I got the feeling Rangii found the sports bra suffocating, because she almost immediately changed out of it. The weather took a turn for the worse as the air became both hot and humid. We didn’t even have the energy to talk as the three of us lay listlessly on our sides like Baduk. I began to understand why Narae took off her bra. It rained barely over a day ago, and now it was swelteringly hot. What should we do? Maybe play with water? …No, mixing water with Narae would be like digging my own grave. Never mind that. Should I take a shower? Hm. It’d be a pain if I brought that up, and Narae and Rangii somehow ended up joining me. I already went through that this morning, so no thanks. Then how about a deung-mok? Yeah. That should be all right. I bolted up so that I was sitting upright. I kept my gaze straight and center. Because if I looked at Narae, something else of mine would have stood up. Whether for better or worse, Narae also sat up.
“Where’re you going?”
I was able to keep my heat-addled brain from making me say, ‘Where would I go? I’ll always be by your side,’ and gave an appropriate response.
“To do a deung-mok.” (tn: An ostensibly Korean tradition where you get into push up position and someone pours water on you. Link to a picture .)
“Deung-mok?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you want my help?”
“Nah, I’m fine.”
It was best to do it by myself. I’d be too on edge if I asked Narae for her help. I didn’t know why I felt it’d be dangerous, but my instincts were warning me.
“Hey, dummy. Wouldn’t this be the perfect scene to film?”
Narae glared at me as she tapped on the mat she was lying on. The bamboo mat couldn’t handle the force behind Narae’s finger and snapped in two. Is it possible to do that with only human strength? It looked like the danger I felt earlier was actually from rejecting Narae’s help.
“It seems you’re right. Yes, please help me. Absolutely, please do.”
“A deung-mok?”
Rangii, who looked like a tiger-skin rug while lying down, arched her back as she got up. But I had to wonder.
“Do you know what a deung-mok is?”
“Just who do you think I am?”
Rangii. A tiger. A tiger cub who’s over 4000 years old.
“Of course I know that much! Just watch!”
Watch what? Before I could tell what she was planning, she crouched down, then sprung at me. Only then did I realize the mistake she meant. Hey, you brat. A deung-mok isn’t the same thing as a mu-deung (piggyback ride).
Rangii squeezed by neck with her thighs, put her belly to the back of my head, and placed her hands on the top of my head as if I were a robot whose controls were about to pop out. It was too warm.
“Isn’t this a deung-mok?”
Not at all.
“Rangii, that’s called a piggyback ride.”
Because Narae spoke to Rangii first, I held onto Rangii’s legs without saying anything. Even if Rangii did climb onto me because of a misunderstanding, I couldn’t let her accidentally fall. …Actually, it wouldn’t matter. I’d seen her act cat-like before, so a fall from this height probably wouldn’t do anything. But I was already holding onto her, so whatever. Even if my neck was starting to warm up, I didn’t have a choice but to endure it.
“Ah, really?”
Rangii leaned forward to look at me with her face upside-down.
“Yeah, you brat. You need to study a bit.”
Rangii’s face suddenly disappeared.
“Eck. I don’t want to. I had a hard enough time learning the Thousand-Character Classic, but you’re telling me to study even more?” (tn: An ancient primer for learning Chinese characters. Link here.)
I was a little surprised.
“You memorized the whole thing?”
Narae felt the same way, because she said that with a surprised look on her face. Rangii bounced up and down on my shoulders, apparently happily at being asked that. Stop that. It’s hard to sit up.
“That’s right!”
“For real?” I asked.
“Sunghoon, don’t you believe me?”
Of course I do. Rangii, understanding the meaning behind my silence, knocked lightly on my head and graced me with her words.
“Grrr! Then I’ll recite it right here!”
Right on top of my head, that is. Rangii took a deep breath, then began clearly reciting the Thousand-Character Classic.
“Sky cheon~ Earth ji. Black hyun~ Yellow hwang.”
Then she stopped. She fell silent.
“Uh…. Uh….”
She looked unsure.
“Did you forget it?”
Rangii straightened her legs and sat up. Stop that. It’s hard to hold onto you.
“N-no! I just couldn’t think of it in the moment!”
That means you forgot. Though I had to admit: I was amazed that she could only remember four characters. Even I knew up to House ji; Space cheon, or House ji; Space ju or whatever. Though I didn’t know the Chinese characters at all.
“It’s okay, Rangii. If you can’t remember it, all you have to do is study again.”
Narae raised her hand and patted Rangii’s head, meaning there was nowhere I could safely look. Hey, Narae. Don’t lean in front of me and raise your hand when those sanity-destroying weapons of mass destruction aren’t held in check by a bra. With that body part that emphasizes one’s motherliness directly in front of me, I couldn’t help but stare forward.
“So go ask Saehee to help you learn it. Right now.”
“It’s fine. I can ask Sunghoon to teach me it later,” Rangii said.
…Um, sorry, but I’m not studious at all. During my first semester finals, I got a thirty. Out of a hundred. Narae knew the truth of my grades, and was about to inform Rangii. Oh no! Both my family standing and society itself are in peril! I quickly cut in before Narae could say anything.
“Okay, then how about we go do a deung-mok~. Hahahaha.”
I laughed robotically. I shouldn’t let my grades weigh on my mind. The past is the past.
“Then I’ll come back after I tell Saehee to get ready to film.”
While Narae left for the master bedroom, I put Rangii down, got a towel from the bathroom, and went to the courtyard faucet. Narae was waiting for me by the time I got there, a wooden bowl in her hand, and Rangii was sitting on her haunches, her hand under her chin. She looked intrigued. Just like someone examining a bug for her research journal. Saehee still hadn’t come out, so she must be recording remotely like before. …I was able to realize by now that when she said she would record by smartphone, she was really saying that she would do whatever she pleased.
“Sunghoon. Let’s do the deung-mok now. Narae told me about it, but I want to see it for myself.”
It looked like Narae gave Rangii a basic explanation while I was gone.
“Get on the ground.”
Narae clawed—I mean, tapped—on the bucket as she spoke. She wouldn’t use magic to turn that basket into a club while I’m on the ground, right? But there was something about the deung-mok that bothered me. Before I could get to the actual deung-mok, I had to take off my shirt, and that bothered me. I’m saying it’s embarrassing to have Narae and Rangii staring at me while I’m shirtless. It’s not like I’m some ripped male idol with six-pack abs. It’s seriously embarrassing.
“What’s wrong,” Rangii asked. “Aren’t you supposed to take off your clothes?”
You’re right. You’re absolutely right.
“You’re a boy, aren’t you? What’re you acting so shy for?”
Because you two are looking at me. Also, I resent this sexual discrimination. Please respect my basic human rights.
You know what? Forget it. I decided to let things unfold as they would, pulled in my gut, crossed my arms to get a grip on the hem, and pulled off my shirt. When it covered my face, Rangii gasp.
“Woooow.”
W-what do you mean wow?! What’re you so surprised about?
“Heeeh….”
Narae-nim, how come even you are joining in?
“I just felt my heart skip a beat. Narae, do you know why that happened?”
“…You’re better off not knowing right now.”
I hurriedly took off the rest of my clothes before I died of shame.
“Sunghoon.”
“…What?”
For whatever reason, I felt afraid with Narae and Rangii’s gazes upon me.
“How about losing some weight?”
Narae’s trying to kill me!
“No! Sunghoon’s belly is perfect! I love how it’s squishy whenever I touch it and soft when I bite it! It feels just like Narae’s breasts!”
I know I’m entertaining blasphemous thoughts, but I’m well aware of what breasts are made of. In other words, the reason why Narae’s breasts and my belly share a certain quality … must be because they’re both full of hopes and dreams. Yeah, that must be it. Hahahaha.
“Huh? Sunghoon. Why do you look like you’re about to cry?”
“It’s because of you, you brat.”
“Unyaa?!”
I hit Rangii on the head, then wrapped a towel around my waist and put my hands on the ground.
“Let’s get this over with.”
My downtrodden voice elicited a chuckle from Narae.
“Feeling bothered? Yeah, you should work out a little, but don’t worry about it so much.”
I wasn’t listening to her. I’m going to go to the gym once I get back to Seoul. For six months, I’ll only eat tomatoes and chicken breast, and go work out super hard. Friggin’ dammit.
“I just told you not to worry about it.”
I’ll look for a gym later. For some reason, Narae was making a pleased expression as she readied the basket that was now full of water. And then—this is the worst!
“Ugh….”
The freezing water running down my back caused me to groan despite myself.
“Crybaby.”
Smack! Narae slapped me on the back. It hurt. There must be a handprint on my back.
“That looks refreshing.”
This was closer to freezing than refreshing. But Narae wasn’t taking her hand off my back. I think I know what she’s planning. W-wait. Yes, a deung-mok normally has that at the end, but do you really have to do it?
“Rangii, watch closely. When you’re doing a deung-mok, you have to do this after pouring the water.”
I guess so. Narae started stroking my back. Uheeeeek?
“U-um, Narae? Do you really think that’s necessary?”
“Keep quiet. I’m teaching Rangii.”
“You know, Rangii’s actually smarter than she…”
“Shut up.”
I shut up. Narae then slid her hand over my wet back, starting from my waist and all the way up to my neck. W-what? This sensation. It was starting to feel really good.
“You don’t just pour the water; you have to spread it out like this as well.”
“Uh huh, uh huh!”
Narae filled up the bucket again and poured it on my back. She continued sliding her hand on my back even as she did this. I’m beginning to feel strange, so would it be okay to stop now?
“No.”
“…I didn’t say anything.”
“Don’t make light of a childhood friend.”
I was guilty of doing that. I was guilty of doing the same of Rangii, as well.
“Me too! I want to do it!”
Rangii begged Narae for a turn, her eyes shining.
“You can’t, Rangii.”
But Narae abruptly ended that hope.
“But why not?”
“When it comes to a deung-mok, the person who starts it has to finish it. That’s one of its fundamental rules. If you were to switch in for me in the middle of it, you’d become a really bad person. Okay?”
No idea. I had no idea. Never in my life had I heard about such a thing. Was that really a part of a deung-mok?
“Heek? Is that true?”
Rangii directed that question at me, but Narae answered.
“It is. So you can’t.”
“Uu…. Okay.”
“You really are a good kid, Rangii.”
Narae’s smile looked scary to me as she kindly patted Rangii on the head. The chill running down my spine is because of Jirisan’s freezing water, right? And while I was distracted by that thought, Narae once again doused me with water. Brrr, it’s so cold. But I can withstand this much. I stood up, letting them know that I was done.
“It’s not over yet.”
Narae had no intention of letting this end. Excuse me, Narae-nim? I’m starting to feel a little cold. Can’t we wrap things up? I waited, but Narae didn’t say anything. …I guess this whole childhood friends thing only matters when it’s convenient for her
“After you wash the back, you have to wash the front too.”
…What?
“W-wait!”
Narae’s hand swept down across my body. Sliding her hand across my waist, Narae’s soft hand settled on my belly.
“T-there’s no need to do that!”
“But it’s a deung-mok.”
“Exactly!”
“Hm…. You really put on a few pounds, didn’t you?”
“What do you think you’re touching?!”
“Your belly.”
Did you think I was asking for the name of the body part you were touching?
“You sweat a lot here, too, didn’t you?”
“I guess I did.”
“And that’s why I’m doing it here, too.”
“That’s really unnecessary! I mean, I’m going to take a shower, so that’s why!!”
Narae ignored me entirely, leaned forward so far that her breasts nearly touched my back, and pushed my hips to the side. Shit, I was too slow! Now I can’t run away! One wrong move, and my back is going to make contact with Narae’s breasts. And as I stayed still, Narae’s long, slender fingers made their way up my body. Towards my chest. Actually, I was mistaken. One hand was moving towards my chest, while the other went lower. A bit below my navel.
“N-Narae!”
“I-I’m just moving your towel back up.”
Then, while Narae was explaining her lower hand, the hand moving towards my chest touched something I refuse to name, and I bolted up. I was so surprised that I didn’t even noticed Narae’s breasts on my back. Narae fell backward, landing on her butt, and gave a yelp of surprise.
“Kya!”
“What’s wrong?” Rangii said.
I didn’t answer, focusing on wiping myself off with the towel that used to be around my waist.
“Ah, seriously! Now I’m all wet.”
I didn’t want to know how or where she was wet. From what I could see out of the corner of my eye, I knew well enough to avoid a full view. I put on my t-shirt as fast as I could and ran for the front gate as soon as I was able. The blood that had rushed to my face was returning to course through my heart.
I should run away. Run away without thinking about anything. I don’t have a destination in mind or any money, but I should just run. Yeah. A single day run away. I was doing anything and everything I could to keep myself from remembering what just happened.
“Is there something you forgot, Young Master?”
…Déjà vu?
“Perhaps you left your sanity back at Seoul? Is that not doubtful, considering you never had any to begin with?”
I looked around me. Nothing. Actually, after thinking about it, I realized that Saehee’s voice came from above me. I looked up. Saehee was there, sitting formally atop a fluffy cloud. I stood there, so stupefied that I had forgotten about running.
“Are you trying to get a peek under my skirt? What a relief. I have on a garter belt and black lingerie that the Young Master is sure to enjoy.”
Your skirt’s too long for that. What’s wrong with you, getting my hopes up—wait, no, that’s not the important thing!
“What the hell is that?!”
“A cloud.”
She replied so coolly. I was starting to feel pretty cool, too. Ah, I see. It’s a cloud. And when exactly did a ghost like you become a Taoist sage?
“Why the look of surprise? Even a cat could do this much.”
Then what can’t a cat do these days? Regardless, it was a good thing she showed up.
“I’m going to be running away for a bit.”
“For how long, may I ask?”
I gave an immediate reply, the answer already in my head.
“A day.”
“I shall give you one second.”
Hey, what the hell. That’s shorter than last time.
“Your time is up.”
And just like that, I was forced to follow Saehee back home.
Waiting for me by the faucet was Rangii, who, for whatever reason, had her shirt off. It looked like I needed to give a certain exhibitionist tiger a spanking. Rangii spoke to me, her meager chest prominently displayed for me to see.
“Why’d you leave?”
Rangii made a question mark with her hair, but I didn’t have the courage to answer truthfully.
“I felt cold, so I decided to go for a run.”
“All you had to do was hug me.”
I will gladly take you up on that offer during the winter.
“Where’d Narae go?”
“She went to go get changed.”
She must have wanted to change out of her wet clothes.
“But how come you’re not wearing anything? A girl shouldn’t take her shirt off like that.”
I reached out to grab Rangii’s shirt that was lying next to her, when Rangii clasped my hand. I turned, and Rangii was smiling widely.
“I took it off because I want to do a deung-mok, too!”
I wonder why today feels so much longer than normal? Maybe it’s just my imagination.
“Ask Saehee to … never mind.”
As soon as she dropped me off, she left straight for the master bedroom. Besides, she would have said something about water making her wet. What was I thinking, hoping for even a bit of help from her.
“I mean, why don’t you ask Narae?”
“It’s super super hot, so I want to do it now! Right now. Before Narae gets back!”
She wanted to do it so bad that she could barely speak right. She looked ready to threaten to break the seal if I didn’t agree to do the deung-mok. Geez…. With no other towel available, I reluctantly wrapped my old towel around her waist. From how much her tail was wagging, I could tell that she was more excited than usual. You brat. Does this really make you that happy? I filled the bucket with water and poured it gently on Rangii’s back, spreading it across her back with my hand. Because kids have sensitive skin.
“Hunyaaang…!”
Rangii gave a surprised squeal, her tail straight as an arrow. It was understandable; the water was really cold.
“Is it too cold?”
Rangii shook her head.
“N-no, it’s not. K-keep going.”
Rangii whined, her head turned to look at me. Her cheeks were blushed, the blood flowing to her face because she was holding herself up off the ground. …It hadn’t even been that long. I poured a little more water and stroked her snow-white skin as if rubbing it dry.
“Hmm, uuuung, hwaaaa…”
…It may seem like I’m doing something incredibly suspect, but I’m not. I am just giving a deung-mok. That aside, her skin is incredibly soft. Children really do have good skin. It’s practically baby’s bottom smooth. Even I was starting to feel good. …Not in a weird way. Ah, Rangii’s braided hair is touching the ground. I stopped my hand and spoke to Rangii.
“Hey, your hair’s on the ground.”
“O-okay. Got it.”
Rangii’s voice sounded strained when she answered, then she grabbed her hair and bit the length of it, holding it in her mouth. And then she turned her head to look at me, urging me to continue with her eyes. Couldn’t you have just flung it around your neck? Well, her hair is pretty long. While thinking this, I continued the deung-mok.
“Mm…. Mmm, hmmb….”
Now just hold on a second!! Those sounds would seem really weird to anyone listening! What’s with this, ‘If I can’t show you, I’ll tell you” crap?! Huh?! All I’m doing is giving Rangii a deung-mok, and all Rangii’s doing is groaning because the water’s cold! Just look! Look at Rangii, who’s shivering from the freezing water, her knees bowed in slightly, and her butt in the air as she struggles to keep herself off the ground!
Y-yeah! The problem wasn’t her back, but that the water flowing down towards the front of her body was too cold. I slid my hands around her back to rub her belly.
“Hunyaaaang….”
Rangii opened her mouth, letting her hair fall to the ground, as she moaned and arched her back. Ah, I could feel something waking from deep within the recesses of my mind….
“You pervert!!”
I heard a kick flying through the air, like an angel of justice smiting evil. I turned to look towards the direction of the sound while rubbing Rangii’s belly. I saw Narae. Correction: I saw Narae with her foot held in the air. More specifically, I saw Narae readying to kick me. Unable to dodge, I was sent rolling across the ground.
“Uhuagh?!”
Gagh! M-my back! My freaking back! My poor, shattered back!!
“S-Sunghoon?”
Rangii suddenly stood up, worried after seeing me imitate a caterpillar as I clutched my back in pain. Even in this situation, I thought to myself, ‘Hey, you have to wipe the water off yourself.” Seriously, what’s wrong with me?
“Kang Sunghoon.”
But, of course, the sound of Narae’s impossibly heavy footsteps forcibly put an end to those thoughts. Forgetting the pain in my back entirely, I sat up, my back ramrod straight, and answered.
“Y-yes!!”
“What were you doing to Rangii while I was gone?”
“I-I was giving her a deung-mok.”
“A deung-mok?”
“Yes!”
Narae bit her lip and stomped on the ground hard. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw a crater appear below her. Th-that reminded me of bad memories. Mommy, I’m scared.
“Why were you fondling her chest during a deung-mok?!”
“Belly! Her belly! Just her belly! Rubbing her belly should be fine, right?!”
“It’s not!”
“I’m having a hard time believing you after what you said before!”
“Me doing it to you, me doing it to Rangii, and you doing it to me are all fine, but absolutely not you doing it to Rangii!”
She was being ridiculous, but it was clear that I would have hell to pay if I didn’t agree. I answered for the sake of my survival.
“But why not?”
Actually, no I didn’t.
“Rangii, Sunghoon’s a pervert who’ll start by touching your breasts but end up touching your b-breasts. Rangii, you’re still a kid, so you can’t let him.”
Is that really the reason why?
“It’s okay! That’s all right with me, because I love it when Sunghoon feels my breasts!”
Rangii caressed her own small chest as she spoke. The number of people trying to kill me increased to two.
“…Kang Sunghoon.”
“I have no idea! I have absolutely no idea what Rangii’s talking about!”
I immediately bowed my head to Narae. Because even if I were to look back at Narae, there was no way I was getting out of this chaotic situation alive. Narae tried to figure out how to relieve her rage before forgoing words entirely and instead speaking with her actions.
“You pervert, lolicon, pedophile!”
I couldn’t help but think, as I was struck by Narae’s kick, that Ungnyeo’s video went from a lovey-dovey one to a snuff film.