In the car returning to school.

Yi Soo still couldn’t look straight at Ji Ho, her face burning hot.

Won Jin’s words kept swirling in Yi Soo’s mind.

“Dating is good, but be careful while you’re seeing each other. I’m sure you’ll handle it well.”

Yi Soo squeezed her eyes shut as she recalled Won Jin’s face, seriously cautioning her with a meaningful expression.

‘What exactly should I be careful about? Does he think I slept with Ji Ho? Haah….. How could he think that? If he was going to say something like that, he could have said it when we were alone.’

Thinking about what was going through Won Jin’s mind when he said those words made Yi Soo’s face burn as if it might burst.

All she did was introduce him as her boyfriend…..

Yi Soo was just bewildered by Won Jin’s reaction.

‘Is it because I don’t know well? Is this normal when dating? Am I too naive? Does Ji Ho expect and think of that as natural too? If only I had dated before, I’d know!’

No matter how much she thought about it alone, questions that had no answers kept following one after another.

Just imagining it made her feel like hiding from embarrassment.

Yi Soo had turned her head completely towards the window, just fidgeting with her hands on her knees.

‘I want to get out of the car quickly.’

She hoped Ji Ho wouldn’t say anything about what Won Jin had said.

Yi Soo tensed up each time the car stopped at a signal, afraid Ji Ho might say something.

Ji Ho broke the long silence first.

“How late will you be staying today?”

“Huh? Oh….. I think later than yesterday. We lost some time coming home after all.”

Over two hours had passed already.

“So 11 o’clock?”

“Yeah. Probably.”

It had been a whirlwind couple of hours for Yi Soo in many ways.

Her plan to proudly reveal Ji Ho as her boyfriend to Yoo Mi and Soo Min had succeeded, but Yi Soo was flustered by Won Jin’s unexpected reaction.

‘Are all other dads like this too? It’s awkward to ask anyone about this kind of thing.’

Throughout dinner, Yi Soo felt suffocated by Yoo Mi and Soo Min’s piercing gazes.

Then, just when she thought it was over after finishing dinner and felt relieved, she felt like she’d been hit with a bomb from Won Jin.

“Ji Ho, you go ahead. Don’t stay late because of me.”

Yi Soo felt sorry for Ji Ho who adjusted to her schedule every day, and she also felt it would be burdensome to see Ji Ho any more today.

“It’s fine. I need to study too. You’re not the only one taking exams.”

“That’s true. But I think you’ll be tired if you keep taking me home every time.”

“That’s not true….. I’m not tired when I see you. That’s the only time I get to see you all day, are you telling me to give up that time now?”

Yi Soo knew Ji Ho wouldn’t agree easily, but when he spoke so affectionately, she couldn’t refuse anymore.

Ji Ho was being as considerate as possible to Yi Soo, who wasn’t even studying together like other couples, sitting in different reading rooms without even seeing each other’s faces and even keeping their phones turned off.

Ji Ho gently stroked Yi Soo’s cheek while the car was briefly stopped.

“Give me your hand.”

Ji Ho’s palm spread out wide in front of Yi Soo.

Yi Soo interlaced her fingers with Ji Ho’s.

“Are you not going to look at me today either?”

Ji Ho asked, squeezing their interlaced hands tightly.

“Huh? Um…..”

Yi Soo mumbled, still too embarrassed to face Ji Ho directly.

The more Yi Soo mulled over Won Jin’s words, the more curious she became about what Ji Ho was thinking.

Did Ji Ho think of it as natural too?

There had been a few times when Yi Soo pushed Ji Ho away, unable to handle the deepening kisses.

If she hadn’t pushed him away then, would something that needed to be careful about have happened, as Won Jin said?

Had Ji Ho been thinking and acting with that in mind?

Yi Soo stared straight ahead while looking at Ji Ho’s profile as he drove.

Ji Ho, who had been smiling since earlier, seemed unbothered.

He actually looked like he was in a good mood.

‘I hope Ji Ho forgot what Dad said.’

Ji Ho pulled Yi Soo’s hand that he was holding towards himself.

Yi Soo’s body tilted sharply towards Ji Ho.

“I can’t keep looking at you because I’m driving, so you look at me. So that you can see me right away when I turn to look…. Okay? You can do that much, right?”

“….Okay.”

Yi Soo nodded awkwardly and cautiously opened her mouth.

“What’s got you in such a good mood since earlier?”

“Hmm….. Everything.”

Ji Ho turned to Yi Soo for a moment and smiled brightly.

“It feels good to have formally greeted your father as your boyfriend, and earlier…..”

Ji Ho paused for a moment before continuing.

“The warning to be careful…. It means he accepts us dating, right? It feels like we got some kind of permission, so I feel good.”

Yi Soo’s eyes narrowed.

‘Haah. He’s really crazy. What permission did we get.’

“Your father seems…. very open-minded.”

Ji Ho’s words ended with a laugh.

**

Yoo Mi sat hunched over in her dark room with the lights off.

She felt like she had been repeatedly confirmed killed by Yi Soo throughout dinner.

Yi Soo had declared to everyone that Ji Ho was her boyfriend and left.

‘She kept pretending it wasn’t true. What’s the reason for suddenly revealing it like this?’

Yoo Mi had suspected a few times that Yi Soo might be Ji Ho’s girlfriend, but she had completely ignored and turned a blind eye to such suspicions based solely on the awkward and uncomfortable atmosphere between the two.

Yoo Mi’s sense of loss at witnessing the affectionate couple with her own eyes was indescribable.

It felt like a huge hole had been torn in her heart.

Even when she tried not to think about it, it kept flashing before her eyes, driving her crazy.

Yi Soo had blatantly held Ji Ho’s hand in front of Yoo Mi, sat him next to her, and even called Won Jin to introduce him as her boyfriend.

‘How could she be so cruel when she clearly knew I liked elder brother? I even warned her not to be interested because I was first….. She insisted it wasn’t true no matter what.’

Yoo Mi felt like her chest would burst from frustration and resentment.

‘Until just before the semester started, Yi Soo seemed to know nothing about Ji Ho.’

Yi Soo said she had been seeing Ji Ho for only about two months now.

That meant they had started dating just a month after first meeting.

How could that be?

Yoo Mi could understand Yi Soo falling for Ji Ho, but she couldn’t understand Ji Ho’s feelings at all.

‘What does Yi Soo have that’s better than me besides being good at studying? How could he like Yi Soo after just a month when I’ve been by elder brother’s side for over 10 years?’

Tears that had been welling up rolled down her cheeks.

Knock knock.

Soo Min, who had been worried about Yoo Mi all evening, entered the room.

“Yoo Mi, are you okay?”

It was a question born from the hope that she wasn’t, even though she knew she wasn’t.

“I was so shocked too. I thought Yi Soo wouldn’t date because she’s so focused on studying, but how could she deceive people so perfectly when she clearly knew you liked Ji Ho? They say you can know ten fathoms of water but not one fathom of a person’s mind. Yi Soo turns out to have such a sly and scary side. Dad doesn’t even know and is just busy praising our Yi Soo this, our Yi Soo that. Tsk!”

Soo Min also started badmouthing Yi Soo in front of Yoo Mi out of her own hurt feelings.

She felt like her chest was on fire thinking about how much Yi Soo must have secretly laughed at her for eagerly hoping for Yoo Mi and Ji Ho’s marriage while drinking her own imaginary wedding wine.

“There’s no need to be so depressed and cry like this. They’re only 21 years old, how long could it last? They’ll fight and break up before long.”

Soo Min warmly rubbed Yoo Mi’s back as she cried.

“You know Yi Soo’s personality well. She doesn’t express her emotions well and is so picky. And how stubborn she is. Ji Ho just doesn’t know Yi Soo’s personality yet. Once Ji Ho gets to know Yi Soo well, he’ll probably get tired and break up with her.”

Soo Min was just as surprised as Yoo Mi.

Even to Soo Min, who knew both Yi Soo and Ji Ho well, the two didn’t seem to suit each other very well.

Yi Soo, who liked everything to be precise and pursued her goals with tenacious determination, seemed like oil and water compared to the free-spirited and relaxed Ji Ho.

She was certain they wouldn’t last long unless one person unilaterally adjusted to the other.

“Do you really think so?”

Yoo Mi, who had been sobbing with shaking shoulders, finally raised her head.

“Of course. They’re still young kids. At that age, all relationships are just passing encounters. It’s not like Yi Soo said she’s going to marry Ji Ho.”

Soo Min was displeased no matter how much she thought about Yi Soo being Ji Ho’s girlfriend.

If she couldn’t see it, she might feel better, but Yi Soo came home together like today and rubbed salt in Yoo Mi’s wounds, so Soo Min couldn’t help but feel resentful towards Yi Soo.

“If that’s the case, I could wait until they break up.”

Soo Min was at a loss for words seeing Yoo Mi speak with such a determined expression.

Soo Min had said those words hoping that if it didn’t work out for Yoo Mi, it wouldn’t work out for Yi Soo either, but Yoo Mi was clearly misunderstanding.

Even if Yi Soo and Ji Ho eventually broke up, it would be too much to hope for Yoo Mi to be with him in the future.

They may be sisters without a drop of blood relation, but it would be hard to accept the younger sister dating a man the older sister had dated, even if it was Ji Ho.

Unless it was just a brief encounter between the two.

‘I guess I shouldn’t have any more expectations for Yoo Mi and Ji Ho.’

Soo Min’s heart ached at having to give up on Ji Ho, whom she had desired so much.

But for now, comforting and consoling Yoo Mi was the priority.

Yoo Mi, who had been crying sorrowfully with anger and despair, slowly calmed down at Soo Min’s hopeful words of comfort.

The longer the two dated, the less chance Yoo Mi seemed to have of ending up with Ji Ho later.

So she couldn’t just lie under the persimmon tree waiting for a persimmon to fall.

She had to find some way to create a rift between them and make them break up.

As Yoo Mi racked her brain, she suddenly remembered the man she had met in front of the house a few days ago.

‘Was his name Kim Min Jae? I even gave him Yi Soo’s number, I wonder if he contacted her? It would be nice if that man could be a bit more proactive.’

She should have gotten his contact information that day.

Lost in thought, Yoo Mi suddenly jumped up and headed towards Yi Soo’s empty room.

**

A few days later.

It wasn’t hard to find Ji Ho in the library.

After spotting Ji Ho from afar, Yoo Mi lingered in front of the second floor reading room around lunchtime.

As Yoo Mi stared intently at the reading room door, she saw Ji Ho striding out.

“Oh, elder brother. You were here.”

Yoo Mi put on a surprised expression as if they had met by chance.

“Oh…..”

Ji Ho nodded indifferently.

“Looks like you’re on your way to lunch.”

Yoo Mi naturally followed in the direction Ji Ho was going.

To anyone watching, it would look like they had met by chance and were going in the same direction.

“…..”

Ji Ho just nodded slightly without saying anything.

“Don’t avoid me and make me feel awkward for no reason. I already know you’re dating Yi Soo, what can I do about it? We were like siblings originally. Let’s just stay that way from now on.”

Yoo Mi spoke preemptively.

Knowing that Ji Ho was dating Yi Soo, Yoo Mi had given up her immediate desire to win Ji Ho’s heart for now.

Instead, she decided to take a long-term view.