This Woman Is a Little Different
"Shrine Maiden!"
I was in the middle of cleaning a room at Wolhyangsa when a woman's voice called from outside. It had been about two days since I had last left the shrine, and now she was back. I finished the last of the cleaning and stepped out to meet her.
"Shrine Maiden, I came to play again!"
"Welcome, Wolhyang."
She came walking toward me with a bulky plastic bag slung over her shoulder, waving both hands from side to side. The wide, unguarded smile on her face briefly caught my eye. It really was such a sunny, open expression.
She kicked off her shoes, climbed up onto the wooden veranda, and took both of my hands as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Have you been well, Shrine Maiden?"
"Yes, I've been well. And how have you been, Wolhyang?"
"I've been helping my father with his work. It's so good to see you again!"
"I feel the same. How do you intend to spend your time at Wolhyangsa today?"
She let go of my hands and spread the bag wide open to show me what was inside. It was packed with swimsuits of every kind — the ones she had mentioned before.
"I told you last time, remember? Next time we'd put on swimsuits and play in the water!"
"So these are swimsuits. This is the first time I've seen them in person."
"I'll show you properly in the room."
I led her to the room she had stayed in two days ago. Once inside, she sat down on the tatami and upended the bag. Swimsuits of every variety spilled out in a colorful heap.
"There really are a great many kinds."
"Right? These are the swimsuits people in Changrim wear a lot."
The first one she showed me was a swimsuit that left only the arms and legs exposed. Perfectly ordinary, I thought.
"And this one is popular in the West. It's called a bikini. I found it last year and bought it."
"Isn't this... underwear?"
"Come on, it's different from underwear. The fabric is completely different, for one thing."
The second one she showed me was, even by my standards, a little shocking. It was indistinguishable from a bra and panties. The thought of wearing something like that at a crowded beach was genuinely startling.
Western women really were open, then. Carlis had simply been the less open one.
"This is what I wear all the time — that's why I got this tan."
Looking closer now, the pale marks on her body matched the shape of this swimsuit. I finally understood why those traces had looked like underwear.
"And this one... what was it called again? Anyway, this is a swimsuit too."
"The top is ordinary enough, but the bottom is no different from underwear."
The third one featured a stretchy long-sleeved top paired with bottoms that might as well have been panties. Having already seen the truly shocking one, this barely registered.
"So those are the three kinds! Which one do you want to try?"
I looked over the three swimsuits laid out on the tatami. Swimsuits themselves were so unfamiliar that choosing took me a while. If I wore the one that showed the most skin, perhaps I could draw her eyes. I picked the second one she had shown me.
"Then I'll wear the same kind."
The one I would wear was black. Hers was white.
"Shall we change right now?"
"Yes, let's."
I started to head for another room to change. But she sprang to her feet and, without the slightest hesitation, stripped off her clothes right in front of me.
"...Wolhyang, you're changing right here?"
I blinked in momentary confusion, looking up at the woman who had become naked in a single instant. She stood before me with her breasts and pussy bared without a hint of shame, and opened her mouth.
"Yep! When I was in Changrim, I used to change into my swimsuit in the locker room — they have separate ones for men and women, you know. It's just the two of us anyway, so it doesn't matter, right?"
So the locker rooms being divided by gender was why she could undress so naturally. I never expected to feel this kind of cultural shock from a woman of the East — something I hadn't even felt from a woman of the West.
At this point, I was beginning to think Carlis hadn't been less open. She'd simply been conservative.
"I see."
I collected myself, stood up, and began removing my shrine maiden robes. If she was going to behave this way, it could only work in my favor. Better to stop being startled and simply accept it as natural.
"You wear a fundoshi, Shrine Maiden?"
"I've worn a fundoshi as undergarments since my training days. Anything else would feel strange, honestly."
"Oh, I see. I always found them uncomfortable. They keep riding up between your cheeks."
While we talked briefly about the fundoshi, an old memory flickered through my mind. When I had taken one of my fellow trainees, I had pulled the fundoshi taut from front and back so it rubbed against her pussy until she came.
"Do I just tie these strings?"
"Yes — here, I'll help you."
Reaching behind my back to tie the strings felt awkward, so I accepted her help. She tied the strings of the bottoms — no different from panties — and then, with practiced hands, fastened the strings of the top as well, which was no different from a bra.
By the time I finished putting it on, my breasts and ass felt a little cramped. The scrap of fabric meant to cover my ass kept wedging itself between my cheeks, and flesh spilled over the edges of the cloth around my chest.
"Is it supposed to be this tight?"
I asked, tugging at the strings of the cloth wrapped around my breasts. She looked me over, a little flustered.
"This swimsuit is my size, but it's a bit small on you, Shrine Maiden. Is it very uncomfortable?"
"Not particularly. I don't think it'll get in the way of moving around."
She took my hand first and led me toward the cold spring. I was about to step in naturally when she blocked me with one arm.
"Shrine Maiden, we have to warm up first."
"Warm up?"
"Yes. If you go straight in, you could get a heart attack."
"Didn't you just walk right in last time?"
"I'm used to it, so I'm fine. But you're not used to playing in the water, Shrine Maiden."
I wasn't used to playing in the water, no — but I was used to that cold spring. I often used it for spiritual meditation.
"This place is used for my spiritual training. So you needn't worry."
"Is that so? Then it should be fine."
Together we stepped our legs into the cold spring. I stood still and looked at her.
"Wolhyang, what should we do now..."
Splash!
That was when she smiled sweetly, scooped up a huge amount of water with her hands, and flung it at me.
"Hehe, this is how you play in the water! You just splash each other like crazy!"
"So this is water play. Then I suppose I will too."
I scooped up water the same way she had and threw it. When I had thoroughly soaked her, I splashed her again.
"There's no time to rest when you're playing in the water. The first one to say they give up loses!"
I hadn't known water play had winners and losers. Ever since my days as a Shrine Maiden Apprentice, I had been superior to everyone around me, and I had been desperate to keep that place. That old sensation coiled around my body for the first time in a long while.
"I have never lost at anything. I've always come in first."
"Really? I've never lost at water play either!"
"This should be a fine match, then."
"Let's play for real, Shrine Maiden!"
And so we splashed water at each other without a moment's rest. Our hair and bodies grew soaked, the water blurred our vision, our skin turned cold — and still we didn't stop.
"Take that!"
"All I have to do is dodge."
"Oh, you already figured out how to dodge! You learn fast, Shrine Maiden!"
"I've been told that from time to time, yes."
Splash!
"Waaah! That was so fast! You're really good at this, Shrine Maiden!"
"Thank you for the compliment, Wolhyang. You have excellent skill yourself."
We were doing nothing but flinging water at each other in a messy free-for-all. Strangely, in the middle of all that, the corners of my mouth began to lift. It was a pleasure entirely different from the pleasure of managing Wolhyangsa and drawing a woman into the taste of other women.
"Then how about this, Shrine Maiden?"
She darted in, threw her arms around me from behind, and hurled me into the cold spring.
Ker-splash!
I plunged deep into the spring and surged back up — and her gaze locked onto my chest.
"Shrine Maiden, your bikini top came off."
"Ah, so it did. Would you help me look for it?"
"Okay!"
Even after seeing my breasts laid completely bare, she only answered with that sunny brightness and came closer to search for the swimsuit top. She was a type of woman I had never encountered before, and that only sharpened my interest.
When she drew near, I wrapped both hands around her waist.
"Ah—"
"Got you, Wolhyang."
"Hey, that's cheating! That's why you asked me to help look!"
"You never mentioned there were rules against cheating."
I threw her into the cold spring the same way she had thrown me. The instant she stood back up, I kept flinging water at her.
"Eek! Not bad, Shrine Maiden!"
And so we went on playing in the cold spring in a breathless rush. No — enjoying ourselves would be the better word. It was the first time I had ever spent such a brightly smiling, joyful stretch of time with another person, and that made it all the more meaningful.
After we finished playing in the water, we decided to warm our bodies in the hot bath. She wasn't used to warm water, so she only dipped her feet in until she could adjust.
"Did you have fun playing in the water, Shrine Maiden?"
"Yes, it was wonderful. I don't think I've ever had such a pleasant time."
For me, pleasure had never been anything but drawing a woman deep into the taste of other women. This new pleasure I had encountered for the first time was something else entirely — something I had never felt before.
"Let's keep having all kinds of fun together from now on!"
"Thanks to you, Wolhyang, I expect I'll come to know all sorts of pleasures. I'm truly grateful."
I bowed my head in thanks. She furrowed her brow slightly, as if thinking something over, then spoke.
"Shrine Maiden... would it be all right if I called you Unnie?"
"Pardon?"
"If not, that's okay, but... all the friends I used to play with when I was little left Cheongyeon. So I don't have any friends now."
She wanted to grow closer to me. If we could become closer than we already were, I had no reason to refuse. I had also been thinking of a way to repay her for giving me such a joyful time, so I accepted her careful proposal.
"Of course."
"Then you call me Wolhyang too, Yeon Unnie!"
I hadn't expected her to drop the formal speech as well.
"Yeah, all right. Wolhyang."
"Hehe! Unnie, what should we play next time?"
Before answering that question, I rose and sat on the wooden rim of the bath. Naturally, I draped one of my legs over hers and drew closer. Our breasts bumped together and slowly pressed in, and even then she just kept smiling brightly up at me.
"I'll follow whatever Wolhyang wants to do. I don't really know these things."
"Then... have you ever played jacks?"
"I've only seen little children play it now and then."
"Let's play jacks next time. That's really fun too!"
While we talked, I kept shifting my body. I could feel her nipples clearly brushing across the flesh of my breasts. Which meant she had to be feeling the same thing.
But she went on talking about games as if she felt nothing at all.
I couldn't think of a proper way to approach this woman just yet. I would need to spend more time with her and take her measure.