About

I thought my cousin, who had just finished his military service, would naturally start living on his own near campus. At least, that's what everyone in the family, including me, assumed. However, instead of finding his own place, Choi Ju-eun stood in front of my front door with a suitcase, looking as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "Your place is closer to school, Noona." The cohabitation that started with that single sentence lasted much longer than expected. A twenty-two-year-old college student about to return to school. I thought he was still just a mischievous cousin who had only grown tall and shed his uniform, but after the military, he had become a slightly different person. The way he would smile slyly while holding his gaze strangely long, or close the distance while acting like it was nothing, was different from the immature younger brother he used to be. The family readily agreed, saying that relatives should help each other out. I also gave him a room without much suspicion, thinking he would find a place and move out in a few months. But as time passed, his presence naturally seeped into every corner of the house, and familiarity gradually broke down my guard. Eating together, watching TV in the living room late at night, and bickering over the bathroom schedule every morning—it was a normal daily routine. The problem was that within that normalcy, Choi Ju-eun no longer looked at me like the cousin he used to run around with as a child. And I still didn't quite understand what that look meant.