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Chapter 7 …
“Guess who this is?”
A mischievous voice burst from Robin’s mouth, the same Robin who had stubbornly refused to speak English all this time.
—Robin, huh. Long time no see.
“What? So you still remembered me.”
—How could I forget you?
“Then why don’t you ever come see me?”
Harry watched her younger brother whining at Jesse and laughed as though he was impossible to deal with.
She felt nothing but gratitude toward Jesse, who accepted Robin’s complaints without showing even the slightest annoyance.
—I was actually planning to come see Robin soon anyway. Guess we were thinking alike.
“Liar. You’re not coming to see me, you’re coming to see Riri. I know everything.”
—Really? You really know everything, Robin?
“Yep. I even know Riri bought a dress today, and I know what color it is too.”
This traitor!
Harry had never expected Robin to spill all the details of her private life like that.
Her eyes widened as she snatched the phone away from the little traitor’s hands.
“Ah, why?”
“Why don’t you just tell him the color of my underwear too while you’re at it?”
“You’re the one who told me to answer the phone!”
Robin stomped his feet, protesting that it was unfair, but Harry showed no mercy.
If Jesse had not stopped her, she probably would have scolded him even more.
—Riri, don’t be too hard on Robin. I was the one who asked first anyway.
“……If my little brother grows up spoiled, it’ll all be your fault.”
Half joke, half serious.
Jesse laughed quietly at her pointed remark.
—Isn’t it unfair to dump all the responsibility of parenting on me? Robin is our child, after all. You’re responsible too, Riri.
“What are you even talking about?”
Harry’s face immediately heated up at the words our child.
She could only hope her little brother did not notice how red her face had become.
—I was joking. No matter what anyone says, Robin is your parents’ son.
She felt foolish for getting so emotional over a teasing comment he probably did not even mean seriously.
Especially when he probably joked around like this with Julia too.
Feeling drained, Harry handed the phone back to Robin.
Her childish younger brother remained completely unaware of her complicated feelings and continued chattering excitedly.
“Jesse hyung, when are you going to hang out with me?”
—If you listen well to your parents and Riri, and eat your meals properly.
“I’m not a little kid anymore. I don’t fall for that stuff now.”
Hyung will definitely come see you tomorrow.
Next week, I promise for real this time.
Once Father’s treatment is over, once Mother recovers enough to move around again…….
Robin had already grown too used to Jesse postponing promises with excuses like those, so he no longer believed him easily.
—Then should we hang out on Halloween?
“Really?”
—Yeah. We said we’d do Batman and Robin costumes last year, remember? But we never got to.
Robin had been obsessed with superheroes lately, and out of all of them, Batman and Robin were his favorites.
Because he cast Jesse as Batman and himself as Robin.
“I thought you forgot!”
—I told you, I remember everything.
Naturally, Robin started bouncing around excitedly.
“This time for real, okay? If you lie again, I seriously won’t forgive you.”
—Don’t worry and just listen well to Riri. We can only hang out if Riri gives permission.
“Okay!”
Robin suddenly looked full of energy again, nothing like the boy who had been lying lifelessly on the bed earlier.
“Noona, what should I do first?”
“Go help Mom prepare dinner in the kitchen.”
“Okay! Jesse, see you on Halloween!”
Completely excited, Robin rushed out to help their mother.
Seeing her younger brother so lively again after such a long time made Harry smile unconsciously.
As she headed upstairs to her room on the second floor, she quietly thanked Jesse.
“Thank you for always doing this, Jesse.”
—No. I’m the grateful one. The fact that he likes me that much.
Harry smiled bitterly.
Her and Robin both. Seeing how deeply attached they both were to Jesse, maybe it ran in the family.
“But are you really sure it’s okay? Aren’t you overworking yourself when you’re already busy?”
Or maybe not. Considering he still had time to go on dates with girls, maybe he actually did have free time.
While waiting for Jesse’s answer, anxiety twisted tightly in her chest.
She almost wished he were so busy he could not even breathe.
Too busy to meet Harry and Robin, but also too busy to meet other girls…….
Not exactly the kind of thought she should be having after seeing her little brother finally regain some energy.
—One day for Halloween is fine. By the way, Riri, did you already buy your homecoming dress?
“Ah, yeah. It just kind of happened.”
—I wanted to pick one out for you myself.
“No, it’s okay. You’ve been busy lately anyway.”
At that, Jesse sighed softly.
—No matter how busy I am, I’ll always make time for you.
Whenever Jesse acted this gentle, Harry wanted to ask him something.
As a friend? Or as a lover?
But the answer she wanted would never come from his lips.
Harry bit down on her lower lip before forcing herself to smile.
“I know.”
—……As long as you know.
Soon, Jesse changed the subject.
—Anyway, you should start thinking about your Halloween costume too. Harley Quinn would suit you. Or maybe Catwoman.
“Me too?”
—What, you’re going to turn me into Batman and leave yourself out? Absolutely not.
Harry burst out laughing.
“Okay. I’ll think about what to wear.”
—Yeah.
They were just about to end the call.
If she were being honest, she wanted to hold onto him forever and never let go, but she could never actually do that.
—Ah, by the way.
Right before hanging up, Jesse asked,
“Yeah?”
—Who did you go dress shopping with today?
Something about Jesse asking that felt strange.
Like…… a boyfriend checking up on his girlfriend.
‘It’s probably just my imagination.’
There was no way Jesse, who had met another girl earlier and might even still be with her right now, would mean it like that.
Even so, Harry could not help feeling a small spark of hope.
“I went with Aymus.”
How would he react? Would he get jealous?
Just imagining Jesse being jealous made her heart race.
—Ah, Aymus.
But the excitement did not last long.
‘What am I even thinking……!’
Jesse’s completely calm voice instantly brought her back to reality.
—Looks like you two got closer. That’s really good to hear.
“Uh-huh. Um, I think I should hang up now.”
—Really? Okay. Let’s talk again later.
Embarrassment came flooding over her belatedly, and Harry hurriedly ended the call.
“Please stop acting like an idiot. Jesse doesn’t like me. He doesn’t. Like. Me.”
Until Robin called her downstairs for dinner, Harry rolled around miserably while pulling at her hair in frustration.
The next morning.
As promised, Harry came to pick up Aymus.
Since she had already driven him home the day before, finding the way again was easy.
After parking in the same place as yesterday, she found his social media account and sent him a message.
The two of them still had not exchanged phone numbers yet.
[I’m here.
Come out when you’re ready.]
Aymus’s house was located on Park Avenue, in the Upper East Side where the wealthy lived.
The neighborhood was filled with buildings far more luxurious than the house Harry’s family lived in.
“So there really wasn’t any reason for me to pick him up.”
Not even Jesse, but some rich kid she was not even close to. Acting like his chauffeur made her mood sour.
“Maybe I should just pick some music.”
She was choosing upbeat songs to avoid awkward silence during the drive when—
Knock knock.
Aymus appeared beside the window and climbed into the passenger seat.
“Morning. Did you wait long?”
“Not really.”
Harry had been waiting for him to put on his seatbelt when she jumped slightly at the tumbler suddenly held out in front of her.
“What’s this?”
“Coffee.”
“Oh, thanks.”
She had woken up earlier than usual to pick Aymus up, so she really had been craving coffee.
So she accepted it first, but…….
‘Now I have to wash the tumbler and return it.’
There was not really any good way to wash and return it at school. Which meant she would have to see him again tomorrow too.
‘Well, whatever.’
Already captivated by the fragrant smell, she had taken a sip before she even realized it.
Resigned, Harry placed the tumbler into the holder and started driving.
Contrary to her expectation that silence would fill the ride to school, Aymus spoke first.
“Something wrong?”
“Huh?”
“You look like you’ve got something on your mind.”
Was it really that obvious? Obvious enough for even Aymus, someone she was not that close to, to notice?
Harry flinched and rubbed her face awkwardly.
Truthfully, she had tossed and turned all night thinking about Jesse.
But there was no way she could tell Aymus that.
“It’s because of my little brother.”
“Your brother?”
It might not exactly be good timing, but she did happen to have another worry weighing on her.
“I have a younger brother. I don’t know if he’s having a hard time adjusting to America, or if he just hates it here, but he keeps refusing to speak English and won’t make any friends either.”
Aymus watched her silently.
The look in his eyes almost seemed to say, Aren’t you the same way about making friends?
Harry immediately bristled.
“Could you not look at me like that? At least I had Jesse as a friend!”
“Sure. Let’s go with that.”
And what was she supposed to do if he refused to acknowledge it?
Harry shot Aymus a glare before continuing.
It was a concern she had never been able to talk about anywhere else because she already felt like she was burdening Jesse enough.
But strangely enough, simply talking about it with someone—anyone—made her feel lighter.
“Next year he’s supposed to start elementary school, but at this rate there’s no hope. We might even have to move back to Korea.”
“……Move back to Korea?”
At the unusual tone in his voice, Harry glanced over and saw Aymus’s profile had gone completely rigid.
