My Feisty Sisters Are Coming After Me

Chapter 24

—–CROW—– 

Since the conversation seemed like it would go on for a while, the three of us moved to a table outside a nearby convenience store.

It felt awkward to sit empty-handed, so we picked out some snacks, which naturally led to each of us holding a can or two of beer.

“Puha!  Huu, now I feel alive.”

“Geum-bi Noona, aren’t you acting a bit too much like an old man?”

“Hey, you try working after graduating.  You’ll realize how precious this one sip is.”

Geum-bi Noona, after quickly downing her dark beer, laughed refreshingly, and I, arranging the snacks, found it amusing.

Meanwhile, Su-jeong Noona quietly nodded in agreement and then asked Geum-bi Noona why she had come out.

“Geum-bi, didn’t you have an appointment? Is it okay for you to be out with us like this?”

“It’s nothing.  I just… think I dropped my phone in front of the house, so I was going to look for it.”

“Huh?  Then that’s a big deal! You should go look for it right away!”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. It’s either in front of the house or inside. I remember taking it out to check the time before going inside.”

“Huu, that’s a relief. Still, look for it as soon as you get back.  Someone might have picked it up, so try calling it too.”

“Yes, yes~.  Anyway, so…… what were you talking about earlier? Unnie?”

After a brief chat, Geum-bi Noona put down her beer can and looked at Su-jeong Noona.

There was no trace of her earlier smile in her eyes, and I, caught in the middle, gulped nervously.

“…I was originally going to tell only Ji-gu.”

“Why? Is it something I shouldn’t hear?”

“No, it’s not like that, but…”

“Then tell me. I’d rather not be left out after I’ve already heard about it.”

Geum-bi Noona glanced back and forth between Su-jeong Noona and me.

It seemed she was subtly implying that this included not just this news, but also past events.

Under that pressure, Su-jeong Noona sighed and took a gulp of her fruit-flavored beer.

After drinking a considerable amount in one go, she gently placed the can on the table.

“Mom said one of us was adopted… remember?”

“How could I forget?  Of course, I remember.”

“Since I’m the oldest, I vaguely remember when you guys were little, or around the time Mom was pregnant…”

“Yes, that’s right. I also vaguely remember things from when Hwa-yeon was born.”

“So at first, I thought it was either me or you, Geum-bi.  Since my memories are vague…… it had to be one of us.”

After saying that, Su-jeong Noona glanced at Geum-bi Noona.

That was the reason why Su-jeong Noona had been awkward around Geum-bi Noona.  She was worried about hurting her.

“Hmm~ So?”

“Huh?”

“I’m listening, Unnie. So what happened next?”

“Aren’t you… okay, Geum-bi?”

“With what?”

“That there’s a… pretty high chance that you were adopted?”

However, Geum-bi Noona’s reaction was surprisingly calm, and both Su-jeong Noona and I stared at her in surprise.

“Unnie, I’m not stupid. I was already guessing that much.  Excluding the younger siblings, the suspects are obviously the two of us. Isn’t that obvious?”

“R-Really? You already knew?”

“Seriously.  And how robotic have you been acting around me since that day?  I’d be a real idiot if I didn’t notice, tsk.”

“S-Sorry. I wasn’t trying to avoid you on purpose…”

“It’s fine, we talked about this before.  I understand now, so don’t worry about it.”

Geum-bi Noona then held out her beer can.

Su-jeong Noona chuckled and lightly clinked her can against Geum-bi Noona’s, and the two of them officially resolved their conflict in front of me.

‘They said they made up, but it’s nice to see it with my own eyes. …But, can’t I join the cheers too?’

Feeling left out, I took a gulp of my domestic beer.

Hmm, should I have chosen an imported beer too? But I liked this subtle taste.

“Now, back to the story, so why is Ji-gu involved? Unnie?”

Geum-bi Noona, whose taste differed from mine, preferred certainty over subtlety.

When our cans were about half empty, she munched on some dried snacks and got to the main point.

“This isn’t certain either… it’s just a guess, okay? Keep that in mind.”

“Okay, I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Around what age are your earliest childhood memories?”

“The ones I clearly remember are from around elementary school?  Kindergarten memories are a bit fragmented.”

“What about you, Ji-gu?”

“I’m the same.  Hmm, if I had to say, my earliest memory is from when I was three? I remember crying because I hid snacks in the refrigerator.”

I vividly remembered Su-jeong Noona secretly taking them out for me later, since I was a bit older then.

And I also remembered Geum-bi Noona taking half as a “handling fee.”

‘But I don’t remember any other days besides that.’

Weren’t childhood memories usually like that?

Even if memories of special days remained, most of the 365 days in a year were forgotten.

As if she had anticipated our answers, Su-jeong Noona nodded in agreement.

“Me too. Perhaps because of that, unlike Hwa-yeon or Mok-hee, your memories are a bit hazy, Ji-gu.”

“So that’s why I’m a suspect too? But last time you said it couldn’t be anyone other than Geum-bi Noona?”

“Yes. Because I clearly remember what you looked like as a baby, Ji-gu.  But… when I think about it, I don’t have any memories of when Mom was pregnant with you.”

“What’s the difference… Ah, I see.”

I wondered what the difference was between being a newborn and being a fetus, but I soon realized there was a significant gap.

Hadn’t I talked about this with Noona before? That there was a possibility we were adopted when we were very young, too young to remember.

‘None of the five of us had any memories of living in an orphanage or anything.  That’s actually more plausible.’

I heard that adoptions usually favored younger children over older ones.

Geum-bi Noona also seemed to understand and nodded, and Su-jeong Noona, picking up a shrimp cracker, continued hesitantly.

“If you were in Mom’s belly, Ji-gu… I would have been two or three years old.  Too young to have clear memories…”

“So you’re saying you don’t remember if Mom’s belly was big?”

“Mm.  Maybe because Geum-bi and I were so young back then, I don’t think we were taken to the hospital or anything for the birth. And there aren’t many pictures… maybe because it was embarrassing, Mom didn’t take many pictures when she was pregnant.”

“So there’s no objective evidence.  Well…”

“O-Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s definitely you, Ji-gu! That’s why I was hesitant to tell you… and only brought it up today. Haaa.”

Su-jeong Noona let out a long sigh, filled with various emotions.

I didn’t know if it was a sigh of relief from unburdening herself, or a sigh of discomfort from adding to our worries.

In any case, it was clear that I had become one of the people involved in this matter.

“Unnie, did you drink yesterday because of this?  A whole bottle of whiskey?”

“Mm. After I remembered, I couldn’t focus on work… and then I got scolded, hehe.”

“Wait, a bottle of whiskey? Geum-bi Noona, what’s that about?”

“Su-jeong Unnie opened the whiskey she had hidden in the refrigerator.  How could Unnie fall asleep so soundly in such a short time?”

“But how could I endure this without alcohol?  When I came home, Ji-gu was nowhere to be seen, and you were just in your room, Geum-bi, so I had a drink or two, and… ehe.”

Geum-bi Noona shook her head, and Su-jeong Noona grinned, asking for understanding.

But I was quite shocked to hear that Su-jeong Noona had finished a whole bottle of whiskey by herself.

“Wait a minute.  Su-jeong Noona has a really low alcohol tolerance, right? But you drank a whole bottle of whiskey alone? Didn’t your stomach hurt?”

“What is he talking about? Hey, why would Unnie have a low tolerance? We have the same genes. …Ah, can’t you be sure about that now?”

“L-Let’s look into that later. But really?  Su-jeong Noona was always the one groaning after drinking outside…”

“That’s because Unnie drinks the most.  Look even now, she’s already on her second can.”

At Geum-bi Noona’s remark, I turned my gaze, and Su-jeong Noona, startled, subtly averted her eyes.

But I clearly saw her trying to hide the empty can on the table.

“Noona… I see. I was just misunderstanding all this time.”

“Huh?! N-No, Ji-gu! I really can’t hold my liquor.  I’m just drinking this because it’s sweet and tasty.”

“Unnie, why are you pretending to be weak in front of him?”

“But, my delicate and innocent image, ugh.”

“How can you say that with a straight face… Ji-gu, remember this.  Unnie is probably the best drinker in our house. We used to drink together when you were in the military, and I never won.”

“Hey, Yang Geum-bi! Don’t say unnecessary things, tsk.”

Considering their age, I never thought they were completely incapable of handling alcohol,

But they were both quite the heavy drinkers… perhaps they chose imported beer because it had a higher alcohol content than domestic beer?

‘And yet, both of them strangely have no dating experience. Or is it because of that that they drown their loneliness in alcohol?’

Worried about my sisters’ one-sided social experience, I took a few more sips of beer.

Even so, I was still far from catching up to Geum-bi Noona, who was starting her second can after Su-jeong Noona.

“Puha!  So… what are you going to do now, Unnie?”

“Huh? What?”

“You said both you and Ji-gu are suspects now. Are you just going to leave it like this?”

“Then is there anything else we can do?”

“There’s only one way. Contact Mom.”

“Huh? N-No way! She’s already busy being hospitalized… I don’t want to worry her with our problems.”

“Is this just our problem? Strictly speaking, it’s a family problem.  And since Mom started this whole thing, I think she deserves that much pressure.”

“Pressuring Mom… I told you not to say that.”

“Whatever the word is, the point is, let’s tell Mom quickly.  So she can reveal the truth or tell us when she’s coming back.”

“…Don’t say it so lightly. Mom must have thought about it a lot before telling us.”

“That’s why we should let her get it all off her chest now that she’s started.”

“Mom was going to do that. But what can we do if the accident delayed her plans?”

“…Haa, this is frustrating.  Unnie, are you Mother Teresa? You’re taking on all the consideration in the world by yourself.”

“…Look who’s talking. You have no consideration for your family, Geum-bi. Hmph.”

Su-jeong Noona, who didn’t want to add to our mother’s worries while she was hospitalized overseas, and Geum-bi Noona, who wanted to urge Mom to come back quickly as a solution to this issue.

Their opinions diverged again at the end, and seeing the situation unfold similarly to last time, I finished my beer and intervened.

“Now, now. Let’s stop this conversation here.  Whatever Mom was planning to do, she’ll do it after she’s discharged from the hospital, right?  There’s no point in us talking about it amongst ourselves.”

“…That’s true.”

“…Well, you’re not wrong.”

“Then let’s talk about it again later.  I’m fine, since I’m the one involved, so don’t worry too much.”

I felt like I had successfully mediated between them this time.

Feeling proud that I had finally fulfilled my role as a bridge, I noticed both of them glancing at me.

“But Ji-gu. By ‘later,’ you mean we’ll continue like this until then, right?”

“Huh? Well, yeah.”

“Then why did you sleep in Geum-bi’s room yesterday?”

“Huh? No, we talked about that at the park…”

“Then you’re sleeping with me tonight?”

“Mm? W-Well, Noona…”

Su-jeong Noona spoke first.

Then Geum-bi Noona also pointed her arrow at me.

“I want to ask about that too. Why is it that Su-jeong Unnie sleeps in your room every night, not just once?”

“Huh? No, that’s… it just happened.”

“It just happened?  So tonight, it’ll just happen again, and you’ll sleep together? Even though you’ve been drinking?”

“Uh, well, if we do it like we’ve been doing…”

“How long have you two been sleeping together that you call it ‘like we’ve been doing?’  Since you slept with me yesterday, you should come to my room again tonight, right?”

“N-No, that’s because… um.”

This was an unexpected point.

Come to think of it, I had used the excuse that it was dangerous because Su-jeong Noona was drunk yesterday, hadn’t I?

‘But she’s not that drunk today, and it feels… wrong to openly say I won’t sleep with her in front of her.’

And it also felt strange to go to Geum-bi Noona’s room, since she had been drinking too.

Lost in thought, I avoided Geum-bi Noona’s glare, and then Su-jeong Noona’s gaze, filled with a mixture of earnestness and expectation, turned towards me.

Caught between the pressure to sleep together and the questioning of whether I would, I fiddled with my empty can and said,

“W-Well, then… how about both of you sleep in my room?”

“Huh?”

“What?”

“So, all three of us sleeping together… wouldn’t that be okay? Haha.”

I wanted to mediate between them smoothly like before,

But was this wrong? Their expressions became very subtle.

‘Whether they disliked it, were embarrassed, or felt uncomfortable… I wasn’t sure, but I felt like I shouldn’t have said that.’

However, I had learned from our mother that once words were spoken, they couldn’t be taken back.

Like our empty beer cans, we sat in silent stillness, our eyes darting around.

—–CROW—–