Chapter 13
“Ugh…. It smells like drool….”
"Ahaha…. Sorry…."
Having fallen asleep on Hyeonwoo's back, I only woke up after we got home, once I'd finally recovered enough stamina.
Hyeonwoo's shirt was already completely soaked.
"If you don't mind, want to borrow some clothes? My old clothes should fit you, too."
Before my mutation, my build had been similar to Hyeonwoo's, so there ought to be something I could wear instead of these drool-covered clothes.
"Thanks, then."
Hyeonwoo apparently didn't want to go home wearing drool-covered clothes either, because he accepted right away and came inside.
The house was a complete mess since I hadn't really tidied it up, but it didn't matter much.
We'd already known each other for years, so showing him this much wasn't suddenly embarrassing.
"It should be around here somewhere…."
I reached into the messy closet and rummaged around.
Until I felt the fabric of something suitable….
"This one!"
Then, just as I felt the texture of some old clothes,
I immediately grabbed them and pulled them out of the closet…!
Pulled them out….
"...Seolhwa, why are you trembling like that?"
"...It won't come out."
"Huh?"
"The clothes won't come out…."
The clothes that hadn't been properly organized had apparently fused at the molecular level, because no matter how hard I pulled, they showed no sign of coming out.
Ngh…. It feels like they'll come out if I just pull a little harder….
"H-Hyeonwoo! Help me a little!"
"You want me to help?"
"Grab hold of me, and when I signal, pull hard backward! Then we'll be able to get the clothes out!"
With my strength as it was now, I couldn't get these clothes out.
But with the strength of a sturdy adult man like Hyeonwoo added in, we should be able to pull them out easily enough.
"...Wouldn't it be better to just organize the clothes and take them out?"
"Then it'd feel like I'm losing to the clothes! Hurry!"
At my urging, Hyeonwoo sighed and came over, then grabbed my waist-
"Eek?!"
...The moment he grabbed my waist, I suddenly got ticklish, and a strange sound escaped my mouth.
"W-Where are you grabbing me?!"
"I-I mean, you told me to grab you and pull, so I did it without thinking…."
Embarrassed by the strange sound I'd made, I glared at Hyeonwoo with teary eyes, and he looked flustered and apologized.
Ngh…. My waist hadn't been particularly ticklish even before my transformation….
Could this be another side effect of my mutation?
It felt like the number of oddly sensitive spots on my body had increased.
Being transformed into a Snow Woman really hadn't brought me anything good….
"...This time, grab my shoulders instead of my waist. Just don't touch my neck…."
"Okay, okay."
Only after I specified exactly where he should grab me were we able to pull the hoodie trapped among the mass of clothes free.
“Here, put this on.”
“...This?”
When I handed the clothes to Hyeonwoo, his expression somehow crumpled, as if his mood had soured.
Wondering why, I looked at the clothes and saw an old garment with loose threads everywhere and a hood that looked ready to tear.
Uh…. These weren't supposed to look like this….
Had I left them aging too long?
Hyeonwoo reluctantly accepted the garment and started wondering what to do with it.
Hmm…. Should I give him something else?
Feeling like it would be too pitiful to tell him to wear that, I approached the closet again and saw a piece of clothing lying on the floor.
The problem was that it was one of the outfits I'd worn since transforming into a Snow Woman, so Hyeonwoo couldn't wear it.
Ah, come to think of it, I needed to change clothes, too.
Since I'd been pressed right against Hyeonwoo's back and drooling, there was naturally a little drool on my clothes as well.
On top of that, some part of my body must have melted, because various places were damp in addition to the drool, making them impossible to keep wearing.
“Hup!”
With that in mind, I immediately picked up the clothes-
“Uh... hey?! What are you doing right now!”
“...Huh?”
It was only after Hyeonwoo shouted in alarm that I realized my serious mistake.
Normally, since we had been the same sex, we wouldn't have cared whether I changed clothes in front of him or not.
But now I was-
“Eek!”
Realizing my mistake, I blushed and quickly pulled the clothes back down.
Even though we'd originally been the same sex, as far as our current genders were concerned, we were a man and a woman, whether I wanted to admit it or not.
I'd forgotten that and started changing clothes like it was nothing…. Habits really were frightening….
“Ha…. Haha…. I should change in the bathroom.”
“Mm…. Yeah, that sounds best.”
With that, I retreated into the bathroom on awkward steps, as though fleeing.
I didn't even look at him, since seeing Hyeonwoo's face right then would only have made things more awkward.
“Haa…. I'm crazy…."
When I looked in the mirror, I saw that my face was slightly flushed.
Clearly, when I had been a man, something like this wouldn't have fazed me at all.
But after becoming a woman, I found this sort of thing a little embarrassing.
“Well…. It probably hit Hyeonwoo a little harder than me, though.”
Even if the person inside was a male friend, the outside was still that of a pretty girl, and a fairly cute one at that.
A lifelong single virgin like Hyeonwoo was bound to have taken an even bigger hit.
Thinking that, I looked into the mirror.
...Yeah, there wasn't much to stimulate him.
It was small. In every way.
I felt a little sad.
======
After we had both somehow managed to change clothes,
we played games without bringing up what had happened earlier, until Hyeonwoo finally spoke up.
“Come to think of it, I should probably get going soon. I have to eat dinner.”
When I heard that and looked at the clock, it was already past seven.
I'd been so absorbed in the game that I hadn't noticed the time passing….
“Stay for dinner. I'll make it.”
“Huh? You don't have to…."
“No, no, let me at least make you a meal. I haven't done anything for you today.”
I still hadn't properly repaid him for coming to pick me up, so I figured I'd feel better if I at least fed him a good meal before sending him home.
I made Hyeonwoo sit down in front of the game console, then hurried off to the kitchen.
“...Well, everything was fine up to this point.”
The problem started here.
What should I cook…?
I'd confidently said I would make him a meal, but I wasn't exactly good at cooking, you know….
I normally only ordered food, and with this body, I probably couldn't cook anything involving fire….
What could someone who couldn't use fire and wasn't good at cooking make that would satisfy a man in his twenties….
“Oh, right.”
As I thought about it, one dish came to mind.
A dish that everyone, young or old, liked, didn't require fire, and was simple enough that even I could make it.
Tuna-mayo rice bowl!
======
“...So this is the tuna-mayo rice bowl?”
“...Yeah, it was supposed to be.”
Hyeonwoo and I spoke as we stared at what had once been food, now glowing with rainbow-colored light before us.
“...Seolhwa.”
“...Yeah.”
“Why is this glowing?”
“...It's a three-star presentation. It means it's incredibly delicious.”
“Seolhwa.”
“...Yes.”
“Throw it away.”
“Okaaay….”
Somehow, during the cooking process, the tuna-mayo rice bowl I'd made had turned into a rainbow-glowing monster.
“Th-That's strange…. I definitely followed the recipe….”
Still unable to accept that the monster I'd created was real, I muttered to myself as I took it outside to throw it away-
“Huh? Hyeonwoo, what are you doing?”
“Cooking. I figured it would be better for me to do it than leave it to you.”
Hyeonwoo had casually donned an apron and was cooking.
“Go sit down. I'll have it ready soon.”
“Ah…."
I wanted to tell him that guests shouldn't work and should sit down and rest, but
thinking about the rainbow-colored monster I'd created, I couldn't figure out what to say, so I quietly went and sat down.
...I'm a useless Snow Woman.
“Here, eat. I didn't have many ingredients, so all I could make was soy-sauce egg rice, but it'll be okay. I let it cool, too.”
After waiting a moment, Hyeonwoo returned to the table with two servings of rice.
The side dishes were kimchi, rolled omelet, and seaweed.
None of it was too hot for me to eat.
“...Let's eat.”
Seeing the care he'd taken with the meal made me a little embarrassed, so I immediately picked up my spoon, scooped up some rice, and put it in my mouth.
The rice was savory without being salty, and the egg blended with it in a subtle harmony, bringing back the taste of the food my mother often made at home.
Delicious…!
“......”
Unlike me, who was eating happily, Hyeonwoo didn't seem to be eating at all for some reason; he just stared at me while I ate, then-
"Boop!"
"Mmph?!"
He suddenly poked my cheek.
"Mmph…. What are you doing!!"
"No, your puffed-up cheeks looked like a hamster's, so I did it without thinking."
Without thinking?
Because I looked like a hamster?
Was that supposed to be an excuse…?
Putting all that feeling into my glare, I glared at Hyeonwoo as hard as I could, and he smiled as he spoke.
“I'm glad you're fine, considering how worried I was.”
“Worried?”
“I was a little worried because of that pervert. It's embarrassing to say.”
Hyeonwoo said that with a wry smile.
Hmm…. Strictly speaking, I did run into a pervert, but….
Whatever. Let's let that slide.
And besides….
“Trying to brush it off like that won't work, you know?”
"Okay, okay. I'll buy you ice cream next time, so let me off."
At some point, my friends had started playing pranks on me and then asking me to let them off in exchange for ice cream….
I'm not that easy a wo... person.
...Well, still.
“...I'll let you off this once.”
I'd caused Hyeonwoo trouble in so many ways today that I wasn't in a position to get angry.
I should treat him to a meal next time…. I hate being indebted to people.
"By the way, did anything unusual happen? You walked pretty far."
"Oh, now that I think of it…. Listen! I met a squirrel that uses electricity in that alley earlier….“
As we ate the dinner Hyeonwoo had made, we talked over the meal about what had happened today.