35 — This isn’t a Date, Just Sisterly Affection II

I wasn't an idiot, and I wasn't a prude either.

But there were things I just didn't feel comfortable doing.

Like, say, shopping for clothes with a sister I was increasingly suspicious of.

I didn't want to think too much about it. Perhaps I should've simply turned my brain off, and accepted the possibility that I was just jumping to conclusions. That, at the end of the day, this was a perfectly innocent trip. But, well, I wasn't an idiot. I could read between the lines.

I knew what she was doing. What she was trying to do.

What I didn't understand, though, was why.

Why now?

Why at all?

Was it because I told her I'd inevitably go away once my career took off?

It didn't make sense, but at the same time, it did. It made too much sense. I didn't like that. I didn't like how easily I could come up with reasons, excuses, and justifications. It was a problem I'd have to solve sooner or later, I guess. But not now. Not right now, at least.

Now, I had to focus on the task at hand: getting through the day with my sanity intact.

"Hey, what about this?" Mia asked, picking up a shirt from the rack. She held it up against me, her eyes flickering back and forth between me and the fabric. "Hmm... nah, not your color."

She put it back and continued to browse through the selection.

We were in one of the many clothing stores at the mall, and it was my first time in one of these places in a long, long time. I wasn't as interested by the catalogue of articles in front of me as the young woman rifling through them all. She hummed, tilted her head, and frowned each time she picked up a random item that didn't fit my style or color scheme.

I stood by her, arms crossed, studying her face intently. There was something about the way her eyes sparkled and her lips twitched when she saw a piece she liked. It was cute. I couldn't deny that. But it was also disarming in a way that made me feel uneasy. Made me feel something I didn't want to feel. I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts.

"Hey, Noona." I began, trying to sound as casual as possible. "Why are we here again?"

She glanced at me, a little surprised. "Because you don't have a sense of fashion, dummy." She laughed, playfully punching me on the shoulder. "You only dress up on special occasions. It's not like we lack money, you can afford to dress up a little. No?"

I raised an eyebrow. "And you care about that... why?"

She paused, her smile fading slightly. "Well, because I care about you." She said, her voice soft and sincere. "And I want you to look your best. Is there anything wrong with that?"

I blinked, caught off guard by her honesty.

"No, of course not." I shook my head, smiling lightly.

She chuckled, patting me on the shoulder. "Good. Now, let me see if this would look good on you." She pulled out a white shirt, a black shirt, and a grey blazer from a nearby rack. "Hmm... I think the black and white combo would work best with your coloring, yeah?" She said, her eyes roaming over my body. "I can tell you've been working out. Your arms and shoulders are bigger than before. It's sexy."

I froze again, my heart skipping a beat. Was that a compliment? Or a comment? Was she just being friendly, or was there something more to it? This made me feel like those guys from my old world that'd get anxious whenever they'd go out with a girl for the first time, trying to decipher if the girl was 'into them.'

"Thanks..." I muttered, clearing my throat. "But I don't think I'll ever get that buff, Noona. I need to stay relatively light on my feet."

"Oh, I know that." She replied, rolling her eyes. "But it's still hot. Anyways, try these on, okay? I'll be waiting out here." She handed me a pile of clothes. A few shirts, some pants, and a couple of jackets. I wasn't sure how she'd picked them out so quickly, but I trusted her judgment. Women are usually good at this kind of stuff, are they not?

I took the clothes from her without a word, my fingers brushing against hers for a fraction of a second.

Too long for it to be entirely accidental.

Too short for me to call her out on it without looking insane.

Walking toward the fitting room, I felt the weight of her gaze on my back. I didn't turn around, but I could imagine it, her head tilted slightly, her eyes fixed on me.

Inside the small booth, I hung the clothes up neatly, taking a moment to breathe.

A moment to think.

The problem wasn't that Mia was acting… different. People changed. Circumstances changed them faster. The problem was the pattern. The accumulation of subtle shifts in tone, in body language, in the things she let slip without realizing it.

It was the sort of behavioral drift I'd seen before, when someone had made a decision in their head but hadn't yet announced it to the world. And until they did, everything they said and did was… a rehearsal.

I tried on the first outfit. Black shirt, grey blazer, slim trousers. It fit well. Better than I expected, actually. She'd either guessed my size perfectly, or she'd been paying more attention to my body than I thought.

I stepped out to show her. She looked me over, and I caught it. The fractional dilation of her pupils, the slow rise and fall of her chest before she masked it with an approving nod.

"Damn." She murmured, more to herself than to me. Then louder, with a teasing grin. "Not bad, little brother. Not bad at all."

I managed a half-smile in return. "Thanks. You have a good eye."

"I do." She agreed, her gaze lingering a moment longer than it needed to. Then she clapped her hands together, breaking whatever spell had fallen over us. "Next!"

I retreated to the booth, feeling her eyes on my back again. The next outfit was a white shirt, jeans, and a leather jacket. Casual but classy. Again, it fit perfectly. Too perfectly. Had she studied me that closely? I stepped out, and again I saw the subtle signs of appreciation in her face before she covered it with a light-hearted quip.

"Looking sharp, Jae-il." She said, a soft smile playing on her lips. "You should wear this one today."

I looked down at myself, then back up at her. "Sure. If you think it looks good."

She grinned. "Trust me, it does." Then, more quietly. "You do."

I didn't give her the satisfaction of a visible response.

Just a faint smirk and a noncommittal nod, like I'd heard something flattering but inconsequential. I'd learned a long time ago that silence was often the best answer.

Back in the booth, I leaned against the wall for a moment, eyes unfocused.

The danger here wasn't her. Not entirely.

It was me. The more I dissected her actions, the more I noticed them. And the more I noticed them, the harder it was to ignore.

It's one thing to be aware of the fire.

It's another to stand too close to it and pretend you won't get burned.

I slipped into the final set. A dark button-up, fitted slacks. Not my usual style, but it projected a kind of understated sharpness. A look that said I'm not trying to impress you, but I will anyway.

When I stepped out, her reaction was the smallest yet, and the most telling.

No smirk. No teasing. Just a slight parting of her lips before she breathed in through her nose and looked away, as though pretending she was just checking the price tag of something on the nearest rack.

"Too much?" I asked, adjusting the cuff.

"Not enough." She said, her voice smooth but quieter than usual.

I let the words hang there, studying her through the mirror rather than facing her directly. Her reflection betrayed more than she probably intended.

The faint tension in her jaw, the way her fingers idly traced the hem of her skirt, the almost imperceptible lift of her shoulders when my eyes met hers in the glass.

"Then I'll take it." I said simply, turning back toward the booth before she could answer.

She made a soft sound, half amusement, half something else, but didn't stop me.

I turned towards her. "This should be enough, right?"

"Mm-mm. Sure." She narrowed her eyes, turning her nose up in that haughty, cute way of hers. Arms crossed and hip tilted. "But, Jae-il, now it's my turn to pick some stuff."

I blinked. "Your turn?"

"Yeah, my turn. I can't be the only one who gets to play dress up." She giggled, and there was something in her eyes. A mix of mischief and determination.

I studied her for a beat longer than necessary, weighing whether to push back or let her have her way. She was likely going to push that fire even closer towards me, but I kind of already expected it.

"Fine." I said, my voice even. "Lead the way."