Leila, who had climbed onto Aaron’s thigh in a daze, shuddered slightly at the sensation of his hard penis poking into her inner thigh. Aaron grabbed Leila’s hand and lowered it. Leila was startled when her hand touched his bulging pants. Even though it was over his clothes, it was her first time touching a man’s thing. She tried to pull her hand away, but she couldn’t overcome Aaron’s strength.
“Can you feel it?”
"Oh my God."
Aaron smiled slightly as he found Leila with her neck wide open.
“Do you understand? Like this, I’m in trouble right now.”
"...Ah."
“If we don't stop it now, we never will, and Leila, if it was over ten days ago, we could be in trouble.”
“Can you feel it?”
"Oh my God."
Aaron smiled slightly as he found Leila with her neck wide open.
“Do you understand? Like this, I’m in trouble right now.”
"...Ah."
“If we don't stop it now, we never will, and Leila, if it was over ten days ago, we could be in trouble.”
Leila rolled her eyes, not knowing how to respond. Aaron, who had been looking up at Leila for a long time as if he was thinking, slowly released her hand.
"Therefore..."
Leila felt a strange sense of resentment towards Aaron, who kept pushing her away.
“Can’t we just kiss a little more? Uh, it’s okay if we touch a little more...”
Aaron stared blankly at her, slowly closing his eyelids and muttering.
'...God.'
It was his mistake to think she was an innocent country girl. He was being tested once again. He didn't want to push this lovely woman away. He wanted to push himself between her legs, which were already wet and aroused without him knowing, and make her cling to him. No, no, yes, yes, yes... He felt like he was being swallowed up by the stream of consciousness. However, his conscience was firm.
It was something that should not have been done impulsively. His status and the situation of being adrift in poverty were not without obstacles. If it were his own problem, he would have tried to handle it, but reality was more complicated. And he did not want Leila to have to experience her first time on the grass like this.
Aaron brushed away his sticky desire and kissed the tip of her nose. Leila looked slightly disappointed, then smiled bashfully at the confession that followed.
“...I like you a lot, Leila.”
"... Me too."
“You won’t like me as much as I do.”
Aaron hugged her small body and whispered softly.
“Really, Leila, you’re amazing. You’re lovely. You’re like a dream...”
It was something that should not have been done impulsively. His status and the situation of being adrift in poverty were not without obstacles. If it were his own problem, he would have tried to handle it, but reality was more complicated. And he did not want Leila to have to experience her first time on the grass like this.
Aaron brushed away his sticky desire and kissed the tip of her nose. Leila looked slightly disappointed, then smiled bashfully at the confession that followed.
“...I like you a lot, Leila.”
"... Me too."
“You won’t like me as much as I do.”
Aaron hugged her small body and whispered softly.
“Really, Leila, you’re amazing. You’re lovely. You’re like a dream...”
***
These past few days have been beautiful for Leila. The world seems different simply because someone else is extending their influence from the margins of her life.
Even when she was very young and had a crush on Kevin, who was the tallest boy in the village for about a year, she was never this happy. Her steps back home after chatting under the cinnamon tree by the river with Aaron were heavy as if she was crying, but her steps as she ran to find him every day when the sun rose were as light as if she was wearing new shoes.
The past few days have been a beautiful wait for Aaron. Waiting for Leila, who comes day and night, has become a daily routine for Aaron. While waiting for Leila, he trims his beard every day with a dull jackknife and washes himself in the cold river every day to make sure she doesn't feel awkward. The time when he filled his stomach as much as he could and absolved himself by doing nothing seemed like a distant memory. He couldn't stop smiling.
Today, as always, Leila came running before the sun had even reached zenith.
“Aaron, look at this. This is the drink my father used to drink with Uncle Walter, and I thought Aaron would like it, so I brought it.”
Today, she stole a basket of household items and food. Aaron accepted the basket with a troubled face and looked at the bottle of alcohol.
“What if that happens again?”
“You don’t like alcohol? When I was little, my uncle would sometimes secretly feed me some, so I actually like alcohol.”
Aaron smiled slightly, pressing his lips to her round forehead.
“You shouldn’t like alcohol. I’m worried.”
“What are you worried about? I don’t get drunk easily.”
“Oh, really? Our Miss Leila is a drinker. But you shouldn’t drink too much when you’re out. When I was in the military, there was a guy who had a habit of running out of the house when he got drunk. One day, he was found lying face down in a ditch, almost dead from a head injury. It was chaos. Someone even mistakenly thought he was attacked, and he fell into a coma. Well, I think it was more like he woke up from the alcohol than from a coma. The whole division was on high alert until he opened his eyes.”
“Oh my goodness. His drinking habits are similar to those of Auntie Bree, the milkwoman over there. Whenever she drinks, she takes off all her clothes and runs around because she’s so hot.”
"This."
“That’s why the old men line up every day to have a drink with that old lady Bree.”
As Leila held her stomach and giggled, Aaron awkwardly followed along and muttered.
“Leila, do you find that kind of thing fun? I think it’s a bit too much... and it could be dangerous.”
“Auntie Bree’s husband is so scared that they can’t even lift a finger.”
“Oh, but isn’t that a bit much for a young lady to hear? That’s too messy.”
“Just how much of a kid does Aaron think I am?”
It was nice to sit side by side on the sloping lawn and chatter away. Leila lay with her head on Aaron's thigh so as not to let her heart pound. Leila bent down and made eye contact with Aaron, who then kissed the tip of her nose.
“A tomboy who talks a lot.”
“Am I too talkative?”
Leila asked with a look of horror on her face, remembering how she always felt when she was with the always talkative Penny. Aaron noticed the worry clearly on her face and shook his head, gently caressing her cheek.
“No, tell me more. I want to keep listening. While I was wandering, I had no one to talk to, and no one to talk to, so it feels like a dream right now.”
Aaron leaned back slightly, startled by Leila who suddenly raised her upper body. Leila sat on his thighs with a kneeling step. Looking into her olive eyes that were staring at him, Aaron gently grabbed her waist and lowered her to the side. Then he shook out her skirt.
Since that day, Aaron has been particularly careful about skinship. Leila also pretended not to notice, not wanting to embarrass him.
“Leila, this is the town where Leila lives. If even a rumor spreads, I don’t mind, but I’m worried that Leila will be in trouble... so we’re just holding hands like this in secret.”
“Why are you so worried when people don’t even go out much? And what if someone says something about me being like this with Aaron?”
Aaron patted her cheek as if to pat her.
“I hate it when bad rumors spread about you.”
Aaron gently pulled Leila's shoulder and made her lean against him. Leila leaned against him, slightly sullen. But soon, her mood improved, and she looked up at the sky and whispered.
“Aaron, it’s going to rain a lot starting next week. It could last for two weeks or more. Do you know where else to go?”
“Don't worry about me.”
“What if you catch a cold?”
“If you’re healthy, you don’t catch a cold very often. In my twenty-five years of life, I’ve only caught a cold three times.”
“Don’t you think it might take a fourth time?”
“The odds are 3 out of 25. That’s only a 12 percent chance, and that’s the 12 percent chance that the horoscope on the Raps flyer will match.”
Leila was dizzy because of the numbers that suddenly appeared. It was not that she couldn't count, but strangely, it sounded more difficult when Aaron's scholarly voice explained it.
“Oh, what I meant was that the odds of a stone-thrower hitting the target are slightly higher than if I get lucky.”
“I heard astrologers are accurate.”
“They’re all charlatans. They generally throw out bait here and there to draw out the anxieties that people have in their hearts. If someone offers to tell your fortune, you shouldn’t believe them and give them money without hesitation, right?”
At times like this, she feel like Aaron is someone who has been properly educated and raised, so sometimes she feel like she don't know what to say. How on earth did he become such a wanderer? Yesterday, she was curious, so she asked him briefly, but Aaron just smiled and didn't give jer any answer.
“Oh, you’re such a show-off. I thought you were just a slacker, but I feel like I was fooled.”
“Did I look good?”
“Well done.”
“Is it better to not be good at anything?”
Leila muttered honestly, feeling somewhat defeated.
"All good."
Aaron snickered and touched the back of her hand.
“Anything is fine if it’s Aaron.”
The cool autumn breeze had suddenly become cold. Aaron glanced back at Leila, who was shivering as if she were cold, and quickly hugged her and stood up. 'Ah! Aaron, you startled me!' At Leila's scream, Aaron apologized by lightly kissing her lips.
***
She's seen the inside of the tent a couple of times, but she's never actually sat inside like this.
The fabric was old and shabby, but it did a good job of blocking the wind, so the inside was warm. When she found the wooden cup that Aaron had brought out, Leila let out an involuntary exclamation.
“Wow, this is impossible.”
“If you can’t even offer me a cup of tea, you’re not worthy of being a host.”
When she first met him, Leila was amazed at how he was carving a splint for a donkey's leg. He was indeed a skilled person. He had clearly carved it with a knife, but it was smooth and neat, and it felt good to hold. As she looked around, she saw a thin coat and a few pots and bowls that she had never seen before inside the tent.
“Whenever I have time, I make a few of these and sell them to Mr. Walter. I bought them with that money.”
“That’s great. Have you ever worked as a carpenter or a plasterer?”
“My maternal grandfather’s hobby was marble carving at that time.”
His past, which he occasionally throws out, is quite different from his present. Amazingly, he bought marble as a hobby, but he even sculpted it. The silk handkerchief that certainly looked expensive, and the fact that he threw away valuable items like lighters because they had no oil, were all the same.
A few days ago, a traveler was leading a horse. Leila had always seen donkeys, and in a world where people, except for soldiers, rarely drove horses, she exclaimed with pure curiosity, 'Wow, that horse must be very expensive, right?'
At that time, Aaron's answer was strange.
“It looks like a thoroughbred, but if you look at things like its fur and body type, it’s not that expensive. Even if you have a pedigree certificate, it’d only cost about 30 gold.”
In Casnier, most people only earn 5 gold after working hard for a year, but Leila wondered, "How rich are the people of Dublin?" She remembered that she was speechless because he kept talking about such huge sums of money, like 30 gold and 50 gold, with such nonchalant expressions. Living like beggars, talking about "only 30 gold." "Isn't that too much of a show-off?" she asked, and Aaron smiled awkwardly and didn't say anything else.
“And this is a gift for Leila.”
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