Chapter 7
7.
“W-what are you talking about all of a sudden…?”
As expected, Seo Geon-woo was considerably flustered.
“Pfft!”
My cheeks puffed up.
I tried to stifle the laughter that surged up, covering my mouth with my hand, but it was no use.
“Puhahahaha!”
At my burst of laughter, Seo Geon-woo fidgeted and made all sorts of bewildered expressions.
“Ahahaha… Ah, it's been ages since I saw you look that flustered. Pfft!”
Seo Geon-woo looked a little deflated, but soon gave me a faint smile.
“Still, I'm glad you weren't seriously hurt.”
What was with that boring reaction?
“Sheesh, forget it, you idiot.”
I got to my feet, brushing off my butt.
Fortunately, I didn't seem to have twisted my ankle or anything, so walking shouldn't be a problem.
“Let's go.”
I started walking again.
There was still some time before sunset, so I planned to hurry over, dip my feet in the stream, and enjoy a little peace, even if only for a while.
Even though it was still early summer, there were a few other people in the valley besides us.
Since it was a weekday, most of them were middle-aged couples whose relationship was obvious at a glance, rather than families.
They glanced at us when we appeared, but quickly lost interest.
Just like me, they probably didn't want to attract attention or be disturbed.
I sat down on a suitable rock and dipped my feet in the flowing water.
A tingling chill surged from my toes all the way up to my head, like an electric current.
“Aah, it's cold!”
Still, after a little while, I quickly got used to it and could enjoy the coolness.
A gentle breeze blowing through the bushes added to the refreshing feeling.
“Huh? Hey, Geon!”
“Huh? What is it, Ha-won?”
“Why are you just standing there staring blankly? Come over and dip your feet in, at least.”
“No, I'm fine.”
“Don't be like that. Get over here, you idiot. You're hot too.”
“No, really, I'm fine….”
Sheesh, what a frustrating bear.
He always makes me be the one to move.
Slip.
The moment I stepped on the rock I'd been sitting on to get up, my foot slipped, and I instantly lost my balance.
“Kyaa!”
Just as the image of my head smashing against the rock below flashed through my mind, I felt something steady me.
Seo Geon-woo, who'd been about three meters away, rushed over in an instant and caught me.
Rather than just catching me, he was holding me as if embracing me.
“A-are you okay?”
His voice came from beside my ear.
A shiver ran through my entire body.
“G-get away!”
I shoved him away with both arms without thinking.
The recoil made my body teeter.
Splash!
“Ha-won!”
*
“Ugh… what the hell is this….”
I looked like a drowned rat.
“I'm sorry… because of me….”
I whipped my head around and glared at him.
“Wasn't it because of you?”
“I… I'll go to the car and bring you some clothes to change into.”
But why couldn't this bastard meet my eyes? His face was red, too.
Without thinking, I lowered my gaze.
My wet clothes clung to my body, leaving my skin visible through them.
The bra I'd bought and put on earlier made my pushed-up breasts stand out even more.
‘Even now, it's ridiculous. How the hell are these things attached to my chest….’
Anyway, I could guess why Seo Geon-woo was making that face.
I wasn't particularly embarrassed or ashamed, but for some reason I resented Seo Geon-woo.
He must be feeling all sorts of things as a man, right?
If I were a man, seeing a woman in wet clothes like this would get me worked up, too.
‘Huh?’
Something was strange.
Why didn't I feel anything even looking at my body after it had turned into a woman's?
My consciousness was definitely still Jeong Ha-won.
Someone who'd lived as a man for twenty years.
A full-fledged man who liked women and had never given homosexuality a second thought.
Was it just because I saw them as body parts attached to me?
Just as my mind was growing more tangled, Seo Geon-woo said he'd be right back and hurried off.
While waiting for him to return, I blankly gazed out at the valley.
A middle-aged man and woman, who might've been having an affair or might've been married, splashed around in the water, while others chatted and ate fruit or something.
These were people unrelated to me, going about their perfectly ordinary lives.
I felt sad for no reason.
I'd been struck by something like a natural disaster and was going through hell for no reason….
‘Who on earth did this to me?’
I'd thought about it several times a day, but couldn't come up with the slightest clue.
Was it because no one had a grudge against me? No, the opposite.
There seemed to be too many, but I couldn't pin it on anyone in particular, which was frustrating.
The kids I'd known in school, people I'd only crossed paths with, and countless others besides.
I was vaguely aware there were plenty of people who liked and admired me, but also those who hated me, consumed by envy and jealousy.
‘I'll take it slow and narrow them down one by one.’
Just as I thought of using the process of elimination, Seo Geon-woo returned.
Seeing the clothes in his hand, I furrowed my brow.
“You son of a… You had to bring something like that….”
It was the summer dress Woo Da-yeon had forced me to try on at the store earlier, saying it looked so good on me, and practically made me buy.
It was one of the outfits I hadn't wanted to buy because it was so incredibly feminine that it gave me goosebumps.
“Ah, well… I just grabbed whatever caught my eye first… Should I get something else?”
“Forget it! We're leaving soon anyway, so what does it matter?”
I snatched the clothes and towel from his hands.
At least he had some sense. He'd even brought a towel.
I looked around, then went between the trees to change.
When I came back out fully dressed, I somehow felt even more self-conscious.
“Damn it! This is so fucking annoying. Me, wearing clothes like this….”
“You… you look really pretty…? Gah!”
He blurted it out, then clamped a hand over his mouth.
“What did you say, asshole?”
He widened his eyes and shook his head vigorously, like someone who sensed murderous intent.
I felt embarrassed and ashamed, like worms were crawling all over my body, but strangely, his words softened my mood a little.
“Well, it's not like I'll wear it often.”
Then I went to sit by the water again, but something slid under my butt.
I turned my head to see what it was.
“What?”
“A cushion. There's a lot of rocks and gravel. I thought your butt might hurt.”
“Ha, you little….”
I smiled, touched by his thoughtfulness.
He looked embarrassed again.
“Hey, Geon.”
“Mm?”
“Why have you been making such weird faces since this afternoon? Are you sick? You were spacing out on the way up here, too.”
Maybe he had something he wanted to say, or a lot on his mind. His eyes darted around, but he couldn't answer right away.
“Don't tell me… you see me as a woman?”
I hoped to God that wasn't the case.
“Yeah.”
It felt as if my heart had dropped an inch.
I'd suspected it, but how could he say yes without even the slightest hesitation? Was this really the same loser Seo Geon-woo I knew?
“Fuck… d-do you want to die?”
“Ha-won, anyone can see you're a woman right now.”
“That's because my appearance changed into this! Like I was hit with some kind of magic….”
“Can I ask you something?”
He cut in before I could finish.
He didn't seem like the Seo Geon-woo I usually knew.
In all the time we'd known each other, he'd never once interrupted me.
When he broke from the familiar pattern, my thoughts came to a halt for a moment.
Seo Geon-woo continued without even waiting for my answer.
“Since things have turned out this way… how about trying to live like a real woman?”
I just blinked, unable to say anything.
What the hell was this guy talking about?
He was telling me to become a real woman?
Wear skirts that let the breeze hit my legs, talk in a girly voice, put on makeup… and do that kind of childish make-believe?
The curses rose to the tip of my tongue, but strangely, I couldn't get them out.
Why couldn't I speak?
“To be honest, we don't know when you'll turn back to normal. Right now, you look like a woman, but your actions and way of speaking are still exactly like the man Jeong Ha-won used to be.”
At last, I managed to speak.
“S-so what? Is that bothering you? Now that I've become a weak little woman, you think I'm an easy target?”
If I'd said that, he should've cowered and shrunk back, but Seo Geon-woo didn't budge. He stared straight into my eyes.
“Seo Geon-woo. You, you really… d-do you want to die…?”
“Try speaking more nicely now, too. And cut back on the swearing.”
“S-shut up! You son of….”
I was about to let a glorious string of curses fly, but he closed his eyes and shook his head.
Like some old geezer lecturing me that I shouldn't behave that way.
‘I should be getting angry… I should be swearing at him and punching him.’
I only thought it, though. I couldn't do a thing.
“I've thought about it, too. It's awful that something this absurd happened to you. I can't believe it even while I'm looking at you… But whatever happens, you still have to live, don't you? Just as I've had to accept things, and your father has accepted this… wouldn't accepting yourself make things a little easier for you?”
I clenched a fist that didn't look like it could even break a piece of Styrofoam.
Then I sprang to my feet.
“Fuck off! I'm Jeong Ha-won. I'm not some damn woman!”
I shouted at him, then walked past Seo Geon-woo.
I strode away from him, quickening my pace.
“Ha-won!”
I didn't turn around at his voice behind me. I just started heading down the valley.
“What? Become a real woman? Don't be ridiculous. I'll find the bastard who turned me into this as soon as possible and beat him until he begs me to kill him. And somehow, I'll turn back into a man!”
I let out all the pent-up fury inside me.
But my anger wouldn't fade. If anything, my irritation only grew.
Whoosh.
For an instant, a strong gust of wind seemed to blow, and then my vision went dark.
Something clamped over my mouth, too.
‘W-what the hell!’
Before I could understand what was happening, I felt someone forcibly moving me.
‘Fuck!’
I struggled, but it was no use.
The soft cotton against my mouth made me think they'd covered it with a handkerchief or something.
My head started to pound.
A strange smell rushed into my mouth and nose.
My dizziness worsened, and my head swam.
I felt myself growing more and more hazy.
My mind was screaming that I had to escape somehow, but my body was growing limp.
In the end, my consciousness cut out like a TV losing power.
* *
I slowly came to.
My eyelids felt as heavy as lead, and I couldn't open them easily.
A man's voice came faintly from nearby.
“But what if that's not true?”
“Hey, fuck, you saw the car earlier. No kid that young could easily afford a car like that. And look inside, she had a ton of shopping. I'm telling you, she's not just some show-off; her family really has money.”
“It'll be okay….”
“Hey, fuck, don't chicken out, man! There weren't any security cameras around there, and we made sure there were no witnesses.”
I barely managed to open my eyes halfway.
I rolled my eyes around, trying to figure out where I was.
At a glance, it looked like an abandoned warehouse.
‘Was I… kidnapped?’
It was ridiculous.
It was ridiculous and infuriating that my reactions had gotten so pathetically slow, and that I'd been kidnapped by these guys without being able to fight back at all.
I couldn't muster any strength in my body.
Maybe they'd tied me up with something, because I couldn't move at all.
It seemed they'd tied me up and left me lying carelessly on some filthy floor, not even a bed.
‘Damn it….’
The men's voices came again.
“What should we do with this guy?”
“Ha… judging by the looks of it, he's that girl's lackey or something. If we let him live, he'll be a problem, right? He saw our faces.”
My eyes flew open.
Then my vision widened, and I saw two thugs standing there, with someone else sprawled on the ground below them.
‘Seo Geon-woo!?’
Judging by his clothes, it seemed to be Seo Geon-woo.
He was sprawled there, his face a bloody mess, as if the kidnappers had beaten him brutally.
It was hard to tell from this distance whether he was alive or dead.
‘You fucking bastards!’
I tried shouting that, but it wouldn't come out clearly, as if they had tape over my mouth.
Only muffled sounds came from my mouth.
Maybe the kidnappers heard me, because they turned their heads toward me.
“Well, look who's awake. Our cash cow.”
Both of them wore sunglasses, masks, and baseball caps, so it was hard to make out their faces.
One of them trudged toward me.
I glared at him, grinding my teeth.
‘You bastards… you picked the wrong person to mess with.’