These Dangerous Girls Placed Me Into Jeopardy

Seeing that expression on Serena’s face, I almost instinctively opened my mouth to apologize and back down. After all these years, I had developed the ingrained habit of always lowering myself, just to avoid being completely hated by my cold sister.

But not anymore!

If I kept letting her lead me by the nose, I would end up sinking deeper and deeper into a swamp of moral corruption, and in the end, if I got trapped in these forbidden emotions, it would only bring about endless disasters.

Reality isn’t as simple as it looks in TV dramas. It’s not nearly as romantic either. There’s far too much you have to bear.

That's why we had to draw a clear boundary!

A brother is a brother, and a sister is a sister! Even though Serena had already broken through so many of my defenses, even though we were in a dangerously high-risk situation, the final line had to be protected at all costs.

It was one thing if she did stuff while I was asleep and I had no memory of it. But if, when I was fully awake, Serena continued doing the things she just listed...

I couldn't guarantee I would hold myself back.

No matter what you say, I'm still a man. Even sage mode has its limits.

Expecting me to stay pure and composed like some ancient monk, unless I were genuinely impotent, was a joke.

The thing that had happened in the bathroom earlier already proved plenty... Yeah, it seemed like my **was a lot stronger than I thought.

“E-Even if you make that face, I won’t back down! This is non-negotiable!”

Serena stared at me for a moment. Then the corners of her mouth lifted slightly, and her expression softened a lot.

What’s this? She suddenly looks happy?

I really don’t get how girls' minds work...

“Brother’s different from usual. More assertive.”

“That’s because I never knew you had special feelings for me until now! I even thought you hated me! You never called me ‘Brother’ once, and you were always ignoring me and brushing me off...”

“...Because calling you ‘Brother’ face-to-face made me too embarrassed. And also...”

Serena paused, pressed her thighs together, pursed her lips, then, wearing a shy expression I had never seen before, she said:

“Seeing Brother’s miserable face... made me kinda excited.”

She's a sadist?!

Turns out I’d guessed right!!

Serena really did act cold toward me out of twisted interest!

“And also, I’m not good at showing expressions. My facial expressions are pretty stiff. Isn’t it the same for you, Brother?”

“Ahh...

Yeah, you’re right. We both got that from Dad...”

Now that she mentioned it, it was true. No matter how shaken or emotional I was inside, it barely ever showed on my face.

Like the old saying: "Even if Mount Tai collapses before him, his expression remains unchanged."

Whew.

Since we’d finished talking through everything, and since it was almost morning anyway, I decided to just get up.

I walked over to the window and pulled open the curtains, letting the morning light pour into the room.

Meanwhile, Serena curled back up on my bed, hugging the blanket and closing her eyes, looking like she was about to go back to sleep.

“You’re going back to sleep? Make sure you fold the blanket when you get up.”

As for me, I wasn’t sleepy at all anymore.

First of all, I wasn’t about to crawl back into bed with my sister. Second, after finding out something this shocking, there was no way I could fall asleep again.

Since I was up this early, I might as well go make breakfast. And while I was at it, I could make my own lunchbox too.

After the fiasco at the cafeteria yesterday with Lillian Ji, I had no intention of eating in the cafeteria ever again. I didn’t want to be treated like a zoo animal, eating under a crowd's gaze.

I opened the window and took a deep breath of fresh air, then stretched my arms high.

Immediately, I felt a lot more refreshed.

“Brother.”

“Mm? Oh—are you cold? I’ll close the window right away.”

Today, I couldn’t keep the window open for ventilation too long. Serena was still in the room. If she caught a cold, that would be bad.

“Brother.”

“Mm, what is it?”

“Brother.”

“What is it already...? Just say it.”

Every time Serena called me “Brother,” I’d react half a beat slower. I just wasn’t used to her calling me that so suddenly.

“...Nothing.

It’s just...

I finally got a response.

Before, you never answered.”

Of course I didn’t answer before—I was asleep!

The only thing responding to you was my body’s conditioned reflexes!

“Ahh... From now on, I’ll always respond to you. So stop sneaking into my bed while I’m asleep, okay?”

“Mm.”

Just as I was about to leave the room, I suddenly remembered something.

I turned back and asked Serena:

“By the way, Serena—where’s the jacket I wore home? After you helped me take it off, where did you put it?”

That jacket wasn’t mine. I had to return it to Lily Yang today.

But instead of answering directly, Serena asked me a question.

“Brother, where’s your school uniform? Why did you come home wearing a tracksuit jacket? And you weren’t even wearing anything underneath it...”

“My uniform accidentally got torn, and the shirt got ruined too. This jacket was loaned to me by someone.”

I deliberately hid the details—who ripped my uniform and who loaned me the jacket— so as not to reveal anything about Lily Yang.

Especially since Lily's situation involved all sorts of strange incidents. Like her being a succubus. Like my own abilities...

None of it was stuff I could casually talk about.

Especially not to my family.

Dragging them into this mess would be way too dangerous.

However, Serena’s sharp instincts immediately seized on the important point. She locked her sharp gaze onto me, got up, and came over to stand in front of me. After a long silence, she asked:

“...Whose jacket?”

Although I couldn’t exactly explain it, my intuition told me it was best not to tell her the whole truth. So I rubbed my nose awkwardly and said:

“Uh... It’s a friend’s...”

“Lie. You don’t have any friends.”

“Uh...”

She saw right through me instantly.

Even I thought my excuse was pathetic.

I’m just terrible at lying.

“And besides... This jacket smells like a woman. Brother, do you have a girlfriend?”

“You just said you wouldn’t interfere in my life...”

“This is concern as a family member. Brother’s girlfriend could become Brother’s wife. Brother’s wife would be my sister-in-law. If she’s going to join the family, she has to pass my approval.”

With every sentence, Serena stepped closer. And I stepped back.

Our faces ended up way too close—the pressure was overwhelming!

Under that oppressive atmosphere, combined with my ingrained habit of yielding to Serena, I couldn’t help but blurt out the truth:

“It’s a teacher’s! A teacher’s! Lily Yang from the library! Just like you said—since I don’t have any friends, I had to ask a teacher for help, and she lent me her tracksuit jacket...”

“Lily Yang from the library... I see.”

For some reason, Serena didn’t press further. Instead, she lifted the hem of her nightdress, pulled out the jacket that had been sandwiched between her thighs, and handed it to me.

You were hiding it there?!

No, wait—how could that even fit?

Women’s skirts really are a dimensional rift... 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Mysterious and enchanting... No, wait, what the hell am I thinking!

“Brother.”

“Mm? What now?”

I had already put my hand on the doorknob and half-opened the attic door. I turned back toward Serena.

Serena lifted her face slightly, her eyes misty and glistening, and stood on tiptoes to kiss my cheek.

“I love you.”

“......”

I stood silent for a moment.

Then I naturally smiled, gently stroked her cheek, and kissed her on the forehead.

“I love you too.”

Although... it’s the love between siblings.

And just like that, a new day began with my sister’s good-morning kiss.