Isn't It Love?

I love my big brother.

Risa was spacing out, looking out the classroom window, once again in class, the teacher’s lesson only went in one ear and out the other.

Her mind was full of one feeling that suddenly appeared. Risa hadn’t felt her heart beating fast when she was with Kai since yesterday. She didn’t know why because usually when looking at her brother, her eyes would be like having a pink filter on.

But that filter seemed to have disappeared. Did she not love her brother anymore? It couldn’t be that she had fallen for someone else. If it was someone else, who could that be? Risa had never felt like she interacted with any boys other than her brother.

Maybe there was?

Risa remembered the teenage boy she met on the street yesterday, the boy who had a "vibe" like her beloved brother. Yeah, she got flustered and couldn’t take her eyes off him, somehow she didn’t realize why she could be like that.

It felt like an irresistible magnetic pull. It happened naturally.

Looking at the flower brooch on her bag, Risa bit her lower lip. Forget about that random boy, doesn’t her brother have lots of flower brooches?

Kai has three. One flower the same as hers, but the other two. Who do those belong to? Risa was thinking so hard she didn’t realize her name was called because she got caught daydreaming in class.

"Miss Clove... Hello, earth to Miss Clove..."

"Risa..." the girl behind her poked her back with a pen and kept whispering. "Risa... hey, this idiot..."

"Hmm?!"

Risa stood up while holding up her book. "Yes, Mrs. Caroline. Reading from which page you say?"

Teacher Caroline sighed while adjusting her glasses, "Miss Clove, is my English class so boring that you blank out and busy thinking about something? If yes, could you please come forward and tell us what you’re thinking about."

"Ehh?" Risa was surprised and gave an awkward little laugh, "Erm... if I tell you, my brother might become socially dead."

"..."

"..."

The whole class didn’t understand what this girl was talking about, but Mrs. Caroline let Risa sit back down and continued the lesson.

Risa breathed a sigh of relief as she sat back down, turned around, and whispered to the girl who had poked her back earlier.

"Thank you, Rose."

The cute girl with long ginger hair tied in a ponytail gave a thumbs up. Risa also responded by flashing her thumb high to her bestie.

Class time and school hours really went by quickly. Before going home, Risa opened her locker to put some stuff there before leaving this place.

"Hey Risa~"

The hair on Risa’s neck stood up hearing a boy’s voice. She turned and saw a boy who... she didn’t remember his name because it wasn’t important to record in her memory. But one thing she remembered, this boy was really consistent in approaching her.

"I have something." The boy took out two movie tickets and shoved them in front of Risa’s face, making her pull her face back a little. "I have tickets for a horror movie, ’The Potato Mansion’. I heard that movie is popular lately so-"

"No."

"Mmm... I haven’t finished talking, you know."

"No." Risa slammed her locker door quite hard to show her final words. "First, I don’t really know you. But your consistency in approaching me is really worthy to Appreciate. However, sorry, I don’t feel the same way."

Risa then left that poor heartbroken boy from school alone. Maybe she was mean, but Risa felt she had been fair enough to that boy. Besides, she was still 14 years old and dating? She felt she didn’t need it yet because even if she wanted to date, there was only one person on her mind. Even though she didn’t know if the person on her mind was truly the one she loved.

Am I sick? My heart can’t beat fast anymore when near Kai.

People always say, the average person will meet the one they love the most during their teenage years, more precisely first love always happens around middle school to high school age, through a point of view or first interaction or just by harboring feelings.

Therefore, a simple statement always emerges from that phenomenon.

⌈Stories that haven’t even started are precisely the stories that are hard to forget in the journey of human life⌋

Risa’s first love is certainly Kai, her brother. She always believed that.

She liked Kai’s voice and every word he had said since she was little when he praised her. She liked his face, the smiles he made and radiated from that face even when he sometimes made a shy face even though it was rare, she had seen every expression her brother made even that dazed expression yesterday.

If there was a possibility in the future, she would not get married and would keep living with him. Because she likes being the little sister who always stays by his side.

Little sister...

Risa actually didn’t really like those words ever since she found out that siblings can’t marry each other, when she was little. However, she often read about histories from centuries ago where the prince had relationships with their own sisters.

Actually... do I love my brother or not?

Risa walked on the sidewalk, spacing out again and didn’t hear the sound of the light turning red for pedestrians. She kept walking until she was startled when someone’s hand held her back.

"Hmm... seems like you really have a habit of walking while daydreaming."

A voice Risa had recently come to recognize, but she really kept it stored. Looking up, it was the teenage boy from yesterday, the boy flashed a smile at Risa which made her once again flustered.

Risa pulled her hand away and shifted back a few steps, which the boy laughed at. The boy then raised his hands as if to declare he wasn’t the type to try anything funny.

Holding it to her chest, Risa felt her heart beating fast again. Coincidence? No way, Risa thought about how impossible it was for her to fall for this random boy whose name she didn’t even know.

When the light turned green, Risa was ready to dash off but the teenage boy started a conversation like he wanted to talk because the boy was curious about the "brooch Risa has."

"Umm... I..."

"Just a moment, but if you’re busy I won’t force you."

Risa was confused. Her heart was beating fast as if it really wanted to say, "I’m curious why my heart beats near him even though we don’t know each other."

But in her mind, her brother’s face appeared.

"So do you have time?" The boy said with a warm and charming smile.

Before she could answer, someone pulled her which made her squeal a little. Looking up, her eyes widened because that person was Kai, her own brother.

However, one thing Risa noticed was that her brother’s eyes were also surprised and the grip he gave to slightly keep her by his side was also quite strong.

The teenage boy who saw that raised his hands again, "I’m not a suspicious person. I purely just wanted to have a little chat... with Risa."

"..." Kai stared at the boy sharply, before answering with a sharp tone that Risa had truly never heard from Kai. "Sorry, my little sister has matters to attend to."

"Hmm... what a pity. Well then, maybe another time."

The teenage boy then left the siblings. Risa was quite calm, but one thing was odd. How did that teenage boy know her name, when she hadn’t said her name, they hadn’t even introduced each other, and as for her brother... why did he put on such a sharp face.

"Let’s go home..." Kai said while holding Risa’s hand.

Risa felt slightly pulled to follow her brother’s steps. She didn’t know what her brother was thinking, but she felt a little... annoyed? Why?