Chuseok
The next day.
Our family has a slightly unusual tradition. On Chuseok, we meet only Mom's side of the family; on Lunar New Year, only Dad's. It's a somewhat strange custom.
For me, though, it just means I don't have to shuttle back and forth between households all holiday, so it's nothing but convenient.
The reason I'm bringing this up out of nowhere is that Mom's side of the family is at our house right now.
Why our house, of all places? Simple. Because Mom is the eldest. Not just any eldest, either — the eldest of one son and two daughters, raised in a struggling household, helping raise her younger siblings on her back.
The result: rather than anyone bothering to travel elsewhere, the whole clan has gathered at our house for roughly the last seven years.
"Auntie's here!"
"Huh? Wha— Yeonwoo?! Your face has gotten even scarier since last time!"
"Haha! And you've grown quite a few more wrinkles over the past year, Auntie."
"Hehe~ I know, right~"
Um, that was a clean hit.
My aunt stretched her voice out trying to play it off, but she couldn't hide the faint tremble underneath.
Oh, and just in case anyone's worried — we're simply exchanging warm greetings right now. It's the annual WWE match. Nothing to see here.
"You doing well at university~? Gah! Wait! Don't tell me! Are the kids there so scared of your face that they're shunning you?!"
"Haha! I'd worry about Doyeon first, actually. Didn't she take her exams this semester? How did those go?"
For the record, my cousin Doyeon became a second-year middle schooler this year, took her very first exams — and bombed them spectacularly.
Oh, why would second year be her first exams? Back in my day we had tests starting in elementary school, but apparently these days they don't begin until second year of middle school.
...I truly do not understand modern curricula.
Anyway, given all that, the damage was guaranteed to land.
"Hey! You know it and you're saying it anyway!"
"Know what?"
"Ugh! Fine, I lost, I lost!"
"I have no idea what you're talking about, but since you've conceded, shall we log this as my win?"
"...What on earth happened to you over the past year to make you this strong?"
Regression and a sex change, that's what.
I always say this, but going through those will do wonders for your mental fortitude.
"And a correction, please. You've lost every single time — quit talking like I suddenly went feral this year."
My record against my aunt stood at zero defeats since my second year of middle school. Including the years before the regression, of course.
Having added another win to the tally, I asked what I was actually curious about.
"So where's Doyeon?"
"Aigo~ Her middle-school-itis must be flaring up. She's out on the porch raising a ruckus on the phone with her little friends."
"Hmm."
"Don't you dare hit her. Why would you lay a hand on someone else's precious daughter?"
"I'm sorry, what? Why on earth would I hit her?"
"Huh? You wouldn't...?"
"...What exactly do you take me for, Auntie?"
"Uh... shall we just move on?"
"...Yes. Let's."
I decided that not hearing the answer would be better for my mental health.
"Is Uncle-in-law not here yet?"
"No, Auntie got here first."
"Tch. That man is always late."
"Well, he does live pretty far away. Can't be helped."
"Still annoys me!"
"Anyway, come on in."
I took the luggage she was holding and set it down somewhere reasonable.
"Uncle-in-law's running late because of parking, right?"
"Yeah, he'll probably come in with Doyeon once he finds a spot."
"Hmm, I see."
So there I was, chatting with my aunt in the living room, when Nayeon emerged from her room.
"Auntie!"
"Nayeon!"
The two of them sprinted toward each other, calling out, and embraced with explosive enthusiasm.
"Auntie!"
"Nayeon!"
"Auntie!"
"Nayeon!"
"...Could you two maybe wrap it up? It's exhausting just to watch."
"Auntie! Did unnie win this time?!"
"W-well, of course!"
"...So I lost."
"No... Yeonwoo's just gotten so strong this year..."
As always, that woman really, truly cannot lie.
"You're here?"
"Unnie~!"
Having finished with Nayeon, my aunt hurled herself at Mom this time.
"Don't hang on me. It's hot."
"Oh, come on~ is that any way to treat a sister you haven't seen in ages~?"
"Let go."
...Yeah, Mom and I really are alike.
Watching the way Mom handled my aunt, I could see so much of myself in it. The power of genetics truly is a fearsome thing.
"Anyone home? The in-laws have arrived!"
"Uncle-in-law!"
And so, while I was still trading greetings with my aunt, my uncle-in-law and Doyeon showed up.
"Oh, Yeonwoo? Already a legal adult, huh... Time really does fly..."
"Doesn't it just."
From my perspective, it's been nearly ten years since I came of age, but to everyone else it hasn't even been one, so a reaction like that was only natural.
Even before the regression, whenever a younger cousin of mine turned adult I'd caught myself thinking, has it really been that long already?
"Doyeon, aren't you going to say hello?"
"U-um, hi, unnie..."
"...What's wrong with her?"
Before the regression, wasn't she a prickly little middle schooler around this time of year?
...Since when did she turn into such a shrinking violet?
"She says she's nervous, seeing you after so long."
"Dad...!"
"What? You're the one who begged me to put in a good word."
...She gets nervous about meeting me?
"Well... cut her some slack, will you..."
"...Yes."
Seriously, this face of mine...
Once my uncle-in-law and Doyeon had exchanged greetings with the rest of the family, Nayeon holed up in her room again to squeeze in some studying, and Doyeon was left to do whatever she pleased with her phone in my room.
"Make yourself comfortable. Really. Treat it like your own room. Of course, I know perfectly well you won't manage to relax even hearing that — I'm just saying I won't pay you any mind, so do whatever you like. Got it?"
"U-um, okay..."
"Good answer."
Impressed by her obedience, I gave her head a pat.
So this is how young a second-year middle schooler actually is...
Unlike the Doyeon in my memories, there was still baby fat on her cheeks, and she looked so much more childish that a strange feeling settled over me.
"U-um, unnie...!"
"What."
"...N-nothing."
"What is it? anticlimactic much."
Leaving Doyeon to it, I stepped out of the room and headed for the kitchen.
"Oh, you're here. Want to give me a hand frying the jeon?"
Mom held out a spatula as she asked — the holiday pancakes that make up half a proper Chuseok table.
"Sure."
There was no point in staying in my room when the only outcome was making Doyeon uncomfortable. This was better for everyone.
So there I was, frying one jeon after another, when — just as we were nearly done — my maternal uncle finally arrived.
"I'll get it."
Same as before, I volunteered to go greet him, set down my spatula, and headed for the front door.
"Uncle, it's been a while."
"Oh! Yeonwoo!"
My uncle beamed and spread both arms wide toward me.
"Please don't hug me."
"...Cold as ever, aren't you?"
"You know it."
Right as I finished speaking, the front door swung open again and my aunt-in-law came in.
"Oh my! Yeonwoo~?!"
"Ah, hello, Auntie."
"Wow! How do you keep getting prettier every time I see you?! Meanwhile all I do is gain wrinkles..."
"It's fine. You look far younger than Auntie over there, at least."
"Hey! Yeonwoo! I can hear you!"
"Oh, so it's just premature aging on Auntie's part, then?"
"Why you little brat!"
"Haha! You two at it again today?"
"'At it,' she says. I'm merely entertaining her."
"Hmm, judging by Yeonwoo's condition, I'd say you lost again today."
"Stating the obvious just wastes breath, so I'm glad you read the room for me, Auntie."
"...I take it our young lady here got thoroughly trounced, then?"
"...She did..."
Anyway, we couldn't keep standing around in the entryway, so we relocated to the living room.
"Where's your kid?"
"Says she's finally buckling down for the CSAT, so she's studying at home."
"Ha... she should've started ages ago... I don't know why she waits until there's barely two months left..."
My cousin, Nayeon's age, was apparently using the college entrance exam as an excuse to slack off at home.
And judging by the looks of it, my uncle and aunt-in-law both knew and were simply letting it slide.
"Well then, I'll go bring Nayeon and Doyeon out to pay their respects."
"Yeah, go ahead. If Nayeon's studying, just leave her be."
"Will do."
I started with the easy target: Nayeon.
"Hey."
"Hm? Unnie. What?"
"Uncle's here."
"Oh! Be right there!"
True to her easily-amused, simple-minded self, Nayeon bounded off immediately, and from the living room came the sounds of her and my uncle's family greeting each other with delight.
Listening to that racket, I moved to open the door of my room to fetch Doyeon — and then I heard it. Faint enough that you'd have to be standing right at the door to catch it.
"Aaah...! She patted my head...! I'm not washing my hair for a week...!"
...What kind of nonsense is that.
The abrupt words froze me mid-reach, hand already on the doorknob.
"Seriously, can't Yeonwoo unnie just debut as an idol?! At Gaon Entertainment?!"
I already debuted, though... as an idol, no less.
You don't know it yet, apparently, but I'm a VTuber.
At that very company you just mentioned, in fact.
And doing quite well for myself, I might add?
Since I can't tell you, go find out on your own, and then be satisfied with her.
"That's why it'd be so amazing if we could collab with our Lady Roze...!"
Huh... so watching her isn't enough for you anymore?
...This one's a variant, I see.
Still, thank goodness she doesn't know we're the same person.
"The moment unnie debuts, what's a Do Hyunwoo gonna be?! She'd crush him instantly!"
...Try saying that in front of Nayeon sometime.
You were practically frothing with joy when I set up that meeting with Do Hyunwoo yesterday, so I'm confident you'd go wild over this too — in a very different sense.
"Whatever! I'm hanging up — I'm gonna go hang out with my gorgeous, total girl-crush of an unnie!"
...Oh. She was on the phone with a friend this whole time.
Well, this is a problem...
I had the distinct feeling I'd just overheard something I was never meant to hear...
Never in my wildest imagination did I expect to walk in on my cousin's entire dark history seconds before it got rewritten.
So. Stay calm. Think it over for a moment, then decide what to do.
Easy! Only I heard it, so all I have to do is act like I didn't! I can do this!
With one deep breath to steel myself, I opened the door.
"Doyeon. Uncle's here. Come say hello."
"Gah! U-um, unnie...?"
"Uncle's arrived."
"R-right...?"
...Now that I look at her properly — that nervous state isn't fear of me. It's because she likes me, isn't it.
Tch... am I supposed to be happy about this...?
No... that feels a bit much, even for me...
"U-um, unnie...!"
"What."
"I-it's just...! N-nothing...!"
...Why is this Chuseok turning out to be so exhausting?