My Best Summer Mistake

Author's note: This fictional work contains scenes of forced (non-consensual) nudity.

Apologies for any errors in Korean language or culture. Please let me know if anything needs to be corrected.

~~~~

"Who are you, and why are you mowing our lawn naked?"

She stood at the top steps of the estate's stone patio, a drink in one hand and her phone in the other, taking picture after picture of my nakedness.

"Uh, I'm Tanner," I said, lamely trying to hide my privates behind the thin handle of the lawn mower. "Mr. Choi hired me to house-sit and fix up the place while the family is out of the country."

"Bullshit. Old man Sorenson does that when we're away."

The ice in her drink clinked as she took a sip while eying me over the top of her glass.

Whoever she was, she had the Choi family resemblance: heart-shaped face, beautifully lidded eyes and a darker skin tone. She looked to be about mid-twenties and was kind of short and kind of stout, but very attractive. A simple blue sundress hugged her modest figure, her silky black hair falling in messy tendrils to her shoulders.

"Yeah, you got me," I said. "I drove all the way out here to mow the lawn for free. And later I'm going to trim the hedges in front for free, too."

She cocked her head. "Oh, snarky fucker, are you?" She set her drink aside, then advanced down the steps, raking my naked form from head to toe. I had never felt more embarrassed or exposed.

"Okay," she said, "So you're the new caretaker. Did grandfather put a nudism clause in your contract?"

I lowered my eyes. "I know this looks weird. My work clothes got soaked with rotted leaves and crap when I unclogged the culvert this morning. We're in the middle of nowhere. It's hotter than hell and the lane has a locked gate. Plus, the driveway alarm would alert me about any cars. So, you know... I figured I'd get the lawn mowed then go put something on."

"Oh, makes perfect sense," she said. "Who wouldn't spring at the chance to mow their employer's lawn buck naked? Except for those boots and that cowboy hat, of course."

She speared me with a wry look, making me feel even more foolish.

"Gotta keep the sun off," I said. "And it's not safe to mow in bare feet. Anyway, I've been here for a week. The nearest neighbors are like 30 minutes down the road and except for deer, there's been no one. How'd you get past the gate?"

"I'm family. I know the code."

"And the driveway alarm? I have the app on my phone. Even with the mower going, I would have felt it vibrate."

Narrowing her eyes, she scanned me again. "I'm almost afraid to ask, but where exactly are you keeping your phone?"

I bent and pulled it from the top of my boot. Sure enough, the driveway alarm app showed no alerts.

"Thank god," she said. "I pictured you having it somewhere less hygienic." She chuckled and took another sip of her drink. "Anyway, I know exactly where the car sensor is. And I know grandfather would get an alert too. So, I parked at the top of the lane and walked down until I could shut it off."

I shook myself. Why was I feeling cowed by this person? Mr. Choi left me in charge of the property. And granddaughter or not, she just admitted she didn't want him to know she was there.

"So, what brings you here?" I asked, squaring my shoulders. "Mr. Choi was pretty clear there were to be no visitors."

She looked at me askance. "You're a little slow, aren't you, hayseed? I'm Hanna Choi, granddaughter. Our whole family comes here all the time. And I've decided to stay a few weeks. To take in the country air and all that stuff."

"Huh. Well, Hanna. Mr. Choi said nothing about that. In fact, he said the whole extended family was traveling."

"They are."

I looked at her expectantly.

"Uh, I stayed behind this year," she said. "Busan is such an armpit in July."

"I see. Well, since you're staying, I'll just text to let him know."

She grabbed my wrist when I tried sending a text. "No one needs to know I'm here, got it?"

"I have responsibilities," I said. "How do I know you're even who you say you are?"

She pulled a driver's license from her phone's case and stuck it in my face. Sure enough, she was Hanna Choi, age 24, two years younger than me.

"Still gotta let him know," I grumbled.

"Do that," she said, "and he'll get 20 photos of you in the buff followed by a tearful voice mail from his only granddaughter."

She pressed the back of a hand to her forehead and wailed, "Oh, revered harabeoji! I was worried that your beautiful property was not being properly cared for. Imagine my shock finding this chon-nom so shamefully naked and wagging his pasty little jot in my face."

She lowered her hand and smiled smugly.

I blew out a breath. "You're a real piece of work, aren't you?"

"You have no idea, nature boy. Hey, which room are you staying in?"

The house had two floors with six bedrooms. Mr. Choi had invited me to take the guest bedroom at the far end: it had an ensuite bathroom and king bed with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the lake.

Hanna shook her head when I told her.

"Nope. I'm staying in that one. You'll take one of the rooms down the hall."

"What? Mr. Choi said I could use it. I've got all my stuff in there. Why don't you just use one of the others while you're here?"

"It's the best room in the entire house," she said. "Reserved for honored guests. Which is me, now."

Whatever, I thought. It wasn't worth fighting over.

"I'll get dressed and move my stuff," I said with a sigh.

"No, I like you like this," she said.

"Uh, what?"

"Since you like being nude so much, you'll stay like this while I'm here."

"What? That's crazy. No way I'm doing that."

Hanna stepped back, snapped off another photo and showed me. With hat and boots and my dangling dick, I looked like a lunatic.

"Grandfather's going to love that picture in particular." She thumbed her phone as though texting.

"No!" I yelled. "Look, I know I should have put something on right away. I screwed up, okay? But I take my work seriously. I've been working my ass off doing everything on your grandfather's maintenance list and then some. I really, really need a good reference from him when he gets back."

"Why? Caretaker jobs can't be hard to find."

"I don't do this for a living. I'm a welder by trade."

"Then why aren't you welding? Isn't that in high demand? Don't you make a fortune?"

"We can. Look, I just need a good reference from your grandfather. You know his word is gold. Everyone respects him. And it helps that your family employs half the town."

Hanna laughed. "Not quite, but yes, a lot of people work for our companies." She regarded me for many long moments, considering. "Okay, cowboy, here's how it's going to go: no one will know anything about your nudity as long as no one knows I'm here. Plus, you do what I say. And I say you're to stay naked all day, every day."

"But why?"

She shrugged. "As punishment for taking liberties on my family's property. And because having eye candy like you around would be fun. I mean, who'd guess yard work and welding would make a guy so buff? But mainly because I think it's funny as hell."

~~~~

The Choi summer estate was in the woods by a private lake, an hour and a half outside of our medium-sized town. The ground floor had an impressive entrance hall, massive high-ceiling rooms and opulent kitchen. In back, French doors opened from the living room onto a stone patio that overlooked the back lawn as it sloped gently to the lake.

I moved my things to a more ordinary bedroom across the hall: still lavish, but smaller, with only a double bed and a less-than-inspiring view of the driveway as it disappeared into the trees.

Hanna followed me upstairs as I carried her luggage, then watched me change the guest room sheets, clean the bathroom and vacuum, all while naked.

"I didn't sign up to be a maid," I grumbled while scrubbing the toilet.

She was leaning in the doorway, a pleased smile on her face. "And I didn't expect to see the groundskeeper's willy when visiting my family estate. Deal with it, nature boy."

Afterwards, I returned to mowing, Hanna letting me wear only boots and my straw cowboy hat.

Pushing the mower with no clothes felt strange. Hanna didn't help as she watched my every move from the patio, stretched out on a lounger and sipping a frothy cocktail she had mixed at the patio bar.

Yet, the sun falling on my back dappled through the trees felt great, and on such a muggy day every tiny breeze cooled my sweating body.

Despite the novelty, soon I forgot my embarrassing nudity and concentrated on pushing the mower. The lawn took two hours to finish, struggling with that sputtering old mower, all while Hanna watched. I swear she refilled her glass four times.

That was confirmed when I cut the last strip of grass at the bottom of the lawn where it met the narrow beach and lake. Hanna came wobbling toward me, two tall drinks in her hands. One drink had a little paper parasol, the kind bartenders stick in fancy drinks.

"Nice job," she slurred. "And you looked damn sexy doing it." She breathed in. "Mmm. Don't you just love the smell of fresh-cut grass?"

She held out the glass with the parasol. "Here. Have a daiquiri as a reward. It's strawberry."

With a tight mouth, I said, "I'm on duty."

Hanna frowned. "You're not a cop." She raked me with her eyes. "You're a glistening, naked farm boy. At least take the umbrella."

"What for?"

"For your willy. So it won't get sunburned." She looked at my cock and frowned. "Hmm. Guess you'll have to tie it on or something."

She nearly fell over laughing.

"I see you've already 'tied one on,' Ms. Choi."

"Ms. Choi? Bleh. You are to address me, naked sir, as Hanna. Now, c'mon. It's hot. Have a drink with me on the dock, then we'll go for a swim. You're already dressed for it."

"So you'll swim naked too?"

"Oh, I wouldn't subject you to that. I'll get my swimsuit."

"No thank you, Hanna. I still have lots left to do today."

She made a pouty face and walked to the end of the floating dock that jutted into the lake. Plopping down at the end with both drinks beside her, she swirled her feet in the water.

I wheeled the mower uphill to the shed beside the house, cleaned it out and turned on the in-ground sprinklers. Then came a quiet sploosh. Down at the dock, Hanna was gone.

"Shit, shit shit!" I thought, jogging through the sprinkler spray. "What the fuck was I thinking leaving her by the water?"

I thundered to the edge of the dock, breathing hard and expecting to see Hanna floating face down. Instead, she was on her back, lazily sculling the water with her arms, her blue sundress swirling around her.

"How're you now?" she said, smiling. "I didn't feel like getting my swimsuit."

"You fell in, didn't you?"

"Nonsense!" When she saw I wasn't buying it, she said, "Yeah, okay. I kind of fell in. Are you going to rescue me?"

Peering into the water, I said, "Looks like you just need to stand up."

She scowled and lowered her feet to the bottom. Where she stood, the water was only armpit deep.

"You're just no fun at all," she said, wading to the shore. Her soaked dress clung like paint to every curve.

Hanna scooped her unfinished drinks off the dock as she passed. When she reached the beach, I took both from her and flung the contents into the water.

"People who fall into lakes get cut off," I said.

Hanna stuck out her tongue. "Well, I'll just have to mix up a fresh batch. Margaritas this time. Or, you know what's really good? Harvey Wallbangers." She laughed, swaying slightly. "Isn't that a great name? This bartender in Soho was hitting on me and introduced me to them. C'mon. You can mix us some while I put on something dry."

"I've got a lot of work to do, Hanna."

She mimed a camera. "Click click, remember? Shit—where's my phone? Oh, back on the patio. Betcha wish it fell in the lake too, huh?"

I had to steady her when she had trouble walking to the house. The sprinklers pelted us and she squealed and laughed.

"Oh, no! Your suit's getting all wet! Birthday suit, I mean."

I didn't think it was nearly as funny as she did.

Hanna was still chuckling when I heaved her up the patio steps and onto a big padded chair. She slouched, splayed legs stretching the hem of her sundress. She demanded her phone and for me to mix us Harvey Wallbangers.

"Actually," she said when she saw it was past five. "Are you hungry? I'm getting hungry. Let's fire up the grill."

The patio barbecue was a massive stone and stainless-steel construction big enough to grill a whole cow.

"Any chance you can make bulgogi?" she said, then saw my blank expression. "No, of course not. We could do chadolbagi... that's quick. You look like a steak kind of guy, though. I could go for that. I brought lots of fresh meat and other stuff. It's in the kitchen fridge. The big one, not the little one, okay?"

I didn't move. "I'm also not your chef. Go make yourself a bowl of cereal if you're hungry."

Hanna groaned and waggled her phone at me. "Do I have to threaten you every single time?"

~~~~

In the kitchen I found she had brought several cuts of beef, chicken and pork, plus fresh vegetables and two giant fruit the sticker said was "Korean pear." Her grandfather had left plenty of fresh food for me before the family left, and he had welcomed me to the booze and anything in the pantry and freezers. The place had enough food around to feed a village for a month.

With everything on a tray, I returned to the patio to find Hanna's dress and underwear in a soggy heap by the steps. She stood at the bar wearing a fluffy white bathrobe from somewhere. Quiet jazz played on the outdoor speakers.

"We're all out of wallbanger, so I guess this is just a Harvey," she said, striding to the outdoor table with a tall glass of something orange. "I turned the barbecue on for you. Should be ready to go. I'll take mine medium rare, okay?"

She allowed me to wear an apron while grilling, though I felt like an even bigger fool with my naked ass sticking out. Hanna set the table for us, then lounged in her chair watching me cook.

"Tell the truth, farm boy," she said, stirring her drink. "You've been naked since the day you got here, haven't you?"

"No, I have not. It's exactly like I said. I unclogged that culvert pipe and nearly got knocked over by dirty water and rotted crap. There was a dead raccoon in there! It stank so much I didn't even want to cross the driveway to hose off. So, I just stripped right there."

"And stayed stripped," Hanna said. "Not that I'm complaining." She leered at my ass and exposed back. "C'mon, there's more to the story, isn't there?"

I sighed. "My last girlfriend was kind of a nudist."

"Kind of? Come on... tell me!"

"Her whole family used to go to this one place every summer. Nudist camp or whatever. So, she grew up with that being normal and liked being without clothes. Soon as we got in the door of her place or mine, she always took everything off. I started doing it too."

"Bet you didn't mind that."

"It's not sexual, you know. Being naked. I mean, yes, it is a little at first, but you get used to it and then it's just... comfortable. And we started being more open with each other for some reason. She was going to take me to the place her family went to, but we broke up before summer."

"Poor baby. Missed opportunity, huh?"

Flames leaped as I flipped the steaks. The smoke rose into the early evening sky.

I said, "Maybe that's why I left my clothes off for a while today. To experience a little of what it might have been like."

Hanna grinned. "Well then, aren't you glad I showed up? You're going to get lots of that experience now."

When the steaks were ready, Hanna insisted I remove the apron before I served, missing no opportunity to leer at my body.

We sat opposite each other. Between us was a bowl of what looked like sliced zucchini covered with some splotchy red marinade.

"It's oi sobagi," she said, putting some on our plates. "Cucumber kimchi. Ever had it?"

"There aren't any Korean restaurants in town."

"Okay, but you've been other places, right? Eaten more than just steak?"

"I haven't traveled much. We went to Mexico once when I was a kid. That's about it."

"No way! You need to expand your horizons." She took a bite of her steak. "Mmm, you grilled this perfectly. Thanks, cowboy."

I had forgotten I was still wearing the hat. Removing it, I said, "I have no right to be called a cowboy. I grew up in town. This was the only thing I had with me that was anything like a sun hat, okay?"

While we ate, I studied her. Hanna was pretty, like everyone in the Choi clan. In town, the women were well-known for being breathtaking and dressed to perfection regardless of occasion. The men were equally handsome and meticulously groomed.

Hanna didn't fit: she had just had a tumble in the lake, but even when she first appeared I noticed something different. She looked real, and was more attractive because of it. It wasn't just because the top of her robe had spread open revealing a distracting portion of her breasts.

"You can get yourself a beer or something," she said, chewing.

"Can't. I have to trim the hedges and those emerald cedars before it gets dark."

"What's the rush? My family's away for another four weeks. Relax."

"That's barely time to finish everything on your grandfather's list, and the other fixing up I want to do."

"Well, aren't you a keener? Old man Sorenson never worked that hard. Where is he, anyway?"

"He died two weeks ago."

Hanna's face fell. "No! Why didn't anyone tell me? I heard he'd been sick, but... oh damn. He was so great! He let us kids get away with murder. And told us the filthiest jokes and the most gruesome stories, even when we were little. Mother would have been livid, so we kept it to ourselves. Grandfather knew, though. Told us lots of his own stories. Wow. I'm going to miss that old guy. Wait... are you related? Is that how you got this job? Grandfather doesn't hire just anyone."

I told her about how my dad had been a manager at a Choi business for decades. He recommended me when Mr. Choi needed a caretaker at the last minute. As well as helping my dad around the house since I could walk, I had done landscaping and handyman work as summer jobs, something Mr. Choi's crafty and probing interview questions verified. That interview left me with the impression Mr. Choi knew me better than I knew myself.

"I still don't understand why you're not welding," Hanna said. "What happened? Did you fuck up?"

I sighed and related how I had a hard time fitting in with construction workers.

"Most are great, but some can be really crude. I try to go along with it when it's just us, but one day we were on the third floor of this site and a girl walked by on the sidewalk. They cat-called her so bad she ran away in tears. She couldn't have been more than sixteen, for fuck's sake. So, I said something. I thought I was diplomatic about it, but they had it in for me after that. Got fired for 'creating conflict.' After a few incidents like that, well, bad gas travels fast in a small town. I've gotten myself a reputation as a troublemaker. Now no one will hire me."

Hanna pondered that.

"So, what about you?" I said. "What do you do that lets you take weeks off at a time? Teacher?"

"Student. I've been out of town at college."

"Oh? A second degree? Masters?"

Hanna's face darkened. "My first. Bachelor of Commerce. And yes, I'm a little old to be doing undergrad. I took a gap year, okay? And I haven't been the best student, okay?"

I spread my hands. "Hey, it's all fine with me. I fled college after the first year. Discovered I like hands-on way more than academics. Speaking of which, Hanna, I have to get back to work soon. And that would be better if I wore my work clothes."