The Algorithm's Train Trip (4)
“Over here!!”
I rushed over after getting Moddeok’s call. She had arrived ten minutes early herself. Last time she’d shown up in an outfit so shocking it felt like a direct assault on the eyes, but today she’d dressed more modestly. Even so, her enormous chest carried an undeniable presence no matter how much she tried to downplay it. Gulp. The sound escaped before I could stop it.
But I mustn’t say anything. Saying it would be wrong. I absolutely cannot let the words leave my mouth. Something like “You’re radiating serious female energy today” is completely off-limits. I understood that, right?
“Ehehehehe!”
I burst out laughing, genuinely proud of how much Seon-a had grown. How could anyone be this adorable? It was like… pow! Understanding. I got it. This was something far beyond me. True understanding is incredibly difficult. The logical steps required to reach it never go smoothly. They just keep looping and looping… Especially the “why” part. Once you fall into that hell… it’s over. Yet sometimes, a flash of insight hits—like a monk achieving enlightenment under a waterfall… and the cycle of suffering begins again. That exact process had just happened to me.
“What was that all of a sudden? Why are you laughing? Let me laugh too.”
“Uh… beep-beep-beep-beep!”
I crossed my fingers into an X and pressed them against my lips. I mustn’t speak. Forbidden. Absolutely forbidden.
“What is it? Tell me. Come on, spill it.”
I shook my head vigorously and refused to answer. I could never say anything about “female energy,” or “your chest is huge,” or “you’re like a cow… or a melon.” Impossible. Saying it would be rude. I understood now. Anything no one else would say is bad.
“Beep-beep-beep! Forbidden. Forbidden.”
“Seriously, what is it?”
“I can’t tell you.”
I answered firmly. Moddeok responded with an overwhelming technique. She suddenly grabbed my arm and pressed it against something soft and yielding.
“Tell me~ What is it? Hurry up and say it.”
“Uh… uh…”
This was… tough to endure. I could feel the soft texture of her clothes and the firmer sensation of what lay beneath. But my brain had already been completely overwritten by the memory of that softness. I couldn’t hold it in anymore. She really was an incredibly seductive woman.
“I… I thought you were female…”
I finally blurted it out. I had tried so hard to hold back. I knew it was wrong. But she kept asking like that. I was being tortured. Tortured into speaking. I’m innocent.
“Wow. Just… wow.”
“I really tried not to say it… but Moddeok kept acting so female… I was tortured. Pyeongjipja, it’s true. I was genuinely tortured. You saw it, right? I was trying so hard to hold it in—did you see just now? Right?”
I checked Pyeongjipja’s expression first. I really had tried my best. I held it in so tightly. But I was tortured. That scary look is forbidden… absolutely forbidden!! She looked just like Mom. No. No way. I can’t turn into Mom!!
“Moddeok has to… explain herself. I’m really innocent.”
“It’s fine. Ah~ These things happen. But still, ‘female’? That’s a bit shocking.”
“No… I really didn’t mean it.”
“My friends say stuff like that all the time. It’s okay. Just don’t say it on stream, alright? Please, never mention it during broadcasts. That would be a disaster.”
“Oh…! Ah! Got it!!”
If she says not to, I obviously won’t. Of course I won’t!! This was force majeure… an unavoidable action. A natural disaster!! I’m innocent.
“Then we’re good~”
“I thought she was a seductive woman, but she’s actually a proper lady. A real woman. Ehehehe. Ah, ah!!”
I love summarizing. Summarizing is the ultimate form of communication. To put this situation in a nutshell:
“As long as I don’t say it on stream, it’s fine, right? What about you, Moddeok?”
“…”
“Really? Right?”
My summary was correct, wasn’t it? That’s how I understood and summarized it.
“Uh… that’s a bit extreme.”
“Should I call your mom?”
“Uh…”
Pyeongjipja suddenly cut in. Did I mess up again? Again? Another mistake?
“That’s… something the two of us should agree on… Relying on outside forces like that…”
I resisted with the most impressive words I could recall. However—
“I have her number. Want me to call?”
“Uh… I was wrong… It was a bad thing to say.”
Mom’s scolding would last at least an hour. We’d miss the train listening to it. Pyeongjipja had made a very foolish choice. If I hadn’t surrendered, we definitely would’ve missed it!!
“You can’t do that.”
“Ugh… We almost missed the train.”
“We still have plenty of time.”
“Once the scolding starts… we’ll miss it. For real.”
I kept up my passive resistance. It didn’t work at all… but the important thing was that I resisted.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but… is it resolved?”
“It’s resolved.”
“I’m… not guilty.”
“Tsk.”
“…Ugh. I’m the boss here… The boss is supposed to be really strong… Strong. Not ‘strong,’ but strong. Kind of.”
I had lost all authority as the boss.
“Your mom is stronger.”
“Ghk…”
It was a fact… I had nothing to say. Mom’s power in our house was absolute. Even Dad couldn’t defy her. Right now he’s doing well, but he still can’t go against her. From what I’ve heard, she even controls the finances. Mom is an amazing person. She once made a fortune selling herbal medicine… and when Dad got scammed and fell into debt, she worked tirelessly to pay it all back.
“Ghk?”
“I surrender…”
“Don’t do that again.”
“Yes.”
There was no helping it. I had been completely defeated. I surrendered.
“Situation over?”
“Yes. Ah!! Moddeok. Moddeok, what’s your real name?”
“Me? I’m Lee Ji-hyeon.”
“Oh…!!”
Lee Ji-hyeon? Lee Ji-hyeon? Uh… Chae Ji-hyeon? Chae Ji-hyeon? Huh…?
“No way!! That’s crazy. Our Pyeongjipja is also Chae Ji-hyeon. Are you two sisters?”
Wow, what a coincidence. Their names are exactly the same!!
“Names can overlap. Ahaha. Ah, Ji-hyeon?”
Moddeok looked at Pyeongjipja. Pyeongjipja, looking embarrassed, gently shook her head and answered.
“Uh… yes. Nice to meet you.”
“Oh my. Pyeong is an I, right?”
“Uh… yes.”
Pyeongjipja suddenly started showing off her feminine side. She was getting shy and acting reserved. She calls me “Mom” but says “Yeees~” to Moddeok. Pyeongjipja really is a girl.
“I knew it! I’m a total extreme E, so I love that.”
“I’m an I too!!”
I jumped in, feeling left out. Moddeok tilted her head.
“No, you’re definitely an E. There’s no way you’re an I.”
“Me? Then I’ll be an E!!”
“Kghk… Hahaha. You’re an E. One hundred percent. No doubt about it.”
“If it’s one hundred percent… then I’m an E. I’m Lee Seon-a.”
Got it. I’ve never actually taken the test. I just figured if you have no friends you’re I, and if you have friends you’re E. By that standard, since I have no friends, I’m I. That was my self-assessment.
“Hah-haha. Nice. Lee Seon-a. I’m Lee Ji-hyeon.”
“Wow!! I want to be Moddeok’s little sister!”
“Why her little sister?”
“She looks like she’d give me lots of allowance!!”
“That’s it?”
“Uh… yeah!”
If I really became Moddeok’s little sister, I could probably live off her allowance alone. Her feminine aura was strong enough to make me have that kind of fantasy.
“No… that’s too much.”
“What is?”
“You want to be her sister just because she’d give you allowance? That’s really all?”
“Uh… Ah!! Like, sleeping together in bed. Burying my face in her chest. It’s softer than a pillow~ Her maternal aura would explode!!”
“Hah… hah… hahaha…”
Moddeok clapped and laughed.
Inside the train car. To Seon-a, the world outside the train was hell. Moddeok had laughed, but Pyeongjipja was far too strict. Moddeok had clearly found it funny, yet Pyeongjipja frowned and scolded her harshly. She was like Mom’s proxy… completely. Seon-a felt a little hurt, but something else quickly distracted her and the feeling faded.
The rudeness Seon-a understood was “don’t say bad things.” The reason was because other people don’t say them. Then what about touching? Obviously not allowed, right? A normal person could make that logical leap. But Seon-a’s answer was no. She still didn’t know.
“Moddeok, can I touch it just once?”
Of course she wouldn’t touch without permission. But asking was fine, wasn’t it? It was one hundred percent pure curiosity. There was no other meaning at all.
“Touch what?”
“The big one.”
“Ah? You’re curious?”
“Gulp.”
“Hahaha. Go ahead and touch.”
Seon-a couldn’t resist the magnificent chest of the lying Ji-hyeon. Suddenly, a video that had appeared in her algorithm came to mind—an elementary school girl playing with a liquid monster. Seon-a placed both hands on Ji-hyeon’s right breast.
“Hello… squishy. Squishy. I’m elementary school student… Seon-a. I’ll tell you what happened at school yesterday… squishy squishy.”
“What are you doing?”
“Jjang-a is… a female elementary schooler. Yesterday at school, the boys were playing soccer, so… squishy. Squishy.”
She kneaded it like a liquid monster with both hands. Ji-hyeon didn’t particularly respond. She was used to it and didn’t think much of it. At first, anyway.
“You know, the boys were shorter than me but kept bragging about how good they were at soccer… so I went squishy squishy and stole their soccer ball. I’m 140cm tall and the rest of the boys were shorter than me.”
Yet… she kept going, even though Ji-hyeon thought she’d stop after a few touches.
“So then… squishy. Squishy. They said I was bad at soccer, so I became the striker and scored ten goals? Squishy squishy…”
Ji-hyeon could accept Seon-a touching her—giving her the benefit of the doubt, it was just curiosity. After all, her fellow VTubers Donggeuraming and the female president had touched her even more. They were the real villains, grabbing her butt, blowing in her ear, even lifting her chest. Her real-life friends were worse. This much was… fine. Yeah. But—
“Then the boys got all flustered… and asked if I went to soccer academy, so I told them I go to piano lessons. Then I went home, right? Squishy… squishy. The next day when I went to piano lessons, the director suddenly said the boys had started taking piano because of me and gave me two 10,000-won gift certificates. I used them to top up my account in Terran. After topping up, I felt like running so I went to the playground, but it was evening so no one was there. I just kicked the ball around and scored twenty goals this time.”
“Is that a real story? Seriously? What kind of story is that?”
The story made no sense. Ji-hyeon couldn’t understand what she was talking about at all.
“So… squishy. Squishy… I matched my pension!!”
“No. Is that actually a real story? Is it your story, Seon-a?”
“No! No. This is the story of the female elementary schooler playing with the liquid monster… It was in my algorithm? I made this one up.”
“Ah. You’re a genius.”
Coming up with a completely nonsensical story on the spot. Ji-hyeon was genuinely impressed.
“Really?”
“Yeah~ Total genius. You’ve got talent. Seon-a has talent.”
“Wow!! Thank you!! I’ll work hard on making more female elementary schooler stories!!”
However… once the stage was set, Seon-a suddenly went blank. She thought for a moment, then gave up on the female elementary schooler story and stood up.
“Huh? Where are you going?”
“I’ll come back later. This time I’m going to get Pyeongjipja’s permission and go get praised.”
“Is touching Jjangpo-ham’s chest considered praise?”
“I made something she’s already proud of even prouder.”
“Wow. Highlight the proud parts of fellow Ji-hyeon. Jjanghyeong, fighting!!”
“Yes!”
Seon-a moved to the neighboring bed. This time she approached Chae Ji-hyeon softly. Moddeok had given permission, after all. If you get permission, you can touch. This wasn’t rude. She would ask like a proper lady.