Second Story
“Explain.”
I guess childhood friends really do end up beings similar to each other.
After I said my goodbyes to Jeongmi-nuna, I was walking back to the master bedroom when Narae dragged me into an empty room and made me kneel with my hands held up in the air. Unable to say anything in protest, I did as Narae said. It was as though I was a child being punished by his mother.
“What would you like me to explain?”
“Everything that happened after you disappeared from Seoul. Tell me everything that I don’t know.”
Do you really have to know absolutely everything? Even men have things they want to keep secret.
Otherwise, I’ll tell Saehee a secret about you that only I know.
At the end of our stare down, I was the first one to look away.
“Where should I begin?”
“Start with what you think I’m the most curious about.”
Based on the angle of her raised eyebrows, it didn’t seem like she was genuinely angry. Good. That meant I still had a chance. I thought hard about what to say to capitalize on this chance, and I came up with my response.
“The rumor you heard about me was greatly exaggerated.”
Narae bit her lower lip. It seems that was the wrong answer.
“Did you really think I didn’t know that?!”
Her terrible glare reminded me of my homeroom teacher, furious with me for getting less than half the class average on my report card, getting ready to hit me with a club she called Excalibur.
“I really did.”
“Do you think I’m an idiot?”
Narae pinched the back of my hand. It hurt so bad that my eyes started tearing up.
“Unni told me that Saehee started that rumor because of the phantoms. Wait, even if she hadn’t told me that. You. Do you really think I’d just blindly believe that rumor?”
“You’re still getting mad even though you know it’s not true.”
“Of course I’m mad! That rumor’s calling you a criminal!”
Ah, that was a little touching.
“I mean, you’re a pervert whose brain goes to mush whenever he sees a girl with huge boobs and a nice body! But despite that, they’re calling you a lolicon! How does that make sense? Do you have any idea how difficult you make my life sometimes? If you’re going to make a rumor, at least make it believable!”
I wonder why my feelings of happiness always last for less than three seconds. What how could I make life difficult for Narae? I was about to ask Narae about that, but she didn’t give me the chance.
“And also! Did you seriously think that was what I was most curious about? For real? If you say yes, then I’ll get mad for real.”
I was unable to say a word. The truth was that that was the excuse I was planning on giving to Narae. So I brought up what Narae wanted to hear the most.
“Just like Saehee told you, I really did almost die when I went to save Rangii.”
I quickly continued speaking before Narae either fell into depression or hit me out of rage.
“I didn’t tell you because I thought you’d get worried. And I didn’t think it mattered since all my injuries were healed with magic. I’m sorry. For not telling you.”
“Go on.”
“I got stabbed in the left hand by a knife, but as you can see, I’m completely fine. I am perfectly lively and one hundred percent healthy.”
For some reason, I started out speaking casually, but ended up speaking in honorifics. (tn: doesn’t exactly translate well into English.)
Narae looked at me sharply before closing her eyes. Then she sighed and hit me on the head. It didn’t hurt.
“You idiot. Since you kept lying to me, I was afraid that you were still hurt. Are you seriously okay?”
I truly felt bad, now that I saw how genuinely worried Narae was. Though I would rather she have been this worried when she was hitting me or making me drink punishment juice.
“Yeah.”
“But you really…don’t know?”
“Know what?”
“That your voice changes a little when you lie.”
…Really? I had no idea until now.
“It’s hard to notice, but your voice gets a little lower. Do you have any idea how worried I was when you hung up on me?”
“But you’re the one who…uwagh!”
“Wha-What kind of man is so petty?!”
What an unreasonable world this is. I remembered this sad fact while rubbing my aching side.
“A-Anyway.”
Narae crossed her arms and scoffed with a Hmph to hide her embarrassment.
“What about that Kkachi kid?”
“Everything’s been settled, so she’s going back home.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
Narae visible relaxed, as if the good news had happened to her. This is the kind of girl Narae is. She may be quick to anger, but she also genuinely cares about others. So of course I fell in love with her.
“What else happened while I was gone?”
Though the gleam she has in her eyes in times like this does occasionally scare me
“Nothing really. Chii, she—ah, that’s Kkachi’s nickname. Things got a little hectic because of her, but…”
“Really?”
Narae looked me dead in the eye, and I answered without looking away.
“Yes.”
“Okay. I guess you’re telling the truth.”
I guess I can start relaxing now that Narae looked like she wasn’t about to get angry. I wasn’t used to sitting with my back ramrod straight, and my legs were asleep. I wonder if I can stretch them…
“I’m not done talking.”
I straightened up again.
“That rumor.”
I was taken aback as she brought up a topic I didn’t think she would talk about.
“How much of it is true?”
“Didn’t you say you don’t believe it?!”
“Did I? I said I don’t blindly believe it, not that I don’t believe it at all!”
So you do believe it? You believe at least a small part of that rumor? You believe some creepy ghost’s rumor more than your childhood friend of over ten years?
“…Could you tell me exactly what you heard about me from the rumor?”
Narae began speaking like a rap god.
“A scumbag, trash, lolicon, pedophile, crook, dog-forever-in-heat human came from Seoul and tricked the phantoms’ master, the Tiger-nim, who would open the world for phantoms, turning her into his plaything, and enjoys every night by doing terrible, lewd things to her with a whip, candle, and a wooden horse.”
…Narae. You can’t seriously be asking me how much of that rumor is true. If even a single part of that rumor were true, then I’d deserve to have an ankle monitor attached to me.
“None of it’s true.”
“Really?”
“Does it look like I have the eyes of a liar?”
I fluttered my eyelids and looked up at Narae. Her earth-shattering punch was painful.
“Th-That’s creepy!”
I gave a feigned apology.
“…It was just a joke. You didn’t have to hit me.”
“Hmph! You’re the one in the wrong here!”
I had no idea what Narae was talking about.
“What did I do?”
“If you act like that with Rangii, then it’s no surprise that people treat you like that.”
…Wait, but what exactly do you mean by that? You mean that the way I act actually makes people think that I’m a lolicon? During my short time in Seoul, were my actions suspicious enough to make you doubt my taste in women? I spoke seriously to resolve this misunderstanding.
“I only acted like that because Rangii’s cute. There was no other motive behind it.”
There’s no way I could treat Rangii the way I do now if she grew to look my age. It’d be too embarrassing to do that to a girl I like. It’s only possible for me to act like that with Rangii because she’s still a kid. So I’d prefer it if you didn’t misunderstand. But, to put it in English, I currently LIKE Rangii. But when she grows up, it might become…no, this is enough for now.
“…Are you mad?”
Narae glanced up at me as she spoke. All I was doing was speaking seriously, but she mistook my tone for anger. Then how in the world does she view me when I’m normal?
“No, I’m not.”
“Then why’re you making such a big deal over it?”
Despite her words, she put her hand to her chest and sighed.
“No real reason.”
“Then whatever.”
Narae crossed her arms and spoke.
“So you’re only like that because Rangii’s a cute kid?”
For now.
“Yeah.”
After I nodded my head and agreed, Narae changed the subject.
“Then there’s something I want to tell you.”
“What is it?”
Narae opened her mouth, closed it, looked to the side, blushed, bit her lower lip, and shook her head before looking straight at me and speaking.
“Um, about the film.”
I nodded my head, pressing Narae to speak.
“Um, you know how, um, Ungnyeo’s making us make a lovey…dovey video?”
If it’s so hard for you to say, then you can just skip over the lovey-dovey part.
“Yeah.”
“S-So!”
Narae leaned forward, right in front of me. I struggled as hard as I could to keep my head from lowering, but my efforts did nothing to stop my eyes. My gaze naturally lowered to take in the valley between Narae’s breasts.
“If you do anything weird to me with the video as an excuse, you’re dead.”
I felt a pang of guilt at my lowered gaze.
“I-I won’t.”
“Really?”
Narae narrowed her eyes, and I nodded my head.
“Y-You don’t have to worry. Even if Hell freezes over, I absolutely will not touch even a single hair on you.”
I already experienced first-hand how irrational this world is, but this seemed extreme. I had no idea why I was currently rolling on the ground in immense pain even though I gave Narae the answer she wanted to hear.
“But you have to!”
“Didn’t you tell me not to?!”
“Don’t you still have to do it a little?”
“So what are you asking me to do?!”
Narae chose her words carefully.
“Th-Then, while we’re filming the video, treat me like how you treat Rangii.”
“What?”
What in the world was she saying? Narae avoided my gaze as she continued.
“Ungnyeo wants to see how you treat both Rangii and me. So it’d be simplest if you thought of me like how you think of Rangii, and if you d-did the same things with me that you do with Rangii. Th-That’s what I meant. I didn’t mean anything else.”
Narae’s idea wasn’t bad at all. But when I imagine the plan from Narae’s perspective, I discovered one issue with it.
“With you?”
I was referring to Narae when I said that.
“With me.”
She wants me to do the same things to her that I do with Rangii?
“Heck no.”
“Why?”
You’re seriously asking?!
“I can only do those things because Rangii’s a kid.”
“I’m a kid too.”
I had an issue with that statement.
“In what way?!”
“What, then do you think I’m some hag?!”
So if you’re not a hag, you’re a kid? The heck kind of black-and-white logic is that?!
“You’re a growing young lady, of course.”
“But you’re still saying you can’t treat me the way you treat Rangii?”
…I got the strange feeling that I’d heard this conversation before. It had probably only been a few days since that conversation, but it felt as though it had been months. I racked my memory for the specifics, but Narae didn’t give me the time.
“So do you want to do it then die, or not do it then die?”
“Why do I end up dead in both?”
“Because I say so.”
The kind Narae who was here just a moment ago seemed to have disappeared. Then I should try and persuade her a different way. I really needed to use my head. Ah, I just had a good idea. Yeah. I can make her back off of her own will by making her realize how embarrassing it would be. Preparing myself to die, I smiled in my best impersonation of Saehee and spoke.
“Are you really okay with that?”
As I expected, Narae flinched and leaned away from me a little.
“H-Hm? What do you mean?”
Uhuhuhu, just as planned (tn: Yes, this is a Death Note reference).
“I don’t just hold hands with Rangii or other things of that level. Hugging her around the waist is the first of many. I have her sit on my lap, I feed her, I hug her tightly to me and we sleep together, and I even tell Rangii to hug me from the back. And you want to do the same things with me?”
Narae was fidgeting quite a bit now out of embarrassment. Seeing Narae so embarrassed caused an unexpected fire to burn within my mind.
“And that’s not all! That means I can also put my lips anywhere on your body, and dress you in nothing but a button-down shirt! And tapping your butt will be a daily occurrence! And I’ll also feel up your narrow hips and your body with my hands, and grope your b-breasts all I want!”
Hello? Is this the police? I’d like to report a pervert. Even I knew the kind of crazy things I was saying, but I didn’t stop talking.
“Even if you tell me no, I’ll keep hugging you, and kiss you on the cheeks, your forehead, and your lips! And that’s not all! I’ll f-fondle your b-butt, b-breasts, and all kinds of other places, you got it?! Are you still fine with that, Narae? Can you withstand such humiliating acts?!”
Ba-ba-ba-bam!! I could almost hear the pouring rain and crash of thunder behind me, though this was all in my head. …Maybe I should stop reading manhwa as well. Narae lowered her head and began shaking at my extended sexual harassment. Yeah. Get mad. Get mad at me for saying those things. Rather than whittling away at my sanity by doing the same things with Narae that I do with Rangii, I’d prefer getting beaten almost to death by Narae. That should make filming the video easier as well. But I didn’t want Narae to mistakenly believe that I didn’t want to do those things to her, either. Don’t you look down on the strength of an eight year long unrequited love! Narae’s the girl I like. I wanted Narae and me to become closer naturally; I didn’t want to take advantage of Narae like this.
…Though I did a little.
Okay, a lot.
Yeah. I really wanted to take advantage of her.
“So don’t say things like that. Just acting normal between us should be enough…”
“I’ll do it.”
Time froze.
“…What?”
“I said I’ll do it.”
Narae lifted her head. There were tears welling in Narae’s eyes and her cheeks were flushed, but there was an unshakable resolve in her face. I only realized this then:
Narae was genuinely angry about something other than my sexual harassment.
…Huh? Did I just say something extremely dangerous, then?
“Um, wait…”
“Sunghoon.”
Narae smiled kindly at me—but the emotion hidden within that seemingly kind smile caused me to shut my mouth.
“You get it? While we’re filming, I want you to do the exact same things with me that you do with Rangii, okay? Or else, I’ll make copies of all your middle school poems and give them to all our friends. Actually, I’ll upload them to the Internet with your personal information attached.”
She was giving me an ultimatum.
“H-How do you even have those?! I remember throwing those poems in the trash!”
Narae didn’t answer.
“So is it a yes or a no?!”
Narae raised her clenched fist.
“Yes, I understand.”
I fell to my hands and knees, tears flowing from my eyes, as I surrendered to Narae.