Chapter 5
5.
“What the hell is this now!”
Jeong Min-hyeok flared up and shook Seo Geon-woo's hand off. Then he immediately grabbed him by the collar.
“What kind of lowlife dares lay a hand on me!?”
Seo Geon-woo's face no longer had the usual dazed, bear-like look he always wore around me.
“Let go.”
“What, you little bastard? Do you even know where you are...!”
Jeong Min-hyeok raised his arm.
He looked ready to punch Seo Geon-woo in the face at any moment.
“Jeong Min-hyeok!”
Then a shout rang out from behind us.
Jeong Min-hyeok's arm, just about to swing, froze.
The one who stopped him was none other than my eldest brother, Jeong Ju-won.
He was walking toward us, his eyes narrowed sharply.
“B-Brother....”
“What disgraceful behavior are you causing here?”
“No, well....”
“Let go of him. Now.”
At Jeong Ju-won's cold command, Jeong Min-hyeok immediately released Seo Geon-woo's collar.
Jeong Ju-won clicked his tongue.
“Pathetic. I couldn't care less what happens to a worm like you, but if you cause even the slightest damage to the image of our Guwon Group, I won't forgive you.”
Jeong Min-hyeok lowered his head, cowed by Jeong Ju-won's murderous glare.
As if there were nothing more to see, Jeong Ju-won turned sharply and took a step, then stopped and looked at me.
“You too... watch yourself.”
That was all he said.
I'd never been afraid of much, even back in school.
With my looks, wealth, and talent for sports and fighting, I was the object of everyone's admiration.
Even when my self-esteem was through the roof, there were exactly two people I couldn't stand up to.
My father and my eldest brother, Jeong Ju-won.
Unlike my father, Jeong Ju-won had never shown me the slightest affection. He simply accepted that Father recognized me as his son, nothing more and nothing less.
That didn't mean he was someone you could take lightly.
Cold and sharp, with an unreadable inner self, he brought a viper to mind.
On top of that, his meticulous, flawless nature left no opening for me to exploit.
“Ah... yes....”
He was already walking away without waiting for my answer.
‘Jeong Ju-won.... He's someone I don't want to face for an entirely different reason than that idiot Jeong Min-hyeok.’
As Jeong Ju-won moved away, Jeong Min-hyeok slowly lifted his bowed head.
“Let's go, Ha-won.”
Seo Geon-woo said as he squeezed between me and that guy.
Jeong Min-hyeok glared at me, his eyes full of murderous intent, as if he had some terrible grievance.
I thought about throwing another barb at him, but just turned away. Thankfully, he didn't bother me any further.
The moment I got into the car, Seo Geon-woo let out a sigh deep enough to sink the ground.
“Haa... I seriously thought I was going to die.”
Even from the back seat, I could clearly see his hands trembling on the steering wheel.
This guy had acted like nothing was wrong, but he'd been shaking inside.
Still, that was kind of cool....
“Hup!”
I clapped a hand over my mouth, startled by my own thought.
‘What was I thinking....’
At that moment, Seo Geon-woo's face suddenly filled my vision.
“Are you okay?”
“Y-yeah... I'm f-fine!”
Why was I stuttering?
I placed a hand over my chest as if to soothe my pounding heart.
“That's good. Then, should we head home?”
“Mm....”
It was already past 9:30.
The car pulled away.
Once we picked up speed on the main road, I rolled down the window and let the breeze in.
“It's gotten really late today. Sorry.”
The words slipped out before I knew it.
Even after saying them, I regretted it, wondering why I'd said that, but I couldn't take back words already spoken.
“Haha, it's okay. You always make sure to take care of things like this for me, Ha-won.”
Though I treated him as my secretary and manager, I always made sure to pay him overtime.
But I'd never directly apologized like this before.
Sure enough, he added:
“But, Ha-won, you seem to have changed in other ways besides your appearance.”
“W-what, you bastard! What nonsense are you going to spout....”
“You've never once apologized to me, Ha-won.”
That left me speechless.
Had I really?
Was this the first time?
I thought back for a moment.
Since nothing came to mind right away, maybe what he said was true.
‘Was I a little too much...?’
Despite that thought, harsh words came out of my mouth.
“So what! What about it!”
“Haha, no, you don't have to apologize.”
“Hmph!”
I quickly turned my head away.
For several minutes, only the noise from outside drifted in and out of the car.
I glanced at Seo Geon-woo through the rearview mirror.
‘Now that I look at him, he's changed a lot too.’
Back in high school, he was a scrawny, bespectacled guy with the classic dweeb look, but now he'd grown quite a bit taller and seemed pretty well-built.
He still waited on me just as faithfully as ever, but something felt different.
Why was I only now realizing how much Seo Geon-woo had changed? Was it because I'd become like this?
Thinking about how I'd inexplicably turned into a woman made my chest tighten again.
“Hey.”
Seo Geon-woo met my eyes in the rearview mirror and answered.
“Yeah? What is it, Ha-won?”
“Um....”
Damn it.
I really couldn't understand it.
It wasn't anything important, so why was I hesitating? I couldn't understand myself.
“Did you want to stop somewhere...?”
“T-tomorrow! Want to go get some air?”
“Huh? Out of nowhere? Where to?”
“I don't know, anywhere. You figure it out.”
Even though my words were irresponsible and curt, Seo Geon-woo answered with his usual smile.
“Sure, got it. What time should I come by your place tomorrow?”
“Well... ah, I don't know! Come whenever you want.”
“Haha, okay.”
I just wanted to get some air.
I absolutely did not want to go on a trip or picnic with this guy.
‘I'm just too lazy to drive.’
After another twenty minutes or so, we arrived home.
Seo Geon-woo's work was done here. His shift was over.
I swiped my card at the private elevator that led directly from the underground parking garage to my penthouse, then turned around.
As expected, he hadn't left and was standing there looking at me.
“Go, you idiot. What are you doing?”
Even before I changed, he'd always been like that.
Seo Geon-woo would only leave once the elevator doors closed and I disappeared from view.
I knew today would be no different, but still said it.
“Yeah. I'll watch you go up.”
“Ugh, you hopeless idiot.”
A brief silence passed.
“Oh, right. Ha-won.”
“What now?”
“Before we go get some air tomorrow... how about stopping by a department store?”
“Why a department store? Do you need something?”
Seo Geon-woo scratched his cheek, looking a little troubled.
“W-well... I don't need anything, but I thought you might....”
“I don't need anything. I'm just going out to get some air.”
“I mean... clothes, for example, or u-underwear....”
“Huh?”
Without thinking, I lowered my gaze.
Two unmistakable bumps showed beneath the T-shirt I'd bought that morning.
Heat rushed to my face.
‘Fuck, did I go meet Father and my brothers looking like this?’
Seo Geon-woo continued, stammering.
“I-I mean... shouldn't you get clothes that fit your changed body and, well, get used to it? At least for the time being....”
Honestly, there was no telling when or how I might turn back into a man. Both Seo Geon-woo—the dazed bear—and I knew that well enough.
Even so, he'd said ‘for the time being’ to spare my feelings.
My face flushed, and I barely managed to swallow the curses I wanted to spit out in embarrassment.
“That would be best.”
But there was a problem.
I looked like a woman now, but neither Seo Geon-woo nor I had lived as one for over twenty years, and we'd never made a point of buying women's clothes, especially underwear.
As if he'd read my mind, Seo Geon-woo said,
“If you're okay with it, I can bring someone tomorrow who can help.”
My head tilted slightly.
“Who? Do you have another friend?”
“Haha... you'll see tomorrow.”
-Ding
Just then, the elevator arrived.
“W-well, see you tomorrow, Ha-won. Good night!”
Maybe Seo Geon-woo had gotten embarrassed after saying that, too, because he hurried off as soon as the elevator doors opened.
“Who is he bringing?”
* *
One eyebrow went up and down.
The corners of my mouth twitched.
Seo Geon-woo and someone he'd brought were standing side by side in front of my door.
‘He said I'd see, but it was this girl?’
Beside Seo Geon-woo stood a woman who was busily looking around in every direction.
Anyone who saw the penthouse I lived in would have their eyes pop out.
The difference in class was obvious from the entrance alone.
That kind of reaction was perfectly normal.
“Wait, more importantly... Are you Woo Da-yeon?”
“Oh my, you know me?”
Oh, right, she didn't know I'd changed.
“Ah, well, you see....”
I tried hard to think of an excuse, but Woo Da-yeon cut in.
“Wow! Are you subscribed to my channel?”
“Channel? Subscribed?”
I glanced over at Seo Geon-woo.
I roughly understood the situation from the words he mouthed.
“O-oh! That's right. I'm subscribed to your channel, Da-yeon.”
I said it vaguely to bluff my way through.
Woo Da-yeon got even more excited at my answer and grabbed my hand without permission, bouncing up and down.
“Wow! No way! Thank you. Someone who lives in a place like this subscribes to my channel!”
“Haha... N-no, it's nothing. Please, come on in.”
Woo Da-yeon.
Back in high school, she was one of my followers.
She was the type who'd been obsessed with playing at being a delinquent and had earned the resentment of a lot of kids.
Back then, she was a bit chubby and wore awkward, overdone makeup, but now she was very slim and had gotten quite pretty, as if she'd mastered makeup.
I almost didn't recognize her at first.
‘Seems everyone besides me has changed in one way or another.’
Once we entered the living room, I spoke to Woo Da-yeon, who was busy looking around and squealing.
“Um, please look around the house for a bit.”
Then I dragged Seo Geon-woo into the dressing room.
“Hey, you bastard. This was the person you were bringing to help? You've been in touch with that girl all this time?”
“Ah, well... yeah, it turned out that way.”
“It turned out that way?”
“Haha, I looked around, and she seemed like the best fit....”
He scratched the back of his head, wearing his trademark dazed-bear expression.
Ugh, hitting him would only hurt my hand, so I couldn't even do that.
“Sigh... fine, forget that. So what did you tell her about me?”
“Just that I knew someone rich who didn't know much about clothes and needed help....”
So she'd heard ‘rich person,’ gotten interested, and followed Seo Geon-woo without asking any questions.
I could tell. Of course, Woo Da-yeon.
“That was a very you explanation, but I guess it's lucky that Woo Da-yeon is just as stupid as you.”
“Anyway, the point is to buy clothes and underwear....”
“Seriously, when I turn back to normal, you'd better be ready to get the shit beaten out of you.”
“Hehe, okay.”
I left the room with Seo Geon-woo, who still had a foolish look on his face.
In the living room, I saw Woo Da-yeon looking around, sitting on the sofa, and even going out onto the balcony.
‘A dazed bear and a brainless materialistic girl... what a remarkable combination.’