Heat Haze
"......Do all guys think like you?"
"Mm, right? Not one woman so far has called it weird."
I had no choice but to take Chang-soo at his word. A guy with a taste for single moms—those women would have measured him against every man before him, no question. And if every last one of them had reacted the same...
"......You're serious."
"Why? The world must look completely different through a Multimale's eyes. It's an angle I never even considered."
"Yeah. A lot different."
"Hmm. Just thinking about it is a pain. But you told me to try, so."
"......Why does this whole thing feel off? Don't come thanking me later."
"Of course I will. You know I think of you like my own brother."
"......Gross. Don't say crap like that."
"Look at you, getting all shy."
I barely swallowed the urge to knuckle that grinning idiot on the head one more time, and pushed myself up. Thanks to Chang-soo, we were running late. I needed to move.
"Hurry up. The two of us have cleaning to do today."
"Got it."
We got up and each set about our own work. I had no idea then that the half-formed tip I'd given Chang-soo today would ripple out into a butterfly effect far bigger than I ever expected.
"Shinwoo."
I was working a mop across the floor when Ra-hee's presence reached me, and her voice with it. I turned and offered a greeting.
"Welcome. Pretty as ever today."
"......You look handsome too, Shinwoo."
She came toward me slowly, coloring as if shy, and took my hand.
"It's dirty. I was holding a mop."
"Your hands aren't dirty."
Our eyes met, and without either of us quite starting it, we shared a light kiss. Then Ra-hee, gazing up at me, quietly stroked my cheek and whispered.
"......Yewon couldn't get up?"
"No. She seemed to be in a lot of pain. Will you look in on her?"
"She'll have to tough it out on her own. You're heading straight out for a run, aren't you?"
"Let's."
Behind the soft smile she turned on me, I could feel her worrying over Go Yewon all the same.
"Go on up. There was a lot of bleeding, too."
"......There was?"
"Yeah. She was thick. She said she'd be careful, but she might not manage to get up today."
"......Then I'll just run upstairs for a minute."
"Yeah. I'm counting on you. And I gave her my ID, so if she seems up to it, take her with you this afternoon."
"It's not urgent. Let's start in an hour, then."
Footsteps sounded behind us, and Ra-hee's tone went a little stiff. I let out a short laugh at that and nodded.
"You too, Coach."
"......Yes."
"If she's still bleeding, she needs a hospital. Even if she's embarrassed, take her straight there."
"Don't worry."
"This is something I should be handling. Sorry."
"Don't apologize, Shinwoo. What can anyone do about Yewon's body being the way it is?"
With that, Ra-hee turned and walked off. In that instant a strange sensation made me rub my eyes. Something like a small heat haze seemed to cling around her waist. No—felt, more than seen. Faint as it was, a wash of pastel orange ran through it. A strange feeling.
"What's wrong? Did something get in your eye?"
"......No."
I glanced aside. A woman who'd been greeting us sneaked a look at me and slipped into the locker room, while Ra-hee peered into my eyes with worry plain on her face. The moment the member vanished, I reached out without a word and slowly stroked Ra-hee's waist—and the instant my hand met that faint heat haze—
"Haaahn...... hhk......"
Startled by the moan that had slipped out of her, Ra-hee clapped a hand over her mouth. She shot a hurried glance at Chang-soo mopping in the corner, then looked up at me, her eyes already wet, her face flushed pink. My gaze didn't stop at her face.
"......Shinwoo, your hand...... it's so warm......"
"Your waist is beautiful, too."
"......Shinwoo......"
"......Go on, then."
"......Okay......"
She answered as if she hated to leave, glancing back at me again and again as she slowly made her way out of the gym. I watched her go and swallowed hard. That haze-like energy had spread to three places, so faint I wouldn't have sensed it without concentrating—her ass, her waist, her thighs.
......What is this?
I was certain none of it had been there before Ra-hee walked into the gym and came toward me. The woman from a moment ago had been the same.
Is it the kiss?
The only things I could point to were the kiss after she approached, and that brief bit of contact. And the moment I touched her, the energy had sunk into both of us, as if it were being shared. A small heat still lingered at my fingertips. Ra-hee, too, had shown a sexual response far stronger than anything her playful touches had ever drawn out of her.
......No way.
So this was today's change, small as it was. If this thing was showing me a woman's erogenous zones—zones that shifted countless times, every single time—then...
Without meaning to, I closed my right hand lightly around the warmth still lingering there. A thread of fear was behind it. Something—some change taking place inside my own body—frightened me. But there was a small thrill in it, too.
......Let's see just how far I change.
It was my body. Worrying was the right call. But nothing so far had changed for the worse. Hard as it was to accept, the truth was I'd already let some of it go after the massive shift that followed the night I spent with Ju Hayeong the day before yesterday. There was no other way. If there was no path out, all I could do was accept it and adapt.
I'm sorry for hiding it, but there's no way I can tell them now.
I knew a lie and a secret weren't the same thing. And it was true enough that a man with no secrets at all would have little charm to him—but this had become something I truly could not say aloud.
"Tsk."
"What's wrong?"
Chang-soo had come up beside me at some point, taking the mop as he asked. I simply shook my head.
"It's nothing."
"Then I'll finish up here."
"No. I'll do this. Go turn the music on at the counter."
"Okay. Oh, right."
I took the mop handle back. Chang-soo nodded and started for the counter, then turned to me again.
"The professor says she's coming this afternoon."
"Mm. Planning to put her straight to work?"
"Yeah. You and I should be fine focusing on driving from four to eight."
"Let's do that. I'll remember."
"Okay. I'll tell you the rest separately."
I looked away from him as he headed for the counter and pushed the mop along, calm and steady.
"I'm here."
Ra-hee flung the door open and strode in. Startled, Go Yewon dropped the blanket she'd been clutching and let out a sigh of relief.
"What's got you so jumpy?"
"......You're here? Of course I'd jump if you walk in without knocking."
"A little late to get particular about that."
"Aren't you running?"
"Shinwoo asked me to check on you."
"......Ah......"
"He's good to you, isn't he?"
"......Yeah...... I didn't think he'd keep thinking of me like this."
Ra-hee glanced around the room, gathering the rumpled nightgown and towels as she answered.
"He probably will, from here on. Every moment I'm with him, I'm so happy I wonder if I even deserve it."
"......I know what you mean. If I didn't, I'd tease you for it, but......"
"It hurt a lot, didn't it?"
"Yeah...... He said I was thick."
"I hurt a little too, but it faded before long."
"It did?"
"Yeah. Back then, right away...... Does it hurt a lot?"
Ra-hee lingered on the thought a moment, color rising in her face as she turned the question back on her.
"No. But...... I bled a lot. The sheets are a complete mess. What if he's lost interest in me......?"
"As if. He's not that kind of man. You'll have to hold up your end, though. But you—have you just been lying here like this the whole time?"
"Huh?"
Yewon tilted her head, looking up at her. Under that gaze Ra-hee quietly studied her face, lips parting before she stopped herself. Then a grin spread, and she changed tack.
"Here, let me see. If the bleeding's bad, you really do need a hospital."
"Ah, no. It's only about as much as a little leak on my period...... Kyaa!"
Ra-hee hardly listened. She yanked the blanket clean off, and Yewon shrieked, hurriedly folding those crane-long legs and covering herself with both slender arms. There was no hiding it, of course.
"Oh, you're wearing something pretty. He must have loved that."
"Y-you think so......?"
"Yeah. He seems to like lingerie. Especially the kind we wear. You felt that look, didn't you?"
"Yeah. H-having him just stare like that felt good. And...... we did it with it still on......"
"Didn't that turn you on even more? I actually liked it...... feeling how much he liked it."
"M-me too...... It felt like doing it with my clothes still on......"
"Exactly. Anyway, you really did bleed a lot."
On the sheet printed with little rabbits, a red pool about the size of an adult's palm had spread.
"What do I do. He won't think I'm strange, will he......?"
"Never mind that. How's the pain?"
"Uh, last night it really hurt, but...... it suddenly got a little better, and now I'm sort of okay."
"Seriously? Or are you messing with me?"
"Seriously."
"Then it's fine. If you say you're okay."
"Yeah. It's a little achy, and...... i-it still feels like he's inside, so......"
"So you played up the pain because you were embarrassed?"
"N-no. It really did hurt this morning, but......"
"But you exaggerated a little?"
"Yeah......"
"If he finds out later, you're going to be pretty flustered."
"......Y-you won't tell, right?"
"We'll see."
"Heyyy......"
Ra-hee watched her whine, then grinned and stepped quietly up to the bed, hauling the sheet out from under her. Yewon went tumbling, rolling right off onto the floor.
"Kyaa!"
"Pull yourself together. Go wait in the bathroom. I'll clean this up."
"J-just let me rest a little more."
"I said go. Rest after the sheets are changed. You know the blood has to be dealt with before it dries."
"......Th-thank you......"
Yewon got up, hesitating, her face tightening as she bent at the waist. Both hands were cupped around her lower belly. Ra-hee nodded at the sight and asked.
"Still feels like he's in there?"
"......Yeah. I-it was like a lump of iron heated in a fire......"
"I know. But it's like that every single time."
"......R-really......? Every time......?"
"Really."
"......It's this...... good...... every time?"
"It's insane, honestly. I've lost count of how many times I've passed out."
Yewon swallowed hard and looked at her with trembling eyes, as if to ask whether she meant it. Ra-hee folded the sheet and carried it toward the washer, and Yewon stared blankly as a fresh one came out of the closet, murmuring.
"......From the very start he was nothing like my plan, so I acted like such an idiot."
"You are an idiot, so it's fine."
"I really couldn't do a single thing for him...... Th-they say the woman has to make the first move."
"Who says that?"
Ra-hee tilted her head, and Yewon puffed her cheeks and burst out.
"You did, back when we were in school!"
"Please. How many years ago was that. You still remember something a brat said after flipping through a magazine? I told you plain as day—Shinwoo will handle it himself. All you have to do is listen."
"......I-I didn't know that was what it meant......"
"But it was good, wasn't it? He took care of everything. You felt every touch he gave you just to make you feel good, and now you want to walk it back?"
"......Y-you're right...... I was so thrown I couldn't believe it."
"Starting to believe me a little now?"
"......Yeah......"
Ra-hee let out a small laugh at the quiet answer, spread the sheet, and laid it over the bed. Tucking it under the mattress, she murmured.
"......Don't you think it's a relief, being women?"
"......Yeah. I used to hate it. It felt like a curse."
"......Me too. Go wash up."
"Okay......"
At that, Yewon, still standing there awkwardly, shuffled toward the bathroom, bracing herself on the fridge, then the closet. Watching her go, Ra-hee smiled faintly and called after her.
"Then I'll get breakfast ready?"
"No! Absolutely not!"
"......Why? You just pour dressing on it."
"......No. Don't feed Shinwoo garbage like that."
"......You done talking?"
"Lay a hand on it and I'll throw the whole thing in the trash."
"......Fine, fine. I only said it thinking of you."
Ra-hee grumbled, but before long she was smiling quietly, watching Yewon breathe out in relief and slip into the bathroom.
Kyaaaaa!
"......So this is the taste he keeps coming back for."
Nodding to herself, Ra-hee finished the sheet, humming as she smoothed it out and laid the blanket back on top.