The Message Was Short and Clear
The message was short and clear. A formal notice that started with the hospital’s name. It said the test results were in and asked me to come in. It also requested that I bring my old ID with me. They’d appreciate it if I came with a guardian.
I saw it on Friday morning. Not even half the day had passed. For a university hospital that could take months just to get an appointment when things got bad, this was unbelievably fast.
“Wow, it didn’t even take a full day. Not even a day.”
Mom sounded stunned by how quickly the hospital had moved. She emphasized the words not even a day like she was remembering all her past experiences there, letting out a sigh.
I looked at Mom, who was letting out a dry laugh, and asked, “What should we do?”
“What do you mean, what should we do? You’ll go right after school.”
Her casual answer made me pull out my ID. It was one of the few physical pieces of evidence left from how I used to look. It still felt more familiar than the stranger I saw in the mirror.
I sprinted to school again today, treating it like a speedrun. During the break after first period, I headed over to Seokjun’s group like always and started talking.
“So you’re going back to the hospital today?”
The topic was what I’d gone through at the hospital yesterday. After I roughly described the absolute chaos of the scene, he asked if I was heading back today.
“Looks like it.”
“Aw man, I was gonna ask if you wanted to hit the PC bang.”
When I said yes, Seokjun sounded genuinely disappointed. I was stunned by how casually he was treating this.
“You want me to go like this?”
He blinked at me like it was no big deal. He’d probably been planning to drag me along even though I had to sprint just to get to school on time.
“Does it matter?”
“I’ll get filmed, probably.”
At my dumbfounded question, he asked again if it really mattered. Then Byeonghwa, sitting beside him, muttered in a flat voice that yeah, I’d definitely get filmed.
Unfortunately, I’d already been caught on camera a few times on the street. Just in the past few days I’d heard camera shutters go off six times.
“That’s already happened a few times.”
“For real?”
When I mentioned it like it was no big deal, Byeonghwa’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Can’t you report that for infringing on your portrait rights or something?”
He must have picked it up somewhere online. He asked if I couldn’t report it. I wasn’t exactly sure what law it would fall under, but that kind of filming probably violated something.
“I could probably report it, but….”
The real problem was that I didn’t have the courage to walk up to the person filming and ask, “Did you just take a picture of me?” It felt like it would blow things way out of proportion.
As I trailed off and hesitated, Juhan, who had been quiet until then, jumped in with an exasperated tone.
“Dude, you turned into a girl. You gotta use that.”
“Use it how….”
I made a disgusted face and scooted my chair back. Juhan immediately gave an example.
“You go up and ask if they were taking a hidden camera shot! Then report them and demand settlement money!”
“This bastard… it’s not even his problem….”
His suggestion was so diabolical it made me laugh in disbelief. Was that really how you were supposed to use the fact that you’d become a girl? He was just saying whatever because it wasn’t happening to him. This guy was dead serious.
“But don’t you have to know how to actually do it?”
I sat there speechless. Seokjun, who seemed a little worried after all, added a few words.
What, did he think I hadn’t thought about it at all? Of course I wanted to do something about it. The biggest attention-grabber was obviously this tail. I could hide my ears under a hat if I pulled it down far enough, but there was no way to hide this fluffy, attention-demanding tail unless I wore a long padded coat.
“Maybe I should just cut the tail off….”
“Aw, that’d be such a waste.”
When I mentioned the tail even as a joke, Byeonghwa immediately sighed like he really thought it would be a shame.
“I was joking! Why are you taking it so seriously!”
I couldn’t even make a joke around these guys. They were so dense they couldn’t tell when someone was kidding. When I got genuinely annoyed, they just looked confused for a second before bursting out laughing.
“How are we supposed to know when you’re joking about beast-person stuff?”
“For real.”
When I actually thought about it, from their perspective it probably sounded like something I might say. Every single one of their blunt, guy-style comebacks hit the mark, which only made me feel worse.
“Yeah, I’ve got nothing, huh?”
“Logically crushed~”
The two of them piled on while I sat there at a loss for words. Their teasing attitude made me stand up from my seat.
“All of you can piss off. Bunch of assholes.”
“Why’re you getting all sulky over that? Did I hit a nerve?”
I flinched. The second he asked if he’d struck a nerve, I sat right back down. I did not get hit. I did not.
As soon as I sat down again, Seokjun asked, “But if they’re waiving the entire testing fee, doesn’t that mean it’s a super rare disease?”
“Yeah, Dad said he’d never heard of them waiving the testing fee before.”
I answered honestly and even shared part of the conversation I’d had with Dad. A rare disease and a waived testing fee. Both of those were things you didn’t hear often at a hospital. On top of that, the hospital had specifically asked me to visit regularly.
Seokjun, who had been listening quietly, spoke again. “Then maybe they’ll pay you hundreds of millions for your genes or something?”
“Whoa, if you get rich, you gotta pay for my PC bang sessions.”
Byeonghwa must have thought it sounded plausible, because he immediately told me to cover his PC bang fees once I became rich. I let out a small laugh at the completely unrealistic idea.
“I might go up to five hours.”
“Wow, you’re so cheap.”
That was the kind of pointless chatter that filled our break time at school. Soon the bell rang for class, and we naturally split up and returned to our seats.
After all the classes for the day were over, I contacted Mom just like yesterday and headed home. Running to and from school had already become routine. It was the best way to avoid running into too many people, and my personal strategy for not hearing camera shutters. Of course I could take a taxi, but if I did that even for commuting, I wouldn’t have any allowance money left. Besides, running felt strangely good.
It would’ve been perfect if there weren’t any crosswalks in the middle. Anyway, I arrived home after an intense run.
“You’re back? Drop your bag and let’s go right away. Don’t forget your ID.”
“Okay.”
Mom was already fully ready to head out. Hyeonseo must have gone to play with her friend like she’d said yesterday—her shoes weren’t even in the entrance.
“Did you run home from school?”
“Huh? Yeah… um, a little.”
Mom noticed my slightly labored breathing and asked if I’d run all the way from school as we stepped outside. I gave an awkward answer and walked beside her.
I unconsciously closed my mouth, which had been hanging slightly open. We took a taxi to the university hospital again today.
After checking in at the lobby, I wondered how long we’d have to wait.
“Welcome. I hope you didn’t have any trouble getting here?”
Unlike yesterday, the professor himself came out to greet us.
“I’d like to go over the results with you and have a separate conversation. Do both of you have time?”
He got straight to the point, asking if we had time. The atmosphere felt strangely different from a normal checkup where they just handed you a single sheet of paper with all the results listed.
“Ah, yes.”
“Will it take long?”
“It might be a rather lengthy discussion.”
Mom followed the doctor’s lead without question, and I trailed after him even while asking if it would take long. We were guided to a counseling room on the fourth floor. It had one large desk, a computer, and dual monitors. Coming from the noisy hospital into this suddenly quiet space made me feel strangely tense.
Did I have some serious symptom I didn’t know about? No, I hadn’t felt any pain anywhere. If anything, I felt healthier than before.
“Patient and guardian, please have a seat and make yourselves comfortable.”
Psh. The moment I sat on the dark brown sofa, the cushion sank deeply. Because of my tail I couldn’t lean back fully, but it was still incredibly comfortable. I wanted to play games sitting on a sofa like this.
Just as my mind relaxed a little, the professor, who had been looking at his monitor, began to speak.
“First, let me tell you about the test results….”
I unconsciously tensed up at the mention of the results. His trailing voice made me nervous too. Was there something wrong with me that I didn’t know about? I swallowed dryly at the thought.
“You are exceptionally healthy.”
“…Oh, that’s a relief.”
The dry voice instantly drained all the tension from my body. After that came an explanation of the changes in my body. He showed us MRI and CT scans, pointing at various parts and explaining, but honestly I didn’t understand any of it. He said the structure of my ears had become very similar to that of an animal’s, and that the bones and muscles in my tail definitely existed.
“So anyway, it’s fine, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct… and there’s something I’d like to ask of you.”
Mom cut off his hesitant explanation with a single decisive question. The professor looked momentarily flustered by the conversation that seemed about to end, then immediately brought up his request.
“We were wondering if we could see the patient here at the hospital on a regular basis.”
It was a continuation of the conversation we’d had last time. Transportation fees, testing fees, and even hospitalization or treatment costs—pretty much everything would be fully covered by the hospital. All they asked was that I visit occasionally and provide them with data.
There was a lot of talk, but Mom only had one question.
“So, will this get better or not?”
She wanted to know if I would get better.