After watching the ending of the movie, we decided to find a nearby motel and rest for the night.
Inside the cramped motel room. Neither I nor Cheondo were picky about sleeping arrangements, so we got a room as small as possible. It was small but cozy. Lying on the large double bed and closing my eyes, sleepiness gradually overtook me.
"Are you sleepy?"
"Yes."
"Then we should have looked for a place to stay instead of playing around. I don't understand why we didn't."
Cheondo, pouring out emotionless criticism, had a character headband with a star shape, bought at the cinema, proudly perched on her head.
On her beautiful wrist was a cat sticker, and character merchandise was packed in the plastic bag she was holding.
Of course, I insisted on buying them, but maybe Cheondo wanted them too. Despite her cold face, she's honest about her fan interests.
"Having enjoyed everything."
"Who enjoyed it? It must have been you."
Cheondo, snorting, sat at the foot of my bed and took off her cloak, hanging it on the nightstand. As she lay back, her head rested on my stomach.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm drained. Having roamed around already tired, it's no surprise. I'm so exhausted, I can barely move my hands."
"Aren't you going to bathe?"
"I should. But for now, I want to stay like this."
Saying so, Cheondo took out a bundle of twigs, leaves, and flowers from her spatial pocket.
The plant, imbued with dark magic, was something I couldn't forget.
"It's the mistletoe removed from my neck."
"What are you going to do with it?"
I asked out of concern, and Cheondo turned her head to meet my eyes. Her soft cheek pressed firmly against my stomach.
"It could be a powerful weapon. I don't know which weapon it would suit, but it surely has potent power."
"Is that so?"
"Let's make your weapon with this."
I couldn't help but smile at her words.
It had become so normal to receive such generosity from her.
-...
In the quiet air, sleepiness wrapped around us. The comfortably warm temperature lulled both Cheondo and me to lower our eyelids.
"Master."
"What is it?"
I was not sure how many times I had thought this.
Why did she do so much for me? It was a tiresome question. Maybe it was time she told me.
"I'm sorry to ask again, but—"
"That's enough."
But Cheondo, as if seeing through my thoughts, continued with a soft voice that could lull anyone to sleep.
"The affection between people isn't something simple to realize or explain in a few words."
Cheondo reached out her hand to interlock fingers.
With a mischievous smile, the first time her emotions showed like this, she reminded me of when she used to play with cigarettes.
"Or what, do you need a reason to prove affection?"
My lips quivered.
I didn't know why they trembled. I just turned away because they did, and Cheondo became even more teasing.
An indescribable emotion bloomed within me.
Suppressing it, we talked for a while.
Cheondo's breathing, with closed eyelids, became steady.
Turning only her upper body, I gently laid her on the bed and, leaving her asleep, went to the shower, arranging the mistletoe and other goods.
A slightly rusted shower head sprayed cold water.
-Swoosh.
The cold water cooled my heated forehead. Leaning on the mirror, I exhaled a sigh of relief.
'That was close.'
I almost succumbed to a moment of passion, almost breaking the unspoken rule between a teacher and a student. Cheondo's clothing was too provocative. The tight tights she wore, which I had ignored until now, were a thing of beauty.
Resolving my mind, I changed into a robe and left the shower.
'I must overcome these lewd thoughts.'
-Creak.
As I returned to the room, I found Baekdo, who had switched bodies, sitting there.
It was a relief.
Miraculously, my lewd thoughts had naturally subsided.
"Disciple."
"What?"
"What kind of taste is that, freak… what? Why do you watch such things?"
Baekdo frowned as she rummaged through the plastic bag on the nightstand and pulled out character merchandise. Was it impossible to respect such tastes? Her look of disdain, as if she had caught a thief in an adult store, made her retreat further into the bed.
"Why do you hate it so much?"
"I tried to respect it to a certain extent."
"What kind of respect is that? It's like beating up everyone who likes anime."
"How can I not curse when my disciple neglects many masterpieces to indulge in these childish cartoons?"
A cold knife seemed to stab my heart.
"Be thankful that Cheondo isn't awake."
"Why bring up Cheondo? She probably thinks the same; she just doesn't show it. I'm saying this for your sake. Stop watching this stuff."
I didn't respond.
In truth, all this was meant for Cheondo.
Unaware, Baekdo was accruing karma. Probably, she'd receive her comeuppance.
It started with pleasing the highest master in this life of teachers and disciples. Instinctively realizing the hierarchy of Hwangdo<Baekdo<Cheondo allowed me to make quick judgments.< p>
"Yes, okay… But why did you come out?"
"Am I not allowed to?"
"I wish you'd stay inside if possible."
"Looks like you're really asking for trouble. I still can't understand why I have to stick with a guy like you."
"Is that so?"
After our usual exchange, Baekdo got up and grabbed a robe.
"Taking a shower?"
"Showering feels fresher and better than magic."
"I guess…"
-Thump.
As Baekdo left and closed the door, I flopped onto the bed and yawned deeply. Feeling more at ease, it seemed I could now sleep comfortably.
Checking my phone, I found several messages from Jin Dallae.
[Two days ago]
Jin Dallae: Today, I went to a restaurant with Shiba.
Jin Dallae: Picture
Jin Dallae: Picture
[One day ago]
Jin Dallae: Shiba misses you today… Can you call if you have time?
Seeing Shiba's sulky face in the dormitory, a smile naturally spread across my lips. But then, my eyes fell on the message below, and a bitter feeling arose. I had planned to slack off here for a few more days, but now I felt I should either bring Shiba or hurry back to the dormitory.
Dialing Jin Dallae's number, her voice came through almost immediately.
[Hello? What's up?]
"Hey. Just finished training and saw your messages, so I called."
[Ah? Ah, right… Did you call because of Shiba?]
"No, I just wanted to hear your voice too."
[Even if it's just lip service, thank you. Just a moment, okay?]
Soon after, a beeping sound came from the phone.
[Beep! Beeeeep!]
"Shiba?"
[Baa! Ba!!]
Her voice was so loud I could almost feel the pain in my ears. Unable to resist, I switched to a video call. Shiba, wearing cute pajamas, was pressing her face against the screen.
[Baaah…]
Her tear-stained face tugged at my heart.
[You should come quickly. You know why, right?]
"Yeah, I should."
[But are you in a motel? Who are you with?]
"Yeah. With my master."
[Is that so…]
[Beep…]
The disappointed voices of Jin Dallae and Shiba overlapped, sounding eerily similar.
'I should go soon.'
-Clunk.
As the sound of the door was heard, I ended the call appropriately. My last glimpse of Jin Dallae was of Shiba running off somewhere with the phone. I could have hung up from my end, but the child's ignorance of this was endearing.
I imagined Shiba now, dejectedly staring at the screen, probably on her knees, and shrieking in frustration at the sky.
"Who were you talking to?"
"Our daughter."
Baekdo, drying her wet white hair with a towel, sat on the bed. Her eyes were drooping, and she looked quite sleepy. Was the mistletoe that exhausting?
"Let's just sleep."
"Yeah."
We lay in bed, fiddling with our phones, before falling into a deep sleep. Lying next to each other, we felt nothing special, probably because we just considered each other annoying.
A strange sensation, like something wet, sliding down my lower abdomen.
-Slurp.
The sound of sticky saliva mingling with skin. I tried to open my eyes, but my mind was foggy, as if I had been drugged. It felt like slowly floating in the deep sea, devoid of any sensation.
Only a strange noise echoed from far away.
The liquid's squelching sound was annoyingly loud, clearly coming from below me.
Was I losing consciousness?
Unable to lift my eyelids, I sensed a faint magic.
Sleep magic? It seemed like a mix of sleep and restraint. An unreachable skill level, as if handcrafted restraint magic. I couldn't even begin to activate such magic that tightly bound my mind.
Why was this happening? What's going on?
I desperately reached out to interfere with the magic. Fortunately, whoever cast it wasn't paying attention, allowing me to quickly unravel it.
-Whoosh!
My consciousness returned. My senses began to awaken. The sounds grew more provocative and twisted.
"Ah… slurp."
A woman's voice, full of lust and desire. I could feel my loosely tied robe being fully opened. The soft touch of thighs, the woman's head movement pressing them against my legs and lower parts.
"This shouldn't… ah."
A playful tongue licked beneath the glans. It was cold to the touch due to the saliva.
Startled, I almost jumped up but kept my composure.
A thought flashed through my mind.
'…Quest.'
A quest that suddenly cleared. It was a quest requiring intercourse with three tree people, but it cleared unexpectedly. I was shocked since I only did it with two. When I confronted the peach sisters I lived with, they all denied any involvement.
-Smack.
A woman lovingly took the top of my organ into her mouth, rolling it inside. Moans escaped her lips as she frantically moved her tongue.
"Ah, hmm!"
She put two fingers in her mouth, then rubbed her private parts with them. She then began to suck while moaning.
"Ahh! Aah!"
It wasn't her first time; she screamed without inhibition, thinking I wouldn't wake up.
"Should I go again… no, no. He must be tired."
The woman, having finished, skillfully dried my body with magic and tidied my robe. She then sat beside the bed, reached for something, and the sound of chewing filled the air.
-Crunch.
The sound of someone biting into peach flesh and sipping juice. As she eagerly devoured the fruit, I half-opened my eyes to watch her.
The person eagerly eating peaches, trying not to be caught.
It was too dark to see the hair color, but judging by the sound, my 'peach radar' accurately detected her.
This peach was a water peach.