My Younger Sister Was My First Love - My Younger Sister Was My First Love chapter 83
83. Tarot
Tarot. Astrology. MBTI. Blood type.
Unscientific systems that I think lack basis, even if they’re not entirely unfounded.
I spent a semester living with English literature majors at an all-girls university.
I was surprised to find that girls were really interested in this stuff.
Honestly, I didn’t get it.
You’re an I, so that’s how it is.
You’re an E, so that’s how it is.
It often felt like a flawed logic, like “if you wear it on your ear, it’s an earring, and if you wear it on your nose, it’s a nose ring”.
But I didn’t forcefully intrude on such topics and shout, “Hey, guys! That’s not scientific at all!”
It’s a matter of personal taste.
If you like it, you like it, and that’s that.
But I never thought my younger sister would be so enthusiastic about this stuff.
“Are you kidding me right now?”
Even on a Sunday afternoon, when customers are scarce, my mouth fell open.
At least five teams seemed to be waiting in front of a small, hole-in-the-wall shop.
As I had expected, there were no men among the waiting customers.
Couples or groups of women dominated the crowd.
“Right. This is what happens when you don’t make a reservation.”
“Hmm.”
It seems like they’re making money, somehow.
The door creaked open with a drizzling sound.
“Is Ms. Jihui here?”
“Yes!”
Jihui grabbed my wrist with an excessively loud voice.
“Let’s go!”
As we entered the shop, I wondered how to describe this place.
Right. That’s it.
The space in front of us felt like a real estate office, exuding a sense of stability.
A large table where customers could talk with their cards.
In the back, I saw a mixer coffee machine and a water purifier.
The middle-aged woman who greeted us was dressed like a high school guidance counselor.
“Welcome! So, you two are here for a couple’s tarot reading today?”
“Yep!”
Jihui smiled brightly and pulled me to sit next to her.
“Oh, it seems like we have a lot of couple customers today. How long have you two been dating?”
The question was natural, but I couldn’t answer readily.
Even if Jihui and I liked each other, we weren’t officially a couple.
Of course, we didn’t count the days like that.
“We’ve been together for about five months!”
It wasn’t hard to infer why Jihui said five months.
She seemed to be counting from the day we first met.
“It’s a great time! Let’s get started right away. We’ll do the basic couple’s tarot reading, and then you can ask questions about what you’re curious about.”
The cards were neatly spread out on the tablecloth with a rustling sound.
“First, let’s see how our boyfriend and girlfriend think of each other. The girlfriend will draw one card from here, and the boyfriend will draw one card from this side.”
The auntie who was explaining the tarot process seemed like a theme park cast member, reciting a manual.
“Oppa will go first.”
Jihui started staring intently at the cards without even looking at me.
Seeing her focus like that, I felt like I should be cautious too.
Anyway, I couldn’t see the contents since they were face down.
“Then, I’ll…”
After a three-second hesitation, I pulled out the card from the top-right corner.
“And the girlfriend?”
“I’ll take this one.”
Jihee drew the card at the very center.
“Well, let’s start with the boyfriend’s card?”
The card flipped over with a crisp sound.
I tried to read the picture on the card, my eyes scanning it carefully.
The scene depicted five men engaged in a fierce sword fight, their blades clashing.
What was I thinking, considering Jihee like that?
“Hmm… does our boyfriend have low self-esteem or something?”
I knew it was a rhetorical question, but I still felt a pang of unease.
“Ah, yes.”
“People who draw this card usually lack confidence in themselves, so they tend to suppress their feelings.”
“Oh, that’s right!”
Jihee’s eyes sparkled, and she entered full attention mode.
“People like this often have a lot of fears. Maybe there’s something they couldn’t tell their girlfriend or do for her?”
You know.
This was like pseudoscience.
Why was it hitting the nail on the head so well?!
From the very beginning, it was like she had pierced my heart, and I couldn’t catch my breath.
“No… there’s nothing like that.”
“According to the card, it seems like the boyfriend is not fully opening up to the girlfriend. Would you like to see what our girlfriend thinks?”
“Yes!”
Jihee’s face lit up with expectation, as if she had faith in the card’s reading.
Jihee’s card was revealed.
It showed a golden cup, with two people facing each other, like a wedding ceremony.
Just by looking at it, I could tell it was more positive than my card, which was full of guys.
“Aww, the girlfriend’s style is really different from the boyfriend’s?”
“Is that so?”
“Well, in cases like this card, there’s a nickname.”
The aunt handed me the card, pushing it towards me.
“Perfect Love.”
-Giggle-
I felt a shock as soon as I heard the answer.
“Oppa, are you okay?”
“Ah, yes.”
“Were you surprised to hear it’s ‘Perfect Love’?”
Perfect love with my younger sister?
It was even more absurd to just nod and accept it.
If we were a normal couple, it would be a heartwarming, sweet moment, but for me, it was just embarrassing.
“Our girlfriend is very devoted. She seems to feel a sense of destiny in her love with the boyfriend.”
“Wow, that’s really true!”
“With this kind of compatibility, the girlfriend usually takes the lead a bit more. The boyfriend is a bit passive, but the girlfriend has strong confidence.”
It felt like my inner thoughts were being forcibly exposed, and the chair I was sitting on suddenly turned into a bed of thorns.
“How old is the age difference between the two of you?”
“We’re one year apart.”
“How old are you?”
“Twenty-one. Twenty-two.”
“Oh my, you’re still kids.”
From then on, the conversation was mainly between Jihee and the aunt, and I could hardly get a word in edgewise.
I kept saying “Hmm, that’s right” and “I think so,” while Jihee enthusiastically shared unnecessary TMI without being asked.
“Okay, let’s see what the other person wants from me! Let’s draw a card each.”
“Oh, this is going to be fun.”
Jihee clapped her hands excitedly and patted my thigh repeatedly.
“This time, let’s have the girlfriend open it first.”
The accuracy rate of the tarot card reading at this point was around 70%.
In my opinion, it was about 70% accurate.
The words that pierced our relationship were astonishing, but sometimes they were completely off the mark.
Jihee’s cards had always looked positive, but this time they were different.
Just looking at them, I could sense a catastrophic visual.
A red heart with three swords stuck in it.
Jihee let out a small “oh” and looked at the aunt as if seeking an explanation.
“Hmm… does our girlfriend have bad memories of love?”
“Yes?”
“In cases like this, people who are stuck in the past or have trauma often draw this card.”
“Ah… I see?”
The smile on her face, which had been full of laughter, began to fade at the mention of the past.
“Yes. Did you have a bad experience with your ex or something?”
Instead of answering, Jihee quietly slipped her arm into mine.
“No? You’re my first boyfriend, so that’s not possible, right?”
The tarot card was right.
It was as if it had dug up the deep-seated lack of confidence within Jihee.
The fact that Jihee was lying was obvious just from her body language.
“What should I do, then?”
This time, I raised my voice.
I didn’t believe it, but I wanted to hear the answer.
“The boyfriend type lacks confidence.”
“Yes.”
“You need to give your girlfriend unwavering trust.”
The words, which sounded like they came from a fortune teller who could see the future, made me bite my lip.
“Even if your girlfriend doesn’t show it, she has a delicate side. You need to approach her with a gentle and caring attitude.”
Take care of her.
Little sister.
Yeah, that’s possible even as siblings.
Comforting family members who are struggling emotionally is a reasonable and fair thing to do.
“Okay, I’ll do that.”
“Then, let’s see what the guy expects from his girlfriend?”
Huh.
Is this also a fail?
At first glance, the picture didn’t look very promising.
There was no one around, and only sharp, pointed spears were flying through the sky.
“This card usually appears when… at first sight. Like in the movies, when you fall in love at first sight.”
The card that I thought was a fail unexpectedly rang the golden bell.
“Wow, really? My older brother confessed to me at first sight.”
Jihee started to dig up the family’s dark past, giggling as if she was embarrassed.
“Yeah, so when this card appears, there’s a high probability of a huge change occurring. It’s like a new wind blowing into your life. Whether it’s positive or negative.”
At this point, I started to think about whether I should come alone next time.
The people lined up in front of me, who I thought were foolish, made me reflect on myself.
Is the person in front of me now really entering the realm of a sage?
“Then, what should I do?”
Jihee repeated the question I had asked.
“The girlfriend doesn’t have to do much. Just keep doing what you’re doing well, and that’s it. How the guy receives it is entirely up to him.”
The aunt looked like she understood, gazing at me with her eyes.
“The girlfriend might feel a little disappointed if she hears this, but the sustainability of this relationship depends on the guy.”
A playful smile started to form on Jihee’s lips.
“Wow, does the guy have the upper hand in our relationship? Is he going to dump me?”
“Not dumping. Not dumping.”
What’s there to dump when we’re always at home anyway?
“Okay, now let’s each ask one question.”
Jihee poked my side, telling me to go first.
“Okay, I’ll… Ah, can I ask about my academic luck since I have a college entrance exam this year?”
“Lame.”
It was a sharp, sarcastic remark.
“Save the fun for your turn.”
“Aigoo, take the college entrance exam? With a girlfriend?”
“Ah, yeah. I messed up big time last year. Hehe.”
The aunt smiled brightly and then drew out another card.
“Let’s see what the result of our girlfriend’s exam will be.”
Jihee touched this card and that, then pulled out the last one.
A knight riding a horse, with a blue sky in the background.
At first glance, it looked very positive to me.
“This is a very good card in terms of business and career. It has a strong nuance of hard work being rewarded.”
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“Hul. Is that so?”
“Yes. Among all the cards, this one is the best in this kind of situation.”
“You’re really something, Korean-style!”
Seeing him react to a single question with a mix of disappointment and laughter, it felt like watching a comedy show.
“So, if you study hard, you’ll get good results. Fighting!”
“Yeah, it’s your turn now.”
As I turned to face Ji-hee, she gazed at me with a serious expression, her eyes locked onto mine, and slowly asked her question.
“Do you think I can marry this person?”
“Your girlfriend is quite aggressive, isn’t she?”
“I think it has to be Oppa, or it won’t work out.”
My younger sister was speaking like she was in a romance novel, saying such cheesy lines.
Isn’t it embarrassing?
How can she say that?
Listening to her, I felt like my ears were going to twist off, but Ji-hee didn’t even flinch an eyebrow.
“Then, shall we choose one card among the two and see?”
“Oppa, what do you do?”
“Hmm… this one?”
From the ambiguous choices, Ji-hee picked one and suggested we take the one in the middle.
“Five, six, ah, this one! Let’s see this one!”
As the card in the center was flipped over, its face was revealed.
[DEATH]
“Is this a good one?”
Her lips were smiling, but her eyes were cold and stern.
“It should be a good one.
Her expression was as if she would overturn the table if it wasn’t good, making me feel uneasy even as her Oppa.
“Ah, um, now this card is…”
A bead of cold sweat rolled down the ajumma’s forehead.