Chapter 11: I Will Never Date You!

Change (1)

“Kuhya…!”

The carbonation going down my throat after so long felt like it was clearing everything out.

It wasn’t as sweet as cola, but for some reason, I didn’t dislike the taste. It actually felt like it went better with food.

“By the way, are you even allowed to drink?”

“You’re asking me that now?”

I said, slamming my glass of draft beer down on the table.

“They said it’s okay. It’s not like this disease means I can’t eat certain things. It just ends after the transformation. But I still have to go to the hospital regularly and get blood drawn.”

When I think about it, it’s a strange disease.

I heard that smallpox scars stay with you for life. That’s why people who survived severe smallpox infections had so many deep scars on their faces.

But even though the symptoms are like smallpox, eventually all the skin is restored. It's not just a simple recovery; by the time the symptoms are over, you end up as a completely different person. If that's unpleasant to look at, then I guess that's one thing. But we think these people beautiful and handsome, you know?

And yet, SHIBA Syndrome doesn’t affect the body at all after the symptoms end. If you get into a car accident and end up with surgery scars all over your body, they’ll just remain as normal scars like anyone else. They won’t go back to the smooth skin you had when you had the syndrome.

Thanks to that, there’s no reason to be careful about anything after having this disease. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

“Isn’t there a chance your alcohol tolerance might change?”

“Maybe not.”

I answered casually, scooping a spoonful of budae jjigae into my mouth. The spicy and stimulating broth washed away the slightly bitter beer flavor, which felt good.

“Haa, this is nice. Really.”

It had been six months since I last drank.

I’m not exactly an alcoholic, but I don’t hate alcohol either. I look for it sometimes when I want to feel good, or when I’m feeling down.

Siwoo saw my expression and chuckled.

“Still, you should drink in moderation, just in case.”

“I know, I know. I’ll stop if I feel bad. You think I’d get drunk off one beer?”

I said with a smile.

*

“Ugh.”

Ah, I messed up.

I was so confident, but unfortunately, my newly created body wasn’t ready to handle alcohol at all.

Normally, I could drink two or three beers without any problems. My face would get a little red, and I’d get a slight buzz, but I wouldn’t stagger around.

In a way, you could say I’d never really been drunk before.

But this body is different.

Up to one beer, I was doing okay. I felt a little tipsy, but I thought it was just because it had been a while.

But after ordering another beer and taking a few more sips…

“Ugh.”

I suddenly felt sick.

“I told you to drink in moderation.”

Siwoo said, supporting me, sounding dumbfounded.

What’s even more dumbfounding in this situation is that I felt a strange sense of relief that Siwoo was saying this to me.

I mean… isn’t that right?

If Siwoo was extremely worried about me here, that wouldn’t be how Siwoo usually treats me.

Between guys—or maybe it’s the same between girls too? Anyway, between friends, unless it’s something really serious, they’re more likely to get annoyed and tease you than worry about you. But they still take care of you in their own way, that kind of relationship.

“Heh.”

“What are you smiling about?”

“Hehe.”

“Seriously…”

Siwoo scratched his head, looking troubled, and then sighed deeply.

“I can’t let you do this. I’ll take you home.”

“No way.”

I said, grabbing Siwoo’s arm tightly.

I forced my head up, which had been lowered, to look at Siwoo. His expression was a little blurry, as if my pupils were unfocused, and I could see two of him.

But even in that state, I was thinking clearly enough.

“No way.”

“No way what?”

“You… far.”

“……”

Siwoo blinked at my words.

“Far. No way.”

“So…”

Siwoo frowned slightly, as if thinking for a moment, and then said,

“So, you deliberately came to a place close to my house?”

“Yeah… far to go home…”

Now that I’ve said it, it does sound a bit strange.

If that was the case, I should have just gone near Siwoo’s house in the first place. Ah, of course, my apartment is near the university, so I didn’t want to run into any of the other students. Wait, come to think of it, I did go to Siwoo’s house on the first day, didn’t I? Saying it was my house too or something.

I’m such a mess, then and now. Telling him to come and go as I please, and deciding the location as I please.

Thanks to that, this location is also awkwardly far from Siwoo’s house.

It’s not like I chose to get off here, but I got pushed out because there were too many people. It was a decent downtown area, though.

“Sorry…”

I mumbled, leaning on Siwoo, and Siwoo sighed deeply.

“Ugh.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Siwoo said, pulling me along a little.

Holding my shoulder with one hand to support me.

Ah, damn it. The height difference is still too much. I thought I might get taller this time.

“If you feel sick, should we go to the bathroom first?”

Siwoo said after we arrived at the subway station.

“Bathroom…”

If I threw up, I might feel a little better—

But at that point, I suddenly snapped back to my senses.

“No way.”

“Why can’t we go to the bathroom?”

“Where do I go?”

I asked.

“Where should I go?”

Siwoo was silent.

The men’s restroom and the women’s restroom.

I can’t choose either.

I can’t go to the men’s restroom because of my appearance. If I went in, the men inside would probably all freak out.

But I couldn’t bring myself to go into the women’s restroom…

Ah, I should have just gone to the bathroom at the restaurant earlier. I stubbornly refused because I didn’t want to throw up.

“…Sorry.”

“Sorry… Ah, whatever.”

Siwoo said.

I felt a little scared because the atmosphere felt like he didn’t want to talk to me anymore.

In just two days.

Ah, just when I thought things were getting a little better, I messed it up. Everything I did out of consideration was just a nuisance. If that’s the case, he’ll just get angry even if I apologize.

Is it the alcohol that’s making me have all these depressing thoughts?

I don’t know. My head is a mess.

I’m just thinking that I shouldn’t drink next time.

Or maybe I should drink in moderation.

Or just drink at home.

*

*

*

To be honest,

Siwoo was finding the drunk Ihyun a bit of a nuisance right now.

That was also a fortunate thing. Feeling this way rather than just being bewildered in this situation meant that he was remembering the Ihyun from before.

Of course, he was also feeling the same sensation he felt when he grabbed Ihyun on the subway earlier.

Even though they were definitely the same height, Ihyun’s body now felt much more delicate. It probably wasn’t just his imagination. Ihyun had worked out pretty hard, and although she was definitely not muscular, she had a body that looked firm.

“Sorry…”

Just because he was a little annoyed didn’t mean he was going to abandon her or just send her home.

Because, conversely, Siwoo had also been helped by Ihyun before. Siwoo was the one who got drunk before Ihyun the first time they drank together.

He had no memory of it at all, but when he woke up, he was in Ihyun’s room, and Ihyun had somehow managed to drag him and put him to bed when he kept babbling nonsense and trying to go in the wrong direction.

…It’s a bit much to say, but doing that with a 20-centimeter height difference couldn’t have been easy.

“Siwoo, sorry…”

Ihyun, who was just repeating apologies without thinking about any of that, felt a little pitiful. The biggest reason for feeling that way was probably because her body had become like this.

Her figure, her face. She wouldn’t look out of place anywhere. Even her height wasn’t a disadvantage in front of this appearance. She didn’t look particularly shorter than other girls in the first place.

But the reason she wasn’t confident was purely because she was the only one who felt that way.

What should he say?

No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t come up with an answer. He wasn’t an expert.

Thud.

But Ihyun interrupted Siwoo’s thoughts.

Ihyun was holding Siwoo’s wrist.

Her eyes were a little teary as she looked up.

Seeing that expression, Siwoo had even less to say. No, in fact, it wasn’t just that he had nothing to say, but he didn’t even know what to think.

What should he say to his changed friend? What should he say to a friend who was making this kind of expression—

“…Siwoo.”

“Uh, uh?”

“I,”

Ihyun stood on tiptoe. Siwoo froze.

What was she imagining, what was she expecting—

But the words that soon followed were enough to shatter all those thoughts.

Ihyun, with a slightly flushed face and an expression that said she was embarrassed to death, said this:

“Bathroom.”

Previous|Next