I translated a crap ton. Seriously. I’ve put more effort into translating this LN than I did for my term paper in senior year! I’m not even kidding.
Note: I’m actually on the fence about translating volume 2. I translated the manhwa of volume 2 of the LN and I feel I’ve done my time 😀
Eh. Just please enjoy this part of chapter 3.
Hm—mm. I feel like we kind of missed the point because of Narae and Saehee's friendly conversation, but since I'm going to go and play with Rangii, I should think about what to do a little. Where would be a good place to go with her? There'll probably be a lot of people at the far away amusement park, and it'll take a long time to get on the rides. Is there anywhere with few people where Rangii can have fun?
……There is.
"Hm? What's wrong?"
Rangii was on my knees, reading the children's book The Little Prince, when she leaned against my chest and looked up. I stopped reading right during the part when the fox and the prince first meet. It seemed like a good book for a kid like Rangii, no, the truth is this was the only children's book in my house so I read it to her, but it seemed like she was really interested in the story.
"Sorry. I was thinking about where to go."
Rangii's tail went inside my t-shirt and wrapped around my waist. The feeling of her fur tickles.
"Did you decide? I'll be happy to anywhere as long as I'm with Sunghoon."
If Narae had said that, I would've been happy enough to say something as insane as "Huhu. Then let's go to the bed together." But since Rangii's the one who said that, I was only happy enough to hug her tightly.
"Uwah, why'd you do that all of a sudden?"
Ah, I really hugged her. I noticed Rangii was both wriggling and staying still in my embrace, and at the same time I thought that Rangii doing something so contradictory looked really cute……, no that's not it! Yeah! She's cute! She looks cute! Geez. After only seeing kids on TV with terrible personalities, or on that topic, children who've only learned to dance weirdly, I think Rangii's cute since she's such an innocent kid! Yeah. That's it!!
"……Sunghoon?"
"……No, sorry. My sanity flew away somewhere for a second."
"What does that mean?"
Do I have to explain even this much?
Even after I finished reading Rangii all of The Little Prince, Narae and Saehee were still talking.
"Where the heck do they sell clothes like that? It must be impossible to find something like that, but you sure did well finding it?"
"Please respect that this is my preference. Am I not keeping silent of your vulgar, excuse me, indecent, excuse me, choice in clothing that in a vulgar, indecent fashion emphasizes certain areas?"
"See, you're speaking so easily! And don't you know that this kind of clothes is in fashion these days?"
"I believe that, rather than following trends, dressing stylishly as one's tastes dictate is much wiser."
"You don't believe that you're dressing stylishly, do you?"
……I should stop them. I'm scared I'm going to see the kitchen knife dance and a phantom conjuring magic.
"O~i. Excuse~me. You~ two over there~."
"What?" "Have you called for me?"
Seeing the two of them respond in unison as if they'd decided beforehand to do that, I wasn't sure if they got along or not.
"I decided where we're going to go play, but can I ask you guys to make lunches?"
"Where're we going to go?"
At Narae's question, I spoke the place where I thought of.
"A children's park."
"……That decision is just like you."
Narae spoke as if she was disappointed and looked at me. N, no. What's wrong with a children's park? Didn't we go there all the time when we were kids?
"Want to go somewhere else?"
Narae shook her head.
"It's fine. Then I'm going to make our lunches. Since it's expensive to buy there."
"Want me to help too?"
Narae frowned.
"It's fine. Stupid."
Tch. I wanted to fulfill the ideal image of the two of us as a married couple cooking in the kitchen together, but I'll have to wait until next time. That aside, it'll probably be hard to make lunches for 4 people. Will Saehee help? Thinking that, I glanced at Saehee.
I felt a chill.
A chill went down my spine when I saw Saehee looking out the window with a terrifying smile on her face. That face could make a kid cry. Why're you doing that?
"What's wrong? Is there something you're unhappy about?"
Saehee restored her usual expressionless face and spoke.
"Not at all, young master."
"What do you mean no."
"I was thinking about the old saying, tigers hear words in the night and bears hear words in the day."
……You're the same as Rangii. (tn: means the walls have ears. The original saying goes "the bird hears words in the day and mice hear words in the night")
The children's park. It's a park made before I was born, and while just a few years ago it was only free for children, now age doesn't matter so the park is well loved by many people as a rest area.
On weekends the place would be full of families visiting, but on a weekday afternoon like today, there aren't a lot of people. The playground toys themselves are old types, but since maintenance wasn't neglected, safety isn't an issue and most of all, this place is a perfect fit for Rangii.
And if we walk along the trail there's unexpectedly a lot of stuff to see so that's why I picked that place for a date……no, I mean, for a place to play. There's also the pro that it's 5 minute walk away from home. So if I were to start by giving the conclusion, I think Rangii likes this place.
"Uwa—."
Going through the back gate, we saw a fountain totally cooling down the heat. Water rose into the sky from the long, square fountain, and on both sides of it from the forest, pipes released water into the air, creating a beautiful scene. Most importantly, I liked most that it was dispelling the heat from the sun that was above us so easily.
"Sunghoon, Sunghoon! It's a rainbow! There's a rainbow!"
Rangii grabbed my hand and pointed at the water in the air, chattering incessantly. Rangii's hand is small, but there was a rainbow hanging there.
"Yeah, yeah."
Seeing Rangii like this, I unknowingly smiled happily.
"Lolicon."
"Ugh. Narae?"
Narae went hmph and tossed her head back. Narae changed from her skin-exposing clothes to white outerwear, and while holding the lunch with our lunches, she looked like a innocent young lady. No, it's not that she looked like one. Because with her personality second, she really is a young lady in her household. However, seeing her as an innocent young lady is difficult because of her, uh, eh, her breasts are a little…… She's clearly wearing an airy one piece dress, but why does it seem like it's emphasizing your breasts so much?
"That is why men are……"
"……Hey, dammit."
And in comparison, Saehee was inflexibly wearing the same clothes three days ago, two days ago, yesterday, today, and now. The clothes themselves looked like the must be insufferably hot, but even with such stifling-looking clothes on, she wasn't sweating even a drop. A phantom really is a phantom. No, she seems more like a ghost than a phantom.
"Jealousy is one of the seven causes of divorce."
"Who're you saying is jealous?! Of such a little kid!"
"Then are you jealous of me?"
"Why would I be?!"
Narae got angry and argued back at Saehee. Narae is the prettiest when she's smiling, but quite cute when she's angry too.
……so I should endure the gazes of passersby. Thankfully, Rangii is being quiet right now. Hm? Rangii's quiet? Isn't there no way she would be? Feeling something was strange, I looked to where Rangii was and she was gone. You brat. Where did you go in the moment I was looking away?
"Sunghoon! It's really refreshing here!"
Who spoke? Little kids are like rubber balls that go everywhere. Rangii was standing on top of the railing of the fountain, shouting my name energetically while waving her hands. And next to me, I could hear laughter and people saying she's so cute, if only I had a little sister, daughter, wife like her. I blushed despite myself. It's times like when I see Rangii not paying attention to the people staring at her that I'm honestly jealous of her.
"Hey, that's dangerous so get down. What if you slip?"
Rangii hopped from the fountain, and enduring my embarrassment, I grabbed Rangii's waist and was bringing her down when
"Darn—it!"
Rangii suddenly grabbed my arm and fell backwards like that. And what's behind her is the fountain. The place full of fountain water. What I'm saying is that she fell into the water. Even while I was surprised, I tried to hold her up.
"Huh?"
I don't know where such strength came from that small body, but I wasn't able to keep her up and while I was held by Rangii, my body tipped towards the fountain. At that moment, I remembered a piece of common knowledge about tigers.
When it's hot, tigers cool down their bodies by going into streams or watering holes.
Ah, so that's it. I know it well.
And I'm a human.
Splash!
"Ahahahaha, it feels so nice!"
Rangii laughed happily. She's really laughing happily. She was too happy for me to get angry at her, so all I could do was laugh.
"Yeah. You having fun, you brat?"
"Yeah!"
I grabbed Rangii's waist while she was mistaking the fountain for a swimming pool and…… doggy paddling, and handed her to Narae and Saehee who had walked towards us.
"But you can't go into the water here."
"Why not?"
"Fountains are only supposed to be looked at. You're not supposed to go in them."
"Yeah! I get it! I won't do this next time."
The first date of my life with Narae and the rest started with me falling in a fountain. Just 10 minutes after leaving the house, I have no idea what's going on.
"Are you okay, Sunghoon?"
"……Well. This is refreshing."
Thank goodness the water is clean. Ah, the tap water in this country is truly clean. This makes me want to film a public service announcement. I moved the wet hair stuck on my forehead back and spoke.
"But still, I think I'm going to have to go back home and change."
"There is no need to do that."
That's because you didn't fall in the water.
"There is something I can do if we go somewhere with fewer people."
I'll believe what Saehee said. Because if she says she has a solution, then she probably really does have one.
I lead all of us to a side road off to the right of the fountain. Now it's a place where a train is displayed, but people unexpectedly don't come here too often. There are still people here, but they were too busy having a good time with their partners of the opposite sex to pay any attention to us. Yuck, disgusting.
"Then please excuse me, Master."
"Yeah."
Saehee carefully slid her hand from Rangii's hair down to her feet. And then shockingly, Rangii went from being soaking wet just a moment ago to looking completely dry like before she went into the water. Instead, a big ball of water had formed on Saehee's hand.
"What's that?"
I asked in place of a surprised Narae.
"It is a simple magic. I gathered all of the water's energy in one place."
Saehee flicked her hand and the ball of water fell and splattered on the ground. ……how interesting.
"Then please excuse me."
Saehee, the phantom dryer, put her hand on my head. In a moment, my wet hair was all dried. Next, Saehee's hand stroked my face, went past my chest and lower,
"……"
……Narae's stare is extremely scary. I thought about what could've ticked Narae-nim off, but I had no idea.
A bit later, with my clothes as dry as before I fell into the fountain, I forced myself to smile brightly to alleviate Narae's inexplicable bad mood as she looked as if she were reaching the boiling point.
"Okay, so shall we go now? Hahahaha."
"Gross."
Why?!
If you go up a small hill from the fountain, you can see a zoo. Maybe it was because it's hot, but all the animals in their cages were lying down, disappointing all the visitors; but aren't all zoos like this?
"Ack? Isn't that a deer?"
The very first then we saw after we entered was a deer, and Rangii went right up against the cage and looked amazedly inside, just like a kid. What'll you do if you accidentally trip? I went towards Rangii from behind, and with eyes full of innocence, she said,
"It looks tasty……"
Looking at the deer as if it looked delicious, Rangii was drooling…… Eh? Even as I looked again to see if I was mistaken, drool fell down from Rangii's mouth, and her eyes were shining with gluttony. In comparison, the deer that Rangii was focusing her eyes on was shaking on its four legs, unable to take a single step. Is this what's called a deer paralyzed in fear by a tiger?! The deer couldn't even think of running away at Rangii's overwhelming show of gluttony. Tigers are scary!
"……hey."
"Sunghoon. Let's have deer hotpot for dinner today."
Don't decide the dinner menu on your own.
"We can't eat that."
"What's wrong? Don't humans keep animals enclosed there and raise them so they're easier to eat? If that one won't do, we can pick another one."
To think I'd be so glad that there's no one else around.
"A zoo isn't a place to pick and eat animals, it's a place made to go look at them."
"……How strange. Why would you only look? Isn't that wasteful?"
What about this is wasteful? I looked at Saehee, asking her with my eyes to give her a proper explanation. Ah, c'mon. She turned her head away. Are you telling me to explain?
……I felt like the only way I could explain what a zoo is is with elementary school level vocabulary. I looked towards Narae, asking for help. Seeing me like that, Narae sighed and talked to Rangii.
"These days you can't see these kinds of animals in the wild. That's why we raise these animals in the zoo. So that we can give kids the chance to see the animals they'd seen on TV or in drawings in real life. So you can't eat that deer, right? If you do, then the kids that come here later won't be able to see the deer."
With Narae speaking so logically, Rangii understood Narae's simple explanation, and she nodded her head. Maybe this is a little unexpected, but Narae was always like this. To some extent, her fierce appearance is just that. Yeah, I like Narae when she's like this.
……Although these days her image really worsened.
"What, do you have a complaint?"
"Why would I?"
Narae glared sharply at me, but I quickly raised my arms to show I had no desire to resist. After hearing Narae's explanation, Rangii bit her finger and looked depressed.
"Then there's no helping it. It's a shame, but I can only give up."
Don't feel so disappointed because of weird things.
"You can ask Saehee to find one for you later."
If I think about it I'll get captured. (may not be accurate)
I held Rangii's hand and walked towards the wall made from a log.
"Uwaaaaa! What's that?"
She was acting exactly like a kid who went to the zoo for the first time. I brought Rangii to an elephant moving slowly in its own cage.
Narae answered Rangii's question.
"It's an elephant."
"Is that long thing its nose? Is its nose that long?"
"Yeah. To an elephant, its nose is like our hands. That's why there's also this song. Mr. Elephant's nose is…… hey, why're you smiling like that?! Why! Is it weird for me to talk like this?!"
"It is not weird."
It seems like my face relaxed. This scene was just too heartwarming. This felt just like when an older sister looking after her extremely young little sister. Or……
"I am sure you are not imagining the ideal family in this situation."
"……Sometimes I wonder if you're a psychic and not a phantom."
"I am a virgin phantom."
"Change the color of your clothes first." (tn: In Korean ghost lore, ghosts typically wear white hanboks)
"This is my preference."
Yeah, of course it's your preference. Moving my gaze to look at Rangii, I saw Rangii on the fence, waving her hand at the elephant.
"Elephant! Come over here and play with me!"
After my conversation with Saehee made me feel like I'd just gone 3 years in a drought, the reservoir of my mind was blessed with rain as this scene brought a natural smile to my face. The adults around us were smiling contentedly while looking at Rangii. But I was the only one to notice something in this heartwarming scene. The elephant that Rangii was shouting the name of. The elephant couldn't even look towards Rangii as it turned away and used all its strength to get away from her. ……could it be?
I grabbed Rangii by the waist and ran full tilt away from the elephant when it started shrieking. I changed the saying to a tiger about to pounce on an elephant.
"Huh, why're you doing this?"
"I forgot what kind of brat you are!"
She's a tiger. On top of that, she's such a big tiger that it makes the words huge and gigantic seem too small. There's no way an animal could stay calm when a tiger is staring as if it's saying "nyam nyam, you look tasty so come over here."
Thankfully, maybe the elephant stopped after Rangii who was terrifying it went away, but I didn't hear the announcement that the elephant escaped from its enclosure.
Having learned my lesson from what happened with the elephant, I took Rangii to the place with lots of small animals, the 'Small Animals' House.' It should be okay here.
"S, so cute! I want to hug and pet them!"
Rangii who is cuter than anything was against the glass wall, looking at the meerkats. The two meerkats were standing on two legs and looked around to notice Rangii staring at them…… then they all fell on their backs. I could hear surprised noises around us. And among them was,
"Huh? What's wrong with that child all of a sudden?"
Rangii was there too. I quietly grabbed Rangii's hand and walked away while crying on the inside.
"It's because they're sleepy. Because they're sleepy."
Is it impossible for me to relax at the zoo when I'm with her? ……No, there might be one place.
"Let's look at the lions."
I held Rangii's hand and went towards the lion habitat.
My prediction was half right. Seeing Rangii against the glass on the opposite side, the lion got up and snarled.
"Heeh……"
It looks like Rangii was interested by that too.
"……Are you saying you want to fight?"
Wait, wait! I feel like I just heard something that can't happen? What'd she just say?
"Master."
Ah, yeah, Saehee should be able to properly explain……
"There is no need for Master to directly lay a hand on it; I will……"
"Hey, you two!"
At my raised voice, Rangii was surprised and turned towards me, away from her full strength staring contest with the lion.
"But Sunghoon. Look. Isn't it being terrible hostile?"
"That's because you were the one staring at it first."
"I only did that because it's cute!"
"Even if you put it like that, you're not persuading me at all."
Who would call a lion cute? Normally people say things like it's cool, it's handsome, or it's so regal. People would call you cute after seeing you…… Why am I acting like this?
I grabbed Rangii by the back of her neck while she was trying to start a fight with the lion and moved her away. And there was one of Rangii's clansmen, a tiger. As soon as the tiger saw Rangii,
Roooar!!
The tiger howled. Heeh, do tigers recognize other tigers? Having received a greeting from one of her species, Rangii said,
"What's this kid saying?"
She tilted her head and asked me.
"Hey. Why're you asking what that tiger said?"
"But there's no way I can understand."
"How does that……"
As I was reacting to Rangii's words, I suddenly noticed something. I saw the information sign next off to the side. And among the things I saw were the words 'Bengal tiger.'
Oi, wait a second.
"Where were you born?"
"I was born in Mount Baekdu." (tn: On the border between North Korea and China. Siberian tigers are known to live in the area. The mountain has spiritual significance as where Dangun was born)
Is there such thing as a foreign language among tigers? ……I should stop thinking about that. I should just think of this as is that so.
"So it's clearly a foreigner. Here I will……"
Anyway, I concluded that I can't keep Rangii here any longer.
"Let's go over there."
"Huh? Why'd you suddenly say that?"
That's because I'm afraid something terrible will happen if you stay in the zoo.
"So we can go somewhere else."
"Ack! Then I want to go see that over there!"
Rangii pointed at the place where it said Aquatic Birds Area in large letters.
Give it up. I don't want to experience a horror film directly.
"Let, let's go next time."
I said something really unoriginal, but thankfully she went along with what I said. She chewed on a finger of the hand that I wasn't holding, and she looked disappointed.
Farther in on the road of the zoo was a manmade stream. The stream looked like something from the countryside, with water circulating because of a machine, and while the kids were enjoying playing in the water, the parents were reminiscing about old times. And like a little kid, she went towards the water with her shoes on and……
"Oh man."
I put my arms between her armpits and held her up. Rangii struggled in my embrace.
"What's wrong?"
I know that Saehee can just use her magic to dry her shoes if they get wet. But isn't there no way she can live while being dependent on that? Because Rangii has to live in the human world.
"You brat. You have your shoes on."
"So I have to take them off?"
"No, since you can get hurt with them off, for today just put your feet in the water."
"There is no need to do such a thing."
Saehee cut in next to me. While I was thinking to myself you're not going to say it's okay because you have magic, right? Saehee took something out of her sleeve.
……They were white slippers. And they looked like they'd fit Rangii perfectly.
"Because you can wear these."
I put Rangii down and asked Saehee something while she was changing Rangii's shoes.
"When did you bring those?"
"Just now."
Do you have a 4D pocket in your clothes? (tn: Doraemon reference)
"Is it fine now?"
I nodded to Rangii after she was all ready. Finally ready, Rangii started to play happily within the crowd of passengers…… kids her age. Even with kids like her, Rangii's cuteness easily noticeable.
"Let's sit and rest over there."
"Yeah."
We left Saehee to care for Rangii, and Narae and I sat on the bench behind the stream. Whew—. Now I can relax.
"How about exercising more often? How can you be tired already?"
I felt embarrassed by Narae's scolding.
"Looking after kids is hard work."
"Despite that you're actually good at this?"
"My little cousins were really mean when they were young."
Narae met them a few times back in middle school. Maybe she remembered because Narae tilted her head.
"Were they? But I thought they were nice kids?"
That's because they act nice in front of strangers.
I suffered so badly that they made me want to have boys when I get married later."
"What's up with that."
Narae chuckled. Even though what I said wasn't a laughing matter to me at all.
"I like sons, but daughters are good too. Aren't they cute?"
"Then one son and one daughter would be best."
"How about two sons and one daughter?"
"My apologies for interrupting during your family planning."
Heeek?! I thought my heart was about to pop out of my chest when Saehee appeared behind me and stuck her head between the two of us. But what did she say? Family planning? Narae gave a vehement denial at Saehee's words.
"Wh, who's doing family planning? That wasn't it!"
"But you were speaking extremely in detail."
Narae's face reddened.
"Doesn't everybody think about it at least this much?!"
Sorry, Narae. Most high schoolers don't think about family planning. So I changed the subject.
"But what're you doing here?"
"I thought it would be best to eat lunch soon, and I came to say something."
Really? I looked at my watch and saw it was already 12. I'm not hungry, but it wouldn't be a bad idea to eat now. Since we're going to go to the amusement park in the afternoon.
"That seems good. Could you get…… No, I'll go."
I didn't think Saehee would tell Rangii to come over here when she's having so much fun so I decided to get her directly. Geez, seeing you play with all the other kids who look your age makes you seem like you seem like a totally carefree kid, even though you are one.
"Rangii."
It's just a hallucination, but I saw Rangii's ears prick upwards. Although that didn't actually happen.
"Did you come to play with me?"
If I play among all of you, then the mindset of the people watching will change to anywhere from [ah, how nice.] to [the hell's up with that guy.]
"No. Let's go eat lunch."
"Ohh…… It's too bad but let's play again later."
"Yeah!"
"Bye, Rangii~!"
When did you get so close to them? And with the boys. Something didn't feel right. I left the stream while intentionally holding Rangii's hand.
In the time I was gone, I think Saehee got a spot under a pavilion. Narae and Saehee prepared sandwiches for lunch. So you two are part of the picnic sandwich crowd. I'm part of the gimbap crowd, myself. (gimbap is rice wrapped in seaweed with other toppings added in. Basically Korean sushi)
"Shut up. Just eat."
Narae abruptly handed me a container full of sandwiches. I took one out and took a bite. ……Heeh. It's good.
"How is it?"
She must have felt self-conscious because even though she told me to eat it even if it's bad, she asked me that question. I gave Narae a thumbs up.
"Yeah. It's good."
"Then that's fine. I'll make gimbap next time so just eat that."
Speaking like that, Narae took a sandwich and bit into it. It must be my imagination. But it seems like Narae blushed a little.
"Me too, me too!!"
"What do you think's in your hand?"
After I spoke to Rangii who was sticking next to me with her own sandwich in her hand,
[Saehee] "The ingredients of the sandwich are different."
"The one Rangii's holding has cheese, ham, and lean beef. Yours is made of tomato and lettuce."
"I want to try just one bite too!"
Three people replied. But why is mine only vegetables? Even though I don't care since it tastes good. I gave the sandwich I was eating to Rangii.
"Here."
"Nyam."
Rangii opened her small mouth and took a bite. Chew chew. A moment later,
Her hair formed a question mark and she asked a question.
"Why does Sunghoon's sandwich only taste like grass?"
Hey hey, how can you say it tastes like grass?
"It is because the young master is an herbivore."
"I am an herbivore. And come to think of it, why does mine have no meat?"
"We made ours like that because we kept eating so much meat since yesterday. What, do you have a complaint?"
"Not at all, Narae-nim. No, thank you very much. The truth is I wanted to eat vegetables."
With our stomachs cooling down, we decided to take a walk along the path in the park. While watching Rangii copy the many old men and women who were power walking, looking at the totem poles, and watching men play basketball, we ended up at the entrance to the amusement park.
"What do you do in this place?"
With Rangii looking at me, enraptured and her eyes shining, I decided to quote the old saying that one picture is worth a thousand words.
"You'll find out after you play."
"Hmmm?"
She seems too short to be able to go on every ride…… Ah. That looks good. I pointed towards the bumper cars that were off to the side and spoke.
"Let's go on that."
And grabbing onto the steering wheel, I regretfully felt the fact that people change.
"U—nyak?!"
"Uwak!"
Narae crashed in between Rangii and my bumper cars. If I hadn't put my seatbelt on, I would've been sent flying out by the impact. Wait. Were bumper cars always this powerful and dangerous? But I don't think they were?
"I'm going one more time!"
At Narae's declaration of war I desperately turned the steering wheel to run away, but hey! Were bumper cars able to make such precise movements?
Narae dodged all the blind cars going towards her and smashed into the back of my bumper car with a bang!!
"Unyaaak!"
I saw Rangii off to my side, her eyes rolling in their sockets.
"Wh, why are you doing that to me?"
"That wasn't me!"
"If you stay there you'll be in danger?!"
""Narae!!""
I didn't know 5 minutes was this long. During those 5 minutes of the session, I pedaled hard and moved the steering wheel to avoid Narae. But, as if she was a master of bumper cars, Narae didn't miss my back, and I could only feel jealous of Saehee who was watching from outside.
After 5 minutes that felt like 50, Rangii and I sat on a bench, and looked up at the yellow sky.
"……So she was always that kind of kid."
"……I think she's been holding in a lot because of all that happened."
Unlike Rangii and me who were exhausted, Narae stretched, emphasizing a certain part of her body, and spoke happily.
"Ah~. I really released all my stress in one fell swoop. It's best to do this when you've held in a lot."
I think I'm going to have to change my impression of Narae. It's not that she looks fierce but she's kind, it's that she's fierce and kind.
"What do you want to ride next?"
Do you not even get tired? No, am I the weird one for almost getting knocked out after going on the bumper cars? Rangii, who'd gone through the same trial as me, seems to have been revived to full health after drinking the water Saehee brought her. In the end, I was dragged along by Narae and Rangii.
If I start with the conclusion, one hour later. I became a corpse. My body was exhausted by the terrifying roller coasters Narae went on, and my mind was KO'd by the merry-go-round-like rides Rangii went on.
I looked up at the sky while sitting on a bench and drinking the water Narae gave me. Ah, the sky is really clear. Is it okay for the sky to be so clear when it was supposed to rain in the evening? Instead, I'd like it if it started raining now. So we can go home.
"Are you tired?"
Rangii spoke to me while pulling on my hand.
"……Can't you tell by looking at me?"
"Then you can pick the next one."
In times like this, would it be okay to say something like then how about we go home now, or let's rest a bit?
"Yeah. We kept taking you everywhere so you choose one too."
Even Narae was supporting Rangii's words. Enemies on all sides! Am I surrounded by enemies?! Where's someone who's going to help me?!
"……"
Fine. What was I thinking, hoping anything from you. I ignored Saehee's stare and looked around. Where's somewhere I can rest a little…… I found something good.
And that's called the haunted house.
"Let's go there."
I'm saying this ahead of time, but I don't have some wicked scheme at all. I'm saying that I'm not looking forward to Narae getting scared and sticking close to me.
"……Pervert."
"You are showing your true intentions too easily, young master."
Don't look at me like that. That wasn't my intention; I picked that place because it's where we could comfortably have the most fun.
"Huh? Why're you all like that?"
Only the innocent Rangii understood my feelings. No, it's probably just because she doesn't know what a haunted house is. I gave a rough explanation of what a haunted house is, and we walked towards the place that would become my sanctuary for a bit.
……But even so, I didn't want to go in with Rangii. The passages in the haunted house are narrow so only one group of two are allowed to go though. Our group has four people. So we were deciding the pairs, but Rangii threw a tantrum, saying "I'm only going with Sunghoon!" so we divided into Rangii and me, and Saehee and Narae. I definitely wasn't thinking of using the chaos to increase my skinship with Narae, but…… I'm sorry. I was looking forward to that a little.
But why with Rangii of all people?
"What's wrong? Is it because you're scared? Don't worry! I'll protect you!"
Seeing Rangii a hundred times more energetic than usual, I unconsciously felt more energetic too. Rangii looked really cute when she clenched her fists and looked at me with determination, trying to get me to get up. Yeah. She's definitely cute.
But the thing is. Although you may have noticed that I picked the haunted house to rest a little, I've never gone in a haunted house even once. Thinking about it now, that may have been because I saw Rangii, a huge tiger way scarier than ghosts, when I was younger.
I held the hand of Rangii who's scarier than ghosts and cuter than dolls, and went into the haunted house. First was a flight of stairs going underground. The entrance was covered in a blackout curtain, and there were red lights that made the whole place feel spooky. Maybe it was designed with a cave-like motif because the rocks decorated the walls, making them rough.
I walked and heard the screams of the people who entered before us being transmitted through speakers and thought, those sounds really fit this place, but then I felt something was weird. My body is trembling. More specifically, my left hand that Rangii is holding is shaking. Looking at Rangii, I saw her face had gone blue and she was trembling while holding my hand tightly with both of hers.
There wasn't a trace of her authority as a great phantom, nor the confidence with which she said she'd protect me.
"……Hey."
"Ee—heek?!"
All I did was say your name once so why'd you get so surprised?
"D, don't talk so suddenly! You didn't scare me?!"
For some reason I thought I saw tears brimming in her eyes. For Rangii's sake, I silently walked forward.
"S, say something. Are, are, aren't you scared?"
…….What're you asking me to do? I was about to talk to her when I heard a click and the doll of the ghost of an unmarried woman fell and hung off the ceiling. The blood dripping from its mouth and its envious eyes really matched it well. But a normal person would've been scared by this?
"Unyaak!!"
It was then. When the ghost fell suddenly from the ceiling, Rangii gave the doll a small punch! The doll went back after getting hit by Rangii due to the principle of action, and by the principle of reaction, the doll went scarily towards Rangii again. No, would it be okay to call this Foucault's pendulum?
"Hunyaaaaak!"
It looks like you're scared by that again. Rangii jumped up, got on my back, and wrapped her arms around me, burying her head into my shoulder. I may die from asphyxiation.
"Hey! M, my neck!"
"Kyaaak!"
B, breath! I loosened Rangii's grip a little to survive. Whew, I almost died. Now I could talk to Rangii while she's trembling on my back.
"If you're scared we can go back?"
"W, we can?!"
"Yeah."
Then should I turn back? But instead of saying to go back, Rangii thought for a moment and said,
"N, no. I'll go to the end."
She said something completely unexpected.
"You aren't scared?"
"I, I'm not scared!"
Even though you're saying that while you're on my back in fright.
"It, it just surprised me!"
That means you're scared.
While obviously bluffing, she got down from by back and hugged herself tightly to my left leg.
Hey.
"I can't walk if you do that."
"Uuk."
I'm glad that Rangii felt satisfied with holding my hand like before. Even though we could go back if you're scared. I held on tight to Rangii's hand and walked forward once again.
In the cave were weird things like skulls and coffins. Crosses and the like acted as decorations, shining as they moved slightly to scare visitors; they faithfully filled their role, and they were enough to scare Rangii. Seeing Rangii step forward even as she trembled made me feel bad for her. You brat, you look like you're about to cry.
The moral of today. Don't bring timid kids to haunted houses.
There's no helping it.
"Wait."
"Hu, hunyang?"
I held Rangii up by the waist and hugged her to my chest. Rangii instinctively hugged her legs around my waist and wrapped her arms around my neck. I spoke while holding Rangii up by the rear with one hand, and rubbing her back with the other.
"You aren't scared now, right? Keep your eyes closed tight. We'll be out soon."
Rangii looked up at me with tears in her eyes.
"B, but then won't you have no fun? I'm okay. I can keep going."
Ah—. So that was the reason?
I was the one who said to go here. Did you think I wanted to go here because I'd enjoy it? I don't know why she's thinking so hard about others when she's a little kid. Since she's been trembling in fear until now.
"It's okay."
Because seeing you laughing is a hundred, a thousand times better than visiting these gorey things. ……Of course, Narae's smile is a thousand, ten thousand times more. What am I making excuses about right now?
"O, okay."
Rangii closed her eyes and buried her face in my shoulder. Rubbing Rangii's back while she was like that, I quickly walked to get through the haunted house.
I was blinded by the warm sunlight. Okay then.
"Rangii. We're out now…… oi."
"Snore—. Snore—."
Are you sleeping? Are you sleeping right now?! Does falling asleep in that situation make any sense?! You said you were scared! I'm asking if it makes sense for you to fall asleep in such a short time when you were trembling in fear!!
Even if this is ridiculous, thinking like that won't change the fact that Rangii's sleeping. I sighed and sat down at a nearby bench under a tree. Even though Rangii's a kid, she's heavy. And…… it's hot. Even under the shade, hugging the superheater known as Rangii is making me sweat profusely. Let's go home when Saehee and Narae come out.
Even while thinking that, a sudden refreshing breeze made me fall asleep in an instant.
……It's not my fault. It's because last night I didn't sleep well, and because Narae and Rangii dragged me along. That's why.