Chapter 14

"The shirt should be white, and the skirt... Maybe this one? An H-line skirt is honestly too revealing for a kid... Pleats seem more suitable after all. White? Black? Hmm..."

She muttered to herself, holding the two pleated skirts—one white and one black—up against me in turn.

- Um, excuse me, why are we suddenly...

- ...Ihyeon, do you have any clothes at home?

- Huh?

- I saw your closet when I was tidying up last time, and you didn't have a single thing in there, did you?

- ...

- So, let's go buy you some clothes?

I tried to refuse, but Song Chaeyeon practically dragged me into a clothing store.

And for the past few hours, she'd been leading me around by the hand.

"Um, excuse me... the skirt's a little..."

"Huh? Why?"

I was dying of embarrassment...

"Oh, right! I've decided. Let's go with the black pleated skirt!"

"Ah, um..."

"What, don't you like skirts?"

"I-I haven't worn one before... It feels a little awkward, I guess... Hehe..."

Song Chaeyeon pressed her lips together for a moment.

Maybe I was imagining it, but a slightly sad expression seemed to pass over her face.

Song Chaeyeon suddenly crouched until our eyes met and said,

"Ihyeon, could you please wear it for me?"

As she spoke, she clasped both hands around the skirt she was holding.

"I think kids look really pretty in skirts, but my second-youngest never wears one except for their school uniform... So I'd like to see you in one, at least."

"......"

I'm an adult...

"...O-Okay..."

A little embarrassed, I squirmed.

But when I looked at her pitiful face, so at odds with her height, my resolve gradually weakened.

She's been so kind to me. Surely I can do this much for her.

Besides, what's wrong with a skirt? As long as I feel like a man inside.

I made up my mind and nodded.

"...All right."

"Really!?"

Song Chaeyeon visibly brightened and practically hurried me into the fitting room.

"I want to see! I bet it'll look really good on you!"

"O-Okay. So stop pushing me..."

Even as I tried to brace myself with my feet, my body was pushed along far too easily against my will.

For some reason, it wounded my pride.

Song Chaeyeon seemed not to hear me as she pushed me through the fitting-room door.

Then she came in, too.

"H-Huh?"

The fitting room was packed with the two of us.

I took up a third of the space, and she took up two-thirds.

But...

Up close, she was even bigger.

When I looked straight ahead, it felt like her chest might overwhelm me at any moment, so I strained my head upward.

"W-Why, wh-wh-why did you come in?"

The difference in our builds made me a little afraid of her, and I started stammering.

"Huh? I have to help you change."

"Y-You...?"

At that ridiculous remark, I stepped backward.

Of course, I couldn't even take one step before bumping into the mirror.

This woman was serious.

Considering she'd personally taught me how to put on a sanitary pad, she was definitely serious this time, too.

Not this time...!

I gritted my teeth and pushed Song Chaeyeon.

"Th-This is really not okay!"

"You don't have to be embarrassed..."

"N-No...! It's embarrassing!"

Song Chaeyeon looked disappointed at my vehement reaction, but let me push her out without a fuss.

"Phew..."

I was already breathing hard, even though I hadn't used that much strength.

Still, thank goodness.

I almost let her see my white underwear...

Panting, I hurried to change before she could come back in.

I took off my sweatpants, pulled the pleated skirt up, then fastened the button at my right hip.

I whipped off my hoodie, put on the shirt, quickly buttoned it, and dashed out.

Somehow, being alone together in a confined space made me feel like my pride was being crushed.

To feel both admiration and fear...

...

But once I went outside, I'd have to show her what I looked like in a skirt, wouldn't I?

The thought made me a little nervous.

I felt embarrassed, but there was another feeling besides that.

"I-I'm out..."

As I left the cozy fitting room, the clothing store's cool air-conditioning brushed past my legs.

The strange sensation made me keep rubbing my legs together and tugging the skirt hem down.

"H-How does it look...?"

I tried to hide how nervous I was as much as possible.

...I wasn't keen on the skirt.

Still, if she said it didn't suit me, I might be a little hurt...

For some reason, the thought came to me.

"Oh my..."

She held a loosely clenched fist to her mouth and looked me up and down.

"You look so pretty, Ihyeon."

"R-Really?"

At that, I felt relieved.

Even a little happy...

"But is this okay...?"

Song Chaeyeon murmured, looking a little serious.

"I mean, the only thing showing is your legs... so why does it look so suggestive?"

At that, I looked in the mirror right beside me.

The pure white shirt went well with my pale skin and the gray hair cascading down over it.

In contrast, the slightly short black pleated skirt emphasized my impossibly thin, pale legs.

Hmm.

It's sexy.

Definitely.

I could see what Song Chaeyeon meant.

I could see it from a man's perspective, too, so I was even more certain.

It's sexy...!

My face grew a little hot.

"I-I'll go change. This really..."

"N-No? It's fine!"

Song Chaeyeon nodded as if trying to convince herself.

"K-Kids these days wear things like this all the time. You should dress up, too, Ihyeon."

Song Chaeyeon didn't seem keen on having me wear it.

Then she could've just told me not to.

But maybe she'd thought that after seeing her subtle reaction, I'd gotten discouraged and said I wanted to change.

...She's kind for no reason...

This makes it harder to refuse...

"Ah, haha... That's right. I wanted to wear it..."

So I ended up nodding.

* *

Song Chaeyeon must have mistaken my saying I liked the outfit, because she bought me two of the same outfit in reversed colors.

A black shirt and a white pleated skirt.

I hadn't tried them on, but Song Chaeyeon held them against me a few times, nodded, then took them to the cashier.

I was still wearing the white shirt and black pleated skirt I'd just put on.

...It felt like even more people were staring at me than before, and I felt oddly self-conscious, so I twirled a strand of hair around my finger.

Then I raised my head to look at her and said,

"...Um, thank you."

"Hmm?"

"For buying me all this... and saying you'll buy me lunch, too..."

I felt sincerely grateful. Even if I was the younger sibling of a close friend, treating me this well was probably just part of her innate kindness.

At my words, Song Chaeyeon smiled and said,

"No, I bought them because I wanted to."

"..."

My heart warmed a little.

She's still so kind.

And look at me now.

Song Chaeyeon stroked my head, then said energetically,

"All right, shall we go eat now? We've been walking around shopping for clothes, so you must be hungry, right?"

"Yes!"

I nodded with a smile.

* *

We went to a burger place Song Chaeyeon often visited.

I ordered a burger set, while Song Chaeyeon ordered a burger set and a burger on its own.

The old me could've eaten two, but I figured two would be too much for this body, so I only ordered one.

But even that filled me up halfway through, and I apologized, feeling bad, as I was about to leave the rest.

- Then can I have it?

- Huh?

Song Chaeyeon happily polished off the leftover burger and fries.

...I wondered if she'd gotten used to doing that from raising her younger siblings.

But she ate it with such relish that I thought maybe she was just still hungry.

Maybe she needed a lot of calories because of her height.

...Somehow, I couldn't help thinking that was cool.

Song Chaeyeon insisted on carrying even my tray to throw it away, even when I offered to clear it myself.

Then we went outside and decided to take a short walk to help digest our food.

"That was really delicious."

"I'm glad to hear it."

Song Chaeyeon smiled at my words and stroked my head.

I was starting to simply let myself enjoy it.

I didn't really like being treated like a kid.

But maybe this wasn't so bad.

...Had my likes and dislikes always changed so easily, in the blink of an eye?

As I wondered that and quietly enjoyed her touch, Song Chaeyeon lifted her hand from my head and clapped once.

"Oh! Right. The ice cream at that burger place is really good. I forgot."

"R-Really?"

Ice cream!

I want some...

Just thinking about it made my mouth water.

No matter how full I was, I always had room for sweets.

I hadn't liked sweets this much before.

Looking at my face, Song Chaeyeon gave an awkward smile and said,

"You must really like ice cream. I'll go get some right away, so can you wait here a little?"

"Ah..."

Feeling a little guilty, I reached out briefly, but Song Chaeyeon was already far away.

Maybe because her legs were so long, she strode off in great big steps.

Just as she said, I decided to wait on the street.

Then, suddenly, I looked at my reflection faintly visible in the glass window of the clothing store beside me.

I saw myself again, wearing a shirt and a pleated skirt.

Maybe she felt bad about her awkward reaction, because Song Chaeyeon had praised how well it suited me and how pretty I'd look wearing it right away, both at the burger place and as we walked down the street.

But honestly, even I thought it looked nice.

...Maybe I don't hate skirts...

...Isn't that wrong?

...Or maybe not.

Men feel good when they see something pretty.

If I'm the one looking at it, then of course I'd like it more since I can see it all the time, right?

After rationalizing my strange feelings like that, I felt better.

Hmm. It was normal to be afraid of getting a bad reaction.

It was only natural to feel bad if people looked down on me.

Therefore, I'm not weird.

Once I thought that, I felt good and wandered around in quick little steps.

A lot of eyes were fixed on me.

It was a little overwhelming, but I thought I could tolerate it to some extent.

I walked around in quick little steps, enjoying those gazes a little, just a little.

But then.

"Ah."

As I turned around to start walking again, I bumped into someone.

I was the one who ran into them, but they were fine, while I nearly fell backward.

I managed to regain my balance, and then I could make out who I'd bumped into.

Two men were looking down at me.

And there was a stain of iced coffee splashed across one man's chest.

"Uh, uh..."

My throat tightened.

"Ah, fuck..."

The man in the navy-blue shirt cursed as he looked at his wet chest.

My heart sank at his words.

- Excuse me. I know I was at fault, but why are you cursing at me?

...That's the sort of thing I would've confidently said in the past, but now...

I couldn't say a thing.

"Ah, ah..."

All I could do was let out meaningless little gasps.

"Hey, what the hell are you doing? Fuck..."

The man patted his navy shirt, trying to shake off the moisture.

The people around us gradually began to stare as the situation turned menacing.

Fear was followed by a growing sense of humiliation.

"Hey, excuse me!"

"Eek...!"

At his loud voice, my shoulders hunched sharply. My heart sank again.

My heart was pounding fast. My breathing was gradually growing ragged.

I wished he wouldn't get so angry.

He was so frightening. So violent. The person in front of me felt like a towering mountain.

With my vision growing increasingly blurry, I couldn't bring myself to look up. Keeping my head down, I spoke in a tearful voice.

"Sniff... I'm sorry... So please stop getting angry..."

The man in the navy shirt heard me, glanced at the man in the brown sweatshirt who seemed to be with him, grinned, then frowned at me.

"Ah, this thing's fucking expensive, and now it's ruined. It's hard to get stains like this out... Can you compensate me?"

C-Compensate him?

Did I have to pay him back for it?

"H-How much is it?"

I asked, trying my best to hold back my tears.

"Four hundred thousand won."

"F-Four hundred thousand..."

My heart sank again.

My legs trembled.

I swayed a little.

I heard them chuckling above me, as if they were enjoying my reaction.

Was that true?

...No, he wouldn't lie about it. I could look it up.

...But I don't have any money.

I had to save for the money owed for my online sexual harassment case and pay rent, too.

I clasped my hands together and pleaded with them.

"P-Please... Could you lower the price a little...? I don't have any money..."

At that, the two of them fell silent.

When no answer came even after some time, I slowly raised my head.

What looked down at me was a gaze filled with lust.

"Ah..."

I instinctively stepped backward.

The man next door, the men on the street, the convenience store clerk.

"Then let's do this. You—"

Just as the man in the brown sweatshirt was speaking, and I was unconsciously edging backward,

Tap—

I bumped into someone again.

I turned around, my face full of fear.

Song Chaeyeon was standing there.

"What?"

She looked back and forth between me and the men.

And, as if she'd grasped the situation,

she glared at them with the same look she'd given me when she first saw me today.

She glared at them with the same cold look she'd given me when she first saw me today.