Chapter 18
After that, we walked around the neighborhood for a while.
To help digest the pasta we'd had for lunch.
And to build up my resistance to the heat even a little more.
“What the heck, did middle school already let out?”
As we walked, Juhyeok suddenly looked to the left and said that.
Wondering what he meant, I looked over and saw students in uniforms pouring out and streaming along in a crowd.
It was still early for school to let out, but it seemed something had happened and classes had ended early, making the students incredibly excited.
“Now that I look closely, those are our old school uniforms, aren't they? I miss them…. How many years has it been already?”
The uniforms the students were wearing were from the middle school all three of us except Haru had attended.
Back then, I couldn't wait to be rid of that tiresome uniform…. Now it's a memory….
“I remember that time. That was when Seolhwa was feeling down because she wasn't growing taller.”
Hyunwoo suddenly poured cold water on my nostalgia by dredging up my embarrassing past.
“Th-that was only in my first year, and I grew in my second year, so it doesn't count!”
Compared to the two who had been tall since their first year of middle school, I had been on the shorter side.
So being between those two tall people every day made me feel self-conscious and a little depressed for a while.
Fortunately, I had a growth spurt starting in my second year and grew enough to rival even tall Hyunwoo, so it didn't matter—
“What good does that do when you've gotten short again?”
“Shut up!”
I wildly waved my hands at Juhyeok in threat for saying something so pointless, but he blocked them all with a scornful look.
Ngh…. How cowardly, blocking everything....
“Honestly, you wouldn't look out of place at all if we put you among those middle schoolers.”
“That is true.”
“Aaaah! Stop teasing me!”
Not only Juhyeok, but Hyunwoo started teasing me about my height too.
Do you think I got this short because I wanted to?! You guys should become mutants too before you claim you understand how hard this is!
“Even if I've gotten shorter, I'm not middle-schooler height!”
“If you really think so, why don't you go stand among those middle schoolers?”
When I started hopping mad, Juhyeok pointed at the middle schoolers and said that.
It was an incredibly flimsy provocation, but once it hit my pride, I couldn't let it go.
“Watch me! I'll show you I'm not middle-schooler height!”
I took the bait of that flimsy provocation and obediently walked over to the group of middle schoolers waiting at the traffic light to prove my height.
Even if I'd gotten a lot shorter....
I'm not a middle schooler, okay? I'm not!
Huh? Who are you taking me for, a legal loli….
Thinking that, I stepped into the middle schoolers and checked one boy's height, and the thought that came to me was—
...Middle schoolers are taller than I expected?
He wasn't as tall as Hyunwoo or Juhyeok, but the difference was still enough that I had to tilt my head up to see his face.
Uh…. Are kids these days just growing bigger than they used to be…?
N-no, no! He's a boy! He probably plays basketball or something!
I quickly made excuses to myself and looked around for a female student.
Then I found a girl beside me, but.
She was taller than me.
“You fit right in among the middle schoolers! Puhahahaha!”
Just as I was feeling flustered by the unexpectedly sturdy builds of the middle schoolers, I heard Hyunwoo's mocking voice from far away.
When I looked to the side, the other two were laughing and mocking me too, as if replaying what had happened a few minutes ago.
......
I want to cry.
======
After that, I grew dejected and simply followed my friends as we walked without saying a word.
...If I think about it rationally, 148 centimeters really is shorter than a middle schooler's height.
Why am I this short…? What advantage is there to being this tiny…?
“Seolhwa…. Cheer up. Even if you're short, you have a cute face, and your cheeks are like mochi, so it's okay.”
“You call that comforting me…?”
Beside me, Hyunwoo patted my shoulder with that utterly useless consolation, only making me more depressed….
How is telling someone who used to be a man that being cute makes everything okay supposed to be comforting?! And why bring up my cheeks?!
“It must be nice being tall…. Your neck doesn't even hurt when you look at people….”
“You used to be this height too, so what are you talking about?”
Hyunwoo seemed to be trying to comfort me in his own way, but his very existence was a mockery because of his great height, so it didn't help much.
“Whatever…. I'm nothing but a short Snow Woman…. Even right now, I'm slowly melting and getting shorter….”
“You know very well that being tall isn't all good.
You often bump your head against people's chins, people call you arrogant because you have to look down at everyone,
you can see movies better, reach bus handles more easily, and breathe oxygen at higher elevations….”
“The latter half is nothing but advantages!!”
I guess I made the wrong friends.
They're all enemies, not friends….
“Ah! Enough! The walk is over! Let's go blow off some steam!”
I shouted that and pointed at a nearby PC café.
======
“Want to make a bet in two-on-two again?”
Once we entered the PC café and were about to start up a game, Haru, who had been quiet for a moment, said with a bright smile.
“What are we betting? Personally, I think we should bet on bingsu.”
“Sounds good! Then let's bet bingsu!”
Usually, people bet dinner in situations like this, but I got ahead of them and turned it into a bingsu bet.
Bingsu…. A sweet dessert made by finely shaving ice and eating it with sugary ingredients….
The thought of putting such a mouthwatering dessert on the line made my resolve surge.
I'll definitely win and get free bingsu, hehe....
“How should we split up the teams?”
“How about splitting by gender? Now that there are two men and two women, it works out perfectly.”
“I think that's a good idea.”
Of the four of us, Haru was obviously the best at games.
So if I teamed up with Haru, the free bingsu was as good as mine, hehe....
“But wouldn't Seolhwa be difficult to place if we split up like that?”
I thought it was the perfect way to divide the teams, but the tactless Juhyeok objected.
“Seolhwa herself said she's a man despite being a woman, so shouldn't we put her in a third gender?”
“Huh…?”
“That makes sense too. If we divide by gender, it should be one, one, and two.”
Hyunwoo joined in as well.
Huh, wha…? How did it end up like that…?
Where's my free bingsu…?
“Hmm…. Wouldn't that make things too complicated?”
“You think so? Then how should we divide the teams….”
Watching the three of them pretend to struggle with dividing the teams because of my gender while teasing me, I shouted in exasperation.
“Legally, I'm a woman, so that's settled! Just start the game!”
======
In the end, we split into a female-bodied team versus the men's team, and our team won by a landslide.
“Hehehe…. How about that! That's what you get for challenging a Snow Woman when you're only human!”
“Hey, Snow Seolhwa, you got 0 kills and 9 deaths, and you're saying that?”
“Ugh…. B-but in the end, our team won! Just accept it quietly!”
Just as Juhyeok had said in utter disbelief, Haru had seized control of the game.
She picked a powerful character from the start, bullied Juhyeok and Hyunwoo, quickly built up a level gap, and then toyed with them using her overwhelming advantage.
Meanwhile, because of my smaller fingers, I couldn't adapt to my changed sense of touch and became a walking bonus-experience source whenever I encountered an opponent.
...My small body again…. Sigh....
“...Anyway, what matters is the result! Hand over the bingsu without a fuss!”
“Yeah, yeah. Let's not be stingy.”
No matter how the game had gone, we were the winners, so when I proudly demanded that they hand over the bingsu, Juhyeok sighed and said,
“All right, all right…. Let's go buy some at the bingsu shop nearby.”
Juhyeok was about to trudge off to the bingsu shop while checking his wallet.
But Haru grabbed Juhyeok by the arm and said,
“Not the nearby one. There's somewhere I want to go, so buy it for me there.”
======
Following Haru's suggestion, we headed to a bingsu shop a little farther away.
...No, to be precise, we headed to the mall where the bingsu shop was located.
“Here….”
We had arrived at the same mall I'd come to buy clothes after becoming a Snow Woman.
“...Huh? Seolhwa, what are you doing?”
“N-no, it's nothing….”
A trauma involving one-piece dresses had resurfaced for no reason, so I instinctively hid behind Hyunwoo's broad back in preparation for Haru's rampage.
“By the way, why did we come here? The bingsu here and the one over there are from the same chain.”
Juhyeok said sarcastically, apparently slightly annoyed that he had to pay and walk all the way here.
“I wanted to look at some new clothes! I need new input for an assignment.”
By contrast, Haru smiled brightly, made a slight half-turn, and spoke excitedly.
“So, so, I need a man's opinion….”
Haru said that and seemed to scan the three of us to decide which one to take along.
Since I was the most likely candidate, I hid even deeper behind Hyunwoo's back and kept my guard up against Haru.
“Seolhwa…. I want to take you, but you're being awfully wary…. Ahaha….”
Haru must have felt a little guilty too, because Haru didn't force me to go with her.
Instead—
“All right, then you come with me!”
“What? Hey, w-wait!”
She grabbed the arm of Juhyeok, who had been standing there blankly, and dragged him away.
“Phew…. I'm saved….”
Only then did I emerge from behind Hyunwoo's back and enjoy my freedom.
At least this meant I wouldn't be forced into a skirt....
And so Haru and Juhyeok grew smaller in the distance until they were just dots, leaving only Hyunwoo and me in this vast mall.
“So what do we do now….”
Hyunwoo spoke weakly, looking exhausted by Haru's impulsive behavior.
“Hmm…. Good question…. First….”
And I told Hyunwoo about the important matter that had to be handled immediately.
“Buy me bingsu first.”