Me and the Tigress Volume 4 Chapter 2 part1

Second Story

Morning still arrived despite Rangii's absence. Wondering what the heck was going through my head when I thought of that previous sentence, I scratched my itchy head and sat up. I had set the alarm for 8:00. It was 7:30. I got the feeling that my time at Jirisan had given me some good habits. This was good. After all, what joy could I have in life unless I learned to be industrious? Except there were lots of joys I could mention. Like the joy of cuddling with Rangii and resting my head on Narae's breasts … ah, seriously. What's wrong with me?

When I got out of the room in order to wash my face, I noticed the fragrant aroma of food.

“Good morning, Big Brother.”

Chii had on an apron with an image of a baby magpie on it. Just as I thought, Chii really was a good kid.

“Ah. When'd you wake up?”

“During the time that Big Brother was in dreamland.”

“And what about Pyeii?”

“…She stayed up late playing video games, so she is still asleep.”

Pyeii sure is a pain.

“I prepared breakfast and a lunch for you. Please go wash up first.”

I looked at the table and saw that there was the quintessential Korean breakfast waiting for us. The side dishes were all both tasty and easy on the stomach, so I could tell that that brat really put a lot of thought into the meal.

“You're more than ready to get married.”

“Kyawooo?!”

Chii, surprised by my compliment, flapped the hair above her ears.

“I-I'm still too young! Please stop saying such weird things and go to the bathroom!”

“All right. I will.”

I laughed and went to the bathroom. I splashed cold water on my face and put on my school uniform. While Chii and I were in the middle of enjoying her amazing breakfast, Pyeii walked out of Chii's room, her eyes still dim from grogginess, wearing a a half-transparent, black babydoll dress and holding a doll that looked to be based off Chii. I sincerely couldn't decide if her clothes was appropriate for someone who looked like her.

As a man, I had a tough time seeing Pyeii with her underwear fully visible. She had on black panties. They were way too mature for her. Not to mention the intricate design that seemed to attract my eyes like moths to a flame. The same was true for Chii, but it was a little difficult to see Pyeii as a kid. Maybe I should describe her as having a feminine figure. …But why couldn't Rangii be like them? I mean, they're all phantoms. Anyway, I should look away now. I was lucky in that Pyeii was still half-asleep, because if something like this had happened yesterday, she would've insulted me into the ground or stepped on me.

[Can't sleep. Still quiet time. Why so noisy?]

“Kyawoooo!!”

But, of course, there was a kid who had woken up a while ago sitting in front of me.

“Pyeii! Please get dressed before you come out!”

[…What?]

In stark contrast to Pyeii's dazed state, Chii immediately stood up and grabbed the hand of that late sleeper and dragged her back into their room. That lucky brat. She got to have both of Chii's hands making contact with her own.

A small time later. Pyeii walked out of the room again, dressed in the same dress as yesterday and her face blushing. This time, she was holding a laptop instead of a Chii doll. I was going to act like nothing happened, but there was no need for my consideration.

[You saw.]

There wasn't a note of doubt in her voice. I waved my spoon through the smoke that was getting in the way of my meal and said:

“I didn't look because I wanted to.”

[Peeping Tom.]

“And you're an exhibitionist.”

[!!]

Pyeii grabbed the exclamation points she'd made with her smoke and knocked on my head with them. You little brat! Don't hit someone in the head with things that pierced the wall earlier! Even with Rangii's tooth on me, it hurts!

“Awooo, Pyeii, please stop that and eat.”

Chii grabbed Pyeii by the waist and pulled my attacker into a ready seat.

They looked to be the same age, but one was definitely the adult in their relationship, and the other was the child. Pyeii looked at me murderously, but her face morphed to one of disappointment when she looked down at her food.

[I want bread for breakfast.]

That conceited brat should be left to starve.

“Big Brother will be eating with us, so from today forward, we're having Korean food.”

[Bread.]

Pyeii had no intention of dropping this topic, and her conjured letters danced near Chii.

[I want bread.]

“Don't act so spoiled, Pyeii.”

[You gave me bread until yesterday.]

Pyeii's face was a mask of determination. It was as if she were a low-income worker who was facing death unless she got a much needed raise, and she was fully prepared to die for it. Chii was akin to the evil manager who cared only about her own wellbeing. Though the truth was that Pyeii was acting like a spoiled child and Chii was the mature one, I was struck by how similar the situation seemed. After all, there's that saying that it's best to be generous when it comes to food.

“It's time for you to get used to eating rice in the morning,” Chii said.

It was 8:40. If I ran to school, I could get there in 15 minutes.

[No bread, then I won't eat.]

After she gave that ultimatum, I only had one choice. I stood up and said to Chii:

“If she said she wants bread, then there's only one thing to do. I'll go buy some.”

“Awooo? There's no need to do that, Big Brother.”

“It's okay. It won't take that long.”

I put my hand on Chii's head as she worried about what to do. I could tell that Chii felt responsible for Pyeii's childish behavior, and I reached my hand out to her before I even realized it.

“Awoooo….”

Chii was as red as a beet. She looked adorable.

[Strawberry milk too.]

Unlike Pyeii, who didn't give me a single word of thanks.

After I returned from a nearby bakery, I threw the strawberry milk and cream bread at Pyeii and ran for school. I wanted to stuff the cream bread in her mouth and pour strawberry milk into it, but I just didn't have the time. School started at 9, and I only barely made it on time with 3 minutes to spare. I put my backpack down next to my desk and took up temporary residence in a seat with better access to the air conditioner, when someone spoke to me from behind.

“Don't stand behind me.”

“…You're the one standing,” I said.

The weirdo standing behind me, and had previously said those edgy lines to me before, was my friend, Saehyun. What he just did probably did a good job of explaining why he was weird, but describing his clothes would do the job even better.

“The hell are you wearing?”

“…You're going on about that, too?”

Apparently, someone mentioned his clothing to him as well. Granted, anyone would have made the same comment after seeing his shirt. For the time being, I ignored his unbuttoned shirt and his pants that were folded up so that his calves were on full display. After all, it was hot out. But the thing he had on underneath the uniform's shirt was absolutely unacceptable. What was he wearing? He had on a tank top. Of course, that much was understandable. Maybe there was a reason why he had to come to school with his shirt unbuttoned to reveal his tank top. However, the problem was the tank top's design. Or rather, the art. Not only were tank tops with designs on them normally nonexistent, meaning it was handmade, but it showed a pretty anime-style girl wearing nothing but a bikini. To go into deeper detail, it only showed her upper body, she had hair a shade of red that didn't exist naturally in the real world, she had her arms crossed above her head, and she had the straps of her bikini held in her mouth. Not only that, but she was looking seductively at the viewer, as if she would be more than willing to take everything off if you only asked … wait, what I wanted to say was that he was the kind of weirdo to casually wear a tank top with an outlandish image like that printed on it while having his uniform fully unbuttoned so that the world could see his shirt. I gave my friend my opinion of his mental state with a single question.

“Have you seriously lost it?”

“Not yet. Besides, I originally had it on like this.”

Saehyun buttoned up his shirt. The thin dress shirt, however, did little to obscure the image.

“Then why were you looking like that?”

“This little kid who decided to try on a high school uniform made a huge fuss about it, so I decided to unbutton it. It felt like I was saying, ‘Look! This is the real me!' “

…Next stop, the police station. There was a predator in this classroom. Though, the only reason why I didn't call the police was because I realized whom he was referring to. If I was right, and he was talking about the person I thought he was, then he was a dead man walking. The dead man continued to speak.

“But when I turned around, I saw she was chasing after me. I was running so hard I thought I was going to die.”

“I feel bad for any of the kids who were in front of you.”

“Why's that?”

He was sincerely clueless, and I didn't feel like explaining. Anyone would freak out if they saw a pervert like him running towards them. I decided to pretend he didn't exist and sat in my seat.

“What a weirdo,” he said.

The actual weirdo stayed where he was and enjoyed the air conditioner.

I contemplated having a little fun since it was the first day of class, but those thoughts lasted for all of a second. I sensed someone's presence beside me. When I turned my head, I was greeted to the sight of large breasts … not because of some lecherous reason, but because they happened to be right in front of me. I am perfectly innocent and pure.

“You're sure here early,” Narae said.

“The frightening power of good habits,” I replied.

While I said that, I stole a glance at Narae's body in her uniform. Though, just two weeks ago, I'd seen it enough times to be sick of the sight, I got a new feeling from it. I guess you could call it a kind of comfort. Her uniform helped me feel like I truly belonged here. As if the sight of her in her uniform signaled a return to normalcy. But, most of all, in the past two weeks, it looked like her bust size had gone up in the last two weeks, and her buttons were straining to keep a hold on her….

“First off, I'm hitting you.”

I worried for the safety of my cranium. I cradled my aching head and whined:

“Why'd you hit me?”

“Do you seriously not know?”

Of course I do.

“I do know.”

“And?” Narae asked.

“I'm sorry.”

I gave a quick bow to her.

“What, was that all?”

I exaggeratedly feigned surprise and wrapped my arms around my torso and said:

“My dearest apologies….”

In a single moment, Narae's expression morphed into that of a bear ready to hunt down a human, and I cut my joke short.

“I'm sorry. I was mistaken to do this. Please spare me.”

“Playing house first thing in the morning, huh?”

I decided to beat him up the next time I could. Narae felt the same way. Narae's menacing expression cowed that idiot into slowly averting his gaze.

“Anyway, the teacher asked me to get the printouts from the faculty office, so go with me.”

Huh? Why printouts all of a sudden?

“Why me?”

“Because I'm the class president.”

Narae-nim is indeed the class president. Meanwhile, I'm ordinary student A.

“Well? Is that a no?”

She lightly placed her foot on top of my shoe, making it clear that she wasn't taking no for an answer.

“I will go with you.”

Saehyun got up at the same time as me and took out a pair of keys from his pocket so that he could shake them in front of us.

“Hey, at a time like this, you should be telling her to skip class with you. Want me to lend you the rooftop key? Or maybe the science lab key? No one's going to go there, so you can do absolutely anything. Experience the electrifying pleasure that cannot be experienced at home. Of course, I plan on watching from nearby and—gyaaaagh!!”

Narae's fists blew Saehyun away. I took the keys from Saehyun's corpse and put them in my pocket. …Not that I planned to use them later, of course.

“Ah, that's right.”

While we were walking down the stairs, Narae pinched me in the side. Ow?!

“What was that for?!”

“Did you forget what happened yesterday?”

“…But all I did was tell the truth.”

“Then shall I act as your nuna?”

“Not at all. There is no need to. You can pinch me more, if you like.”

Narae chuckled.

“Nothing happened yesterday, right?”

“Ah, well … nothing out of the ordinary.”

Excluding the random crap Saehee told me and the weird picture Pyeii had me take, that is. While continuing this idle chit-chat, we eventually made it to the office. The average student would be wary to even step foot there. Because what student would want to enter a room full of teachers? If there was someone with a stick up his butt or someone like that teacher from back then, they'd chew me out over the smallest thing. Or they'd ask me to do errand after errand. That's why, if Narae hadn't been the one to ask me to come here, I would never have let myself get roped into this. Thankfully, however, our homeroom teacher this year was a young guy.

“Couple, go die.”

Though he had an undying hatred of couples because he himself was single, he was actually a good person. Mr. Junghyun, our teacher, looked sketchy as he sat in a chair while chewing on a cigarette butt. I'd never seen him actually smoke—according to him, his job as a teacher meant his conscience wouldn't let him—but his clothes always smelled like cigarette smoke. Not that any of the students mentioned this. He was a teacher who always had the end of an already smoked cigarette in his mouth.

“Whom are you calling a couple?”

Narae replied haughtily to our teacher as she took the printouts from his desk. There was a huge pile of papers, but I was sure that Narae could carry them all without a problem. …Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if I saw her lifting a 300 pound dumbbell with one hand. Go to the Olympics and get the gold, Narae.

“It sure looks like it to me,” Mr. Junghyun said. “You lucky dog. Give Narae to me. She's wasted on a guy like you.”

He had an impish smile on his face as he looked at me, and I responded in kind.

“I'm reporting you to the school board.”

“Go ahead. The chairman of the board happens to be my nephew.”

“You're lying.”

“I'm serious.”

Then his family tree must be seriously convoluted. For his nephew to be so much older than him. I suddenly felt bad for the nephew. He must have it rough, having an uncle who's actually younger than him.

“Ah, also, Narae. When you get back to class, tell everyone we'll be having a test.”

Narae wasn't bothered by this news, but I furrowed my brow in concern.

“Why are we having a test on the first day of supplementary classes?”

“This way, we can separate out the classes based on level. I figured this would be the best method, so I suggested it to the other teachers.”

If you have the time to come up with things like that, then please reflect on your personal behavior, Mr. Junghyun.

“Ah, don't worry. You're definitely going to be in Class C.”

“Then it looks like I can skip the test.”

I had no idea why Narae stomped on my foot.

“That hurts, Narae.”

“Good,” she said.

No, not good.

“Because that means you're alive,” Narae elaborated.

Yes, very good.

“Honestly, I don't care about the test that much. This was just the best way I could think of to single out the ones who crammed for finals.”

He may not be consistent, but this was when he shined. This was why you couldn't just call Mr. Junghyun a complete weirdo. This was also partly why he was pretty popular among the students. There were times when he was a big help as a teacher. Of course, that also meant there were times when he was no help whatsoever.

“I'm not one of them.”

“You should give it a try. Did you know that you and Saehyun are weighing down the class average? In contrast, look at Narae.”

Mr. Junghyun turned to look at Narae.

“She broke the stereotype that well-endowed girls are all bimbos….”

“Oh, no! Mr. Junghyun! A mosquito!!”

Narae swung her hand, but Mr. Junghyun leaned back just as fast so that he dodged Narae's slap. Damn.

“Classroom violence!” he exclaimed.

“Classroom sexual harassment!” Narae countered.

“…Keeping them all to yourself is such a waste. It's not like I was looking at them or trying to feel them up.”

I wanted to prove to that grumbling teacher that justice did in fact exist and that he would be suspended from school with an iron fist, but I suddenly heard a snapping sound. It was Narae. I looked to my side in surprise, and Narae smiled with a scary look in her eyes, ending anymore conversation. She dropped a newly folded-in-half coin.

Clang~

“I'm having a hard time holding myself back, but would you like to continue?”

Hey, Mr. Junghyun, you dropped your cigarette.

Chapter end