard to find a girl as nice as you.]

[Seunghae was crying, saying she wanted to see Mom… but I couldn’t hold in my anger and screamed… hic… huaaang….]

She grabbed the boy’s shirt and cried quietly. The boy could only scratch his face, not knowing what to do.

Smacking his lips, he plopped down next to her and patted the back of the girl crying in sorrow.

[It’s fine. You’re human too. It’s okay to get a little mad when you’re tired. Plus, Seunghae is a kid. Everyone knows how hard it is to take care of kids.]

[But… my young sister’s sick… I can’t even understand that….]

[Hey, Yoo Seonhwa. You did nothing wrong. If anything, I’m the one who’s at fault.]

[…How is anything your fault?]

[Sorry. I’ve been too busy with the company lately. I’ll come home earlier from now and try to look after our kid more.]

[Whaaat?]

Hearing the boy talking like he was her husband, the girl broke out into laughter in the middle of her crying.

The boy grinned as well.

[Anyways, stop blaming yourself and finish this. Here.]

The boy gave her the half-eaten banana. The girl sniffled with a flushed face and carefully took another bite.

Although her throat felt a little dry, she felt a lot better once she put something in her stomach.

[It’s good….]

[Right? Do you want another one?]

[Uuun, no, we have to leave them for Seunghae….]

[Just forget about her.]

[Ah, hey, don’t be mean to Seunghae.]

[Seeing you cry because of her hurt me.]

Hearing this, the girl quickly wiped her tears and grinned.

[The banana… did your parents buy it for us?]

[No.]

The boy shook his head.

[I bought it with my own money.]

[What? How do you have money?]

When the girl asked in surprise…

[With my saved allowance, of course.]

The boy made a peace-sign with his fingers.

[I’ve been wanting to say this for a while now. Hey, this is all your fault.]

[M-Me?]

[Because you’re so uncomfortable with getting anything from my parents that they’re too careful with doing anything for you.]

[But… I feel bad always getting things from them.]

[You sure are sorry about a lot of things. It’s just a banana. Anyways, I bought this with my own money, so it’s fine, right?]

Hearing the smiling boy speaking so light-heartedly, the girl became speechless for a moment. After moving her mouth a couple times without a word, she murmured quietly.

[…Stupid…]

[What did you call me?]

[Idiot.]

The boy and girl stared at each other and giggled. Just in case the little girl woke up, the two of them joked around quietly, and the sharp, needle-like atmosphere subsided before they noticed.

Languidness then crept up, and the girl closed her eyes. Suddenly feeling relaxed, she leaned her head to the side and heaved out a sigh.

[I can finally rest….]

And not long afterwards, soft breathing flowed out.

The boy stared at the girl who had fallen asleep on his arm. Looking at her for a long time, a smile unwittingly bloomed on his face.

Although he was a bit uncomfortable, he carefully leaned against the wall so that the girl wouldn’t wake up.

Then, he murmured inwardly.

Right, there was a time like this….

And just when he thought so—

He opened his eyes.