Chapter 33
“Then that's all for today's class.
Don't forget to do your assignments.”
After an eternity, the boring class finally ended, and as soon as the professor left, all the students lost their focus and collapsed into their seats one by one.
“Ugh…. I really shouldn't have picked this….”
Among them was Haru, sprawled across her seat with her ponytail swishing gently.
“This is all because you made such a fuss about taking at least one liberal arts class together.”
Kim Juhyeok was stuffing his textbook into his bag while chiding Haru.
The two were in different departments, but they were taking this liberal arts class together.
“But I wanted to take a class with you?”
“W-what….”
“And with Seolhwa and Hyeonwoo too.”
“......”
By deliberately mentioning herself first and the two friends afterward, Haru's shameless ploy got the better of Juhyeok. He flushed with embarrassment and frustration and yelled at her.
“Hey, you two can get all lovey-dovey when you're alone.”
“W-who's being lovey-dovey?!”
Hyeonwoo, the last one there, was displeased by the sight.
With Seolhwa on leave, all three of them were taking the same liberal arts class.
“Lovey-dovey? We're just showing a little physical affection between friends.”
“You're a man and a woman, not just friends, aren't you?! Don't cling to him!”
“Heehee, so you do think of us as a man and a woman?”
Haru played innocent, insisting they weren't being lovey-dovey, then clung to Juhyeok's back; embarrassed by her behavior, Juhyeok shouted for no reason.
“Haha….”
As Hyeonwoo watched them, he suddenly remembered Seolhwa clinging to him in the rain a few days earlier.
‘W-why am I remembering this….’
For no reason, he recalled Seolhwa's cold, soft skin, her cheeks, and the faintly feminine fragrance her scent had now taken on, and his feelings grew complicated.
“Huh? Hyeonwoo, do you have a fever? Your face is red….”
“No, it's nothing….”
“Well, then, never mind…. Shall we get going?”
Haru said it was time to leave, got off Juhyeok's back, and began gathering her textbook.
“Going...? Where?”
When Hyeonwoo asked where they were going, a question mark on his face, Haru answered as if wondering why he would ask something so obvious.
“Your house.”
“Huh?”
Hyeonwoo couldn't help panicking when his friends suddenly said they were coming over to his house.
“I just told you. Let's do the group assignment at your place. Is there a problem?”
“No, it's just….”
When Juhyeok likewise stated matter-of-factly that they were going to Hyeonwoo's house, Hyeonwoo found himself in an even more awkward position.
Normally, Hyeonwoo wouldn't mind doing a group assignment at his place.
Since other homes had issues—some had parents there, some lived in dorms, and some were too small—this group had naturally started meeting at his house whenever they worked on group assignments.
Since his friends knew that, suggesting Hyeonwoo's house came naturally.
The problem was that Seolhwa was at home in extremely casual clothes.
Even if there were a dozen reasons for it, if they found out they were living together, what would these two who loved teasing him say….
“That's settled, then. Come on, let's go to Hyeonwoo's!”
“W-wait! Why are you going to my house without even asking me!”
Though conflicted, Hyeonwoo's friends paid no attention and tried to head to his house, so he hurriedly stopped them.
“Should I ask, then? Hyeonwoo, we're doing our group assignment at your house. Are you coming too?”
“Is that even a question….”
With her trademark sly question, Haru refused to budge on going to Hyeonwoo's house.
“Why are you so flustered? Have you hidden a girlfriend at home or something?”
“Urgh…. No…. It's just….”
There really is someone sort of like a female friend sleeping at home.
Since he couldn't honestly say that, Hyeonwoo couldn't properly refute what Juhyeok had said.
“So nothing's really going on, then? Great, let's go straight to Hyeonwoo's!”
“No…. Ah, seriously….”
In the end, they set off for Hyeonwoo's house before he could stop them.
======
“Yaaawn…. I slept well….”
Thanks to Hyeonwoo not waking me today, I got to sleep in until after one in the afternoon.
It feels good to sleep in for once….
“Yaaawn…. Shall I reconnect with the world….”
The first thing I looked for after waking up was my best friend, my smartphone.
I turned it on to check the notifications that had come in while I was asleep and look for funny memes, and saw a message from Hyeonwoo.
[Hyeonwoo]:Seolhwa. Are you awake?
[Seolhwa]:Yeah.
[Hyeonwoo]:Then that's a relief. Now could you go hide somewhere?
What on earth is he talking about?
Hyeonwoo was suddenly telling me to hide.
Did something happen? Hyeonwoo, did you do something bad enough for the FBI to come barging in and demand that you open the door…?
[Seolhwa]:??? Explain why, please.
[Hyeonwoo]:Haru and Juhyeok. They're on their way to my house.
Ah.
The moment I realized Haru and Juhyeok were on their way here, my sleepiness vanished.
If they were coming here, that meant they'd discover me staying at Hyeonwoo's house…. And if that happened….
“They'll tease me for at least three years….”
If I were still a man, maybe not, but the fact that I was living with Hyeonwoo as a woman—whatever the reason—was more than enough to make me easy prey for those two.
...Though if I'd still been a man, I wouldn't have needed to sleep at Hyeonwoo's place in the first place.
“W-where should I hide?”
I was already teased every day since transforming into a Snow Woman, and I didn't want to give them any more material.
That's why I'd deliberately never told my friends when I stayed at Hyeonwoo's place….
But in an ordinary family home, where could I hide….
“...Wait, there is one place.”
A brilliant idea struck me then, and I immediately leaped out of bed to put it into action.
======
A few dozen minutes after Hyeonwoo told Seolhwa to take cover.
The three of them were already almost at Hyeonwoo's house.
“I'll do the presentation, so you can research the material.”
“Yeah, that sounds good.”
“......”
Haru and Juhyeok discussed how to handle the group assignment as they walked to the house, but Hyeonwoo was too preoccupied to focus on their conversation.
‘I hope Seolhwa managed to hide properly….’
He'd sent Seolhwa a message telling her to hide, but there was no telling whether she'd really managed to hide somewhere those two wouldn't see her.
‘The best thing would be for her to run outside, but she might melt if she did that….’
Hyeonwoo thought through various plans on the way home, but couldn't come up with anything particularly practical.
Before he knew it, they had reached the gate in front of his house.
“It's been a while since I came to your place, Hyeonwoo.”
“Ugh…. Maybe because it's hotter today, but I feel like having something to drink…. Hyeonwoo, you have cola, right?”
“Yeah. Uh…. Sure…. There should be some….”
His friends spoke to him several times, but Hyeonwoo responded halfheartedly each time.
With his mind full of thoughts about what would happen if his friends discovered Seolhwa inside, there was no way he could pay attention to their conversation.
“Isn't something weird about Hyeonwoo?”
“Looks like he's hiding something…. Did he really hide a girlfriend or something…?”
Naturally, his friends noticed that something was strange about Hyeonwoo.
They did notice, but….
Since finding something in the house would be entertaining in its own way, they said nothing and waited for Hyeonwoo to open the door.
‘Please, Seolhwa. I'm counting on you….’
Hyeonwoo slowly entered the passcode into the digital lock, hoping Seolhwa had hidden properly.
Beep-beep-
And there stood the final obstacle: the front door.
Hyeonwoo eased it open just a crack and peered inside.
For now, Seolhwa was nowhere in sight.
“What are you doing? It's your house, so why are you looking around like it's someone else's?”
“No…. Ah!”
Juhyeok scolded Hyeonwoo for acting strangely again, flung the door wide open, and stepped inside.
“What? There's nothing special here…. How boring….”
Fortunately for Hyeonwoo, Juhyeok went in first and looked around, but didn't seem to spot Seolhwa.
“It would've been fun if we'd found something….”
“What's fun about that….”
Chiding Haru, who clicked her tongue beside him and complained that it was boring, Hyeonwoo let out a deep sigh of relief.
‘As long as they don't find out until the end….’
Hyeonwoo himself didn't know where Seolhwa was hiding, but as long as she wasn't visible, that was enough.
He just had to finish the group assignment quickly and send the two of them home.
“How boring…. I guess I'll have some cola.”
Juhyeok, thinking he'd finally get something on Hyeonwoo after a long time, was disappointed by the empty house and walked into the kitchen to get some cola.
“...Huh? What's this?”
Upon entering the kitchen, Juhyeok spotted side dishes sitting out in the open.
The side dishes that should clearly have been in the refrigerator were all laid out on the table.
“What's wrong?”
“Did you find something? You did, right?”
At Juhyeok's question, the other two in the living room also walked toward the kitchen.
“No, it's just that something seemed strange….”
Even as he sensed something odd, Juhyeok opened the refrigerator to get a cola-
“...Ah, I've been found….”
“...Huh? Seolhwa…?”
He found Seolhwa hiding inside the refrigerator.