Having a Nightmare

I brought Jia home, and we took a shower together for the time being. I had work tomorrow, and Jia must have been tired too; if we showered separately, it was obvious one of us would end up going to bed at dawn. I felt bad for Jia, but we just showered together. Jia was still mentally closer to being male, so wouldn't this be too harsh?

'But that body is more womanly than anyone else's...'

I thought I had a figure far better than average too, but Jia's body was astonishing no matter how I looked at it. Those breasts would keep her shoulders tense twenty-four hours a day, three hundred sixty-five days a year, except while she was lying down. Her waist was slim, while her hips were larger than average. Weren't those proportions basically a cheat code?

"Huh? Oh, unnie?"

"Ah? Sorry, I keep reaching out because I'm so jealous."

"Ugh... I'm embarrassed..."

Jia stood there covering her face, while the bubbles and steam happened to cover exactly what needed covering. Her long hair fell all the way to her waist... She hadn't even been to a salon yet, had she? I should take her on Thursday. After we finished showering and changed into pajamas, Jia kept yawning, so I decided to dry her hair first and put her to bed.

"Huh?"

Jia kept yawning until she fell asleep. I was going to quickly dry her hair and lay her down, but she was lighter than I expected. Fortunately, she was already wearing pajamas, so I didn't have to dress her.

"Ugh... I don't want to..."

"Is she dreaming...?"

I stayed pressed close, holding her hand to calm her down. Her face seemed to relax a little, so I quickly dried my own hair and fell asleep beside her.

"Ugh... It's morning..."

I had to go to work... Jia would be safe at home, and Mr. Minsu would be looking at properties... I didn't have anyone else I needed to meet today. Jia still seemed to be dreaming because she couldn't wake up, so I prepared some food separately for her and left for work.

*

Jia was having a nightmare. If she hadn't met those vile men, she wouldn't have had this nightmare, and the news wouldn't have kept haunting her thoughts... After suffering incidents like that two days in a row, at the courthouse on Monday and near her home on Tuesday, it was only natural that they would appear in her dreams and torment her too.

"I said I don't want to!"

No matter how clearly I protested, no one came to help me, as if the place itself were saying that nobody was on my side. Jiyeon unnie was at work and couldn't come right away, and even though I wanted to call Mr. Minsu, my phone had been taken from me.

"Why, why are you doing this?!"

"Look at your body. Isn't it your fault you're so sexy?"

"What are you talking about?!"

I resisted with all my strength, but I was eventually pushed to the brink of being kidnapped. Then I closed my eyes, and when I opened them, the kidnappers were gone. A completely different setting had appeared before me, leaving me bewildered. Was it a dream...? What I saw before me was my past self. No one could see me; the neighbors simply passed me by, and only my past self recognized me. No one recognized me as I was now.

"Welcome~"

I went into the convenience store. I had visited often for more than a year, and the part-timer had become friendly with me, but they treated me as if they were seeing me for the first time.

"Wow... Who is that?"

The two men from Apartment 302, who had been standing in front of the convenience store, simply passed me by. We had at least exchanged greetings for an entire year, but they walked past as if I were a woman they had never seen before. I wasn't just some woman they'd never seen, either; we had known each other.

"What brings you here?"

This time, I was at the university. Judging by how few people were wearing masks, this seemed to be after I had returned from my leave of absence. The professor who treated me as if I were a stranger was from my department. He should have recognized me, but he treated me as someone he had never seen before.

"Are you a student in this department?"

"Ah, no..."

I shouldn't have denied my identity, but my past self passed by beside the professor and me, as if to say that my current self and my past self were completely different people and that my memories were wrong. My past self bowed politely to the professor. 'I wasn't that polite...'

"Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Ah, no..."

The professor who had left during class saying he had a meeting, then returned several hours later and scolded me, 'What are you doing with something I didn't even teach you?' was looking at me with a lecherous gaze. Ugh, fuck... What a filthy bastard. At that age, did he still need to ogle women?

"Phew... I can't stand looking at them. Professors who didn't even teach and just talked politics instead..."

Of course, you could say it benefited everyone because they adjusted the class time appropriately, but there was even one professor who taught for an average of seven minutes per hour and talked politics for the other forty-three... Annoyed, I went outside and caught my breath behind the building that housed the restaurant.

"Excuse me. Would you like to join our club?"

"I... Well..."

This man had a damn lecherous gaze too... He was only younger, but his way of looking at me was just as rude for someone meeting me for the first time. I knew my breasts were large, but couldn't he look at my face instead...? I made an excuse that I had come to meet someone and slipped away. I kept walking, but just as my legs tangled and I was about to fall, I woke up from the dream.

"Gasp... huff..."

My breathing was far too labored. Dreams were strange if you tried to explain them in words, but everything was natural within a dream, and it was difficult to resist. When I looked around, this wasn't my home, and I was alone. Cold sweat was streaming down me. I couldn't remember clearly, but something horrible had happened to me at the end.

"Haa... haa... It really was just a dream, right...?"

I remembered everything until the moment before I fell, but it felt as if something had happened afterward, and I couldn't remember it. It wasn't just the cold sweat; I was crying too, and I was terrified.

"I sweated... a lot. I should wash..."

When I took off my pajamas, I saw that quite a lot of sweat had covered my entire body. It would have been one thing if I had only sweated heavily, but there was quite a bit of discharge in my underwear too. What was this...? I was embarrassed to ask unnie, so I took off all my clothes, grabbed some underwear and a change of clothes, and went into the shower.

"When can I move...? I can't keep imposing on unnie forever..."

After washing, I felt refreshed, and my mood improved a little. I dried myself, got dressed, looked around the house, and saw a note.

'I prepared a light breakfast, so eat well, Jia.'

She must have prepared it separately because I couldn't wake up... I was simply grateful. I ate the toast unnie had prepared and drank the milk she had told me to take from the refrigerator. I thought I had originally been lactose intolerant, but my body had changed all the way down to my organs, so perhaps the intolerance had disappeared too.

"It's 9:30... What should I do until unnie gets home?"

My mouth and stomach had grown smaller, so I ate more slowly than before. After such an unpleasant dream, I thought I should go out and change my mood. The winter clothes I'd brought, including my padded jacket, were all from when I had been a man... But I couldn't go outside without wearing one. I had some money, so I decided to go out and have fun today.

"Ngh... Phew... The zipper really won't close..."

Leaving the zipper completely open would have been too cold, so I fastened it only down to beneath my breasts and went outside. Should I go to a PC bang or an arcade...? When I played computer games, my hand kept reaching for my phone, and I kept switching to YouTube with Alt+Tab, so I couldn't concentrate on the game. When I played on a console, the atmosphere let me focus solely on the game, but computers were so versatile that they made me restless.

Since I would only be concentrating for two or three hours anyway, should I just go to an arcade? It cost more... but it was fun. Besides, I would attract attention in all sorts of ways at a PC bang, so an arcade with fewer people seemed like the better choice.

"Ah, but I left my card at home."

Unlike computers, arcades didn't let you log in by entering your account with a keyboard. You registered your data on a card and then linked that card to your game-company account to preserve the data. In other words, unless you planned to go only once and play as a guest, you needed the card.

'I guess I have to go home... I won't run into those people again, will I?'

Fortunately, unnie's home and the house where I had lived weren't very far apart; it was only a fifteen-minute bus ride. Since it was a weekday afternoon, I was unlikely to run into anyone I knew. Oh, should I call Mr. Minsu? Since I had free time anyway, it might be convenient to meet him briefly and decide where I'd move.

"Brrring~ Brrring~"

Mr. Minsu wasn't answering...? He must have been busy. Ah, come to think of it, I would have to take the subway to get to the arcade...? Rush hour had passed, but there would still be a lot of people. Most of the passengers would probably be riding free... For now, I decided to go play and wait until Mr. Minsu contacted me.

*

As I rode the subway for a while on my way to the arcade, I realized that lunchtime was approaching, but I had come out without thinking about what I would do for lunch. Should I buy something...? 'Whatever, I'll think of what I want to eat when I'm hungry.' When I entered the arcade, there were fewer people than at a PC bang... No, there weren't. Of course there were fewer people than machines, but there were still quite a few considering it was a weekday afternoon.

'Ah...! It's January!'

There would be college students on winter break, and there might also be people on winter vacation from work. Oh no... I hadn't thought of that. Whenever the players at the machines reached a results screen, they glanced at me.

'Ugh... This is embarrassing... Maybe I shouldn't have come...'

When I'd gone to arcades as a man, about ninety-five percent of the people there had been men. Women did show up occasionally, but most of them came in groups of two or more... Fortunately, it wasn't too crowded, so I thought I would be fine if I played in a corner. Before I knew it, noon had passed while I was playing, and when I checked my phone, I had a text message.

'I couldn't answer because I was in a meeting this morning. Is something wrong?'

'Nothing's wrong, but since I came out to have some fun, I thought it might be faster if I looked at properties with you.'

After sending my reply, I decided to play just one more game and inserted a coin. After finishing it, I felt a little hot. One game made me want to play another, so I even played one that required a lot of movement, which made me hotter still. I was about to head home when Mr. Minsu called, so I answered.

"Yes~ Hello~"

[Ms. Jia, where are you right now?]

"I'm at OOO for a little gaming."

[If you're all right with it, would you like to have lunch together? I'll be there shortly.]

"Yes, then I'll send you the address. I'll wait for you~"

[Please call me immediately if anything happens.]

"Yes~"

I should have bought some winter clothes too... The zipper wouldn't close, so the jacket already attracted attention, but it felt as if it drew even more attention because of that... About five minutes later, Mr. Minsu appeared in the same car as yesterday.

"Mr. Minsu! You got here quickly?"

"I happened to be passing nearby, so I was able to get here quickly."

"Since we're meeting anyway, I'll take you to a decent place."

"Somewhere too expensive might be a bit much..."

"Then let's have steak at a decent family restaurant."

"Yes, sounds good."

*

I wasn't all that hungry, so I ordered only a steak and ate it. I was full before I could finish, so Mr. Minsu ate the rest for me.

"Shall we look at houses afterward?"

"Yes. I ate breakfast late, so I'm full anyway. Looking at properties should help me digest it a little."

"Then let's stop by a café. I'll show you the property information I've looked at so far. Review it, and then we'll head out."

I nodded and looked over the property information Mr. Minsu had found at a nearby café. The places were suitable for me to live alone, but Mr. Minsu said, 'Considering what happened, I think it would be better for you to live with Jiyeon rather than by yourself,' and I agreed.

"I think we can see all the listings currently available if we look at just a few more places. Shall we go together?"

"Yes, let's go."

After looking at properties for several hours, we narrowed the choices down to about three decent homes. We also decided to meet Jiyeon that evening, discuss everything, and have dinner together.

"Unnie~ Are you off work?"

[Yeah, I just got off.]

"Would you like to have dinner together again today?"

[Well, today... I was preparing dinner for Jia. Would you like to eat at home?]

"Mr. Minsu, unnie says we should eat at her place. Would you like to come with us?"

[You were with Minsu? Were you looking at houses?]

"Yes. Would it be all right if Mr. Minsu came too?"

[I'm fine with it~ But won't Mr. Minsu be too embarrassed...?]

When Mr. Minsu heard that, he cleared his throat. He said he was free tomorrow anyway and turned the car toward unnie's home.

*

I entered the house after pressing the keypad and found unnie cooking.

"Jia's here~?"

"Yes, I came with Mr. Minsu."

After dinner, the three of us sat around drinking beverages while deciding where I should move.

"It shouldn't be too far from your workplace, unnie... Moving somewhere nearby would be best, right?"

"I suppose, but a place too close to Jia's current home could be dangerous, so let's choose somewhere a little farther away."

The house where I had lived was about a thirty-minute bus ride west of the hospital, while unnie's house was about fifteen minutes away by bus. That meant we could find a place east of the hospital.

"How about this one?"

"Looks good, doesn't it? It's completely opposite from Jia's current house, and it isn't too far from here either, so moving won't take long."

"I'm glad we found a good place. It also has the features Ms. Jia wanted."

"Oh~ You're right. One bathroom, one shower room, a large laundry room... a living room and three bedrooms..."

"This one looks good. Lots of reviews say the soundproofing is good, and once we combine our clothes, we'll need a dressing room too, so it would be perfect for us to live together~"

Mr. Minsu said the landlord was someone he knew, so I shouldn't worry about the money, and suggested that we move right away the following week. Unnie and I both nodded. After saying, 'Thank you for dinner, Ms. Jia,' Mr. Minsu went home, and we began choosing the clothes we would wear out tomorrow evening.

"A hair salon?"

"Yeah, your hair was already pretty long, but you haven't gone even once, right?"

"No..."

"You need to keep taking care of your hair. Let's go tomorrow."

If my hair grew any longer, it would reach my hips, which would be a little troublesome. I suppose I should go at least once... While we were drinking beverages and chatting about this and that, unnie asked about what had happened yesterday.

"You seemed to be having a hard time yesterday... Are you all right?"

"Yesterday? I'm fine. Since I'm imposing on you, I meant to sleep on the floor, but I fell asleep instead. I'm sorry. Hehe..."

"What? You were going to sleep on the floor? The bed is big enough for both of us, so don't worry. More importantly, did you have a nightmare?"

"Ah, yes... Having you dry my hair was so comforting that I fell asleep, but those guys... appeared in my dream..."

I told her everything I could remember about the dream. I couldn't recall the final part at all, so I also told her what had happened that morning: 'I don't remember what happened, but when I woke up, I was drenched in cold sweat and crying...'

Unnie said, 'Jia went through so much, didn't she..? From now on, you'll live with unnie, so it'll be okay. Unnie will protect you.' Reassured, I nodded.

"Do you want to wash first? I'll run to the convenience store for a moment."

"Yes~"

Fifty minutes later, I came out after washing up. Unnie had bought dessert and suggested, 'I'll wash right away too, so let's eat together while we dry our hair,' before going into the bathroom.

"Ah~ It's nice having Jia dry my hair~"

"I couldn't dry it for you yesterday, so I paid extra attention today."

Unnie fed me ice cream while I dried her hair and laughed, and after I finished drying her hair, I fed her a bite too. Before going to bed, I told her that going out in the padded jacket I used to wear had been difficult because the zipper wouldn't close and it drew so much attention. She asked me to show her, so I put it on and pulled up the zipper. It caught on my breasts, and after I struggled with it for a while, I let go. The zipper slid all the way back down.

"Pfft, heehee... What was that? Hahaha!"

Unnie seemed to find it funny when she saw the zipper forcefully slide back down, and she laughed.

"Ugh... No matter how much I pulled it up, it wouldn't close, and it seemed like the zipper might break. But leaving it completely unzipped was too cold..."

I explained that I had fastened it only down to beneath my breasts and gone outside, which had made people stare twice as much as usual. Unnie couldn't stop laughing and said, 'Let's go to the shopping mall this weekend—snrk...' I pretended to be annoyed with her and lay down on the bed, but

"Ahaha! There, no, unnie! Puhahaha! Stop, stop! Hahaha!"

...I was defeated by Jiyeon unnie's merciless tickling. After several minutes of being unable to withstand it, I said, 'Hngh, I can't take any more..!' Unnie finally blushed and let me go. I exhaled heavily and sprawled across the bed. We chatted for a while, then my eyes closed and I fell asleep first. The night I spent with Jiyeon unnie was a happy one—happy enough to make me forget my troubles.