You Don't Believe Me?
In her hazy consciousness, Sugar opened her eyes.
She remembered entering the bed, receiving Ryly's farewell, entering the dorm, changing her clothes, and immediately lying down.
But where was she? As she looked around, it felt familiar.
She had never been there before, but the forest path was familiar. Following the path, she saw a white stone wall. The wall was made of moss-covered stones here and there. An old wall that completely blocked the path. The only artificial object in the quiet forest.
Looking up at the sky, it was dark. The starry sky sparkled, showing its presence. In the illusion she saw as a child, it was a bright day with faint sunlight.
Thinking about that, it had been a long time. It was an illusion she hadn't seen since that day. Or was it a dream?
Approaching the wall, she touched the surface; it was cold and rough. The scent of grass mixed with her breath. The sound of footsteps on the ground. It was realistic for a dream.
Seeing this illusion, the voice of the power started to be heard. It couldn't be a normal dream or a normal place.
Then, what was behind this wall?
Sugar, curious, knocked on the wall. She stroked the moss and jumped up high. She tried to look beyond the wall, but strangely, the wall seemed much higher than it appeared.
Listening closely, the chattering voices of several people from before were heard. It felt like she was being avoided by just one wall.
“...Hello.”
Even if she spoke, they just whispered to each other.
Still, Sugar didn't care and spoke. These were the words she had wanted to say for a long time.
“I imagined ‘I can do it’ like you said before. Thanks to that, I avoided the crisis. Thank you.”
Whispers...
Chuckle...
“But after that, the voice of the power has been coming. For years until now. If I follow my words, I stay silent and follow. It seems like a very strange ability to others.”
Chatter...
Murmur...
“What are you exactly? What kind of mystery do you hold? I'm curious.”
Huh...
Haha...
“Can I go over there?”
Click-
The sound stopped.
At the same time, she felt presence, so she turned around.
In the quiet forest without even a breeze, there was something that wasn't there before.
It looked white at first glance.
It looked black at first glance.
Without color, colorless.
Hard to recognize the shape, but she knew the features.
It was eerie, but it seemed like someone was talking to her. It seemed like she was waving friendly at her.
Sugar approached cautiously, feeling unfamiliar yet familiar.
.
.
.
Soon, the dream ended.
***
Today, Sugar was two steps away from Ryly. The distance had decreased compared to yesterday.
She tried to keep distance because the man's heavy skinship was scary, but the result was that she felt the puppy's sad habit of wanting to be close.
She felt this a lot. That's why Ryly told her to keep boundaries. She wanted to cling tightly like before, but she was conscious of the change in their relationship, which was so scary.
Recently, every time she zoned out, she felt strange. She kept thinking of Ryly. She had always done that every night, but lately it was a bit different.
She recalled the memory of that extremely sticky day. She kept touching her neck. She recalled that sensation, recalled the heat. Her mind became a mess.
“It's because of you... lately, the lecture content isn't entering my head...”
“Don't blame me for being dumb.”
While saying that, Ryly cheerfully lent her the notebook.
The writing in the notebook was straight and orderly. He had written even the parts that didn't need to be written carefully, all for Sugar to see.
Sugar, whether she was thrilled with 'kuk...! ugh...' or annoyed, made a sound. Thoughtless consideration touched her heart.
“Annoying... What is this mom power...”
“What are you talking about? I'm not your mom.”
“No, Ryly. I'm your mom. But since you're taking care of me more, that's why I'm annoyed.”
“Our mom ran away from home when I was little.”
“Eh... what? That, um... wait, what?”
Did that past exist? An out-of-nowhere shocking statement. Sugar was babbling.
In the original story, Ryly's past wasn't properly shown, just that he did bad things from childhood. She thought he was twisted because there was no one properly taking care of him.
“He took all the money from home and ran away.”
“...”
'Today's distance: two steps' was put on hold for now.
Sugar, whose appearance when speaking was pitiful, approached Ryly and hugged him with both arms wide open.
Ryly, who was hugged by Sugar, was moved. He was surprised even though he said it himself.
When he was little, there was no such sad, disgusting, or embarrassing thing. How much shame he felt about beings he couldn't call family. How much he craved a normal family.
Thinking back now, he wasn't that angry. He hadn't had time to think about it in the meantime. Sugar resolved all the negative emotions. His mind was filled with Sugar. He could talk so easily.
Of course, if he found that human called mom on the way, he'd punch her in the face, but...
Thanks to the family being destroyed, he met Sugar, which was funny.
True family. Precious friend. My Sugar.
“Sugar.”
“Ugh...”
When she was called by name, Sugar hugged Ryly even tighter in response.
Ryly, pleased with that, stroked her waist, then moved his hand. He placed it on her appropriately soft and warm belly and gently kneaded it.
Mom. Mom.
After thinking for a while, Ryly smiled and let go of Sugar. Whether she was angry, upset, or embarrassed, she looked at Ryly with a face full of mixed emotions, only one of which she would do.
“Ryly... First, let me say this, you shouldn't touch a woman's belly so casually...”
“Lose some weight.”
“Ouch! Seriously! You, your belly is...! Damn...”
Sugar, who was poking Ryly's firm belly muscles, soon touched her own belly, which was obviously different. Just soft and fluffy.
That was also annoying, so Sugar poked Ryly's abdomen again. Poke, poke. Rub, rub. Her eyes gradually started to show heat. She was deeply focused.
The hand movement of rubbing with white hands was ticklish, but since it was school, Ryly sighed and gave her a smack.
For Sugar, it was unbearably unfair.
She left kiss marks and confirmed that mark every day.
Still, Sugar with the scarf on glared with eyes like an axe.
***
'I didn't know Ryly had such a past...'
Sugar fell into deep thought, recalling what happened earlier.
She met him for the first time at the orphanage. Simply abandoned by family or their death. She hadn't thought specifically about his past. She judged it shouldn't be thought lightly.
But in reality, the human called mom took all the property and left.
'So, how much... when she was little...'
Recalling something like resentment towards the staff, everything made sense.
When she was little, she didn't ask out of consideration. It would have been better to ask. To talk openly and comfortably?
She didn't know what the right answer was. Now, even if she said it casually, how much pain he must have had since childhood.
“Ah... Ryly...”
Was I a good friend to you? A good family?
Sugar buried her face in Ian's chest and sighed.
“Ah... too flat...”
“Hey! Enough!”
She got smacked. One hit from Ryly, one from Ian. This was the second hit today.
'Is it because of these humans that I can't study?' She rubbed her head while having that thought. And when she saw Ian's chest, a sigh came out.
There was no skin with tremendous mom power. A mystery to dig into. A treasure. A holy relic. In Seongdo, she buried her face there and got peace of mind.
“Ian-nim... I have a concern. Will you listen?”
“You brought me here because of that and rubbed your face on my chest for 5 minutes...”
Sugar and Ian were currently sitting in the forest clearing. She told Ryly that girls' talk was being held secretly, so she dropped him far away.
“It's just... I have a lot of thoughts. I want to become Ryly's mom. What should I do?”
“Now it's mom?”
From friend to sister to lover to mom. How much more?
“Ian-nim has tremendous mom power... I want to hear your opinion.”
“Is that a good thing...?”
When Ian asked hesitantly, Sugar nodded confidently.
“Isn't it obvious?”
“...Okay. Let's say that. Anyway, what are you thinking specifically? Adopting Ryly or something isn't possible, right? You want to heal his heart, something like that?”
“Yes.”
“Hugging or such skinship, I don't need to say... doing something you didn't usually do is okay, right?”
“For example?”
“Cooking? Nostalgic food like... Our mom often baked cookies for me and my sister.”
“Oh. She was a homely person.”
“Right... I'm still wondering how a person like my sister came to someone who crawls into a man's bed.”
Sugar swallowed.
Anyway, it was a good idea. Cooking. Food with heart. She was right to ask.
But thinking further, would Ryly even have nostalgic food? Even if he did, it might just stir up anger.
'That's fine since I can make new memories...'
The most important thing. Sugar didn't want to openly show this behavior. She thought of a surprise gift that would secretly moisten the heart... So, when she said that, Ian tilted her head.
“Then how do I give it? Put it in a locker?”
“That's a bit... not like a mom's image... Ah.”
Sugar immediately let out a cry. Her eyes widened at the brilliant idea that flashed through her mind like lightning.
“Ian-nim, can you help me with this?”
What is a mom's heart? What is the heart of a mom thinking about her child?
Extremely revered and noble heart. Deep like the sea, wide like the sky.
“Ian-nim. I have this now. For Ryly, I can do anything. Purely, I want to comfort Ryly's wounds. Only that will. That's all.”
“So...?”
“So, please don't misunderstand and listen.”
The appearance burning with mission was hot. Ian saw Sugar's face as if she had realized, heard the oddly resonant voice, and couldn't erase the discomfort.
And the words that came out were quite fitting.
“I'm going to secretly enter Ryly's dorm room.”
Ian immediately pulled Sugar's cheek.
“Say something that makes sense— you lewd Sugar!!”
“Aah! I didn't hear even one of my words! It's with a pure heart! You yourself enter a man's bed while—”
“Are you the same as me!? Wait, how did you know that?”
“Honestly, if it's just lewdness, Ian-nim is way more than me—, aahaaa!”
Even if her arm flesh was torn, Sugar remained calm without a single scream, but at this moment, she shouted 'kyak' loudly.
.
.
“I see... Leon...”
Ian murmured, slightly gloomy. She heard through Sugar the story Leon told Sugar and Ryly, and her spirit died.
“He just said he was surprised, he didn't say he didn't like it.”
“Really?”
Soon, she brightened. Sugar just nodded quietly.
She said the facts as they were. Leon hadn't said he didn't like it. Yeah, right.
“But, Ian-nim. Even so, I think it wouldn't be good to be so close while saying 'because we're guys'... Usually, guys don't do that.”
“But Leon said he liked it before... Then isn't it okay?”
“What?”
“I hugged him once because he looked gloomy, and he said he liked it.”
Sugar seriously considered the distance with Leon. First, she had to make sure she wasn't alone with Ryly.
“Anyway... Sugar. Let's go back to the main topic. Dorm intrusion, I will never help. Absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely!”
“First, please listen to what I'm trying to do. It's nothing special. Just leave food on the desk without Ryly and come out. It's much more homely than a locker...”
Coming back with a tired body, on the desk, a surprise cooking with affection. As soon as she saw it, her heart melted. Somehow, it felt like she wanted to hug it, nostalgic...
“—That feels bad! It's a stalker! What do you think is in there and eat it?”
“Why is your normal mindset only here...”
“What?”
“Okay. I'll properly convey it.”
“Really? Really?”
“Yes, yes. Let's stop talking about us and go to the practice room to borrow it. Ian-nim, cook with me too.”
“It sounds like you're turning the tables now...”
“There's no way.”
Sugar pulled the hesitant Ian along. On the way, she greeted Ryly who was reading alone.
“Ah, Ryly. I'm going somewhere with Ian-nim. Don't follow. It's very secret.”
“...What kind of accident are you trying to cause?”
“No accident. You don't believe me? Ian-nim is going too. Right, Ian-nim?”
“...”
Ryly and Ian didn't like Sugar's strangely excited appearance. But since she said it herself, what could they do?
Sugar just gave a meaningful smile.