Mia's mouth dropped wide open. "Are you insane?!" She whisper-yelled, her eyes bulging. "Joo-ri? You want me to set up my best friend with my brother—who I'm fucking—as a fake girlfriend to fool mom?!"

  "I know it's a lot to ask, but—" I started, but she cut me off.

  "A lot? Jae-il, it's a minefield! What if Joo-ri gets the wrong idea? What if she falls for you for real? She's not an idiot! She'll figure out something's off sooner or ter! And then what? I lose my best friend and my brother?" Her hands flew to her hair, tugging at the butter-yellow strands in agitation. "No! This is not okay! Totally not okay!" She shook her head, trying to get rid of that idea.

  "Then what do you suggest we do?" I sighed. "Wait for mom to find a used condom in the trash? Or maybe walk in on us? We can't just keep walking on this wire, Noona. It's gonna get exhausting. The wind is picking up. She's already suspicious. We need to build a safety net, and this is the quickest way."

  I could ask Dae Hee, but I'd rather avoid getting her involved if I could. I didn't trust her not to get curious and start digging. Also, she was a bit crazy herself. I didn't need that in the mix, not around my family.

  Joo-ri was a more suitable option.

  She was Mia's best friend, which meant she already had a foot inside our chaotic household. She knew our mother, she knew Su Ah. She wouldn't be a complete stranger.

  She was also incredibly sharp. Quick-witted, adaptable. She'd probably enjoy the challenge of pulling off a convincing performance. Yes, she was a bit older... but we could make it work, somehow.

  Mia began to pace in the small kitchen space, her movements quick and jerky. Her eyes were getting a little murky. "I... I don't know! Maybe we just need to... talk to her. Really talk. Expin it's... complicated."

  "She won't buy it." I stated bluntly. "You said so yourself."

  "B-But... Joo-ri is too old for you! You're fifteen! She's what, twenty? Twenty-one? She's a college student! Mom will think it's weird!"

  "Aren't older women supposed to be into rising stars like me?" I replied, a hint of a smirk pying on my lips. "It's not entirely unbelievable. And honestly, way better than the alternative. Unless you know a fifteen year old girl who'd be willing to get roped into this mess without making a scene."

  "......"

  Dae Hee was fifteen, maybe sixteen? Honestly, age-wise, she'd be the perfect match, but she was too votile and unpredictable. She was at the bottom of the list, despite her being likely more agreeable to it than Joo-ri.

  "No, no, no, no... Jae-il, I don't like this. Not at all. Joo-ri is my best friend—we've known each other since middle school!" Mia's voice rose to a panicked pitch, still quiet, but just a notch louder. "And you're... you're… you know!"

  "Your brother, I know, thanks for reminding me." I gave her a stern look.

  "Right?!" Mia swallowed. "It's a recipe for disaster, Jae-il! Joo-ri isn't stupid either, she'll figure it all out before we know it, and then—"

  I raised a hand to stop her. She bit her bottom lip. "Noona, I know… but we really should have put a leash on ourselves long ago, we didn't, and now we gotta pay the price, so stop bawling over spilled milk, please, because that's the st thing we both need."

  "......"

  I kept talking, more sympathetically. "I know Joo-ri isn't stupid either, but what I can also bet on is her loyalty towards you. At least her feelings for you aren't mispced. She probably won't ask too many questions, and if she does, we can just call it off and pretend this never happened. Even if Joo-ri sniffs something wrong about the whole thing, I'm sure she'll pretend otherwise… just for you."

  "Please, please, please don't do this." She stepped towards me, her hands pressed against her chest like she was having a hard time breathing. "Please. Think of some other pn, a better one! Anything! I don't want you to date Joo-ri, even if it's just for show."

  I did feel a tiny tug of guilt at her btant dispy of discomfort and fear. And honestly, if the roles were reserved and Mia suggested that she fake-date some random college dude to fool our mother, I'd probably break the guy's legs before he even got to set foot in here.

  So I let out a sigh, and I pulled her in for a hug, which she readily accepted, burying her face into my chest as I wrapped my arms around her.

  "What if—" Mia started, her voice muffled against my shirt. "What if we just come clean? She wouldn't hate us, Jae-il. She's mom. She loves us. She'll just be... surprised. Shocked. But she'll eventually accept us." She pulled back, her eyes glistening.

  "......"

  I wanted to believe her.

  I really did.

  But I've seen too much, and I've seen how the gentlest of people could turn into monsters when faced with something they couldn't possibly comprehend, let alone accept. Something like a mother discovering that her own son and daughter are involved.

  Eun Ha was a sweet, tender-hearted woman. But her mental health was already on thin ice. A confession would be the final nail on her coffin. She would be horrified. She'd feel like she failed.

  And I'd never put her through that. Not for my own selfish desires.

  "Tell you what." I said, gently pushing Mia back a little to look at her. "Let me think about it some more. For now, we need to be normal. Act like a brother and sister should. No more... welcome home presents in the kitchen."

  She pouted, but I could see a flicker of understanding in her eyes. "Fine." A huff. "What about your bedroom? Your welcome home present isn't done yet, you know."

  I had to ugh. "Noona, we're not having sex in my room right after you told me mom is already suspicious of us."

  "Awwwww." Mia whined like a petunt child. "You're no fun. I'll make it quick, I promise."

  I had to push her away at that, and she just let out a loud giggle. I rolled my eyes. "Behave, or I'll talk to Joo-ri Noona."

  "Noooooo—" Mia whined again. "Anything but that! If you do, I'll kill you, and then I'll kill her~"

  She must've been joking.

  We chuckled.

  Mia then tackled me, tightening her hold. This was the kind of boisterous normal that I craved. The bickering, the ughter, this back and forth between us two.

  Her hand began moving. And right when I expected her to turn this semi-resolution into something dirty—

  She began poking the space between my rips, making me fold on one side comically.

  "Oof! My spleen!" I wheezed.

  Her cute, muffled ugh vibrated against me. "This is for even bringing that shit up! Stay still and receive it!"

  "What…"

  She ughed again, not unlike a devious little creature who had just cooked up the worst pns ever in the history of pns, but was proud of it nonetheless.

  "Ughk!? Fuck!" I found myself rolling sideways, fighting a breathless smile.

  Mia and I did wrestle a lot over the years, but not too often. Especially after I grew up and overpowered her in the few instances we did some roughhousing.

  Nowadays, the only times we did physical stuff like this was when either of us was horny, and by all accounts, our bedroom activities would most likely have a worse influence on the mood in the family than some innocuous wrestling.

  Mia raised her head up from its pce on my chest and fshed her a winning, gummy smile, her eyes squinting adorably. Her hand, meanwhile, never relented.

  Okay, fine. Payback. A divine, inevitable smiting descending upon that very distinct, legging-cased ass of hers.

  Thwump!

  That squishy, perky butt of hers rippled with a gratifying noise.

  The effect was magical. Mia yipped in surprise, going on the tip of her toes on pure reflex. She shot a gre that held zero actual fire. "My butt hurts! So much aggression, you brute! Mom was right, puberty really did turn you into a little monster!"

  "A monster who fights fair!" I replied, puffing out my chest importantly. I held up my hand aloft, beholding it solemnly, as if looking at a godly, ancient relic. "You just got a taste of what I call… The Judicious Hand."

  "Uhhhuh~" Her eyebrow jumped up skeptically, the tiniest hint of a challenging smirk curling her lips. "Is that so? That's nothing in front of these Judicious Fangs!" She bared her canines at me before taking a lunge forward and biting down hard on my shoulder.

  A loud groan was drawn out of me. This woman was beyond helping. "Why do you always have to bite!? Why?!" I could withstand a bullet on my shoulder, standing there, unfazed, but Mia's teeth were definitely a step above. They might as well be serrated.

  "So bite me back. Make me stop~?" Mia taunted before her eyes widened. "Wait!"

  I hooked my arms around her legs. Up she went like a sack of potatoes—a warm, curvy, suddenly panicking sack. She yelped, then instinctively wrapped herself around me, all limbs and startled ughter.

  "I warned you about my Judicious Hand." I said, turning to carry the wriggling creature toward the living room couch.

  "Jae-il! Don't you dare—" Her warning devolved into a squeal as I took the final step. I made a single, quick pivot, shifting my weight for the execution of the move. I dropped her onto the couch.

  Thud!

  Her whole body jiggled from the impact. The cushion sighed beneath her. Mia gasped, her hair a messy cloud around her head, cheeks flushed from the exertion and the giggling fit she was currently having. She looked up at me, a dazed, triumphant look in her eyes. And then she pounced, grabbing my arm and pulling me down with her.

  I went, mostly because fighting her would have been too much effort, and a small, traitorous part of me wanted to be exactly where I was now. On top of her, on the couch, with her legs automatically winding around my waist, locking me in pce.

  And then we were shaking with second-giggles.

  The tense atmosphere in the living room eased.

  Our arms wrapped tightly around one another again.

  Her breath was warm. Her hands came up to cup my face again, her thumbs stroking my jawline.

  Slowly, the fit subsided as we stared at each other. The pyful energy between us sizzled, then curdled into something that had no pce under this roof.

  "God, I really missed you, you know that?" Mia grinned, but for the first time that evening, it was free of the seductive edge that came with it whenever we were alone.

  Genuine, rexed.

  The real her.

  "I missed you too, Noona." I ran a hand through her hair, then traced the curve of her face with my finger, and smiled at the way she closed her eyes and pushed her head into the palm.

  When we were close like that, it was so, so hard to imagine it. The concept of doing anything in the world other than holding her, loving her, in spite of everything.

  Mia gave me this heart-stopping, unapologetically happy grin.

  Her mouth brushed across mine once, teasing and pyful.

  We didn't say much else, simply enjoying one another's company.

  Then we heard the noise. The sound of someone clearing their throat. We turned, as one, to find Su Ah was leaning against the living room doorway, arms crossed.

  It took probably three seconds for her expression to turn ft and sour.

  Her lips were pressed tight, and the annoyance was unmistakable in those big, dark blue eyes as they darted from me to my sister and then back to me again.

  "Am I interrupting something?"

  "......"

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