Chapter 29
In the end, unable to hold it any longer, I roused my groggy body and started moving so I could quickly go to the bathroom and back.
"The bathroom…. Um…."
Still half-asleep, I waved my hands in front of me and used my sense of touch to feel my way forward instead of relying on my blurry eyes.
Hehe.... Even if I can't see well, if I keep one hand on the wall, it'll be fine-
"Ow!"
It wasn't fine....
While feeling my way along only the wall, I failed to watch where I was going and accidentally jammed my big toe into the gap beneath the door.
It hurt enough to bring tears to my eyes, and I wanted to roll around on the floor, but I barely held back because this was someone else's house.
Aww.... It hurts....
I used cold magic to cool my stubbed toe and ease the pain, then barely managed to stand up again.
“Careful.... Extra careful....”
This time, taking what had happened moments ago as a lesson, I proceeded cautiously, watching both the floor and the walls, and only barely reached the bathroom.
"Phew.... That's better...."
Once inside, I quickly finished my business.
Phew.... Hyeonwoo's words really came true.... Who would've thought I'd wake up in the middle of the night....
I should drink in moderation from now on....
If I accidentally wet the bed, I'd be teased about it for the rest of my life....
"Yaaawn.... Then I need to go back…."
Now that I'd finished, I had to return to bed, but….
Still half-asleep from the drowsiness pouring over me, I felt along the walls as I searched for the room door.
If this had been my own home, I could have easily found my way back to bed even half-asleep, but….
Since this was Hyeonwoo's house, I couldn't really tell what was where.
"Oh.... The door…."
Then I finally found a doorknob, opened it, and went inside. Narrowing my eyes, I could make out a blurry silhouette that looked like a bed.
This is the bedroom, right? Whatever.
"Yaaawn.... I'm sleepy...."
I did have the vague feeling the bed was in a different place from before, but I was too sleepy to worry about anything so complicated.
Shuffling along like a zombie, I dragged my feet over to the bed, dove onto one side of it as though collapsing, and pulled the blanket over myself.
Then my eyes closed on their own, the strength gradually drained from my whole body, and my consciousness began to fade.
Mmph.... Good night....
======
"Mmm.... It's cold…."
7:00 a.m., still early to be getting up.
But the strangely chilly room forced Hyeonwoo's eyes open.
More precisely, he felt cold because a chill seemed to be flowing from beside him.
"What is this…."
A suspicious chill was making the room cold.
Yet something about this chill was strange.
It was far too cold and felt far too close to be explained by accidentally leaving the refrigerator open.
As though a huge chunk of ice were sleeping right beside him-
"...S-Seolhwa?!"
When Hyeonwoo happened to look beside him, he could do nothing but shout in shock.
And with good reason.
Seolhwa was lying in his bed.
“Mmph….”
“Uh…. Huh? Huh? Why? Why are you here…? Am I dreaming…?”
Faced with his friend sleeping soundly beside him as naturally as if she belonged there, Hyeonwoo couldn't help but panic.
How had the friend he'd put to bed in his older sister's room ended up sleeping so peacefully in his room?
“C-could this really not be a dream…?”
Uncharacteristically flustered, Hyeonwoo began forming the hypothesis that this entire situation was a dream.
And to prove that hypothesis, Hyeonwoo came up with the idea that touching her cheek would settle the matter-
He slowly reached out toward his friend lying beside him.
Poke
The sound of his finger pressing Seolhwa's mochi-like cheek.
Soft and cool, her cheek soothed him every time he touched it.
As a cheek expert, he could say with no room for argument that this was Seolhwa's cheek.
“Mmm….”
Perhaps because he had played with it a little too long after so long without touching it.
Seolhwa, who was usually hard to wake, let out a soft moan and woke up.
Still half-asleep, Seolhwa rubbed her eyes, sat up in bed, looked at Hyeonwoo's face, and spoke with a puzzled expression full of questions.
“Ueh…? Hyeonwoo…. Why are you here…?”
“That’s what I want to ask you…?”
Because she still hadn't fully woken up, Seolhwa spoke with her tongue sluggish, then looked around and seemed to finally realize this wasn't her room.
“Oh…. Yaaawn…. I came into the wrong room….”
Seolhwa was still sleepy, so she yawned widely, then rubbed her eyes and got up.
She staggered off like a zombie, then closed the door and disappeared from Hyeonwoo's room.
Only then did Hyeonwoo breathe a sigh of relief and speak softly.
“I hate that my heart skipped a beat just now….”
After the amusement park, Hyeonwoo had begun to develop a hint of romantic interest, and seeing Seolhwa beside him when he woke up had made his heart flutter a little.
Her feminine scent, hard to reconcile with the fact that she had once been male, her demure posture, and even her snow-white skin.
Despite his handsome face, Hyeonwoo was completely inexperienced in love, making it an incredibly stimulating sight.
“I'm not a lolicon. I'm not a lolicon. I'm not a lolicon….”
However, Hyeonwoo thought he shouldn't be feeling this way and tried to regain his senses by brainwashing himself, but….
It didn't seem to have any particular effect.
Somehow, Hyeonwoo had a feeling that living together would send him on an emotional roller coaster.
======
“Ngh…. Is it morning….”
The light streaming through the window tells me it's morning and wakes me up.
Even after pulling the blanket over myself and trying to go back to sleep, it had gotten too bright outside, forcing me to get up.
"...I'm hungry."
That was the first thing that came out of my mouth after I reluctantly got up.
Normally, I would have wanted to stay in bed a little longer, rolling around instead of getting up, but I couldn't endure the hunger.
I got out of bed and stretched, then looked at the clock and saw that the hour hand was pointing to 11 a.m.
It was already too late for breakfast.
No wonder I was hungry.
Can't be helped.
Breakfast was out of the question, but I should at least eat lunch.
Thinking that, I slapped my cheeks a few times to chase away the remaining sleep and tried to get moving.
Come to think of it, I think I had a dream about waking up in Hyeonwoo's room for a moment earlier….
Well, it was probably just my imagination.
When I stepped outside and headed toward the kitchen, Hyeonwoo was cooking with a face that looked strangely tired.
“You look tired. Couldn't you sleep?”
“No…. Well, something like that happened.”
Hyeonwoo looked troubled and spoke without meeting my eyes for some reason.
What's wrong with him....
Since I was bored, I walked over to the left, where Hyeonwoo had turned his gaze.
Hyeonwoo shifted his gaze to the right.
This time, I went to the right.
Hyeonwoo shifted his gaze to the left.
“Heehee….”
Now it was a matter of pride.
I started darting around Hyeonwoo, circling him this way and that in an attempt to meet his gaze.
Let's see which happens first—you making eye contact with me or me getting tired-
“I'm dizzy….”
“What are you doing….”
Of course, I lost, having moved around like that on an empty stomach.
On top of that, circling around him made me so dizzy that I collapsed right where I stood.
Hyeonwoo sighed at the sight, pulled me over, sat me down in a chair, and said,
“The food's almost ready, so wait a moment.”
“Mmm…. You made some for me too?”
“Well, at least for now. You can't cook, after all.”
It wasn't wrong, but hearing him say it so bluntly hurt a little.
I want to be good at cooking too....
But delivery food is easier and tastier than cooking….
It's not my fault; delivery apps are the bad ones. My inability to cook is all because of delivery apps.
After finishing that self-justification in my head, I sat at the table and watched Hyeonwoo's back as he cooked, turning the thoughts over in my head.
Perhaps he was making fried rice, because he was stir-frying finely chopped green onions and eggs in the frying pan,
and Hyeonwoo began chopping the vegetables he'd taken out of the refrigerator beforehand.
Carrots, shrimp, and zucchini were brutally chopped to pieces by the merciless blade.
My studio apartment had nothing but instant ingredients, but Hyeonwoo's refrigerator seemed to be full of fresh ingredients.
Even people living alone could have such different circumstances....
While I was thinking that, I came to my senses and noticed a vegetable in Hyeonwoo's hand.
It looked like a green pepper, but was a little more colorful and made a crisp sound when bitten. That vegetable was….
A bell pepper…?
"W-wait a minute!"
When I called out urgently to Hyeonwoo, he stopped chopping, turned around, and said,
"Hmm? What's wrong?"
"Um.... Does the bell pepper really have to go in?"
When I said that, Hyeonwoo looked puzzled and asked me in return.
"Are you allergic to bell peppers?"
"No.... It's not that…."
"Then why?"
"I-it's just.... I hate bell peppers…."
I hated the peculiar texture of bell peppers so much.
Even the slightest bite made them crunch and burst with juice, tormenting my tongue—that vegetable….
Whatever else I could tolerate, I absolutely couldn't eat bell peppers.
"You're not a child.... I'll chop them up finely, so just eat them. They're good for you."
"Waaah…. I'm a baby Snow Woman…. I can't eat bell peppies…."
"Do you really want to act like that…."
Hyeonwoo looked at me as though I were pathetic, but I didn't yield and launched a protest rally against bell peppers.
Bell peppers are a matter of grave importance!
In the end, the war ended with Hyeonwoo giving in to my resolve and putting the chopped bell pepper back in the refrigerator.
Snow Woman's great victory!