FLEX

Saturday morning, ten o'clock.

Maybe it was the full stomach, but for the first time in a while, I'd slept well enough to feel satisfied.

One upside of waking up in a woman's body: the amount of food I needed had gone way down.

I hadn't even finished the hot dogs and rice bowl the boss had packed for me yesterday — they'd gone straight into the fridge.

Two days' worth of rations, secured.

Jackpot.

I was lying on the mattress, staring blankly at the ceiling, when it hit me.

"Right — I never opened the envelope the boss gave me yesterday."

The carefully stashed envelope inside the black plastic bag.

I'd come home, wolfed down food, and collapsed into sleep without so much as a proper look.

Hands trembling a little, I picked it up.

"Wonder how much is in here. Worked about four hours yesterday, so… eighty thousand?"

I opened the envelope.

"One, two, three…? Whaaat?"

Four crisp bills, glowing a luminous gold.

Two hundred thousand won.

That was a full day's hard labor pay.

"Boss, I love you. Respect."

Then the boss's words from yesterday floated back.

Use this to buy essentials first. I threw a little extra on top of what you earned today.

That was not "a little," boss.

"Alright, then — clothes first, like the boss said… wait. Back then?"

Only then did I understand why the boss had been squinting at me while I worked yesterday.

She'd noticed I wasn't wearing any underwear.

Yeah. Women really are different.

…

I finished getting ready to go out without much fuss.

A quick shower and drying my hair took about thirty minutes?

"Used to take three minutes. This hair is such a pain."

Last step: getting dressed.

"Ugh, this is bugging me. Is it that obvious?"

At home I'd figured two black T-shirts were enough to hide everything. Judging by the fact that the boss had noticed, maybe not.

"Ah, whatever. That's why I'm going out to buy some, isn't it?"

Real-man special: zero concern for other people's stares.

I layered the same two T-shirts as before and headed out, then made a beeline for the big supermarket near my place.

You could ask why anyone would buy clothes there, but I didn't have a choice. I'd never bought women's clothes in my life.

…To be fair, I hadn't bought that many men's clothes either. Mostly just ordered whatever was on flash sale online.

The one place I actually knew was a clothing store inside the supermarket called Top Eight.

I'd even spotted underwear hanging on the mannequins while walking past before.

The second I stepped into the supermarket, I felt it — every person who walked by was sneaking looks at me.

Not staring outright, just a quick sweep from head to toe before pretending they hadn't looked.

Is it that obvious…? I need to buy something fast.

I hurried straight to Top Eight the moment I was inside.

The store was fairly large, but the staff never approached unless you asked for help first.

Which meant I could browse at my own pace without worrying about anyone watching.

"Hmm, everyday wear over here. Underwear is… ah, there."

I found the section I wanted and walked over without thinking — only to hit a wall.

"What is all this?"

Why were there so many kinds?

Straps, wireless — every word on the tags was gibberish to me.

I was about to pull out my phone to search when a welcome voice came from beside me.

"Hello, welcome to Top Eight~. If you're looking for anything~, just let me know~."

A clerk speaking in the exact same singsong cadence as if she had a fixed script loaded in.

I walked over and asked.

"Hello. I wanted to ask about something."

"Yes, ma'am, what are you looking fo—?"

The moment our eyes met, the clerk's well-rehearsed line just… stopped.

I ignored it and kept going.

"So, uh. What kind of underwear should I buy?"

"………Excuse me? ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Ah — yes. Do you have a particular product or size in mind?"

"I don't really know. Could you recommend one?"

"Ah… th-then I'd recommend this one. It's a little roomy, so it should be comfortable for you."

She handed me a product from the rack beside her.

"Thank you. Would it be alright if I tried it on?"

"Y-y-y-yes! The fitting rooms are that way…"

…Why was she suddenly tripping over her words?

I took the product she'd given me and stepped into a fitting room.

Completely unprepared for what was about to happen.

"Is she a celebrity?"

Seo Yu-bin muttered it before she could stop herself.

Three years working at Top Eight.

She'd seen countless customers in that time, but the woman who'd just walked in stood out from every single one of them.

A completely different art style from everyone else in the store. Beautiful enough that anyone on the street would turn around for a second look.

And yet her outfit was a disaster.

A baggy black T-shirt that made zero attempt to acknowledge her figure. Track pants so shiny they looked like they'd been worn for years.

Face and clothes did not feel like they belonged to the same person.

Of course, she'd seen plenty of people who couldn't dress. But someone wasting looks like that? Even Seo Yu-bin had never seen it.

"That's fraud. Fraud against that face."

She'd graduated from a fashion design program and still dreamed of launching her own brand.

The Top Eight part-time job she'd started to save capital had somehow stretched into three years.

To her, clothes were a person's second face.

And someone with a face that beautiful was walking around in that?

Unacceptable.

Seo Yu-bin's fingertips trembled. One thought already filled her entire head.

She was going to overhaul that woman's wardrobe. No matter what.

…

"Ugh, putting this on is a pain… but it is definitely more comfortable. Science and technology, baby."

As the customer from earlier came out muttering ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to herself, Seo Yu-bin approached with an armful of clothes.

"How does the product fit, ma'am?"

"Great. Thanks for the recommendation. I'll take three of the same."

Seo Yu-bin smiled. There was a faintly manic light in her eyes.

"Of course. But — are you not interested in any clothes?"

"Huh? Not really."

Seo Yu-bin caught her by the wrist.

"…?"

"If you buy now, I can apply my staff discount. Are you sure you're not interested?"

A soft, simmering intensity poured from Seo Yu-bin's eyes.

The customer opened her mouth as if the force of it had pressed the words out of her.

"Ah… okay. Just a little, then?"

"Wonderful. I've prepared several options just for you."

The mountain of clothes sitting beside her.

"Try them on in order, and if anything works, we can purchase them together. How does that sound?"

"…Th-this many?"

Hangers filled both of her hands.

"Yes, ma'am. I just know they'll suit you perfectly."

Under the increasingly sharp gleam in those eyes and that smiling face, the thoroughly cowed customer retreated back into the fitting room.

Clothes in hand.

…

"Holy crap, my eye for this is still— mmph."

Seo Yu-bin clamped a hand over her mouth to stop the monologue that had slipped out on its own.

Just a white crop top and jeans — and yet the clothes came alive on her like they'd been made for a model.

"Does it… look okay? It is definitely cooler, at least."

"Compared to those rags you were wearing earlier, it's infinitely, infini— ah. I'm so sorry."

At the customer's simple question of whether it looked fine, Seo Yu-bin had forgotten every filter she owned and just poured the words out.

"Rags, she says… Anyway, I'll take this plus the underwear from before."

"There are still other pieces, ma'am! Why don't you try those on as well?"

"Ah… I, uh, don't really have the money right now."

Seo Yu-bin was not about to give up.

"I'll buy you one outfit! So please — just try that one on!"

She shoved the customer, who had been about to leave the fitting room, right back inside and shut the door.

Money no longer mattered much to Seo Yu-bin.

Proof that her eye was never wrong.

And leaving a small debt of gratitude for the favor she planned to ask later.

Those two things were all that mattered to her right now.

A moment later.

When the customer stepped out of the fitting room, Seo Yu-bin's mouth simply would not close.

A bold off-shoulder dress that made her bright face pop.

Paired with a beige cardigan that wrapped her arms and shoulders just enough not to overexpose.

The most basic combination imaginable — and for that very reason, devastating.

Especially on a face like hers.

"Th-this is a little embarrassing…"

"Insane. Let's head to the register, ma'am."

"…What?"

She took the customer's hand and steered her toward the checkout.

"Three sets of underwear, the crop top, and the jeans — that'll be one hundred forty-eight thousand won. Do you need parking validation?"

"Ah… what about the outfit I'm wearing right now? Aren't we ringing that up?"

"I'll cover that one. You're just too pretty in it."

The customer hesitated at Seo Yu-bin's words, then asked with a puzzled look.

"…I appreciate it, but why are you going this far? I'll take the goodwill, for the record. I'm not turning it down."

Having taken the hundred and fifty thousand, Seo Yu-bin handed back two thousand won in change along with something else.

"In exchange — may I ask for your phone number? Ah! This is who I am."

"This is…?"

What landed in the customer's hand was a business card.

Style Shop — Designer Seo Yu-bin.

"I'm starting a clothing business soon. Please — just once — be a fitting model for me. I'm serious."

"…Ah. Okay. Understood."

The customer slipped the card into a shopping bag and held out her hand.

"Could I get a pen? You said you wanted my number."

"Ah — yes! Here you go!"

She wrote a name and phone number on the memo pad Seo Yu-bin handed her and passed it back.

"Here. I'll be going, then."

"Thank you so much, ma'am. Have a wonderful day!"

"You too, Seo Yu-bin boss. I hope ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the business thrives."

With that, the customer walked out with both hands full of shopping bags.

Hearing the word "boss" for the first time in her life, Seo Yu-bin fought down the urge to float off the floor and made herself a promise.

Someday, that woman would be the model for her clothes.

But still.

With a face like that… why did she talk like some middle-aged guy?

"Ugh, my arms are about to fall off."

I dumped the shopping bags filling both hands into a corner and dropped straight onto the mattress.

First time in my life I'd spent over a hundred thousand won in one go.

Well. Except when I got this place.

"Still, I got a good deal. And free tribute on top?"

The original goal had just been underwear.

Somehow, at some point, my hands had been full of clothes.

I'd meant to refuse at first, but the words simply wouldn't come out.

Not with the look in that clerk's eyes — the kind that promised consequences if you said no.

"Buying someone free clothes like that. Does she have money to burn?"

I pushed myself up and stood in front of the mirror.

The cardigan was oversized enough to swallow my whole frame, and the dress stopped above the knee.

The first skirt and bare-shoulder top I'd ever worn felt pretty cool, but…

"This might be a bit much…"

The real problem was that the woman in the mirror looked far too much like a woman.

"…I don't even know what I am anymore."

I was about to strip and change when something I'd been ignoring for a while caught my eye in the corner of my vision — the status window.

"…Damn it."

Ten thousand followers in a month.

Even pulling ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in over three hundred and fifty a day would barely cut it.

A number I would never hit if I kept turning on the stream and going AFK like before.

And if I failed…

The curse of kidney stones…

"Hell no!"

Just thinking about it made my side twinge.

"I need to get on. Properly set a streaming schedule, too."

I hit the power button on the computer right away.

Wrrrr.

The moment I logged into Shashark, notification windows flooded the screen.

And the numbers on the status window updated.

"What?"

I tapped the Shashark notifications.

Apparently a clip of my face caught on the webcam had hit the number-one popular post.

And my follower count had climbed because of it.

"How many verses is this song? I'll stop at one."

Still, it wasn't bad news.

The follower count really had gone up.

"It's the weekend, so I'll play a short game for now and talk about when I'll be streaming going forward. That should work, right?"

I hit the start stream button with a light heart.

The webcam was covered with a cloth for now.

Last thing I needed was another accidental face cam if it fell off again.

"Alright. Let's go."