After Story 54

"Why would you do that?"

Those words escaped her mouth without filtering through her head, but she didn't feel that it was wrong and didn't correct herself.

Bada reemphasized her words – why would you do that?

"Do what?"

"Why would you date a pri… I mean, someone like this?"

"Do you happen to know Maru?"

Know him? They had seen each other to death before he left to live on his own, so how could she not know him?

She covered her mouth, looked at the photo again, and checked that the person in the photo was indeed her brother before speaking,

"If there's a person named Han Maru and he looks like this, then he can only be one person. He's my brother."

Oh, my – Haneul was surprised. She had to be. The person she met at an audition coincidentally turned out to be the sister of her boyfriend.

"Really?"

"Yes."

Her reason and emotions, which were always at odds with each other, were in agreement for the first time. Why would this person date that ass of a brother? Haneul and her brother did not suit each other from head to toe.

The first thing that came to her mind when she thought of her brother was laziness akin to that of a sloth. Also, the stench of cigarettes and a belly round with alcohol.

He seemed to have lost some weight during military service, but since he went drinking every single night after he was discharged, he gained weight again.

He seemed to have changed mentally the last time he visited home, but he looked the same on the outside. From what she could remember, he didn't smell like cigarettes last time either, but he probably smoked them in batches where he lived by himself.

Compared to that, how was Haneul? She was the epitome of self-management. Even if her face was something she inherited from her parents, that body figure must be the result of teeth-gnashing effort. Every woman in Korea knew the pain of losing weight. She didn't just look skinny either. The arms that she could see under the blouse were very trained and sleek, not to mention her legs.

On top of that, she even had exceptional acting skills. No matter how Bada looked at it, she was too good to be with her brother, who only knew how to eat and drink like a whale.

"What part of that Han Maru do you like?"

She knew it was a rude question, but she couldn't help but ask. Even leaving aside her personal judgment and looking at it objectively, there didn't seem to be any reason for them to be dating.

"Hm, I don't know. I said before, didn't I? That it's hard to come up with a reason for why you like someone. But if I had to pick, it's his personality I guess? That coziness?"

"Wh-what? Personality?"

"It's good, isn't it? Maru's personality, I mean."

"From what I know, he doesn't have something called a personality. I'm not saying bad things about him just because I'm his sister; that guy really just lives life half-assedly. I mean, he even got rejected during the health checkup for the military at his age for having a fatty liver."

"People are bound to experience a period of immaturity at least once. It's better to experience that when they're still young, playing around to their heart's content. Isn't it better to become serious later than have no life plans later in life?"

"That's true, but still…."

She couldn't retort to that. Just thinking about what would happen if her dad lived like her brother made her feel dizzy.

Bada's lips twitched. It was funny for a third party to interfere between a pair of lovers, but she didn't like the fact that Haneul, who made her have respect for her, was a pair with 'something like her brother.'

"Uhm, you're Haneul-unni, right? From Friendly Aroma."

The high school girls who had been looking over for a while came over. Haneul smiled gently and said that she was.

Bada looked at the high school girls and Haneul alternately as the girls kept screeching 'awesome.'

I recommended it to others because it has such a good smell; I have a good night's sleep thanks to that; I found it useful during studying — from the words said by the high school girls, they seemed to be talking about a therapeutic product.

"There's not long left until CSATs, so do your best."

"Yes."

The girls took a photo with Haneul and left the store.

So she was a cosmetics model. Bada felt like it was natural like 'it's hot in the summer.' Anyone would use her with her appearance. Even she would.

"What do we do? The tteokbokki's all cold now."

"That's not what's important here. You said you're the same age as my brother, right?"

"Yes."

"Then I'll call you Unni for now. Unni, think about it carefully. You might be mistaken right now. I won't say anything if it was anyone else, but I'm saying it because it's you. You're dating my brother because of his personality?"

"Well, not just his personality."

"What else, then?"

"His face?"

"Oh… his face…."

She felt her vision darkening more so than when she received her CSAT papers. She could persuade her if it was personality, but his face… was not something she could do anything about.

He did look like a man. He had two eyes, one nose, and one mouth.

"You sound like you really don't care about appearances, unni."

"Where can you find someone like that? I have my preferences, you know?"

"And your preference is my brother? If he was round and cute, then I'd understand, but my brother has a square face filled with fat."

"Miss Bada, when did you last see your brother?"

"It was back in June, so that's 4 months ago."

"How did he feel back then?"

"The same."

After saying those words, she thought about it a little. His appearance hadn't changed that much, but his actions had changed quite a lot. He seemed to be knowledgeable about acting too. Her gaze landed on Haneul. If his knowledge stemmed from Haneul, then that would explain things. Then, the change in his personality could also be attributed to Haneul?

"No, his personality has changed. It's like he's a different person. Before, he would rarely ever visit the house, and even if he did, he would just stare at the TV for a while before leaving, but that day, he even bought some fruit for mom. He listened to me too. Well, yeah. I think he's matured a little."

"So you haven't seen him since then?"

"There's no reason to."

"I see." Haneul fidgeted with her phone. "Would you like to see how your brother has changed?"

"Changed?"

"This is a photo he took a little while ago."

Bada looked at the phone placed on the table. A man in a nice suit was looking straight ahead. Under the dim lighting, the man looked like a model for a shoot, whether it was his hair styling or his outfit down to his shoes. This was her brother?

She looked at the phone from up close. As unbelievable as it was, it was really her brother.

His jawline had changed in just 4 months. Not to mention his face, his body figure had changed as well. It was no longer the brother who had lumps of flesh all over him. He looked dandy.

"There's a few more. We took it for his profile."

"Profile?"

Bada swiped on the screen with her finger. Whenever the photo changed, her brother, clad in a different set of colors, appeared in front of her.

A casual look suited him as well, but the suit looked really good on him. He even digested difficult colors without difficulty. For the classic black suit, she even forgot that he was her brother.

The indifferent expression gave off a rough vibe. Even then, he looked somewhat unstable and precarious, so it was hard to take her eyes off him.

"That one's good, right? That's the photo that projects Maru's image the best. He has a secretly tender side to him."

"Is this really my brother?"

Haneul just smiled without a word. This was even more shocking than finding out that the two were dating. How could someone change so dramatically? She had a few friends who became slightly prettier after losing weight during the holidays, but rarely did anyone have a complete shift in impression.

Who would think of a college boy drenched in alcohol and smoking after looking at this photo?

"Photoshop?"

"Only for a few blemishes on his skin, but I haven't touched anything."

"No way. He really changed like this?"

"He did. To be precise, you can say he regained his original appearance."

When she kept swiping, she found Haneul and her brother standing side by side. They were good enough to be used as wedding photos. Not a single aspect of her brother who couldn't be bothered with everything in the world remained. There was only a man who looked at the woman he loved with a look of confidence.

"You two… suit each other."

She had to admit it. Leaving everything aside, they looked good together even in terms of appearance. It wasn't purely aesthetic like having a golden ratio appearance, but the combination of their charms looked good.

Her friends would probably all accept if she tried to introduce her brother to them using this photo.

"Wait, you said profile before, right? Are you talking about his resume?"

"I don't think I can tell you right now."

"Why's that?"

"Maru hasn't told you anything, has he? About college or what he's doing."

"He's just a college student, isn't he?"

"You can hear it from your brother later. I think he'll get mad if I tell you."

"So I should hear it from himself, huh? Fine."

There was no need to delay. She immediately took out her phone, looked for his number, and called him.

She would usually text him, and this was the first time in years she called him.

-Hello?

"Hey! I mean, oppa."

-Is someone chasing you? Why are you shouting?

"I'm in a hurry right now, so answer me properly. You're in college, right?"

-I am.

She gave Haneul a glance before speaking again, "And you're dating Han Haneul-unni, right?"

There was no response. Oh? She urged him to speak.

-How did you know that?

"How would I know? Because I met her, duh."

-You met her? I mean, with Haneul?

"Yes, I did."

-Are you together right now?

"She's in front of me, why?"

-Did Haneul say something?

"She didn't, so that's why I'm calling you. What's all this about a profile photo? I thought it was just for a resume, but that doesn't make sense. I'll ask just in case, but oppa, are you preparing to be an actor?"

She didn't realize it when she thought about them separately, but when she put everything in one place, she had her answer. Whether it was the way he explained to her about acting, or the profile photos he took… above all, when she thought about what he had in common with Haneul, the only thing she could conclude was that he was an aspiring actor.

-I guess I can't cover it up anymore. Yes, you're right. I'm preparing.

"Are you crazy? Why?"

-That's not something you should say, as fellow aspiring actors.

"I found my dream."

-I found my dream too.

"So you're doing it? What about college?"

-Don't tell father and mother about this. I dropped out.

"You're crazy, totally crazy."

-This is the whole reason I stayed quiet.

"Mom will cause a fuss if she finds out."

-So please stay quiet.

"You're really bold. You decided to drop out of college all by yourself?"

-I already decided. Just because I say it doesn't mean I'll change my mind, so it's better to stay quiet for a while.

"You talked bad about me going to cram schools to take CSATs a second time, yet now you just dropped out? That's funny."

-I feel sorry about that. I'm really sorry I hurt you with my immature words. I wasn't thinking or being considerate of you.

"Why are you apologizing all of a sudden? You're putting me in a bad spot."

She had mostly gotten over the bad gripes she had with her brother during his last visit. If she really didn't like him, she wouldn't have told him about the results of the audition through text. The reason she was grumbling was she didn't know how to handle this kind of conversation.

-Can you hand me over to Haneul for a sec?

"Okay, wait a second."

She realized while they were talking: this person had really changed. He used to be someone who would never apologize for anything, not even in sarcasm.

Haneul, who got her phone, smiled and said that she came across his sister by chance.

"Alright, call you later." Haneul returned the phone with a big smile on his face.

She got her phone back. Her brother hung up after telling her that he would explain properly next time.