Chapter 29
Minseo. Wake up. I made breakfast, so let's eat together.
Being held by Hyunwoo feels as vivid as if it had just happened.
I don't even know when I fell asleep, but before I knew it, Hyunwoo was shaking me awake.
Rubbing my eyes as I wake up, I see a massive 180-centimeter-tall man wearing an apron.
With its yellow background and strange rabbit, it was a truly bizarre combination.
"......Mmm."
I answer briefly, then slowly sit up and stretch my arms way overhead.
It shouldn't be possible, but it feels as if my whole body is stretching, and it's wonderfully refreshing.
I inch my way to the end of the bed, then jump straight down to the floor!
Still half asleep, I stagger forward, but Hyunwoo catches me with one hand before I fall.
"H-Hey! Be careful..."
Hyunwoo smiles playfully as he gently chides me, sounding worried.
Only then do I begin to feel that I've returned to this warm paradise.
I want to just smile at Hyunwoo right then, but...
'Ugh...?!'
Hyunwoo had caught me around the stomach to keep me from toppling forward first thing in the morning...
I feel my abdomen tighten...
Unfortunately, the spot his thumb dug into was right over my bladder...
And I end up leaking a little.
Fortunately, Jimin gave me a few pairs of white cotton panties, so nothing got on the floor, but my lower half is damp, which feels strange.
And once the pee starts leaking, it's like a faucet has been turned on; it's getting harder and harder to hold it...
My whole body starts trembling.
"...Minseo? Are you okay? Does your stomach hurt?"
"M-Move..."
With an urgent look on my face and a little sob escaping me, I whisper to Hyunwoo while trying to hold back the leak below.
But either he doesn't hear me, or he doesn't let go or move out of my way.
"What...? If you're feeling unwell, we should go to the hospital...!"
"Eek...?!"
He lifts me lightly into his arms, princess-style, looking ready to rush me straight to the hospital.
My body is suddenly being jostled around, and I can feel the pressure on my lower abdomen easing in a very dangerous way.
'No... It'd be bad if I wet myself while Hyunwoo's holding me...!'
I would probably soak the front of Hyunwoo's shirt.
It would be a mistake so ridiculous that even a ten-year-old would laugh at me, so I desperately tense my stomach and hold it in.
My legs have already gone weak, so even if he put me down now, I don't think I could walk.
In this urgent situation, I feel like I can hold it for thirty seconds at most.
The words for needing to pee don't come to mind, so I blurt out the first thing that does.
"I-I need to pee...! I have to go, so... don't move around so much...!"
"...Huh?"
Hyunwoo looks down at me as if he'd just been hit over the head with a hammer.
Then he seems to understand what I said, and I see his cheeks begin to redden with embarrassment.
"Hurry, take me to the bathroom... I can't move..."
"B-But still..."
"This happened because of you in the first place...! Ugh... I'm gonna leak..."
The more I shout, the tighter my bladder clenches.
As I suffer, desperately holding it in so hard it feels like my abdominal muscles might cramp, Hyunwoo slowly walks toward the bathroom.
He sits me down on the toilet, then starts to leave.
Just before Hyunwoo can step out the door, I quickly raise my arm and grab him.
"...I don't have any strength... Lift my skirt and, um, pull down my underwear... okay...?"
...
...
"...Fuck."
In the end, Hyunwoo takes a deep breath and lifts the skirt of my dress with trembling hands, but...
Maybe he couldn't stomach the incongruity of me having once been a man, because he couldn't bring himself to pull down even my cheap, pure-white underwear and ran away.
Shhhhhhh.
I rinse my sticky, soaked lower half with the shower, wash the yellow-stained underwear in the sink, then toss it into the laundry basket.
'Life really fucking sucks.'
Ah. I don't have one anymore.
Anyway, it's been a long time since I felt so bare down there.
Still, I feel relieved that he lifted my skirt, so I don't have to take off the whole dress.
Forcing myself to shake off the sensation, I leave the bathroom and see the roast chicken on the table—the thing I was too rushed to notice earlier.
I wonder if it's fried chicken, but the golden-brown exterior, without any batter, looks like it won't be greasy at all.
My anger from just a moment ago has vanished without a trace, and now I'm drooling.
"I-I'm sorry... I just couldn't bring myself to touch you there..."
Hyunwoo sits at the table with his head bowed, apologizing.
Thinking about it rationally, Hyunwoo wasn't really at fault, so I let it go and sit across from him.
"So, what kind of dish is this?"
"Huh...? Ah... R-roast chicken. I thought fried food might be too heavy for you in that body."
Hearing that, I imagine the coating on fried chicken.
That crispy, greasy skin, and the smooth, tender meat beneath it...
......
Blech.
"Yeah... fried food might be too much after all..."
My stomach is already starting to feel queasy.
What is this... Have my tastes and preferences changed without me realizing?
At this point, I can't help wondering why Hyunwoo knows my body better than I do, when even I don't understand it.
I'm a little freaked out by how meticulously Hyunwoo prepared roast chicken based on an almost chillingly accurate read of me.
"...How did you know?"
"Hm? Oh. My little sister hated chicken when she was little. She thought it was gross. If I offered her some with the skin peeled off, she'd freak out."
So, it's experience?
Maybe he's so considerate now that I've become like this because he's already dealt with a little girl before...?
Still, it is convenient when he can guess what I like without me having to say anything.
Though I do wonder why he wasn't considerate about the feeling of my bladder about to burst this morning...
Maybe that's just because my current body is so small.
"Try it. It'll be good."
Hyunwoo cuts into the roast chicken in front of him and takes a big bite with his fork, making a show of it.
He looks as if he's advertising that the food is safe, and a little smile creeps onto my face.
I pick up a fork and knife too, stab a big piece with the fork, and then try to cut it with the knife... the knife...
Scrape, scrape, scrape.
"...Huh?"
It won't cut.
The knife just slides over the chicken's surface like we're playing tug-of-war, never cutting into it at all.
I put a little more strength into my hand, and the knife finally falls onto the table.
"......"
"Let me."
Hyunwoo finally can't stand watching and comes over to take the fork and knife from me.
Then he cuts it with ease and picks up a small piece of meat on his fork.
"...? What? There wasn't any sauce inside your chicken."
Inside the chicken Hyunwoo cut open was a thick-looking white sauce, like milk...? Mayonnaise?
It also has a tangy smell that seems a little strange.
'It isn't spoiled, is it...?'
"The sauce on the chicken's surface is a little spicy, so I made a separate sauce and put it inside yours. You nearly died after trying Level 2 that time, remember? Say ah."
That's right. Back then, I felt like fire was coming out of my mouth and was in so much pain I thought I was about to die, wasn't I?
Remembering that, the reddish-golden surface suddenly looks frightening, and I get scared.
...Well, Hyunwoo made it, so I guess I can trust him.
"Hup..."
In the end, I take the roast chicken from the fork Hyunwoo holds out and put it in my mouth.
"...?!"
And the very first thought that comes to mind is:
'Salty... fishy...! It's sour, too... and kind of gross...'
Since the sauce hits my tongue on its own before mixing with the meat, it tastes so awful I could almost throw up.
Just as I'm wondering what kind of sauce this is, I get the taste of the meat right after.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I chew, and the spicy seasoning seeps in too, somehow blending with the sauce.
It's hard to describe...
'Why... is it good?'
The strong aroma of the spicy seasoning and the smell of the chicken make the grossness disappear. Since the chicken itself isn't seasoned, the sauce's saltiness fills out its mild flavor.
And that sour taste that seemed like spoilage is finally covered by umami...
Once I eat the whole thing, the flavors seem to harmonize and come together as a complete dish.
Not bad.
"What is this sauce...? It tastes awful by itself and makes me feel like I'm going to throw up, but together it's really delicious!"
When I can't hold back my sincere admiration and praise Hyunwoo, he smiles.
Maybe he's shy because I'm complimenting him, but for some reason his cheeks seem to be turning red.
"It's nothing. I just mixed some milk, raw egg, and blue cheese. Pretty good, right?"
After hearing Hyunwoo's explanation, the taste makes sense.
The unpleasant, fishy taste must be the raw egg coming through in a child's body, and the cheese would explain the saltiness.
Maybe the milk is why it's so thin and smooth rather than thick and sticky?
I realize his understanding of cooking is on another level and find myself admiring Hyunwoo.
"Want some more? Here. Say ah."
"Ah."
Munch, munch, munch.
This time, I open my mouth wide, and as soon as he puts it in, I chew it all together.
This time, I taste the harmonious roast chicken as a whole, without the strange flavor of the sauce on its own from earlier.
"More, more!"
It was the first taste like it I'd ever had, so intense that it was etched deep into my mind...
Maybe I'd gotten used to it later, because even eating just a dab of sauce didn't seem that gross.
I gobble it down, then realize I've eaten the whole thing by myself and am surprised.
'I... ate that much in this body?'
"I'll make it for you from time to time. I'm glad you're eating it so well."
"Yeah...!"