I Became the Eldest Daughter of 10 Siblings - Chapter 112

At that moment, I heard something collapsing with a crash from the side.

"Aah, I lost!"

I turned my head towards the source of the voice.

In front of the ruins of a collapsed Jenga tower, Han Gyeoul was pounding the floor as if frustrated.

"Gaeul-ah. Why are you so good at this?"

"I'm the best in the world at Jenga."

"So close! I could have won!"

Han Gyeoul clicked her tongue in regret, then soon smiled refreshingly and said:

"But it's okay!"

"...Really?"

"Yeah. It's okay because it collapsed for you."

The moment I saw that.

I felt something drop with a thud somewhere deep in my chest.

And a realization flashed by.

That it wasn't just the Jenga tower that had collapsed.

The tower of resolve I believed I had built firmly in my heart was also wobbling.

The will that said I would never waver,

Was shaking unsteadily.

No, perhaps...

It may have already collapsed.

Looking at the ruins of the formless Jenga tower, I slowly gathered my thoughts.

Stay calm.

For now, let's get out of this situation.

The three things I need most right now are:

Pretending not to see.

Pretending not to hear.

Pretending not to know.

...That's what I should do.

...I should put on a mask.

Damn it. This time it's a bit difficult.

The small ball Yeoreum launched... no, the tactical EMP was too intense.

The back of my neck is hot.

The heat rose up to my face, and soon my earlobes became as hot as a furnace.

Of course, Hyun Junho kneeling in front of me like a criminal too.

"Ah, both their faces are red, right?"

"The weather outside is midwinter, but these two's faces are like autumn. They're so ripe red, it's like they need to be harvested right away."

Son Yena and Han Sejun exchanged banter like MCs on a dating variety show.

"As Han Yujin's younger brother, I approve of this marriage. Not just approve, but strongly approve, actively approve."

"Right. Hyun Junho's annual salary exceeded 1 billion won this year."

"No. That's not the reason, but this hyung needs to experience noona's crazy antics too. It's too unfair if only I have to endure it, right?"

"Ah, you're like a water ghost. Well, if it's the nagging from that unnie, your mental fortitude would become as strong as vajra. Then you might be able to win the championship."

These kids have been really!

They've been chirping annoyingly like sparrows perched on electric wires since earlier.

I cleared my throat and made an excuse.

"Ahem, I'm going to the bathroom."

At my words, Son Yena's lips twitched.

Then she held out the remote control in her hand like a microphone and said:

"Unnie. At least give an answer before you go."

"What answer?"

"You heard everything, didn't you?"

"My hearing hasn't been good lately."

"Ah, did you get sudden hearing loss?"

"Yeah. Since a minute ago."

Son Yena shouted at Han Yeoreum:

"Yeoreum-ah! Yujin unnie says she didn't hear!"

"Hm? She didn't hear?"

Then, Han Yeoreum started taking a deep breath as if she was about to shout.

"Ah, I'm escaping!"

I covered my ears and fled to the bathroom as if taking refuge.

After confirming the doorknob closed with a click, I let out the breath I'd been holding.

"Crazy..."

It feels like my soul has left my body.

My mind and body are beyond exhausted, like a worn-out rag.

"Hyun Junho, that bastard..."

I feel like I'm going crazy from frustration and exasperation.

How could this happen?

In my heart, male Han Yujin and female HaYoo had been taking turns placing blocks, building a geometrically perfect tower...

But Hyun Junho unexpectedly touched it with his fingertip and it became a mess.

I prided myself on building it quite solidly, but who knew it would be as fragile as a house of cards collapsing at a gust of wind.

"This is really driving me crazy..."

My face feels hot like it's been burned.

I fanned myself and looked in the mirror, but my face is uniformly bright red as if finely ground pomegranate had been painted on it.

This is the first time I've been this bright red.

This situation right now... what is it?

I patted my cheeks and tried to gather my scattered thoughts. And I tried my best to deal with this situation flexibly.

First, let's come to my senses!

I should wash my face with cold water to calmly control this strange emotion.

With that resolve, I rolled up my sleeves and turned on the cold water, but my hand stopped in front of the stream.

No! I can't do it because it's a waste to remove the expensive makeup I just got done at the shop!

This is really driving me crazy...

Has my way of thinking become female to the point where I'm even concerned about the makeup on my face?

After contemplating several times in front of the water stream, I finally quietly turned off the faucet.

As I gripped the edge of the sink in a daze, the words I heard earlier in the living room echoed repeatedly.

"He said he likes unnie more!"

What does this mean?

"He said he likes unnie more!"

What does this mean, I'm asking.

...No. Let's not think about it seriously.

On the surface, it's just an ordinary compliment.

It's just Hyun Junho, with his easygoing personality, casually saying something to appease the greedy Bom.

I tried to convince myself like that, but this time my chest area was causing trouble.

I could even physically feel my heart pounding.

It feels like it's softly bubbling, or tickling gently, or stinging slightly.

I was flustered by this indescribable emotion.

What on earth is this?

It's driving me crazy with worry!

At that moment.

A faint doubt crept into my mind.

Could this be...

Something like fluttering feelings?

"No way, surely not..."

That can't be. It shouldn't be.

I painfully swallowed dry saliva and dismissed the nonsensical thought.

And when I looked in the mirror...

This can't be.

The flush on my face is even redder than before. If it was bright red earlier, now it's deep crimson like old blood.

There's even a faint smile at the corners of my mouth.

Is this really... that kind of thing?

Me? For whom? For that person?

Crazy!

As soon as that thought occurred, a scream burst from my mouth.

"Peekyaaa! No!"

I covered my face with both hands and flailed about dramatically, then slipped and fell on my butt on the slippery bathroom floor.

"Ugh... it hurts..."

I want to cry.

Beyond that, I want to die.

It's bad enough that I never dated when I was a man, but now I'm feeling strange emotions for a man after becoming a woman.

No! That can't be!

Even if I did feel fluttered... it would be just 1 gram.

No, just 1 microgram!

In the end, I spent 10 minutes groaning alone and pulled myself together.

When I came out of the bathroom, Son Yena and Hyun Junho were cooking in the kitchen.

Hyun Junho saw me and approached, his lips moving.

Don't come, you bastard!

"Ah, um, well..."

I flinched and pulled my body back.

"Wh-what is it?"

"Since we came over uninvited, we'll prepare dinner."

"O-okay..."

That guy is off-limits for now.

Until my mind returns to normal, he's off-limits.

This is driving me crazy. I need healing.

I gently approached the baby lying in a soft blanket.

"Jiwon-ah, what should I do."

As soon as I held him, I felt overwhelmed with sadness.

"I'm becoming weirder and weirder."

Our Jiwon, who is like the only evidence and trace of me being a man.

Looking at this small, precious child, thoughts flashed through my mind.

I immediately brought a hand mirror from the table and a toy knife from the box and placed them side by side on the floor.

"Jiwon-ah. Please predict my fate."

Instead of a first birthday ritual, a gender-choosing ritual began.

I placed the baby neatly, and he started crawling.

Towards the toy knife.

Seeing that, I inwardly rejoiced.

You're doing well, Jiwon!

Of course a boy would go for the toy knife, right?

But...

Suddenly he changed direction and picked up the hand mirror.

"Jiwon-ah..."

Whether he knew my charred inner state or not, the baby held the hand mirror and laughed brightly.

I said, holding back a boiling sigh:

"...You've betrayed me too."

While Hyun Junho and Son Yena were preparing dinner, I checked on the rest of my siblings.

The third, Han Sejin, would be at her agency since her girl group debut is imminent, and Sieun would be at the SUC dorms.

Let's start checking from the fifth.

"Hey, Han Suho!"

I kicked open the door and entered, and Han Suho was looking at his phone with a serious face.

"This punk, your heaven-sent eldest sister has come and you're not even going to show your face?"

"I see noona's face everywhere I go on the internet. You're even on the 9 o'clock news now."

"Is it okay for someone who said he'd become a novelist to lie around like this?"

"I'm doing something more important than writing a novel right now."

I peeked my head out slightly and looked at Han Suho's phone.

The screen was filled with a mobile game full of cute and adorable characters.

"What is this?"

"The fruit of my blood, sweat, and tears."

"Stop talking nonsense."

"Blue Archive."

Ah, so this is that famous game.

But why does this punk look so grim?

Han Suho said while biting his nails:

"I'm at a crossroads right now."

"What nonsense is that, mister."

"Listen. There's this thing called a character pickup period, and I want to get a character called Swimsuit Izuna. But the number of blue crystals I have..."

No exaggeration, it was more incomprehensible than a math formula. I couldn't understand half of what he was saying.

To understand roughly...

He wants to get a specific character but the probability is extremely low, so he's worried, is that it?

"What's the probability?"

"0.7%."

I punched numbers into the calculator in my head.

If the probability is 0.7%, calculating the expected value means you can obtain the character on average after 142.8 pulls.

"Just pull then?"

"But I don't have many blue crystals..."

Han Suho, who had been sighing deeply enough to drill a hole in the ground, looked at me and said "Ah!"

"No-noona!"

"What?"

"You're famous for being lucky, right! When we went to get our fortunes told before, didn't the shaman say a god of fortune was attached to you?!"

That's right. That did happen.

Rumor has it that shaman became famous because of me and even bought a building in Songdo.

Well, I did the work but the shaman made the money.

"So?"

"Can you pull for me!"

Hearing that, I laughed in disbelief.

"Hey, you idiot. Even I can't beat expected value. How can I overcome the laws of mathematics?"

"Somehow, I feel like noona can do it. Just once, pretending we have nothing to lose!"

"You'll blame me if we get nothing, right?"

"If I blame noona, I'd get beaten to death first, so how could I blame you?"

That's true.

Han Suho rubbed his hands together and pleaded:

"So noona, please! Hm?"

Geez. It's not like 0.7% will change to 100% just because I press it.

I glared at Han Suho for a while, then finally held out my hand.

"Fine. Give it here."

I took the phone and firmly pressed the '10 Recruitment' button on the screen.

Then,

"...Huh?"

Han Suho's eyes widened like marbles.

Then he stood up and started jumping around.

"What is this?! It's a pink envelope!"

"What's a pink envelope, you weeb."

"3-star... anyway, it's something good!"

Han Suho flipped through the character cards one by one with a surprised expression, then raised the corners of his mouth.

"Wow, crazy!"

Han Suho, who had been dancing around like he'd won the lottery, laughed loudly.

Then he shoved the phone screen in front of my eyes.

[My lord! It's summer! It's the sea! It's Izuna!]

A kemonomimi female character with fluffy fox ears is smiling brightly at me.

I asked with a dumbfounded expression:

"...Did you get her?"

"Yeah!"

I pondered seriously to myself.

How much does the first prize lottery winner get after taxes?

"But how did you get her in one pull? It doesn't make sense statistically. Noona, do you really have something special?"

"Idiot. If I had something like that, I'd be filthy rich by now."

"Anyway, thank you so much noona. You're my lifesaver. No, from today on, the true queen of Kivotos is not Yuuka but noona!"

"What are you talking about..."

Not hearing my words, Han Suho was grinning while looking at his phone.

Seeing Han Suho so happy after getting one character made me laugh.

"Do you need more blue crystals?"

When I asked, Han Suho immediately replied:

"The more the better."

"How many do you need?"

"About... 100,000."

I held out my card to Han Suho.

"Buy them."

"Really?!"

"But how much is 100,000 blue crystals?"

Han Suho glanced sideways and said quietly in a small voice:

"About 1.2 million won..."

"What?!"

At the words "1.2 million won", I took the card back.

"No way."

I held up a finger and warned him.

"Do you think money grows on trees? Don't you dare ask me for money to buy blue crystals or whatever."

"...I understand."

As I was about to leave after saying that,

"Noona, wait a moment!"

Han Suho grabbed my wrist.

"What?"

At my question, Han Suho held out his phone and said:

"...Pull some more for me."