Chapter 17
Hmm... The preparations for the move are more or less finished... Once we move the belongings and furniture later, the move will be complete. Since Ms. Jia's house doesn't have a bed, we can just move the furniture from Ms. Jiyeon's house as it is... As for the belongings that reveal Ms. Jia's past, I can move those myself. 'Though I'll obviously have to get permission first...'
"Hello, Ms. Jiyeon."
After finishing my calls with the people who would handle the interior design and the landlord of the building Ms. Jia would be moving into, I called Ms. Jiyeon.
[Hello... yawn...]
"Were you sleeping?"
[Not exactly. I brushed Jia's hair, and then she brushed mine, but now I feel like my eyes are closing. Jia fell asleep, too.]
"Is it a little like having someone clean your ears for you?"
[Yes, I suppose you could compare it to that.]
"You must be tired, so I think it would be best to let you sleep until it's time to go out for dinner."
[Oh, by the way, which restaurant are you going to?]
"We'd feel bad if Ms. Jia felt too burdened, right? So we chose somewhere reasonably priced—not too cheap."
[Shall we start the move on Monday?]
"We should rest well over the weekend, and I realized we need to buy Ms. Jia a new padded jacket too. We'll move her belongings on Monday."
Ms. Jiyeon and I talked about the new house and shared our thoughts on the interior. When we reached the front door and I opened it with the electronic key Ms. Jiyeon had prepared, we saw a scene straight out of a storybook: Ms. Jia was asleep with her head resting on Ms. Jiyeon's shoulder.
"Mr. Minsu, do you have a favorite fashion style?"
"Do you mean the kind of clothes you wear, Ms. Jiyeon?"
"Hehe, Jia and I were thinking of dressing in similar styles."
"Actually, Ms. Jiyeon is every bit as beautiful as Ms. Jia. If you dress up appropriately, you should be fine at the restaurant."
"I'll think of an outfit that Mr. Minsu might like, hehe."
Was Jia really that tired...? She was sleeping so soundly... I'd made a reservation at the restaurant, and she needed to sleep later tonight, so I should wake her up, right? Thinking that, Jiyeon reached out and touched Jia's cheek.
'Oh... It's so soft... I want to keep touching it...'
Seeing the look on Mr. Minsu's face as he gazed at Jia made me want to tease him, so I asked, 'Would you like to touch her cheek too?' Mr. Minsu looked flustered and refused, saying, 'It's all right when you do it, Ms. Jiyeon, but it would look a little...'
"Jia, Jia."
"Mmm... Thirty more minutes..."
"We have to go eat."
"Unnie...? Oh, Mr. Minsu is here too. Hehe..."
Seeing Jia's face right after she woke up made me feel as if all my fatigue had vanished. I gently stroked her hair and said to Mr. Minsu, '
Look forward to it.
' and his expression was priceless.
Jiyeon had decided to surprise Minsu with Jia's outfit.
*
Hmm... I must have fallen asleep... 'Yaaawn~ I'm sleepy...' But now we had to go to the restaurant, so I needed to get dressed and ready.
"Jia, I'll choose your outfit today, so let's try some clothes on."
"Okay!"
There was quite a difference in our top sizes, but not as much in our bottoms (Unnie had fairly wide hips too), so perhaps we could share those. I followed unnie into the bedroom, took off my clothes, and put on the outfit she chose for me. Unnie had said, 'It'll be fun to see Mr. Minsu's reaction when the two of us dress up prettily in similar styles,' and I thought it was a good idea. Mr. Minsu had worked so hard for me—didn't he deserve this much eye candy?
'But isn't this going to be too provocative for Mr. Minsu?' Unnie wore black pantyhose, while I wore flesh-colored pantyhose—well, let's just shorten that to 'hose.' Even looking at myself firsthand, my thighs looked full; from a man's point of view, wouldn't thighs in stockings be downright violent? Especially since unnie had a stunning figure too...
"I'm all dressed. Shall I open the door now, Mr. Minsu?"
"Yes, yes. I'm ready. Ahem."
When I opened the door and stood beside unnie in the living room, Mr. Minsu was darting his eyes around as if he didn't know where to look. What was a woman supposed to say at a time like this...? Hehe, there was only one thing.
"S-So, what do you think, Mr. Minsu...? Do I look pretty?"
"......You're extremely beautiful, Ms. Jia."
...! This time, I tried to attack first, but ended up getting counterattacked. Ugh... Ms. Jiyeon was smiling as she looked back and forth between Mr. Minsu and me. She must have wanted to see both Mr. Minsu and me blush and get flustered. After trying on all those outfits, I wanted to try a summer style as well. A regular short crop top would be nice, but I especially liked the kind that barely hid my stomach and revealed a little skin when I raised my arms...
'Hehehe, now I can do more than imagine it—I can actually wear it myself. I love it.'
A white sweater on top, a dark skirt with stockings and heels to finish it off... Since it was cold, I added a thick winter cardigan, and I loved the result. Of course, I couldn't see below my chest without a mirror, so I couldn't really see myself properly.
"Shall we set off now?"
"Yes, let's go."
"Where are we going?"
"It's the restaurant unnie and Mr. Minsu chose after discussing it earlier."
"I've never been to a place like that before... Hehe..."
"You'll be able to enjoy the food, Jia. It's a course meal, so they don't serve very much of each dish."
"I can't wait to try it. I'm curious!"
My first experience at a restaurant with my new family? I was incredibly excited. As we drove, I realized something: if we took a car on the highway, I might... start feeling carsick. One advantage of my old body was that I never got carsick, even when riding in a car going 130 kilometers per hour (the bus was full, so I rode in an officer's car, and the two officers competed with each other, hitting 120 and 130... The road was empty, at least...), on an airplane (to Jeju Island, though...), or on a boat (not one of those violently rocking fishing boats). I could even play games that supposedly caused severe motion sickness without feeling sick at all.
'The fact that I might get carsick now is kind of unsettling...'
It would be embarrassing to throw up in front of everyone... A real man might just laugh it off, but doing that in this body would be mortifying...
*
"We've arrived. If you wait up front, I'll be right there."
"Okay, we'll wait."
Mr. Minsu parked skillfully and came to the entrance. But when he got out of the car and walked toward us, he looked incredibly cool. Once we entered the restaurant, I was more than a little surprised. It seemed like a fairly expensive place...
"Welcome~ We'll show you to your reserved table."
What? Don't they usually check the name on the reservation before showing you to your table? It seemed as if they recognized us as soon as they saw us... Did they recognize Mr. Minsu? Or was unnie a VIP? I had no idea, but it seemed rude to ask, so I decided to remain quiet.
'Wow... This is amazing... It's like one of those restaurants in movies where important guests go...'
Perhaps I stood out because I kept turning my head to look around. I made eye contact with another customer and felt awkward, but unnie gave me a small smile as if to tell me it was all right.
"Don't worry about it. We're here to enjoy ourselves, so let's just eat well and have fun."
Encouraged by Mr. Minsu's words, I held my head high and confidently waited for the appetizer to arrive before eating it. Unfortunately, my current status meant I couldn't drink alcohol (and my body was weak to begin with), so unnie and Mr. Minsu started with champagne and appetizers. When I was a man, I would have thought the portions were small, but this body seemed to find even that much filling, and I ended up leaving half of several dishes. I did eat the dessert at the end, though... It was pleasantly sweet and delicious.
*
"Ugh~ I'm full. Thanks to you, I had a delicious meal."
I stretched, took unnie's hand, and left with her.
"I'm glad you enjoyed it. It was a little too much food for you, wasn't it, Jia?"
"Yes, I think I eat much less than I expected. I was fine until the main course, but after that..."
"Still, I'm glad you were able to taste every course."
It might not have been enough for Mr. Minsu, but he helped me finish some of what I couldn't eat. This body had a smaller stomach, so it seemed like food expenses would be lower than before, but once I got a taste for sweets... that probably wouldn't remain true. Of course, I was too full to go to a café this time.
"Shall we go home first? We should also hear Jia's opinion about the interior design."
"The interior design?"
"Ms. Jiyeon and I have narrowed things down to a certain extent, but Ms. Jia's opinion is important too."
Before we reached home, we bought some drinks at a convenience store, then sat around the living room and discussed our opinions.
"Jia, isn't this one nice too?"
"Yes, I think that one looks good too."
Mr. Minsu had initially chosen interior options with good overall quality, then talked them over with unnie and narrowed the choices down according to her tastes. I didn't know much about interior design, so I chose whichever options unnie liked.
"Then I'll contact them and settle on this one."
"What? But tomorrow is Saturday..."
"We've already chosen most of the interior, so they only need to finish up according to the final decisions. They'll be done by the end of the weekend."
"...I suddenly feel nervous, as if I'm standing in front of someone incredibly influential..."
"It's nothing like that, so you don't need to be so nervous, Ms. Jia."
How strange... He said the landlord was an acquaintance, right? Mr. Minsu really did seem to know a lot of influential people... Somehow, he felt as if he lived in a completely different world from me. Did Jiyeon unnie know that world too? She seemed to communicate with Mr. Minsu so easily... I really had no idea about any of it...
Unnie and Mr. Minsu said they had someone they needed to meet briefly, so they went out and left me alone in the house for a while.
*
"My lower abdomen feels hot... And my breasts are tingling too... Is my body aroused...?"
Considering that I had collapsed and been taken to the hospital, I didn't know whether this was something like growing pains caused by rapid development, or whether my brain couldn't handle some kind of cycle in these new body parts. But it seemed that this body was now experiencing ovulation normally. My body felt hot all over, and I didn't know how to relieve it.
The last time my hand happened to brush against myself in the shower, I was scared by how sensitive I was—perhaps because my body hadn't heated up then. It had hurt a little too... Even now, a hot sensation was spreading from my lower abdomen. I knew intellectually how to relieve it, but I was scared and couldn't do it. Yet my body was growing hotter, and I kept twitching involuntarily... What should I do?
"My body odor is getting stronger too... I guess I really am aroused, but is body odor normally this sweet...? Ugh, this is strange..."
Maybe looking at something erotic would make it resolve on its own? Since my body was unusual, perhaps it was possible. Rationally, it made no sense at all, but maybe because my body was in this state, I couldn't think normally. I turned on my phone and opened an adult story I had previously given a heart to on the novel site.
"Haa... haa... How did someone write something this erotic...?"
Hot breaths kept escaping my mouth, and I kept reading. My fingers continued scrolling across the screen without stopping. My other hand gripped the blanket tightly and refused to let go. My legs were tense and drawn together, unable to relax.
"Hngh...!"
Along with the protagonist's climax in the story, my lower back jerked slightly, and all the strength drained from my body.
"Haa..."
Just as I lay sprawled weakly across the bed, I heard the sound of someone entering a keypad code.
”!!!“
W-Was unnie already back?? Tomorrow was Saturday—what if Mr. Minsu had come with her too...?! They were going to see me like this...! No, I had to move, but I couldn't...!
"Oh? Jia? Are you feeling sick?"
Unnie came into the house and said this when she found me in the bedroom.
"Ah... It's..."
"Your face is hot, and your breathing... Hmm, I don't think you have a fever...?"
"Is something wrong?"
!!! Mr. Minsu had come with her too... I was so embarrassed that I made a strange noise and pulled the blanket over my head. It was the sound I produced by squeezing every last ounce of strength from my limp body.
"Are you all right, Jia...?"
"It's... haa... I mean..."
Perhaps unnie had roughly figured out what was wrong, because she gave Mr. Minsu a vague excuse.
"Hmm~ Jia doesn't seem to be feeling well. We can discuss the belongings tomorrow when we go with Jia, so let's let her rest for today."
"I suppose so. Since this was Ms. Jia's first time at a restaurant, she seemed a little tense while eating. Get plenty of rest, Ms. Jia."
"Y-Yes... Goodbye..."
When I heard Mr. Minsu open the door and the lock click shut again, I relaxed, let all the strength drain from my body, and sprawled across the bed.
"Jia, are you all right? You're not actually sick, are you?"
"Yeees... It's not that... My body feels hot..."
"Your lower abdomen feels hot, and your breasts are tingling too, right?"
"W-What? How did you know...?"
"The gynecologist told me. They said the pain that made you faint was because your brain was trying to adapt to your new body parts and you were experiencing something like growing pains. They also said that your body might start feeling hot and you might become aroused starting Friday night, so I should stay with you."
I squeezed my eyes shut, overwhelmed with embarrassment. Like an ostrich that had buried only its head in the ground and thought it was well hidden, I shut my eyes simply because I was too embarrassed in that moment.
"It's all right, Jia. Your body is unusual, isn't it? Just think of it as going through a second puberty again and try to relax. There's nothing to be embarrassed about."
Unnie held my hand and spoke calmly, as if soothing a child.
"But I look like a grown adult... It makes me feel so embarrassed..."
"Let's eat some warm porridge and calm down. I bought abalone porridge."
"Thank you..."
Sure enough, eating the warm porridge calmed me down a little. My mind settled, and my overheated body seemed to cool down slightly too. Unnie soothed me, saying, 'If you feel any pain, you can use a warm compress right away, so don't endure it—tell me, okay?'
*
Minsu met the landlord with Jiyeon and talked with him for a while. They had to find a house in a hurry, and Minsu was grateful that the landlord had agreed to help. Though he could have rented the place to someone else for more money, the landlord had heard Minsu's circumstances and offered to help, turning away any other potential tenants and agreeing to let Jiyeon and Jia move in.
"I'll come visit soon to thank you properly."
"It's nothing. Hahaha! You don't need to make a fuss over this. How much help have I received from you, after all?"
The acquaintance said he didn't need anything in return, but how could Minsu fail to repay him at all?
"Thank you for helping us. The girl I'm looking after was deeply hurt by a bad person, so we had to move her out in a hurry."
Jiyeon thanked the acquaintance as she spoke.
The acquaintance said he was busy—it was Friday night—so he stood up, and we saw him off before heading toward Jiyeon's house. We also needed to discuss with Ms. Jia what to do with the personal belongings left at her old home. We had no idea that we were about to give Ms. Jia an intensely embarrassing experience.
Just as Jiyeon opened the door and entered the house, the sound of hot breathing came from the bedroom.
'Jia should be the only one in the house... Oh no...! I should have just texted her later and gone home!'
Whether Jiyeon already knew what was happening or had received some advice at the hospital, she remained calm, as if she had been expecting this. She had also bought abalone porridge on the way home... It was clear that she knew something. Considering how long it had been since dinner, perhaps Jia could manage a bite or two? It would be good if she could regain even a little strength after eating warm porridge.
"Is something wrong?"
When Jia heard my voice, she jumped and pulled the blanket over her head with a strange sound. Ah... I shouldn't have come into the house... In the end, I had to vaguely bring up the restaurant and wrap up by telling her to get plenty of rest.
"Mr. Minsu, I'll explain everything slowly later. See you tomorrow, and I'm sorry."
"No, I'm the one who should apologize. Have a good night..."
We exchanged a brief farewell in whispers, and I had to return home.
*
"How are you? Have you calmed down a little?"
"Yes, thank you. Eating something warm helped me settle down a little."
I was embarrassed to death, but I couldn't heap any more embarrassment on unnie, who was taking care of me. I wasn't a child, after all... But in the end, I had no choice but to rely on her like one. I'd sweated profusely, and my body was too weak to move, so I ended up showering with unnie's help.
"I feel good and even more refreshed after bathing with Jia, you know?"
"Honestly, I was too weak to wash by myself..."
"Of course. Your muscles—and you—were both pretty shaken up."
Unnie gently dried my hair as she spoke.
"I should apologize to Mr. Minsu tomorrow."
"He'll probably thank you instead, after getting to see you all cute and disheveled. Hehe."
"Ugh..."
After drying both our hair, unnie laid me down on the bed and gave me a full-body massage, saying it would help calm my startled muscles.
"This feels so good, unnie... A little harder there..."
As the massage lulled me into a hazy state, I fell asleep after uttering something that would have me kicking my blankets again the next day. Honestly, the massage felt so good that my mind went blank and I couldn't think of anything.