Summer Vacation.
When I walked in carrying the boxes Su-ho gave me, Dad shot up from the sofa to greet me.
"Si-yoon!"
"Yeah?"
"The trip schedule might run a little longer. That okay?"
"Doesn't really matter to me. How much longer?"
"Mm, maybe three more days?"
"Three days is fine~"
Dad took the two boxes out of my hands while I was still taking my shoes off.
"What's this?"
"A present from the friend I just went to see. Clothes."
"Clothes?"
Dad started to open the box, which made me flinch for a second, but I kept it from showing.
The box Dad looked into had only the nice clothes on top.
"Oh yeah, that friend's father said he wants to see you, by the way."
"Really?"
I nodded and smoothly took the boxes out of Dad's hands.
Then I went straight to my room and opened them.
I put the clothes away, and I also took the watch that was inside to Marie's room on the second floor, placing it in the accessory case.
And as I was hiding the second box—the one with the skimpy swimsuits—inside my closet, something hard brushed my fingers.
"....."
A pink horseshoe-shaped object I'd never seen before...
There was a remote too, and when I pressed the button, it started vibrating with a low whirrrr.
Wondering what the hell it was, I picked up the vibrating thing and stared at it for a long moment.
It had three buttons, and pressing each one changed the vibration intensity and pattern at random.
It didn't take me long to figure out what it was for.
"This... crazy bitch..."
Planning to throw it out later, I shoved it into the corner of the drawer under my bed.
Once all my stuff was organized, I headed out.
Alpha and Beta were sprawled out on the living room sofa.
I sat down between the two of them, neither budging an inch.
""Meow.""
Dad dragged the travel suitcase we were taking tomorrow out of the unused room.
"We're taking Whitey, right? I already loaded the equipment that came by delivery into the trunk."
"Really? Da-yeon was planning on bringing her car too. We'll have to move things around—she's got a lot to pack."
"How many people are going?"
"Eight."
"Eight? This is gonna be fun~"
"Yeah? You wanna come too, Dad?"
"Why would I go there...?"
"Glad you still have the good sense not to."
"Hey!"
Dad and I lazed around all day, then shot some pool before dinner.
After eating, Dad went into his studio.
I fell asleep on the sofa watching a Notflix drama while sniffing Alpha's paw pads.
The next day.
I slipped out of the house, which had turned busy with everyone seeing me off.
Then I headed down to the parking garage with Da-yeon, who'd been waiting for me at the front door.
In the garage, Park Ji-hoon was squatting down talking with Tae-oh.
Judging by the yawns, he'd been waiting for us after a long family day.
And with Tae-oh next to him chatting—now there were two with shaved heads.
With eight people, we'd thought about only taking two cars, but Tae-oh brought his own, so we started dividing up the luggage.
"Why is there so much stuff?"
"There's a lot of people."
Park Ji-hoon got into Tae-oh's car, and the rest of us split up to pick people up.
I drove to Su-ho's place and got him into my car.
Min-ji and Jun-su went in Da-yeon's car, and Yeon-woo got into Tae-oh's.
Once Su-ho was in my car, he looked around with sparkling eyes.
"I've never been to a valley before."
"Really? It'll be more fun than you think."
"That's what I'm hoping~ My mom told me to take lots of pictures."
"Pictures are a given. I take ridiculously good pictures—speaking of which, wanna take one now before we head out?"
"Yeah!"
We got on the expressway heading for Gangwon-do and stopped at a rest area partway to grab snacks.
Su-ho fed me potato balls while I drove, watching the rural Korean scenery go by.
And since nobody knew the way, I rang up the old man who owned the place from memory.
Once we got the address, we set off again.
It was the first time I'd been to this valley in three years.
But the grandpa and grandma from back then were still running it just the same.
The only differences were that the outer walls looked clean, like they'd gotten a new coat of paint, and that our cars were parked there now.
Under the blue sky, with the sun carrying just a hint of heat, we started unloading our stuff.
The drone of cicadas—the kind you never hear in Seoul—echoed from every direction off the surrounding mountains.
Tae-oh, Ji-hoon, and Yeon-woo were the last to arrive.
Jun-su pointed at Tae-oh's head and laughed at him.
Since it was his first time meeting Yeon-woo—someone he'd only heard about through Min-ji—Jun-su bowed his head in greeting.
Yeon-woo returned it naturally, saying she'd heard plenty about Jun-su from Tae-oh.
Yeon-woo was the oldest here.
And Min-ji, seeing me for the first time in a while, came running over all excited.
"I still think about that fried fish you made, you know!?"
"Really? I brought the sauce so we can make it again today."
"Ooh... totally hyped. But who's that guy?"
Su-ho, who'd been moving luggage while trying to read the room, was just standing there spaced out—probably thinking he was in the way since he didn't know anyone.
"Hey! Su-ho! Get over here and help!"
Su-ho trotted over and asked what he should do, so I told him to take Ji-hoon and go order the braised chicken and the whole chicken soup.
Once we got everything unloaded and shut the trunks, we said hello to the grandpa and grandma who owned the place, then split into the two rooms by gender and headed into the lodging.
In front of the women's quarters, four baby Jindo pups—each one just a little bigger than Park Ji-hoon's palm—threatened us.
""Yip!! Yip!""
"Oh my god..."
I crouched down and started petting the baby Jindos, and one by one they started gathering around me.
Han Su-ho found himself in a major dilemma.
"Change in here?"
"What, you want us to change in the bathroom?"
Su-ho watched the three other men strip their clothes off without a second thought right in front of him.
Family jewels dangling right before his eyes...
At that stark, miserable sight—the likes of which he'd never even seen in America—Su-ho lost the ability to speak and turned his back.
"You're not changing?"
"Uh? Oh... I'm gonna change..."
Jun-su stood there stark naked right in Su-ho's line of sight, back perfectly straight without a shred of shame.
Tae-oh and Park Ji-hoon, already changed into their swimsuits, looked over at Su-ho.
"What're you doing?"
"I-I'll change later..."
"What, why're you embarrassed? You got some kind of defect?"
"Don't be ridiculous."
"Then strip."
At Park Ji-hoon's teasing remark—knowing full well Su-ho had once been a woman—veins bulged across Su-ho's forehead.
The three of them, except Su-ho, stared at him steadily.
Tae-oh told Jun-su that Su-ho was from the States and would have a hard time undressing in front of other people.
But Park Ji-hoon pretended to whisper in Tae-oh's ear while making sure Su-ho could hear every word.
"Guess his really is small, huh?"
"... It's bigger than yours, you know."
"The fuck!?"
At Su-ho's words, Park Ji-hoon snapped and went off.
Park Ji-hoon yanked his junk out right in front of Su-ho, daring him to bring it on.
Su-ho instinctively kicked Park Ji-hoon square in the family jewels.
"Grrrrrkkkhhh!!!"
Park Ji-hoon went down on the floor and lay there twitching.
The other two, each grabbing his own family jewels and reading the room, quietly slipped outside.
"You motherfucker!!! You know how much this hurts and you still kick me?"
"Put your nasty shit away..."
"Nasty my ass!! This shit is precious! And you've got one too, asshole!"
Still, knowing exactly how much it hurt, Su-ho started changing clothes, leaving Park Ji-hoon there unable to get up.
Park Ji-hoon lay on the floor groaning in agony.
But watching Su-ho's pristine white backside, he crept up and snuck a peek.
"Dayum. I'll give it to him—that thing looks like it's got some bounce."
Park Ji-hoon started getting the shit beaten out of him right there in the room until it damn near killed him.
Before putting our swimsuits on, Da-yeon, Min-ji, and I were putting sunscreen on each other.
After Yeon-woo helped us first, she kept glancing over, then quietly came up to me.
"... Why did you lie?"
"Huh? About what?"
"Ji-hoon... I heard he's not your boyfriend...? You said not to get me tangled up in it..."
The things I'd told Yeon-woo came rushing back, and I ran through dozens of ways to get out of the situation before erasing all of them from my head.
Then I decided to just be honest.
"Ah, he's just a close friend, but I didn't think you'd believe me, so I lied."
"... I see."
"Don't worry—if I'd been interested in Tae-oh, I would've snatched him up ages ago."
"... Yeah."
We finished getting ready and put on our swimsuits.
Obviously, when Yeon-woo encountered Da-yeon's majestic chest for the first time, her mouth fell open and she couldn't tear her eyes away.
Before putting on my own swimsuit, I squeezed Da-yeon's breasts, feeling their full weight in my hands.
That sensation of my fingers sinking into those huge, firm, hot masses of flesh...
It was like the texture itself gave me a sense of fullness.
Ahh...
"Eeek!"
Da-yeon hurriedly covered her chest.
When I wiggled my fingers, Da-yeon quickly hid behind Yeon-woo.
"Fufufu... Not even you can stop me..."
Min-ji, who'd been changing next to us, joined in to help me, and Yeon-woo—who had become the target—went through a very thorough initiation.
We put on our swimsuits and headed outside.
Right around the time we were just dipping our feet into the cool valley water, Tae-oh and Jun-su came out—apparently the only ones ready.
Whatever had gone down inside, both of them were walking on eggshells.
Some time later, Su-ho came out wearing a rash guard, unlike the other guys.
Park Ji-hoon came bounding up to me all excited with a swollen face, having clearly gotten his ass handed to him again for running his mouth.
"Cho-a, the kid's packing serious heat. Big as your forearm."
"No shit?"
"For real, thought he was Park Gi."
"That big?"
Park Ji-hoon nodded emphatically at my question.
From a distance, Su-ho must have caught on that Park Ji-hoon was telling me stuff like this, because he came charging over at high speed.
And Park Ji-hoon instinctively hid behind me.
"You... told the Boss, didn't you?"
Park Ji-hoon grabbed my arm and shook his head desperately.
Looked like this bastard was always ready to use me as a shield at any moment.
That asshole Park Ji-hoon had seized both my arms with his uselessly huge hands and wouldn't let go.
"Let go, you shit."
"He's trying to kill me!"
"Then just go ahead and die."
When they saw the equipment I'd brought from the car, everyone's eyes lit up.
I handed an underwater scooter to Su-ho, who'd been a total beer-bottle swimmer in his past life.
"You swim at all?"
"A... a little?"
"The water here is crazy deep—like five, six meters?"
"Really...?"
The look on Su-ho's face told me he still couldn't swim.
There was a spot where the water came up to my chest—good for messing around.
But once you learn the appeal of deep water, you don't go looking for the shallows much.
"Could be dangerous, so use this."
"Okay."
I'd bought four underwater scooters just for today.
Grab onto one of those and slip underwater, and it'd feel just like flying through the sky.
I handed Park Ji-hoon the fish trap I'd already baited.
"Hey, you know the spot where we put it last time, right?"
"Okey."
I stayed in the shallows to help Su-ho get used to the water—showing him how to use the underwater scooter and giving him some light swimming pointers—then I climbed back out.
And without a second thought, I dove straight into the deepest section.
The water was just as crystal clear as ever.
I descended all the way to the bottom, into water so cold it made my head sting, where countless freshwater fish were swimming around.
I lay spread-eagle on the bottom looking up at the surface. Su-ho, still clumsy in the water, seemed to have fallen in love with the underwater scooter—he was zipping around energetically above the surface.
Su-ho swam around excitedly, like he'd turned back into a kid for a moment.
I'm glad he was enjoying it. I really was.
Da-yeon had finished getting ready too, and she slipped into the water.
A mouthful of air filling her cheeks, she came toward me with a smile.
Da-yeon wore a weight belt around her neck to adjust her buoyancy, and she slowly settled down next to me.
Then she took my hand and traced letters on my palm.
-Hi~
I smiled back and answered, each of us writing on the other's palm.
Da-yeon had been sitting with me on the bottom, taking in the underwater world, but eventually she started running low on air. She handed me the weight belt from around her neck and headed back up to the surface.
After catching her breath up top, Da-yeon came back down and put the weight belt she'd left with me back around her neck.
Then she lay down like me and looked up at the surface. Lying still got boring, though, so I made a giant air ring and sent it flying upward.
All this devotion from Da-yeon—it almost felt like one of those moments: the Little Mermaid breathing underwater, and the prince breathing the air outside, meeting for the first time.