She isn't supposed to be here. I made a mistake by being myself and agreeing with Sohee to let her in my place.
A minute passes…
Maria opens the door, steps inside, and closes her wet umbrella. "I'm back," she says, almost only to herself.
This must be the first time I've seen how blank her face looked.
I have thought she'd enjoy her time doing whatever outside away from me.
I wonder if this is a one-time thing or if it has always been like this.
But that face of hers will quickly change when she looks up to see me… and the two pretty girls I have brought into our living room.
One, a girl who's hiding her bruises with a bandage, and another, staying close to the first, trembling in fear, as if I had kidnapped her here.
These girls are both sitting on the couch… by their own choice.
"..."
There it is; Maria finally realized there are more humans in the house than usual… come on say something.
Sohee is the first one to stand (followed by Nelly) and bow to greet my sister, "Nice to meet you again, Maria. I'm sorry for intruding… we have something to talk about with Sunbae."
Nelly tries to nod.
Maria's hand shoots up and waves about the air, "Sohee no, don't be sorry. I… I don't mind it at all."
Both of them laugh…. Awkwardly.
"G—Go on, take a seat, it's okay."
They do so.
Maria pulls me over and begins to whisper, "Hey, what the fuck is going on here?"
Beat me.
You came before anything is explained.
"Well, as she said, Sohee has something to talk about."
"Not Sohee."
She checks, lowering her voice further, "I'm talking about the other girl. Is that not… The Nelly?"
"... Yeah?"
"A Lois."
"That's her."
"How can you be so calm about this? I understand, Sohee, but that girl? We are not worthy to have a Lois as a guest."
I glance back at Nelly, who's holding both of her hands so tight they turned white.
As if she is just a normal girl…
Then return to my sister, "Are you like a big fan of hers?"
"You completely missed the point!"
Too loud.
"Is something wrong?" Sohee is now looking uncomfortable.
Maria detaches herself from my face and laughs it off, "Nothing's wrong, Sohee. I was apologizing to my brother since I got his sneakers wet."
Are they…?
I look.
…They are.
"A-ny way!" Maria claps her hands, "Can I make you guys a drink?"
"Uh…" Sohee smiles, "But you just got back home, Maria. We don't want to trouble you."
Nelly's head agrees.
"Trouble. Oh no, I won't be troubled. But I will feel horrible about myself if you two don't feel at home while staying here."
I don't know how to say this, Maria, but you acting like this makes them feel less at home.
Sohee's pink eyes glance at me, full of worry.
I'm assuming she is asking what to do now.
So I nod.
Sohee clears her throat, "Thank you so much, Maria. Then, we'd like a cup of water."
"Orange juice it is."
"Eh?"
Maria went to the kitchen.
"Haha…" turning to me, "I have never seen her like that. Is she okay?"
"Yeah, she is a big fan of your friend."
I could see her shoulder jump a little.
Thankfully, I didn't mention her by name, or she'd die of a heart attack.
Poor Nelly.
Both of us are trying our damn best here not to die.
Maybe I should say something to her.
No, that could be the wrong thing to do.
So should I treat her as if she's not here?
That could also be wrong.
I'd die.
I will die if I don't do the right thing.
I'd puke it all again.
I'd make my white floor a red carpet.
…
"Sunbae?"
"Excuse me for a minute; I'll go check on Maria."
"Umn, sure."
I ran to the kitchen.
Now that I'm here, I can see that my Maria… is also trying to do her best.
She has almost every single drawer and cabinet open.
There are oranges, and a glass jug is on the table, ready.
"Great, you're here," she says, noticing my presence, "Where did I put the sugar?"
Uh. Should I know that? "I don't remember."
"We didn't run out of it, did we?"
"... I don't remember."
She sighs, "Never mind, I found it."
She places the white sugar container beside the jug and then begins slicing the oranges.
"Don't you think the oranges are sweet enough?"
"No. Sugar and orange juice go well together."
That doesn't sound right.
"By the way, why are you here? Are you trying to help?"
"Do you want my help?"
"Not really. Remember when you tried to make me some?"
"No."
"Yaeh figured."
I have no recollection of that whatsoever.
In fact there's a lot of things that I don't know happened between the two of us.
Her hand freezes.
Something in the air changed.
Felt like I did something wrong, or maybe she did.
Maria turns to me, "You good?"
"I think so."
"I'm not used to you being too quiet, you know?"
Was the old user chatty instead?
"I'll try to make more sound."
I'll try to do the right thing.
"Good," she chuckles, "made me a little worried just now."
"In what way?"
"I don't know," she puts the oranges in the blender, "I just felt like you were troubled with something.
"Maybe about the girls out there."
I shake my head despite her not looking.
"Maybe."
"Sohee's there, so it'd be okay. She rarely makes mistakes."
Only if you know…
"Okay… do you want to say anything else before I turn this on? Make sure it's really, really important. I really can't be distracted."
"... my sneaker you—"
"I take that as a no."
Whirrrrr
She turns on the blender, and at this point, no word of mine can ever reach through her anymore.
But maybe I should have told her the truth.
I don't know why Sohee invited Nelly to talk in my house, of all places.
But it's not her fault she doesn't know about the relationship Nelly and I really have.
Making a mistake that affects her could kill me.
Dying was never a problem.
The problem is dying here.
At home.
Whirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
I should go back to them now.
Maybe that's the right thing to do.
So I don't die.