HYUNG 10

Should I wake him? I needed to hear at least a rough explanation of his work to decide whether to bother making the presentation, but he seemed to be sleeping so soundly that I felt bad touching him. I checked the time, and it was just turning five o’clock. It would be fine to leave him be while I organized my own work. Once I finished organizing, I could wake him up and order food.

I cleared Ham Dowon’s laptop away, took out mine, and plugged in the USB. Wow, I was really bad at drawing back then. Since it was work from my freshman year before I returned to school, it wasn’t great at all. It might have been because I had just looked at Ham Dowon’s work with such admiration. For now, I turned on Photoshop, cropped out the useless backgrounds that were captured in the photos, and did some minor retouching. This probably wouldn’t be a graded presentation, but I should still work hard on everything whenever possible…

“…Hello.”

Perhaps I had been too focused, because the vibration of my phone startled me. Worried Ham Dowon might wake up, I answered quickly, and a familiar voice came through.

—What’s with your voice?

“What about my voice?”

—It sounds… like a pervert.

I was only whispering, yet I had to hear such harsh words. This brat Ye Hwanyoung had no filter when it came to her Oppa.

“A pervert? Is that any way to talk to your Oppa?”

—I can say it. Anyway. Oppa, you know it’s Mom’s birthday, right? Are you coming down?

It had been several years since I last celebrated my mother’s birthday in person, so this year I planned to use the weekend and a gap in my class schedule to go down and congratulate her myself. However, childishly enough, I didn’t want to give in too easily.

“Why, does our Hwanyoung miss her Oppa?”

—Funny. Why would I miss you? Mom and Dad are the ones saying they miss you.

“And you don’t? Huh? Don’t you want to see your Oppa’s handsome face?”

—Who said you were handsome? Who told you such nonsense…

“You said you wanted to marry me because I was so handsome.”

—Ugh! How long ago was that! That’s gross!

“Even though you said I was the handsomest in the world and that you’d definitely marry me… how can a person’s heart change?”

When I pretended to fake-cry, Ye Hwanyoung was genuinely horrified.

—I seriously feel like I’m going to throw up.

That was truly how it was back when she was a child. She was the type to follow me around like a puppy, saying, ‘Oppa is the handsomest in the world! I’m going to marry Oppa!’ Since there was a seven-year age gap, I had practically raised her and played with her instead of our busy parents. She was a kid who wouldn’t even take a nap unless she was holding onto my sleeve. She was so cute and pretty back then… when did she become like this? I truly felt the cruelty of time.

“When did our Hwanyoung become so cold-hearted? Hmm? Oppa is really upset. Sob sob.”

—Sister-con is the worst.

“I’m your Oppa, so I call myself Oppa? Why does that make me a sis-con? And where did you even learn such words? Huh?”

—Don’t go around saying ‘Oppa this, Oppa that’ in front of other people. It’s seriously the worst.

“I don’t. Why would I do that to other people? I’m only our Hwanyoung’s Oppa. You don’t have to be jealous. I’m only Oppa to our Hwanyoung.”

—Are you seriously insane? Ah, so are you coming down or not!

When I spoke in a cutesy way, Ye Hwanyoung absolutely detested it. Ah, hilarious. This is why I tease her. I suppressed the laughter that was about to leak out.

“I’m going. I’m coming down next weekend, so don’t cry about missing me and just wait until then.”

—I just walked into the bathroom to actually puke.

“What should I do? Oppa should be there to pat our Hwanyoung’s back for her.”

—Ugh, blech!

“Ugh, I’m hanging up.”

—Wait! Oppa.

“What?”

The tone of the brat who was making fake gagging sounds just a moment ago suddenly changed. Seeing her acting all sweet all of a sudden was suspicious. She always acted like this when she had a favor to ask. I felt uneasy.

—Buy some cake and bread and bring them when you come down, okay? I’ll send you the link, so get them there.

“What if they spoil? If it’s cake, the cream might melt.”

As expected… she only acts cute when there’s something she wants. Such a cheeky brat. Since she was someone hoping for a career in baking and pastry, I had already thought about buying some trendy donuts for her when I went down. I just didn’t expect her to act with such zero conscience. I guess I didn’t know my own sibling well enough.

—Ugh, it’s autumn, how would anything spoil? You can just put them in a cooler bag with ice packs! How is that hard? Huh? It’s what your only sibling wants?

She only calls herself my only sibling at times like this. It was quite exasperating to hear her yelling, but as her only Oppa, I decided to be patient.

“Are you going to give me the money?”

—Oppa. Where is your conscience? I’m seven years younger. And I know how much allowance Oppa gets; you can’t even buy that one thing for me? Huh?

“Fine. I get it. Just send the link.”

Ugh, such a noisy brat… I received a fairly generous allowance compared to others my age, plus I had a decent amount of savings and did part-time work, so buying that much wasn’t a burden. Besides, even if she was rude, she was still my only cute younger sister, so I had no choice but to lose to her.

—Yay! Oppa, I love you!

“You only say you love me at times like this.”

—Aren’t you going to hurry up and say you love me too? Huh?

Calling her Oppa, who is seven years older, ‘you’. What will she become when she grows up? Is she attending school properly? Hearing her tone of voice extorting love through threats, I suddenly felt worried.

“You’re attending school without any trouble, right?”

—Ah, just say what you have to say and hang up!

“Fine. I love you. Happy?”

—I am. Hanging up. I have to send the link.

Click, beep beep beep… This ill-mannered brat… where did she sell her phone etiquette…

“Oh, really?”

Perhaps she already had them saved up, because the speed at which the links were coming through KakaoTalk without pause was fast. Just how much does she want me to bring? Even so, I found it admirable that she searched for things so diligently for her career path, so I was chuckling when I felt a presence next to me.

“Oh, you’re awake? I’ve organized my work here on the laptop…”

“Does hyung usually just love anyone like that?”

“Hmm?”

“Why is hyung so… profligate? I’m really disappointed. I was thinking seriously about this the whole time… but hyung is…”

“What did you say?”

I hadn’t heard him properly because I was distracted by the constant notifications from Ye Hwanyoung. Just how many places are there? Can I even buy them all? It was so chaotic that I finally turned off the screen and looked at Ham Dowon. The fellow sitting on the edge of the bed was glaring at me with a scrunched-up face.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Who were you on the phone with?”

“Ah, did the call wake you up? Sorry.”

What’s wrong with him? He was shooting me sharp glares earlier, but now his face looked like he was about to cry. Did he have a nightmare?

“Who is it? Who is it that you’re the ‘only hyung’ to…!”

“My sibling.”

“…Sibling?”

“Yeah. My younger sister. She’s seven years younger than me, so she’s still in high school.”

“…Ah.”

He must not be fully awake yet. It was obvious seeing that stupid expression.

“Aren’t you hungry? Shall we eat before we finish up?”

“…I’m hungry.”

“What do you want to eat? It’s better to order in. Chicken… is a no-go. Since you said you don’t eat chicken. Then… do you want to eat pizza?”

Pizza was the best for disposing of trash. I could just freeze the leftovers.

“Yes.”

“Do you like sweet potato pizza? I like it. By the way, do you eat baked pineapple too?”

“Yes. I like everything.”

I had wanted to eat hot pineapple, so fortunately our tastes matched.

“Then I’ll order whatever. In the meantime, take a look at the work I’ve organized, and since you’re up, turn on the light. The switch is over there.”

While I looked through the delivery app, Ham Dowon turned on the light and sat across from me again. After sliding my laptop toward him, I ordered a half-and-half of bulgogi pizza with pineapple and sweet potato pizza, along with several side dishes.

“It says it’ll be here in 40 minutes.”

After checking the notification from the delivery app, I tossed my phone onto the bed. The blanket had been folded neatly. It was much cleaner than the way I had roughly organized it after waking up this morning.

“It’s embarrassing showing my stuff to someone who has been drawing for so long.”

“I like it too. Hyung’s work.”

“…Then that’s a relief.”

Ham Dowon, who had been staring intently at the screen, suddenly raised his eyes to gaze at me. He didn’t make a particular expression, but it was a bit—no, quite strange. His eyes especially. Because the look in his eyes was so deep. He has pretty eyes, too.