Prev Next

I felt refreshed after my shower. Though I would have enjoyed it more if Chii had joined me. I was confident that I would have done a good job washing her down. …There is not a single dirty or impure thought going through my head. I just wanted to cherish the image of my budding little sister and spoil her. Because Chii was different from Rangii; Chii was the type to hold herself back, meaning I had to be the one to reach out to her. It seemed like she had begun to change ever since that day, but she still had a ways to go. That was why, as her big brother, I had to go out of my way to increase our skinship. That way I could secretly … eheheh. …Where’d that creepy laugh come from? I walked out while drying my hair with a towel and was greeted with the sight of Chii sitting on the sofa. She wasn’t watching the TV, and from the way she spotted me the moment I showed up, it seemed like she’d been waiting for me. I sat down next to her and said:

“Were you waiting for me?”

“Why would I ever wait for you?”

“Good point. You should’ve just taken a shower with me.”

“Awooo!! Big Brother!”

Maybe I teased her too much. I tried to laugh off my own joke, but Chii’s serious expression as she looked at me caught me off guard. Chii spoke.

“I can’t do that yet.”

…Why’s that?

“Please wait until I’m an adult.”

But why? In a passable imitation of Rangii, I blinked my eyes and looked inquiringly at Chii, whose cheeks glowed red as she flapped the hair above her ears and shouted:

“If you understand, then say something!”

I had no idea what she was talking about, but it looked like she was ready to swear off visiting me until July of next year, so I immediately nodded my head.

“Got it.”

“Then that’s that.”

…I wasn’t so sure about that.

“S-still, if you want, I can let you touch my b-breasts.”

It seemed like she made a certain extreme misunderstanding. I decided to hold off on fixing it. Because there was a more pressing matter to deal with.

“Ah, but, Chii.”

“B-but not right now! I need time to prepare both my mind and my body!”

“…No, first, I need you to calm down.”

I pressed down on Chii’s furiously flapping hair and waited for her to calm down. Then, unbelievably, she calmed down immediately. …Interesting.

“You okay?”

“Awooo….”

It looked like she was okay.

“I have something to ask you.”

“About Pyeii?”

Seriously, we were perfectly in tune to each other’s desires.

“Yep. I’m sure she’s a good kid because she’s your friend, but I’m still not fully sure. That’s why I want you to tell me what kind of kid she is.”

Chii thought carefully about what to say. However, Chii’s answer was one I already expected.

“…I’m sorry, Big Brother, but I can’t tell you anything.”

I knew she’d say that. Even given our intimate relationship, we weren’t at the point where we could tell each other everything. Especially about people like our close friends. I would likely have a difficult time trying to get her to tell me anything. After all, girls tend to be more tight-lipped about their friends, right? …Though, I wouldn’t know, since Narae was my only female friend. Anyway! It looked like, if I wanted to know anything, I’d have to ask Pyeii herself.

“All right, got it.”

“Awoo?”

Chii was confused. C’mon, Chii. Did you think I’d keep pestering you about it? As your brother, I’m disappointed.

“You aren’t … going to keep asking me questions?”

“Pyeii’s your friend, right?”

“Awoo?”

She likely wanted to know why I was asking her that question.

“That’s just how much I trust you.”

Chii looked up at me, her eyes full of worry. Don’t look at me like that. It brought back bad memories. I put my hand to Chii’s left cheek and said:

“Do you remember that day?”

I said to Chii, her eyes quavering slightly:

“The day you put your faith in me.”

Chii understood what I was referring to.

“…Big Brother.”

“That’s why, even if I die, I’ll always trust you, no matter what. That’s the one thing I can do for you, as your big brother.”

“Big Brother, have you … kept that day in the back of your mind all this time as well?”

The same was true for her, it seemed.

“Well, of course. I feel a lot better about it now, though.”

Thanks to Narae and Rangii. Without their presence these past few days, I wouldn’t be the same person I am now. While I still blamed myself for what happened on that day, I made up my mind the moment I saw Chii’s deep sadness. Because I realized that for all the pain I felt remembering that day, Chii felt the same. I decided to remember that day as a good memory.

“But I’ve decided to stop beating myself up over it. If you’ve been doing the same, I want you to stop as well. I’m so happy, having you with me right now, that I don’t want to remember that day anymore. Can I ask you to do that?”

“…Sunghoon.”

“Or is that too selfish?”

“Not at all. Not in the slightest. It’ll be difficult to do, but I’ll do my best….”

Chii looked up at me and blinked, her eyes wet with tears. They fell down her cheek. I wished she wouldn’t cry. Because she was a kid who deserved to be happy. I wiped away her tears. She closed her eyes. Then, like a baby chick begging for food, she brought her lips closer to mine, and….

[…What’re you doing?]

“Kyawooo?!”

I had no idea how Chii realized Pyeii wrote something when her eyes were closed, but she flapped her hair in surprise and scrambled away from me. It looked like Chii was embarrassed that Pyeii caught her acting like a kid. Pyeii looked sullenly at Chii, and I replied:

“Nothing really?”

[It didn’t look like that from here.]

Hm?

“What do you mean?”

[Not telling.]

“Then why’d you say anything at all?”

Things between Chii and I were going so well, too. Just a little bit longer, and I would have been able to cradle Chii to my chest as she let go of all the stifling memories from her past. Still panicking, Chii stood up off the sofa in an attempt to escape this situation and said:

“I-I’m going to clean now.”

I wanted to tease her a little and ask her what kind of cleaning she could possibly do, but I held it in for her sake.

[Running away?]

Though Chii didn’t share that sentiment.

“Who’s running away? I’m simply going to clean the room Big Brother is going to use.”

[Perfect excuse.]

“Awooo, keep that up, and you’ll be in trouble, Pyeii.”

Chii raised the hair above her ears threateningly, and Pyeii’s twintails began to spin. Man, watching their conversation didn’t have a single boring moment.

[Chii … unfair.]

“Too bad.”

Chii stuck her tongue out at Pyeii, took out a broom and dustpan, and walked into what would temporarily be my room. …I had no idea why she was using such ancient tools when there was a vacuum cleaner sitting blatantly in the corner. Pyeii watched Chii leave, not taking her eyes off her until Chii closed the door. Pyeii then sat down next to me.

Awkward. An awkward silence hung between us. I should have turned on the TV beforehand. If I turned it on now, she would know that I felt she was a bother. I should say something. I utilized the conversation Chii and Pyeii shared just now.

“Does Chii know your weakspot or something?”

[Yes.]

She coolly admitted that fact. However, I didn’t think Chii was the kind of kid to capitalize on someone’s weakness, so I asked her:

“What is it?”

Pyeii narrowed her eyes at me.

[No need for you to know.]

Well look at this brat? It seemed like she suspected that I would take advantage of her weakness and make her do all sorts of things.

“I was just curious is all.”

[Touching Chii’s breasts feels good, right?]

So this was how it felt when someone brings up a totally unrelated topic in a conversation.

“Why’re you bringing that up?”

[Just curious is all.]

I was too slow to come up with a response to Pyeii’s unexpected sarcastic remark. However, with Pyeii’s superior gaze settling upon me, I had no intention of giving up this match to Pyeii and brought up a different topic.

“Whatever. When are you planning on giving back my cell phone?”

I still hadn’t gotten back my cell phone since I gave it to her.

[Only ever made 3 calls.]

I don’t have many friends. I don’t contact Narae often, and my other friend didn’t use his phone much because he wanted to save money. So I did the same. We shared a good friendship where we both looked out for each other’s finances.

“What were you doing, browsing through someone else’s phone?”

Pyeii answered.

[4 contacts. 80 texts in the past 2 months. Interpersonal relationships doubtful.]

She searched through my entire phone.

“You little brat. In terms of etiquette, that’s about the worst thing you could do.”

[Etiquette only applies between children and adults.]

“Hey, you know you look like a kid, right?”

Pyeii handed my my phone and wrote:

[Happy?]

…What is this? This sadness swelling from deep within my heart. Unable to win out over that sadness, I changed the subject.

“No, but first, etiquette is just about the respect one person shows another. It has nothing to do with the interaction between an adult and a child.”

[Wow. TY for the excuse.]

Seeing her exaggerated reach towards the ceiling in feigned gratitude, I held in my desire to flick her on the forehead. Instead, I called up that photo of me looking like a complete idiot in preparation to delete it and asked Pyeii:

“Did you upload it?”

Because I really didn’t want to go through that again.

[Thanks for your cooperation.]

“Can I erase it?”

[I’ll even allow you to go the bathroom.]

Why did I have to hear such abuse from a little brat? Forcing myself to do nothing despite her insults was beginning to grate on my nerves. I decided to say something.

“What, do you not?”

[Phantoms don’t need to go to the bathroom.]

“It sounds like all you need is a drop of morning dew in the morning to survive.”

[So I’m your ideal woman?]

“My ideal woman is an older girl with big breasts.”

[That’s not something you should announce.]

I lowered my voice and whispered:

“My ideal woman is an older girl with big breasts.”

[…Pervert.]

…Mother, how did I become a human would do things like this. Why was I even asking. It was obviously all because of Saehee. And, most of all, because Pyeii was here.

“So what’re you going to do now?”

[Meaning?]

“I did you your favor, so are you planning on going home?”

[I never said my favor was just one photo.]

“Hey, you little brat.”

Stop raining on the parade that is my life.

[Going back on your word?]

“No, I’m not. It’s just….”

[Do it. Do it, you dirty liar.]

It looked like she wanted to make me go bald from stress.

“I’m not breaking my word, you brat.”

[Unable to speak your own mind. Sign that you lack confidence. Your report card must suck.]

The truth was that it once did say something similar on my report card. In order to increase my confidence, my dad had me take a cooking class on Korean cuisine. In hindsight, he probably only had me take it to upgrade the repertoire of dishes I could make for him, but that’s enough about this topic no one’s interested in.

“You sure know a lot for someone who’s never gotten a report card before.”

[I got them when I was younger.]

“Didn’t you say you didn’t have to go to school because you’re rich?”

Pyeii didn’t answer. …Did she not want to talk about anything related to school? Then there was no need to force that subject. That wasn’t what I was interested in in the first place.

“So what kind of photo do you want?”

[Secret.]

I seriously considered kicking her out of the house. I changed the subject for fear that, if this conversation continued on its current course, I really would kick her out.

“Pyeii?”

[?]

“What kind of phantom are you?”

[Crow.]

“Crow?”

[CROW] (tn: Written in English)

“Are you a sailor or something?”

I realized right after I said that that I had misread what she wrote as CREW. Pyeii looked at me, utterly unimpressed, and wrote:

[Ignorance isn’t a sin. The fact that you’re alive is a sin.]

“That’s quite the harsh thing to say.”

So Pyeii was a crow phantom. I figured she was a magpie phantom because she was Chii’s friend, but was that why Pyeii’s hair was plain black unlike Chii’s? …By that logic, Saehee would be a crow phantom as well. Forget that; Saehee’s just a demon.

“So the crow and the magpie?”

[Together it’s The Crow and the Magpie.]

“So, what, are you two gonna be the bridge for two estranged lovers?” (tn: Reference to Altair and Vega, the love story. Crows and magpies make a bridge so the two can meet)

[Too much of a hassle.]

I noticed she didn’t deny the possibility. Wait, when did our conversation spiral into this? This wasn’t what I wanted to talk about, I wanted to talk with her about Chii, the only thing we had in common.

“Is Chii always so crazy about cleaning?”

Pyeii smiled warmly, as if remembering happy memories. Hoo, so she could smile like that, too.

[Chii always keeps clean.]

…That may have been why, when I said her feet were dirty, Chii showed me her foot without noticing that she was baring her panties for me to see as well.

[Chii, a good kid.]

With perfect timing, Chii opened the door to my room, a bandana tied around her head. When she noticed we were looking at her, she quickly turned her head away from our gazes and walked quickly to the bathroom. A moment later, Chii came out with a wetted rag in her hand. It looked like she planned to clean the floor as well.

“There’s no need to clean the floor.”

“The room is dirty. If I leave it as is, you will catch a summer cold.”

Chii turned her head and said that before walking into my room. It looked like she still had what happened earlier on her mind. It seemed like she was thinking about something other than what I was thinking about, and I wracked my brain to try and figure it out when Pyeii interrupted me.

[No need to worry. Chii cleans my house, too.]

What an incredibly good friend.

[But Chii left for a few days.]

I knew that she left in order to kill me, but it wasn’t like I called her myself. She came of her own volition.

[That’s why my house, trash house.]

“Wait.”

That leap in logic was no laughing matter.

“Normally, you would clean your house yourself.”

[If it weren’t such a pain, I could conquer the world.]

The work required to clean her room was the same to her as the work required to conquer the world. Her chronic laziness was on par with Rangii’s.

[That’s why I’m staying here until Chii leaves.]

There was yet another massive leap in logic. Having finished what she wanted to say, Pyeii extended her hand to me and wrote:

[Handshake.]

“…Why should I shake hands with you?”

[Illiteracy, you’re the 1 in 1,000?]

“It’s because you’re a bad writer.”

It’s not that I couldn’t understand what she wrote, but that it was difficult to understand what she wrote.

[You didn’t understand?]

Pyeii clicked her tongue and looked at me as though I were some pathetic waste of space, spurring me to explain everything I deciphered from what she had written.

“Any cleaning done at your house was done by Chii. But with Chii gone, there was no one to clean, so your house became a garbage dump. And you figured you’d follow Chii and stay here while also adjusting your personality because Chii was staying here for a while.”

[Reading comprehension at grade school level.]

“Then your writing ability is at the pre-k level!”

[You’re an adult and you’re blaming others for your own mistakes.]

“I didn’t do anything wrong.”

[Ignorance is sin. Sin includes mistakes. Your life is a dead end.]

I wanted to comment on the second premise and the conclusion of her statements, but the truth was my composure was reaching a dead end. Well, I did notice the hidden meaning behind Pyeii’s words, so I couldn’t really say anything. She was basically asking me to get along with her while she stayed here with Chii and learned to fix her introverted personality. In this case, I should pretend not to have noticed her true sentiment. That was the mature thing to do.

[You’re a dead end, bad end, loose end.]

“Then you’re a true end, fake end, short end.”

…That sure was mature of me.

TN: That last bit was a bunch of wordplay on the Korean word for “dead end” which is a homophone for a kind of sauce. Pyeii then calls Sunghoon a bunch of literal sauces, all of which rhyme. Sunghoon does the same. Honestly, I’m pretty proud of myself for coming up with this creative solution, haha.

Report error

If you found broken links, wrong episode or any other problems in a anime/cartoon, please tell us. We will try to solve them the first time.

Email:

SubmitCancel

Share