Just One Day
“You want to play with me? What, are you taking me for a dog walk or something?”
“It was just a different way of saying ‘let’s go on a date,’ wasn’t it?”
I hesitated for a moment, and Junhyuk’s eyes visibly trembled. He had mustered up some courage to say it.
But I found myself calculating the risks in my head with complicated precision.
I thought that even if the other person was genuinely safe, the act of taking even one small step of compromise was dangerous. The moment I stopped worrying about whether he would violate me or not, that was when it became truly perilous.
And the real danger was something even worse than that.
It was the possibility that my body and my heart would both turn into a girl.
I knew all too well that if I was worried about that, the best option was to cut it off cleanly and refuse without any leeway left. But I also thought that rejecting a request that had been barely granted after someone had spilled blood to save me would be too much.
“All right. It’s not like we’re dating or anything—just meeting up for one day of playing. Guys do that kind of thing all the time with their friends, right?”
The feeling was like someone patting me on the back, but I decided to ignore it since no one would notice.
The problem of turning into a girl, I told myself, wouldn’t change just because we met for one day.
“Sure, whatever. What time and where should we meet?”
“Really? You’re serious?”
He smiled so brightly and looked so happy. Just this once, it should be fine.
*
“Ugh, this is annoying.”
I had agreed to meet him as a way of repaying a favor, but I couldn’t help feeling irritated. It was only natural.
“Why are there so many clothes?”
I should have prepared them yesterday. After turning into a girl, I had only worn pajamas and uniforms, so I had no idea what kinds of regular clothes even existed.
I had never imagined that a girl’s wardrobe would be this overwhelming—dresses, blouses, skirts, pants, cardigans, and so on. Dresses in both short and long versions, blouses with buttons or one-piece, skirts in A-line or H-line, cardigans in every material imaginable…
I missed the days when a hoodie and sweatpants were enough to finish getting ready in seconds.
“What should I do?”
Since I had decided to meet at my place, I had a little time to spare. I slipped into underwear and whatever blouse I could grab, then started putting them on backwards.
With a loud thwack and the sound of fabric tearing above my head, I realized I had chosen the wrong one.
“Oh right, horns…”
I couldn’t wear the one-piece blouse. By sacrificing one outfit, I had eliminated one option, so that was still better than nothing. But why had I even put clothes I could never wear in the closet?
No time for such pointless thoughts! I grabbed the first dress I saw in the closet and hurriedly stepped into it, trying to zip it up.
Clothes were supposed to have zippers in the front, right? But this one had it in the back.
“What the—why is the zipper in the back?”
How was I supposed to zip this up alone? I twisted my arms around awkwardly and finally managed to pull it up.
“Hah…”
The skirt was shockingly short. It barely reached the middle of my thighs—super mini. If even a light breeze blew, I would be socially naked. I had to pull the zipper down again with all my strength.
“I’m not wearing the dress.”
I had eliminated another possibility. The backwards blouse was out too. So now what? I was still searching when it suddenly hit me.
“Why am I even worrying about clothes because of this guy?”
Anger welled up inside me. I almost wanted to throw everything away and go out in just my pajamas, but
“Still, I should think of this as a hard-won opportunity.”
I couldn’t afford to look half-hearted.
“Ugh, damn it!”
I was a pushover. A total pushover! I kept stripping and changing, berating myself. After all that trouble, I finally settled on black slacks for the bottom.
After that grueling fashion show, the only thing I had chosen was slacks, which felt incredibly unsatisfying. But since I had decided on it, there was nothing I could do. I could almost understand why women kept changing clothes until they finally picked the first one they had worn.
Just as I was wondering what to wear with the slacks and opening the closet again,
*ding dong*
The sound echoed through the house. I let out a silent sigh and glanced at the clock.
“Oh no.”
I had thought I had an hour to prepare, but I had only managed to pick one pair of pants in that time? It was unbelievable.
“Philin, I’m here.”
“W-wait!”
I was about to open the door when I jumped in shock and quickly retreated back into the room. I had completely forgotten that I was still in my underwear on top.
I threw on the pajamas I had buried somewhere in the pile of clothes and roughly buttoned them up before opening the door.
“Good morning…”
“You’re early.”
It was something I had realized even during that chaotic first day of being reincarnated.
Junhyuk scratched the back of his head with an embarrassed smile. Even though he was incredibly handsome, the way he looked in just ivory slacks and a pastel-toned henley tee made the old saying “the completion of fashion is the face” feel even more true.
With this kind of visual, even if I found it a little excessive, I didn’t yell at him to get out.
Junhyuk looked at me in my pajamas for a moment, as if choosing his words carefully, then asked cautiously.
“You’re up now?”
“I was busy picking out clothes, idiot!”
How dare he say that? Do you know how much trouble girls go through?
I shook my messy hair out from between my horns and strode into the house.
“Sit on the sofa and wait. It’ll take me a while.”
“Mmm.”
“Want some water?”
“Uh… I’m fine for now.”
“Drink it when you’re thirsty.”
Sorry, but I didn’t have time to even bring water. I went back into the room, changed out of my pajamas, and resumed the fashion show.
Pastel blouse? Too couple-y, I hated it.
Pink hoodie? I couldn’t wear anything I had to wear backwards, and pink was out too.
Just as I was getting deeper into my dilemma, there was a knock.
“Philin, if it’s okay…”
“What?”
“Can I come in and pick out some clothes for you?”
Before I could even answer, I flinched and covered my chest with both arms. I was about to yell that he was a pervert when
“Maybe that would be the fastest way.”
I quickly put my pajamas back on over my top, buttoned them up, and opened the door. When Junhyuk saw the pile of clothes behind me, he couldn’t stop himself from staring in shock.
“Philin…”
“Don’t tease me.”
“You’ve been working hard since morning.”
“I said don’t tease me.”
I felt embarrassed because my clumsiness was showing, but Junhyuk seemed strangely pleased.
He must have thought I had put in real effort for my date.
It wasn’t exactly true, but if he could be happy with the misunderstanding, I didn’t see the point in correcting him.
“Then where—”
Junhyuk stepped carefully into the room so as not to step on any clothes. He rummaged through the pile on the floor and pulled out a blouse.
“What about this?”
It was a pretty design with beautiful flower prints, but it had a flaw.
“I can’t wear anything with horns.”
I couldn’t wear the backwards blouse either. Still, Junhyuk seemed to like the idea and suggested it again.
“If you put it on carefully, it should be fine, right? How’s the design?”
“The design is awful.”
I didn’t want anything frilly. Besides, you fixed the pants to slacks—don’t you know what that means?
Junhyuk set the blouse down and kept searching, then pulled out another one.
“What about this? A simple beige cardigan.”
“Oh.”
The tight-fitting beige cardigan looked simple and perfect for my horns. I held it up to the mirror and saw that it matched the slacks well.
“Nice, right? I’ll change and we can go.”
Just as I was about to change, Junhyuk stood there without making any move to leave, fidgeting.
“Aren’t you leaving?”
I shot him a disgusted look, thinking he wanted to watch me change, but his expression didn’t seem like that at all. He clearly had something to say.
“What is it? Say it.”
“Don’t get angry and just listen.”
“I’ll listen first, then decide if I’m angry or not.”
“If I say I won’t get angry, will you tell me?”
This was clearly a joke. I put my hands on my hips and answered with an annoyed voice.
“Fine. I won’t get angry.”
Then Junhyuk shyly pulled out one more piece of clothing from the pile and smiled.
“Actually, this would be better with the cardigan…”
“Yah!!”
Junhyuk jumped and dropped the clothes. I couldn’t hold back my anger. Of course not.
“You want me to wear shorts that short? Do you want me dead?!”
Those were the kinds of shorts that exposed everything from the thigh up—pants or panties, it was impossible to tell. He wanted me to wear something like that?
Still, since I couldn’t simply give up my firm preference, Junhyuk held up another piece with an awkward expression.
“Too embarrassing?”
“Of course it is, idiot! Would you want to wear something that shows your legs so much?”
“If it were you…”
That sentence sounded weird. Men don’t even have clothes like that.
I realized too late that I had said something strange, but Junhyuk didn’t seem to take it that way.
Anyway, it seemed he was determined to dress me in something feminine.
“Can I at least try it on?”
“Try it on…?”
“Yeah. Not to go out in it, just for fitting.”
Well, if it was just for fitting…
I finally nodded.
“Just fitting. I won’t wear it out, so that’s fine.”
Junhyuk finally smiled brightly and left the room.
And a moment later,
“Wow!”
“Haa…”
Junhyuk let out a cheer. I let out a long sigh.
Those long, slender legs stretching out from under the hot pants looked so delicate that I wanted to protect them right away.
In contrast, the tight cardigan clung to my chest, accentuating my nonexistent breasts and amplifying my femininity.
Junhyuk stared at the beautiful contradiction of wanting to protect me while also wanting to possess me, his face flushed red as he gave me a thumbs-up.
“You’re too pretty, Philin.”
Pretty…
I wanted to die from embarrassment.