Chapter 216

When I regained consciousness, the sun was already hanging high in the sky. I couldn’t quite remember how I got home, but it seemed I had just collapsed onto my bed without even changing my clothes as soon as I arrived.

Clinging to my dazed mind, I realized I was on my own bed. I could have sworn I fell asleep on the couch; why was I here? Mira had mentioned this morning that she was going to work early. Did she move me after that?

“Are you awake?”

“Eek!”

I was startled by the sudden voice from beside me and let out an unusual scream. When I calmed down, I saw Eun-a sitting there.

“Why are you so surprised?”

“I was just startled. But why are you here?”

“You said you were going to sleep over since it’s the weekend anyway.”

“I don’t remember hearing that!”

“I told Mira.”

“But I’m the owner of the house, right?”

“Not really.”

Her boldness almost made me doubt my own perception. Still, it wasn’t a big deal, so I didn’t have any intentions of saying anything.

“What were you doing here yesterday?”

“Nothing major. But how did you know about that?”

“Oppa, you’re super noticeable! Every time you go out, there are sightings posted on social media.”

…Seriously exhausting.

“Should I just sue everyone?”

“That’s not even illegal. But there is indeed someone who took sneaky photos.”

“What?! Wait…, did they capture me in that state?”

“They uploaded it using a VPN. I don’t know if they can be caught.”

The photo Eun-a showed me had me sitting in the subway in that embarrassing state. I was so out of it that I didn’t notice it at the time. A sigh slipped out. I definitely didn’t want others to see me like this.

To be precise, if that kind of thing got out, wouldn’t Hwa-won see it too?

I didn’t want Hwa-won to see me in such a childish outfit, which emphasized my young appearance.

“…I don’t want to wear clothes like this again.”

“Excuse me?! Why?”

“It makes me look like a kid.”

There was something in my words that felt more like a complaint than dislike. It was as if Eun-a could sense that subtle difference, and she spoke significantly.

“…Then is it okay if the clothes are more mature?”

“…That’s fine.”

She was looking at me as if she had thought of something.

“But if you dress like that, it might just look like a kid pretending to be mature, right?”

“That… I don’t like. I want to grow up fast.”

Was it something about my expression? Usually, Eun-a would have said something teasing, but for some reason, she sat silent. I expected her to joke about not wanting me to grow up, but instead, she stared at me with a more significant expression than before.

“Oppa, you’re already an adult.”

“True enough.”

A self-deprecating smile came out on its own. I had abandoned my younger self to become an adult. It was a late graduation ceremony. And I had stabbed a knife into my own corpse. It was truly a fantastic coming-of-age ceremony. But I still looked like a teenage girl. Could I really be called an adult?

Of course, I was an adult.

But what I realized after becoming an adult was that being an adult wasn’t anything special. After the graduation ceremony and the coming-of-age ceremony, even as adults, we remained weak and pitiful beings.

The only difference was the fact that we had responsibilities.

This love, this pain — all of it was mine to bear.

“So are you not going to tell me what happened?”

“I just went out to research a bit about my birth.”

“W-What? So you did find your mother?”

“Not exactly.”

I told her about the story I had heard from a senior in college, seasoned with self-deprecation, which was the same as the name incident I encountered yesterday. After hearing the story, Eun-a’s expression changed in many ways… It looked painful.

“How cruel.”

“Right?”

“For something like that, you don’t seem to find it too hard to talk about. You looked more troubled just a moment ago.”

“Really? Well… I’m used to this kind of thing. I can shake it off in no time after a while.”

Even if I could shake it off, there was always something that would pile back up, but right now, there wasn’t any space in me for that to accumulate.

“I won’t say to cheer up. Instead, if you find your mother later, I’ll slap her for you.”

“Is that a joke?”

“Don’t make jokes like that. You’re immune to that kind of thing…”

“Alright.”

Still, the atmosphere wasn’t that bad. Eun-a probably thought there was more to it but didn’t press further.

“Get up if you’re awake. Let down your hair, wash up, and change your clothes.”

“I’ll do that even without you saying.”

“Do you need help letting down your hair?”

“I can do it myself.”

What’s so hard about this?

I decided to let my hair down and started fiddling with the hair tie. A moment later,

“…Help me.”

“Okay~”

Ugh, why is this tangled?

Anyway, with Eun-a’s help, I let my hair down and then immediately took off my clothes. Then, Eun-a shouted, surprised.

“W-Wait! I’m still here!”

“…Well, we’re girls, so it doesn’t matter.”

“W-What? Did you eat something weird yesterday?”

“I fasted the whole day.”

“Let’s eat first.”

Did Eun-a think my behavior was because I was hungry? She seemed to think my state was off. In a way, she was right.

After taking everything off except my underwear, I asked Eun-a to bring a few items to the laundry basket in front of the washing machine and headed to the bathroom. It didn’t take long to wash. I was a bit annoyed by the reflection of my poor physique in the mirror, but I didn’t think anything of the naked female body.

No, normally, even a guy wouldn’t think anything of that kind of body. I felt strangely miserable.

When I came out after washing, a meal was prepared at the table. It was just rice, side dishes, and fried eggs with ham, all of which were already in the house. For a typical day, Eun-a did put in some effort.

“I’ll eat well. But what about you?”

“It’s already two o’clock; I ate a while ago.”

“Oh, it’s already two.”

Of course, it didn’t taste particularly amazing, but after fasting all day yesterday and missing breakfast and lunch, it tasted sufficiently good to me. While I was eating, Eun-a kept staring at me, and her gaze felt a bit overwhelming.

“…Why are you staring? What are you thinking?”

“I thought you might do well in an eating broadcast.”

“Don’t talk nonsense.”

There’s no way I would do that. I can’t eat that much in the first place, so how could I be a food broadcaster?

Eun-a seemed to want to ask me about what happened yesterday, but she probably thought it was something she shouldn’t pry into. Surprisingly, she kept her boundaries regarding this part.

And surprisingly, there was someone quite the opposite.

Just as I finished my meal, I heard the sound of someone entering the door with the password. So far, the only people who knew the password to this house were Ham Yejin, Eun-a, and me. Naturally, since Mira was temporarily living here, I had also told her the password.

I had definitely said I would change the password to Ham Yejin, but I still hadn’t done it. There wasn’t any particular reason; I kept putting it off for some reason.

Soon, Mira came in, looking tired in many respects.

“I’m back…”

“Welcome back.”

“Did you come back?”

Mira dropped her bag and leaned back onto the couch. I guess her recent part-time job was at an internet café. Working at an internet café from the morning to lunch on the weekend must have been tiring.

“Ugh, I’m so tired.”

“Thanks for your hard work.”

“Yeah…”

After clearing the table with Eun-a, I left the dishwashing to Eun-a and went to the couch. Mira looked at me with half-lidded eyes as she leaned back on the sofa.

“What did you go out for yesterday?”

“Well, that is…”

I relayed the explanation I had given to Eun-a earlier, and Mira’s expression changed dramatically. It went from being stunned to incredulous to enraged.

Then she said, “Wow, I’m sorry, but your mother really is a horrible person.”

Surprisingly, Mira had no filter. I heard the sound of a plate dropping from the kitchen.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, it’s fine! The plate is okay!”

“Did it upset you?”

“I didn’t think much of it. Don’t worry about it.”

Was my indifference making her suspicious? Mira gave me a skeptical look.

“Oppa, why did you go to the beach yesterday?”

“To heal a wound in my heart.”

“Are you joking?”

“It just smelled fishy.”

“Then what about the reason you came back late last night? According to the chatter on social media, there were sightings of you coming back much earlier at the station.”

“Do those kids follow me around?”

Why are they documenting my every move in such detail? As I found that ridiculous, Eun-a joined me after finishing the dishes.

“Well, Oppa, at this point, your level of interest is almost celebrity status.”

“And because of Oppa’s hair color, you can’t help but stand out.”

That was true, but it was still rather irritating. What did I do to attract that much surveillance every time I went out?

Anyway, aside from that, I felt it was a good opportunity to bring something up.

“I just went for a walk. But I have something I want to say.”

“What is it?”

“Well…, it’s about how you guys call me ‘Oppa.’”

“What about it?”

I hesitated a bit. But there was no choice. Now I… well, I’m not like that anymore. I wasn’t sure if I should call it a feeling I directly obtained, but it was a certain feeling nonetheless.

“I think it’s a bit odd to be called ‘Oppa’ like this, so you don’t have to call me that.”

As soon as I finished, Eun-a placed her hand on my forehead.

“You don’t have a fever.”

“Should I just call 119 now?”

“That seems like a good idea.”

“No! Why are you treating me like a patient?!”

After going through such a hard time to say it, she just started joking. I couldn’t help but feel a little ridiculous at this point.

“Then what should we call you?”

“…You can call me ‘Unnie.’”

“I’ll call 119 right away.”

“Don’t!”