Pyeii grabbed the exclamation point from the end of her sentence and threw it at me. Caught by surprise, I dodged to the side and heard the sound of something lodging into the wall behind me. When I turned around, I saw the exclamation point shaking slightly while embedded in the wall. My shock morphed into anger as I shouted at Pyeii.
“What the hell were you thinking, throwing something like that at me?!”
My attempted murderer, however, showed no remorse whatsoever.
[You have the Tiger-nim’s tooth, would just have hurt.]
I didn’t even have to ask how she knew that. Chii probably told her. But still, for her to throw something like that at me … she must have been genuinely mad. This was my fault. Actually, my entire thought process was flawed. My belief that Pyeii was asking a favor only to stir up trouble was mistaken. After everything I’d been through, perhaps I had become too suspicious of others. I felt like I should apologize … but that didn’t sit right with me, either. Because of Pyeii’s behavior. The way she was dodging my questions and hiding something despite asking me for a favor really didn’t sit right with me.
“Are you telling me you think this won’t make Chii unhappy? Because Chii hasn’t been able to look at me straight since a while ago.”
[Ugh…!]
“Big Brother….”
Pyeii clenched her jaw, and Chii was unsure how to respond. I was well aware that I wasn’t acting mature. But my priority was getting those two to answer me honestly. They were dithering and equivocating about the terms of the favor when all they had to do was answer my questions honestly…. They reminded me of Narae when she was a kid. Still, that didn’t change the fact that this was my fault. I should apologize. However, Chii spoke up first before I could apologize to Pyeii. Chii was on the verge of tears as she grabbed the edge of Pyeii’s sleeve and spoke pleadingly to her.
“Awooo. Pyeii, you have to tell him everything. Big Brother is a massive lolicon, so as long as you tell him the truth, he’ll say yes to anything.”
Hey! Hey, you little brat! The heck kind of image of me do you have in that head of yours?!
[I don’t trust that human enough to tell him.]
“You don’t have to trust Big Brother. Trust me.”
[Chii, easily tricked. Pyramid schemes would love you.]
“I-I’d be okay with being tricked if it were for you, Pyeii!”
[Chii, love you.]
“Awoo….”
Chii and Pyeii hugged each other as if they were long-estranged lovers finally meeting after a long war. I was glad to see they were such good friends, but still.
“…Are you two not embarrassed in the slightest?”
At least don’t forget that I’m in front of you. When I said that, both Chii’s and Pyeii’s faces blushed red, their gazes averted as they moved apart from each other. That gave me the time to organize my own thoughts. The one thing I knew for a fact was that Pyeii didn’t follow Chii here just for fun. I asked Pyeii a question.
“So what you’re basically saying is … Pyeii tried to trick me?”
It was like Pyeii was a little kid trying to trick a grown up. If Saehee were the one trying to trick me, I wouldn’t have even noticed that I was being led by the nose.
“That is correct, Big Brother.”
[Chii, bad. I tried to trick him, but you told the idiot everything.]
Pyeii charged at Chii. I had no idea where their heart-warming behavior from earlier went. Pyeii really was a kid.
“Kyawooo?” Chii said, confused.
Pyeii pushed Chii, and the two fell bodily to the floor. They then began rolling around on the ground. I know full well that mentioning this will mark me as trash, but I have to get this off my chest.
Watching those two, with their huge breasts, rolling around was enjoyable.
…I swear, this is all because of Saehee’s spell.
“Please trust me.”
[I can’t trust that pervert.]
“I know that his pervertedness makes him hard to trust, but he is trustworthy.”
[He’s still a pervert.]
“It’s because he’s a pervert!”
I had to wonder, when they were the ones fighting, why I was the one feeling hurt. I took a drink of the barley tea to calm myself down, then slammed the cup on the table so that it made a loud noise. They stopped pulling each other’s hair and looked up at me even while on top of each other.
“I pretty much get what’s going on. Chii came here because she missed me….”
“Kyawooo?! B-Big Brother! That isn’t true! Why in the world would I miss you?!”
Chii began flapping her hair, eliciting a frown from Pyeii, and I decided to punish that baby magpie later. That brat. She was as incapable of being honest as ever.
“And, Pyeii, tell me truthfully why you’re asking for this favor. I hate people who lie or try and cover things up.”
Chii and Pyeii got back into their seats. Pyeii glanced at Chii, and she gave a nod in response.
“Big Brother is not a bad person. I don’t doubt for a second that he would risk his own life to save mine. So if you tell him the truth, he will surely agree to help you. Because he’s a lolicon.”
Chii was saying some nice things until that last bit. When Chii said that I was a lolicon, Pyeii scooted her butt back and away from from me and wrote:
[…Am I a potential target, too?]
Don’t ask me difficult questions.
[Is that why you trust him?]
Chii answered Pyeii’s question.
“No, that’s not why. Several days ago, Big Brother put his life on the line to save me.”
Chii put her hand to her chest and smiled happily at me. I felt a sting in my heart. But I didn’t let her see my pain. If Chii remembered the events of that day in a happy light, then I couldn’t show my emotions. No matter how painful that day was or how stupid I was or how much I cursed my own inability, I kept my emotions carefully hidden.
Pyeii pouted slightly when she saw Chii’s smile and wrote more.
[A few days ago, this happened.]
Pyeii told me a simple story.
[When Chii came back, something about her changed. That’s why I decided to change, too. I decided that joining the most famous website on the Phantomnet was the best first step to fix my introverted personality, and I applied for membership.]
I continued reading without interrupting.
[But one of the conditions for joining is that I have to play a trick on a human and take a picture as evidence.]
So, basically, she wanted to join an Internet site so that she could change her personality. And the condition for joining was that photo. I could believe that. Believe that, but … why use such a roundabout method? Wouldn’t a more direct approach be the best way to change her personality? I decided to think more about that later, and raised my hand so that I could ask a question.
“Doesn’t the Bear Clan get rid of any phantoms that harm humans?”
[Just don’t have to get caught.]
Really?
[And if you agree to help, then there’s nothing to worry about. That’s why I need you.]
That sounded way too easy.
[Rest omitted.]
“Don’t you omit anything! Would you explain in a way that I can understand?!”
[You don’t understand? Your language grade. Boom!]
She even moved her hand downward as if stamping a big failing grade on my imaginary test.
“Could you at least tell me the who, what, when, where, why, and how?”
[That’s for talking. I’m writing.]
“Then can you give me the beginning, middle, and end?”
[Twist ending?]
I didn’t know why, but I felt a stinging pain in my chest. Actually, that wasn’t important.
“Give me a proper explanation. If you do, then I’ll gladly help you.”
[You’re aiming for my body?]
“Do you think I’ve gone insane?!”
[I wouldn’t mind.]
Hey, Bear Clan? There’s a dangerous phantom right in front of me.
[If you get down on your knees and beg like a dog, I’ll consider it.]
So you were kidding?! Wait, wait, that’s not the important thing!!
“Please stop joking around, the both of you!!”
Chii flapped her hair, and her sudden angry outburst caused Pyeii to turn her head to look at her.
[Chii’s the bad one.]
“Awoo?”
Chii was confused by Pyeii’s surprise comment.
[When Chii came back, she said, “The Tiger-nim’s fiancé may be a perverted lolicon pedophile, but he is also super cool,” so I thought….]
“Kyawooo?!”
Chii began to panic and hurriedly waved her hands through Pyeii’s words.
[What’s wrong?]
“What’s wrong with you?!”
[I cannot call your big brother Big Brother, nor can I call Chii by her name. I demand my first amendment rights.] (tn: a reference to Hong Gildong)
“Only because you were saying such weird things! Wh-when did I ever say something like that?”
“…Look, I get that you two are really close friends and that Chii loves me, but could you finish your explanation?”
“Big Brother!”
Even the tips of Chii’s ears turned red as she blushed and flapped her hair, but I ignored her and focused on Pyeii instead.
“Anyway, I pretty much get it. You want to join the Phantomnet site, and to do that, you want to play a prank on me.”
Pyeii nodded her head. However, my suspicion refused to go away. Why would a kid choose such an indirect method to fix her personality?
“Wouldn’t it be better to play a prank on some random stranger?”
[No.]
Pyeii’s answer was absolute.
“That would be difficult,” Chii said.
Chii agreed with Pyeii. It looked like there was some unspoken circumstance for why that was the case. Maybe I should save my questions for later. But if they were willing to explain, then it’d be worth it.
“Care to explain?”
Pyeii shook her head. I looked at Chii next. She lowered her head, unable to meet my gaze. I decided to not press the issue.
“Fine. Do whatever you want.”
But don’t misunderstand. I’m doing this favor for Chii, not for you. Because I don’t want to see Chii crestfallen because she feels guilty for bringing this topic up between Pyeii and me! As Chii’s big brother, I need to roll up my sleeves and do what I can for my little sister. When I said that, Chii looked up at me with a joyful smile on her face, and Pyeii breathed a small sigh of relief. When she realized that I was watching her, her face stiffened, and she calmly wrote:
[Time for the photo.]
I looked at the sign again … and I had second thoughts.
I picked it up and took my phone out. After only using it as an alarm clock for so long, I was finally going to use it as a camera. I held the sign just below my neck like a criminal and took a photo of myself. I guess this would be called a selfie. I’d never taken a selfie before, and I looked ridiculous in the photo. …Maybe I should have held it at a 45 degree angle.
“Do you have a cell phone? I can text you it. Or I can move it manually to your computer.”
[Who doesn’t have a cell phone?]
Chii’s hair flew up in surprise, and then drooped downward like a downtrodden puppy. She must not have a cell phone. Maybe I can buy her one with the house funds. After all the time I spent in Jirisan, I had money to spare. And I’ll likely go to Jirisan again.
“Really? All right, then, great. Want me to send you it?”
[I don’t want to give you my number.]
“…Ah, is that so? Then here.”
I handed Pyeii my phone. With at least one thing off my to-do list, I remembered that there was something I wanted to do but kept having to put off: taking a shower and resting. I was tired.
“Is it okay if I take a shower now?”
[IDC.]
After I read what Pyeii wrote, I spoke to Chii.
“Chii.”
“What is it, Big Brother?”
“Wanna take a shower with me?”
“Kyawooo?! Wh-why would I do that?!”
“Siblingly affection?”
“That’s a different kind of affection!”
Tch. She said no. I grabbed my bag and was about to open the door to my room, when,
“W-wait a moment. Big Brother.”
For real?! I turned around, a radiant smile on my face.
“You’re gonna take a shower with me?”
“No, not that! What in the world is going on in that head of yours? I-I’m still a child!”
Huh? Well, duh, the only reason why I was asking was because she was a child; it’d be weird to take a shower with another adult. However, the next thing Chii said made my other question disappear.
“Pyeii and I are using that room.”
That was something that I couldn’t simply ignore.
“But that’s my room.”
“I’m well aware!”
I cannot call my father my father, and I cannot call my room my room? The heck’s up with that? (tn: The same Hong Gildong reference)
“We already unpacked all of our things.”
Chii flapped her hair, claiming that my room was hers in an increasingly desperate attempt to keep me from opening the door. A big brother is supposed to give the better things to his little siblings. Though that didn’t quite apply here….
“But why’d you decide to unpack in my room? The other rooms are bigger.”
The power hierarchy in my family went my mom, my dad, and then me, because I was an only child. Naturally, that meant I ended up with the smallest room, so why’d they pick my room?
“Oh, um, ah, awooo….”
Chii simply blushed, unable to answer. Why? She isn’t trying to find my super-secret hidden collection, is she?! Pyeii assuaged my idiotic worries.
[Chii said, “I like this room. It smells like Big Brother.”]
“Kyawoooo?! P-Pyeii, darn it!!”
Chii saw me smile tiredly, and she waved her hands in a flurry of movement.
“Th-that isn’t true!!”
[It is.]
“I-it isn’t!”
I laughed as I watched Chii flail about, trying to deny what Pyeii said.
“Is that so? Then it’s all right. I understand.”
“No, you don’t!!”
What was there to not understand? She missed me, and I missed her. That was all there was to it.