“What does it matter to you if I let a man or a woman into my house?”
“Didn’t your father ever tell you? All men are wolves.”
“…”
Mijoo was at a loss for words when the topic of her non-existent father came up.
She had no family. Reported as a missing child at the age of three, Mijoo grew up in an orphanage until she became an adult.
She applied to an American high school in her senior year and got accepted. Mijoo was able to come to the U.S. with the independent living fund she received upon leaving the orphanage and a special scholarship considering her unique situation as an orphan.
The word ‘family’ was both a longing and a pain for Mijoo. She didn’t want to reveal her detailed painful past to people who hardly knew her, including Siyoon.
“I let you in because it’s you, Siyoon Kim. Anyway, you don’t care about women or their homes.”
Mijoo responded sharply. At that moment, Siyoon felt fortunate that Mijoo’s deep misunderstanding allowed him to easily enter her home.
As Siyoon smiled pleasantly, Mijoo became concerned about the disarray in her house.
The sofa was in disarray, the bed was unmade from just waking up, and items were scattered all around.
But since she had already invited Siyoon in, it was like spilled water.
Pretending to be calm, Mijoo went to the sofa to start tidying up. Her loose sleeveless top and shorts rose and fell as she moved, revealing her body.
‘This is troublesome so early in the morning.’
Siyoon clenched his jaw so tightly it twitched.
Unaware of Siyoon’s internal turmoil, Mijoo was tidying up the sofa when she glanced at the dining table. She thought the table would be better than sitting side by side on the sofa, so she pulled out a dining chair and offered it to Siyoon.
“Would you like some coffee?”
Siyoon silently moved to the table and sat down on the chair Mijoo had offered.
Mijoo turned to make coffee, rummaging through the shelf for a cup. She wanted to find a nice one but couldn’t, so she ended up taking out a mug she got as a freebie from a doughnut shop.
While Mijoo was busy making coffee, Siyoon watched her from behind.
As the coffee aroma filled the room, Mijoo turned around to place the coffee cup in front of Siyoon, becoming conscious of his gaze.
She felt dizzy thinking about how she might appear in Siyoon’s eyes.
‘He probably doesn’t care about a girl like me, but…’
However, she couldn’t hide her instinctive embarrassment in front of a handsome man.
Her almost-revealing outfit, disheveled face, and messily tied-up hair.
‘Ah, I look like a mess…’
If a ruffian executing a sentence were to be born in the present day, he might look like this. Mijoo turned away again, unable to meet Siyoon’s eyes.
“I think there were some cookies somewhere.”
Mijoo rummaged through drawers and shelves looking for non-existent cookies, figuring out how to act.
‘Should I put on a shirt as if it’s nothing?’
No, that wouldn’t solve the problem of her conspicuously bare legs.
‘Then, should I change into a shirt and training pants?’
That too was impossible. In a studio apartment, where could she change out of her hot pants into sweatpants?
Clothes aside, she wanted to do something about her messy hair. She could simply untie and retie it, but she felt self-conscious with Siyoon standing behind her, preventing even that small action.
‘Forget it. It’s my house, where even dogs eat and enter, so why can’t I do as I please?’
Mijoo turned around sharply. Siyoon was looking at her with a deep gaze.
‘What… what is he staring at!’
But Siyoon didn’t show any surprise or intention to avert his gaze even as she suddenly turned around.
‘Even if I stood naked, he’d just find it curious, nothing more.’
Mijoo became certain that Siyoon wouldn’t be swayed by any of her actions.
Her shame about feeling embarrassed in her pajamas in front of a man dissipated as she observed his unflinching eyes and expression.
Siyoon took his eyes off her and lifted his teacup.
“We both have a lot to do, like fixing the car. Let’s start with coffee.”
He urged her to sit down, but Mijoo leaned against the sink, maintaining distance.
“How’s the car?”
“The ignition is still unstable, so I sent it to the repair shop. Let’s go together later.”
“Okay, but I just woke up and haven’t showered yet.”
Mijoo crossed her arms and leaned against the sink, trying to appear confident, just like Siyoon had stood confidently in front of the car yesterday. She knew her soft chest would be accentuated as her arms touched it, but she didn’t change her pose.
‘He probably won’t be interested anyway.’
Siyoon’s eyebrow twitched at Mijoo’s provocative pose, but he continued in a cold voice.
“Then go ahead and shower first.”
“Exactly. What am I supposed to do when you show up unannounced? You should have called… no, at least made an appointment.”
Mijoo, visibly annoyed, grumbled, prompting Siyoon to smile at her, as if he found her irritation endearing.
“Okay, I get it. Now go and take your shower.”
Siyoon’s gentle tone left Mijoo without further reason to be angry, and she headed to the bathroom.
Then, 10 minutes later, a scream came from the bathroom.
‘Could it be!’
Alarmed, Siyoon abruptly stood up and rushed towards the bathroom.
My Step-brother Is Obsessed With Me (Female-dominant)
A gentle female protagonist vs pitiful in the early stage, and a sick male protagonist in the later stage
Cheng Songer transmigrated into the body of a vicious cannon fodder female supporting character with the same name as her in a female-dominant novel.
In the original story, the cannon fodder female supporting character was inhumane, committing domestic violence, gambling excessively, being lustful, and even wanting to sell her stepbrother to a brothel for money.
As luck would have it, she just happened to transmigrate at this time.
Seeing Cheng Qingzhi biting his lip, enduring the tears in his eyes, looking pitiful, her heart softened.
She stuffed the money back into the Madam’s hand and reached out to him.
“Brother, come home with me.”
