I Became the Eldest Daughter of 10 Siblings - Chapter 115

It was appalling weather.

Even though it was a dark night, the streets were a snow field, so white that the surroundings looked bright.

As if that wasn't enough, sleet kept falling from above, as if the sky was shouting.

Even though he had come out heavily armed with clothes, the cold seeped through the narrow sleeves of Jung Suhyeok's coat.

'She waited for 3 hours in this weather...'

Realizing that fact, Jung Suhyeok laughed.

And soon after, he found Han Yujin crouching nearby and approached her.

"Han Yujin."

"..."

There was no answer.

"Hey."

"..."

Even after calling twice, there was no response.

Han Yujin was motionless with her head bowed, like a frog in boiling water.

'Did she freeze to death.'

Jung Suhyeok let out a sigh-like breath and bent down to meet her eye level.

"Hey."

"...Huh?"

As if she had just come to her senses, Han Yujin blinked like a cat.

Meeting Jung Suhyeok's eyes, she smiled hazily.

"You finally came out..."

Her lower lip trembled.

Traces of enduring the midwinter cold were faintly visible in the faded wrinkles of her lips.

"Hello..."

As Han Yujin bowed her head, the snow piled on her hat fell off like rice cakes.

"Skip the greetings. Get up."

"Ah, okay."

For a moment, she staggered as if her strength had left her as she tried to stand up.

Jung Suhyeok wrapped his arm around Han Yujin as she was falling and barely caught her.

"Are you deliberately acting pitiful or what?"

"I almost cracked my head. Thank you."

"Enough, just take this."

A warm hand warmer passed from hand to hand.

Han Yujin, who received the hand warmer, pressed it to her cheek like a pillow and smiled brightly.

"Ah, it's warm. I think I'll live now. Thank you for the hand warmer. You're unexpectedly sensible."

"Your younger sister gave it to me, so thank her."

"Sieun-ah, thank you! Please pass that on to her later."

"..."

Jung Suhyeok narrowed his eyes and said:

"You didn't wait for three hours in misery just to say hello, did you?"

"Of course not."

"You said you had a request, right?"

"Yes. Please lift the permanent ban on reporter Nam Euibeom's access."

"Nam Euibeom?"

It was a name he knew well.

A reporter who had been demoted for stirring up strange rumors about SUC and himself.

And a troublesome reporter who he had heard in passing had become a star reporter after successfully covering the Yeon Sangho scandal.

"That's not going to happen."

"Why not?"

"Because I absolutely detest annoying people like you."

"Don't be like that..."

"But what kind of relationship do you have that you're begging and pleading like this?"

Han Yujin, who had been moving her lips, spoke carefully:

"We're not in any kind of relationship. If I had to define it, we're friends or colleagues. I owe him a debt."

Friends. Colleagues.

At those ticklish words that made him want to vomit, Jung Suhyeok swallowed a sneer and retorted:

"Sorry, but I'm not a humanist."

"I know. That's why I'm forcing myself to suffer for three hours."

"So cut out the nonsense about requests. Make a deal instead."

Han Yujin blinked as if puzzled.

"A deal?"

"Yeah. A deal."

"But I don't have anything..."

"Then I'll be on my way."

"That won't do..."

A rustling sound was heard from the street that had been as quiet as a dead mouse.

"I'll give you this at least."

Han Yujin hesitantly held out a worm jelly wrapper.

There was no jelly inside, only obvious traces of it being opened... in short, it was trash.

"That's trash."

"It's not trash. It's a popular worm jelly wrapper charm these days. Since you're a snake, it should suit you well."

"Negotiations failed."

Jung Suhyeok spat out shortly and turned his back without even looking back.

Han Yujin grabbed his collar with an expression like fire had fallen on her feet.

"Aaah! I was just kidding!"

Then she hurriedly rummaged through her coat pocket again.

"...Huh?"

As if she had found something, she paused, then timidly held out a crumpled piece of paper.

"This is all I have..."

"Paper?"

Jung Suhyeok, who received the paper, focused on the faintly written letters.

[First Sister (Noona) Usage Coupon]

[Can be used as desired]

[PS. Happy birthday from the bottom of my heart!]

"...What is this?"

To the bewildered question, Han Yujin shyly answered while touching her nape:

"Well... it's something I used to give my siblings on their birthdays. Back then I couldn't afford to buy gifts, so I used wish coupons instead."

"Are you joking with me right now?"

"It's not a joke. I don't even have the energy for that."

A moment of silence followed.

The desolate street fell into quietude, and white snow fell from the skinny branches.

Jung Suhyeok, who had been silent, finished organizing his thoughts and laughed cynically.

"...Interesting."

Then, while fluttering the wish coupon he was holding, he asked subtly:

"How far does it go?"

"...Pardon?"

"I'm asking how far the level goes."

"...The level?"

Han Yujin's cheeks reddened as she grasped the meaning behind his words. Not from the cold, but from the implied level.

"Wha... What are you saying?!"

Her reddened cheeks showed faintly through her thin hair.

"Why? You said it was a wish coupon."

"That's true, but..."

"It wouldn't be against the principle if I asked you to sleep with me, right?"

Han Yujin shrunk her shoulders and took a small step back.

"...I believed you weren't that vulgar of a person."

"That's just your misunderstanding."

"Anyway, no!"

"Well, I don't like you either."

"Did you think I liked you?!"

He asked while folding the wish coupon in half:

"For example, let's say we faced each other in the finals."

"Yes."

"What would you do if I held this out to you and asked you to lose on purpose?"

"That's a crime. And even if I agreed to lose, I know you're not the type to accept that. As much as I hate to admit it, your professional consciousness is impeccable."

"Well, you never know. People's hearts."

Han Yujin made an X with her fingers.

"Anyway, crimes are not allowed either."

"There are too many things that aren't allowed. This isn't a wish coupon then."

"So are you going to take it or not?!"

Jung Suhyeok smiled faintly and put the wish coupon in his inner coat pocket.

"Alright. I need insurance too."

"R-really? No takebacks. A man doesn't go back on his word."

"I got it, so be quiet."

Then he immediately took out his phone and called someone.

As the dial tone tickled his ear.

"Um..."

Han Yujin gently tugged on Jung Suhyeok's collar with her fingertips and said softly:

"...Put it on speakerphone."

"You're really annoying."

Jung Suhyeok clicked his tongue and changed the mode.

As soon as it switched to speakerphone, a voice was heard from the other end.

-Oh, Suhyeok. What's the occasion?

It was Choi Sungmin, the director of SUC.

"You know reporter Nam Euibeom, right?"

-Of course I know. He's the hottest reporter right now. He was the one digging into your relationship with Ingame.net.

"I'd like that reporter's access ban to be lifted."

-Actually, there was talk from above about that too. They were worried that if that guy harbors a grudge and spreads nonsense later, our stock price might fall even more.

The voice on the other end continued:

-I was just wondering how to bring this up with you, but since you mentioned it first, it's all smooth sailing for me.

"Then please do that."

-Okay. I'll pass it on.

The short conversation ended with that.

"Satisfied?"

"Yes, it's done. Thank goodness..."

Jung Suhyeok said as he put his phone away:

"Now don't ever come looking for me again."

"I won't come even if you beg me to!"

Han Yujin made a pouty expression.

Then, after hesitating for a moment while fidgeting with her reddened frozen fingers, she carefully held out her hand.

"Still... thank you for helping today."

Jung Suhyeok's eyes stopped at her fingertips.

Thin blood vessels faintly showed through her delicate skin, and her fingertips, slightly reddened by the cold winter air, looked especially fragile.

It was a fair and white hand. So much so that it was hard to believe it was the hand of a professional gamer.

"Put it away."

He replied coldly, hiding his hands in his pockets.

"I'm not shaking it."

"Wow, really...!"

Han Yujin laughed in disbelief. Then she pouted her lips and asked in a low voice:

"Do you dislike me that much?"

"Yes. I dislike you."

"Why? Why do you dislike me?"

"It's just instinctive."

"Instinctive..."

At the sharp answer, Han Yujin silently turned her head to look at the snowy street.

Snow began to pile up on her shoulders under the streetlight.

And after a while, she opened her mouth in a low voice:

"You know what? Our relationship is like having a snowball fight while holding snowballs."

"Of course it should be. Because it's competition."

"I... don't like that."

Saying that, Han Yujin took off the hat she had been wearing tightly.

Her long hair flowed down beautifully as if escaping from confinement.

The dim streetlight seeped into each strand of hair, shimmering brilliantly.

She lowered her head and quietly looked at the snow piled at her feet.

Then she gathered the snow on the ground and made it into a round shape.

"I want to build a snowman with you."

"...What?"

The moment he heard those words.

Jung Suhyeok's emotions wavered subtly.

His heart beat two beats faster. He was flustered by this physical change he had never felt before.

He tried to quickly avert his gaze as if escaping, but his eyes still lingered on the ends of Han Yujin's pupils as if robbed of freedom.

They were glass-like eyes that carelessly swallowed light.

"Why are you staring like that?"

"..."

He couldn't answer in time.

Silence held his lips.

And soon, a strange and bizarre emotion overwhelmed him.

'Beautiful.'

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, Jung Suhyeok was startled.

Because it was the first time. That he felt this for a person.

At this emotion as novel as first snow, a self-deprecating inner voice unconsciously burst out.

"...Unsightly."

"Am I unsightly?"

"Yes."

No. I am.

Jung Suhyeok shook his head firmly as if forcibly rejecting her.

"I have no intention of leisurely building a snowman with you, so stop spouting nonsense and go back. Before you freeze to death."

"...You're really cold-hearted."

Han Yujin grumbled and handed him the round snowball she was holding.

"But, don't freeze up too much yourself."

"..."

"I'm going. See you at the stadium next time."

Han Yujin smiled wryly and turned her back, moving away step by step.

Only white footprints remained in the hazy veil, and silence fell over the street again.

Jung Suhyeok stood there for a long time, looking in the direction she had left.

And.

Without realizing it, he was fiddling with that trivial wish coupon in his inner coat pocket.

Snow was still falling.

Inside a car without lights.

Cold breath spread in the darkness.

"Did you take it?"

"Yes, for now..."

"Let me see."

Reporter Shin Bora dejectedly handed over the camera.

Cha Yoonju nodded with satisfaction as she flipped through the photos in the film.

"You took good ones. Nice composition, nice subjects."

The film contained images of Han Yujin and Jung Suhyeok.

A photo of them exchanging hand warmers. A photo of them talking. A photo of Han Yujin smiling softly.

They were extremely ordinary photos, but depending on the interpretation, they were perfect for causing misunderstandings.

For instance, the photo of handing over the hand warmer looked like lovers holding hands.

It was a photo that could be easily distorted if filled with malice.

"Hey, this is the best shot."

Cha Yoonju cackled and nudged Shin Bora's shoulder with her elbow.

It was a photo of Han Yujin falling and Jung Suhyeok catching her.

"It looks like they're embracing, doesn't it?"

"It really... does."

Shin Bora asked with a displeased expression:

"Sunbae. But what are you planning to do with this..."

"What do you mean what? Han Yujin is living comfortably because she got lucky and made it big, so I need to create a dating scandal for her."

Cha Yoonju had been sharpening her knife after suffering a humiliation that wasn't quite a humiliation from Han Yujin during the round interview before.

"Hey, I can already see the headline. 'SUC's Romeo' and 'ELF's Juliet' in a midnight rendezvous! How's that?"

At that, Shin Bora's eyes widened like a rabbit's. Faint fear seeped into her pupils.

"W-wait a minute. We overheard their conversation from inside the car too."

"So what?"

"...Pardon?"

Cha Yoonju shrugged lightly.

"I don't care what conversation they had. What's important is how it can be perceived."

"Then this is no different from deepfakes or false articles. This is just a crime."

"...What, a crime? Hey!"

Cha Yoonju got upset and turned serious.

"If you've taken off your rookie badge, you should know how this industry works by now. People don't care about completed puzzles. They just need something to chew on or gossip about."

"Even so, this doesn't seem right."

"Look at you? Are you trying to be the only good person here, cowardly?"

"This isn't about being good, it's about being decent."

"Stop talking back. If you love journalism so much, why don't you pass the press exam and get a job at a major daily newspaper instead of coming to Inspect?"

"That's..."

The car fell silent.

Shin Bora, who had been silent after trailing off, said "Ah" and spoke again:

"CSA! Han Yujin has CSA, right?"

"That bitch's agency? So what?"

"I heard their legal team is really tough..."

"Hey!"

Cutting off Shin Bora's words, Cha Yoonju wrinkled her nose bridge and shouted:

"Are you going to keep being too scared of maggots to pickle anything? How are you going to survive as a reporter if you're this weak-willed? You've been getting on my nerves since earlier."

At Cha Yoonju's irritated scolding, Shin Bora wilted like a drooping summer chicken.

Losing words and just fiddling with the camera, Shin Bora said in a crawling voice:

"Sunbae. Even so, Inspect hasn't made up non-existent facts before. If we mess around with this and something goes wrong, both our necks are on the line."

"Hey, we won't get caught. The facts are in the film, what are you scared of?"

"Why are you going this far?"

"Why, you ask?"

Words tinged with malice rolled around the car.

"I just don't like her. She's annoying. She pisses me off. It's disgusting how she acts all high and mighty."

"..."

Then, Cha Yoonju earnestly requested:

"Listen well. From now on, you follow Han Yujin closely like a sasaeng fan. Capture whatever you can, even if it's trash. You see her flirting with a guy? Take a picture first. Of course, it would be even better if she's getting cozy with a girl."

"..."

She poked Shin Bora's forehead with her finger and said:

"Answer me."

"...Yes."

Expectation gleamed in Cha Yoonju's eyes.

"Ah, how should I mess her up to make delicious rumors spread? Should I just go big and frame her as two-timing?"

"...But when are you planning to release this?"

"Articles have their time too. Like kimchi, you have to let it ferment well, then take it out when it's most delicious."

Hearing those words, Shin Bora clicked her tongue.

Then as she fiddled with the smartwatch on her wrist.

She realized the recording function was on and took in a sharp breath.

"Uh...?"

"What?"

Shin Bora hurriedly made an excuse:

"Ah, it's nothing!"

"Anyway, follow her well."

Shin Bora hid her hands in her padded jacket pockets and answered meaningfully:

"...Yes, I understand."