I have a few updates. One that I’m glad about, one that I’m not.
Good news: My newest manga project has been uploaded on Batoto. And it’s totally safe for work.
Oh, and my work is published on Imoutolicious~~~ I’m so proud~~~
Second Story
Unlike my plan to go back home on a bus, instead of dropping us off at the terminal, when the car went down the mountain it passed the terminal and went somewhere else. I knew this when the car entered the freeway.
Are you thinking that I noticed way too late? But I don’t think so?
“Sunghoon, Sunghoon! What is that over there?!”
With Rangii occupying the top of my thigh like a tyrant and constantly bombarding me with questions about what was amazing and new to her, it was totally chaotic.
“It’s called a train and it’s like what we’re riding in right now, but the simplest explanation is that a bunch of cars are put together and go on a fixed road.”
“Ohhh! So that’s what it is!”
Ever since the car took off it was amazing. What’s this, what’s that. Since she kept asking me things she could’ve asked Saehee, I didn’t have the chance to look away. And because there were fewer new things to look at after entering the freeway, I was able to ask Saehee a question.
“Hey, the thing is. Where are we going right now?”
“We are going to the young master’s kennel.”
I’m not such an impatient man that I’d reply in anger did you just call my house a kennel?! Instead, I leaned in towards Saehee and spoke in a hushed voice.
“Isn’t this a chaffeur service? Didn’t it cost a lot? Do phantoms have a lot of money?”
Saehee ignored my concern for her spending and spoke in her usual tone.
“There is no need to lower your voice, young master. Because the person driving knows our identity.”
“Eh?”
Surprised, I looked at the driver. The old driver who initally looked harmless suddenly looked like a middle aged phantom.
“Are phantoms these days able to get driver’s licenses?”
“Haha, I’m a normal human.”
“What?”
The driver was whole-heartedly laughing and I alternated my eyes to look at Saehee.
“We have lived on this land for over four thousand years. Since ancient times, the higher-ups of humanity knew of our existence, and they assisted us in various ways.”
“……that’s a little unexpected.”
“Because if we get angered and decide to act, their positions would be endangered. Even if I were to leave my place by Master’s side, doing that much would be child’s play.”
Isn’t it a little subtle to call that assistance.
“You’re saying such scary things as easily as ever, Saehee-nim. And that’s why we work to create a satisfying environment in the present for the greatest phantoms.”
The old man said that while looking completely affable.
“But I’ve never seen that little kid before today……”
“I’m not a little kid!”
Rangii lost her temper and shouted. She’s definitely a little kid. The old man laughed loudly and acknowledged her words.
“Haha, please excuse me, young lady. But what kind of phantom are……”
“When did I say you could question us, human?”
The air stood still at her scornful, critical voice. My body naturally froze as well, and Rangii tapped my arm and teased me. While I was stuck like that, the driver calmly replied.
“Ah, please excuse my rudeness. The atmopshere seemed much better than normal. Please allow me to focus on driving now.”
Please do that, old man. Unlike the old man, I don’t have a lot of experience with phantoms so if things like this happen often then my body will end up with problems. Like in my heart. Like in my heart. Like in my heart.
“Saehee, Sunghoon’s stuck like this!”
“In times like this, you should caress his body with both your hands.”
Ah, I then noticed something. Saehee hasn’t called Rangii Master even once until now. Is that why Saehee was intentionally ignoring Rangii’s questions since earlier? In case she accidentally called Rangii Master? Is that why she got angry just now as well?
……The thought ‘is Rangii’s leaving Jirisan an unexpectedly big deal?’ melted away on this summer day as Rangii fidgeted with my chest and stomach with her hands.
“What’re you doing right now!”
“Ah, you’re back to normal.”
Rangii let out an unidentifiable low grumbling sound and leaned her face on my chest.
“Then since Sunghoon’s body has gotten smoother, I’m going to try to sleep for a bit.”
What’s gotten smoother, huh? I’ve always been a smooth man.
“Sleep when we get there.”
“Snoo—ore—.”
“So quick?!”
That’s too quick! Is she pretending to be asleep? But seeing her right now with her eyes closed, sleeping happily, I’d feel sorry to wake her up even if she was pretending. I have no choice but to leave her be.
I sighed and lowered my voice so I wouldn’t wake her up.
“Really, stop being so spoiled.”
Rangii’s tail danced a little.
Are you really asleep?
Dad is a novelist. He has enough fans to somehow make royalties, but I know he’s a terrible author because he hasn’t sold many copies and he’s too busy just taking care of himself. Thanks to that, we rely on Mom to pay for the majority of the household expenses. Thankfully, Mom has a very high income so my family can afford our own house with a small yard, and we may not be rich, but I thought we were happy in our own way. And so,
“What a tiny house.”
Don’t say whatever you want about someone’s house, you brat. I grabbed Rangii, who just said something incredibly rude, by the ears with my hands and squeeqed them hard in a 3/4 beat rhythm.
“You brat, what’re you saying about someone’s house?”
Of course it’s small comapred to grandpa’s estate, but do you have any idea how hard it is to keep a house like this in Seoul?
“Ow-ow-ow-ow-ow!! I, I’m weak in my ears!”
It looked really painful so I let go. Rangii protested while touching her ears with both her hands.
“But if Saehee and I are going to live with you and we’re going to raise our children as well, it’s clearly too small!”
Huh, is that so? Based on what Rangii said, it’d be my family of Dad, Mom, and me, along with Saehee and Rangii, making it five people. Add to that kdis and it’d be seven at least, so the house really is small…… no, that’s not it!
“There is no need to worry, Master. By then I will have saved up enough for the sake of the young master who is too incompentent to own a house.”
That day won’t come so there’s no need to make such a plan. I pushed aside talking with htese weird phantoms for later and rang the doorbell.
Ding dong.
“Whoa! It’s making an interesting sound. What is that?” (tn: It’s spelled whoa. For God’s sake, please remember it’s spelled “whoa” and not woah)
Rather than answer, I looked at Saehee. Saehee avoided my eyes. She did it naturally enough for me to not realize she was avoiding eye-contact. Does that mean you want me to talk?
"It's called a doorbell. You use it to tell the people in the house that you're there. In your case, it'd be like having a servant say "I'm here" but instead, it's a machine."
"Ah, so that's what it is?"
Rangii nodded and stared at the door.
"But why isn't anyone coming out to meet us?"
That's what I'm saying. Why isn't anyone opening the door? Maybe she had to go out for a bit? It's not that I don't have a key, but it's troublesome to have to take it out. While complaining I opened my backpack, got the key, and opened the front door.
"I guess nobody's home. Let's go back."
"Ah, wait for a bit."
At Rangii's words, I stopped going back into the yard.
"Why?"
"I thought I didn't see any magic on this house that could protect us."
Well of course. There's no way there could be. Or do you want me to get a shaman to do an exorcism?
"So?"
"Isn't it common sense to feel uneasy when it's like this?"
I never even imagined there would be a day when you'd talk about common sense.
"I'll put down the most minimal defense."
While saying that, she plucked out one of her hairs and blew. I felt complete disbelief, and then that disbelief became reality.
This may be sudden, but do you like tigers? Because right now I'm not talking about the tiger phantom who's puffing out her modest chest with an ehem~, but a real tiger. I like them. They're cool, fearless, and look good. But that's only when they're on TV or in a cage at the zoo, and when a tiger's prowling around my front yard it's not the same!!
Rooar!!
The tiger roared. At the same time my distracted thoughts flew to the faraway sky, I stopped escaping reality. I put my hands on Rangii's shoulders.
"Hey. If my eyes aren't being weird, then it seems like one of your hairs changed into a tiger."
Rangii nodded her head.
"That's right. This will act as safety."
So that I wouldn't hit Rangii on the head, I thought about what to do in my head 30 times (not sure).
It was impossible.
"Ow!"
"What about this is safe!"
"Why are you hitting me! If anyone comes to our house and tries to do evil things, then this child will……"
"I know BS when I hear it!!"
"Ha-nyak?!"
After bragging, Rangii was surprised by my yelling and caused her hair to stick up.
"How do you think it's okay to keep a tiger in the middle of Seoul! Did it run away from the zoo? Do you want to go on the nine o'clock news?!"
In the heart of downtown, a tiger showed up! Are you planning on having me with a mosaic covering my face and my voice changed, you brat?!
"S, so this won't do?"
"Of course not!"
"But I thought there were already a lot of tigers in Seoul so one more would be okay……"
Even during the time when Seoul did have a lot of tigers, I think having a tiger act proudly as a guard isn't common sense.
"In this country, a lot of tigers have already died out, okay? If you want to see one then go to the zoo!"
Rangii's face turned pale.
"N, no way. How did my children end up like this?" (tn: by children, she doesn’t mean those she gave birth to, but kids whom she feels responsible for)
……ah, she's a tiger. I didn’t think that because she’s the same species, she’d be shocked at the tigers dying out. That’s my mistake. So with Rangii on the verge of tears, I rubbed her head and spoke in my most comforting voice.
“I, I know that that’s terrible, but a lot of things happened. I’ll teach you about it after I study the history of it……”
“In that case there’s no helping it. Even if I must pull out all my hair here, I will have all my children here thrive.”
Just who the hell was I worrying about.
“Don’t! I said don’t!!”
Are you planning on releasing a pack of tigers in Seoul? Also, if you pulled out all your hair and became bald, you’d look……, no, that doesn’t matter. Since Rangii’s a phantom, there isn’t any problem if she changed her appearance.
Although I got a little off topic, I’m bringing us back to the tiger that’s lying down in the yard with its belly exposed, yawning, and its body spread across the yard.
“More importantly. Do something about that for now. Are you trying to cause me trouble?”
“Hm—mm. Then there’s no helping it.”
Rangii lowered her body and snapped her fingers. Then where that tiger was just lying down, there was a baby tiger……
“Now there’s very little difference in appearance from a cat. If it’s like this, it should……”
“Did you think that’d work!”
I squeezed her ears really hard.
“Awuuu—. Sunghoon’s bad. I did this all for you so why are you bullying me?”
Rangii, who just turned the tiger back into a hair, was embraced in Saehee’s chest and staring at me. She looked like a kid who went to her mom, I mean sister, after getting punished so it looked really cute. Although that’s really what happened. (tn: sister can also mean a woman who is older than you, age-wise or maturity-wise)
“Master. Although it is a pity, the young master is correct.”
“But what if……”
“Master.”
What’s going on. Saehee cut Rangii off.
“Do you remember what the young master said before we arrived here?
Rangii stopped whatever it was she was about to say and nodded. ……what did I say again?
“Thus it is okay for us not to do anything.”
Rangii’s tail swayed from side to side.
“But isn’t Sunghoon a normal human?”
“He is the one who accepted you, Master.”
“But still……”
“Is a human’s strength not his mind’s strength?” (tn: mind could also be heart, will, etc.)
“Yeah. That’s right!”
“But if you are worried, I will lay down some small spells.”
At those words Rangii nodded her head.
“Okay.”
I feel like they’re ignoring me while talking about me directly, so when can I join the conversation? Although the truth is I don’t want to join in. Could a human’s strength not be the strength of his mind~?
I gave up on joining the world that was their world of conversation and I opened the front door. Someone naturally followed me.
“I’m baaaack—!”
I intentionally went in loudly, but it was strangely quiet in the house. If Dad were here,
“You brat. You’re caught in my trap!”
And if Mom were here,
“Well aren’t you late, son?”
They would have said something like that, but…… Could it be? I opened the shoe cupboard. Dad’s sneakers aren’t there. Also Mom’s dress shoes! I took off my shoes and entered the living room. My eyes fell on the large sheet of paper on the living room table. I held up the paper and read the message written on it.
“Something urgent came up so I’m leaving the house for a week. I took Dad with me so take good care of the house and have Rangii sleep in my room. And don’t go and carelessly make me a grandmother, okay?!”
“I want to quickly become a mother.”
I ignored Rangii who was peering over my shoulder and took out my cell phone. Although I thought of Narae the second I opened saw my phone, I should take care of the most urgent problem first. It’s not that I’m scared of Narae’s reaction, but that terrible……, no, if I, in my everyday life, had accidentally said those things in front of Mom something terrible would happen to me so I should use good words. Since the first thing I’m going to do is call my absent, busy with work mother.
[The number you have called is currently out of range……]
How far away do you have to be for the signal not to reach? I called Dad.
[The phone you are calling is currently off so please record your……]
“Why do you look so frustrated?”
Rangii said that while poking me in the belly. You can only say that because you don’t the crap situation I’m in.
“Because the young master’s father and mother are not here so he is thinking of doing wicked things to you while you two are alone.”
“I’m not, okay? And you’re here too!”
“Am I also a target?”
“Don’t make such a hateful face at someone! That’s actually hurtful!”
“Understood, young master.”
I never thought I’d live to see the day when I’d find Saehee’s expressionless face to be a show of warmth and kindness.
“Then I shall go unpack the luggage.”
Saehee held the bag with both hands and walked past me. Hey, how do you know where Mom’s room is when this is probably the first time you’ve been here? was what I was thinking when Saehee opened a door and entered a room. But that isn’t Mom’s room.
“Hey! That’s my room!”
And she quickly retorted to stop me,
“I know.”
And after Saehee said something that made her seem like someone who committed a premeditated crime,
“Because there is the strong stench of chestnut flower coming from this room.”
She just stomped on a delicate pubescent boy’s emotions.
“Wha, wha, what are you saying!”
“Why would there be the smell of chestnut flowers? Are you growing a chestnut tree in your room?”
How should I respond to Rangii when she has a question mark above her head and she asked that so innocently? That was clearly a useless worry.
“When a man becomes sexually aroused he……”
“He—ey! Have sex-ed when you two are by yourselves!”
Why the hell is she saying in front of me!
“Hiding things like this is how one becomes a sexual deviant like the young master.”
I prepared my already stomped on pubescent boy’s emotions as a weapon to fight against Saehee who said something so ridiculous with such persuasion.
“It’s not something to hide, but it’s not something to talk so openly about either!”
“What’s wrong? What in the world are you talking about for your face to get so red?”
In the midst of this chaos, only Rangii could look at back and forth at Saehee and me with such an naive expression on her face (nuance may be off). This is terrible. For now I should at least avoid this.
“This is the room you two will be using. It’s my mom’s room so don’t unpack your stuff somewhere bad!” (Translation not 100%)
I pointed diagonally at my mom’s room, the one opposite mine.
“I’m going to go quickly wash up while you’re unpacking so don’t do anything weird and just stay there.”