“Well, lookie here?”
I heard Narae’s voice in my sleep.
“Awooo, Big Brother must have been really tired.”
“Even though he’s always sleeping in class.”
…These days, I only sleep during break time.
“Yep. He’s horrible at school. Absolutely horrible. Huh? No. If he were the type to think like that, I’d have adjusted his personality a long time ago.”
Though I could only hear Narae’s words, it seemed like they were having a scary conversation. I realized I was beginning to wake up, so I adjust my posture into a more comfortable position.
“Uu…” I moaned.
“Big Brother is a sleepyhead.”
“Shall I wake him up?” asked Narae.
Please don’t. I was in that sweet spot of a nap that’s the most relaxing.
“Hm. If you think so, too, Pyeii, then I’ll let him be,” Narae said.
Narae then chuckled softly.
“But still, too bad for Sunghoon. He won’t get to see us in our swimsuits….”
I immediately opened my eyes and shouted:
“Swimsuits?!”
“Kya?”
“Kyawooo?”
[?!]
Nope. No swimsuits. Narae was there, but there wasn’t a swimsuit in sight. She was wearing the same normal clothes as before. Weird. Even though I’m pretty sure I got up so fast because I heard Narae was in a bikini.
[“”……””]
But why did I feel as though I was being glared at by three girls? Ah, the answer was obvious. Because I knew what I did.
“Typical,” Narae said scornfully.
“Very typical of Big Brother,” Chii said in the same tone.
[A plain pervert.]
“…I’m sorry.”
Please forgive me, the pitiful person who can’t even rub his eyes for fear that the make up will smudge. I stretched languorously, trying to get my body to wake up. That felt a lot better. Only then did I realize that Chii and Pyeii were now wearing adorable children’s clothes. A smile spread across my face at their adorable appearances.
[The eyes of a criminal.]
“Awooo, he’s going to eat us up.”
Those two little jokesters clutched each other in feigned fear. Narae’s eyes, however, were no joke at all.
“Heeh? Why exactly are you looking at them like that?”
“It’s a misunderstanding,” I said with a serious expression on my face before changing the subject.
“The two of you look really pretty. The clothes you two had on earlier looked nice, too, but this is also really nice. Yeah.”
My innocent compliment caused Chii to cover her face with her hands bashfully and Pyeii to pout as she wrote:
[Minus 3 to popularity.]
“But why?!”
Unfair! That was a good compliment on my part!
[Because you’re not a man.]
“And whose fault is that, exactly?”
[Yours.]
It was my fault. I laughed.
We ate dinner at a restaurant in the department store, and when we returned home, the sun was already setting. I tried to coax Narae into my house when she dropped us off, but she was adamant in her refusal.
“I need to clean up my clothes when I get back.”
What a shame. I wanted to see that heartwarming scene of Narae, Chii, and Pyeii playing together. I hoped that one day, I could see Narae, Rangii, Chii, Jungmi-noona, Pyeii, and Baduk all together and getting along. With Saehee somewhere else.
“Get home safe,” I said. “And text me when you get back.”
“Don’t suddenly make up new habits,” she said reproachfully.
“Am I not allowed to worry about you?”
“You? About me?”
…Right, my apologies.
“Ah, also, Sunghoon.”
Narae motioned for me to come towards her. I leaned forward and brought my face closer to her. What was it? Could it be? Was she going to give me a goodbye kiss?!
“When I sent Jungmi-unni the pictures, she said…wait. What do you look so disappointed for?”
“No reason. No reason at all.”
Don’t hope for a miracle, me.
“So, what did Jungmi say?”
Narae looked at me with a displeased expression on her face before sighing.
“Do you remember what she said to you before? That a dangerous phantom has started becoming more active.”
Ah, Jungmi mentioned that back in Jirisan. She said that she didn’t have any time to waste because a dangerous phantom recently became more active.
“What about it? Did something happen to Jungmi?”
If that were the case, then humanity would have been struck a terrible blow.
“I was worried, too, but she said everything was fine. She said that she was the one worried about you.”
“Me?”
I was beginning to get a bad feeling.
“Yeah. Apparently the phantom is keeping quiet inside a powerful barrier, and that’s even more worrying. That’s why she wants you to stay safe until Rangii gets back.”
“Got it.”
I had on me Rangii’s dependable tooth and Saehee’s not-at-all-reliable cauldron lid. Not to mention, even if it didn’t look it, that powerful weapon, Ungnyeo’s Bone Club.
“I’m going to go now, then.”
Narae rolled up the window, and the car drove off. Hm. Even though I’d be seeing her tomorrow, it really was a shame that she had to leave like this. I wish Narae lived here with me. …Not that I have any less-than-innocent intentions in mind when I say that.
The second Chii and Pyeii entered the house, they changed back into their clothes. Maybe they felt the most comfortable in the clothes they were used to. I wanted to do the same, but there was one problem.
“…How do you take this off?”
I couldn’t undress alone. With Pyeii’s help, I was just able to return to my normal appearance. It was just in time, because, otherwise, I would have had to accept a delivery while still dressed in drag. The delivery address was definitely here, but that strange package was addressed to Pyeii.
“What’s this?” I asked Pyeii.
[Secret gift.]
Pyeii took the package from me, and then slid her hands together, making it disappear.
“For me?”
[How do you even come to that conclusion?]
“I’m not sure myself.”
[You on drugs?]
What an adorable brat.
[You curious?]
I answered honestly.
“Yeah.”
[…You’ll find out later.]
Pyeii had a dark smile on her face as she went back into her room.
This outing seemed to have tired them out, because the two little birdies went to bed early. This gave me the perfect opportunity to do some serious brooding in the living room. What Narae told me was still bothering me. If that were all, then I could easily say that everything was normal. Because that didn’t change the fact that I was still being targeted by the phantoms who wanted Rangii to open the world up to phantomkind. All that happened was a particularly powerful phantom capable of bossing Rangii around like Saehee does happened to show up. However, if Rangii knows the phantom who called her away, then that makes things a little different. This is still conjecture on my part, Jungmi-noona told me that a dangerous phantom became more active, and then, a few days later, a phantom called Rangii away. A phantom capable of forcing Rangii to heed its call must be incredibly powerful. This only increases my suspicon that the phantom that summoned Rangii and the one Jungmi-noona warned me about are one and the same. Saehee told me everything was okay, but I couldn’t help but worry. No one had better dare to even touch the tip of my adorable Rangii’s tail. Because otherwise, I’ll….
Dammit. There’s nothing I can do. I gave a deep mental sigh. Geez, I just don’t know what to do. I should sleep. I got a change of clothes and walked into the bathroom. Taking a shower before going to sleep on a hot summer day is a must, an absolute must. I tossed my old clothes into the washer and hopped into the tub before turning on the faucet. Gugh, it’s cold! Though I actually felt a little disappointed that the water wasn’t as cold as the mountain water of Jirisan. Geez, I actually missed being at Jirisan with Rangii. …At this rate, I might really end up living with her there. I imagined Narae plowing a field and Rangii spreading seeds on the tilled land. Hahahaha. For some reason, my laugh sounded hollow. While thinking these deranged thoughts, I continued to bathe. At that moment, I heard a clacking noise coming from the door. Of course, I remembered to lock it, so no one could come in. I turned off the faucet and was about to tell whomever that was that the bathroom was occupied, when…I heard a terrible snapping sound of something breaking. That was the sound of the door handle being broken. In shock, I sank deeper into the bath. I know my reaction was a bit feminine, but what else is a man supposed to do in a situation like that?!
The one who broke open the bathroom door was none other than Pyeii. She had apparently just woken up, because she was rubbing her eyes while dressed in her black babydoll, when she wrote:
[Small.]
Those smoky letters floated into the bathroom alongside the crow. Small? …Wait, wait! You brat! No matter how sleepy you are, at least recognize that there’s a person in the room you just literally broke into!
“Hey!”
[Hm?]
Pyeii finally realized something was wrong, and she turned to look towards the source of that scream—namely, me. Pyeii’s eyes widened when she saw me sunk deep into the bathtub. At the same time, something slid down her thighs to land on the floor, and she fell onto the toilet seat as if her legs gave out from under her. Then I heard an all too familiar sounds…and I didn’t waste any time in turning on the shower head and holding it next to my ear. Shwaaaaaaa. This was the best I could do for her. However, a few seconds later….
[!!!!!!!!]
Pyeii proceeded to create a lively 16 bit soundtrack as she hit me furiously with the exclamation points she had in both hands.
[Pervert!]
The moment I finished my shower, Pyeii confronted me, her face glowing red.
“That’s got to be the second most common insult I’ve been called.”
And what was the first?
[Lolicon pervert!]
Thanks for answering.
“The door was locked!”
[You should’ve said something the second I went in!]
“I did!”
Is it my fault that she didn’t hear me?
[But still, this is…!!]
Pyeii was unable to write anything further, and covered her face with her hands. Do you feel like you’re going to die of embarrassment? Because I’m in some serious pain, here. I’m honestly amazed that Rangii’s tooth withstood that barrage. Man, what’ll happen if I don’t have the tooth next time? Still, I could understand why Pyeii would’ve overreacted like that. I decided to apologize.
“All right. This was my fault, so go back to bed.”
[Evil villain! I hope you become a eunuch!]
Pyeii wrote some horrifying words before throwing them at me. I couldn’t do anything except accept being hit by those words.
The next morning. I woke up a little early because of yesterday’s promise. I went out of the house after I washed my face and put on my school uniform. It was cool out because the sun had just started to rise, but it was sure to be a scorcher today as well. I had no idea why summer was so hot. Because I slept during my earth sciences class. I bought the usual mocha cake and strawberry milk, and when I got home, Chii was drying her hair with a towel.
“Awooo, did you go to a bakery again?”
“Ah, yeah. How’d you sleep?”
“Like a log, Big Brother.”
“Where’s Pyeii?”
“She is currently getting ready in the bathroom.”
Just as she said that, Pyeii came out of the bathroom still in her sleepwear and with her hair soaking wet. Hey, hey! You’re dripping water all over the floor!
[Chii, dry my hair.]
“Please wait a minute.”
This immediately reminded me of Rangii, and how she would ask Saehee to dry her hair. Though, of course, Saehee would use magic.
“How’d you sleep?” I asked.
[…Don’t talk to me.]
I guess she was still bothered by what happened last night.
“But I bought you bread.”
[You promised.]
I took out the bag of cream puffs I’d intended to eat as a snack and showed it to Pyeii.
“Are you sure you don’t want these cream puffs?”
[You’re actually a good person.]
I gave Pyeii the cream puffs. Pyeii popped one into her mouth, savoring it as a blissful expression spread on her face. It’s adorable when kids get happy after eating something. Though her adorableness didn’t change the fact that the floor was slowly becoming a river.
“Can’t you use magic to dry your hair?”
[Really hard magic.]
“Really?”
[Main issue is minute control of moisture.]
…I had no idea. But Chii looked like she had her hands full drying her own hair. Because her hair was surprisingly long. In that case, it was time for her dependable big brother to take the stage.
“Chii looks busy, so what if I dried your hair?”
The heck? She stared at me as if I were some unidentified life form that had crawled its way out of the kitchen compost bin.
[You?]
“You got something to say?”
[Dry my hair and assault me?]
“As if. What would I even do?”
I realized the moment I said that that I made a mistake. A human like me truly is trash. Thankfully, Pyeii was oblivious to the implications of my statement and pointed out something else instead.
[I have big breasts.]
They were definitely big for a kid.
“Awooo? You mustn’t say things like that to Big Brother! The moment he sees a kid with big breasts, Big Brother will start groping her!”
That was hurtful. I couldn’t think of anything to say after the intense pain of Chii’s remark, but Pyeii responded in my stead.
[Bird phantoms all in danger. Extinction event.]
“What does that have to do with anything?” I asked.
[Bird phantoms need to fly. That’s why we all have big breasts.]
“Do you seriously expect me to believe that?”
Pyeii gave every indication that she was speaking the truth, and she wrote:
[I’m serious.]
Seriously?!
“Kyawooo! Pyeii! Why are you telling him that?!”
…Based on Chii’s reaction, it looked like Pyeii really was telling the truth. Goodness gracious. If Rangii found out about this, she’d get so jealous that she’d force herself to learn to fly. I carefully filed away the vital information that bird phantoms have large breasts because they need to fly away in my head. That aside, if I left Pyeii like this, then not only the floor but her sleepwear would get soaked. I took the towel from Pyeii and put it to the ends of her hair.
“Whatever, just let me dry it. Chii, that’s okay, right?”
[Why asking Chii?]
“I would be grateful if you would. I will prepare breakfast.”
[Chii, ignoring me too?]
“Ah, by the way, I put the bread I bought on the table.”
[Am I being ignored by everyone?]
I chuckled and sat Pyeii down on the sofa. I sat next to her and began squeezing her hair dry with the towel. Thank goodness I learned long ago on the Internet that there was a particular way to dry long hair. Why would I look something like that up, you ask? …So that I could dry Rangii’s hair. Is there anything wrong with that? Anyway, I’ve spent enough time on this tangent. The water that fell from Pyeii’s dark hair caused her sleepwear to cling to her back, leaving absolutely nothing to the imagination. But still, it was only Pyeii. Plus it was just her back, so it wasn’t like I cared at all.
[Aroused?]
Good thing I made that part very clear.
“By what, exactly?”
[I bet you’re getting hard from seeing me all wet.]
I gave Pyeii a very light tap on the back of her head.
“Don’t say things a kid shouldn’t say.”
[Child abuse.]
“Geez. That was a labor of love.”
For a while, Pyeii didn’t write anything else. Maybe she was worried that I’d hit her again if she wrote anything. It was when I went from drying her hair to brushing her hair that she finally wrote something. In pretty much any other circumstance, I would have had difficulty answering.
[…Do you love me?]
“Yep. I love you. And if you act nicer, I’ll love you even more.”
It was obvious that I was teasing her, but even so, it was a little embarrassing to say. Pyeii must not have expected me to answer like that, because her face was glowing red all the way down to her neck. Very cute, brat.
[So I need to work harder?]
“Word harder at what?”
She was just sitting there, so what was there to worker harder at? She couldn’t have been talking about her hair, because it was fine as strands of silk with not a single knot in it.
[…Nothing. Never mind.]
I was so surprised when Pyeii suddenly stood up that I accidentally dropped the brush and towel. That scared me. Pyeii stared down at me as I picked up the wet towel and brush off the floor, and she wrote:
[I need to become an adult.]
I was able to understand what Pyeii really meant thanks to Chii’s warning from earlier, so I changed the subject.
“But are you not an adult because you’re weak or because you’re too mentally immature?”
At my query, Pyeii pouted and adroitly spun only a portion of her hair even though it was untied.
[Asking that is rude. Really rude!]
“…Chii told me without making a fuss.”
Chii revealed this long ago. Pyeii looked flustered, as if I had just caught her trying to take advantage of my lack of phantom common sense, and she wrote:
[It’s rude to me! Asking a weak phantom things like that is seriously rude!]
Really? I guess that made sense.
“Oh dear, please pardon me.”
I gave a slight bow to Pyeii, and when I looked back up, there were words waiting for me.
[Then go to the bathroom.]
“I didn’t mean pardon me in that sense.”
[Peeing your pants at 17 years old.]
She wasn’t listening. And she didn’t realize that writing something like that was the same as digging her own grave.
“Says the brat who barged into a locked bathroom just because she had to pee….”
Pyeii’s smoky club flashed before my eyes. Seriously, thank goodness for Rangii’s tooth.