Isn't it obvious?

Part 11

[Chaewon's pov]

After Hyunjin's footsteps faded away upstairs, the kitchen felt like a tomb. I didn't turn on the lights. I preferred the dark—it was easier to hide the truth when I couldn't even see my own hands shaking.

I stared at the orange peels on the counter. Hyunjin was so happy. He really thought I was being the "cool sister" by giving him space. He's so oblivious, so genuine in his belief that everyone loves as simply as he does.

"She kept looking for you," he had said.

I let out a dry, jagged laugh. Yeah, she was looking for me. But not for the reason he thought. And definitely not for the reason my traitorous heart wanted to believe.

Minju was looking for me because she's a good person. That's the curse of Kim Minju—she feels responsible for everyone's happiness. She sees me acting out, riding a bike like a rebel, distancing myself from the "trio," and she feels guilty. She thinks she's "losing" a friend, or that she's failing my brother by not keeping the family together.

She doesn't love me. She pities me.

The thought felt like a cold blade sliding between my ribs. To her, I'm just the difficult sister of the guy she's trying to give a chance to. I'm a problem to be solved, a "worry" that ruins her perfect dates.

I leaned my forehead against the cool surface of the refrigerator, breathing in the scent of sterile metal. It's better this way. If I stay nonchalant, if I act like I don't care about their dates or their lilies, eventually she'll stop looking. She'll see that I'm "fine," and she'll finally be able to focus on Hyunjin without that nagging sense of guilt.

I'm doing her a favor. I'm freeing her from the burden of caring about someone who can never be part of her "perfect" life.

I wiped my eyes aggressively with the back of my hand, refusing to let another tear fall. I had to be strong. I had to be the "kind" sister that Hyunjin needs and the "distant stranger" that Minju deserves.

Tomorrow, I'll wake up, I'll put on my helmet, and I'll be the girl who doesn't have a heart to break.

Because if I don't love her, then it doesn't hurt. And if she doesn't love me... then at least one of us is safe.

I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling as the shadows of tree branches danced across the walls. My phone buzzed on the nightstand—probably another text from Sora about a math problem she already knew how to solve—but I didn't pick it up.

All I could think about was the way people whispered in the hallways.

I knew the rumors. I wasn't deaf. I'd heard the snickers in the bathroom, the quiet murmurs when I walked past the lockers. "Do you think Chaewon actually likes her brother's girlfriend?" "Did you see the way she looks at Minju?"

I let out a breath that felt like a shudder. It was ridiculous. To the rest of the world, those rumors were just juicy gossip—a scandalous story to tell because they were bored. Nobody actually believed them. How could they? Hyunjin was the star, the golden boy, the perfect match for a girl like Minju. I was just the shadow.

I laughed bitterly into the silence of my room. If only they knew that the "joke" they were telling was actually the thing that was killing me.

I thought about Minju. I thought about the way she looked at me today at the bike parking. There was something in her eyes—a kind of desperate searching—that I had misinterpreted as pity.

She probably thinks the rumors are a burden to me, I thought, rolling onto my side and clutching my pillow. She's probably being extra nice because she feels bad that my name is being dragged into a scandal with hers.