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Cheol was acting weird. At least, weirder than usual.
Sunjeong had first noticed it a few days before when Cheol had come back from the academy utterly dazed and acting like a zombie. They’d waited for him to have dinner that night since they hadn’t been able to eat as a family in a while, but frankly, they shouldn’t have bothered. He spent the entire meal on autopilot, staring blankly at his bowl of rice and barely saying a word before excusing himself to his bedroom where he stayed for the rest of the evening.
That alone would have been fine. It wasn’t the first time he’d come home acting like he’d been lobotomised- and at least he was fully clothed this time. But since then, he’d gone from kind of odd to actually deranged: jumping anytime someone called his name, rushing about, and hogging the phone even when no one was calling him- like he was some kind of paranoid giant stumbling about everywhere.
Seeing him slowly lose his mind was pretty funny, more so when she was fairly sure who had got him into such a state. There was only one girl who could get under his skin like that, after all.
But it wasn’t until after a few days of this that Sunjeong could guess at more.
She’d noticed Cheol had dressed a little nicer than usual that morning. He came out for breakfast sporting a freshly washed graphic t-shirt and the new Levi jeans she’d got for him as a birthday present. But it wasn’t rare for Cheol to make an effort with his appearance on occasion, so that alone wouldn’t have necessarily meant anything.
The outfit change only an hour later, however, was suspicious.
And when he showered for the second time that morning, Sunjeong felt certain.
Cheol was acting weird, and she’d bet anything she knew why.
The boy had a date.
It was a beautiful Sunday morning with clear blue skies and a bright sun that belied warmth despite the cool September breeze that whisked about the early autumn leaves which had just begun to fall.
Their parents had gone out for the day with the Hwangs, and Hwani was playing with the two boys she liked to tease. Sunjeong was supposed to be out as well; her friends had planned to go to the pot-luck lunch her university was hosting, but everyone had bailed last minute leaving her home with no plans for the day. Fortunately, this had freed her up to be a witness to what was possibly the most entertaining morning she’d had in a while.
“What’s with the fashion show?” She called out as Cheol marched out of the bathroom in his third outfit of the day. He’d decided to go classy this time and was now wearing a freshly ironed button up shirt.
She was glad the sofa offered her a front row seat to Cheol’s nonsense. She’d parked herself there that morning when the last of her friends cancelled and was idly flicking through one of her mom’s magazines while the TV played music in the background.
“Why are you here? You’re supposed to be out.” Cheol scowled, glaring at her as he walked past.
‘Charming.’ Sunjeong thought.
“This is my house I can be wherever I want to be.” She shot back looking down at her magazine.
Cheol muttered something under his breath, then paused at his bedroom door.
“But you are going out later, right?” he prompted.
Sunjeong didn’t miss his nervous glance up at the clock—it was just gone 11am.
‘Ooh is it a lunch date?’ She wondered. She decided to mess with him a bit.
“I was… But I don’t know now. I think I’ll stay in today and catch up on TV. You’re not doing anything today, right? Want to watch with me, have some brother-sister bonding time? I could give you some fashion advice since you seem to be so into clothes this morning.” She smirked at Cheol as she flicked through another page of her magazine, not even pretending to be reading.
“Urgh you’re not even watching it. And I don’t need advice!” Cheol yelled in frustration and stormed back into his room, grabbing the phone as he did so and slamming the door behind him. It was really too easy to rile him up, she thought as she laughed to herself, making no effort to be quiet and not really caring if he heard.
He was back in the bathroom 10 minutes later, pointedly avoiding eye contact with Sunjeong as he marched past her.
‘If he’s having a third shower, I swear to God I’m gonna hit him. This is just wasteful at this point.’
But when she didn’t hear anything after a few minutes, she got curious and crept towards the bathroom in an effort to see what he was up to. Cheol had left the door slightly ajar, so she was able to push it open without him noticing.
He stood at the sink, facing away from her. The cabinet door was open, and several cologne bottles of varying shapes and sizes were laid out on the edge of the sink making the bathroom look like some old-fashioned apothecary. In his hand was the bottle of perfume she’d been given for Christmas last year but never wore because it was a bit too woody for her tastes. He had it up to his nose and seemed to be deep in thought as he apparently debated the scent.
“You know that’s women’s perfume, right?” she said.
“AAAH!!” Cheol screamed, almost jumping out of his skin at her sudden appearance. In his surprise, he dropped the perfume bottle and scrambled to catch it before it hit the ground, tossing it about in the air like a demented juggler. He made a final grab at it as it bounced up in the air, lifting the bottle above him. But the cap must have either been loose or poorly made, and the bottle came apart- dousing Cheol in its oily contents.
He stood there a moment in shock before the reality—and the smell—sunk in, and he slammed the now half-empty bottle onto the counter.
“WHY??” He yelled as he spun to face Sunjeong, face full of betrayal as if what had just happened had been entirely by her design.
“Ha! Well, I hope Mi-ae likes the smell of—", she reached across him to read the bottle, “--sandalwood and amber, because you’re going to stink of it now!” Sunjeong cried, tears welling in her eyes as Cheol tried to scrub off the perfume that was in the process of staining his clothes.
“No I won’t, I can—” He caught himself, paling as he realised what Sunjeong had just said.
He started stuttering out excuses like a little kid that got caught red-handed.
“I’m- it’s not—What does Mi-ae have to do with anything!? And it’s not a d-date! I just… just… Just get out!”
With that he shoved Sunjeong- who was doubled over in a fit of laughter by this point- out of the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind her and locking it with an anti-climactic ‘click’.
She could still hear his muffled cursing from behind the locked door and almost gave herself a stitch trying to hold back her laughter. Cheol always took himself too seriously, Sunjeong found- always brooding quietly over his teenage angst. So the occasions when he let go and actually acted his age were comedy gold in her eyes.
Although… she did feel a little bit bad about the perfume. But it’s not like it was her fault, she justified to herself, and it’ll teach him not to go through other people’s stuff.
Sunjeong rolled her eyes as she heard the shower start for the third time in as many hours and wandered back over to her abandoned magazine. She absently leafed through the pages, not particularly interested in picking it back up.
Instead, she peeked through Cheol’s open bedroom door and through to the window across the street. The curtains were shut tight, despite it being the middle of the day.
‘Hmm… I wonder how the other half of my favourite duo is doing…’
Sunjeong rapped her knuckles against the door, almost giddy with excitement. She’d teased Cheol about getting together with Mi-ae ever since they’d met as kids- that’s just what big sisters do when their little brothers make friends who are girls. But she had to admit, it was thrilling to finally see it happen. Even better that she got to see this development occur in real time.
She was desperate to know more details about how this came about. Who asked who out? Who made the first move? All that gossipy goodness. But Sunjeong knew that if she asked Cheol he’d get all stupid, freak out and just deny everything. Yes, of the two, Mi-ae would be the one to spill the beans.
Sunjeong knocked again, louder this time, and heard a small clatter in response.
“I’m not ready!” Mi-ae cried from behind the door, her voice strained in a panicked plea.
Sunjeong snorted. ‘They’re just as bad as each other. How cute.’ She wondered how many outfits Mi-ae had tried on this morning.
“Hi Mi-ae! I made some cookies and wanted to offer some to your parents. Can I come in?”
Sunjeong held out her offering to the peephole. She’d originally planned on sharing out the cookies with her university friends, but Mi-ae didn’t need to know that. Sunjeong just needed an excuse to talk to Mi-ae without raising suspicion.
“Oh Sunjeong! Thank God… Uhh… Thanks! My parents aren’t in, but you can leave them outside.” Mi-ae called out from behind the door.
Well, that was unexpected.
“Mi-ae is everything ok? Why can’t I come in?”
“Umm…” Mi-ae was silent for a minute. “Ok you can come in. Just… Don’t laugh. Please.”
“I promise.” Sunjeong replied earnestly, starting to worry about what she was about to find.
Sunjeong waited as Mi-ae undid the deadbolt and slowly opened the door. She tried her best to keep her face calm but couldn’t help gasping in shock at the chaos that Mi-ae revealed, sucking in a sharp hiss of air which she tried to hide behind a plastered-on grin.
Sunjeong stepped into the apartment before Mi-ae had a chance to change her mind. She wasn’t sure what was more concerning, the parade of discarded clothes that were strewn between the bathroom and what must be Mi-ae’s bedroom on the right, or the mascara that had somehow got smudged into her eyebrow and lipstick that was smeared half across her face. Or worst of all, the pair of scissors currently clutched tight in Mi-ae’s hand which Sunjeong feared implied she had only been moments away from an impulsive, panic-driven haircut.
Sunjeong blinked at Mi-ae as she tried to come up with how best to deal with this sensitive situation.
“What’s up, Mi-ae?” Sunjeong glanced from the floordrobe to Mi-ae, who looked numbly back at her in turn.
“I… wanted to look pretty today. But then I didn’t know what to wear. And then I thought I’d try wearing makeup, but I changed my mind. And then I thought my bangs looked uneven, so…”
Mi-ae trailed off and held up the pair of scissors to Sunjeong… who immediately took this opportunity to whisk them away, putting the down on the nearest table out of the frantic girl’s reach. Friends don’t let friends cut panic bangs.
The reality of the situation seemed to set in on Mi-ae and she started to shake slightly as she looked at the mess her house was in.
“But- but now I’m nowhere near ready. And I’m going to be late-“
Sunjeong leaned forward and put a hand on Mi-ae’s shoulder, snapping her fingers to bring the girl’s attention back to her.
“Calm down, it’ll be fine. Look, I’ll help you. You’ll be ready in no time!” Sunjeong grinned slyly. “And anyway, this is for a date, right? It’s totally ok to keep the boy waiting, make him sweat a bit.”
“Really?” Mi-ae asked, curiosity replacing the anxiety that had clearly been growing in her.
“It is if that boy’s Cheol.” Sunjeong quipped as she pinched Mi-ae’s cheeks which had gone bright pink the second she’d mentioned Cheol’s name.
“Wh-what? I’m- Who?” Mi-ae spluttered.
Jesus, those two were made for each other, they’re such bad liars. Sunjeong held back a laugh and stared Mi-ae down, narrowing her eyes. Was she really going to deny this too?
“Cheol? Tall, annoying, lives next door?
Mi-ae scoffed, crossing her arms in an attempt to seem casual.
“Oh, that Cheol? I’m not seeing him today. And a date? Pfft- who said anything about a date? You said that, not me.”
There was a beat as the two girls watched each other, waiting to see who would break first. Mi-ae was definitely starting to sweat at the challenge, but to her credit, the girl didn’t flinch.
“Oh?” Sunjeong raised an eyebrow. “Then you just want some help tidying up? No point doing your make up if you’re not going anywhere.” She bent over to pick up a green dress that had been flung over a chair.
“This is cute. Where do you want it?”
Mi-ae stood frozen for a moment, her lips pressed in a thin line, and glanced between the Sunjeong and the clock.
“Alright.” Mi-ae said, evidently having made a decision. She threw down her arms in defeat and marched up to Sunjeong. “It is a date. But it’s not with Cheol, so don’t get any weird ideas. It’s… this other guy. You don’t know him.”
Mi-ae shifted her weight to her other foot and rubbed at the lipstick on her cheek some more.
“You’ll really help me get ready?” Mi-ae asked, her nerves seeming to fail her as she looked back up at the clock. It was getting close to 12pm.
Sunjeong swung an arm around Mi-ae’s shoulders and steered her towards the bathroom.
“Of course! What are neighbours for~ Aren’t you glad I came over now?”
Mi-ae didn’t seem all that certain that she was.
She told Mi-ae to get a start cleaning the failed attempt at make-up off her face and comb her hair while Sunjeong picked out an outfit for her. She was tempted to dress her up in the same outfit Cheol was wearing just to mess with him, but she decided against it. Partly because knowing him, he’d probably already changed outfits two more times since she’d left. But mainly because Mi-ae asked for her help, and as fun as it would be to mess with them, she didn’t want to let her down.
She decided to pick out a simple outfit for Mi-ae- just a denim skirt and a casual white t-shirt tucked in at the waist. Mi-ae had a relaxed, casually cute style about her; most of her charm came more from her bright personality than anything she wore, so Sunjeong thought it was important that Mi-ae felt comfortable. Nothing too fancy or trendy to distract her from having a good time.
“Are you sure this is nice enough? Shouldn’t it be a bit more… I dunno… date-y?” Mi-ae asked when she’d tried it on. As predicted, she looked adorable. But Mi-ae didn’t look convinced as she checked herself out in the bathroom mirror.
“Trust me it’s perfect. Remember you can’t let the outfit wear you; you don’t want to do too much.” Sunjeong assured, leaning against the bathroom door.
Mi-ae hummed a little as she thought this over, still uncertain as she spun herself around to see her reflection better. Finally, she gave a nod and smiled widely into the mirror before turning back to look at Sunjeong.
“Right! Now it’s time for my make up!” She ordered, grabbing the clutter that had been littered around the sink and bringing it out to the kitchen table.
Sunjeong rolled her eyes and followed Mi-ae who was getting herself set up. She offered Sunjeong the blue eyeshadow that was popular at the moment in the teen magazines, but she waved it away, picking up a pale, petal pink pallet instead. Much better for bringing out her green eyes, Sunjeong thought.
“Do you know where this mystery guy is taking you?” Sunjeong asked as she lightly applied the powder over Mi-ae’s eyelids. Mi-ae giggled as the brush tickled her.
“No, it’s a surprise.” She answered, her voice light with excitement as a grin broke across her face.
In Sunjeong’s experience, ‘it’s a surprise’ usually meant the guy didn’t actually have a plan at all and was just going to wing it. But she knew that Cheol knew better than that. And judging by the way he was acting all week, he’d probably been planning this date from the minute it was arranged, if not before.
Usually, Sunjeong would have been the first one to tease these kids about their romantic shenanigans, heck, she’d already spent most of the morning torturing Cheol about it! But listening to Mi-ae relax and chatter away about her hopes for the date, hearing how earnestly excited she was for it, noticing how she seemed to swell with pride and care as she talked about this guy who ‘definitely isn’t Cheol so stop saying that!’, Sunjeong couldn’t help but feel warmed by it.
It made her think about what Hwani will be like when she eventually goes on her first date. Despite still being a bit too young to be interested in boys, she was already turning into a bit of a heartbreaker; those two boys she was always playing with hung off her every word. Sunjeong doubted that Hwani would have any trouble handling herself in that department. But still, after spending the afternoon helping Mi-ae get ready, giving out sisterly advice all the while, she hoped that she could do this again with her own sister one day.
A quick swipe of mascara and a light touch of tinted lip balm later, Mi-ae’s make-up was done. Like with the outfit, Sunjeong had gone with the ‘less is more’ approach for Mi-ae. She was already pretty, so she really didn’t need much to bring her natural features out.
“All done!” Sunjeong announced as she swept the make-up back into the bag that Mi-ae had brought out.
Mi-ae rushed to the nearest mirror and squealed.
“I look amazing! You’re going to have to show me how you did that with the eyeshadow. Cheol is going to die when he sees me.”
Her grin froze on her face as she realised her mistake. Still staring at the mirror, not daring to look at Sunjeong, she quickly tried to cover it up.
“It’s, uh, a different Cheol.”
There was silence as Mi-ae waited for Sunjeong’s reaction.
“It’s a common name.” Sunjeong allowed, feeling generous. Let the kids have their fun keeping it a secret for now. She’d get her chance to make fun of them later.
Happy with her work and the small snippets of information that she was able to glean from Mi-ae about her “mystery date”, Sunjeong went to put her shoes back on. She watched Mi-ae as she darted back and forth throwing the discarded clothes into her bedroom when suddenly she stopped when she caught her reflection in the mirror. Mi-ae gasped as she seemed to remember something and she rushed back into her bedroom, dropping a pile of clothes back onto the floor as she did so.
She ran back out and fiddled with something in her hair, clipping back part of her fringe with a small green barrette. She looked pensively at her reflection when she was done, her fingertips lightly grazing the apple ornament on the hairclip like it was a precious stone and not the cheap plastic it looked like.
“I’ve not seen you wear that in a while.” Sunjeong said.
“Yeah,” Mi-ae answered, a light blush colouring her cheeks. “I only just got it back.”
“You look lovely, Mi-ae. I hope you have a great time today, just remember to relax and be yourself.” Sunjeong said as she opened the door to go.
“Thanks! I will!” Mi-ae beamed, and then said shyly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, “And, thank you for your help. It was really nice having a big sister for a bit.”
Sunjeong laughed. “Anytime!” she said and shut the door behind her.
She opened the front door to her own apartment and immediately bumped into Cheol who was fixing his hair in the hallway mirror. He’d changed back into his original outfit and, fortunately for him, seemed to have washed off most of the perfume disaster- although some of the smell still lingered.
Cheol startled at Sunjeong’s sudden appearance and scowled again, not even trying to hide his annoyance.
Sunjeong gave him a whack on the shoulder as she walked past him to put her shoes away.
“Don’t scowl at me, I’m your sister.” She scolded. She’d just saved his date from a fashion disaster, and this was the treatment she got? Talk about ungrateful.
“I thought you’d gone out.” He grumbled, ignoring the slap and turning back to the mirror. He struggled to flatten a strand of hair that was sticking up on the back of his head before giving up and putting on a cap.
“Why do you care where I am? What? Were you hoping to sneak out in secret?” Sunjeong teased, then snorted as the blush that coloured his ears betrayed him.
Sunjeong lingered behind him as he got ready to leave, watching as he sat down to tie the laces of his trainers. He seemed less nervous now, his movements more deliberate. The aura of anxiety that seemed to have surrounded him the last few days had vanished and, judging by the small smile he was trying to hide, had been replaced with genuine excitement. It was warming to see; it had been a long time since Sunjeong had seen her brother look forward to something.
“What are you staring at?” Cheol asked, his face deadpan as he tied his laces.
Sunjeong ignored his question and shot back one of her own.
“So where are you taking Mi-ae on your date?”
She couldn’t resist asking one last time. Mi-ae had let slip some juicy details about what she thought about Cheol and how he acted around her, but Sunjeong was still severely lacking for information on the date itself.
It had the intended effect, and Cheol immediately dropped his cool guy act, whipping his head around. “It’s not a date!” he snapped, his hat almost falling off his head.
Sunjeong grinned at her small success. Mi-ae had a date, but not with Cheol. And now Cheol was admitting he was meeting Mi-ae, but it wasn’t a date. Those two really should have got their stories straight if they’d planned to keep this a secret from her.
“Fine, it’s not a date,” Sunjeong said as she teasingly poked his side with her foot. “Where are you taking your friend, then?”
Cheol swatted her foot away and stood back up, reaching the door in a single stride. She thought for a moment that he would leave without saying anything, but he hesitated, his hand hovering over the handle of the door. He seemed conflicted on what he wanted to say, furrowing his eyebrows and pressing his lips into a thin line.
“There’s a food market on today. We’re going there, then I was going to take her to the arcade. Is that- I mean… Does that sound okay?” He said finally, not looking at her.
Sunjeong smiled. The way Mi-ae had been going on about him, he probably could have taken her to a laundrette, and she would have liked it- she was that determined to have a good time.
“That sounds great, Cheol. Really.” Sunjeong said, watching him relax his shoulders slightly at her confirmation. “Better than some dates I’ve been on, anyway. Mi-ae is going to love it.”
“It’s not-!” Cheol started, his eyes desperate as he turned to face her, but he stopped himself. He looked down, scratched at the back of his neck and opened the door.
“Just... don’t tell mom and dad. Please.”
“I won’t.” Sunjeong promised.
Cheol nodded, took a breath, and left, shutting the door gently behind him.
Sunjeong looked at the closed door for only a moment before she ran out to front window, craning her neck to catch a view of Mi-ae’s building’s front entrance.
She watched excitedly, her breath fogging up the glass, as she spied on her brother as he made his way to pick up his date. He was about to open the door when he jerked himself back suddenly. Mi-ae had apparently beaten him to the door and she popped out, sporting a brown letterman jacket with an apple patch on the sleeve. They stood awkwardly on the stoop for a moment, the pair of them seemingly fascinated by the concrete steps they were standing on.
Mi-ae must have said something because Cheol quickly spun on his heel, likely as an attempt to hide the blush that was obvious even to Sunjeong over 20m away. He rubbed the back of his neck and gestured towards the bus stop. Mi-ae nodded and the pair headed off. Sunjeong backed up from the window slightly, worried that they would look up and catch her snooping. But they must have been too focussed on each other to care to look.
They chatted as they passed below, not seeming to notice that they were edging closer and closer to each other until their arms finally bumped and they both jumped away, suddenly shy again. They shared an awkward laugh and started off again in silence, stealing glances when they thought the other wasn’t looking.
Happy she’d seen enough, Sunjeong decided she had better things to do than spy on her little brother and left them to it. She went back to the long-forgotten magazine she’d left open on the couch, switching the TV back on for some background noise.
She laughed again as she remembered the chaos of that morning.
‘What a loser, honestly. You’d think he was getting ready for his wedding or something.’
She loved making fun of him when he got like that, not just because it was genuinely funny how extreme his reactions seemed to be, but because she couldn’t help but feel relieved.
The moves hadn’t been easy for anyone, but they seem to affect Cheol particularly badly. And the more they moved, the worse he got, becoming so moody that it was difficult to get a reaction from him at all that wasn’t sullen and angry. He’d become completely withdrawn after they’d first moved to Semo, not talking to anyone and barely going out to see his friends outside of the academy. From what she’d managed to glean from Mi-ae the few times they met the year before, she could guess that Cheol was making no effort to integrate at Baekje, either. It was like he had resigned himself to be a ghost at this new school, haunting the place and scaring the students. As if he was hoping to spend the rest of his time in the city unseen, unheard, and untouched.
But ever since he’d started talking to Mi-ae again, it was like he’d come back to from the dead a whole new man. He never would have been comfortable going downtown before- to busy market at that. But here he was planning a whole day there, just to spend it with Mi-ae.
Sunjeong didn’t know what Mi-ae could have done to bring about this change in Cheol. Maybe she hadn’t done anything at all, and just having her back in his life was enough for him. Sunjeong guessed she’d never figure out why meeting a girl he had only known for four days after 6 years of no contact would affect her brother this much, especially when the only thing they seemed to have in common was the coincidence of their names.
But fate was funny like that- people come into your life just when you need them, seemingly for no reason at all.
Sunjeong wasn’t going to delude herself that this would be a ‘happily ever after’ for the both of them. They were only middle-schoolers figuring out romance for the first time in their lives after all. But she couldn’t deny she had a good feeling about this.
And besides, this would be a great story to tell at the wedding.