Playing Mummy
I fell on top of Kwon Arin's face. Naturally, I ended up facing Ensia. I didn't ask Ensia why she'd twisted Kwon Arin's arm—I already knew it was part of training. What worried me was how mercilessly she'd done it, even during practice. The training was far too rough. Still, I couldn't bring myself to scold Ensia, who was like precious family, so I simply offered an awkward smile. It was the kind of smile that said, "Friends shouldn't treat each other like this."
"...I'm sorry. I went too far," Ensia apologized to Kwon Arin. At that moment, Kwon Arin, still pinned beneath me, tapped my back. Tap, tap.
"Ah, I'm sorry." I scrambled off her in a hurry—how rude of me to lie on someone's face like that. Kwon Arin let out a groan as she sat up. "Ensia, ease up on the strength. I thought I was going to die."
"I-I'm sorry. My competitive spirit just got the better of me..."
"...Why would you feel competitive? We weren't fighting; it was training. You were supposed to be teaching me."
"Well, once I get into combat mode, my instincts start screaming at me not to lose..."
So wolf beastkin instincts stirred up a fighting spirit. It must be troublesome for Ensia, who couldn't control those instincts yet.
"Want me to teach you how to control them?"
"You know a method?"
Winter wasn't even a beastkin—how would she know? Ensia and I both widened our eyes.
"The method's right here." Kwon Arin poked my cheek. "Her."
"Me?"
"You mean Winter?"
"Yeah. Just train with her the way I do with you."
So Ensia and I were supposed to spar. I didn't fully understand, but if it would help Ensia, I'd give it a try. Without hesitation, I reached out toward her.
"Ensia, let's practice together."
"B-But..."
"Show me that arm-twisting move from earlier."
I grabbed Ensia's wrists with both hands and twisted them this way and that. They didn't really lock; they just swung around playfully, the way they did whenever I held hands with Levinas while walking. It didn't feel much like training at all.
"Um... you need to twist the wrist more."
"Like this?"
"Yes. You're doing well."
Even though I hadn't put any real force into it, Ensia's wrist bent. She had clearly let me do it on purpose.
"Now it's your turn, Ensia. Try twisting my arm."
"M-My turn? How could I possibly do that to Winter...?"
"It's easier to learn these things by experiencing them yourself."
"W-Well... hmmm..."
After hesitating, Ensia took hold of my wrist. Crack. The joint that bent wasn't mine—it was hers.
"Ugh... Winter, you're too strong."
"...Ensia?"
This was obviously her throwing the match again. I stared at her in bewilderment. Nearby, Kwon Arin, who had been watching us, narrowed her eyes.
"...Where did that competitive spirit go?"
Ensia's face flushed red. Just as Kwon Arin said, there wasn't a trace of fighting spirit left in her now.
"From now on, treat me the same way you treat Winter."
"...Understood."
Ensia nodded as if she'd realized something. Kwon Arin lay down on the floor in front of her, assuming a grappler's stance.
"Come at me again."
"Yes."
Ensia applied a joint lock to the prone Kwon Arin. There was a sharp crack.
"Aaaagh!" Kwon Arin screamed loud enough to shake the training hall. The version of her that had been holding back earlier was nowhere to be seen. Why had Ensia only gone easy on me? I wondered as I watched their sparring match. Ensia didn't hold back once—not even a little—until the session ended.
'Ugh...' I couldn't bear to watch. Without thinking, I squeezed my eyes shut. When the horrible sounds continued, I covered my ears too. For a long while, I just trembled with all my senses blocked.
**
I'd seen plenty of monsters die. Sometimes they burst into fragments when hit by explosive arrows. But watching a person's joints being twisted felt somehow worse. It might have been discriminatory, but I couldn't help it.
"Ugh." Ensia was surprisingly ruthless. Did I have to train like that too? A little frightened, I hurried home. Sitting on the sofa to calm my nerves, I saw someone emerge from the bedroom, wrapped head to toe in toilet paper. It was Levinas.
"Uuuu..." Levinas stretched both hands forward as she approached, swaying unsteadily from side to side.
"Levinas?"
"Levinas is not here. This is a zombie."
"Not a mummy?"
"...Right. Actually, I'm a mummy. Uuuu."
She must have wanted to play mummy. Wrapping her entire body in toilet paper couldn't have been easy. I couldn't ignore her effort, so I pretended to be startled.
"Aah, it's a mummy!" I collapsed beside the sofa and closed my eyes, acting like I'd fainted from shock.
"Winta...?" Levinas came closer and shook me. I kept my eyes shut and stayed limp.
"Winta!"
Pat, pat, pat! She tapped my cheeks. I couldn't stop the corners of my mouth from twitching upward.
"You smiled! It was a prank!"
"Yeah. It was a prank."
"Hah! Levinas got tricked again!"
Levinas giggled and sat down beside me. She was the cutest mummy I'd ever seen.
"Why'd you suddenly wrap yourself in toilet paper?"
"I saw it on TV! They said if you wrap yourself up like this, you'll live for thousands of years!"
I'd heard mummies didn't decay even after thousands of years. Maybe Levinas wanted to live as long as one.
"You'll live for thousands of years?"
"Yeah! I'll live a long, long time with Winta and the family!"
"Ah..." I'd been about to tell her not to waste toilet paper, but she'd done it because she wanted to stay with everyone for a long time. I didn't have the heart to scold such a sweet wish. I just smiled gently instead.
"Winta should be a mummy too!"
"M-Me too...?"
"Yeah! Let's both be mummies and live together for thousands and thousands of years!"
"Um... should we?"
We really shouldn't waste toilet paper. But I couldn't bring myself to refuse Levinas's innocent heart. Before I knew it, I was nodding.
"Levinas will wrap you up!"
Levinas fetched a roll of toilet paper from the utility room and started winding it around me. "Hyah!" She spun around me in circles, the paper gradually covering my body. My head, my arms and legs—even my tail got a trailing strip of paper.
"All done?"
"Yep! All done! Now you're Mummy Winta!"
Clap, clap, clap. Levinas applauded with a happy smile. Whether she was happy because we'd played together or because we'd get to live together for so long, I couldn't tell. Maybe both.
"Now we'll live together for ten thousand years?"
"Mm... but thinking about it, ten thousand years is too short...! Let's just live together for a million years...?!"
"Good idea. Let's live together for a million years."
"Whoa...!"
Delighted by my answer, Levinas threw her hands up. Just then, the front door opened and Han Yeoreum and Saebyeok came home.
"Oh my?"
Han Yeoreum pulled out her smartphone and started snapping photos of us, circling around. Click, click, click.
"Why are you two suddenly mummies?"
"To live a long time!"
"A long time... Well, I did hear mummies last a long time because they're preserved."
But what did they want to do with all that time? Han Yeoreum looked puzzled. Levinas answered for her.
"Levinas is going to live happily ever after with the family!"
"Ah...! Such a deep meaning!"
"Hehe, want to be a mummy too, Yeoreum?"
"Yeah! Should Unnie be a mummy too?"
While Levinas and Han Yeoreum chatted, Saebyeok approached with a roll of toilet paper hugged to her chest. Her tail was wagging rapidly—she clearly wanted to join in.
'Thank goodness.' I'd been worried about looking silly wrapped in toilet paper, but it seemed Han Yeoreum and Saebyeok both wanted to be mummies too. I felt relieved. A child's pure heart really was impossible to resist.
**
Roll, roll, roll. Watching the three beastkin children wrap each other in toilet paper was so adorable that Han Yeoreum's lips kept curving upward.
'They want to live a long time.' Whose idea had the mummy game been? Han Yeoreum naturally turned her gaze to Winter.
"Winter, do you want to live a long time with Unnie?"
"Yes. Let's live together for a very long time."
"Hehe, shall we?"
Whose idea it was didn't matter. They all felt the same way. Han Yeoreum was patting the children's heads when the front door opened again and Sofia appeared.
"Oh dear..."
Sofia frowned at the living room, now a complete mess of toilet paper, and let out a long sigh. But Han Yeoreum, who had spent so much time with the beastkin, knew the truth—Sofia's tail was happily swishing back and forth.
"Sofia's here!"
"Yes, I'm here, but what on earth is all this commotion?"
"The kids became mummies so they could live with Sofia for a long, long time. Do you want to be a mummy too, Sofia?"
"...No thank you."
"Eek." Levinas's ears drooped, taking it as a refusal to live with them. Winter and Saebyeok looked disappointed too.
"...I already live a long time, so don't worry."
Oh. Sofia was originally long-lived. She hadn't meant she didn't want to stay with them. Winter wagged her tail and approached Sofia, the toilet paper tied around it fluttering like ribbons.
"......!"
Saebyeok's eyes gleamed like a predator's. The fluttering paper wrapped around Winter's tail had triggered her cat instincts. Unable to hold back, Saebyeok lunged straight for Winter's tail.