Chapter 24
"Um... I'm really okay..."
In the end, I let the unfamiliar girl lead me across the bridge and into a strange neighborhood, almost as if I were being forcibly dragged along.
I had never crossed over here before, so I didn't even know the way.
'And she insists it's a swimsuit, but... I can see strings in the back. Anyone would say that's underwear....'
With nowhere in particular to look, I kept my eyes on the ground and followed close behind.
"I'm not okay with it. If a little kid like you goes around practically naked by yourself, some bad adults might snatch you up."
"...Umm..."
Unable to deny that, I fell silent.
Though the person inside was a 21-year-old adult man from South Korea, the body was that of a very small girl.
There was no guarantee I'd get caught up in a crime, but neither was there any guarantee I wouldn't become a target, so it was hard to argue.
'Besides, even if I said I was an adult man, nobody would believe me.'
Maybe they'd label me as a bit slow, so for now, since I couldn't get away from the girl's grasp, I simply followed her.
"There are so many crimes targeting kids these days. Even if it's evening, you can't let your guard down."
"Yes..."
Her lecture seemed a bit much for someone I'd just asked to let go, but thinking of it as concern made the warmth of another person feel comforting.
I'd felt it earlier, too, but despite being a child, she gave off the same comfort as a mother.
Right. Even when I was in elementary school, I'd walk along holding someone's hand like this and listen to their worried lectures.
"Hehe..."
Feeling giddy despite my age, I clasped the hand the girl had been holding rather casually.
Just like when I was a little kid, loved and protected by someone.
When I interlaced my fingers with hers and squeezed her hand tightly, it felt like we could never be separated, and I felt relieved.
"You're so pretty when you smile. See?"
Pat, pat, pat, pat.
I felt the girl's small hand settle on my head and stroke it from side to side, as if conveying happiness.
It was an exquisite feeling, as if I weren't in this world but had climbed onto a cloud and was lying comfortably on it as if it were a bed.
I'd felt it when Hyunwoo patted my head or hugged me before, too, but apparently I was weak to this kind of thing now.
'Human warmth. The scent of another person. Someone's attention. Affection. Maybe I'm starved for those things.'
Because I'd driven myself so hard.
Maybe it was because I'd lived with no room to breathe, pursued as if something terrible would happen if I didn't die right away.
For now, I resolved to savor this happiness until my next suicide attempt.
Once my heart had settled down, it didn't feel strange at all to lift my head and look at the girl.
Even when I saw something beneath her wet blouse—underwear... or maybe a swimsuit—I didn't feel like I was committing a sin.
As if she'd always been that way.
Since she felt like another messiah who'd descended to save me, I watched the girl's back and hurried along after her.
'Well... Hyunwoo's head pats and hugs were a little softer and nicer, though.'
Maybe that was because Hyunwoo's huge frame felt like a big mattress, and was large enough to cover my whole body, making it easy to feel the warmth.
For some reason, Hyunwoo had been coming to mind since earlier, but that was probably some instinct akin to a homing instinct, so I didn't think too deeply about it.
"We're here. This is my house."
After following her through a neighborhood I didn't know for almost twenty minutes, the girl stopped in front of a large house.
She rang the bell at the building she'd introduced as her home, and I watched the automatic door open remotely.
Beyond it stood a beautiful structure that was hard to describe as just a house.
It wasn't overwhelmingly large compared to an ordinary home, but it felt like the kind of wealthy person's vacation home you'd see in a movie or on TV.
"Come in! Mom and Dad aren't home today anyway, so I don't need their permission."
"Th-then... excuse me...?"
I cautiously followed the girl through the entrance as she went in ahead of me.
As I was about to enter the house proper, I noticed my socks, stained with blood, rainwater, and dirt.
'Can I go in...? I'm a mess.'
As I hesitated, I saw someone emerge from behind a partition wall in the living room.
"Eek..."
"A girl...? Noona, do you know her?"
A little one who seemed to be the girl's younger brother.
That is, a boy who looked just slightly taller than me was staring at me with curious eyes.
"Hey! You're scaring her! Don't stare at a girl's body!"
"Come on. There's nothing to see."
'......'
Maybe because he was young, but he was a terribly rude kid.
It definitely wasn't because he was insulting my level of development.
In the first place, this wasn't even my original body, so I didn't feel anything in particular even if it was being looked down on.
If anything, boys that age were at the peak of their interest in sex, so I could understand him getting self-conscious and saying something harsh.
"...Move."
Tap.
So, when my shoulder bumped into the boy's and I pushed past him with a little force, it was certainly not an expression of anger, but simply an attempt to get by because he was blocking the way.
"Ah! Noona! She just hit my shoulder!"
"You were the one in the wrong."
Pitter-patter.
The moment I passed the boy, I hurried over to the girl in quick little steps, which also let me avoid the boy's attempt to get back at me.
I didn't do anything wrong. It was his fault for blocking the way.
That's why they say kids are immature.
I wanted to tell him to learn from Hyunwoo and grow up quickly into a proper man, but I held back.
"......"
The boy looked over at me with a slightly displeased expression, still apparently unhappy, but said nothing.
"Hey, Kim Minsu. I'm going to wash up with her, so don't peek, okay? I'll tell Mom and Dad if you do."
"Why would I look...? You both have such tiny chests there's nothing to see anyway!"
Pitter-patter.
At the very end, the boy blushed, acting his age, and fled into his room as if running away.
Minsu... right? That's a name pretty similar to mine.
"Sorry. Minsu can be kind of a jerk. Just ignore him. Come on!"
Once the storm of commotion had passed, I saw the girl waving to me from farther inside.
Drawn by her gesture, I stepped through the doorway...
"...?!"
I was terribly startled to see the girl taking off her clothes one layer at a time.
"What are you doing? You're dirty, so you need to wash up first. We're both girls, so you don't have to be embarrassed."
As I slowly backed away, she easily pulled me back, then forcibly took off my blazer and effortlessly removed my socks and Hyunwoo's T-shirt, too.
Overpowered by the overwhelming difference in strength, I was left exposed in no time, unable to resist, and squeezed my eyes shut.
'Don't look, don't look, don't look, don't look.'
Though I looked like a girl right now, I was a grown man inside, so I gritted my teeth, shut my eyes at this scene reeking of criminal impropriety, and walked into the bathroom.
Thump!
Crash!
Barely a second after I started walking, my body caught on the bathroom threshold and took a spectacular fall.
Even out of embarrassment, lifting my head felt awkward, so I decided to just play dead like this.
"Are you okay...?! Ah... look how swollen your feet are. Let's get you washed up and put some medicine on them first, okay?"
"Yeees..."
Relieved that my feet were in such awful shape, I thanked the soles of my feet for giving me a convenient excuse in place of the pathetic reason I'd fallen.
"But why are your eyes closed?"
"...I'm afraid of water."
......
In the end, after making a ridiculous excuse, I finished showering without opening my eyes even once, then was half-forcibly carried on the girl's back into her room under her worried gaze.
'I did get touched here and there while she washed me, though...'
I took comfort in the fact that I couldn't wash myself with my eyes closed, and pushed away the guilt that kept rising in me.
Once I was carried to the girl's room on her back while still naked, a very neat and stylish room came into view.
Idol posters were taped to the walls, and the shelves beside the bed held cosmetics and valuables, creating a cute interior.
Even the scent in the room felt a little cozy.
'It definitely feels like a girl's room.'
After roughly setting me down on the bed, the girl opened the closet, got dressed, and began tossing a few pieces of clothing my way, too.
"You don't have anything to wear, right? One... no, I'll just give you everything I wore when I was little!"
A pile of girls' clothes came pouring down.
Beyond that tidy-looking closet, clothes were piled up to an almost hellish degree, and I even began to find the sight a little creepy.
'Do girls normally stack their clothes up like a tower...?'
Still, I couldn't stay naked forever, so I chose and put on a black dress that seemed easiest to wear and least objectionable.
This was still beyond the pale by my standards, but there weren't any pants at all, and this was at least somewhat similar to Hyunwoo's clothes...
"Thank you..."
"So cute! What? It fits perfectly! I wore it when I was eight! I'm glad I didn't throw it away!"
As soon as I got dressed, the girl hugged me, her excitement noticeably rising.
"Eek..."
Exposed to the feel of her soft body and her cute scent, which I hadn't noticed earlier because she was drenched, I struggled to escape this squishy hell.
"Can't you just be my little sister? Let's live together at my house, okay? I've always wanted a little sister! Can we trade you for Minsu?"
"Kehk..."
The force of her hug and her incessant chatter were starting to make my mind a little hazy.