RCKS 4

But they had never once been negative about their son’s appearance. That was because, although his features were buried in the chubby flesh, their son had sufficiently handsome facial features. So they always made a habit of telling their son that he was handsome and pretty. And it was actually true, and anyway, there was a vague thought that all the fat he had gained now would turn into height later.

Even if it did not turn out that way, they did not want to give their son unnecessary stress as long as there was no problem with his health. Therefore, they did not bring up the topic of appearance unnecessarily, and if they did, it was only praise.

Fortunately, thanks to their brainwashing-like educational philosophy, Lee Yoonsan was growing up without much thought about his own appearance. No matter how much his peers or Hwang Haekyung teased him by calling him pig or fatty, he would only get upset in that moment and not hold it in his heart.

Therefore, Lee Yoonsan had been shy and thus wary around strangers or passive in his actions due to his personality, but he had never shown a cowed appearance with low self-esteem due to his looks. It might change again when puberty comes, but in any case, that was the current situation.

The two couples finally fell asleep after soothing their respective sons. It was vacation for the children, but there was no vacation for the adults, so a lifestyle with reversed day and night was not good. That was because they had to commute directly from the long-stay site as soon as the vacation period ended.

They also liked camping, but by alternating their vacation schedules with each other, there would be at least one person to look after the children during the time commuting from the long-stay site, which made it possible. Anyway, the children were busy running around in nature with other children, and the adult staying at the campsite just needed to take good care of the meals.

It was also a factor that this was a much better environment than seeing the children sitting in their rooms holding onto computers or game consoles throughout the vacation. Of course, the fact that all the children from the gathering families were only children was a big reason. They judged that if they could spend time with peers like friends or siblings in this way rather than leaving them lonely at home, it would be good for the children’s social skills.

In any case, the adults fell asleep. The children also slept for a while and when the next day came, their fevers went down quickly. It was also because the antipyretic worked well, and the children, who had grown up running around mountains, fields, and seas every vacation period each year, were basically healthy and sturdy.

As soon as Lee Yoonsan recovered his health, he decided to take bloody revenge. So he headed toward the place where Hwang Haekyung’s friends were gathered and playing. The actual Hwang Haekyung was still not fully recovered from his cold and had moved to a nearby caravan to sleep, they said.

Lee Yoonsan was not particularly surprised by that news. The pretty and skinny one always looked frail unlike his temperamental personality, so he would take away all the attention from his own adoptive parents.

“Hey!”

Lee Yoonsan shouted loudly as soon as he saw the familiar group of kids. They were the ones who had watched him hanging from the tree the day before, screaming to be let down, and instead mocked him by calling him fatty.

In fact, Lee Yoonsan hated Hwang Haekyung’s friends, who were like his sycophantic minions, even more than Hwang Haekyung. Whenever Hwang Haekyung said one word, those kids would add two or three words each from the side, busy sneering or teasing. Excluding Hwang Haekyung, among the three or four other children, there was not a single one who pitied Lee Yoonsan.

And frustratingly, they were all barely older than Lee Yoonsan, so they were hyungs.

“What, pig.”

So he decided to scold those annoying kids first before dealing with the boss of the villains, Hwang Haekyung.

The children reacted as if it was annoying when Lee Yoonsan came looking with a puffed-up angry face. They had originally planned to have a snowball fight today, but it did not work out because Hwang Haekyung was sick. So the children were sitting around the outdoor table, pondering what to play, and suggesting arm wrestling. In that situation, it was that Hwang Haekyung’s annoying little tag-along kid had suddenly come to them.

“I want to do that too!”

“What?”

“Arm wrestling!”

Lee Yoonsan declared it like a shout, sticking out his plump belly as much as possible and putting strength into both eyes. At that, the children’s expressions, who had been looking at him in bewilderment, crumpled up.

It was already deflating that Hwang Haekyung, who was fun to play with, was sick and out, and now an annoying little kid was butting in when the hyungs were going to play among themselves, which was really bothersome. The children were mostly only children or youngest children in line with the current times, so they had no experience with having a little brother.

They were not even at an age where they wanted to have a little brother, so there was no consideration or tolerance for the one-year-younger Lee Yoonsan. This went beyond individual personalities and was more like the momentary sentiment of children that age. Annoying, bothersome, and they did not need a bigger little brother than them.

“Ah, no, go away!”

Therefore, naturally, the children rejected Lee Yoonsan. But Lee Yoonsan did not yield. It was because he was used to receiving such treatment from Hwang Haekyung and his group every vacation. He was not unhurt by it, but the feeling of anger was greater than that.

Moreover, since Lee Yoonsan had come with the intention of revenge right now, he could not back down easily.

“I’m going to tell uncle.”

“Ah, shit….”

Lee Yoonsan pulled out his secret weapon, the ‘uncle card’. At that, it seemed to take effect immediately. The children’s expressions, which had been grumpy as if they would never let Lee Yoonsan join, began to show signs of difficulty.

In fact, the Hwang Haekyung’s father, whom Lee Yoonsan called uncle, was a notoriously infamous figure among the children. He often scolded his son Hwang Haekyung, who acted as the leader of the children’s group, and the children knew that most of the reasons were because of Lee Yoonsan. The children were also well aware that Hwang Haekyung’s father tried to take care of Lee Yoonsan more than his own son.

Of course, Hwang Haekyung father’s large build, the stern expressions unique to adult men, and his cold and strict attitude when disciplining Hwang Haekyung were also causes that heightened his infamy.

Thus, in conclusion, the children had no choice but to yield to Lee Yoonsan’s ‘uncle card’.

“But if you lose even once, it’s over! Then we won’t let you join!”

One of the children declared it in a sulky tone. But Lee Yoonsan did not yield to that and thumped over to the table where the children were gathered.

A little while later, all the children at the table lost to Lee Yoonsan in arm wrestling. The kids who overdid it whined that their arms were numb, some got frustrated and huffed because they lost arm wrestling to the young Lee Yoonsan, and some mischievous children teased him by calling him monster pig and ran away. In any case, it was Lee Yoonsan’s victory.

“Now, if you act cocky, you’re all dead!”

Lee Yoonsan shouted at Hwang Haekyung’s friends with a triumphant expression. Lee Yoonsan also had sore shoulders and arms from the successive arm wrestling, but he could still hide his expression as if it did not hurt. The thrill of victory was that exhilarating. Seeing the kids who usually strutted around as hyungs lose to him in arm wrestling and get frustrated was so refreshing and satisfying.

In fact, Lee Yoonsan had taken first place in arm wrestling in his class before the vacation. Lee Yoonsan was as strong as his large and fat build, and the build that had been just a subject of teasing even at his kindergarten birthday had started to be seen as something to boast about from the time he entered elementary school.

In that way, he had come to realize that his taller height than peers and his strength that allowed him to lift desks easily were his advantages.

In fact, around that time, interest in children’s heights surged rapidly among parents, so it was the right time for that.

“Hey.”

Like that, while Lee Yoonsan was immersed in the joy of victory for a long time, a familiar yet unfamiliar voice came from behind him. It was Hwang Haekyung with a voice cracked all over as if he had caught a cold in his throat, and a furrowed impression. Lee Yoonsan stared blankly at such a Hwang Haekyung and then felt a slight worry. It was because Hwang Haekyung really looked obviously very sick.

“Haekyung, are you sick?”

“No.”

So when he asked with a worried face, Hwang Haekyung immediately gave a denying answer. It was the determination of a ten-year-old who did not want to look weak in front of his one-year-younger little brother.

On the other hand, Lee Yoonsan could not understand Hwang Haekyung’s answer. Hwang Haekyung looked sick no matter who saw him. His hair sticking out here and there, his face swollen puffy, his eyes that did not open well because of that, and a voice that sounded like a villain from an animation rather than Hwang Haekyung were the evidence.

Yet he lied saying he was not sick. They said lying was bad. Lee Yoonsan thought such things and strode toward Hwang Haekyung. And he was surprised.

“Huh?”

“W-what, you!”

When he approached closely and looked, Hwang Haekyung’s height was shorter than his. In fact, it was not something to be greatly surprised about. The big-built Lee Yoonsan was 152cm, about 10cm taller than the average for nine-year-olds.

On the other hand, Hwang Haekyung’s height was exactly the average for ten-year-olds, 147cm. Hwang Haekyung himself was so pretty and small that he often looked even smaller than that, but since they had never stood this close to actually feel each other’s heights until now, he was only now realizing the height difference.

“Haekyung is small.”

“You pig!”

So it was natural that Hwang Haekyung got angry at Lee Yoonsan’s words, which he threw out thoughtlessly as if it was amazing.

Hwang Haekyung had also teased Lee Yoonsan by calling him pig all this time, but it seemed he had not thought that he was bigger than him. To Hwang Haekyung, Lee Yoonsan was a little brother, and his parents had always told Hwang Haekyung to take care of and protect the little brother Lee Yoonsan.

So without separately calculating or thinking about heights, Hwang Haekyung had a belief(?) that Lee Yoonsan was shorter than him.

But reality was not. Usually, they ran around rugged terrain by mountains and riversides, so he had not noticed the height, but now it was a situation where it was compared right in front of his nose. No matter who saw it, Lee Yoonsan was bigger than Hwang Haekyung, and Hwang Haekyung was looking up at Lee Yoonsan. The little brother Lee Yoonsan, looked up at by the hyung Hwang Haekyung.

That was something that greatly hurt Hwang Haekyung’s pride.

“It’s because the ground here is low!”

“No it’s not? We’re standing together.”

“I said no! This is lower ground!”

While Hwang Haekyung was flying into a rage with a voice that did not come out properly, Lee Yoonsan quietly looked at such a Hwang Haekyung’s head. It was amazing to see the whole head of the hyung he always followed around.

He had always thought vaguely that Hwang Haekyung, who hit him on the head, scared him with bugs or insects that he was afraid of, played rough pranks, and ran ahead, was stronger and taller than him, but the fact that he was smaller than him was so amazing to Lee Yoonsan.

To the point where he did not mind Hwang Haekyung raising his eyes even more and stomping on the ground at his feet in response to Lee Yoonsan’s expression and reaction.

“What did you do with the kids?”

Hwang Haekyung opened his eyes wide in anger and asked Lee Yoonsan, who was only looking at his actions as if they were amazing. Even lying in the caravan, he had heard the sound of his friends being indignant outside, so it was noisy. And then those friends all flocked to the caravan where Hwang Haekyung was, making a fuss about the pig this and superhuman strength that.

Hwang Haekyung’s body was heavy to the point of annoyance from his friends, and his throat hurt, but he got up from his spot. It was because, whether due to his parents’ brainwashing or not, whenever Lee Yoonsan’s name came out of the kids’ mouths, he felt like he had to go check it out at least once.

“Arm wrestling! I won all of them!”