Chapter 7

The tension in the room was broken when Hwa-yeon did something.

Geum-bi slowly turned her arm towards the bathroom door and took half a step back when she saw my shirtless body.

"You're going to be like this forever, so whether you're going in or taking your clothes off, be quick about it."

"You didn't let him get away with it..."

"I did because you were avoiding answering me, so why are you backing down, you weirdo!"

Maybe she was ashamed of her own behaviour, so she blamed me and got angry.

But I didn't feel the same cold pressure. I scratched my head and looked at the laundry basket next to her.

"I've already taken my shirt off and what's left is down here... Will you take a look at it?"

"What? Do you think anyone wants to see this? I'm only saying this because you're being mean."

"Then I'll take it off quickly, can you keep your eyes closed?"

"Oh, okay... huh, wait, you can just go to the toilet and take it off... ugh."

Goldie muttered something, but I pulled my trousers down faster than she did.

While I was down to my underwear, Goldie closed her eyes and turned her head the other way, and I threw my knickers in the laundry basket and went into the bathroom.

"You can open your eyes now, sis."

"Hmmm... You're the only boy in the house, why aren't you embarrassed?"

"It's manly and I like it."

"It's not manly, it's just insensitive."

"I didn't want her to see. What's wrong, like you're interested in her?"

"Are you serious?If you make that joke one more time, I'm going to get really angry with you."

I don't think I said anything wrong.

She threw the towel she'd wrapped round her head, as if she'd been stabbed.

"If I can see that much on the inside, I'm sure it's the same on the outside, right? I know it's just a silhouette, but it's pretty embarrassing."

I stared at her in the bathroom doorway until the bath was full.

There was nowhere else for her to sit, so that wasn't an option... but her face was turned to the wall, her apricot-coloured skin reflecting mine.

"You're really good at embarrassing people."

"It's partly your fault, and it's mostly Hwa-yeon's fault for opening the door."

"Yes, I'll have to tell her later. I told her not to slam the door when I close it."

"Don't say anything too harsh. You'll get into another fight."

We tried to make things better by talking about what had happened before, and I said, looking at the bathtub that was half full.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything to upset you."

"Are you sure I can trust you?"

"I'm your sister, so if you can't trust your family, who can you trust?"

"That's true, but... these were the circumstances."

"I understand, but it's not what you're thinking, and I can only talk so far."

"You don't want to talk about it anymore, do you?"

"I'm sorry. If it was my business, I'd tell you straight away, but I don't want you to get upset."

Is that enough for you to understand?

I looked at Geum-Bi, and she seemed to be nodding slightly, although I wasn't sure.

"OK... I'll ask her about the details later."

"Don't be too hard on her, she seems to be going through a difficult time too."

"I'll check the weather.As for you, I only said a few more words because we've been flirting a lot today."

"That was too long for too few words."

"You went into the cloakroom and, now that I think about it, what if I was still undressed or in the middle of washing the dishes?"

"So you closed the door and left. Besides, I'm in the shower talking to you, don't you think it's ridiculous to point that out?"

"Well, it's a good reason, because if I leave without talking to you... I'll make a mess of the place."

"Hmph~ Well, I'll admit that. Anyway, I'm washing up properly now, aren't you going to take a look at this?"

"I haven't been watching you. Wash well and brush your hair when you go out."

With that last piece of advice, Geum-bi left the changing room.

I ran hot water over my body and slowly stepped into the steaming tub.

"You haven't even dried your hair properly. You said you were going to use the hairdryer, but did you forget?

I slipped into the water from my toes to my shoulders, barely reaching my chin.

I stared at the empty changing room through the opaque glass door for a while.

* * *

I was late for the warm-up because of Geumbi's sister, so I lingered in the toilet.

When I came out of the changing room after drying off, half an hour had passed and I opened the door, wondering what I would have for an evening snack, since I hadn't had dinner.

"Wow, Goldie, what are you doing here?"

"You're a boy, what's taking you so long to wash up, oh, you've got a cramp in your leg."

"No, you've been sitting here all this time, why?"

"I was talking to the children... the bathroom door is broken."

I heard her and turned the handle, but when I pressed the button, it didn't lock.

So Hwa-yeon or I just opened the door and went in.I don't know, but I don't think Geum-bi would have forgotten to lock the door.

But the way she's been acting lately, it seems like she's forgetting.

While I was messing up my hair, which wasn't very dry, she rubbed her numb leg and grabbed the end of my sleeve.

"Let's go to the backyard and let your hair dry in the fresh air."

"I like the hairdryer."

"Don't be silly, come with me."

"Yes, yes, yes, sister."

I had no choice, so I sat on the floor in front of the courtyard as Geumbi led me.

The living room was empty, but she had dragged me here, so she must have something important to tell me.

"So, what else do you want to tell me?"

"...Which one of us is adopted, are you, Soo-jung?"

Geumbi looked around and said what she was thinking.

I was surprised, and she leaned closer to me.

"Is that right? You said before that you couldn't tell me because it wasn't about you, so it's Soo-jung, right?"

"I'm not sure, Mian."

"Why can't you tell me, and not anyone else?"

"Because I'm not sure it's really you.

And if it isn't... because I didn't know if you, right in front of me, were the answer.

I couldn't lie or make excuses, so I kept quiet.

Goldie looked disappointed, and I felt even more upset at her unusual reaction.

"Is it possible... that you're adopted and keep hiding it from me?"

"...!"

I thought the best thing to do was to stay silent, but I was wrong.

Geumbi's face was as serious as the crystal sister I'd seen once, and he looked as calm as rice.

"After talking to you, Terra, I thought about it... maybe it was me, and that's why she ignored me and consulted you."

It was a reasonable guess.

The conversation in the changing room had indirectly cleared me of suspicion, so the arrow had to go elsewhere.

The fact that Soo-jung had come to me instead of her was enough to make Geumbi suspicious.

After all, I've lost my mind.What should I do?Should I tell her the truth now?

She could be right.

But if she's wrong, it'll be clear that it was Soo-jung.

But I can't do that.

If I spread the news on my own, I'll be deceiving Soo-jung too.

"I'm sorry, but I can't say for sure. I don't want to lie to you either."

"Do you know something, or are you just guessing?"

"I think it's a bit of both."

"I see, haha. This is difficult; I'm going to be up all night again."

"You said before that you were going to ask Soo-sung directly?"

"I was going to, but I got scared again... After hearing what you said, it didn't seem polite."

Because what I say and what she say have different meanings.

Also, I had said that Soo-jung was in trouble earlier, so it seemed that Geum-bi hadn't knocked on Soo-jung's door.

"So, Terra, you're not going to say anything else, are you?"

"Yes, I'm sorry, big sister."

"No. ...Instead, could you help me?"

"A hand? What's with the hand all of a sudden?"

"Just give me your hand. Here, on the floor."

"Like this? Huh?!"

I did what she asked and put one hand on the floor.

Then she put her right hand round the back of my hand and grabbed my wrist to stop me getting away.

"What are you doing, sister?"

"Testing."

"Testing?"

"If you can't tell me... I'll ask your body."

"Eh? What do you mean?"

"If we're holding hands like this and you don't feel anything, it means there's nothing wrong, because you wouldn't feel that way about your own sister."

"So what if I react in some way?"

"You said you're not biased, so you must think my side is different from the rest of the family."

There was a pause, and the word "different blood" seemed to linger on Goldie's lips.

This is very important.If I make a mistake here, she might get the wrong idea.

We need to stay calm.As long as I stay still, there's no problem.If I react to your hand, but don't...

At first, I panicked and got scared, but when I took a deep breath, I realised it was nothing.

I used to get dragged a lot when I was at primary school, so that's how it is.It's all right.

"When?"

"What, what?"

"Reaction, do you think something's coming?"

"I'm not sure."

"Really? Then no..."

When I replied calmly, she relaxed her grip a little.

I was finally relieved, but then she said something I couldn't ignore.

"So you're saying that Soo-jung's side is right..."

"What?!"

This was very important.

If it wasn't Geumbi, people would start suspecting Soo-jung.

"Anyway, she's going to get into trouble, so what should we do? Just... stay calm for now?

I decided to keep quiet until the truth came out.

Remembering my promise, I changed the subject.

"I'm kind of, kind of, kind of excited."

"Oh, really? Is this... because of me?"

"I don't know, my heart's beating a bit fast."

"Are you...? Are you excited or aroused?"

"No, not really. Don't make me feel bad, it's gross."

"Dude, I'm serious. Which one is it, just tell me."

"I really don't know, I've just got out of the shower and I think I'm still feeling a bit hot..."

I tried to avoid making her choose sides.

She kept on asking me questions, but when I gave her vague answers, she gave up, sighed and let go of my hand.

"Haah... forget it, there's no way you could know that."

"That's true. Is your head feeling better?"

"It's better... I'm sorry, that was a weird way to say it."

"It doesn't matter. I came through the door while she was washing up, so let's just say it was a mutual mistake."

"Oh, come on, you were in the changing room and fully dressed."

"Who said anything? I made the mistake, not you, Yunan."

"Qi, girls get embarrassed by little things."

"It's just that Jinbi's a bit sensitive, ouch."

"Are you going to hit me again? I'm going up to my room first. You can come back when your hair is dry... ouch."

We swapped a few blows, and then she slapped me on the forearm and left.

It didn't hurt a lot, but I rubbed my slightly warm forearm and blew on it.

'It's not my forearm, it's the back of my hand that's warm'.

Anyway, the left side where Geumbi was sitting felt very warm for a while.

I stroked my dry hair and looked up at the night sky until it cooled down.

* * *

When I got back to bed, I lay down and realised that the night was much deeper than I had thought.

The door opened and a familiar face appeared.

"Terra, can I come in?"

Crystal had come to my room as promised.

I started to click my fingers, but then I switched to my right hand and called out to her.

"Come in, sister."

This time, the door closed quietly.

Crystal tried to lie down on my left side, but I got up to make room for her on my right.

Again, for no apparent reason.