I watched as Jinhee placed down a giant sprawling mess of interconnected 'routes' over a span of twenty sheets of paper taped to her table.
"Okay, Oppa." Jinhee slammed her hand on the table and said, "Behold, the tangled mess of relationships that is your life."
"...I can see that."
And I really could.
Despite looking like a GIANT tangled yarn ball spread across a 2D field, everything was, surprisingly, well labeled.
Which women in my life got along with each other, the factions they each had, who would fight with who, the priorities list, who would get by without spending much time with them, who wouldn't mind skipping out on quality time altogether and prefer gifts...
It was basically a cheatsheet for all the dozen women in my life... which apparently included Yuri and excluded Seol-Ah.
Jinhee looked at me and said, "Oppa! You have to resolve this mess before it gets too late!" She jabbed a finger on the map and said, "It's working right now because it's all pushing and pulling in equilibrium. But the moment one girl gets too much attention, BOOM! It all blows up in your face! Bad ending! Maybe even a 'dead' ending for someone!"
I sighed. "Sis-"
"No, Oppa! I'm serious!" Jinhee looked over with her blue eyes-
Huh. Blue?
I guess that's her innate ability. I wonder if she has something similar...
But anyway, she looked at me with her blue eyes and said, "I can see the ending! And you aren't Keima Katsuragi!"
"Wow. THAT'S a deep cut. Haven't thought about the World God Only Knows in ages..."
The similarities were striking.
Except, I didn't see the women in my life as game characters or 'targets' to be captured.
Seol might.
But I wasn't Seol.
Jinhee pursed her lips and said, "Oppa! You have to take this seriously!"
"I am, Sis. And you're going about this the wrong way."
"What do you mean I'm going about this the wrong way?" Jinhee waved at her 'walkthrough' and said, "If you follow this carefully-"
"Jinhee."
Did she hear the severity in my voice? Or was it being addressed by name?
Jinhee paused and then turned to look at me, calming down. "...Okay, Jihu. What is it?"
"The women in my life are not targets. They are not 'things' to be micromanaged or scheduled like events."
"But Oppa-!"
"No. Listen to me." I sat down and waved my hand, moving the map onto the wall. But at the same time, I materialized a pot of herbal tea along with a pair of cups.
Jinhee frowned, clearly having a lot to say. But she waited. "I'm listening, Oppa."
I poured her a cup of tea and slid it over. "Tell me, Jinhee. What kind of person do you think I am?"
Jinhee paused. "That's..." She looked up at me. Then she frowned and said, "...You're my Oppa. Someone who's too nice to women, too eager to rush into ridiculous events, CLEARLY superhuman... And someone who loves too deeply." She swirled her tea and said, "That's why I'm worried about you, Oppa. If you lose any of those girls, you... might go back. To being... the other Oppa. Who almost left me."
'Ah. So that's it.'
Jinhee was smart. Scary smart. And she could somehow pull together an explanation from the smallest hints. Just like me.
But she was different in one crucial way: when she thought she had an answer, she thought it was the 'true' answer.
She didn't assess alternatives, simply picking the one that seemed 'true' to her.
And it seemed like she had gotten it in her head that if one of the women in my life were to vanish or leave me behind, I'd change. That I was being held up by the women in my life. That Hannah, Flone, and Seonhwa... Seora, Seohui, and Maria... Claire, Sora, and Teresa... Chohong, Yuri, and Yuhui.
Jinhee thought that if I lost any one of them, it would deal me a harsh enough mental blow to where she'd lose 'me.' Her Oppa. The one that she had grown to love. The one she thought had vanished after saving her from the worst fate that night in the Young Sin's club.
"Jinhee." I gently reached out to hold her hand. Then I said, "You spoke these words to me once. So I'll say them back to you. ...Do you still feel guilty about that day? Is that why you're acting like this?"
Jinhee's breath hitched.
They were her words. The ones she asked me when I had been concerned about her hanging out with her friends. A concern that had been proven right, not immediately, but later when they went to that night club.
"I..." Jinhee's eyes glimmered with tears and she lowered her head. "...That's not fair, Oppa. Using my own words against me like this."
"Well. If there's anything I've learned as your older brother, it's that Jinhee's words get through to Jinhee."
The only one who could convince her- No, who could get her to actually question herself WAS herself.
So I used her words that had been said in concern about my actions for her to reflect back on what she was doing now.
Jinhee wiped her tears away and then huffed. "F-Fine. Maybe. ...Yeah. It's just..." She looked up at me and said, "Oppa. All of this..." She waved her hand around. "...Right now, it seems like fun. It's like a game. But I've talked to a few people. Asked around. Out there... in 'Paradise...' It's dangerous, isn't it? Really dangerous. And you got involved in this place because of me."
I reached out to poke her forehead and said, "Not 'because' of you. But 'earlier' as a result of saving you. But not 'because' of you." I smiled at her and said, "Jinhee, you silly girl. You misunderstand. That situation had been dangerous, yes. The consequences of saving you WERE serious. But the reason I'm still here isn't because of you. It's because I met people on this side that I want to protect. So stop it." I smiled. "I'm not as fragile as you think I am. The 'Oppa' in your head who crumbled because he lost the one he loved doesn't exist anymore."
Jinhee looked up at me.
I stared back into her clear blue eyes.
After a few minutes, Jinhee slowly nodded. "...Okay. I believe you, Oppa."
"Good. Because it's true."
Jinhee laughed. "It BETTER be true. But... fine." She paused. "...Then what are you going to do about them?" She looked at the chart on the wall. "That's twelve different women you need to sort out. You're married to Hannah and have a baby with Flone. I don't know what Claire is to you, but she's fine with whatever. But everyone else..."
"You're still thinking about this wrong, Sis."
Jinhee pursed her lips, genuinely looking frustrated. "Then tell me already, Oppa!"
"It's simple." I looked at Jinhee and said, "I love them. And they love me. It's not a matter of 'how can I love them all the same.' It's a matter of 'how can I make sure they all feel loved.' And I can do that. Because they're all different people who love me for different reasons."
Jinhee paused.
I kept talking. "Hannah loves me because I support her properly. Because I'm the first person who genuinely trusted her unconditionally... well, it ended up that way in the end." I chuckled, clearly remembering the conditions she put on our relationship at first.
Jinhee frowned. "Well, yeah. And you're married to her. But what about Seora? Or Seohui?"
"I've thought about it. Seora loves me because she owes me a debt she feels she can't repay in her lifetime and idolizes me. She's being driven up the wall because she's finding it impossible to think of anything 'worth' what I've given her. So I just need to make her feel appreciated properly."
Jinhee paused. "...Okay. Then Seohui?"
"For her, I'm the only 'real' thing in her world. It doesn't really matter for her since her love for me is unconditional. I just need to treat her properly."
"...Fine. What about Seonhwa then?"
I paused. "Seonhwa..." I sipped on my tea. "...I've been piecing together the picture of what happened there with her. With me and her. And with Seol too."
Jinhee paused. "...With 'Seol...'" Her eyes widened. Like something just clicked in her head.
I lowered my tea cup and gave her a sad smile. "Yes. 'Seol.'"
"Oppa...?"
===
Jinhee stared at her Oppa-
No.
At the man who she called Oppa.
And as she did, her Innate Ability activated. [Character Design]
Most of the characters were filtered out, leaving only two names. No, two 'Characters.'
---
[Character Design]
Known Characters
> Oppa Jihu - 101%
> .
> .
> .
> Jihu - 5%
---
She had wondered at the time when she got it. Jinhee had noticed that her Oppa was on there twice, and why the percentages were different.
But now that he had clearly said 'Seol.' Now that he drew the line...
Her innate ability updated the list.
As the realization struck her, the truth emerged. Not the rationalization she had made, but the reality of the situation she wasn't aware.
And that was...
---
[Character Design]
Known Characters
> Oppa Jihu, the man who took on the role of being your older brother - 101%
> Seol Jihu, the piece of trash who would have taken everything from you just to gamble again - 100%
> Jihu, the man who was no one until he became the man you know now - 5%
---
...The man she called Oppa wasn't the brother she had grown up with, but treated her better than that brother ever would have.
And the brother she had grown up with was a man who, on that day, if Oppa hadn't taken his place... that brother would have taken her car, left her in the dirt, and sold everything.
Jinhee's eyes trembled as she looked past her [Character Design] screen to look at her Oppa.
Not at Seol.
Not at 'Oppa Jihu.'
But at her Oppa. At 'Jihu.'
And the man there...
> Your Innate Ability, Intuition, has been unlocked!
> Character Design responds to Intuition!
> Your Innate Ability, Intuition, has evolved!
> Your Innate Ability, Intuition, has become Clarity.
...For the first time since he had arrived in his world, his 'real' self emerged.