Chapter 5: I Will Never Date You!

Mutation (5)

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Inside the returning bus.

Siwoo watched Ihyun growing distant through the window.

Ihyun, staring blankly at the bus, was quickly moving away. The smile had vanished from her face, which had been laughing and chatting just moments before.

What was she like originally?

Ihyun, whom Siwoo had known since childhood, had a cheeky personality.

Short and a bit skinny, but not particularly intimidated by kids bigger than her, she was a lively character who went around playing pranks here and there.

It seemed like that personality had shown a bit today too. The way she tapped his arm while walking side by side, pointing here and there, making meaningless jokes.

But that appearance seemed somehow drained. 'Exhausted' would probably be the accurate expression.

She said she worked out today, but it was a slightly different vibe from simply being physically tired.

Or was it just because Siwoo was paying attention? Was he just thinking that Ihyun, who hadn't changed much from her usual self, had become unusually docile because of her changed appearance?

"……."

He was concerned.

Probably because they had known each other for so long, he was so worried.

Friends might tease each other even if they broke a bone, but no matter what, it would be a little difficult to keep teasing a friend who had a disease that couldn't be permanently cured.

Siwoo had looked up the disease after meeting Ihyun again. Most people envied the disease. Some even said that the gene that caused the disease was 'superior' because it was a genetic disorder. Some patients had actually debuted in the entertainment industry or become influencers.

And— whether it was some jealous people, or whether they really thought so. Some people said it was 'dirty'.

Siwoo wasn't really either of those people though.

Mid-March. The nights were still cold. Leaning his forehead against the cold window seemed to make him a little more level-headed.

Whatever the case, Siwoo and Ihyun were friends. When Siwoo's grandmother passed away, Ihyun had rushed over to help with the funeral.

"Hey, you should go get some sleep."

Ihyun had said that to Siwoo, whose eyes were swollen from crying for so long. Ihyun, who had just become a college student and was wearing a black suit, looked somehow awkward. Was it borrowed?

Patting Siwoo on the shoulder, who hadn't been able to rest much because he didn't have many relatives, Ihyun pushed him away and did the things Siwoo had to do instead. Not many friends had come all the way there, as it was quite far from Seoul.

And among them, Ihyun was the friend who had stayed by his side from the first day until the funeral.

"……."

So, he had decided to help Ihyun if she was in trouble.

But now that it had come to this, he didn't know what to do.

"Haa."

Siwoo sighed deeply.

No, more than that.

The Ihyun he met today.

Her body had changed, but... somehow, there was a sense of incongruity. An incongruity that was more than just a change in gender.

After thinking about it for a while, Siwoo, who remembered the identity of the incongruity, opened his mouth blankly for a moment.

No, it can't be. No way.

No matter what.

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My younger sister and I are one year apart.

Perhaps the reason we fought so much was because we were so close in age. If one of us was bought something, the other would throw a fit, and if the other was bought the same thing, the first one would throw another fit.

The only fortunate thing was that we went to different schools. I went to an all-boys high school, and my sister went to a co-ed high school. If we had gone to the same school, we would have fought to the death for all sorts of reasons.

My younger sister, who was one year younger than me, became a college student while I was in the military. After sending all sorts of provocations to me, who was a soldier, she became quiet after I collapsed six months after being discharged.

I was a little worried about what she would say after my body had completely changed, but now I'm worried in a different way.

Will it continue to be awkward like this?

"Ugh."

I opened my eyes the next day after the sun had risen high in the sky.

I hadn't really worked out hard, but my body felt strangely heavy and tired. When I thought about it, it had only been six months since I had even moved my body like that, so it was understandable.

When I looked at the clock, it was 10:30.

I didn't really feel hungry, but my mom would obviously worry if I didn't eat anything, so I staggered out to the living room.

There was some beef and seaweed soup left over from yesterday, so the same note as yesterday was attached.

I took a few side dishes out of the refrigerator, set the table, and was about to prepare for a meal—

"……Ah."

I stopped abruptly.

Far away. In the middle of the living room.

There was a black object.

Of course, the distance to it was a bit far.

Its head was facing me, as if it were looking at me. To put it bluntly, it wasn't really looking at me. Its body was just flat black.

The fact that it wasn't a toy could be seen from the long antennae that were moving slowly.

The height of the 10th floor of the apartment was high enough that you wouldn't normally see cockroaches— but sometimes cockroaches that had crawled all the way up to the hallway would come in through the open door. Maybe that's how that one came in too.

"……."

I slowly picked up the soup bowl and rice bowl. Of course, I also put the spoon and chopsticks in the bowl and picked them up together.

And I carefully moved my feet.

If there was a cockroach in the living room, I could just go into my room and eat. After all, the computer was in my room too. If I closed the door tightly, the cockroach wouldn't be able to get in.

Even if it couldn't get in, I had to close the door. If a cockroach got in, I wouldn't be able to sleep in my room for days.

As I slowly moved towards my room.

Rustle.

The cockroach also moved a little.

Not towards the room, but towards me for some reason.

Was it because I was holding food? Or did it think that was the direction it could escape in?

I froze with the soup and rice in both hands, then quickly moved my feet.

Rustle rustle rustle!

Then the cockroach moved quickly too!

The unique sound of the black legs moving frantically back and forth against the floor sent shivers down my spine.

"Kkyaaaa!?"

Such a bizarre scream flowed from my mouth. A high-pitched scream, different from when I was a man.

But strangely, the cockroach seemed to move under my feet, following that scream. I jumped up to go to my room—

Thump!

I lost my footing and fell to the floor.

The bowls didn't break, but they made a pretty loud noise when they fell to the floor. The metal chopsticks and spoon also fell to the floor and rolled around.

But that unique rustling sound didn't stop.

"Ah, hot, hot, hot!"

As I frantically tried to get up again, horrified by the temperature of the soup and rice that had been poured over my head—

Bang!

This time, a loud noise was heard from the other side.

It was from my sister's room.

Ah.

"What, what's going on? Did a thief break in—"

My eyes met my sister's, who had rushed out of the room with a wireless keyboard in one hand.

And me with beef and seaweed soup and rice grains all over my head.

"……."

A moment of silence.

"……What are you doing?"

That's right.

What am I doing?

For a very brief moment, I forgot my disgust for the cockroach and felt an even greater sense of self-loathing.

*

"Ah, wait a minute."

My sister handed me something just before I closed the bathroom door.

It was a wad of tissues.

"What's this?"

"The cockroach."

She burst out laughing when they saw my face stiffen.

"You can just throw it away!"

I was horrified and quickly threw the wad of tissues into the toilet and flushed it.

"There's another bathroom!"

"This one's closer."

My sister only said that and went back to the living room. Only after the sound of footsteps moving away beyond the door did I take a deep breath and close the door.

I guess I should be glad that the soup and rice weren't too hot.

It seems like she don't have class today. Come to think of it, she must have finished her second year by now.

……Third year, maybe?

As I thought blankly, I felt like I had wasted a lot of time. Two years is definitely not a short amount of time, and then I was bedridden for six months, pushing back my return to school by another year.

By the time I finally return to school in the second semester of my freshman year, my sister will be a graduating senior.

This feels much more realistic and painful than comparing myself with Siwoo.

I sighed deeply, washed my body, and went outside.

My sister was sitting on the living room sofa.

"……Aren't you going to school?"

"From third year on, there's usually more leeway in the schedule."

"Yeah, yeah. That's great."

I looked towards the dining table and saw that my sister seemed to have cleaned up the area. The side dishes I had taken out were almost all still there, though.

"I already ate. Unlike someone, I'm not that lazy."

My sister's words felt strangely fresh.

I looked at my her again.

So…… are we having a comfortable conversation right now?

What was it like before? I wasn't the type to record everything, so I tried to remember what kind of conversations I usually had with her and what memories we shared.

I could remember that we weren't on particularly good terms, but I had a vague memory of what we had actually done together.

No, more than that, it felt like we didn't have that many memories together.

When we came home, we would go into our own rooms without really looking at each other.

"Aren't you going to eat? Should I clean it up?"

A slightly ambiguous tone, whether it was kind or unchanged.

I sat down at the table without a word.

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