Harang, Cover Your Ears
It had been seven days since we arrived at the resort, and by now it felt like we’d done pretty much everything fun inside its walls.
I’d spent every day playing the wide variety of arcade games with Kang Ryu-yeong.
In this world I’d only ever played strategy games or chess, so the originals from my old world had always seemed impossibly hard and complicated to me.
But Ryu-yeong kept beating me every time and laughed so hard she called me an idiot who couldn’t even handle a game.
I refused to take the jab from a nine-year-old seriously, yet the after-effects hit me anyway—my body slowed down and so did my mind.
Before long we’d turned the arcade into a betting arena, and every single game ended with me losing.
“Hee hee hee!! Harang-ah~ You know it, don’t you? This unnie is just that good at games! Hee hee hee!!”
“Who said ‘unnie’? It’s weird, so I can’t help it.”
We also hit up all kinds of restaurants with Seol-hee unnie.
She managed to visit every single one of the twelve spots listed in the brochure in just three days.
She’d hold our hands and drag us to the best dishes she could recommend, and Seol-hwa and I would gorge ourselves on them.
Ever since she awakened her power, Seol-hwa had started eating noticeably more—more than me now. The meals Seol-hee picked out were, without a doubt, the best food this world had to offer.
But whenever Seol-hee got excited and clapped her hands while eating, Dad would give her a little sad smile.
Starting on the fifth day, he started asking Ryu-yeong for help and began visiting head chefs to learn how to cook.
The head chefs had laughed when Dad asked them to teach him, saying no man had ever cooked before, but they ended up approving him after seeing his real skill and passion.
“Dad, no, Dad’s cooking is really good too…”
“I’ll do my best so you can say ‘Dad’s cooking’ instead of just ‘Dad’s cooking’!”
It was the first time I’d ever seen Dad throw himself into something like that with such passion.
It wasn’t just that he was interested in cooking—it was more of a shock that Seol-hwa actually liked cooking more than the meals Dad made.
Seol-hwa and I visited the resort’s concert hall and theater a bunch of times.
We didn’t come to watch the shows themselves; we wanted to see Seol-hwa dance and use her powers onstage after the performance ended.
Hidden away from me, she’d been training with Dad and the Erosion Control Center, and in just half a year her water manipulation had grown incredibly strong.
She’d used the big droplet from her first awakening and all the smaller ones afterward, and now she sat atop one of those bouncing, glittering spheres of water that sparkled even in the dark.
It was an incredibly cute and beautiful stage.
When I clapped and told her she was like a magical girl, Ryu-yeong volunteered to be the villain.
She grabbed the little water sphere, filled it with glittering droplets, and made it explode right in front of everyone.
It looked pretty, but the way she casually locked someone in water felt cruel.
I decided I’d have to keep a closer eye on Seol-hwa’s TV watching for a while.
According to Ryu-yeong, who got hit while playing villain, her whole body felt like it had been beaten with tiny hammers—actually kind of refreshing, and she was having a blast.
Seol-hwa puffed out her cheeks and swore she’d get even stronger next time.
“Hee hee!! Come on, try it! Yongyong-i will fight you myself!!”
“Eek!! Unnie!! Unnie, not like this unnie—help me!!”
“No way! Harang is my coach!!”
Ryu-yeong, six years old and dead serious in their argument with Seol-hwa, lost the verbal fight and just pouted, scooped me up, and ran off with me.
I thought it was less that Ryu-yeong couldn’t beat Seol-hwa with words and more that Seol-hwa had suddenly gotten so good at talking.
Dad and Mom took turns taking me out too.
When I apologized for not letting them rest properly at the resort, they said it was fine.
Just being able to play with Seol-hwa and making friends was enough.
I watched Ryu-yeong spar with Seol-hee unnie and remembered the only time Ryu-yeong had ever fought Mom—Ryu-yeong putting her all into a punch, and Mom just giggling while blocking it.
After the match, Ryu-yeong asked Mom if her hit had hurt or if it had been dangerous, and Mom explained something new about the power of the superpowers from the original world.
“So… the more you use it, the denser it gets, and the denser it is, the less it hurts the other person, and you can punch straight through their density?”
“That’s right! Our Harang is so smart. That’s why fighting other kids from a young age makes you stronger and healthier.”
When I asked if that meant Ryu-yeong just couldn’t beat Seol-hee because of experience and density, Mom smiled brightly and nodded.
I seriously started wondering if they’d never win against each other no matter how many times they sparred, but Mom ruffled my hair and told me not to worry.
Right now the density difference between Ryu-yeong and Seol-hee was significant, but once we entered middle school or high school it would even out.
After that, technique and knowledge would matter more.
Mom was also teaching Seol-hee unnie all kinds of wire-based techniques herself.
She said she did it because she worried Seol-hee would never be able to win so overwhelmingly once she entered middle school.
“I’m your daughter. You can’t go around losing and saying you lost!”
“Dad told me your genes are the same as Seol-hee unnie’s… what does that even mean?”
Mom gave me a small smile and a wink, but her eyes looked sharper than ever.
“I just knocked down every fox trying to chase my man. That’s why your dad got to have me all to himself.”
I quietly backed away, feeling like I’d accidentally overheard something I wasn’t supposed to hear.
— — — — —
It was the ninth day at the resort, and honestly we’d be packing our bags and leaving tomorrow afternoon, so I figured it was our last day.
Today I’d followed Ryu-yeong through the arcade, eaten dinner at the restaurant where Dad and Seol-hee unnie were learning to cook, and watched Seol-hwa’s performance on the stage with Mom and Seol-hwa’s hand in mine.
As we headed back to our room holding Mom’s and Seol-hwa’s hands, I suddenly heard Ryu-yeong’s voice yelling from far away.
“Ah!! Do it yourself!!!”
Seol-hwa jumped a little at the sudden loud voice, and Mom and I quickly took her back to the room, handed her over to Dad, and rushed toward Ryu-yeong’s voice.
There she was—crying, seething with rage, and screaming.
Three women stood watching her with cold eyes, and behind them was a single man hiding in the shadows.
Mom and I ran over fast. I pulled Ryu-yeong behind me to give her space, and Mom stepped between the three women and the sobbing girl.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but the child is crying. Why isn’t anyone comforting her?”
Ryu-yeong, legs giving out from our sudden appearance, slumped to the ground. I patted her back while glaring at the women.
The middle woman, still stone-faced, spoke calmly.
“I was just disciplining my child for not following the schedule I gave her during vacation and for playing instead. But who are you?”
“Ryu-yeong’s friend’s mom. Isn’t it normal to let kids play during vacation? And calling someone ‘child’ instead of ‘daughter’?”
Mom’s face hardened as she stepped forward, but all I got in return was a quiet, mocking laugh from the women on either side and an irritated glare from the middle one.
“You sure stick your nose into other people’s parenting. What does it matter to you whether I call my child ‘child’ or ‘daughter’?”
“The kid is crying! Three adults are standing there watching without picking her up. Aren’t you supposed to be minding your own business?”
When Mom said that, the women on both sides burst out laughing right in front of her.
I could see the mockery in their faces, and my own expression soured.
I couldn’t leave Ryu-yeong, who was still sobbing and clutching my collar, to go fight them myself.
I just kept patting her back and waited for her to calm down.
Mom, trembling with rage, swept her hair back with one hand and said the last thing I would ever expect.
“Harang-ah, cover your ears.”
“Huh? Yeah.”
I covered Ryu-yeong’s ears instead of my own and turned my back to Mom, crouching a little.
All I could see was her back, but I knew her face must be twisted in a way I couldn’t even imagine right now.
“Hah… I was trying to act nice in front of the kids, but… you ugly woman. If you look like that, you should’ve raised that pretty daughter of yours like the pearl of the ocean and the gold of the earth, right?”
“W-what?! Who do you think you’re talking to?!”
“Who? Ryu-yeong’s parents? This resort owner, or some rich auntie, right? What else can I say?! An auntie who can’t even hold a crying child up is important? No matter if she’s the owner or rich!! She’s worthless!!!”
“You!! How dare you say that to me without a care?! I’ll hire the legal team!!”
“Go ahead.”
“What…?”
The moment Dad’s name came up, Mom’s voice suddenly turned ice-cold.
Even though she wasn’t speaking to me, my whole body shuddered.
“Go ahead, bring your fancy lawyers and sue me all you want. I’ll call the Child Rights Protection Center and tell them you’re a useless auntie who can’t even raise her own daughter properly.”
“You crazy woman! Who are you calling useless?!”
“Do you think we’re scared of that little center?!”
“Enough!!! All of you, get in the car with Master Jeong and wait.”
When Mom told them that, the women on either side started shouting at her, but the middle woman yelled “Enough!” and they instantly fell silent.
She felt more like a bossy sister-in-law than a real wife.
Mom’s voice continued.
“Yeah, right. A woman who can’t even protect her own husband ends up sharing him with other girls—how lucky she must feel to have a blessed daughter.”
“This bastard has gone too far?!”
Mom… that’s a little too harsh, even for me to hear.