“Whew…” Lying inside the bathtub, I let out a long sigh. Although our house was by no means large, the bathtub was on the s.p.a.cious side. It was to the extent where I, whose height is in the mid-170cm zone, could stretch my legs and submerge to my shoulders. “I’m beat…” I muttered feebly, soaking my body worn out from fatigue into the hot water. Truthfully, if I were to view my life at school and my work at a part-time job from an overall perspective, it’s not particularly different from before. The fact that I went to school, attended cla.s.ses, and worked at the store remains the same. However, the incidents that took place in the short amount of time between lunch and supper were too intense, and their aftereffects were still lingering. Was I really living this sort of life during the past three months? “Just how did I study in this state?” Of course, I’m not someone who just studies all the time. Although I barely watch TV, I sometimes borrow and read comics and novels from Sega and Yeon-hee. But those are strictly breaks between studying... A change of air, if you like. They don’t keep affecting you like this. I was able to study in the morning, but I couldn’t properly pay attention to the lessons in the afternoon because of the flickering images of Yuyu. Even now, words whispered by Ka-ryeon and her smooth legs linger in my mind. At this rate, I don’t think it’d go so well even if I did sit down at my desk and tried to study. “…Should I just not study today?” Like Ka-ryeon said on Sat.u.r.day… With studying put aside for the time being, should I solely concentrate on romance…? I mean, recovering my memories while hanging out with them? “I don’t think so!” I shut my eyes tight and submerged myself up to my head in the bath. ‘Concentrate! Concentrate!’ Shouting that chant in my heart, I focused my mind. I must empty my head and expunge idle thoughts. You can’t concentrate on studying because you keep recalling the times you briefly flirted with the girls? I don’t think so! I will forget everything about it, and study with a clear mind! Yes, I can do this! I, Ahn Kyeong-hyun, am a man who lives and dies studying! “Oppa.” “Pffp!” Surprised by her voice along with the sudden sound of the door opening abruptly, I choked on some bathwater. “Y-Yeon-hee! You shouldn’t come in when your brother is taking a…” I raised my drenched hair and tried to scold her, but I involuntarily held my breath at the sight that came into view. “…Why are you naked?” Yeon-hee, who had opened the bathroom door, was not wearing any clothes. Her bare body stood there with nothing on. I had only seen this sight when we were mere children. “What do you think, Oppa?” I heard her calm voice. As I stared at her silently, she gave a small laugh. “Fufu. You can’t take your eyes off me, Oppa. Are you turned on by your little sister’s body?” Listening to her sweet voice, I swallowed my saliva. Then I opened my mouth and said with a shaky voice. “No, I can hardly see because I don’t have my gla.s.ses on.” My eyes are seriously bad… And I have astigmatism, too… I could recognise that it was her because of her body size and hair style, but I couldn’t see a thing as far as specific parts were concerned. Even her silhouette was faint. There’s no way I would get turned from seeing that. Above all, I don’t get turned on from seeing my little sister’s body. “……” I couldn’t see so well, but I could tell she drooped her shoulders with a terribly disappointed look. “I don’t know what you’re thinking, but I’ll be going out in a few minutes, so wait until later if you want a bath.” I said while turning my head the other way; I still felt it wasn’t quite right to stare at my little sister in her birthday suit. She remained in the room, ignoring my words. “…I want to take a bath with you.” “What are you saying…” I had a notion when I saw her come in naked; as I expected, it was correct. “You’re not a child anymore, bathing together is…” “But you’ve seen me naked numerous times.” “Like I’ve told you, I don’t remember anymore.” Maybe it was because I had already experienced it several times today, or because I couldn’t see properly without my gla.s.ses, or because the girl was my little sister… But I was able to speak placidly without being all that fl.u.s.tered at all. “Let’s not do this kind of stuff, Yeon-hee.” I told her in a reproving voice. It would’ve been a different story if we had truly crossed the line, but given the uncertainties, I can’t act carelessly. You have to be straight with these sorts of things. That’s why right now I must have dignity as her brother, and sternly… “If you don’t bathe with me, I’ll cry.” “?!” I flinched at the sound of her depressed voice. “…Sniff.” “O-O-Okay! Don’t cry!” Even if I couldn’t see, I could tell that she was about to cry. N-No, what have I done…? Making her cry… “Then will you let me take a bath with you?” “…Please put on your swimsuit, at least." That was the most I could yield. “Fuu…” “Fuu…” The sound of the siblings’ sighs filled inside the steamy bathroom. Currently, she was sitting in front of me dressed in a white one-piece swimsuit that she had bought last year. I was sitting with my back against the wall, wearing swimming trunks that I had also bought last year. Although it wound up like this after many twists and turns, it wasn’t so bad. And it’s not that weird if you think of it as if visiting a spa with the family. While I was thinking that, Yeon-hee, who sat with her back toward me, muttered in a small voice. “…Fail.” “What do you mean by that?” “I was going to seduce you by entering the bathroom naked… And I even went as far as to consider raping you if you didn’t succ.u.mb to my temptation, but I failed because of your unexpected response.” “You were going to rape me if I hadn’t said that I couldn’t see without my gla.s.ses?!” I began to wonder if this little girl sitting crouched before me was really my sister. “And you were strangely calm after that, too, and even so now… A girl comes in naked asking you to take a bath with her, and that’s your reaction? That’s so mean of you.” “That’s because I’m your older brother…” “The brother I knew wasn’t so composed like this… Could it be that he’s been acc.u.mulating experience points somewhere else…?” Yeon-hee, who was in the midst of muttering, suddenly looked back and opened her eyes wide. “Oppa, could it be that you can’t feel anything for me because you’ve sated all your desires with those girls outside today?!” “That’s just absurd!” “Could it be that the reason why you started taking a bath as soon as you came back was to erase the smell of those girls…?!” She got up immediately. Splashing water everywhere, she tried to get out of the bathtub. “I’ll have to inspect your clothes! Especially your underpants!” “Hey, hey, hey!” I grabbed Yeon-hee by the leg and stopped her movements before she could search through my clothes. “I didn’t do anything weird! We simply ate together… And worked together!” Things like talking about b.r.e.a.s.t.s in a secluded room, or seeing a skirt being raised in a café… they don’t count as weird stuff. …Probably. “I’m merely taking a bath with family. There’s no reason to have weird thoughts. Stop thinking about such strange ideas.” “…You don’t have weird thoughts at all?” To Yeon-hee, who was staring at me as though discontent, I replied confidently. “Of course not. There’s no way I’d see my little sister as a woman. That’s why I’m taking a bath with you like th—” …Wait. If I truly didn’t think of my little sister as a woman, then what would it particularly matter if I were to just get in the bathtub with her naked? On the contrary, the fact that I’m wearing swimming trunks would signify that I’m conscious of her being a woman. “……” “…Oppa?” “Mm?! I-It’s nothing!” No, that’s not it! It’s a problem of manners…! Not whether I’m conscious of her as a woman or not! Even if we’re siblings, we’re already all grown up, so being in the nude together is a no-no! It’s basic decorum! “…Oppa, your eyes are kind of l.u.s.tful now.” “Wh-What are you saying?!” I was startled by her remark. C-Could it be that… I’ve started to see Yeon-hee as a woman?! Is this a reverse effect due to my overemphasis on not seeing her as a woman?! “It… It must be your imagination.” I denied desperately. We are siblings related by blood. There’s no way that I’d see her in such a way. But if we’re not related by blood, as Yeon-hee had said… Mm… “…Ughh.” When I thought of it like that, the situation suddenly began to feel somewhat erotic. A spa? Who am I kidding? This is a bathroom inside a house. Even if it is large enough for one person to use, if two people were to get in, it would be inevitable for their bodies to touch each other … …Yes, her frail body’s been touching mine for a while now. She’s not tense like Yuyu, nor is she seductive like Ka-ryeon, but she is vulnerable… “It’s fine, Oppa.” She muttered as if she could read these thoughts of mine. “If you so desire, I’m always…” While saying that, she leaned against my chest. I felt her pet.i.te frame hidden under the swimsuit. My heart started to race. “W-Wait a moment, Yeon-hee. We are brother and sister through and through…” “I told you we’re not related by blood. It doesn’t matter.” Mm, yes, it doesn’t matter if we’re not related by blood... Not! “Say... Yeon-hee.” In order to regain as much composure as I could, I opened my mouth. Before I get into a dispute with her, there’s something I must ensure. “When you say we’re not related by blood… Do you mean you’re not our father’s daughter?” “…That’s what I" told you.” To the subject I brought up, Yeon-hee stopped moving. Then she murmured in a subdued voice. “We both know that we’re ‘half-siblings’…” Half-siblings. I don’t particularly like the term, but fact is fact. My biological mother left this world right after giving birth to me. Afterwards, my father remarried, and born between the two was Yeon-hee. As long as we have the same father, we’re related by blood, and that’s why we continued to live together as family after our stepmom disappeared and our father had pa.s.sed away. “I’m not our dad’s daughter. I’m the daughter that my mom made with another man before she married father.” However, the shocking revelation that came from Yeon-hee threw everything I knew so far upside down. “You know what kind of a person my mother is, too.” “……” I bit my lips, listening to the cynical voice that was unbefitting of a sixteen-year-old girl. No matter how well you thought of her, Yeon-hee’s biological mother was a promiscuous woman. I was well aware of that fact. But, if that’s true… “Then my father…” “He was deceived by Mom. She married dad with a child she had with another man. And, not knowing that, dad raised me thinking I was his own daughter.” “But this truth… How do you know about…?” Don’t tell me during the three months I can’t remember, our stepmom… “I found Mom’s notebook while I was organising stuff.” “Notebook…?” “There were memos about the man she was seeing before she married Dad… And about the man she kept seeing even after the wedding. I think I’m that man’s daughter.” “H-Hold on a second.” I exhaled as I organised my thoughts. “But even if you have that, it’s not proof that we’re not blood-related. Even a.s.suming your Mom was having an affair, the possibility that you’re my father’s daughter is…” “Yes, I may be our father’s daughter.” Yeon-hee said in a bitter voice. “So I had a DNA test. Its result was that we’re not related by blood.” Those were the decisive words. If it’s verified via DNA that we’re not blood relatives, nothing that I can say after that matters. Me and Yeon-hee are not related by blood. Aside from the point that we’ve lived as family until now, there’s nothing that would pose a problem if we were to cross the line. Even if I were to reach out for the frail girl before my eyes right now, it wouldn’t pose a problem. However. “Then show me the test results.” Since I’d expected this development, I asked Yeon-hee without hesitation. “If you had a test done, you should have something like a printout of the results. If you don’t have them, then tell me the phone number of the place you went to get tested or their geneticist.” “……” She wasn’t replying at all. Staring still at Yeon-hee in such state, I waited for her answer in silence. To be honest, I didn’t plan on confronting her like this right now. I was doing this because of what Ka-ryeon had said earlier. —Setting aside Miss Yu Yuyu, I think it’s necessary to find out for certain for Yeon-hee... Telling me to be careful when I dealt with my sister from now on, Ka-ryeon spoke to me insinuatingly while I was preparing to go home from the café. —Although I think it’d be fine since you didn’t fall for my temptation at all… It’d be a serious problem if you lay your hands on her when you are related by blood. Saying that, the advice she gave me was about this whole DNA test thing. The subject of DNA testing should come up while talking about not being blood-related, then I should focus on pressing her on that part. If Yeon-hee says she already threw out the result printout or shows doubtful reactions, there’s a high possibility that she’s lying. From the start, Ka-ryeon pointed out that Yeon-hee might be lying because she doesn’t want her brother taken away from her. The possibility was that Yeon-hee was making stuff up in order to drive away Yuyu and Ka-ryeon. Frankly, I agree with her. Although Yuyu is the most questionable and Han Ka-ryeon is the most suspicious, the most unrealistic one is Yeon-hee. The problem of whether or not the brother and sister were blood-related would happen like an everyday occurrence in dramas on TV, but that’d never be the case in reality. It’s just an improvised lie of hers. That’s what I’m hoping it is. “Okay.” But what I heard was her calm voice. “…What?” “It’s in the bottom shelf of the desk inside my room. Take it out and check it if you need to, or would you like me to take it out for you?” There was nothing awkward about her behaviour. At least it didn’t seem like she was making things up on the fly. “Well… Then… show it to me later.” “Okay.” I was thrown into confusion. Was it really verified via DNA test that we were not related by blood? Then are we really… not brother and sister? “Oppa.” The sound of her voice echoed in the bathroom full of steam. “I’ll say this now, but I’m not really shocked or anything. My only thought was just ‘so that’s how it is.’ I knew what kind of a person Mom was… And the situation would’ve been a little different if Dad was still alive, but they’re both gone now. That is never going to change.” If it was a normal household with both parents, it would’ve become a considerable problem; a scandal that would shake the existence of the family itself. But this household had no parents. That’s why this problem depends on how Yeon-hee, the concerned party, accepts it. The truth that she’s a daughter born from her mother’s infidelity, that is. “I’m not bothered by it, so you don’t need to worry about me being shocked. I mean it.” “Yeon-hee…” “That’s why…” Yeon-hee gently turned her body and sat on her knees in front of me. Looking up at me with earnest eyes, she touched my chest softly. “It’s fine for you to touch me all you want.” “H-Hey... Yeon-hee, that’s…!” “No…” With her doll-like face reddened, she said while looking into my eyes. “Please touch me, Oppa.” “…!” “If I’m near you like this, you can see even without your gla.s.ses on, right…?” With those words, Yeon-hee began to lower the shoulder strap on one side. The strap on her shoulder fell and her swimsuit slipped downwards. The small mounds that were hidden until now was… “S-Stop!” I stretched out my hand in a hurry and grabbed the top part of the swimsuit that was about to slide down. In order to restrain Yeon-hee who was twisting around to break free, I put my hand under her armpit and tried to hold the swimsuit in place so that it wouldn’t slide down any further. However, I don’t know if it was because I put in too much strength or because she was dodging me, but her body fell backwards. “Ah..!” Fearing that her head would hit against the faucet, I reached out with my other arm and supported the back of her head with my hand. Having succeeded in narrowly protecting her head, I let out a sigh of relief in my mind. “O-Oppa…” But immediately after hearing her trembling voice, I understood the situation. With Yeon-hee leant backwards, my face was close to hers as though I were trying to kiss her. Rather than being there to prevent injury, my hand supporting her head seemed as if it were holding her to stop her from escaping the kiss. And my other hand was right next to her b.r.e.a.s.t.s… It was in a position where, if I moved my fingers a little bit, I could touch her small b.r.e.a.s.t.s through her swimsuit— no, if I put my mind to it, touch them directly if I put my hand inside the swimsuit. It was a scene of crime where the brother was raping his swimsuited —no, topless--sister in the bathroom. “S-Sorry…!” I quickly tried to remove my hand, but I couldn’t move because Yeon-hee was resting her weight on it. If I take out my hand as it is, her head will hit the faucet. Th-This is… “…Fu.” “Y-You just smiled, didn’t you? This situation was intentional, wasn’t it?!” I strengthened my grip to raise Yeon-hee up as she relaxed her body further with a triumphant expression. But at that moment, Yeon-hee furrowed her brows and let out a moan. “Ahnn…♡” “Stop making weird noises!” “Your hand, it’s naughty…” “It’s not naughty at all! Not naughty at all, okay?!” Oh, my Lord…! “It’s okay, Oppa. I’m fine with it…” “It’s not okay!” “Whenever I provoked you like this, you pretended to back away only to give in to the temptation. Eventually, you would l.u.s.t after me like an animal. It seems today will be like that, too…” “D-Don’t lie! I would’ve never done such a thing!” “But I remember. My body is all hot from yearning for you… I can’t endure it any longer…” “D-Don’t say those things! Your brother doesn’t remember raising you as girl who says bad stuff like that!” “Yes, please violently punish your little sister who has become a bad girl…” “Since when did you become so skilled at saying those kinds of lines?!” “You kept ordering me to do it. Telling me to say out loud how my body has become now over and over again…” “Ahhhhh…! No, I haven’t done anything of that s…” I shook my head hard and tried to object, but when I saw the expression on her face, I closed my mouth without realising. With her face flushed bright pink, her hazy eyes were looking up at me. It was a look you’d never see on Yeon-hee. She was usually lacking in expression. Yeon-hee had the s.e.xiest expression in the world. “Oppa…” Having confirmed that I was unable to move, Yeon-hee gently raised her body. It seemed as though her swimsuit would slip off any second and expose her bare b.r.e.a.s.t.s. A water droplet rolled down to her cleavage and went under the swimsuit. While my attention was on tracing its path, Yeon-hee leaned against me with a slight smile on her lip. “Oppa…” “Y-Yeon-hee…” Feeling her small frame, I swallowed my breath. My body was immobile. Pushing Yeon-hee away or pulling myself away was impossible. Perhaps something deep within my heart was stopping me from rejecting her. Am I going to be sullied by Yeon-hee like this…? “…Yeon-hee?” But no matter how long I waited, she didn’t move. “Y-Yes… Oppa…?” I slightly pulled myself away wondering what was wrong, but Yeon-hee was simply frozen with her eyes shut and her face buried in my shoulder. “H-Hold on…” Pulling myself away further, I tried to push Yeon-hee away. She offered no resistance, and instead weakly fell backwards. “H-Hey, Yeon-hee?!” I grabbed a hold of her right away, but her body was limp and she was moaning feebly. The way she looked in such a defenseless state with her eyes closed was sufficiently suggestive, but now was not the time to be concerned with such a thing. “Th-This is…!” When you stay in hot places like a bathroom for a long period of time, the blood vessels expand in order to regulate body temperature and blood pressure decreases…! If I were to set her upright in this state, symptoms such as dizziness and darkening of vision could occur due to the lack of blood to her head…! It wasn’t in my high school curriculum, but I had looked it up on my own before when I was curious, so I’m sure of it…! “What are you thinking …?! You already faint enough as it is because of your persistently low blood pressure…!” Carrying Yeon-hee—who had a delirious look in my arms—I ran out of the bathroom. It appears the s.e.xy expression she had earlier was because she was just dizzy. Oh boy… “L-Let’s see, I have to dry her first…” I was going to take Yeon-hee to her room and lay her on the bed, but I quickly realised I couldn’t do that with the way she was soaked. I couldn’t just lay her on the sofa or the cold floor. After much deliberation, I gritted my teeth and brought her to my room. After I laid Yeon-hee down on my bed, accepting that it would get damp, I grabbed a towel and started drying her body with it. But because she was still wearing the wet swimsuit, I was unable to dry her properly. Yeon-hee was completely unconscious and her arms and legs were limp. She was not in any condition to dry her body on her own. L-Looks like I have no choice… “Yeon-hee is my family! Yeon-hee is my family! Yeon-hee is my family…!” I blindfolded myself with the school tie I took off earlier, and put on the rubber gloves I brought from the kitchen. Fumbling along the way, I removed her swimsuit, and then began to wipe the moisture off her entire body with the stack of towels. “Aah, ahnn…” She was making weird noises, but that was just because she was struggling... I swear those sounds weren’t her reactions to my hands! “Ugh… That was difficult…” Having dried the remaining moisture on her hair and body with the dryer, I untied the blindfold and sighed. Since I covered her body with my dress shirt afterwards, there was no worry of seeing her nude. “……” On the bed Yeon-hee was staring at me with a very dissatisfied expression… Looking perfectly fine. “…Hey!” Just when did she regain her consciousness, I wonder. Yeon-hee threw on my dress shirt and got off the bed. Although the shirt covered everything down to her b.u.t.t thanks to its length, I averted my eyes since it was quite risqué. “Oppa.” As Yeon-hee was about to leave my room with footsteps full of discontent, she stopped her feet at the doorway. Looking at me standing there with my furrowed brow, Yeon-hee yelled with a very angry expression that formed tears in her eyes. “You’re an idiot! Blockhead! Eunuch!” After saying that, Yeon-hee left and slammed the door behind her. Listening to the stomps of her footsteps getting farther away, I weakly fell down on the bed. It wasn’t just because of the sadness caused by her words--of course there’s that as well--but it was because my whole body was struck with a far greater exhaustion. “N-Nevertheless, it’s finally over…” As promised, I finished the daily schedule with Yuyu, Ka-ryeon, and Yeon-hee— a pseudo-romance where I can’t discern the truth. I safely got through the three Times with the girls. There was no sign of my memories coming back anytime soon, but there was an odd sense of accomplishment. I have successfully endured every temptation from my cla.s.smate, junior, and my little sister; it makes me want to give myself a pat on the back. Anyway, this marks the finish. Of course it’s technically Yeon-hee’s time with me until tomorrow morning, but it doesn’t seem like she’ll try to attack me again tonight having stormed out of the room like that. That means I’m free from this point. In other words, it’s the start of Ahn Kyeong-hyun time. But, “I-I can’t study…” I must study… But there’s no way I could do it in this state of mind... My whole body is sore from dealing with those girls. I feel mentally exhausted. Furthermore, when I close my eyes, not only does the image of topless Yeon-hee that I was just looking at earlier linger in my mind, but Ka-ryeon’s legs and Yuyu’s b.r.e.a.s.t.s as well. What in the world happened to me…? There was never a time where I couldn’t study because I was bewildered by those things... “E-Even so, I must…” Although I wanted to stand up and sit in front of the desk, my body didn’t budge at all. “Ugh, study... I must…” Vomiting grievous voices, I stretched out my hand towards the desk but the reference books and writing utensils were out of my reach. “S-Study…” In the end, I pa.s.sed out in my swimming trunks on the damp bed strewn with towels. Reproaching myself for failing to study, I fell into the deep darkness.