Goldie's sister knocked on the door twice in one day.
In the morning, I got past her, but now she was gone.
"Yang Zhiqi, why don't you open the door? If I wait, will they come in?"
"Oh, all right, I'll open it now..."
I unlocked the door quickly because I thought that if I stayed where I was, trouble would happen.
With a creak, Geum-bi came in and looked away from Soo-jung, who was sitting on the bed.
"Sister, what are you doing here?"
"Huh? Just... taking a look at our planet or something?"
"Hmph~? Are you two locking yourselves away from the rest of the world?"
"Well, since we're here, we have a lot to talk about..."
"What about?"
"Just this and that. How are you getting on these days? Are you having any problems? Have we talked about it?"
"That's it?"
"That's right... It's hard to call it a conversation between brothers, hehe."
Geumbi stood with his arms folded, leaving the door half open, unlike Soo-jung.
She didn't even go to the bed, as if she could leave at any moment, but also as if she was determined to stay.
In contrast to Soo-jung, who cringed as if she had done something wrong.
"Hey, Geum-Bi. You seem a bit excited. Can we sit down and calm down?"
"Terra, you're quiet."
"Ah, yes. Yes, sorry..."
I interrupted and then stopped myself from saying something.
In my room, I thought I was being too hard on Ark, but I couldn't resist her gaze.
"I've had those eyes since I was a child, ugh.
Maybe it's because she wears a black T-shirt and ties her hair tightly with a black bow.
I felt a strange force pulling me, as if it was going to drag me away.
When I lowered my tail and took a step back, Geum-Bi turned her head towards Crystal.
She was avoiding eye contact, but when she heard me, she turned and looked at me with determination.
"There's no point arguing with Terra, she's right and she owns this room."
"I know. She hasn't done anything wrong."
"Then why..."
"Well, she hasn't done much right either."
Goldie rolled her eyes in that direction and took a step towards Crystal.
It wasn't a big step, but for some reason my mouth and Soo-jung's mouth closed at the same time.
"After what happened yesterday, do you really think it's a good idea to lock your sister in her room and lock the door? Is that the right thing to do?"
"That's... I locked the door, not the floor."
"Whatever. I always knew you two had a thing for each other, but the way things are now, you should be careful what you wish for."
"Goldie, what are you trying to say?"
When Geum-Bi started to question her seriously, Soo-Jung also stood up a little more.
The older sister was usually more reserved, so Geum-Bi paused for a moment, but then retorted by talking about what had happened that morning.
"Sister, you also went missing for a while this morning, where did you go?"
"I told you I went to the first floor to wash up, and you said that we must have got mixed up on the way."
"There's only one staircase, how could we have got mixed up?"
"You must have been in the kitchen or knocking on the door when I came up from the bathroom. Didn't we finish talking about this this morning? Why are you doing this again?"
"Exactly. At first I thought that was it, but then I realised it was strange."
"Like what?"
"How do you know I knocked on the door this morning and you said you didn't see me because you were upstairs?"
"Huh?"
Crystal stopped talking, looking confused.
Jin Bi smiled happily, but then frowned and looked at me.
"I know I'm exaggerating, and I've known I'm exaggerating since the morning."
"Goldie, you know, the truth is..."
"But things are a bit strange, aren't they?I'm confused by what my mum said yesterday and now you're acting so strangely...I'm worried and upset.Shouldn't I be?"
"Yes, you can."
"Then you must understand me.I'm not asking you to do anything, just to be normal, like we always have been.Can't we stay like this?"
"I... I said I was trying to act normal..."
"Yes, I could see that you were trying, but you weren't being yourself, and that's the problem."
I was talking to Soo-jung, but Geum-bi's eyes were looking to and fro.
Her head and toes were constantly moving from side to side, as if she was silently warning or policing something.
"When I try to talk to her, she just answers like a robot, and when I try to greet her, she rolls her eyes and runs away. So I go looking for her to talk to her, but she's always in the Earth room. Is this all because I'm sensitive, sis?"
"I'm sorry, it looks like I'm bothering you."
Finally, Goldie's face turned to Crystal once more.
Crystal's head was tilted deeply towards the floor.
She had always been confident, but at that moment she couldn't keep going.
Her lips were trembling, her eyes narrowed and she turned away from the door.
"I'm sorry for appearing out of nowhere and for sounding like an idiot."
"No, Goldie, you had every right to think that."
"Anyway, be a little more careful. For you, for the Earth, for both of us."
Before leaving, Goldie apologised briefly and added one more warning.
I held my breath and stood still until her bottom disappeared at the top of the stairs.
When she was no longer a shadow, I turned to check on Crystal.
"Sister."
"Terra, have I been so strange?"
Up close, Crystal's face was darker than I'd expected, even darker than Goldie's before.
* * *
I closed the door, but didn't lock it.
Crystal didn't lean against the wall like before, but kept a short distance away, sitting on the bed.
But she reached out and placed a hand on the back of his shaking hand.
"I thought I was being normal... but I guess I wasn't."
"I'm sure she's sensitive, but it's only been a day since Mum mentioned it yesterday."
"Or, to put it another way, are you saying that I'm so good at spotting things that I would notice something strange after just one day?"
"Well, that's... well, that's...
I wanted to be nice and reassuring, but I quickly lost my logic.
To be honest, I can't say for sure because I wasn't there, and it was Soo-jung who did the deed and Geum-bi who reacted, so what can I say when I wasn't even there to witness it.
When I stopped trying to make her feel better, she lowered her head even more.
I didn't know what to do, so I gave up trying to talk to her and just hugged her instead.
"Don't do that. We'll get caught again."
"It'll be okay, it's normal between brothers and sisters, right?"
"Terra, is it common for brothers to make out like that?"
"I stand corrected, only with Crystal. I don't do it with anyone else."
I sometimes hugged the youngest and spun her around when I felt like it.
If I did that, she would get scared and Hwa-yeon would punch her before she could get away.
"Anyway, if you want to be normal, accept it, OK?"
"Being normal is so hard, hmph."
Suzy laughed to herself, but it didn't make her feel better.
For now, let's start with me, because yesterday's Soo-jung was the only one who thought she was weird.
At the time, I was really worried about her being an adopted person. Maybe she feels the same way now?
Suddenly, I understood why Geum-bi had been acting so strangely before.
If she'd said, "I think Soo-jung is hiding something from me, but she won't tell me, and I'm avoiding her, so I'm angry..." it all made sense.
If she had said, "I think she's hiding something from me, and I'm avoiding her, and I'm crying because she won't talk to me," everything would make sense.But no matter how you look at it, it doesn't make sense.
I thought I'd have to ask her to find out more.
I waited for Crystal to calm down, planning to go to Goldie's side later.
"It's the Earth."
"Huh?"
"I... can I sneak down here tonight too?"
"Huh?"
But the plan was discarded before it was even considered.
The empty diary quickly filled with meetings with other people.
"I'm sorry for leaning on you, but after what you just told me about Goldie, I don't think I'll feel comfortable on the second floor."
"If you avoid her, she'll become even more suspicious."
"Right now, I don't know how to look at her."
I could understand Soo-Jung's feelings.
She had been like that with the other girls, but she had been very careful with Goldie.
Last night, she was crying because she was the only one who was suspicious.
All I got from her was a feeling of regret and disappointment in herself.
Now that I've been implicated and suspected, her mind must be shaken.
"It's complicated.If I tell her what I thought before, she might feel even more depressed that I was only worried about her.
For the first time, I couldn't judge Soo-jung's weakness.
After thinking about it for a while, I just hugged her and nodded.
"Thank you. I love you, Terra."
"I love you too, sis."
We nodded, smiled and squeezed each other's arm, and I whispered "I love you" in her ear.
I hope that makes you feel better.
There was still a long way to go until evening, so I hoped it would calm her down a bit.
"Big brother~! Geum-bi asked me where Soo-jung is, and I've been waiting a long time..."
Ah, I'm very close now.
I was going to pat him twice more and then walk away.
Geumbi was the only one who said anything before opening the door.
Hwa-yeon, the fourth in the family, stopped on the doorstep and shouted.
"Oh, um, look... I found her, I'll give her to you. No, I'm leaving..."
Unlike Geumbi, Hwa-yeon didn't even go into the room before running up the stairs.
Suzu and I breathed out deeply, feeling the tension in the air.