188 — Real Good~

Mia's POV:

A shitty storm.

It was raining quite hard now.

Flashes of lightning briefly lit up Mia's face as she sat there, arms crossed, one leg over the other, her foot bouncing up and down impatiently.

She had been waiting in the living room. In fact, she'd sat on the sofa for an hour. It was the longest hour she could remember. Then, the hour had become three. Three was the length it had taken to boil down the last shreds of her anxiety and turn it to anger.

She could neither sleep nor eat. A hiking trip to the mountains to see a stupid comet. Pfft. Couldn't they see it from their room? From the backyard? Wouldn't that have been better and safer?

Why go all the way to such a remote place? There'd be likely no one up there; it'd be just the two of them.

Alone...

Her phone was right there, but she wasn't sure whether she should call them or not. Maybe they were already coming down the mountain? They must've been coming back, right? Maybe the weather was interfering with their reception? Maybe they were already calling her but she wasn't getting it.

Mia was jolted back to reality as the lights flickered and then died, leaving her in darkness. As the wind and rain buffeted the windows, the tree limbs creaked in protest, and the walls of the house groaned ominously.

Her eyes stayed fixed on the hallway that led to the door. The storm outside was getting louder, but Mia still managed to hear the sound of a key turning in the front door lock.

Jae-il had finally fucking arrived.

The first thing that she heard was the lovebirds' voices, then the sound of her own heartbeat rushing through her ears. She had just about jumped off her seat in time to see the front door swing open with Jae-il, and then her sister.

Then both of them both.

Su Ah had just come home from her first ever overnight date.

A bit late. A bit muddy and bruised and battered.

But entirely fucking happy.

Mia wanted to hit something so bad her body shook with her rising anger. But she had told herself that losing control wasn't worth it, and Jae-il's opinion of her might take a brutal nosedive for the worse. That'd kill her and her sanity, so Mia forced herself to calm down.

Besides, wouldn't that be something Su Ah would love to see?

A big sister throwing a temper tantrum right in front of the man she both worshiped and competed over—a man who, incidentally, was also their younger brother—would be precisely the kind of meltdown Su Ah wanted to witness.

Right? Right?!

She wanted to pull on her hair out in rage and frustration and hit something, hard, until all the energy she had built up was dispersed. But the fact that it would be Su Ah gloating her loss made her pull it back in.

Every muscle in her jaw tightened as her gaze fixed on Jae-il and Su Ah.

Her hands gripped the sofa cushions so tightly her knuckles whitened. And she made a serious effort not to pop a vein on her forehead as their hushed conversation carried over first.

"...Jae-il, wait—you're completely soaked!" Su Ah laughed as she stepped inside. "Mom is going to chew our ears out. Hurry, we should have a shower before you catch a cold!"

"We? Is that an invitation I hear, Noona?"

"Eww, don't be weird. We can't do that in our own house!" Su Ah protested, smacking his shoulder lightly. But then her cheeks flushed pink. "Unless we get the bathroom to ourselves... and don't take too long."

Mia couldn't help it.

She felt like she was going to explode with jealousy and rage.

This sudden familiarity in making such jokes…

Then came the footsteps, and the flick of the switch. The lights came on. A sudden brightness that revealed they weren't alone as they might've thought.

The siblings noticed her at last. They froze. Stared. And blinked at her in surprise.

Both looked utterly filthy. They were soaking wet, muddy, and grassy. They looked like they'd rolled around in the fucking dirt. And by the looks of it, they seemed to have fucked too.

Because hah, wouldn't Mia know what Su Ah had planned on doing? She wasn't that innocent.

And Mia was not having any of it. She wanted her baby brother back. She wanted to be the only woman in his heart. The one who would give him everything. The only one who could satisfy him. But Su Ah knew too much for Mia to simply dismiss her.

"Noona?" Jae-il greeted, eyebrows lifting in surprise. She had been sitting there, in total darkness. Mia could only imagine what he must've been thinking right about then.

"Hey, Unnie." Su Ah greeted casually, her eyes quickly scanning her older sister, as if taking note of Mia's expression. "We're home."

"Oh hey, you're back? Took you both a long enough time."

Her voice was friendly enough, her eyes and the smile she shot in Jae-il's direction might've passed for genuine affection in other people's minds, but it seemed that she wasn't quite ready to pretend everything was normal.

"Oh yeah, sorry. We ran a bit late due to the storm. It was quite sudden..."

"Yes, I imagine..."

"Noona, are you okay?" Jae-il asked, the surprise fading from his face, only to be replaced by a look of concern. "Did something happen?"

She could've said something.

Instead, she stood up and walked toward him. She reached out her hand and brushed some of the wet hair off his forehead before wrapping her arms around his neck. "I'm glad you're safe." She managed after a moment, burying her face into his chest and hugging him close. Her nose curled up twice as she sniffed him—and turned razor-sharp eyes towards Su Ah who was behind them, watching everything with crossed arms and a growing frown.

Su Ah looked like she was ready to say something, and then she noticed Mia's glare and her mouth snapped shut. She looked away with a scoff.

"You're still soaked. You should get into the shower and warm yourself." Mia said softly, pulling back and looking up at her brother. "Do you need me to help you get cleaned up?"

"I think I'm capable of doing so myself." He said, reaching out to give her a light squeeze on the shoulder. Then, as an afterthought, added. "You should get some sleep, too. Your eyes look a bit puffy, Noona."

Mia's lips thinned into a tight line. "I'll be fine... once I know you're okay, I'll go to bed. So don't worry about me, Jae-il. I'm just happy you're back home." She took his face in her hands, and was oh so tempted to just strangle him with her tongue right in front of Su Ah, but instead gave him one last kiss on his cheek before letting him go.

"Go and take care of yourself now." She said, giving him a gentle push. "Shoo, shoo. Off with you. I'll have a word with Su Ah."

His eyes narrowed ever so slightly, and Mia hoped her face was the perfect picture of innocence. Then, as if deciding he couldn't be bothered with any of this, Jae-il sighed and turned to leave.

"Alright, Noona. Don't stay up too late and don't make too much noise. Both of you." He shot a meaningful glance at his sisters and waved off, heading upstairs without another glance backward. He looked tired, but content. A good sign.

That left her and Su Ah alone in the living room.

Su Ah watched him go with a hint of amusement and happiness in her eyes, then turned her attention towards Mia. "So... I guess you won't let me shower first?"

"Shouldn't I?" Mia asked, walking over to the kitchen where she poured herself a glass of water. "What do you think? You want to tell me anything? Hmm? Did you have fun out there?"

Su Ah rolled her eyes as she followed. "Yes, I did have fun, thank you for asking. The view was incredible. We saw the comet."

"Oh? And was that all you did?"

"Yes. Of course, we didn't get to see the entire night sky, because of the weather... but we had fun, nonetheless. It was a great experience. I'm glad we got to see something like that."

"Oh, so nothing else happened?"

"......"

"......"

Su Ah was silent.

"Did you fuck him?" Mia asked.

"......"

"Did you fuck him, Su Ah?"

"......"

"You did, didn't you? Don't lie to me, Su Ah. I can see it all over your face. You look like the cat that got the cream. So, did you? Did you fuck my little brother? How was it? Was he better than you imagined?" Mia demanded, crossing her arms over her chest.

As if she couldn't tell that sort of thing. She knew those two had fooled around the other day right under her nose; she could only imagine how far she must've gotten when there was no one else around.

Mia would've done the same. That's why she knew.

She knew, and Su Ah knew it too.

Neither of them had ever caught each other in the act, but both knew what they were doing. They were both competing for Jae-il's affections. But Mia was ahead, so she had no reason to worry.

Right?

Right?!

She bit her bottom lip frantically.

"......"

"Are you going to answer my question or not?!"

Su Ah looked down at the floor, heaved a deep breath, and then stalked towards Mia.

Her eyes flickered with surprise at the eerie look on her younger sister's face. There was a faint shadow cast across her eyes. Mia wasn't intimidated, standing there, nose wrinkling like a dog about to bark.

Su Ah reached out and grabbed her older sister by the shoulders and shoved her against the wall. Mia's eyes went wide as her younger sister's face twisted in a scowl.

Then a small, almost unnoticeable smirk pulled at the corners of Su Ah's lips—the very same lips that were now an inch away from Mia's ear. "Yes, Unnie... I fucked him real good~"

"......!!"