Your Commander-in-Chief – Chapter 5

Shutdown system.

One of those human mistakes that should never have existed. It’s now blocking my path.

As I stepped out of the capsule with a blank expression, a dark room welcomed me.

Checking the small clock on the desk, I saw the hour hand pointing to 10 o’clock.

My cheerful mood deflated in an instant. The calm that settled was igniting anger within me.

I sprang up from my seat.

The heavy sound of my footsteps echoed through the corridor.

“Ha.”

Leaning against the cold corridor wall, I let out a sigh. What would change even if I got angry?

Shutdown system, huh? I thought it didn’t apply to me, so I brushed it off, not knowing it would come back to bite me.

I headed toward the living room. Opening the corridor door, I was greeted by the bright light of the living room.

The familiar sound of the television always playing and the image of my mom sitting on the sofa, watching variety shows or the news, came to mind.

That old, faded memory resurfaced, overlapping with my current situation.

I had encountered an opponent I would never meet again. But what was I doing right now?

As good as gaming is…

“Hayun?”

“Mom.”

“Oh, it’s already ten o’clock?”

I naturally approached and sat next to her. No matter how different the world was, Mom was still Mom.

I hugged her silently.

“Do you need some pocket money?”

“No.”

*

Early morning. As I got out of bed, I thought this was my chance.

An opportunity that started by borrowing the body of a younger sibling from another world.

As I stepped out of the room, a familiar boy rushed past me.

He must have stayed up all night gaming, as dark circles were heavy under his eyes.

How old does the shutdown system apply to?

“Hey.”

“…Me?”

Hayun, the owner of this body, apparently called Harang ‘oppa’.

So it was no wonder my call felt unfamiliar.

I nodded with my arms crossed.

“How old are you?”

“I’m 18…”

“Then how old am I?”

“Are you crazy?”

“Answer properly.”

“Fifteen…”

Harang muttered that and dashed into the bathroom.

A look of confusion lingered at the end.

A chance that started again in the body of a 15-year-old girl.

I couldn’t let it slip away. The owner of this body, Seohayun, could curse me all she wanted.

Selfish as it was, I had a lot of things I wanted to say to the mom I met again.

‘Please don’t come back.’

So that I can continue living.

After Harang left the bathroom, I started my shower.

The reflection of a small girl in the mirror didn’t evoke much emotion.

Was it familiarity? An unconsciousness the body held? Anyway, the shower was over in no time.

As I hastily dried my dripping hair with a towel and sat at the living room table, my mom, preparing breakfast, came rushing over and grabbed my head.

“Seohayun!”

“Oh, yes?”

“I told you to dry your hair properly.”

As I absentmindedly nodded, my mom moved her hands to carefully dry my hair.

It felt strangely familiar.

Even during breakfast, my mom poured all her attention into my hair.

She even brought a hairdryer to dry it for me.

Watching from the side, Harang pouted and grumbled.

“Mom, my hair isn’t dried yet.”

“You have short hair, so it dries quickly.”

I knew that my mom’s affection wasn’t solely directed at me, but it still felt good.

I smiled lightly and moved my chopsticks.

After finishing my meal, I put on my school uniform. Standing in front of the mirror, the girl seemed uncomfortable in the clothes she wore, constantly turning this way and that.

Who would have thought I’d be going back to school? Let alone wearing a middle school girl’s uniform.

An inexplicable sense of betrayal made me feel weird.

To truly seize this opportunity, I thought about living as Seohayun.

The uniform I wore was familiar. I must have entered the same middle school that Harang attended.

“I’m off!”

“See you later.”

I left the house with Harang.

He glanced at me, wrinkling his face.

What could possibly be bothering him? His already unattractive face looked even worse scrunched up.

Then suddenly, I recalled my 18-year-old self.

“Hey.”

“…”

Is he not planning to respond unless I call him ‘oppa’?

What an absurd dude.

“Don’t smoke.”

“…What?”

My 18-year-old self was a smoker. I learned to smoke naturally while hanging out with friends.

I had never been caught by family, but I was eventually caught by my mom that winter when I was 18.

That day, she cried. Probably reminded of my dad whom she let go first.

My father was a heavy smoker. Even after being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, he continued smoking.

The last memory was of him looking at the sky, cigarette in his mouth, with a transcendent smile.

“How did you know?”

“The smell is strong.”

I walked past a flustered Harang, who hurriedly followed me from behind.

Since the school was nearby, we headed in the same direction. He peered cautiously at me, then opened his mouth carefully.

“Hey, you didn’t tell mom, right?”

“If mom finds out, she’ll cry. Don’t smoke.”

Even though he was still a boy who hadn’t matured yet, he wasn’t stupid.

With a serious expression, Harang nodded.

He then pulled something out from his pocket and crumpled it.

A faint smell of tobacco hit my nose.

“Ha…”

The sensation of the skirt I was wearing for the first time felt strange. The breeze flowing under my legs felt like someone was caressing my thighs.

“Are you sick or something?”

“No.”

“Then why are you walking like that?”

At Harang’s observation, I looked down. I discovered I was walking in a truly awkward manner.

I needed to be careful.

I turned my gaze to observe the movements of other female students. This body, with its transcendent abilities, could replicate those movements effortlessly.

Suddenly, a small curiosity arose.

Was this world’s Hayun good at using this ability?

“Hey.”

“What…”

It seemed Harang was a bit dejected from being called out.

He looked wretched trying to read my expressions, not very manly at all.

I tapped his back and said, “Did I play well in the game?”

“You? You were terrible!”

That wasn’t the kind of answer I wanted to hear. Frowning, Harang quickly averted his gaze.

“Were you really that bad? Seriously?”

“You always lost to me. So, that means you were horrible.”

I couldn’t determine a precise standard. As I glared at him with a frown, Harang sighed and opened his mouth.

“Well… you were definitely on the worse side.”

Now, that was the kind of answer I liked.

Nodding, I sped past Harang and took off.

The sensation of running with a young body brought a refreshing feeling.

No matter how much I ran, I didn’t feel out of breath. My legs felt light. There was no shoulder stiffness.

“Hey!”

Harang chased me from behind, but I ignored him and kept running.

After quite a while, I arrived at the main gate of the school.

It was a place where the middle school and high school were connected, and it was here I had to part ways with Harang.

“Take care.”

I waved goodbye to Harang as he caught up, and he awkwardly waved back.

The sight of that boy looking drained didn’t sit well with me.

I knew my class from the student ID.

After passing through the main gate, I walked through the school, heading down the hallway.

Arriving at the second year, class three, I opened the door without panicking.

As I stepped inside, I felt many gazes land on me.

Familiarity, warmth, and since it wasn’t particularly unfavorable, it seemed my social relations were good.

“Hayun!”

Barely entering the class, a strange girl rushed up to me.

The closeness was quite familiar. But it was also strange.

My body instinctively reacted, dodging the girl who was trying to hug me.

With a smooth, natural movement, I turned slightly and passed by the girl, who went, “Huh?” as she distanced herself from me.

“Hello.”

I lightly waved to greet her, and the girl waved back with a confused expression.

Her gaze flicked rapidly over me, from head to toe. I checked her name tag.

The name was Lee Sohee.

Apparently, Hayun had quite a few friends.

My mind raced to memorize the faces and names of the kids.

“What are you doing?”

Not finding a seat and awkwardly standing around, Sohee approached and snatched my bag from me.

As I stared at her blankly, she confidently walked over and placed my bag in an empty spot.

“Are you going to the store?”

“The store?”

“Yeah.”

I frowned and checked the time.

I still had plenty of time until first period started, so it seemed fine to stop by the store.

“Let’s go.”

I needed to get used to this lifestyle. Avoiding it wouldn’t solve anything.

With my permission, Sohee came close and linked her arm with mine. Surprised by the unfamiliar proximity, I tried to pull away, but Sohee’s grip was surprisingly strong.

Was this how it was supposed to be?

Nobody around seemed to find it weird.

Sohee chattered endlessly. I could hardly keep up with the talk of a middle school girl with the spirit of a 40-year-old man.

Sohee seemed to find my reaction amusing, smiling brightly.

We quickly grabbed some bread at the store.

After that, time flowed without anything special happening until class began.

The wiggly, awkward letters on the electronic whiteboard were hard to focus on.

Maybe I underestimated the problems at a middle school level. No, it was just that I had spent so long living with my studies in the dust that it felt difficult.

I buried my head in my hands. Right now, I couldn’t keep up with the class.

After class ended, I wrestled with the textbooks. The only fortunate thing was that Hayun’s friends were quite considerate.

Seeing me focused on studying, they didn’t approach.

But that was just a temporary measure. If time kept passing like this, I’d end up losing all of Hayun’s friends.

Spending the whole day studying made it feel like the first day at school had finally come to an end.

At the time students were dismissing, the classroom began to empty out.

“Hayun, Hayun!”

Looking up at the sweet voice, I saw Sohee approaching and looking at me.

This time, the distance was even shorter. She was almost right up against my desk, prompting me to create space between us.

“What’s up?”

“See you tomorrow…!”

Whispering, perhaps wanting to bring it down to a hushed tone, Sohee leaned in to whisper in my ear.

That sight was quite adorable.

As I stared blankly at Sohee walking away, the classroom soon became completely empty.

Let’s go back and play some games.

I gathered my bag and left the classroom.