LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 217
As I mentioned earlier, Eun-a is surprisingly good at keeping boundaries. On the other hand, Mira tends to cross those boundaries without hesitation. This time, it was Mira who spoke up first. I’m not sure if she asked because she knew I didn’t want to talk.
“Yesterday, aside from what you mentioned, there was something else, right?”
“You don’t need to know.”
“It seems like there was, though.”
Do you think I would say something? I didn’t want to bring up this kind of subject with them. I was sure they would tease me, and I felt like it would only make me more miserable. Of course, they meant no harm, but I couldn’t easily take such jokes right now.
In the meantime, Eun-a was deep in thought about something. Since her demeanor seemed unusual, I casually tried to change the subject.
“What are you thinking about?”
“I was considering that if it’s weird to call you ‘oppa’ because of the way I look, isn’t it okay for us to just call each other ‘seon’ instead?”
“You haven’t had anything to say for a while, have you?”
“Actually, it doesn’t hurt at all when I hit you with that hand.”
“Come here and I’ll break your shin.”
Setting aside Eun-a’s nonsense, it seemed that after calling me oppa for such a long time, the kids found it awkward to call me unni. To be honest, I felt really awkward hearing that. Still, it was probably something that would be resolved with time.
“Calling you oppa feels weird, but I’ve gotten used to it over time, so calling you unni shouldn’t be too hard, right?”
“Anyway, I’m a woman now, so it’s just a normal title,” I replied.
“Oh, well, if you were just ten centimeters taller, it wouldn’t feel that weird, I guess…”
“If you say that, it’s going to be hard for me, Mira.”
“Excuse me, why is your reaction so different from mine?”
“Because you’re a perv.”
“No, I’m not!”
“Yeah, you are.”
“Ugh!”
I was relieved, though. Acting as if nothing happened, like I usually do, seemed to have diverted their attention from yesterday’s events. If I pretended to be fine, the kids probably wouldn’t think too much about it.
…Why am I pretending to be fine, anyway?
It’s funny.
If it’s not because I don’t want to cause worry or because I want to feel miserable, what am I so afraid of?
All of a sudden, I missed Hwa-won. But it’s probably too late to call; she’s likely asleep at this hour. There’s nothing I can do about it. I sighed.
“Do you have a fever?”
Then, Mira touched my forehead with her hand. Why are they so naturally affectionate?
“No, your face was just turning red… I was worried.”
“W-what? It was red?”
“Not really, just a little.”
…Do I need to pay attention to my complexion now? But how do I even do that? I naturally blush when I think of Hwa-won.
“D-don’t worry about it.”
No matter how I tried to brush it off, the way those two girls looked at me suspiciously was not a good sign.
What do I do, really?
“You two didn’t study yesterday; you were just playing around. We need to study now.”
“Well, that’s true…”
Both of them seemed to have so many questions for me, but knowing I wouldn’t say anything anytime soon, they both eventually gave up for now.
I half-heartedly told them to go study in my room, and they ended up coming in and starting a study session together. I let out a sigh of relief and collapsed onto the sofa.
Since Eun-a wouldn’t be staying for the whole weekend, she would probably leave tonight, right? And Mira accepted my suggestion and planned to go home by Monday. Monday would also be the day Hwa-won returned.
…It would be hard to call or meet her right away. Since her arrival time is around lunch, it wouldn’t be an unusual time to meet, but there would be issues with jet lag and fatigue, too.
I miss her.
Should I go find her?
If I go to the airport to meet her…that would still be a bother, right?
Thinking about it, Hwa-won always came to visit me after returning home. Regardless of whether I called or she came, it was always her. The reason was, of course, because I didn’t know where her hometown was.
I wanted to ask, but she seemed very uncomfortable with the idea, so I gave up. Was it a mistake not to force myself to listen to her back then? Looking back, I felt a little regretful not knowing her home address.
What kind of people are Hwa-won’s family? I heard a lot about her father. He has a somewhat inhumane side, but he loves his current wife and is a very caring father to his daughter. While he does have a slightly strict side to him, it can’t be helped since he sees her as his heir. Meanwhile, Hwa-won seems to be resisting that quite a bit.
However, she hardly talked about her stepmother and half-brother. She said her stepmother was doing what a wife should do. As for her half-brother, she said he didn’t like her. That’s about it. I don’t even know the gender of her half-brother.
In this state, even if I knew the address, visiting would still be out of the question.
Even if I were to go, how would they see me?
Just a girl with an engaged boyfriend… or would that be too much? After all, with this body, what kind of impression would I give? I used to be a boy, too.
Then again, I probably wouldn’t get much scrutiny either way.
Though at this point, it all feels pointless since I still don’t know the address.
I thought I was Hwa-won’s closest friend and knew so much about her, yet seeing that I didn’t even know her home address, I felt quite pathetic.
…Should I try and force myself to visit Hwa-won’s house later at least once?
If I ask Hwa-won… she might eventually agree, right?
“Why are you smiling like that?”
“Yikes!”
I was startled as I suddenly felt someone’s touch on my shoulder. When I regained my composure, I saw Mira looking at me with a strange expression. Behind her, Eun-a was watching.
“You surprised me! I wasn’t even smiling.”
“You were smiling. You smiled, then frowned, sighed, and then smiled again.”
“…How long have you been watching?”
“For about five minutes.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I called out, but you didn’t hear me, so I just watched.”
“G-get back to studying!”
With that, I ran off to the bathroom. Was I that focused that I didn’t hear them calling me? Was that all my mind could manage?
“…It really is suspicious, isn’t it?”
“Absolutely. Something is definitely off with you. Acting like everything is fine is just too awkward.”
I could hear them whispering outside, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying. Were they gossiping? My ears felt itchy. I washed my face and then lingered a bit before heading out.
Fortunately, both of them had returned to my room. It’s already hard to go out because of the people who broadcast whenever they see me, so why should I have to deal with stress even inside my home?
I just need to endure it. I should focus on my own work. I hardly ever missed updating my series, but I ended up sleeping before I could do it yesterday. I had run out of my buffer. It was time for live updates. I started typing on my laptop at the dining table.
The story of Se-ne and Ivan was already more than halfway through. It wasn’t exceptionally popular since I was writing it as a traditional fantasy, but there were new readers coming in thanks to previous events, so the results were better than expected. Of course, being free has its limits.
After spending nearly three hours, I managed to finish one chapter. It was slightly earlier than my usual posting time, but since I hadn’t posted yesterday, I would upload it now then write another one. I had almost all the plot points laid out, so it wasn’t too difficult.
After uploading one chapter, I stretched and took a moment to relax. After giving my mind a little break, I started writing again. The second chapter flowed more easily. In less than two hours, I completed the second chapter, did some simple edits, and then posted it.
For some reason, everything was coming together well today. Once the time passed and comments started piling up, I might read through them. I often find myself checking for responses more frequently than I thought, and I always look at the comments. Since I’m somewhat of an aspiring writer, I can’t help it. Readers’ interest always pleases me, except for those who leave nasty comments or fill the section with unrelated nicknames.
Anyway, even though there aren’t many mentions in the community, quite a few people have discussed my work…
Time had already passed seven o’clock; it was time for dinner. I called out to the kids.
“Hey, everyone! It’s time to eat!”
“I already ordered pizza!”
Wait, did you decide that without asking? We should at least discuss the menu together, Eun-a. Feeling displeased, I grumbled, and soon Eun-a opened the door and spoke.
“I called out earlier, but you told me to go away because you were writing.”
“…Really?”
I don’t remember that. Did I really say something? I feel like I might have answered her before…
“Should I pretend I didn’t say it? You don’t dislike pizza, do you?”
“I do generally like it.”
“Well then, it’s fine. Oh, it seems someone is here.”
“Oh, use this to pay. My card.”
“Score, saved some money!”
While Eun-a went outside to pay and bring back the pizza, I found that Mira had settled down next to me. When Eun-a returned and saw that, she complained.
“Ah, that’s not fair! I was going to sit there!”
“You’re too slow.”
“Did you put honey in this place or something?”
“Your vocabulary sounds like an old person.”
That’s a bit shocking. It’s just a regular idiom… does it really sound old-fashioned?
Phew, enough of that. Let’s just eat. Not rice, but pizza.
Anyway, everything was set, and Eun-a sat in front of me, with Mira next to me. I was a bit dissatisfied that my opinion didn’t go into the menu selection, but pizza isn’t bad. It’s been a while since I’ve eaten that, so it’s actually a nice change.
Naturally, I thought that as I opened the box, but…
“No way.”
Why is there pineapple on the pizza?
“Hey, how could you order a pineapple pizza?!”
“Why? Pineapple is delicious! Mira said she likes it too.”
“I hate it!!!”
“Come on, stop being picky. You can’t do that as an adult.”
“That’s right. If you’re an adult, you should at least eat pineapple pizza.”
Eun-a subtly tried to frame me, and Mira followed along. But I’m not that easily swayed.
“I didn’t eat pineapple pizza even when I was a guy, damn it.”
“Oh, that won’t work.”
“Of course it wouldn’t!”
Besides, Hwa-won hates pineapple pizza too.
In the end, I had no choice but to pick out the pineapple from the pineapple pizza and eat it. Even so, the pineapple flavor and taste lingered, which was disgusting, but I had no other option since I had eaten everything else at home.
“Ugh.”
“Picky eater.”
“This is a matter of dignity. It’s not being picky.”
“Yeah, right.”
Either way, I don’t eat that much. After one slice of pineapple-less pineapple pizza, I filled the remaining gap with the spaghetti that came with it. While eating the spaghetti, I checked the comments on the chapter I uploaded today. There were a few more than I expected. I opened the comments section.
[Are you dating the author?]
[Is Se-ne and Ivan finally going?]
[‘Cute white-haired character emoticon throwing hearts’]
[‘White-haired character emoticon demanding the next chapter’]
[Hanon’s so funny LOL]
[‘I’ll keep reading no matter what happens with Seon’]
[Is it true the author is in elementary school?]
[It seems like the atmosphere has changed a bit. I enjoyed reading this today too.]
[There seems to be a romantic vibe coming through.]
What’s this about?