Meanwhile, outside beneath the dim glow of the evening streetlights, Park Jison and Min-ji walked side by side toward home.
Cold evening air brushed against their clothes while the noise of passing vehicles echoed faintly from the distant streets.
Jison still looked mortified from the catastrophe that had just occurred inside the café.
The embarrassment refused to leave him.
Meanwhile, beside him—
Min-ji looked like someone who had just successfully orchestrated chaos and enjoyed every second of it.
Finally, Jison broke the silence.
"What the hell were you thinking asking that?"
His tone carried restrained irritation.
He pulled his right hand from the pocket of his half-pants and placed it behind his neck in frustration.
Min-ji immediately covered her smile with one hand, though her eyes sparkled mischievously.
"Nothing," she replied innocently.
A blatant lie.
Then she tilted her head slightly.
"It's not like you and she have some special relationship or anything…"
A smirk slowly spread across her lips.
"…Or am I wrong?"
Direct hit.
Jison immediately malfunctioned.
His face reddened almost instantly.
"O-of course not!" he replied awkwardly, waving both hands defensively in front of himself. "We're just classmates!"
Min-ji's smirk deepened.
"Oh?"
She clasped both hands behind her back while continuing to walk casually beside him.
"Just classmates…"
Her tone practically screamed disbelief.
"Then why were you so desperate to explain things inside the café?"
Another direct hit.
Jison froze for half a second.
Then immediately looked away.
"…Shut up."
Unable to formulate a proper response, he simply increased his walking speed dramatically.
Min-ji stared at his retreating figure for a moment before quietly laughing to herself.
"He's hopeless…"
---
After some time—
The siblings finally returned home.
The earlier walk had somehow transformed into a nonstop argument filled with mutual insults, threats, and excessive teasing.
As a result—
Both of them now looked mentally exhausted.
Inside the hall, Jison collapsed onto the couch heavily while Min-ji stretched her arms lazily.
The comfortable silence of home settled around them.
After a moment, Min-ji stood up and began walking toward her bedroom.
Before entering, she glanced back at him.
"Bro, do you want dinner later, or are you full?"
Jison didn't even look at her.
"I'm full," he answered tiredly. "I'm just going to sleep."
Min-ji nodded casually.
"Okay."
Then she entered her room and shut the door behind her.
Click.
Silence returned.
---
Now alone in the hall, Jison leaned deeper into the couch while staring blankly at the ceiling.
His thoughts drifted again.
Toward the system reward.
Toward Seo-yeon.
Toward tonight.
A night voice chat with Seo-yeon…
Even now, the reward sounded absurdly surreal.
Slowly, he took his phone from his pocket and checked the time.
7:12 PM.
He stared at the screen for several seconds before sighing deeply and tossing the phone beside himself.
"It's already seven…"
He frowned thoughtfully.
"That counts as night, right?"
But then—
A horrifying realization suddenly struck him.
His expression stiffened.
"…Wait."
He slowly grabbed his own head with both hands.
Why the fuck am I acting like my entire life depends on this call?
A second later—
He screamed dramatically into the empty hall.
"OH DAMN ITTTTT!"
His voice echoed violently throughout the house.
Then immediately—
From Min-ji's room came an irritated shout loud enough to shake his soul.
"BROTHER, STOP SHOUTING!"
Her voice echoed from inside, sounding like she was somewhere near the bathroom.
"It's fucking irritating!"
Jison instantly fell silent.
Completely silent.
His expression turned stiff.
Then slowly—
Very slowly—
He remembered her stats.
The horrifying stats.
D-ranked strength.
D-ranked speed.
C-ranked endurance.
B-ranked potential.
That monster disguised as a younger sister.
Cold sweat formed on his forehead.
Fuck…
How did I forget a literal monster lives with me?
Suddenly, his survival instincts activated.
"…Understood," he muttered quietly while sitting perfectly still on the couch like a criminal avoiding execution.
After sitting motionlessly on the couch for nearly thirty minutes, Park Jison had finally reached his limit.
His entire lower body felt numb.
More specifically—
His butt hurt like hell.
"Fuck…" he muttered while slowly standing up.
He scratched the right side of his backside lazily with one hand and yawned loudly before beginning to walk toward his room.
But after taking only a few steps—
He suddenly remembered something.
"My phone."
He turned around immediately.
The mobile still rested on the couch where he had thrown it earlier.
Jison bent slightly to grab it—
Then suddenly—
BZZZT.
The phone began vibrating violently.
Jison blinked once.
Then looked at the screen.
And instantly froze.
Caller ID:
Lee Seo-yeon.
"…!"
His eyes widened dramatically.
Without wasting another second, he hurriedly picked up the call and practically sprinted toward his room.
His heartbeat accelerated uncontrollably.
By the time he entered the room, he was already breathing heavily.
Click.
He shut the door quickly and locked it like someone protecting national secrets.
Then immediately raised the phone to his ear.
From the other side of the call, Lee Seo-yeon's voice could already be heard repeatedly.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Jison?"
"Hello?"
Only then did Jison realize—
He had accepted the call but hadn't spoken for several seconds because he was too busy panicking and running.
"H-hello!" he answered hurriedly.
Seo-yeon's voice carried both nervousness and slight irritation.
"W-why were you silent after picking up the call?"
Jison immediately activated survival mode.
"Ah…"
He walked toward his bed while forcing himself to sound calm.
"I think it was a signal issue. I was saying hello."
The lie came out disturbingly naturally.
Smooth.
Professional.
As if he had years of experience in emergency conversational recovery.
Meanwhile, he sat down on the bed before slowly lying back against it with a nervous smile stretched across his face.
On the other side of the call, Seo-yeon responded softly.
"Ah… I see…"
A brief silence followed.
Then she spoke again.
"Well… I actually called to say sorry."
Jison blinked.
"Sorry?"
"Because…" she muttered awkwardly. "I misunderstood earlier."
The memory of the café immediately resurfaced in Jison's mind.
His face heated up again instantly.
"N-no, it's fine!" he replied hurriedly. "Really."
Then—
Silence.
An unbearably awkward silence.
Neither of them knew what to say next.
The earlier tension had disappeared, yet somehow this situation felt even more dangerous.
Jison stared at the ceiling while desperately trying to think of a topic.
Anything.
He didn't want the conversation to end yet.
Not now.
Not when she had called him herself.
Then suddenly—
His mouth moved faster than his brain.
"Ah, Seo-yeon…"
His throat tightened slightly.
"D-do you have a boyfriend?"
The moment the words left his mouth—
His soul nearly exited his body.
What the fuck did I just ask?!
That wasn't even remotely close to what he intended to say.
He originally wanted to ask whether she had friends back in Seoul.
How had the conversation evolved into this?!
Instantly—
The other side of the call went completely silent.
Jison's face turned pale.
Cold sweat formed on his forehead.
Fuck.
She definitely thinks I'm a creep now.
He quickly sat upright on the bed and panicked.
"H-hey, sorry! I actually meant to ask whether you had friends in Seoul and somehow it came out wrong—"
But before he could continue—
Seo-yeon answered softly.
"No."
Jison blinked.
"…Huh?"
He genuinely couldn't understand what exactly she meant.
Then Seo-yeon clarified quietly.
"I mean…"
Her voice became softer.
"I've never had a boyfriend before."
Silence.
Complete silence.
Jison's brain stopped functioning.
---
Meanwhile—
Inside her own room—
Seo-yeon was currently dying from embarrassment.
Her room carried the aesthetic warmth of a typical teenage girl's space: soft lighting, neatly arranged furniture, plush pillows scattered across the bed, and faint floral fragrance lingering in the air.
Yet despite the peaceful atmosphere—
Its owner had buried her face completely into a pillow while blushing furiously.
"God damn it…"
She kicked her legs against the mattress repeatedly in humiliation.
Why the hell did he ask me that?!
Her heart pounded violently.
Is he interested in me?
The thought alone nearly caused her brain to overheat.
Then another terrifying possibility surfaced.
Wait…
Her eyes widened against the pillow.
Is he going to confess?
Instant panic.
What the hell would I even say?!
Seo-yeon grabbed the pillow tighter and buried her burning face deeper into it while internally screaming like someone moments away from emotional collapse.