Around this time, in the International Airport of Janpa in E Continent, a young lady of raven hair, wearing casual sports attire was standing in line, waiting for a taxi. 

‘How should I deal with my luggage?’ 

​​

She needed to bring it to White City, the city closest to one of the entrances to the path on the Hemafuji Mountain Range, her next destination.

She had already packed a separate bag in which she would keep her necessities for camping.

Everything else would just be an extra burden.

Now she didn’t know where she wanted to keep everything.

‘I guess I’ll rent an apartment in the city.’

Emilin thought about keeping her luggage in one of the lockers in the Airport, but that was inconvenient since she didn’t know how she was going to proceed on this trip.

She didn’t know how much longer she was staying either, but she definitely didn’t want to waste time just to get her bags in case an occasion in which she needed something arose.

‘Who knows? If this area is as good as they say, I should consider buying a place here as a retirement home. Or better yet, a vacation home.’

If Theo and Nathen knew that their little sister was thinking of buying a vacation home so far away, they might have reconsidered recommending such a place.

The trip to White City was a long one, but considering the distance, she was traveling, it was already quite good.

Emilin took this time to tell her parents that she had arrived safely.

In fact, she got quite a scolding since she hadn’t told them that she left Malalakan before she had already arrived on another continent…

The scolding was well deserved. 

She also made sure to check up on her sibling’s college life, spending most of her travel time on her phone.

The taxi driver was also accustomed to such long and mundane trips and so he played some podcasts to entertain himself.

After 1 hour of texting and 3 hours of Kdramas, Emilin had finally arrived in White City.

The moment she stepped off the taxi, she realized the reason it was called White City. On every street, as far as her eyes could see, there were birch trees planted.

None of them looking younger than 10 years of age.

A mesmerizing scene.

‘I bet it would look even better at dawn’

Emilin could just imagine, the orange-pink rays trying to shine through the white barks. 

The taxi driver took her straight to her rented apartment which she had also prepared on the ride here, a very simple task with all the applications available these days.

Everything related to travels could be found in two or three applications, and getting a premium membership gave Emilin a worry-free trip. 

The apartment was already cleaned and fully furnished and she had already paid for a two-month stay, though she didn’t plan on staying for that long, she needed a place to keep her things and use as a resting point.

To rent this kind of apartment, it would normally require one to pay for a 6-month lease in the minimum, but considering that Emilin was a VIP, they were willing to concede a little.

The living room was furnished in a modern design, perfect for people of all ages. A lot of the wooden furniture was made of birch wood, used in ways that you wouldn’t be able to find elsewhere.

The shelves were especially nice as the color of the wood matched well with the color of the books available.

‘It is a shame I won’t be staying in this place for long. Should I contact a designer to remodel our home?’

Emilin thought back to the home in which her parents were now living alone, back in Polo Country. The walls there were incredibly white, so it would be nice if they could remodel for some warmer colors.

After unpacking, she went to the bathroom to clean herself up, taking a shower before looking into good interior designers.

‘It seems like I don’t really know anyone good for this job. I guess I’ll still have to ask mom and dad what they think about it.’

After thinking about it a little more, Emilin concluded that it was best to think about it later, maybe when they all reunited in the winter or summer break. Since it was about their house, Theo and Nathen should also have a say.

There was no point in thinking about it now.

***

As for Theodore, his lecture had already ended when he received the messages from Emilin.

In fact, they had just ended. 

While everyone else was still talking about the test that Master Sungcha had given the students, he was seriously texting, his actions standing out from the crowd.

But the reason he stood out was not due to his texting, rather it was because he wasn’t paying any attention to where he was walking…

Kayden who was now in charge of making sure that Theodore didn’t bump into anyone while walking took a peek at Theodore’s phone once the coast was clear. 

He had guided them to a bench near the outer areas of the campus and Theodore quietly sat down, not knowing where exactly he was.

After sitting, Kayden was also quietly looking at Theodore’s phone.

It was clear who he was texting.

The contacts were [Mom], [Dad], [Big Brother], and [Baby Sis <3].

There was no need to ask why Theodore was so concentrated. After all, he was someone willing to stay up all night just because his little sister, who was not actually that little asked him for a favor.

When Theodore finally looked up from his phone, he was finally able to take in his surroundings. He knew that Kayden was taking him somewhere not as crowded, which he was thankful for, but he didn’t know where.

If Kayden could hear Theodore’s thoughts, he would deny all accusations. 

Kayden: ‘I’m not doing it for you, I just don’t want my roommate to die after bumping into one too many trees…’

Kayden: ‘I don’t want other people to be like: Do you see that guy? He’s the one who had that idiot as a roommate.’

Kayden: ‘I definitely didn’t do it for you so you don’t need to be so thankful, though you can praise me since I’m such an amazing guy. That I don’t mind.’

“Where is this?” Theodore asked. 

They were in a really nice and quiet area and it didn’t feel like it was too far off from their campus area. 

Well, at least Theodore didn’t feel like he had been walking for that long.

“The outer campus for the second years, they never come here since it’s too far off so it’s relatively empty.”

Theodore nodded, ‘this could be a nice place to study outside.’

“But that’s not what’s most important here. I should be asking you. How did you get so whipped?” Kayden was purely curious. 

No matter how cute Theodore’s little sister was, there was no way that she could break the ever firm law that siblings should have a love-hate relationship, of course, leaning closer to hate for most.

Theodore tilted his head as if he didn’t understand the question, but Kayden didn’t believe it.

It was clear that his pal was whipped, it couldn’t possibly be denied.

Whoever dare deny it, was a liar, and whoever dare believe him, was an idiot.

Theodore was no liar and Kayden was no idiot.

[Dicitonary: whipped. Slang. excessively devoted/ submissive. (normally in a romantic relationship, but in this case, it’s a sibling relationship.)]

“Your sister.” Kayden clarified.

“Oh! Well…” Theodore thought about it for a while.

“It wasn’t always like this you know.” He smiled but didn’t clarify any further.

Even so, Kayden didn’t seem capable of imagining it.

Just from how devoted Theodore seemed to his sister, one would think he was born that way, but he had already clarified that that was not the case.

‘If this isn’t in the genes, then how come you guys are so different…’