As Jae Yi was talking on the phone with someone, Tae In, who had been sitting on the sofa watching television, approached and sat down in front of her.

When he mouthed ‘Who is it?’, Jae Yi slightly pulled the phone away and mouthed back.

‘Convenience store part-time job.’

Tae In nodded.

“Yes, then I’ll see you tomorrow.”

As Jae Yi ended the call, Tae In rested his chin on his palm and asked.

“I told you not to do part-time jobs like that. Is this because of college tuition?”

“That’s part of it, and I also feel bad about taking pocket money from uncle.”

Tae In shook his head and said.

“If you feel bad, I’ll give it to you. I earn quite a bit from my modeling gigs. Don’t do part-time jobs like that, let’s go on a trip to Japan together, elder sister.”

Tae In said, trying to persuade Jae Yi, but she stood up with a look that said it was out of the question.

“What trip. I’m going to save money.”

“But why?”

“I can’t keep living in this house forever, I need to save up money quickly and move out.”

At her words, Tae In grabbed Jae Yi’s wrist as she was entering the room.

“Are you really thinking of moving out, elder sister?”

“Yes. Once I save up enough money, I plan to move out.”

“Then should I move out with you? Let’s live together, elder sister.”

“No.”

Jae Yi rejected it flatly. Tae In’s face clearly showed his disappointment.

“How long are you going to keep following me around? I don’t want to hear that my younger brother couldn’t date because of me. So stop worrying about me and go date or something, Tae In.”

“I’m doing this because I want to. I prefer being with you, elder sister.”

Jae Yi smiled gently and removed Tae In’s hand that was holding her wrist.

“Elder sister. You’ve been coming home late lately, do you have something else going on besides the convenience store job?”

“What?”

“For example, if you have a man or something like that.”

Jae Yi burst out laughing at Tae In’s useless words.

“Tell me if it’s not that.”

“Park Tae In. Are you trying to find out elder sister’s schedule again?”

“Is it wrong to know? I’m your younger brother. It’s not bad that I know your schedule.”

Seeing Tae In speak seriously, Jae Yi just smiled silently and entered her room.

It felt like Tae In’s obsession was getting worse than before.

When calls came from unfamiliar numbers, he had to find out who it was, and when Jae Yi came home late due to assignments or part-time jobs, he would act sensitively.

Because of this, there were often people at university who misunderstood them as lovers.

Jae Yi said it wasn’t true, but Tae In just laughed and said, well, what’s wrong with that. Tae In’s obsessive behavior started in earnest when he entered high school.

It felt like Tae In’s behavior was gradually becoming excessive.

Jae Yi sighed and took off her T-shirt. When the door suddenly opened, a startled Jae Yi furrowed her brow at Tae In who had entered her room.

“Park Tae In. I asked you. We’re not little kids anymore, so please knock before coming into the room.”

Since she was wearing a tank top underneath, Jae Yi acted nonchalant, but her heart was actually racing.

This wasn’t the first time this had happened.

As similar incidents occurred often, she always wore a tank top under her clothes even in the hot summer.

While Jae Yi changed into another T-shirt, Tae In didn’t move an inch in the room.

“What is it, Tae In? Do you have something to say?”

“The convenience store where you work. Where is it located?”

“I’m not telling you this time. So you stop worrying about it too.”

Jae Yi got up Tae In who was sitting on her bed and sent him out. Then she quickly locked the door.

* * *

“Since Han Jae Yi is catching on quickly, it seems the handover will finish quickly.”

The owner doing the handover was young. Above all, he seemed satisfied with Jae Yi’s work ethic as she quickly grasped the tasks with her extensive part-time job experience.

“Let’s stop here for today, and start learning properly from tomorrow. I’ll be here today so you can go now. There’s been a suspicious man staring at you for a while. Is he someone you know by any chance?”

Jae Yi furrowed her brow.

“Pardon? Who?”

As the convenience store owner gestured with his chin towards the front, Jae Yi’s gaze naturally followed. When Jae Yi turned her head, she saw Tae In hiding behind a telephone pole.

“Hah, I’m seeing all sorts of crazy people.”

“…”

“It’s dangerous, so you should go home early.”

“He’s… my younger brother.”

“Younger brother? No, what kind of younger brother stares at his elder sister for four hours straight when she’s working part-time.”

“Pardon?”

The owner looked surprised at Jae Yi’s shocked expression.

“I’ve been watching. Every time Han Jae Yi moved, every time we talked. Constantly.”

In an instant, goosebumps rose all over her body.

Tae In’s behavior, which had been feeling a bit strange, was starting to become frightening.

“Good work. You can go home now.”

Jae Yi moistened her dry lips with her tongue.

When Jae Yi left the convenience store, Tae In’s figure had vanished without a trace.

Jae Yi came straight home and was greeted by Tae In sitting on the sofa.

She had clearly seen him in front of the convenience store, but he was looking at her with an innocent face.

“Elder sister, you’re home?”

Without answering Tae In’s question, Jae Yi went straight to her room. Once again, the door burst open and Tae In sat on Jae Yi’s bed and asked.

“How was the convenience store job today? Is the person doing the handover a woman? A man?”

“Tae In, elder sister is tired.”

Seeing Jae Yi’s serious expression, he made a surprised face.

“Please go out for today.”

“Why, you’re tired. What kind of conversation did you have with that man.”

“What?”

Jae Yi’s eyes shook. Tae In seemed to think he had misspoken and roughly ran his hand through his hair.

“I mean… I just thought the person doing the handover might be a man. Sorry, elder sister. I said something unnecessary. You must be tired, get some rest.”

As the door closed with a thud, Jae Yi collapsed onto the bed as if her legs had lost strength and covered her face.

“Don’t do this, Tae In. If you keep acting like this… elder sister doesn’t know how to treat you either.”

Jae Yi murmured softly.

Unlike usual, fatigue quickly set in, perhaps because she had worked two part-time jobs in one day today.

She fell asleep as soon as she finished showering, but Jae Yi’s sleep quickly faded at the familiar voice coming from outside.

Thump, thump. As the footsteps grew louder, Jae Yi’s door burst open. And someone turned on the switch.

“Aish. How can you be sleeping when I came. Hey, aren’t you getting up?”

As Jae Yi slowly raised her body from the bed, a drunk Ga Yeon smirked and started patting Jae Yi’s cheeks with her palm. Jae Yi’s cheeks quickly turned red.

Jae Yi bit her lower lip.

“Oh? You don’t like it? Ha, I’m going to hit you if you keep this up, huh?”

Ga Yeon, displeased about something again, roughly grabbed Jae Yi’s hair and shook it. Jae Yi’s head moved pitifully.

“You’re not answering?! Hey, Han Jae Yi!”

Awakened by the loud noise, Tae In hurriedly entered Jae Yi’s room.

Seeing Ga Yeon harassing Jae Yi again, Tae In firmly grabbed her wrist.

“Let go of that hand.”

“Aish, it hurts!”

“That’s why I said let go.”

“I said it hurts! You bastard!”

The drunk Ga Yeon screamed loudly saying it hurt. As Ga Yeon’s hand that was roughly grabbing Jae Yi’s hair loosened, Tae In pushed her away.

“I told you to do it moderately! I told you to stop now!”

“Ha, look at this guy. Your eyes are completely flipped. Why, are you angry because I’m hitting Han Jae Yi? Are you annoyed because I’m bullying her?”

“Stop it…”

Tae In grabbed her arm and left Jae Yi’s room. Though the commotion ended quickly today, she would probably cause a scene again tomorrow when she sobered up.

Jae Yi exhaled a deep breath.

Whoo.

Tae In entered Jae Yi’s room and cupped her reddened cheeks.

“Are you okay, elder sister? It’s red again.”

“Yes. I’m fine.”

Tae In sighed and hugged her.

“Elder sister. Should we run away together? Let’s go somewhere no one knows and live just the two of us?”

“I don’t want to.”

At Jae Yi’s answer, his lips closed and his hands hugging Jae Yi naturally loosened.

“Even if I run away, I’ll do it alone.”

“…”

“Even if I go live somewhere no one knows, I’ll live alone. Tae In.”

Tae In’s face was clearly hurt.

“Can elder sister… live without me? I can’t. I can’t live without elder sister.”

* * *

As the faint sound of the door opening was heard, Jae Yi’s eyelids slowly lifted. She had definitely locked the door.

“Ugh.”

A large hand gripped Jae Yi’s wrist crushingly.

“Ta, Tae In…”

“Elder sister. I can’t live without you.”

“You, you, what… what are you doing?”

Her mind turned blank with shock and fear.

The current Tae In was different from the Tae In she knew.

He wasn’t the younger brother who called her “elder sister” and followed her.

He wasn’t the person Jae Yi had trusted and relied on all this time.

“Elder sister can never leave my side. You must only look at me.”

“You, what are you doing now. Let go of this hand…”

“I can’t let go. I’ll never let go. So elder sister, only look at me too.”

Tae In’s hand roughly grabbed Jae Yi’s chin as if to crush it.

“Only Han Jae Yi is enough…”

As he drew closer, Jae Yi pushed Tae In’s body in front of her with all her might.

There was a crashing sound as he fell backwards, and Jae Yi ran blindly.

“Elder sister!”

Even though Tae In’s voice and footsteps trying to catch Jae Yi were heard from behind, she didn’t stop her legs.

She kicked open the front door and came out.

I don’t want to live in this house anymore…

Even though her legs were giving out and she was staggering, even though her knees were scraped and bleeding, Jae Yi ran and ran. Fearing Tae In might follow, she just ran like a crazy person.

He was the younger brother she had trusted.

He was so precious and she was so grateful he was her brother.

She hoped that even if she was unhappy, at least Tae In would be happy.

Though they weren’t blood-related, she thought of him as her only family, so the betrayal of the younger brother she had loved made it even harder for Jae Yi.

That dawn, she fled from that house where every moment had been like a nightmare.

* * *

The next day, at Cha Myung Group.

“This is the first time this has happened.”

“I know, right?”

Su Bin let out a deep sigh.

In all her time working at the company, Jae Yi had never once taken a day off. Even when others took vacations, Jae Yi had steadfastly come to work.

“Jae Yi must be really sick. Come to think of it, she came out of the conference room yesterday looking pale as a sheet.”

At Manager Im’s words, Su Bin also seemed to recall yesterday’s events and said.

“I know. She didn’t eat yesterday either. She looked like she was about to cry the whole time.”

“Why don’t you give her a call, Deputy Han? You’re the closest to Jae Yi after all.”

“I actually called earlier but she didn’t answer. I hope nothing’s happened? For example, maybe she’s in a situation where she can’t answer the phone. Or maybe she collapsed from being sick…”

“That can’t be!”

Jin Seop’s loud voice drew the attention of people passing through the lobby towards the two of them. Geon Hak was no exception.

“Jae Yi lives alone, you see. So I thought of the worst-case scenario. Whoo. She’s not seriously ill, is she?”

Geon Hak, who had been talking with Director Kim, naturally began walking. Hearing that Han Jae Yi was sick, Geon Hak strode over to the two of them.

“Who did you say is sick? Han Jae Yi?”

Geon Hak asked again to confirm what he had heard was correct.

Surprised by Geon Hak’s sudden approach, the two quickly bowed their heads in greeting.

Su Bin hurriedly answered.

“Yes. Han Jae Yi seems to be sick and couldn’t come to work.”