courage dear heart | Yuki Ishikawa

65

A wave of confusion washed over me. Without thinking, I strode towards them, my blood boiling. Before I even realized what I was doing, my foot lashed out, delivering a swift kick to Shoyo's leg.

"Ow!" Shoyo yelped, stumbling back in surprise, eyes wide.

Hanbin immediately stepped in between us, his arm outstretched as if to protect Shoyo. "Nabi, stop!" he said firmly, his voice low but tense.

I glared past him, pointing accusingly at Shoyo, the words spilling out before I could control them. "*That's why you've only been treating me badly and not Hanbin-oppa!!"

Shoyo looked at me with his mouth agape before bursting into laughter.

I huffed, folding my arms across my chest.
"What are you laughing at? It's not fair that you treated me differently."

"But I've never treated you badly; you're the one who's cold and ignores me," he said, sticking out his tongue. "At least one of the twins treats me well." He glanced at Hanbin, winking at him.

"Hanbin-oppa, are you really sure you want to deal with this guy here? If you want, I can introduce you to other boys who are prettier and kinder, okay?"

I felt Yuki poke me in the side with a finger. "Hey, and who are these boys??"

I turned to him with an innocent look. "Don't worry; you're the best for me."

Shoyo cleared his throat. "And what were you two doing in that room? I thought I heard something..." He smirked at me.

I felt my cheeks flush and didn't dare look my brother in the face.
"Nothing, we're going back over there," I said, taking Yuki's hand to drag him away.

"Kim Na-bi," Hanbin called me in a serious tone.

Shit.

I froze in place and slowly turned to face him.

Shoyo still had that damned smirk on his face, and I tried to hold back from kicking him again.

I shifted my gaze to my brother, who had an almost guilty expression. "Sorry if—"

I raised my hand to stop him. "If you didn't talk to me about it earlier, it's because you weren't ready to do so. Just know that I'll always support you."

He reached me in a few steps and hugged me tightly.

I stood still for a few seconds before wrapping my arms around his waist.

"You're using protection, right?"

I pulled back to look at him horrified. "오빠! 시작하지 마!" ("Oppa, don't start!")

He started laughing and gave me a kiss on the forehead before pulling away.

Yuki put an arm around my waist. "Don't worry; we always use them."

I saw Hanbin's smile falter, and I stuck my tongue out at him before turning back to my friends.

                      - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I woke up to the sound of my alarm blaring, the noise drilling into my head as a sharp reminder of how early it was.

I groaned, feeling the familiar throb of a headache pulsing behind my temples.

Glancing at the clock, I saw it was 7 a.m., far too early for how exhausted I felt. Frustration washed over me.

Why did I have to wake up so soon?

Dragging myself out of bed, I made my way to the bathroom.

The cool water on my face helped a little, but the tiredness clung to me.