Chapter 3
Three friends—two men and a woman—were walking along, each carrying a beautifully wrapped gift.
“It's been a while since we've had a birthday party with a cake like this. I'm looking forward to it.”
The woman carrying a gift for Seolhwa in her arms, grinning from ear to ear, was Yoo Haru.
“I'm the one carrying the cake, you know?”
The tall man carrying the cake behind them was Kim Juhyeok.
“You're both being too loud. Did you forget this is a surprise party?”
The strikingly handsome man telling the two of them to stop was Lee Hyeonwoo.
“But if it's a surprise, aren't we not supposed to call her either?”
“I was just checking whether she was home, so it's fine. Besides, she didn't answer anyway.”
The three of them had each bought a gift and were on their way to Seolhwa's home for her birthday party.
Of course, the birthday party was merely an excuse.
They had gathered to hang out at Seolhwa's place since they had nothing else to do.
“Ah, we're here. It's coming into view.”
After chatting about this and that, the three of them soon reached the apartment building where Seolhwa lived alone.
Using the entry code they already knew, they breezed through the entrance and eventually approached Seolhwa's door.
None of them said a word.
Because this was a surprise party.
Though none of them said so, all three were eager to see Seolhwa's startled expression, so they naturally kept quiet and tried to go about things without making even a sound.
The three of them eventually reached Seolhwa's door.
Of course, they had already memorized the password, so the door itself was no problem.
The only issue was the sound the door lock made when they entered the password, but even that wasn't a big deal.
The fact that she hadn't answered her phone meant she was probably asleep, and a sleeping Seolhwa wouldn't wake up from a sound like that.
Beep-beep-
They entered the password without a hitch and slipped into Seolhwa's home.
Just as they had expected, Seolhwa was sleeping soundly beneath her blanket.
All three of them approached the bed where Seolhwa lay, quietly suppressing even their footsteps and breathing so they wouldn't wake her—and
They immediately threw off the blanket and shouted!
“““Seolhwa! Happy birthday... Huh?”””
However, the three of them froze in the middle of speaking.
That was because the person lying on the bed wasn't Seolhwa, but a blue-haired girl.
“...Hey! Lee Hyeonwoo, what is this? You didn't come to someone else's house, did you!?”
While everyone was standing there blankly, unable to understand the situation, Haru was the first to come to her senses and questioned Hyeonwoo in a small voice so she wouldn't wake the girl.
“No, I'm telling you, this is definitely the place! The password's the same, and the mess is totally Seolhwa's house!”
When the blame suddenly landed on him, the indignant Hyeonwoo defended himself in a quiet voice so as not to wake the girl.
Haru also knew that the password and the messy state of the house were proof that this was Seolhwa's place, so she didn't press him any further.
“...Then let's say this is Seolhwa's house. Who is she…?”
“Well, um….”
Now that Juhyeok had finally grasped the situation, all three of them began racking their brains over who this girl was.
They had never heard that Seolhwa had a younger sibling.
And they had definitely heard that all her younger cousins were boys, so there was no chance she was a cousin either. Then…
“No way….”
Just then, as if something had occurred to him, Juhyeok spoke first. The other two turned toward him and listened.
“A secret daughter…?”
“......”
However, faced with Juhyeok's ridiculous speculation, the other two exchanged looks, silently agreed to ignore him, and turned away.
“I see…. So you already had a daughter…. Amazing.”
While Juhyeok had already settled on his wild assumption, the other two decided to ignore him.
“Mmm….”
Even though they were speaking quietly, talking right beside her eventually woke Seolhwa.
All three of them froze on the spot at the sound she made, and
Seolhwa shifted sleepily, slowly opened her eyes, and—
“Why is it so noisy…. Huh?”
The moment she opened her eyes and saw her friends standing there frozen, Seolhwa froze as well.
======
I'm screwed.
That was the conclusion I reached.
“Uh….”
To explain the situation from my perspective, I had suddenly woken up to find three longtime friends barging into my house at once and looking down at me.
...Why?
“......”
“......”
Because neither side could figure out what was going on, no one said a word, and only an awkward silence gradually filled the room.
Maybe it was because I'd just woken up, but my brain absolutely refused to work….
My brain, please start working and figure out what's happening…!
“Uh…. Um.”
At that moment, Hyeonwoo was the first to break the awkward silence.
“Do you know where Seolhwa went?”
....Huh?
Seolhwa is right here…?
My head went blank again when a friend asked where I was while standing right in front of me.
Why are you looking for me when I'm right in front of you?
“So you're Seolhwa's daugh…. Ngh?!”
“...Ignore what this guy said. It's nothing.”
Juhyeok looked like he was about to say something, but Haru suddenly elbowed him in the side and silenced him.
He seemed about to say something stupid again, so I decided to ignore it.
“Um…. We're Seolhwa's friends, you see? If you don't mind, could you tell us what your relationship with Seolhwa is?”
This time, Haru, who had just walloped someone, asked me in a gentle tone what my relationship with myself was.
...Could it be they don't know I'm me?
Of course they don't. I look completely different….
Only then did I finally understand the situation.
So from their perspective, they had come to my house to hang out with me, only to find what looked like an unfamiliar girl lying in bed.
Thinking about it that way, I could understand their awkward movements.
“......”
I had thought I couldn't hide it forever anyway, and I knew I would have to tell them someday.
But telling them required emotional preparation and all that…. Yet now that they'd found out, I had no choice.
“...I'm Seolhwa.”
“Huh?”
“What...?”
Since I was too embarrassed to say it properly, I spoke quietly with an awkward smile. They all looked startled, then their expressions turned bewildered, and
Once again, silence descended, and an atmosphere even more awkward than before filled the room.
...Whether you curse at me or make fun of me, just say something.
It's even more awkward because you're all being quiet.
After what felt like an eternity, Haru finally overcame the awkwardness and spoke first.
“You're…. Seolhwa?”
“Yeah…. Demi-Human Mutation Syndrome…. That's enough for you to understand, right?”
The wary looks in their eyes softened somewhat when I mentioned Demi-Human Mutation Syndrome, and they seemed to understand.
Some people with the syndrome undergo changes so drastic that they look completely different from before, so that was enough to prove that my appearance had changed.
...Though I don't know whether anyone else has undergone a change in gender too.
“...Th-then, are you okay?”
This time, Hyeonwoo was the first to ask, wearing a slightly worried expression.
“...Yeah. I also went to see Narae-sunbae earlier, and she said there was nothing wrong with my body.”
“O-Okay….”
The conversation ended there.
It was such an awkward conversation that it was hard to believe we'd been friends for over ten years.
It was only natural.
I still felt awkward and hadn't properly grasped what had happened to me.
How much worse must it have been for the three of them, who had just seen me?
Even if their minds understood what I had said, their hearts probably couldn't accept it.
As a result, we didn't speak any further, and the awkward silence simply continued to stretch in the room.
“......”
Unable to face my friends, I lowered my gaze and turned away from them.
If my longtime friends looked at me as though I were something strange.
I didn't think I could bear it—
"Ah…. I wish I could be reborn as a beautiful girl like that!"
Just then, Juhyeok suddenly shouted, dispelling the gloomy atmosphere that had filled the room.
"...Then why don't you get sick too? Even if you turned into an orc or something, you'd still be better off than you are now."
"Hey, Lee Hyeonwoo, are you done?!"
Thanks to Hyeonwoo's assist, the awkward atmosphere gradually faded, and the mood began to brighten again.
"What, what? Is this a fight? Ten thousand won on Hyeonwoo!"
"Hey! Yoo Haru, aren't you supposed to believe in me?!"
Juhyeok protested when Haru announced she was betting on the other side, but Haru paid him no attention and spoke to me instead.
"Seolhwa, Seolhwa. Who do you think is going to win?"
"Uh…. Huh? I-I'm going with Hyeonwoo too…."
Unable to keep up with the sudden turn of events, I unconsciously bet on Hyeonwoo, and Juhyeok shouted, looking exasperated.
"Wow…. Not a single person is on my side?"
"Don't worry, I'll bet on you. On you losing, that is."
"That's still betting against me!"
At Juhyeok's retort, the awkward atmosphere vanished without a trace, and my studio apartment was bright and full of laughter once more.
Haru, who had steered the situation this way, Hyeonwoo, who had played along, and Juhyeok, who had pretended to be angry.
All three laughed in their own ways, easing the mood.
I, too, had been feeling down just moments ago, but before I knew it, a laugh escaped me, and I couldn't stop.
I could more or less tell why my friends had suddenly raised their energy and livened up the mood.
So that I, the most confused person there, wouldn't become too depressed.
They seemed to be trying to brighten the mood so I wouldn't sink too deeply into depression.
I found it a little ridiculous that, instead of actually comforting me, they were merely trying to cheer me up and make me laugh, but
I was grateful for even that.