“Whyyy……”
― Are you moaning at me right now? Even if you appeal like that, it’s not sexy at all.
“……”
I heard giggling sounds beyond the receiver. Son of a bitch…… Right, a son of a bitch, so it’s not human speech. Woof woof! It’s barking.
“Why did you call this early in the morning……”
I wanted to yell, but I didn’t even have the energy for that. Lying face down on this fluffy bed like this, I wanted to fall asleep just like this. Ugh, I’m sleepy. I even had a nightmare, so I felt uncomfortable. A dream with Joel Gomez in it. And to receive this bastard’s call as soon as I woke up.
― Come out.
“What?”
As I squirmed around trying to find the most comfortable position to lie in, I habitually moved my mouth. I heard a “haah” sigh as if annoyed.
― Come out, I said.
“……Whaat?”
― Fuck, come out!
“……”
My sleep flew away completely at the yelling voice. I lifted my head with a start. No, first of all, did I hear correctly?
“Come out? Now?”
― Open the window quickly before I count to ten. 10, 9, 8……!
Is he even at my house right now? I jumped up and ran to the window. Joel was standing crookedly leaning against his car parked near my house. As soon as our eyes met, I clearly saw him pull up the corners of his mouth into a grin.
― I’ll give you 10 minutes, so come out within that time. Otherwise…….
“Otherwise……?”
I swallowed my saliva, and Joel smiled even deeper.
― I’ll honk the horn. You’ll get to see everyone in this neighborhood wake up!
“……Give me 5 more minutes.”
― Hmm.
“Please.”
That bastard was really the type who would honk the horn whether others woke up or not! I didn’t want to incur the resentment of the whole neighborhood. When I pleaded desperately, Joel beyond the window nodded.
― Fine. 15 minutes. Come out within 15 minutes.
The moment permission dropped, I ran to the bathroom at full speed, washed my face, and changed clothes. When I put my arm through the head hole, it was so frustrating. By the time I put on my shoes, I realized I was wearing mismatched socks, but there was no time to change them. 13 minutes had already passed. I just shoved my feet into my sneakers and rushed out of the house as is.
“Huff, huff.”
“You have to come all the way here to count as arriving.”
Right nearby, even though our eyes met, Joel very strictly pointed right in front of his nose. That bastard…… I ran straight over in my sneakers without even tying the laces properly. Then I ended up stepping on the shoelace.
“Ugh!”
My body tilted forward as is. I’m experiencing all sorts of chaos from first thing in the morning. Maybe if it were grass, but this was a road, so it was concrete. I’ll break my nose, I’ll break my teeth too. And that bastard Joel will definitely honk the horn……!
“Stupid. And you say you’re not stupid? Huh?”
“……Thanks.”
Thud! The place my face crashed into wasn’t the hard ground. Though it was solid. Since it was Joel’s chest. Joel, who wrapped his arm around my waist, hugged me, then brushed his bangs as if annoyed.
“Anyway, being so stupid.”
Joel, who pushed my chest to stand me upright as is, lowered his eyes downward and scrunched up his whole face.
“Where is there a stupid bastard who runs without tying his shoelaces!”
“……You said to come out within 15 minutes. You said you’d honk the horn otherwise……”
I mumbled somewhat embarrassedly while bending my waist downward. It was to tie my shoelaces. However, at the hand that irritably pushed my hand away, I had to look at Joel’s crown in an awkward position with my body bent forward. Joel began tying my shoelaces, which had become partly gray from footprints.
“I know how to tie shoelaces……”
“They come untied because you tie them wrong since you’re stupid! From now on, just wear velcro shoes that kids wear. You ‘baby.'”
Even with wrinkles between his brows, Joel quite meticulously tied both of my shoe laces tightly. Joel’s crown, densely covered with hair, was round. There was exactly one whorl.
“You know what? In Korea, if you have two whorls, they say you’ll marry twice.”
I thought I’d brought up something pointless because I couldn’t overcome the awkwardness, but Joel, who was tying my right shoelace, glanced up at me briefly.
“How many do I have?”
“One. Looks like you’ll only marry once.”
“So I can get married……”
Joel laughed as if amused—pfft. Even he seems to find the idea of himself married funny. I felt sorry for the woman who would marry him even that one time with that temper.
Looking down from below, Joel had a really round head, broad shoulders, and hands that were uncharacteristically gentle as they tied my shoelaces. For some reason, my stomach churned and my heartbeat seemed to speed up a little. ……It must be because I’m awkward. I felt embarrassed by this moment and looked elsewhere, pretending not to care. Then when Joel brushed off his hands—pat, pat!—and stood up, I straightened my head.
“Bend your head.”
“What?”
“I said bend your head.”
But Joel suddenly grabbed my head. I was anxious wondering what he was going to do, but Joel just poked one spot on my crown—poke!
“Your head looks stupid too.”
“What?”
Since Joel was pressing down on my head, the best I could do was open my eyes upward as much as possible. As I did so until my eyelashes trembled, Joel burst out laughing—puhaha—and shook my head vigorously.
“Stupid. Why is your head so round and small? Is that why your brain is small and you’re stupid!”
“……Ugh, stop it! I’m getting motion sick!”
It wasn’t that my head was small, but that Joel’s hand was big. Just like a basketball or volleyball player, with his height and big hands, he grabbed my head like a ball. If it went into those hands, any head would definitely look small.
“But what’s this about, this early in the morning?”
I tapped the ground—tap, tap—with the toe of my shoe, which hurt at the ankle because the laces were tied too tightly. I didn’t bother to complain that he tied them too strongly.
Joel, who opened his lips slightly with an “Ah,” scratched his chin with his index finger and smiled brightly.
“I was bored.”
“……What?”
“I woke up early and was bored. And there’s a place I want to go.”
“……”
After causing all this chaos, the reason is just…… ‘because I was bored’?
“If you’re bored, watch a drama or movie!”
“I’ve already seen all the dramas and movies that exist in this world.”
“How is that even possible!”
“It could be possible. Use your imagination, stupid.”
“Calling me stupid again, again……”
I trudged along following Joel with dissatisfaction. Anyway, I couldn’t go back into the house, and it was a clear fact that I’d be dragged along by Joel whether I wanted to or not.
I sat in the passenger seat of Joel’s car, blankly looking out the window and yawning. Yawn, I don’t know where on earth he wants to go this early in the morning. We have to go to school later too. Maybe because I had poor quality sleep due to the dream, I dozed off nodding, then fell asleep with my head against the window glass. And because I slept shallowly again, just as a strange form was about to appear creeping into my dream,
“Wake up.”
“……Mmm……”
A low, soft voice pierced into my consciousness. It was truly a gentle and smooth voice. It was pleasant to hear. Just like a lullaby. Just as I smacked my lips and adjusted my position,
“I said wake up!”
“……Ah!”
BANG! Along with the sound of something being hit hard, a thunderous shout poured out. Startled, I lifted my head with a jerk, then ugh! I crashed into something hard.
“Ah, fuck, that hurts……”
I heard a rough voice that didn’t match the soft voice. I grabbed my head, which hurt as if I’d seen stars, and groaned, then belatedly realized that what my forehead bumped into was Joel’s head. Right. I was riding in Joel’s car. Right, right…….
“……Did we arrive at the place you wanted to go?”
I stretched as if I hadn’t slept, as if I’d just dozed, and spoke in a languid tone. I heard a “Ha!” breath but ignored it.
“We’re here, why!”
“Where is this?”
I looked around outside the window. There were a bunch of trees. Thinking where on earth this was and looking at Joel, he let out a suspicious “hehe” laugh.
“A lake.”
“What?”
“A lake where monsters like Nessie appear.”
“……Nessie doesn’t exist. It’s already been proven.”
They said it was most likely a giant eel. And I’m not a child, would I be scared of something like that? When I clicked my tongue—tsk—with pitying eyes, Joel shouted loudly.
“Who said this was Loch Ness? I said monsters like Nessie appear! Just get out.”
I followed Joel, who jumped out of the car first, and got out. I didn’t know there was a place like this in Bluedale. Lush trees stood as if hiding the lake. They were even slightly tilted toward the lake.
“What lake?”
“I came here a lot with my mom when I was young. But it’s been a really long time since I came……”
Joel spoke in a wistful tone, as if he were someone visiting the lake for the first time in 100 years. Right. I don’t know why he came to this lake where he came a lot with that mom, with me. As if noticing that I was blinking toward him, Joel glanced at me and said.
“My mom said not to come alone and to bring someone if possible, because it’s dangerous. Otherwise, she would have kicked my butt. Well, she’s dead, but who knows if she’ll appear as a ghost? Or who knows if I’ll drown and go to heaven on good terms with that mom’s ghost. Right? But I don’t want to become a ghost yet. Since I saved your life, you have to protect me too.”
Your build is bigger than mine, like a mountain. Besides, there’s no one who wants to keep you alive as much as me? And you won’t go to heaven. Because of your bad temper. I looked at Joel’s back as he started taking off his denim jacket and white t-shirt on his own.
“You’re going to swim?”
“Then we came all the way here and won’t?”
Clink, clink. Joel, who was unbuckling his pants, suddenly glared at me.
“Don’t look. Pervert.”
“……Ha.”
Ridiculous. Who’s the one who started taking off their clothes on their own? Isn’t the pervert on his side? I just opened my mouth wide in absurdity. Joel glanced at me, took off his pants, and crossed both arms to cover his bare upper body.
