End of chapter 3. My goal is to finish translating this volume by January 2018. Who knows, maybe I’ll be able to!
Rangii and Saehee said they’d be back soon, and they left after waking Baduk who was napping under the shade of a tree and putting a dog collar around her neck. …I mean, I had a lot of things to say at that, but I couldn’t find the courage to say anything after I saw how naturally Rangii wrapped the collar around Baduk, and how naturally Baduk exposed her neck for the collar. All I could do was hope that Rangii came back with good news.
Now, with that aside, where was Chii? She was nowhere to be found. More specifically, I hadn’t seen hide nor hair of her since she left to get changed after the water gun fight. Isn’t this weird? I was curious and checked inside the house, and I found her sooner than I expected. Because she was on full display in the master bedroom.
I rested my head on my hand as a splitting headache began to form after I saw Chii.
“…How’d you end up looking like that?”
“Uuuub!!”
That wasn’t the response I was hoping for. Probably because she couldn’t speak.
Chii was lying on a large bed that hadn’t been here this morning. No, wait. It was more like her her mouth was gagged and her arms and legs were cuffed to the corners of the bed. With her lying like that, it was even more clear to me that certain parts of her were way bigger than Rangii’s. …Have I been pent up lately?
It looked like the insides of the cuffs were lined with soft leather to keep her from getting hurt. Though it was strange that such consideration would be made when she was tied up like that.
But strangest things in this whole setup were the note and the key under the head of the bed. Saehee’s elegant handwriting was on the note.
“Please do as you please.”
Chii’s face paled. She struggled to escape, but the shackles didn’t budge an inch. Even a phantom’s strength couldn’t destroy that bed. Was that what you meant by getting something ready? You really don’t spare any time, work, effort, or money in teasing others. I gave a deep sigh, got on the bed, and removed the gag from Chii’s mouth.
“You demon!!”
Justice is dead. By Sunghoon.
“H-How can you do this after using me as a shield?! Disgusting! Cruel! You hid your true intentions well when you were planning on doing this in the end!”
“Do you think I’m a candidate for an Oscar, you brat?”
I ignored Chii’s following insults and unlocked her shackles. And then,
“You trash!”
After being liberated, Chii hit me square on the cheek with her left hand. Her full body went into that swing.
“Ow!”
Getting hit on the cheek, even by a kid, hurts. I put my hand to my aching cheek and I tasted blood in my mouth. Not only that, but my lower lip felt like it was swollen. …What kid can hit so hard? What should I do? I should have Saehee punish her when she gets back. I suppressed my rising temper and pain and spoke to Chii who looked deathly pale. I spoke calmly to not scare Chii.
“That hurts, you brat. Stay still. It’s hard to unchain you otherwise.”
“…?!”
Chii was surprised at first, and then she stopped the automatic cursing machine that was her mouth and tightly closed it. The quiet was a relief. While Chii was quiet, I used this opportunity to unlock her shackles. The key was unexpectedly difficult to get in the lock so this took a while, but Chii remained silent for this entire time. It was only when I got off the bed that Chii backed away from me and covered her breasts with her hands and spoke.
“Now what are you planning?”
“Do I really seem like such a clever person?”
Why aren’t you responding? At least say something!
“More importantly, what did Saehee tell you?”
“Are you an idiot, big brother? The moment we entered this room, Saehee-unni tied me up like this. What could she possibly have told me?”
Saehee, geez. What the heck were you thinking? Still, I was glad to find out that Chii wasn’t hung up on the fact that Saehee chained her up like that.
“Y-You’re creeping me out. Why are you smiling?”
“…Sorry.”
I smiled unintentionally.
“I have something to tell you. Rangii, Saehee, and Baduk have some business to attend to, so they’ll be gone for a few days.”
“…Awoo?”
“That means that until they come back, we’ll be the only ones here…”
“Kyawooooo!!”
Chii’s hair started flapping harder than I’d ever seen her flap it before.
“S-So this was your plan! You planned this all out! You were hiding your true intentions while waiting for a chance like this, you cur! So you were waiting for the Tiger-nim to leave?! Do you really think I’ll lose to you? Though you may sully my body, I will not surrender my spirit to big brother!”
I decided to take a play from Saehee’s book. In other words, I looked at Chii as if she were utterly pathetic. Chii exploded with angry remarks after I did this.
“What’s with those eyes! Why are you looking at me like that?”
“If you are not an idiot, you should be able to figure it out, Chii-nim.”
“Awooo? Why are you talking like that?”
“I just thought I’d try copying her a bit.”
“You mean you were copying… Heek?”
The magpie suddenly shivered.
“What’s wrong?”
“I suddenly felt a chill.”
“Ah, I get it.”
Because I’ve felt the same thing before. Whenever I mention her age or her breasts, I… Heek?! I felt a chill on the back of my neck, and after shuddering once, I continued.
“Anyway, think about it a little.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re a phantom, aren’t you?”
“Why are you asking me something so obvious?”
Would answering with a, “Yes,” kill you or something?
“I’m a human. And the only ones still here are you and me. If, just if, I decided to do something bad to you, would I really be able to even lay a finger on you?”
“…Awoo.”
Chii was taken aback. Don’t tell me. Did you really never think of that?
“You can just leave the house, or, if you don’t want to do that, you can go on the roof. Rangii and Baduk aren’t here so I there’s no one I can ask to catch you. And Saehee’s not here to do those things to you again. So quit thinking that something like that is possible. If you really think about it, I’m the one in danger.”
“…Awoo? That seems true? Another golden opportunity has come my way!”
It was like she hadn’t been cowering in fear earlier as she gave a mischievous smile. She was definitely a kid. Her mood changed way too fast.
“Not really. You promised that you wouldn’t do anything to me in the house.”
“I know that. Are you treating me like an idiot?”
Chii blushed as she spoke. You didn’t think of that, did you?
“The solution to that is simple. Don’t I just have to lure big brother outside?”
“How are you going to do that?”
“You’ll obviously come running at me like an animal if I go outside and give you a tiny peak at my underwear or something. When that happens, I’ll hit you with a bang and— Awoo!”
I hit Chii on the head with a bang and she looked up at me as if I’d acted unfairly.
“Why did you hit me?!”
“Say something that makes sense, you brat. You already know that that rumor is a lie, don’t you?”
Chii shut her mouth. As if, despite knowing that what I said was true, she didn’t want to accept it. After seeing her like that, I spoke without thinking.
“How much longer are you going to keep this up? Just believe me already….”
Shoot.
“No, sorry. It’s nothing.”
I messed up. I said something I shouldn’t have. Chii glared at me.
“That’s what pisses me off.”
This was the equivalent of cleaning the office of some evil organization and then accidentally pressing the self-destruct button. Chii let loose with all the emotions she had kept repressed while in our house.
“This has been bothering me since before. You’re always, always acting like you know everything! Like you know it all! Like you understand! Did you know that? That’s what pisses me off about you, big brother! Just treat me however you wish! That’ll be easiest for me. Just what the hell do you know about me that’s making you treat me like this?!”
I was planning on gradually loosening the door to your true thoughts, but I’m sorry. Auntie. It looks like this was impossible for me.
“You see, when I was young, I was in a situation like yours, so I…”
Chii glared angrily at me. Her hair remained raised. I shut my mouth. Truth be told, I was scared of Chii. I wasn’t scared that she was going to simply hit me, but that the relationship I had worked so hard to create would crumble to nothing.
“So what?!”
“No, I’m sorry. It’s my fault. I won’t say something like that again.”
I took a step back. Whatever I said in this situation would only have a negative effect. Not only was Chii already upset because of my verbal slip, but she wasn’t yet ready to accept what I had to say. So I should ask for forgiveness.
“…?”
I made use of this opportunity as Chii didn’t know how to react to my sudden apology, and I left the room.
“I’m leaving now. I’m sorry.”
“…”
Chii was about to say something but stopped and balled up her fists. I went into my room to give Chii some time to think by herself.
“…Ah.”
And that’s why I didn’t see Chii raise her hand towards me.