“Mom, Isu must be tired. It’s already this late.”

The clock was pointing to 10 PM.

Normally it wouldn’t be a late hour, but maybe due to jet lag, drowsiness was washing over.

“Oh my, you’re right. I lost track of time just looking at Isu’s face. Isu, you must be tired, go in and rest quickly.”

At Hyejin’s house where three generations had gathered after a long time, the conversation was endless.

Even grandmother, who usually went to bed early, was staying up late, happy to see her granddaughter who had come after a long time.

“Yes, goodnight grandmother.”

Isu was quite tired too, so she got up without hesitation.

Hyejin followed Isu into her room.

“Mom, why?”

“I’ll turn off the light and leave when you lie down. You’re going to sleep right away, right?”

“Yes.”

As Isu lay on the bed, Hyejin neatly covered her with the blanket and sat down beside her.

“Isu, it’s been a little over two months since you started living alone?”

“Yes.”

“If I had gone as promised, we’d be living together by now. I’m sorry I couldn’t keep my promise. You must have felt very disappointed?”

Hyejin held Isu’s hand tightly.

She always felt sorry for Isu, who had suffered emotionally since childhood due to her parents’ fights.

She guessed that Isu never said she was having a hard time not because there were no difficulties, but because she didn’t want to worry her mom.

“Ah, why bring up old stories again? I’m fine. I’m doing really well.”

If it weren’t for Jiho, she might have felt very lonely, but these days she wasn’t lonely at all.

She always said she was fine out of habit, but this time she really was fine.

“What do you mean you’re always fine? It’s okay to say you’re having a hard time when you are. You can tell mom everything.”

“Okay. I’ll do that from now on if I’m having a hard time.”

Isu smiled, deliberately making her voice sound bright.

“Alright, you’re tired today so sleep early and we’ll talk more tomorrow.”

“Okay. Sleep well, mom.”

Hyejin hugged Isu, who was lying down, turned off the light and left the room.

Isu gently closed her tired eyes.

Feeling like she would fall asleep right away, she picked up her phone and left a message for Jiho.

– I’m sending a text because I think I’ll fall asleep right away. You must be tired too, sleep well. I’ll contact you when I wake up tomorrow.

It was to keep the promise to not turn off the phone and keep it by her side 24 hours a day.

After pressing the send button, she switched the phone to vibrate mode.

Just as she was about to put the phone down within reach on the bedside table, it immediately vibrated.

“Yes, Jiho.”

[Are you lying down?]

Though it had only been a few hours since they parted, maybe because of the feeling of being in a foreign country, she felt strangely more glad.

Jiho’s voice heard just before falling asleep was good, like a lullaby, sweet and melodious.

“Yes. I just lay down to sleep.”

[Are you very sleepy?]

“Yes.”

Isu, who had been lying straight, turned on her side and placed the phone on her ear.

It wobbled a little, but it seemed better than dropping the phone as her hand went limp.

“What were you doing?”

[Thinking about how much I miss you.]

At those words, Isu smiled with her eyes closed.

It felt like happiness was washing over her like waves.

[I miss you.]

The sweet voice saying sweet words over and over made her ear feel ticklish where the phone was resting.

[I guess only I’m missing you again.]

“I miss you too.”

Isu answered slowly after a faint laugh.

She had stayed quiet because she liked listening more than speaking.

[I feel like I should bow down in gratitude.]

A low laugh could be heard through the receiver, as if he was still pleased.

‘Should I tell him not to misunderstand.’

Isu slowly blinked her drooping eyelids open and closed.

“I really miss you.”

She said it once more to make up for the late reply.

Isu’s voice got slower and lower.

[Then should I come over?]

Maybe this is why she had delayed her answer, afraid Jiho might say something like this.

It seemed like he would really come if she said to, so she couldn’t answer right away this time either.

She couldn’t say don’t come because it might seem like she didn’t really mean it when she said she missed him.

“……”

[I guess I asked something too difficult for a sleepy person.]

There was a hint of teasing in his laughter-tinged voice.

If she had known it was a joke, she should have just said go ahead.

Now she was so sleepy she couldn’t even pick up on that.

She shouldn’t suddenly fall asleep like a film being cut off.

“Jiho…… I’ll come see you now.”

She should respond to teasing with teasing.

She felt it didn’t matter even if it made her cringe, since she was going to fall asleep anyway.

As expected, a surprised voice was heard.

[……Really?]

How cute.

“Yeah. I’ll come see you in your dreams, so if you miss me, you go to sleep quickly too.”

A second later, Jiho burst out laughing.

She wasn’t sure if he was laughing because it was ridiculous, or because he liked such cheesy words.

She just wanted him to quickly say sleep well and hang up.

[Okay. I’ll go to sleep quickly too.]

“Okay. Sleep well.”

[Sleep well too. Call me when you wake up. Don’t worry about the time. Even if you wake up at dawn, you can call then.]

“Okay.”

Jiho hung up the phone.

A moment later, the phone slipped from Isu’s ear.

**

“Yumi.”

Sumin gently shook Yumi’s shoulder.

Yumi must have been quite tired, as she had fallen asleep as soon as they arrived home yesterday and was still sleeping until morning without waking up.

“Yumi, are you going to keep sleeping? Even if you sleep more, let’s eat breakfast first.”

She had skipped the in-flight meal and dinner yesterday, so she hadn’t eaten for a full day.

“Is it morning already?”

Yumi asked, barely opening her eyes.

It felt like she had just closed her eyes for a moment, but it was already morning.

“Yes. Get up now.”

“Mom, you should have woken me up.”

Yumi frowned and sat up.

“You think I didn’t try? I left you alone because you wouldn’t wake up no matter how much I tried.”

“But oppa came home yesterday, right?”

Yumi had worried before falling asleep yesterday that Jiho might have gone somewhere else with Isu.

“Of course. He came. This is Jiho’s house after all.”

Sumin had decided to stay at home despite Yeonsu’s dissuasion.

So from today, she was quite at a loss about how to keep an eye on Jiho and Yumi.

Seeing Yumi looking for Jiho first thing after waking up in the morning, she felt it was really hopeless, but also felt sorry that there was nothing else she could do.

“Mom, I feel so strange thinking I’m in the same house as oppa.”

Yumi smiled as she spoke, seeming to be in a good mood just thinking about Jiho.

“……Yumi, you haven’t forgotten what happened yesterday already, have you?”

It was absurd that the girl who had cried so much yesterday was looking for Jiho again as if nothing had happened after sleeping for one night.

“Yesterday? Oh, that oppa came with Isu?”

Yumi pouted and shrugged her shoulders.

She sighed for a moment, then spoke again with a calm expression.

“Well, it’s not like I didn’t know oppa was dating Isu. Anyway, oppa is here in the same house with me now.”

At this point, should it be called just mental victory?

Sumin bit her lower lip gently.

“If you’re going to act like it’s no big deal now, why did you cry so much yesterday?”

“Yesterday…… I was angry at Isu. Mom, you didn’t see how she looked at me. Just thinking about it now makes me so mad! She knew everything and deliberately set out to make fun of me, I tell you.”

The arrow of anger was aimed at the innocent Isu.

Yumi was still so upset that her chest heaved up and down as she fumed just thinking about it again.

“This is all mom’s fault. We should have kept it a secret from dad that we were coming here.”

“That’s not the important thing right now. What would change by keeping it a secret? Jiho followed because Isu said she was coming to London. You heard it yesterday too, right? Right now, Jiho doesn’t care about you at all. No matter how much you act like this, you’re the only one getting hurt!”

Sumin let out a frustrated sigh and reminded Yumi of the fact she was turning a blind eye to.

Sumin also wanted Yumi and Jiho to work out more than anyone and wanted to help.

But she wasn’t reckless enough to try to catch a bus that had already left.

“Why are you being so negative, mom? It’s not like they’re married. What’s the problem?”

“So you’re going to keep liking Jiho?”

Sumin asked in an unbelieving tone.

“I just can’t give up! I like oppa so much I’m going crazy.”

Yumi looked like she was about to cry.

She had kept Jiho in her heart for too long to give up so easily.

Afraid that confessing rashly would only distance them, she had postponed confessing properly until she became an adult.

She had tried to approach slowly, hoping Jiho would see her as a woman, not a little sister.

But one day, Isu suddenly appeared in front of Jiho and everything became a mess.

Come to think of it, she hadn’t even properly told Jiho that she liked him, so how could she give up her feelings like this?

“I’ve been living only looking at oppa for so long, I feel so wronged that I can’t give up like this. I think I need to try my best until I can let go.”

“Haa.”

The longer the conversation went on, the more Sumin’s head throbbed.

She could only sigh deeply as nothing she said seemed to get through.

“I’m worried you’ll get hurt.”

“No one knows what will happen in the future.”

Sumin no longer had the courage to stop Yumi, seeing her so firm attitude.

If Yumi were to marry Jiho, she would become a daughter-in-law of a chaebol family, and Sumin wasn’t entirely unhappy about that either.

If Isu and Jiho work out well, Yumi would have to watch that for the rest of her life, and if nothing else, Sumin only wanted to prevent that.

**

Only the occasional sound of utensils hitting dishes could be heard over the dining table where the four people were eating.

“Yumi, we’re going out right after breakfast today, so get ready when you’re done eating.”

Yeonsu spoke up as the silence continued.

“Yes, aunt. Where are we going today?”

“I was thinking we could go see paintings at a museum, have lunch, and then go up to an observation deck in the afternoon. How does that sound?”

“Sounds good.”

Yumi answered with a big smile.

Jiho, whom she had worried might have already left, was eating together with them.

‘To think I’m eating breakfast in the same house as oppa.’

Just that fact made Yumi’s heart flutter.

So she kept glancing at Jiho without realizing it.

Jiho slowly raised his head and looked at Yumi.

“If you have something to say, say it.”

Even the sweetest and most melodious voice sounded dry when all emotion was removed.

“If you don’t have anything to say, stop staring.”

As Jiho was about to look away again, Yumi’s mouth opened urgently.

“I want to see a musical…… What’s good?”

She brought it up because she had heard that Jiho watched musicals with Yeonsu every time he came to London.

She thought it would be nice if she and Sumin could naturally follow along when Yeonsu and Jiho went to see one.

“I don’t know.”

Jiho shrugged and took a sip of water.

Then he spread butter on bread, put it in his mouth, and opened his phone.

Embarrassed by Jiho’s indifferent response, Yumi looked at Yeonsu.

“Since you brought it up, shall we go see a musical too?”

“Yes, that sounds good, aunt.”

“Alright, they’re all good, so let’s see whatever we can get tickets for.”

Yumi nodded with a bright smile.

‘This is why I came all the way here.’

She started eating breakfast again with a pleased smile.

Yumi’s face kept twitching with happiness.

“Jiho, can you check if there are any tickets available for booking now?”

“Yes.”

After searching on his phone for a while, Jiho looked at Yeonsu and said,

“They’re not great seats, but there are three available for Mamma Mia tomorrow. Should we go with these?”

“Sure.”

“Oppa, why only three seats though?”

Yumi asked urgently.

“Because I’m going with Isu.”