Why am I in this situation?
Since I became a girl, I have hardly touched my hair. I’ve always lived with straight hair, and when it got too long, I cut it. The only time I put it in a ponytail was a brief moment at the hair salon I used to go to, where Ham Yejin worked.
Since then, the only times I tied my hair was when it got too long and I didn’t have time to go to the salon. Even then, it was just a haphazard tie that wasn’t neat.
But now, I had twin tails.
Of course, it’s no surprise that for me, twin tails were something that only kids wore—girls in kindergarten or elementary school. In cartoons, twin tails might be a regular hairstyle, but in reality, it was either a child’s hairstyle or something worn by girls with a bit of a quirky personality.
Yet here I was, wearing twin tails.
“…Can I let it down now?”
“You look cute, so just keep it like that. It’s not over yet.”
The reason was simple: Mira had tied it for me when she saw me and exclaimed how cute I looked.
Mira wasn’t an otaku, but she loved cute things. And I must have appeared incredibly cute in this strange outfit to her. While it was alright that she liked me, I couldn’t stop her from fixing my hair to make me look cuter.
And so, I ended up sporting twin tails.
…Where’s the natural part, anyway?
“It’s cute.”
“I didn’t expect that from you…”
I felt betrayed, Mira. I didn’t know you were that kind of person.
“I’ve always dreamed of having a younger sister since I was little. It’s not like I could dream about it because my family was poor.”
…That was cowardly. If you say that, how could I ask if I’m your younger sister?
“Why is your attitude different toward me?”
Of course, in the midst of this, I could retort enough to Seo Eun-a, who was pouting and complaining about why I was being so harsh on her.
“Compare what you usually do with Mira.”
“I think I was pretty wholesome.”
“Stop talking nonsense.”
I held back from outright calling her a crazy person in front of Mira. Even so, Mira was casually fixing my hair, and frankly, I didn’t feel all that bad about it. It was just my hair that was a bit of a problem.
“How does it look?”
“Uh… it’s cute.”
Moreover, I honestly thought I looked cute with the twin tails Mira had done. I hadn’t been to a salon recently, so my hair was already long, making it even more so. Although it was a hairstyle for kids, I was essentially the same as a kid.
“Wow, you said you look cute, hee hee.”
“Shut up.”
She tried to tease me at every opportunity. Where did the respect for her elders go? Sigh, I should endure it as an adult. Wait a minute, isn’t she an adult too now?
“Alright, this should be enough, right? Let’s stop now.”
“I wanted to try a different hairstyle.”
“I’m not a doll…”
“Then you won’t do it next time?”
“…I’ll think about it.”
I just couldn’t be strong against this girl. Was it because she saved me? Or was it because I was unusually kind and well-behaved in her eyes?
“By the way, who called you earlier?”
“Huh? Oh, it was a senior from college.”
“A guy?”
“You only know about guys, huh? It’s a girl.”
“What was it about?”
“It’s nothing special; we had made plans, but I forgot about them.”
“What kind of plans?”
Eun-a’s question probably wasn’t out of genuine curiosity or a desire to hear the answer. She wasn’t that thoughtless. So why did I end up speaking without even knowing? I was led by some thought I didn’t understand, and by the time I realized it, the words had already come out.
“She helped me out once before, and as a thank-you, I said I’d set her up with Hwa-won.”
“What?!”
Eun-a seemed incredibly shocked, and even Mira looked a bit puzzled.
“…Why? What’s weird about it?”
“It’s weird. Well, it’s fine that she helped you, but setting her up with Hwa-won as a repayment isn’t right. You should consult Hwa-won about that too, shouldn’t you?”
“Did you even talk to that brother?”
“Well, I just call him that. We met briefly before. More importantly, shouldn’t you really ask Hwa-won first?”
“Yeah… is that right?”
Thinking about it, Eun-a was correct. Even though I wasn’t Hwa-won, how could I unilaterally decide on a meeting with him? Naturally, it was correct to hear Hwa-won’s thoughts first.
“Right?”
“Yes. So tell Hwa-won first, apologize, and get his rejection.”
Although the conclusion seemed a bit odd, it did seem like the right procedure. If Hwa-won didn’t like it, I couldn’t force him to meet Senior Su-young. That would be wrong and also not something that could happen.
Besides, if he genuinely wanted to meet her, wouldn’t he contact her himself? Did he have any reason to ask me to arrange a meeting? Did something bad happen between him and Hwa-won?
All these were baseless thoughts, but I started to rationalize myself with such ideas. And somehow, I felt like this hypothesis might be true. Senior Su-young didn’t seem like a strange person, after all.
“Sometimes, you’re helpful.”
“What do you mean sometimes? That’s a little harsh.”
“Just kidding, just kidding.”
Anyway, there wasn’t a need to keep this topic going here. After that, the three of us naturally passed the time together. There wasn’t anything particularly special to discuss. It was just talk about how we had been doing and what we were up to lately.
The flow of conversation shifted when Mira brought up the story I had given her earlier.
“Oh, that one. Was it fun?”
“Yeah, it was good.”
I was slightly worried, but it seemed she liked it. Thank goodness.
“What did you like about it?”
“Initially, it talked about the loneliness of the beast. Because there were no other beasts like it, it felt lonely and went to find one. Until that point, I thought it was pretty normal.”
“Is that so? I liked that part too.”
When it met other beasts, it didn’t hurt as much as the story continued.
“In the searching part, where it meets many different beasts, interacts with them, and ultimately leaves them behind, I don’t think it’s bad, but it felt a bit lonely to me. But in the end, it meets another beast like itself, right?”
“Yet, it was somewhat different from the happiness it wanted, wasn’t it?”
“Even among the same beasts, it was still lonely. Lonely in a crowd? Maybe it’s a bit different from that. But anyway, in the end, the beast that went into itself to be with the same beasts couldn’t endure it and had to leave. The fact that it spent that time with the lonely beast, which was so different from everyone else and shunned by all, somehow touched my heart.”
I felt similarly. The beast that longed for others like it ultimately chose an existence that was the opposite of itself. A being shunned by everyone chose to shun everyone else. Isn’t it beautiful?
“It’s a doujin work, but it was really good.”
“Where did you get this?”
“Some otaku event, I guess.”
“Eh? Why did you go to such a place? Do they sell stuff like this there?”
“It seems like they sell a variety of things surprisingly. I saw someone selling ink wash paintings too.”
Our enjoyable conversation came to a halt because of Eun-a’s nasal sound. It felt like she deliberately made a loud noise as if she wasn’t pleased.
“Hmmm….”
“Why?”
“Nothing, but it seems like you two are really close even though it’s been a while since you met.”
“It’s because we have a common topic.”
“I’m jealous.”
Was she feeling envious?
“If you’re jealous, then stop writing weird stuff and try this instead.”
“Why is that weird?!”
Eun-a raised her voice as if she was a bit sulky. Until now, the conversation had flowed like usual. The problem was that we momentarily forgot that Mira was also here.
“Weird stuff? Eun-a, do you write weird stuff?”
“Ah, no, I don’t know. What does that even mean, haha.”
Wow, I’ve never seen her like this before.
As soon as Mira turned to face her, Eun-a started panicking like crazy.
Such a sight of Eun-a was rare to see. To be fair, anyone would act that way.
I thought about Eun-a, who was glancing at me with a secretly resentful look. I felt sorry, but were you planning to hide this for your whole life? I couldn’t ask her.
“Ha, ha, you’re saying weird things too, big brother. What do you mean I write weird stuff?”
“Okay, I guess I made a mistake.”
Anyway, I had to keep the secret. Since it was my mistake, I had to cover for it too. Ah, I’m sorry. I’ll buy you something delicious later, so stop glaring at me.
“Is that so?”
“Yeah, yeah. It was my mistake.”
“I thought you wrote something like erotic literature or something.”
“Eek! Cough! Ugh…!”
As soon as she opened her mouth, Eun-a made a peculiar sound that mixed a hiccup and a sneeze as if advertising, “I write erotic literature~.” Of course, there wasn’t anyone in this situation who would be oblivious enough not to notice.
“…Wow, is that true? Do you write erotic literature?”
“O-Okay, I do.”
“Ah, uh… yeah, I mean… that’s right.”
At least I’ll pretend to fall for it, and that was what Mira’s reaction seemed to say. It didn’t seem like she genuinely hated it, but she made a rather shocked expression, which was honestly kind of funny.
“Geez! Are you laughing?! It’s all your fault I got caught!”
“You said it was a misunderstanding, right?”
“Y-Yeah, it was a misunderstanding.”
“You’re a pervert, aren’t you?”
“…No, I’m not.”
“She’s definitely a pervert. Didn’t you see her dressing me up like this?”
“That’s your clothing!”
Don’t look so indignant. It was bound to be discovered someday. I should feel sorry, but honestly, it was a bit of a tease. Hee hee.
“I’m sorry. I’ll buy you something delicious later.”
“Do you think I’m that easy? Unless it’s a wish card, this doesn’t add up.”
“Just one, okay?”
Yeah, it’s exclusively just one. Honestly, this scene is quite entertaining. Besides, the fact that Mira isn’t reacting negatively to this also allowed for it. After all, she isn’t a child anymore, and Mira isn’t the type to criticize someone’s hobbies to that extent.
“By the way, you said before that you don’t write things like that. Were you lying?”
“…Yeah.”
“You said you write erotic literature, and I get it, but I’m still a bit disappointed.”
“Ugh, I’m sorry.”
“Fine. Do better next time.”
“Yeah….”
Even Eun-a, in front of her only friend, seems to soften. It’s true, without Mira, I’m the only one who can hang out with Eun-a. She probably wouldn’t want that.
“Then can I read it too?”
“I haven’t read your writing recently either. By the way, what are you writing these days?”
“Ah, no way.”
“Why not? You brought a bunch of different things before.”
“This time is a bit… dangerous, I guess.”
Mira looked at Eun-a as if she found it pathetic.
“How perverse did you write it?”
“It’s not perverse!”
At the point where she can’t show it, can’t she really make such claims?
“Alright, I won’t ask to see it. Calm down.”
“…Thanks, and I’ll see you later, big brother.”
“Whatever you wish for, I won’t grant you anything weird.”
“Hmph, just wait and see.”
In any case, the story that ended up feeling lively like this, we didn’t notice until the end that that day, there were some dark emotions we couldn’t easily define, embedded in us. For me, for Eun-a, and for Mira.
It wasn’t something worth worrying about now. We could just let it go without knowing about it. Whether it would sprout or not, it was still a seed whose future was unknown.
But we were not macguffins.
