Ch.27It was a long-awaited peace.

It was a long-awaited peace.

The amnestic worked well, and Seok Hyunmin quickly broke free from the influence of the memetic kill agent.

Though he couldn’t remember much of what had happened since yesterday, as if a whole day’s worth of memories had been completely wiped away.

The day after our major apartment exploration.

We gathered in room 701 to establish our survival strategy going forward and organize information.

Choi Serim was crouched in front of the balcony curtains, focused solely on her laptop, while Yoon Daju was hovering close beside me.

Heo Yoon was vigorously squeezing the back of Seok Hyunmin’s neck as he lay sprawled across the table.

“Ow! Ow, ow! What are you doing?”

“Hey. Do you remember talking nonsense yesterday?”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

“What? Then do you remember going crazy trying to run away before that? Daju said she had a really hard time stopping you.”

“No.”

“What about the exploration we went on yesterday?”

“I vaguely remember that. We saw some mechanical device. And briefly went to a space-like place… Oh. Is that where I saw the memetic kill agent?”

“This is interesting.”

Yoon grins and glances at Daju.

“Can we show him that?”

“Sure. Let’s play it for him.”

“What? What is it?”

Daju takes out her phone and plays a video.

On screen, a dazed-looking Seok Hyunmin is flailing his arms and legs.

– Ueeeeeeeeee

“What is this? Is that me?”

“Yep.”

Then Daju’s voice can be heard.

– Sir, if you sleep in a place like this, your face will get paralyzed.

– Uhhh. Uhhukhungheunghung

“……”

– ……Yoon Daju.

– Yes?

– Am I going to die now?

– You might, or you might not. But since people never know when they’ll die, isn’t what you do while living what’s important? I’m recording now, so if you have anything to say, say it now. This might be your last chance.

– No… noona… Yoon noona…

The rest was barely audible.

Seok Hyunmin started twisting his body and screaming.

“Aaaaaaack!!! Ack!!!”

Heo Yoon bursts into laughter and repeatedly hits Seok Hyunmin.

– Noona… please date me…

“Oh god, this is so cringy. Ow, my hand. Ow.”

Daju hides her hands in her sleeves and twists her body violently, nearly falling off her chair.

It’s the first time I’ve seen Seok Hyunmin, who always seemed so indifferent, get so flustered.

“Turn it off!! Keeeeeeeeek!!!!!!!!!!!”

“Oh my god this is hilarious. Hey!!!”

“Eek! Eeeeeeeeeek!”

Heo Yoon grabs Seok Hyunmin’s shoulders and shakes him vigorously. His bright red face wobbles back and forth as his screams spread in all directions.

I can’t hold it in. I laugh harder than I have in years.

Just as my stomach was starting to hurt, I made direct eye contact with Choi Serim.

Only then did Choi Serim give a slight smile.

“Dabin.”

“……Yes?”

Ah. I guess I’m not in a position to laugh either.

Choi Serim, who had been quietly watching us, took advantage of everyone being busy laughing to deliver a message.

“Be careful of Yoon Daju.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

The meeting ended in a strange atmosphere.

Seok Hyunmin was the one who confessed his feelings, but Heo Yoon is the one clinging to him and playfully hitting him.

Is this a setup?

As we exit the front door of room 701, Choi Serim mutters briefly.

“Couples should die.”

But we did get work done, and we’ve pretty much figured out what to do going forward.

– No exploration of new areas for a while since there are many injured people

– Necessary supplies will be procured through the “mechanical device” on floor [13A1]. Two people including myself will go down to [13A1], and only I will operate the “mechanical device”

– Don’t connect to the internet network carelessly. Only connect when everyone is together.

So now, I’m preparing to go get supplies right away.

I went back home and took a shower first.

Shaaaaa-

Taking a shower in the morning wakes me up, and that’s when my brain finally starts working properly. That’s why I’ve made it a habit to shower before going out. Since I was a man.

Something I’ve been noticing lately is that when I’m washing, I become strongly aware of the fact that I’m a woman.

First, my hair. It gets incredibly heavy when wet, and if I tilt my head wrong, it feels like my neck might break. Maybe I should just cut it short. I lift it bit by bit with my hands as I shampoo.

Next, body wash. I lather up with a shower towel and scrub every nook and cranny. Since it involves rubbing my entire body, it’s impossible not to feel strange. The soft, rounded feeling of my body transmits directly to my hands.

Ugh. Let’s ignore it.

I squeeze the water out of my hair and dry it as much as possible with a towel. I take out another towel to dry my body, then wrap it around myself before leaving the bathroom.

Next, I put on simple underwear.

Sigh…

First the top. I place the garment at my waist, fasten the hooks in front, then rotate it around and pull it up. Then I smooth the flesh into the garment with a sweeping motion.

The bottom is, well, the same as when I was a man. Just thinner and more flimsy.

Getting dressed is just getting dressed. Whether you’re a man or a woman, you don’t walk around naked. Now that I have a woman’s body, I wear this kind of underwear… anyway, it’s just getting dressed. Same as when I was a man.

The same goes for washing. Washing is just washing. Gender doesn’t matter when it comes to maintaining bodily cleanliness. Taking twice as long to dry my hair as when I was a man is just to prevent it from smelling.

Whiiiirr-

The warm air makes me feel drowsy. But I can’t nod off because I have to keep brushing to prevent tangles.

“Done.”

I’m wearing a tracksuit again. I found one at home, and it fits my smaller body perfectly. It’s a bit disappointing that it doesn’t have a hood.

Looking in the mirror, I look like an Adidas promotional model. I never saw girls like this in high school. Why have I become like this? Geez.

Creeeeak-

I open the door to the hallway. Daju is waiting with a travel suitcase.

“What? You’re wearing that again?”

“We’re not going on a trip, and we might have to run. This makes sense. You’re the weird one. Are you flying to Jeju Island?”

Pink knit and coat? Crossbag? You look ready for a spring outing.

“I’d rather die than wear drab clothes all the time.”

“Good grief.”

“Wouldn’t you feel bad if you only wore tracksuits? I picked out all these pretty clothes for you. Are you really only going to wear that?”

“Yes.”

“You’ll regret it later. When else in your life will you get to wear women’s clothes?”

“What am I, a pervert? Walking around in drag?”

“Come on. You’re a woman now, so it’s not drag. If anything, you’re in men’s clothes now. Besides, you wore that cardigan I picked out for you last time and looked pretty. Didn’t you feel anything then?”

“No. And I don’t want to know either, so stop talking nonsense. And you’re the one who’s disappointed, not me. Just pull your suitcase.”

Yoon Daju pulls her suitcase with a sulky expression.

Her muttering that she’ll definitely make me wear it gives me the creeps. Crazy girl…

Rattle.

“At least you’re wearing women’s underwear.”

“……”

“But you still won’t wear women’s clothes? Isn’t that contradictory? Underwear is actually much more embarrassing.”

“……”

“And you dried your hair nicely? The detail and brushing could be better, but this is passable. It’s good that you’re doing as I taught you.”

“Hey, Yoon Daju…”

“From what I can see, you’re not far from female corruption.”

“Stop! You’ve been talking about that the whole time and it’s making my head complicated!”

“Oh? You don’t like this? If you were a man, this would be something you’d see a lot on Hitomi. Female corruption.”

“Aack! This is driving me crazy!”

“Fe. Male. Corr…”

I couldn’t bear to listen anymore, so I covered my head with my hands and ran to the elevator.

It’s at times like this that the words of our ancestors from history class come to mind. Isn’t it better to die than to live with such humiliation?

For a moment I was tempted to run for the stairs, but I held back. I pressed the button and got on the elevator.

Watching for the right timing, I repeatedly pressed the close button.

Todododododok!

“I’m! Going! Down! Alone!”

“Ah, wait for me!”

Swoosh-

Thud!

Success. I thought that crazy Yoon Daju would make it.

Daju, who had been running urgently, got caught between the elevator doors, struggled for a while, and then was thrown to the floor.

“Are you crazy?”

“No? I just did it for fun?”

“How is this fun?”

“Is ‘female corruption’ fun?”

Squeeze.

Shoulder pressure point (D).

– An attack that strongly presses the pressure points on the opponent’s shoulder from above, utilizing a slightly taller height.

Daju’s fingers dig between my shoulder muscles.

“Aaah! It hurts! Hey! Yoon Daju! Hey!”

“I won’t let go until you apologize.”

“What did I do wroooong!”

“Oh? You’re not going to apologize?”

The moment has come when I must choose between my dignity as a human being and my immediate well-being.

“I’m sorry! I said I’m sorry!”

How far will I fall?

“Haa, ha…ha…”

Catching my breath and looking in the mirror, I see my reflection.

“Sniff…”

I look like the epitome of a sickly, introverted high school girl. Why have I become like this…

“Sob…”

“Oppa.”

“Just shut up and press the button!”

“Are you crying?”

“……Shut up.”

“I’m sorry too, so please don’t cry.”

“Shut, *sniff* just shut up!”

To be honest, I know. That lately I’ve been feeling strange more often. Thinking back, it seems to have gotten worse since yesterday’s exploration. Right. When we went to that space-like place, strange sentences appeared in my head, and I took off my hoodie and looked in the mirror… If I had come to my senses a little later, I would have ended up in an incredibly embarrassing situation. Is this also the memetic kill agent? Is it still in my head? Should I have taken an amnestic too?

After thinking this far, I stopped. I don’t even dare to go back to the vending machine floor, and above all, it’s been almost 24 hours since the exploration. And to be even more honest, I know this isn’t because of the memetic kill agent. I already know what it feels like to be exposed to a memetic kill agent.

I’ve heard that human emotions are ultimately influenced by hormones. That’s probably it. It’s a topic I don’t want to dwell on because the more I think about it, the more uncomfortable and twisted it feels inside.

“Sniff. Sob…”

Then is the fact that I cry more easily also because of hormones?

In the past, I would just feel a slight tightness in my nose, but now tears flow like a faucet.

“I’m sorry. I said I’m sorry. Please stop crying… oppa…”

When I lift my head slightly after crying, Yoon Daju is fidgeting anxiously. That’s amusing, so I cried more.

“Huuuuuuh…”

“Ah, I said I’m sorry… I didn’t know you were worrying about this so seriously…”

Now Daju looks like she might cry too.

“Oppa. Let’s go back and rest a bit before coming out again. That would be better, okay?”

“No.”

Inside the closed elevator. I wiped my tears and pressed the button.

“You want *sob* you want people to know I was crying? I’m going down right now.”

“I won’t tell anyone.”

“I still don’t want to.”

Press. Press.

Then I input the alphabet buttons that appear.

[13A1]

The elevator starts to move.

“I’m not going to be corrupted as a female. Got it!?”

“Yes, oppa… of course… yes…”

“And you carry all the luggage.”

“Yes, oppa…”

I want to go back to being a man. As soon as possible.

Otherwise, I feel like I might never be able to go back to how I was.