.  While I had those thoughts in mind, our dexterous Ruda stretched out his hand to my head, quickly released my tangled hair, and put the hair tie gently on my palm.

  “Here.”


  ‘Ah, thank you,’ before I had the chance to express my gratitude, Ruda gave Yeo Dan oppa a nod politely while saying, “Please look after her for a while.”


  Yeo Dan oppa didn’t respond at all. Still combing down my pesky tangles, I murmured to myself, ‘Yeo Dan oppa looks weird again.’


  Ruda went back to his friends briskly; I grimaced again at Yeo Dan oppa’s remark.

  “I’m feeling bad again.”


  ‘Ah, why? What is wrong this time?’ I wondered.

  In the end, Yeo Dan oppa had a mood swing again despite of my apple hair effort. He was still in a bad mood even when we left the café and headed toward our house. He later lightened up once I uttered this way, “Let me be your honorary weather service.”


  “What do you mean all of a sudden?” Speaking that way, he grinned stealthily.

  “Eh? You smiled!” While I made a fuss, Yeo Dan oppa pressed down my head firmly as if he was doing that instead of covering my mouth. Since it was an affectionate reaction, I didn’t feel upset at all. With a giggle, I removed his hand from my head and opened my mouth again.

  “The significance of weather service lies in the fact that their forecast is often wrong.”


  “What does that mean?”


  “I can’t help even if I won’t be able to please you all the time.”


  ‘Of course, it’s something I can’t help,’ I nodded confidently. Yeo Dan oppa burst into small laughter as if he became dumbfounded again. However, that smile didn’t last long. What he then said made my eyes widen.

  “I don’t care if you can’t please me now and forever, and even if you can’t at all.”


  “Huh?”


  Raising his hand, he gently touched my disheveled hair instead of pressing down my head. He then continued, “I also don’t get what lies beneath my feelings sometimes. Especially……”


  “Especially?”


  “Especially, it happens more often these days.”


  As soon as he spoke that way, our footsteps halted in front of the door at the same time. Looking back and forth between the two doors, which were aligned only a few steps away, Yeo Dan oppa turned around.

  Watching that sight, I asked abruptly, “Oppa, I think I know what you just had in mind.”


  He diverted his gaze back onto me and said, “What is it?”


  “Oppa, didn’t you just think about why I wasn’t your real sister? That’s what you had in mind, isn’t it?”


  When I spoke that way while brimming with confidence, Yeo Dan oppa’ eyes seemed to widen. However, it happened only for a second. Having returned to his nonchalant look, Yeo Dan oppa shook his head quietly.

  Eh? I asked, “Am I wrong?”


  “I told you I’m not sure for now.”


  “Oh……”


  ‘Yes, that’s what he said,’ I nodded my head. When I asked him if he still had the same thought as he did in the past, he replied shortly, ‘Not sure.’


  I regarded it as a vague, answer in the affirmative. Since nothing had changed, I thought that he wasn’t denying it. However, Yeo Dan oppa wasn’t even sensitive to his own change. That’s why he always provided just one answer, “Not sure…… more than ever.”


  “.……”


  Yeo Dan oppa was directing his eyes on me while no one spoke a word for a while. A moment of silence returned to the apartment hallway. Amid the situation, his voice slowly subsided.

  “Even when it comes to you…… I thought I was getting to know you more……” Speaking that way, he slightly squinted his eyes. He then concluded, “The more I get to know something, the more I become unsure…… about you and……”


  “And?”


  “And me, who’s being with you.”


  “.……”


  While there was another round of silence in the hallway, Yeo Dan oppa turned around, at last. The sensor light above his head came on with a spark, and the orange light casted shadow over us.

  He uttered, “Bye, take care.”


  “Yeah.”


  “Actually, I don’t even like this word too.”


  With that last sentence, the view of his back disappeared over the door. Being left alone in the hallway, I stared blankly at my house door and fall into thought for a moment.

  If he didn’t like the words, ‘Bye, take care,’ which one would it be? Was it ‘bye’ or ‘take care?’ They were just expressions to bid farewell; however, it was strange that I could accept the meanings differently somehow. And also about a person’s state of mind……

  Wondering about those things shortly, I soon shook my head and entered the passcode on the digital door lock then pulled the doorknob.

  Taking off my shoes, I quickly went into the living room and said, “I’m back.” For some reason, my parents were all outside in the living room. Lately, my dad seemed very busy at work, so as soon as he returned home, he headed straight to the bedroom to get some sleep; only my mom was sitting in the living room alone to watch TV.

  My mom told me, “You’re back home quite late these days.”


  “Exactly, it’s already eleven o’clock.”


  I flinched at what my dad uttered next.

  “Daughter, are you dating someone?”


  Thank goodness, I wasn’t drinking water right now. If I did, I had definitely been a human sprinkler.

  Pulling myself together right away, I shook my head vigorously and replied, “No!”


  It wasn’t a lie since I was in a fake relationship instead of having a true romance! Haha! Laughing shamelessly only in my thoughts, I stopped abruptly for a moment at my mom’s following remark.

  “I spoke with Yeo Ryung’s mom the other day and heard that Yeo Dan is also coming home late these days. He’s even a sophomore in high school you know.”


  “.……”


  “She asked him whom he have met, but he doesn’t say anything.”


  Listening to her story, my dad opened his mouth to drop a comment.

  “He is a quiet kid though.”


  “That’s true, but since he’s carrying his workbook, he might be going to the library or so,” my mom responded. Switching her gaze back to me, she flung a question.

  “Anyway, my dear, if you aren’t dating someone, you’re having some…… something…… you know that trending term, right? Anyway, you ain’t having that going on too, right?”


  Standing foolishly until that moment, I quickly shook my head to avoid arousing anymore suspicion. I laughed loudly while saying, “That won’t happen haha.”


  “Well, we should have matched her with Eun Hyung to become a couple more earlier.”


  As soon as my dad responded to my remark, my mom smashed him, saying, “Honey! What’s wrong with you? You’re discouraging Donnie.”


  “Ah, where can you find a perfect husband like Eun Hyung? She has kicked her own luck away. When she had a chance, she should have pushed ahead,” my dad grumbled while changing his posture into a more comfortable one.

  My mom struck a retort again, “Oh, come on! Eun Hyung and Donnie are still good friends.”


  Listening to their conversations, I also added timidly, “Right. If other people heard what you just said, they would think I’ve had something going on with Eun Hyung. We aren’t having that kind of relationship, and I’m gonna see him forever.”


  Speaking that way, I suddenly recalled the recent incident and dropped my gaze onto the floor. Eun Jiho and Yoo Chun Young had been avoiding me while even hiding their shadows. Thinking about their behaviors, I felt cold in the chest. As if he also had the same reason or was busy preparing for Sports Day, I also didn’t see Eun Hyung for quite a while.

  Thinking to that extent, I shook my head only in my thoughts. ‘No, this is just temporary. Although we had a big fight, have we ever carried it on over a week? No, we didn’t. So yeah, things will get better ASAP,’ I murmured to myself.

  My dad rolled onto the other side upon my reaction and grumbled again. Listening to it further would only make me distracted, so I went to my room hurriedly and put my backpack down.