Chapter 21: The Wall Between Sister and Brother

In the end, we couldn't completely resolve the matter on the spot.

I had no choice but to give my contact information to the driver, telling him to contact me if he needed to claim repair costs later, and then we departed again.

It was too late at night to stay tied up trying to handle the accident.

"As expected, S-Class is different."

Jin-seong Hyung, who had seen me rush out in an instant to prevent the accident, simply said that and left it at that.

Adding that I should tell him if I needed help handling the accident later.

"Thank you for the ride."

"I'm not giving you a ride when you go back up."

"Okay. See you next time!"

I waved at the receding car, turned around, and walked toward the house for a bit.

Seeing the main house with its quiet atmosphere located in the middle of a village in the suburbs, I quickened my pace.

Dogs from other houses heard my footsteps and started barking one by one.

'Ugh.'

I hate noise. So, I stopped stepping on the ground and walked riding the waves of telekinesis.

Perhaps because the sound of footsteps disappeared, the surroundings soon became quiet.

I walked carefully, punched in the passcode for the front gate lock, and opened the gate.

'Everything is the same.'

The empty lot used as my father's workshop, made by splitting half the yard.

The vegetable garden filling the rest.

And the yard cleaning tools and two bicycles standing in one corner.

While I was looking around the yard, wondering how he knew...

My brother, who opened the door to check who came, saw me and his eyes went wide.

Soon, he shouted into the house, "Dad! Noona is here!"

"What? Eun-ha is here?"

Then, Father and Mother came out of the house, revealing themselves.

Has it been a month since I came home?

It wasn't a terribly long time, but perhaps because of the things I went through after becoming a woman, they worried a lot.

Father, especially, showed noticeable delight.

"What brings you here without even calling?"

"Just thought of it since Jin-seong Hyung came to visit after a long time."

"Did Jin-seong visit your place?"

"Yes."

"That rascal, how did he manage to drive you all the way here? It's quite a distance."

Well, because I begged him...?

But if I told him how I asked, I felt like I'd get nagged, so I vaguely glossed over it.

"Daughter, what brings you home? Didn't you say you wouldn't come until winter break?"

"Just came."

"You should have called if you were coming. We don't have anything prepared."

Answering my mother, who immediately scanned my outfit up and down upon seeing me, I gently descended to the ground.

Entering the house, I noticed the dining table hadn't been cleared yet, as if they had just finished dinner.

As I passed by, the dishes lifted into the air by themselves and began stacking neatly toward the kitchen.

"You don't need dinner?"

"I ate roughly at a rest stop on the way."

"You should have eaten home-cooked food. Such a waste of money, tsk."

"I figured you would have finished eating by the time I arrived."

Careful not to make a mistake and drop food or break dishes, I set the levitating dishes down one by one using telekinesis.

Just as I was about to go into my room, I ran into my younger brother heading to his room.

"Jae-hyun-ah, hi."

"Uh... hi."

It didn't seem like this when we were brothers.

We are family, but the changed relationship of "Older Sister and Younger Brother" had created an invisible wall between us. We exchanged awkward greetings.

Just as he tried to escape...

"Wait a minute, Jae-hyun-ah."

The reason I came home was because of the meaning contained in the KakaoTalk message I received earlier.

I wanted to ask Jae-hyun what he said at school.

"Why."

"What you told Jin-seong Hyung via talk earlier, what did that mean?"

"Nothing happened today?"

"If nothing happened, would I, with my personality, be asking you? So, what does it mean?"

I suspect something slipped out while he was talking to his friends.

Still, I needed to know what I needed to know.

As always, I prefer a life as a civilian, and for that, it was better if my past as an S-Class Hunter remained unknown.

"Before that, since you're home, why don't you change your clothes first?"

"Huh?"

"Aren't you hot? Wearing a long coat and all, you look super hot."

An uncomfortable look.

Since I became a woman upon returning to the modern world.

It's already been 5 years living as a female.

"Then I'll change and go to your room."

"Okay."

But even though Jae-hyun knew in his head that I was his Noona (Sister) now, not his Hyung (Brother)...

It seemed his heart hadn't accepted it yet.

Shortly after I returned, I went through that incident, and with my mind devastated by shock, I felt like I would die if I didn't do something, so I chased dungeons like crazy.

'Certainly, I wasn't in my right mind back then.'

Too lazy to put away the clothes I took off, I just threw them on the bed.

I hesitated for a moment between a sleeveless top with dolphin pants and the tracksuit I used to wear in middle school.

I might get nagged about a girl walking around half-naked...

I tried to rationalize it to myself with excuses to understand Jae-hyun.

But the thought, 'It's been 5 years, what's there not to accept?' hovered in my mind.

Not just 5 years, soon it will be the 6th year, and I won't be able to turn back into a man in the future anyway.

'I know it's not something that can be accepted just by talking...'

I felt like we needed to talk a bit.

Actually, I didn't think much of it usually, but seeing that he didn't even know my contact number, I felt it was a bit serious.

"I'm coming in."

After changing clothes, I knocked and spoke as a notification. I heard a "Wait a sec!" from inside, followed by the sounds of thud-thud cleaning up something.

But it's no fun if I listen obediently.

Wanting to play a prank, I shouted, "What are you doing, you rascal!" and opened the door.

I saw the monitor with the desktop screen on.

And Jae-hyun standing awkwardly holding some tissues.

"Um."

"Let me say this in advance, it's not what Hyung... no, Noona is thinking."

"Hmm, really?"

As I entered the room grinning, Jae-hyun said, "N-No, I said," and nervously threw the tissues into the drawer.

I caught the falling tissue box with telekinesis and set it upright.

"I told you to wait a little bit," he complained to me.

"It's fine. This Noona also had a time when she was a man, so I understand everything."

"Bullshit..."

"Uh-huh, watch your language. Also, I'm going to ventilate the room a bit."

I'm not saying it out loud, but your room smells a bit, brother.

As soon as I said that and sat on the bed, the window opened by itself. Jae-hyun flinched and looked back.

"Did you do that, Noona?"

"Yep."

"Scared the shit out of me."

"Why, thought a ghost possessed it?"

Still, thanks to that brief prank, the awkward atmosphere loosened up a bit.

Seeing Jae-hyun more relaxed toward me, I sighed in relief inwardly.

Actually, only the atmosphere loosened; Jae-hyun probably still finds me a bit uncomfortable.

'Ah, I should have worn something longer.'

It was casual wear I put on boldly with the thought of wanting to be comfortable and forcing Jae-hyun to adapt.

But his gaze scanning me up and down wasn't the kind of gaze that seemed like he was adapting.

"...But even if it's home, our parents are both here."

"So."

"Aren't you walking around too half-naked?"

"Hey. You don't know, but all girls dress comfortably like this at home."

"...I don't think it was to that extent. So you always dress like that at your place?"

"Yeah."

Jae-hyun tilted his head with an expression that said he couldn't understand.

Actually, I don't know well how other girls live at home.

Not that I care.

"I don't know how many girls' houses you've been to, but of course, they wouldn't be dressed like this when you go. Since you're a guy."

"I guess."

"Yeah. And I don't wear a bra at home. You wouldn't know, but it's fucking uncomfortable."

"Even in front of Jin-wook Hyung?"

"Yeah."

Uh, shit?

I think I just said something wrong.

"How far did you two..."

"Stop, right there. Imagine anything weird and you're dead. I might throw you out the window."

"True. Hyung and Noona could absolutely never be in that kind of relationship."

Jae-hyun coughed as if he knew and understood.

Even he knew that during my adolescence, I was very broken.

While relying on Jin-wook excessively...

I was someone who absolutely rejected contact as the opposite sex because of the incident I experienced shortly after becoming a woman.

"So, is it Lee So-hee? You mean she found me because of you?"

"So she did find you."

"Explain how that happened. The Association doesn't spread my info, so how did she find me all the way at our school?"

"Ah, I told her not to find you just in case, but she went anyway... Shit..."

Hearing my words, Jae-hyun sighed long, feeling dizzy.

But urging him won't bring the story out.

I waited so he could have time to organize his thoughts.

"It's nothing big. I just got surprised by a video uploaded on 'Star-gram' (Instagram) and muttered to myself a bit, you know? But she heard that like a ghost and asked me."

"What did you see?"

"A video of Noona catching a person."

"By any chance, that..."

"Near the cafe in front of your university."

Certainly, that would be surprising...

But the thing that looked like a person you're talking about was a criminal, you know?

And that criminal was the main reason So-hee came to find me.

"But were you and she in the same school?"

"Yeah. You didn't know?"

"How would I know? You never talk about it."

"Hmm, that's true."

Anyway, it means he didn't tell other kids.

Relieved by the news, I leaned back.

I was worried that rumors might have spread all over the school, but if it's not that, then whatever.

"Ah, right. Hey, give me your phone."

"My phone? Why."

"Ah, hurry up."

Suddenly remembering, I snatched Jae-hyun's phone into my hand using telekinesis.

At the same time, I lifted Jae-hyun with telekinesis to forcibly unlock the phone (using Face ID).

Having his phone taken and unlocked in an instant, Jae-hyun sent me a cold gaze asking 'What the hell are you doing?', but I didn't care. I typed in my number and called my phone.

"Even so, does it make sense that you don't even know your Noona's phone number?"

"That is..."

"I didn't show it when I received the message via Jin-seong Hyung, but do you know how embarrassed I was? You could have at least asked Mom."

"Okay. I'm sorry about that, so let's stop."

In the atmosphere that became slightly awkward again in an instant.

I saved Jae-hyun's contact info and lay back on the bed. It finally started to feel real that I was at the main house.

The fact that I came home...

"Haa..."

I came to the region I really didn't want to come to.

I managed to transfer schools, but...

I stopped by the region I couldn't escape because my parents' livelihood was based here.

I shouldn't go out while I'm here.

"But Noona."

"What."

"Since you're here, can you help me tomorrow? I have to go to school tomorrow to bring some books and stuff, and I need your help."

"Aren't you a man?"

"Ah, help me just once. You're stronger than me."

...Which was a wish of the kind that, shit, could not be fulfilled.