“...What?”

- It’s not your fault.

“Why are you suddenly saying this, ahjussi?”

- Like I said, it’s not your fault.

Kang Ji-Seok looked at what I wrote and stayed silent for a while. Perhaps my words of comfort, reassuring him that he wasn’t to blame for this situation, had touched his heart. However, I noticed that his jaw was trembling.

He quickly turned away and sniffled once. I quietly patted him on the shoulder.

“Oh geez, why am I…”

Kang Ji-Seok put on a bitter smile as he kept on sniffling. His eyes were bloodshot. All the tears he’d been holding back flowed out in a torrent. With sorrow in my heart, I wrote down some words.

- Are you worried about your sister?

Kang Ji-Suk didn’t say anything after he’d read what I had written. Instead, he frowned and kept his mouth closed.

I waited until Kang Ji-Suk calmed down, hoping that he would open up once he organized his thoughts. I sat next to him for a while and looked to the horizon. I knew better than to lecture him about the stuff that he already knew. Sitting with him was the best thing I could do right now.

After a while, Kang Ji-Suk let out a deep breath.

“Do you think my sister will be okay?”

- She’ll be all right.

“Please don’t kick her out. I’ll take on whatever my nuna is responsible for as well.”

Despite his calm expression, Kang Ji-Suk’s voice...