Chapter 54 – Be Secret Friends with Noona

“Is it here?”

The address that Lee Seolha texted me was the academy room cafe.1

It was a space used often by students to have secret conversations. But because there was CCTV inside, no students behaved in an uncouth manner.

“Huu…”

I opened the building door, letting out a breath of determination.

“Welcom… Oh my, kid. Are you lost?”

The employee at the room cafe looked at me and had an expression that said, “How did an elementary school student get here?”

It seemed that she hadn’t been informed that the Year 1 students had grown smaller.

Another employee beside her whispered to her.

“Hey… That person’s a student…”

“W-What…!?”

The employee was staring at me with an incredulous look.

I took out my student ID card out of my pocket and showed it to her.

She looked at the picture and me back and forth and wore a confused expression.

When the staff next to her briefly gave her an explanation, only then did she understand and give an awkward smile as she bowed her head and said, “I’m sorry!”

I wanted to get out of this awkward spot quickly.

 “I have a friend in room five. May I go in?”

“Ah… A friend…! Yes, yes, you can go inside!”

With a flustered look, she showed me the way to room five.

Then as if something came to her mind, she said, “The person who went inside didn’t pay though…”

 “…I’ll take care of it.”

It seemed that Seolha passed the bill over to me because she was poor.

I mean, if you’re going to be like this, you should’ve just met me outside…

On behalf of Seolha, who was broke, I had no choice but to hand over a small amount of money to the employee.

I looked at the remaining balance of my bank account on my phone as I walked down the hall of the room cafe.

You couldn’t see the inside of the room from the outside, but you could hear what people talked about if you stood still and listened closely.

The sound of couples feeding each other food. 

The sound of laughter about something good that happened.

The sounds overlapped each other. 

They were enjoying their happy teenage years.

I thought of my relationship which resembled a thriller.

Why do I have to get into such a merciless relationship…?

If you get caught, you die.

Didn’t it sound like something that came out of a thriller movie?

Could this be called a relationship?

This was all Fenrille’s fault, who entered my body abruptly.

But still, I have to live…

After I rationalized that I had no other choice, I stood in front of room 5 where Seolha was in.

If I opened this door, she would be there sitting down, and I had to win her over while she was on the border of reason and instinct.

On top of that, I had to do it while dragging my younger body which she was into.

I didn’t want to delay it longer, so I opened the door and went inside.

“You’re here?”

Seolha sat there and stared at me with a flushed face.

She spoke to me with her hazed eyes.

“Come and sit here. It was hard coming here, wasn’t it?”

Seolha tapped on the seat next to her, urging me to sit down.

Just what in the world was she thinking about?

I thought as I was forced to sit next to her.

My battle began now.

 ***

“When is he coming…”

After sending a text message to Han Sijoon, Lee Seolha was sitting at the room cafe where they had arranged to meet up.

It did prick her pride for handing the bill over to Sijoon since she only had coins in her pocket, but she didn’t have much reason left in her head. It didn’t hurt her as much as it usually did.

Rather, she was looking forward to seeing him.

Seolha’s mouth was drooling as she thought about the small Sijoon opening the door and entering the room.

“W-Why…am I doing this?”

Seolha abhorred males due to her abusive father. She loathed them to the point she wanted to kill them for just brushing past her body.

She also disliked Sijoon for that reason. She had more reasons to hate him too because he was the childhood friend of Yoo Hayeon. 

But…

That day.

Sijoon had grown younger inside the gate.

When she saw him, her instincts stirred, her reason blurred, and she couldn’t stop.

Was this my type? 

Seolha realized it for the first time.

The fact that she liked small and cute children.

Whether it was instinctive or a type…

Seolha could not judge it properly, but there was one thing she was sure of.

I want to be called “Noona” by Sijoon.

Sijoon, who had become younger, fit her type.

He fell out of her scale of misandry.

She wanted to adore him and make him into her younger brother, despite him being a male.

Above all else, there was something else more important to Seolha. 

Won’t it feel special since he’s Hayeon’s childhood friend…?

The fact that the smaller Sijoon was Hayeon’s childhood friend was quite an appealing thing to her.

Seolha envied Hayeon’s ability, so she had been jealous.

Wouldn’t it be different if he was the childhood friend of the target of her jealousy.

If I get him, wouldn’t I be like Hayeon?

If this had been her usual self, Seolha would have refuted it with a cool-head saying that wasn’t something people did.

She was in a slightly paralyzed state due to her side effects.

Her mind was settled to act according to her instincts and do what she desired.

Seolha thought about that as she quietly sat there, waiting for Sijoon to come.

And after some time had passed, the small Sijoon arrived at the room cafe.

 “You’re here…?”

In the room were Lee Seolha and Han Sijoon.

Just those two were left.

 ***

 “…”

Seolha looked at me with a red face.

I looked around the room cafe first.

As I took off my shoes, I saw that there was a small sofa with cushions inside.

It was a space designed so that two individuals would unconditionally sit next to each other to watch TV.

I didn’t understand why the academy had something like this, but I assumed the president built it since he understood that the students would be working hard after they graduate.

“Come and sit here. It was hard coming here, right?”

I had no choice but to sit next to her, who was patting the seat on her side.

She smiled in glee when I sat down.

I decided to ask her for courtesy’s sake, “So for what reason did you call me? You made it so obvious that you hated me.”

“…Don’t be so prickly. Can you hear me out a bit?”

Seolha replied as she grabbed my hand. 

There wasn’t the slightest hesitation in her action.

She started to talk to me about her misandry which I hadn’t even expected.

“I have a phobia of men. Just the slightest brush of a man’s body onto mine is unbearably disgusting. But I think you’re a little different.”

“…Is it because I’ve gotten smaller?”

“Maybe. It could also be because that’s my preference.”

Seolha said to me, trying to maintain her reason as much as possible even as she looked at me completely dazed.

But it seemed that she couldn’t stop acting differently from what she was saying.

Seolha talked to me as she kept skimming my body with her fingertip.

“I’m sorry about this. I can’t help it either… But I’m holding back a lot. Can you forgive Noona…?”

“Why are you the Noona?”

“S-Sorry…! This is also a mistake.”

When there were too many mistakes, they ended up being intentional.

But she was trying so hard not to make mistakes, so I decided to hold my words in.

“I don’t think you’re in my scale of misandry because you’ve gotten smaller. Young appearance is my type too.”

Seolha kept talking about how perverse she was for a while.

I listened to her without saying anything.

“S…So you see, can you listen to Noona’s request…?”

“Can you move away first and then tell me…?”

“Ah, sorry. It’s a mistake…”

Unable to control her instincts properly, Seolha kept rubbing her body against mine.

That was why my movement was also restricted, so I asked her to move away.

Although reality was different.

How dangerous…

Seolha had a distinctive scent of flowers.

The scent was strong but subtle.

A scent that struck the hearts of men.

If I suddenly kissed her, wouldn’t I absolutely die?

No matter how immune I was to her misandry, I had to be careful on how I dealt with her. 

I asked her with composure, “What’s the request?”

“…About that.”

Seolha slightly hesitated, and held my arm tightly as she said, “I told you I’m a misandrist, right..? When you grow up again, I won’t be able to touch men ever again. I don’t want to touch them even if I die.”

“So?”

“This will be the last time I’ll ever touch a man in my life…? Can you help me until your body turns back to normal? I-I’ll…give you a reward..!” 

She was asking me to help her.

That meant she wanted me to help satisfy her taste.

The part I was interested in was Seolha’s “reward”.

“Seolha. What’s the reward? I need to know that first.”

“Mon…ey I can’t give… Favor…? I’ll do you one favor..!”

“It can be anything?”

“Y… Yeah…!!”

I don’t know if her reason was paralyzed too, but Seolha was shouting that she would do anything I asked.

The reason she was in debt was because she gave her relative her guarantee when she was under her side effects.

Unfortunately, it seemed that her instinctive self failed to learn.

I had no reason not to accept her request. 

“Fine. I’ll help you. How should I help you? Call you, Noona? Or touch your hand like this?”

“Y…You’re good with your hands… Am I overthinking it…?”

These were the deft hands that patted Hana’s head and held Hayeon’s hand after all.

Seolha looked at that and wore a suspicious expression.

I just smiled as if nothing had happened.

She gave me a slightly dubious look, but her eyes clouded again.

She began to explain to me what I needed to do.

“First, when it’s just the two of us, call me Noona. I-It…doesn’t mean anything. It’s weird, right…? There’s a huge difference in our growth, yet for you to not call me Noona…”

Seolha gave weird reasons without explaining that it was to satisfy her taste.

I reviewed what Seolha had said.

To show a different side when we’re together while hiding our relationship from others.

This relationship label existed separately.

Seolha stared at me, her eyes clouded, and with only instinct left in her, she said, “Be secret friends with Noona.”

Secret friends.

A relationship hidden from others, which changed when it was just the two of us.

What Seolha wanted from me was that kind of relationship.

Footnotes

1A room cafe is a temporary private space where customers could relax, socialize, game, or engage in other activities. There’s usually a small mat, couch, or bed in the room. Some may offer food and snacks for an additional fee.