Ch.216Side Story – I Became a Heroine After the Pure Love Ending (7)

“No, heh heh. Miss Ban Do-young. No matter how quickly you want to climb the adult ladder, should a high school student be drinking? And in front of parents and teachers, no less.”

“I climbed that adult ladder eight years ago. I’m just climbing it a second time because I’m possessing a body ten years younger than me. You’re the one who’s artificially climbed the adult ladder.”

“Then what should we do? Switch back? Should I go to Do-hamin over there?”

“…No. I’ve already claimed this Do-hamin for myself.”

“Ugh… that reeks of daddy’s girl talk. You don’t use that kind of language in front of your classmates, do you?”

“What’s wrong with ‘claiming’! It’s so Gen Z!”

I am Miss Ban Do-young.

And Miss Ban Do-young is me.

After we decided to live each other’s switched lives,

Ban Do-young and Ban Do-young, who thought they would never meet again.

But surprisingly, the conditions for us to meet were simple.

With a clear sense of identity about how we would live our lives,

if we experienced a state of mental haziness, Ban Do-young and I could reunite in that white-walled space where we first met.

Considering that I couldn’t reach this place when I lost consciousness after falling into a lake during last year’s school trip,

and the fact that even in this space, I appear as Ban Do-young, the woman I chose to live as,

while the originally female Ban Do-young appears as my former male self,

I could guess that simply experiencing mental haziness alone wasn’t enough.

“By the way, I didn’t know we could come here even when blacking out from alcohol…”

“Heh. Reminds me of the first time I drank with your body. I thought I was losing consciousness because I had no experience, but it turns out Ban Do-young is just a lightweight in any world.”

“Hey, in my original world, I don’t pass out after one sip of beer! I can handle at least two glasses!”

“Sure, sure. Now I understand why Miss Ban Do-young always looks for zero lime.”

“Ugh… acting like a senior just because you speed-ran up the adult ladder!”

A truly strange and welcome reunion.

But as always, our conversations started with this kind of pointless banter.

What can you do? We’re both Ban Do-young after all.

“Anyway… let’s say I came here because I had my first taste of beer with your body. But why are you here? Just because I collapsed doesn’t mean you’d collapse in your original world too.”

“Ah, about that….”

The experience of mental haziness was merely a condition to come here.

It wasn’t a guarantee that I would meet the Ban Do-young in the original world.

This place was like a meeting plaza where two minds could encounter each other.

We could only meet if both of us happened to experience mental haziness around the same time.

“Tell me. What were you doing before you came here?”

“Well… it was a special occasion, and we were having a family dinner at home when I accidentally drank my dad’s mohito. Ahaha!”

“What? So you’re exactly the same!”

“Hey, at least mine was a cocktail! Higher alcohol content than beer!”

Truly, Ban Do-young was like this in any world.

“Sigh, well. Since we’ve met, you might as well see this.”

“Huh? See what?”

Ban Do-young suddenly pulled out a phone from his pocket with a smug expression.

“What? Phones work here?”

“Apparently they work if you have them in your pocket. Of course, it doesn’t affect reality. It only works to the extent that we perceive it to work. Like how using a phone in a dream doesn’t apply to reality, right?”

“This room of spirit and time is more convenient than I thought.”

“Well, it’s a space where only our minds come and go, yet we’re wearing the same clothes we had on. It’s that kind of feeling.”

“I thought it was because this was rated G.”

“Let’s see… among the recent photos, the best one is… ah, here it is.”

Ban Do-young naturally took out his phone,

scrolled down for a moment,

found what he was looking for, and turned the screen toward me.

“I wasn’t sure when we might meet again, so I made sure to keep you updated.”

On the screen Ban Do-young showed me was the original world.

What had become the other world to me now showed a smiling photo of Do-hamin.

“Oh, Do-hamin! I get to see your face, even like this. It’s been almost a year. Still beautiful. And looking happy.”

“Of course. I decided to live as Ban Do-young here. I have to try to live happily.”

So Ban Do-young and Do-hamin in that world are living well in their own way.

I shouldn’t judge based on just a photo,

but at least the smile on Do-hamin’s face in that picture didn’t seem fake.

“Wait… is that who I think it is, the baby Do-hamin is holding…?”

“Yes. Exactly who you think it is.”

My gaze naturally fell on a baby.

A baby with brilliant green eyes, looking at the unfamiliar camera with a blank expression.

Snugly nestled in the arms of its mother, Do-hamin.

“Lime…? That’s Lime, right?”

Ban Do-young nodded with a pleased expression.

The fruit of Do-hamin and Ban Do-young’s relationship in that other world was now, albeit indirectly, before my eyes.

“Kyaaaah!”

“Whoa! Why are you screaming?”

“What is this, what is this adorable creature?!”

I was slightly startled by my own unusually high-pitched, shrill voice.

I never thought I could make the kind of ecstatic fan-girl scream of a high school girl meeting her idol.

“What do you think? Anyone can see it’s my and Hamin noona’s baby, right?”

“Damn it, Ban-Lime! What is this cuteness?!”

I had experienced both the good and bad of early childcare through Solmi and Leon.

So I thought I wouldn’t automatically call a baby cute just by looking at its face.

But Do-hamin and Ban Do-young’s child from another world was different.

Just as Ban Do-young couldn’t help but love Do-hamin regardless of which world they were in,

Ban Do-young couldn’t help but adore Lime, no matter which world’s Lime it was.

“How old is the baby? Is it breastfeeding well? Does it whine and cry at night? Any fevers or illnesses? Can it say ‘mama’ and ‘papa’ to its parents?”

“C-calm down and ask one question at a time.”

“How can I calm down! There’s an angel smiling right on the screen! An angel named Lime, no less!”

Was I so happy to get even a glimpse of another world’s Lime, who hasn’t been born here yet?

Or was the effect of that one sip of alcohol affecting this space where only our minds existed?

Even though I knew I was excited, I couldn’t calm my trembling.

“Today is exactly Lime’s 100th day. That’s why we gathered with family for a modest celebration.”

“I see. Today is Lime’s 100th day… Is it okay for a 100-day-old baby to be this beautiful? If the baby is this beautiful already, by kindergarten, the boys won’t leave Lime alone. Maybe you shouldn’t send Lime to kindergarten and just homeschool? Ban Do-young, you might need to quit your job.”

“Such a fuss. Nothing like that will happen, so don’t worry.”

I actually felt offended by Ban Do-young’s dismissive response.

Even setting aside my parental bias for my child from another world, the Lime in the photo was among the most beautiful by my standards.

By the beauty tier I had established in “Half of Ban,”

Lime’s beauty was right after Miss Ban Do-young and Do-hamin, without any exaggeration.

“What do you mean ‘fuss’? Didn’t you have similar experiences when you were young, Ban Do-young?”

“Of course I did. Boys would fight over who got to sit next to me even though I just sat there quietly.”

“Then it’s definitely not a fuss. I can already picture the boys from the Rabbit Class and the Dragon Class fighting fiercely over who gets to sit next to Lime.”

“Rabbit Class I get, but what’s Dragon Class? Anyway, it’s fine. You don’t need to worry too much about that.”

“Why not?”

“Because our Lime is a boy.”

“…Eh?”

.

.

.

“Gasp!”

Like dreams that end with a final dramatic moment,

with Ban Do-young’s last words, I opened my eyes back in the original world.

“A-are you okay, Do-young?”

The familiar ceiling and lights.

And the handsome Do-hamin shining with those lights as his halo.

I had returned to reality once again.

“Mom, Dad. Do-young just woke up.”

“Phew… Do-young, are you alright? Are you feeling better?”

“Seriously, why would a kid who’s barely dry behind the ears drink alcohol?”

“She was about to collapse on the floor, but student Hamin caught her just in time, so she didn’t get hurt badly. It could have been serious otherwise!”

“Too bad. If you’d stayed unconscious a little longer, I was going to splash water on you, Ban-thief unnie.”

Though I had lost consciousness and collapsed helplessly,

thankfully, Do-hamin had caught me in the critical moment, preventing any major injuries.

That seemed to be true,

as I regained consciousness to find myself lying on the sofa, using Do-hamin’s lap as a pillow.

“How… how long was I out?”

“Not long. About an hour…?”

“That’s about how long I was talking with Ban Do-young….”

Like a child who seeks their mother’s bed after waking from a bad dream,

after confirming that I was resting my head on Do-hamin’s lap, I curled up my legs and turned my head toward Do-hamin’s face.

“Ugh…. What should I do? There’s still a whole year left.”

“What’s wrong, Do-young? Why are you twisting your body like that? Did you have a bad dream?”

“Mom, I’m in big trouble.”

“W-what kind of trouble?”

“I really want to get pregnant right now.”

“…”

.

.

.

“Ack!”

“What? I thought you left, why are you back so soon?”

“Ugh… you didn’t have to hit me with a bamboo sword.”

Immediately rejected.