The bathroom door closed behind me. Rangii then locks it with a click. She actually locked my way out. Are you trying to savor the feeling of keeping prey trapped in a corner?
Just as Saehee said, the bathroom was unrecognizable. It originally looked like a typical bathroom that you could find in any modern home, but now, the bathroom was as large as the master bedroom. It probably didn’t look different from the outside because of magic. At this point, I don’t even get surprised.
In the center of the bathroom is a huge bathtub that looks like it could fit five people, and there are rose petals floating from the steaming, milky water. Oddly enough, there are a variety of shampoo bottles arranged in a line next to the bathtub. I realize, thanks to the knowledge I gained from certain Internet videos that I cannot describe here, that the contents of those bottles aren’t meant to be used for bathing. I also know why there’s an air mattress lying next to the bathtub, and why there’s a hole drilled into the bath stool. But the thing that most shocked me were the bright, fluorescent lights installed in the ceiling, illuminating the entire room. Actually, calling them fluorescent lights isn’t quite accurate. I should call them spotlights, instead. Why the hell did you install those in a bathroom?!
While I stand there, stunned by the sight of a bathroom that doesn’t at all belong in a traditional Korean home, something is thrown into the air next to me and lands on the bathroom floor. Rangii was taking off her clothes. You brat. You can’t just throw your clothes anywhere like that. You have to put them in the hamper, at least…Wait, that’s not it! Why are you suddenly naked?!
“I’ll go in first.”
Rangii puts her hand against the edge of the bathtub and lifts her leg high into the air before testing the surface of the water with her toes. Finding the bath not too hot, she sits down on the edge, swings her other leg to enter the bath, and then dives in.
…I didn’t see a thing. I saw absolutely nothing.
“Rangii, you can’t do that.”
Narae’s voice from beside me calmed me down. That’s right. Now that she’s seen Rangii completely naked, she must have come back to her senses! I’m saved!
“You’re supposed to wash yourself before you go into the tub.”
But of freaking course not! As if something so convenient for me would happen!
“Ah, I see! I’ll get out, then!”
Rangii stands straight up, then, with her body facing me, lifts her leg up to get out of the tub; but this time, I made sure to keep my head facing away. Narae then stopped Rangii.
“You’re already in the tub, so it’s okay. Just make sure to do it tomorrow.”
Is there no one here who understands what’s normal?
“That’s not the thing to point out here!”
“What do you mean? Rangii’s just a kid, isn’t she?”
Narae looks at me, bemused, before frowning maliciously at me. I have a very bad feeling about this.
“Or, don’t tell me. Do you seriously think of Rangii in that way?!”
…I do, though. That’s why I hurriedly change the subject.
“N-No. That’s not what I mean.”
Narae narrows her eyes even more, and I continue talking for dear life.
“I meant you, you! We’re too old to be taking a bath together, aren’t we?”
Narae questions my very reasonable concern.
“Says who?! I told you this yesterday. Treat m-me the same way you treat Rangii!”
Yes, you did, but did you really think I would do that?
“Um, Narae-nim. I beseech you to calm down and instead aim for a brighter, happier future…Your hand! Put down your hand!!”
I use one hand to point, and the other to cover my face as I shout and take a step back. Why, you ask? Because Narae was taking off her tank top! Narae spoke to me while she was pulling off her tank top, revealing her pink bra beneath.
“W-what is it? You have to take off your clothes to take a bath, right?”
“That’s not the point! There’s something wrong about a boy and a girl our age taking a bath together! Just calm down for a second! Don’t let Saehee goad you into…”
Crap. That was a mistake. I think I just reminded Narae of something she’d forgotten until now.
“As if. Do you really think I can calm down? You already know why I’m so angry! After hearing that, I’d rather—yeah!—if it takes being bitten by a dog to prove her wrong, then I’ll endure that bite!”
Bark bark! I don’t bite people, though. I’ve suddenly become a dog, and with Narae so upset, there’s no way I’ll be able to talk my way out of this.
Here’s a simple hypothetical. If Saehee were to tell me everything that happened on the day Rangii nearly sacrificed herself for me were to happen again unless I went into the middle of a crowded street and shouted, “I’m a lolicon!” then what would I do? Or if she told me that Chii would die unless I ran around the middle of town while stark naked? I may die of shame, but I’d still do it. Because even the slightest chance that something like that were to happen is too high; any personal suffering is better than letting that happen.
And that’s what Narae’s going through.
Coursing through her head are the memories of a certain event in her childhood and the day that she nearly killed me. Narae is refusing to back down because of those two incidents. This means that I’m no longer trying to stop her; I’m trying to help her. I sigh heavily, and I turn around. But just as I’m about to tell Narae to continue taking off her clothes and enter the bath, this happens.
“Okay. Then you can go first and…Arms! Lower your arms! Seriously! Don’t take that offfff!!”
Before I can finish speaking, my cries fill the room.
I may be acting like an idiot, but looking a gift horse in the breasts—I mean mouth—is also foolish. Part of me agrees, though. I probably am acting like an idiot. After all, I’m a man. A large part of me desperately desires to carve this scene of Narae’s voluptuous body into my retinas and do all kinds of R-18 things that boys can’t even legally watch or read. But I can’t follow that desire. Narae may be doing this because of what Saehee said, but Narae’s ultimately doing something so embarrassing for her for Rangii’s and my sakes.
“S-Stop staring! It’s embarrassing!”
Damn. I was so deep in thought that I wasn’t able to see the moment Narae undressed. N-no, that’s not what I mean! I wasn’t able to stop her from getting undressed. At some point, Narae had taken off her bra, and had her arms wrapped around her breasts, covering the important bits. She flinched, her cheeks burning red, and she leans forward slightly, looking up at me while I was transfixed by Narae’s naked form.
“Y-you take off your c-clothes now, too.”
If Narae had told me that at any other time, I would have ripped my clothes off in a frenzy, but not now. No matter how much I want to, not now. Can’t we film literally any other scene? Like swimming or playing with water guns? Or a scene of the three of us sleeping peacefully together while holding hands? A scene like that would be perfect for the video. I should convince Saehee of that. Because Saehee’s a surprisingly reasonable ghost. Before the last shreds of my sanity are ripped away, I turn around and sprint for the door at breakneck speeds, and I unlock the door. But when I turn the handle, the door refuses to budge.
“Why?!”
That’s when I heard a familiar voice from the bathroom wall. The voice belonged to the spawn of evil, a creature who views mockery as sustenance, and someone I can easily imagine as having come from Hell: Saehee.
“Only a virgin does not know that exiting is much harder than entering, Young Master.”
“Hey, dammit!!”
“Ah, there is nothing to worry about. There are twenty cameras hidden in the bathroom to spy on—pardon—film your activities.”
So that’s why the lights are so bright!
“Does it seem like that’s what I’m worried about?!”
“Quite. Rest assured, the door will unlock once the Young Master is enjoying himself. There is no need to worry. After all, the door will not open until you have finished your bath.”
“Open the door!! I want to have a word with you!”
“Ah, that reminds me: there is something I forgot to mention.”
The moment Saehee finished speaking, a blue circle appears on the wall next to the door and Baduk pops out of it. W-what was that? Was that magic, too?
“Give Baduk a bath, and I will give you a sweet cake as a reward.”
“The cake is a lie!!”
But Saehee, the who could open the door, was finished speaking. So you ran away, you coward?! I grabbed the door handle and tried to turn it open, but it refused to move in the slightest, making me think that it was actually part of the wall than a part of the door. And Baduk, not even fazed at having appeared like this in the bathroom, said,
“Ah, is today bath day?”
Without batting an eye, she took off all her clothes and began taking a shower. You’re amazing, Baduk. I had to admire how Baduk was always so calm in situations like these.
“…I’m finished.”
I have a long way to go until I can be like Baduk. My heart sank after I heard those terrifying words from behind me. She’s behind me. Standing directly behind me. Swearing to myself that I wouldn’t turn around, I answer back.
“F-finished what?”
That was a seriously stupid question.
“are you asking me to explain?”
Narae responded in a high-pitched voice, her words filling the bathroom.
“N-no. I didn’t mean that.”
My voice was unsteady as well.
“…I’ll be going in first, so hurry up and undress.”
I heard Narae walk towards the tub and then the sound of water splashing. Do I have to s-steel myself to do that as well? I clutched at my chest and took deep breaths to keep my heart from beating out of my chest when I heard Rangii’s voice.
“Uu—. What can I do to make my breasts and butt as large as Narae’s? I wish I could grow faster.”
“Don’t worry about it. You’ll grow when you get older.”
I can say with confidence, having seen Rangii’s grown up form, that that will never happen.
…What the heck am I thinking right now?
“Hm? Sunghoon, why haven’t you undressed yet? Weren’t you almost tearing off your clothes last time?”
“…”
I can’t see her, but I could feel Narae’s painful stare. I shouted in a tear choked voice.
“I am! I’m taking off my clothes! That’s all I have to do, right?! Uwaaaaagh!”
Yep. There’s nothing I can do. Avoiding the reality of the situation would be the same as digging my grave even deeper. In that case, I should fight back courageously like a man. And then die! Saehee said that the door wouldn’t open until we finished our bath. In other words, after we finish our bath, the door will open. So I just have to get the bath over with as soon as possible! Steeling myself with grim resolution, I ignored the regards of the two girls staring at me and took off my clothes. I took off my shirt, lowered my pants, and then…and then…I took off my underwear. Regardless of my resolve, I didn’t have the courage to remain completely naked, so I quickly grabbed a towel and wrapped it around my waist.
Narae and Rangii were sitting side by side in the bathtub. The water level must have been high in the tub, because Rangii was submerged up to the neck in water. Thank goodness. And thank goodness the water was cloudy because I couldn’t see anything below its surface. But when I turn to look at Narae, I realized not everything had ended up so lucky. The water wasn’t that high for Narae. M-more specifically, the water only barely went above the mid-section of her chest. Because of that, Narae’s breasts, floating slightly in the water, were displayed prominently for me to see.
“…Ugh.”
I covered my face. This is bad. Really bad. Seeing the naked body of the girl I like doesn’t just shake my mental facilities; it nearly obliterates them entirely, stoking my carnal lust in the process. But the most dangerous thing of all was that pink color, a shade lighter than the rose petals obscuring her breasts, barely visible through the water. All manner of disasters was likely to befall me should I continue to look, so I quickly enter the bath across from Narae and Rangii. Then—Eureka!—when I enter the tub, the water rises to cover the upper part of her chest as well! And another lucky break was the fact that they didn’t say anything about my wearing a towel when entering the bathtub. Narae just lowered her head, her face flushed. …But Narae and I weren’t the only ones in the bathtub.
“Sunghoon? Why’d you put on a towel?”
That’s right! Rangii’s here as well! Rangii forms a question mark with her wet hair and looks at me with an innocent expression on her face. In that moment of panic, I can’t think of how to answer her, so I just let my mouth say whatever it wants, taking my brain fully out of the equation.
“S-shut up. Behind this towel lies the all-important secret to the creation of life, so I can’t just show it carelessly.”
Ah geez, what was that? The heck am I babbling about now?
“Pfft!”
But what I said caused Narae to burst into laughter.
“What was that? Was that a joke or something?”
“I-I’m not sure.”
The oppressively awkward mood dominating the bathroom lifted immediately thanks to her laughter. We were finally able to look each other in the eye.
…It was almost nostalgic. How long has it been since we took a bath together? When I was a kid, I used to take baths with her whenever I went to her house to play. While I was reminiscing, Narae kicks up her leg from underwater, extending it towards me and splashing me with water. Y-you’re playing quite the dangerous game, Narae-nim!
“You little deviant. What do you think you’re staring at? Do you like them that much?”
I do. I really do.
“No.”
“Mmhmmm~? Have you forgotten what you said before?”
She tapped her temple teasingly, and after remembering my revelation from earlier, I spoke the truth.
“That was a lie.”
“And you know that lying is bad, right?”
“I guess this means I’ll be bitten by a tiger, then.” (tn: Idiom. Doesn’t translate well.)
After I said that, Rangii, who was dozing off in the warm water, suddenly opened her eyes and dispersed any remaining sleepiness with a few waves of her hand. Stop that; you’re splashing me with water.
“I would never bite Sunghoon!”
“Sunghoon was just saying a joke.”
“Uu—. I don’t like jokes like that.”
Rangii pouted and looked unhappily at me. I got the feeling that she wanted to get mad at me for making a joke that labeled her in a bad light, but she looked more cute than anything.
“Because I like you so much, Sunghoon.”
Narae wrapped her arms around Rangii’s waist and sat Rangii down on top of her lap. …Or, at least, I was pretty sure that was what happened. The rose petals and the milky water blocked my vision, and I didn’t have x-ray vision to check what she did. Rangii didn’t fight back, and leaned her back against Narae. Rangii’s head pushes against Rangii’s breasts, pushing them slightly to either side. I felt a twinge of disappointment that my previously unobstructed view was now somewhat blocked. I should have gotten a better look while I could.
“Is there something on my face?”
Rangii used both her hands to splash water against her face and rubbed her cheeks. …As if I’m going to tell you that I was looking at Narae’s breasts and not you.
“He wasn’t. Sunghoon was looking at my breasts. Honestly. With anyone else, you would’ve been in huge trouble a long time ago. You perverted old geezer.”
So you can talk, too.
“Uu…stop liking big ones so much! E-even if they’re small right now, you have to like mine, too! Weren’t you burying your face in my chest the other day when you were crying?”
I dunked my head into the water. Someone save me.
“…What was that?”
How interesting. Even when submerged in this warm water, I felt as though I were standing naked on a snowy mountaintop. I racked my brain, trying to come up with an excuse that would save my skin, when Rangii decided to open her mouth again.
“Narae, Narae! Listen! Sunghoon was crying and wailing while cradled between my breasts. That must mean he likes mine, right?”
Rangii’s words gave me a bizarre sensation: my body felt cold, but my face was burning hot. Narae glared at me, her eyes narrowed painfully at me, but then she suddenly gave Rangii a brilliantly bright smile. Women are scary. Seriously scary.
“And why was he crying?”
“Yeah, so that’s the thing.”
Crap. It never occurred to me that Rangii might bring up what happened with Chii. I only gave Narae a really rough explanation of what happened! If worse comes to worse, Rangii might say something she shouldn’t. I should stop her, just in case.
“Hang on, Narae. I’ll tell you.”
“Kang Sunghoon. Shut it.”
Narae saw through what I was doing.
“Yes, ma’am!”
I shut my mouth, and Rangii looked from me to Narae and back again.
“Rangii, would you please continue?”
“O-okay.”
“Rangii, you have to tell me everything, okay? If you keep anything from me, I might get angry.”
With nothing more to say, Narae simply favored Rangii with a friendly smile, but this only frightened Rangii.
“I-I will!”
Rangii’s tail stood straight up, emerging out of the water with a splash. Rangii could likely tell, from her animal instincts, that Narae’s smile was most definitely not a genuine smile.
But that lasted for only a moment. When Baduk entered the bath, Rangii shook off her nervousness and began enthusiastically speaking with Narae, almost as if bragging. I was a little surprised when Rangii mentioned what happened while she was out of the house back then, but I guessed that Saehee told Rangii what happened. But I have to wonder how Saehee knew what happened in the first place. I suddenly heard a ghost whisper in my ear: I used magic.
“And then Kkachi went back home safe and sound! This all happened because Sunghoon was so kind and brave and nice and understanding and cool!”
Rangii’s speech ended on a strange note. Narae will probably be getting furiously at me any second now.
“Okay, thanks for telling me.”
Narae patted Rangii’s head, and then smiled at me.
“Come over here.”
I can’t let my guard down. There’s a demon lurking beneath that smile. I clutched the sides of the bathtub and spoke.
“Can I say no?”
“You have three seconds.”
“Give me some more time.”
“Two seconds.”
I keep my gaze carefully pointed towards the ceiling and slid closer to Narae. Rangii, spotting an opportunity, moves from Narae’s lap to mine, sticking so close to me that her butt is making full contact with my belly, and she moves my hands so that they’re sitting on Rangii’s shoulders. Is she trying to keep me from running away? I felt as though I should say something to Rangii, but Narae’s silent stare, focused on me this entire time, scared me so much that I was unable to open my mouth. But Narae didn’t get mad at me. Instead, she raised her hand and patted me on the head.
“How many times do I have to tell you this? Why do you keep hiding things from me?”
She was being utterly caring of me. Her voice carried worry, disappointment, and another emotion—an emotion I couldn’t describe in words—causing me to become overwhelmed with emotion as well.
“I know you’re keeping things from me to stop me from worrying, but let me worry about you, too. Do this again, and I’ll seriously get mad. Okay?”
“…Ah.”
Wait. Hold on. This is too much. This is touching my heart even more than before. It’s like being in an air-raid shelter, cowering in fear for your life as the air-raid siren starts wailing, but instead of the planes dropping bombs, they’re dropping relief supplies. I had expected nothing more than angry insults, but after this unexpected display of warmth and understanding, I felt hot tears burning within my eyes. Her kind words, her warm fingers, her understanding voice. And her eyes, looking at me with emotions that are indescribable with mere words. When I feel all these things at once, my tears—the ones I thought I had all used up when I cried into Rangii’s chest—once again fall in fat droplets. Even I don’t know why I’m crying.
“S-Sunghoon! Are you crying?”
Rangii turns around in shock after seeing that I’m crying, and rotates her body so that she’s facing me. She lifts her legs before kneeling on the floor of the tub, then grabs my shoulders and looks up at me.
“Why are you crying? Aren’t I here with you? D-don’t cry.”
No, that’s just the thing. I don’t know why I’m crying either. That’s why, even if you tell me to stop crying, I can’t. Excuse me, could someone please stop my tears?
My childhood friend, Narae, knows me even better than I know myself.
“Ah, and this is your punishment.”
With the hand she was using to pat my head, Narae suddenly pinches my ear and jerks it towards her.
“Owwww!”
My tears stopped immediately, replaced by my yowl of pain. Then Narae gently embraces my head, cradling it to her bosom. I thought to myself, ‘How in the world is this wonderful sensation on my head supposed to be a punishment?’ when Narae speaks.
“This is a punishment for keeping things from me and doing weird things to Rangii.”
Narae submerged my head into the water.
“Uguubbt?!”
As a side note, when Narae pushed me underwater, Rangii went with me.