Chapter 40
“Hand over the booze.”
“...Isn't it a little early for that?”
I had the alcohol I'd bought with my own money taken away by Hyeonwoo.
...Why?
“Hand it over!”
“Tsk.”
I lunged at Hyeonwoo to take back the booze, but he raised his arm high, keeping me from even touching it.
Argh! I told you not to do this!
“Nngh…!!”
I rose onto my tiptoes and flailed my arms, trying to get the alcohol back, but the height difference between Hyeonwoo and me was no joke, so I only waved uselessly at empty air.
“Uwaa…!”
“Ah!”
But the recoil from stretching up onto my tiptoes made my center of gravity wobble, and I toppled straight toward Hyeonwoo. Since he wasn't prepared either, we both fell over.
Thud!
A loud, dull thump rang out as something hit the floor.
However, I wasn't particularly hurt despite the sound.
It seemed something had taken the place of an airbag.
A hard yet warm airbag….
“Ugh…?”
When I slowly opened my eyes, I realized I was being held in Hyeonwoo's arms.
“Eek?!”
I quickly wriggled free from Hyeonwoo's arms as if fleeing and got to my feet.
I hadn't even had any alcohol yet, but my face flushed and heat rose, sending warmth billowing above my head….
Why, why am I so embarrassed…. Falling over is a common thing….
“Urgh….”
As I fanned the heat from my face with my hand, Hyeonwoo soon woke up.
“Ow, ow…. Seolhwa, are you hurt?”
“N-no….”
And the moment he woke up, he asked whether I was hurt.
What a pointlessly kind bastard….
“If you stretch up onto your tiptoes that recklessly, you're going to fall…. Be more careful.”
“...Then you should've given me the alcohol in the first place.”
“No, that's….”
Hyeonwoo avoided my gaze and scratched his head, as if he found it difficult to say, then finally spoke.
“...I thought it might be a little early for you….”
“What?”
What did he mean by saying alcohol was too early for me…?
For a moment, I stared blankly, unable to understand what Hyeonwoo meant, but then I realized what he was saying.
"I'm the same age as you!!"
"No…. I know that…. It's just that, image-wise, it somehow feels like you shouldn't…."
"I'm not a kid!"
Angry at Hyeonwoo for looking down at me and treating me like a child, I clenched my fists and thumped him lightly.
But apparently it didn't do any damage at all, because Hyeonwoo calmly held the beer high in the air.
Nngh….
"In the first place…. Are you even sure you're allowed to drink right now?"
"I'm telling you, I'm not a kid…."
"No, that's not what I mean."
Hyeonwoo cut me off when I said not to treat me like a child and continued.
"You might've been fine before, but you're a Snow Woman now. What if something goes wrong after you drink?"
"Hmm…."
Hyeonwoo did have a point.
The news had even said that elf mutants developed allergic reactions when they ate meat, so it was difficult to maintain ordinary human eating habits in a body after mutation.
I couldn't even eat hot food right now, after all.
Still, I don't think any Snow Woman folklore said you couldn't drink alcohol….
"So this is confiscated."
"Ah…!"
While I was still pondering, Hyeonwoo took the alcohol and ran off to the kitchen.
Nngh…. If he's going to be like this….
I picked up my smartphone and called someone.
“Sunbae, sunbae! There's something I want to ask….”
[...You idiot…. What time do you think it is, calling me….]
“...Nine p.m.”
[...It's only nine? Sorry. I thought it was the middle of the night.]
When I called my sunbae, they sounded incredibly sleepy and irritable.
Hmm…. I really shouldn't bother them for a while after this….
“Sunbae…. There's something I'm curious about…. Are Snow Women not allowed to drink alcohol?”
[...Alcohol? Just drink it…. Why are you calling me over something like that? I'm tired….]
“Got it! Thank you!”
[Still, since your body has gotten smaller, maybe just a litt-]
As soon as I heard that it was okay to drink, I hung up.
It sounded like my sunbae had been about to say something…. But that's probably just my imagination.
“...So hurry up and bring the alcohol!”
After finishing the call, I boldly asked Hyeonwoo to bring me the alcohol.
“...Do you really want to drink that badly?”
“No, I just got competitive because you were blocking me like that.”
“Honestly….”
Hyeonwoo trudged toward the refrigerator with a troubled expression.
Hehehe…. I won…! I beat Hyeonwoo!
I couldn't beat him at games, but I won the argument! A decisive victory for the Snow Woman!
I was so happy that I'd finally beaten Hyeonwoo, even if only with words, that I couldn't hold back my laughter.
“Here. Just have one can, just in case.”
“Okay, okay. You're such a worrier.”
Hyeonwoo reluctantly handed me the alcohol.
Even after hearing the phone conversation, he must still have been worried, because he only gave me one can.
My alcohol tolerance was two bottles…. One can wouldn't even get me drunk.
“Hehe…. Then I'll enjoy this!”
I cracked open the can, took a bite of chicken, and then drank the beer.
Kheut…. That's the stuff….
The happiness spreading through my brain made me forget all about my crushing defeat that morning….
This happiness was something even ordinary chimaek couldn't provide….
Maybe it was because I was drinking after winning the argument with Hyeonwoo.
This is what they mean by the victor's privilege, hehehe….
“Haa….”
On the other hand, Hyeonwoo was drinking beer with a rather troubled expression.
Hehehe…. Is that the face of a loser….
Somehow, Haru—hic… Haru… every time Haru beats… Juhyeok… why Haru likes Juhyeok….
“...Hey, Seolhwa, are you okay?”
“Uh…. I'm… okay…?”
Hyeonwoo spoke while looking at me with a strangely worried gaze.
Heehee… Why are you looking at me like that…. I only drank half a can…. Heeheehee….
I felt like I was getting drunk much faster than usual, but I dismissed it, telling myself it was only one can, and kept eating chicken and drinking beer----
======
The situation Hyeonwoo had been worried about became reality.
Each time Seolhwa took a small sip of beer, she seemed to gradually lose consciousness, and before long her pupils went unfocused.
“Heeheehee……”
With her pupils unfocused, Seolhwa seemed to have trouble controlling her body and merely laughed while swaying this way and that.
I'd only allowed her one can because I wondered whether a single can could really get her drunk….
But even I hadn't expected that she'd actually get drunk from that one can.
“So far, it seems similar to the injection from before her mutation….”
Seolhwa was still taking small sips of beer, wearing only a beatific smile.
Her face was flushed all over as she smiled, and she looked incredibly cute…….
...The way she smiled made it hard to believe that this had once been a boy.
“It would be fortunate if she just fell asleep as usual like this….”
If it were the usual Seolhwa, she would have just fallen asleep after smiling like that.
But now that she was in her Snow Woman state, there was no telling what Seolhwa might do.
In the worst case, our house might freeze over completely, just like Seolhwa's house….
“Heheh…. Hyeonwoo….”
Too drunk for even her tongue to work properly, Seolhwa looked at me and smiled brightly.
...I kind of want to take a picture.
“Hyeonwoo…. Hand!”
“...What?”
After saying that, Seolhwa stretched her hand out toward me as if telling a dog to give her its paw.
“I'm the winner! Sooo…. You have to listen to me…!”
“What kind of logic is that….”
I was clearly the one who'd won the game that morning.
Seolhwa began stubbornly insisting that she was the winner.
Sigh…. This won't end unless I play along….
With no other choice, I followed Seolhwa's instructions and placed my hand on top of hers.
True to her Snow Woman nature, Seolhwa's hand was cold to the touch, but it wasn't hard as ice—it was soft and smooth.
I'd had a few opportunities to touch Seolhwa's hand lately, but I still wasn't used to touching my friend's hand, and my face flushed slightly.
However, the person who had made me do this didn't seem to care at all, perhaps because alcohol had numbed her sense of shame.
...This makes me the only idiot here.
“Hehe….”
When I placed my hand on hers, Seolhwa smiled at me, giggling happily.
At the sight of my cute and beautiful friend, who looked so adorable and lovely that I could hardly remember she had once been a boy, my heartbeat began to pound before I knew it.
She was pulling this kind of stunt with a face that was practically a cheat code, relying entirely on her looks; honestly, it was too adorable.
“...Seolhwa is a man…. Biologically she's a woman, but in her head she's a man…. No matter how she looks, she used to be a boy….”
But there was a line that had to be maintained.
Seolhwa had originally been a boy, and although she was cute, she also looked far too young.
Having feelings like that would absolutely not be normal-
“Hyeonwoo~”
“Ugh…!”
Just as I was trying to clear those distracting thoughts from my mind, Seolhwa, who seemed completely oblivious to my feelings, suddenly ran over and hugged me.
“Heehee…. Good dog, hehe….”
Then she patted my head with those small hands.
Apparently, in Seolhwa's eyes, I looked like her pet dog right now.
“G-get off…! You're hot!”
“Eeh…? I'm a Snow Woman…? I'm not hot! I'm cold, hehe….”
I tried pushing Seolhwa away to get her off me, but she didn't budge at all; instead, she tightened her hold.
She was right that, far from being hot, her Snow Woman body was cool and pleasant, but….
Still, every instinct in me was telling me that, in this situation, I should get out of here as quickly as possible.
“Um…. Hyeonwoo….”
But Seolhwa didn't let go at all; she moved close to my ear and whispered softly.
“Want to…. play a game?”