The heat of the afternoon was sticking to your skin, making you slightly regret agreeing to accompany Jake to his campus. From the start, you knew that your job was only to help your brother tidy up his room in his new dorm, but still, it felt like forced labor.

"Sullie, don't pout like that," Jake said while pushing his suitcase filled with his belongings. "It's fun to come to my campus."

You snorted. "Fun for who? You or me?"

Jake chuckled, but didn't try to argue. You walked through the parking area, towards the dorm building that towered majestically in front of you. The campus was bigger than you had imagined—with students walking back and forth, occasionally joking and greeting each other, as if their world was filled with freedom. It wasn't like your high school, which felt more like a cage than a place to study.

You sighed. "Can't I just wait at the cafe?"

"Just arrived," Jake replied casually. "Help me out for a while, then when you're done, we can eat together."

You had no choice but to follow your brother into the building. You passed stairs after stairs, the hallways were filled with the sound of students chatting or just walking leisurely.

Until finally, you arrived in front of the room that Jake would be staying in.

You looked around. The room was still empty, there were only a few suitcases that had been placed in the corner. When you were about to open your bag to start helping, footsteps were heard from outside.

Then the voice of someone familiar to your ears.

"Eh? Seriously?"

You tensed. Your heart seemed to stop beating for a moment before then beating faster.

You turned your head, and there, stood someone who was all too familiar.

Lee Heeseung.

A figure that you used to only be able to see from behind Jake's room door. Someone whose name often came up in your brother's conversations, someone who used to tease you and consider you a child—and now, he was standing in front of you.

More mature, taller, more... everything.

Heeseung's smile widened as he looked you up and down. "So big already! I thought you were still a kid who used to stick to Jake."

You felt your chest sink.

It turned out, you still looked like a child in his eyes.

You could only stare at Heeseung without saying anything. Not because you didn't know how to respond, but more because your mind was too busy processing the fact that the man was here—right in front of you—after all this time.

Meanwhile, Heeseung was still smiling, as if waiting for your reaction.

"I'm in 11th grade," you finally said, your voice sounding firmer than you thought.

Heeseung raised an eyebrow, as if he had just realized something. "Yeah, right?" he muttered. "But still, to me you're Jake's little sister who used to bother me a lot."

You wanted to argue, wanted to say that you were no longer the little girl who used to only peek at Heeseung from behind Jake's bedroom door. But before you could protest, Jake had already laughed.

"Come on, don't make her angry," your brother said, patting his shoulder lightly. "Sullie's all grown up now. You should just call her 'Sullie', not 'little sister' anymore."

Heeseung stared at you for a moment before finally smiling slightly. "Okay, noted."

But even though his words sounded like he understood, his expression was still the same. As if, in his eyes, you were still the little girl who used to sit and listen to their conversations.