SeungYeon sighed deeply as she watched the girl pacing in front of Haon High School again today. Here we go again. SeungYeon's face became dark. The short cut hair was messy, and she was always dressed in a hoodie and jeans. SeungYeon was overwhelmed with embarrassment. That short skinny girl didn't wash or eat properly. From the perspective of living in the same house and taking care of her, SeungYeon hoped that she would have a willingness to improve even a little or that her shy personality would change. She was a problem because she only tried to rely on SeungYeon for everything. SeungYeon's expressionless sister's face was creepy. Her pupils were dark, and her face looked lifeless. The eyes of the dead fish sparkled when they finally found SeungYeon. She laughed ecstatically like a beast in front of her prey, and SeungYeon bit her lips well. Contrary to her uncomfortable mind, SeungYeon spread her arms, and her sister's face, who ran and hugged her, looked very happy.
***
The girl's name was YeChan. Lee YeChan. From the moment she met her stepsister, SeungYeon's name changed from "Han, SeungYeon" to "Lee, SeungYeon". SeungYeon stared at her stepsister, YeChan. She was such a strange child. The thin face and unruly hair seemed to have been ruined by the mistake of scissors on its own. Her eyes were very dark and murky. She couldn't find any childlike cuteness. Nevertheless, SeungYeon was not disappointed. She was also misunderstood and ostracized as a child who made a bad friend at school. Rumors were fast among girls and her school life was simply a carnival of chaos. She needed a friend who wouldn't betray her because anyone would. She needed someone, even if that was the child with a problem. SeungYeon reached out to her sister, and she instinctively avoided it. It was just a cat-like move with alarm. When her sister hid behind her stepfather's back, SeungYeon introduced her with a smiling face once more.
"Your name is SeungYeon, YeChan."
“...”
"I'm four years older than you. Let's be close friends from now on."
YeChan didn't hate her, smiling as warm as the sun. When I look back, was this the beginning of everything? Was it from then that I was swept away like a wave by a sweet and sugared sensation?
***
SeungYeon looked at YeChan's hair and asked.
"YeChan, why don't you go to a hair salon?"
YeChan knew what SeungYeon's words meant. Maybe she wanted to trim her messy hair. Although YeChan hated having long hair, and she hated when someone touched her body. SeungYeon couldn't understand her. She couldn't understand her stepfather, who left the girl unattended, or her mother, who was stuck with her stepfather.
It was a very hot summer day when the cicada's cry gnawed at the nerves. SeungYeon went to the hospital and got a cool air conditioner breeze, but she was bored and tired of waiting, so she left the waiting room.
Then the voice of a nurse passing by penetrates her eardrums. It was a jeering and reproachful voice. In the voice, YeChan's name is mentioned, and the voice spoke ill of the parents who left the child to this point, saying they were sinners. SeungYeon was upset and angry, but she had no choice but to endure it. Her mother came out of the counseling room holding YeChan's hand. It was a breathtaking moment for her.
***
"Sister."
The day after going to the hospital, YeChan first talked to her. She often talked to her younger sister first and laughed, but it was the first time YeChan approached her like this, so she was a little embarrassed.
"Why?"
"....... I have a question.”
It was unexpected. She had a question for the first time for she was a child who seemed to be free of ideas, and she told her older sister, not just other adults.
SeungYeon seemed to hear a particularly loud sound of her throat falling over.
Am I nervous?
"What is it?"
In SeungYeon's reply, the child asked bluntly.
"What's love and affection?"
"What?"
Love and affection? YeChan is curious about this?
It's really out of the blue, and it didn't go well with Lee YeChan.
That's why I'm starting to understand what you're curious about.
"Love and affection are both similar."
"What do you think?"
"First of all... if you keep looking at someone, that's the attention and affection. I think it's the same with love."
"What is love exactly?"
It was a little complicated to explain exactly what. Since SeungYeon didn't know much about love. However, she reached out to YeChan with a sudden thought and held her hand first just before YeChan flinched and avoided. And she smiled and relieved the wary YeChan.
"Maybe you want to be in touch with someone you're interested in?"
"....... I see. I get it now.”
"Yes, thank God."
YeChan, who looked at SeungYeon's smile as if possessed, became not afraid of touching her sister after this day. The stepfather, who watched it wonderfully, shed tears and gave SeungYeon an allowance, saying, "Please take good care of YeChan," and her mother also praised SeungYeon. SeungYeon liked YeChan, who started acting like a loyal puppy to her, and enjoyed these situations. So she was so nice to YeChan and cared about her.
"Sister, give me a hug."