Consultation with an Embarrassingly Awkward Dad
The professor spoke more with me than with Dad, who was visiting the hospital for the first time today. "Now, if you look at this photo, it's the skin around the tail area where the body hair is growing." He turned the monitor and showed me one picture, then immediately pulled up another beside it while giving additional explanations about my condition.
"This photo is of a typical person's scalp. As you can see, not only is the hair density different, but you're growing both guard hairs and undercoat just like an actual animal."
"Whoa, so Hyunwoo won't have to worry about hair loss then." Dad jumped into the conversation after hearing the professor. He suddenly marveled that I wouldn't have to worry about baldness, and just listening from the side made my face burn with embarrassment.
"Dad, please, shush…"
"Haha, that part is fine from the start because of hormones. Hair loss can be genetic, but most cases come from stress or hormones. Even parrots and other birds can lose feathers when they're stressed."
The professor kindly responded to that as well. You can just ignore comments like that. After finishing his polite explanation, he returned to the main topic and began going through things one by one again.
"I also checked your body fat and muscle mass." The detailed results of my basic tests followed. The explanation was quite long, but it boiled down to something simple: while my physiology resembled a human's in many ways, some aspects clearly matched animal traits. Especially my vision and hearing, which had developed like an animal's. My sense of smell had probably developed a lot too. No wonder the kids' sweat smelled so strong. Summer was going to be a nightmare.
"Looking at overseas cases of Beastman Disease, I don't think there will be any further changes beyond this." While I was worrying about the coming summer during his kind explanation, he assured me there wouldn't be any more changes, citing foreign cases.
"Still, since your case is rare enough to include a gender change, if you suddenly notice any changes in your senses, please call me right away." Even so, because I was such an unusual case, he told me to contact him without fail if I felt any shifts in my senses. Changes in specific senses… Ah. A short exclamation crossed my mind. It wasn't something I had to face right away, but there was still one thing that bothered me.
"Ah, there's one thing I'm curious about…"
"Yes? Ah, go ahead and ask." The professor readily accepted my question, but I felt self-conscious with Dad sitting right there. I wanted to talk about this with just the expert.
"Dad, can you step out for a bit?"
"Huh? Why?"
"It's embarrassing to say in front of you."
"What is it?"
"Aigoo, just go wait outside…"
I finally managed to chase Dad out after he stubbornly resisted my request, then turned to the professor and spoke carefully. "I was wondering… what happens with menstruation and all that."
"Ah, right… Let me check." At my cautious question, the professor let out an "Ah!" as if he'd just realized, then quickly typed on the keyboard searching for something. Soon after finding the results, he started speaking with another "Aah."
"Yes, from the female cases I've seen, it looks like menstruation… doesn't happen. Instead, it seems a heat cycle comes at specific times, just like animals."
"Eek." I let out a short sound of disgust at the professor's matter-of-fact explanation. Heat cycle? Surely he didn't mean the mating season? If something like that existed, I'd literally be a beast. While I sat there speechless for a moment, the professor continued.
"Still, judging from the shape of your tail and ears, I think we can assume you're a red fox."
"Ah, really…?" So the animal my tail and ears supposedly came from was a red fox. I'd already been assuming it was a fox, but hearing it from an expert gave me certainty.
The professor kept explaining. "Even so, it's easier to pinpoint the heat cycle for wild animals like foxes. Red foxes usually go into heat between January and February, and it lasts about three weeks."
"Three weeks…" My spine tingled at the thought of enduring heat for nearly a month. Did that mean I'd start seeking out men on my own? I couldn't even imagine it, and the very thought was horrifying. With a face like I was about to die, the professor seemed to read my mind and added,
"Still, being able to predict the timing is fortunate. With cats, for example, heat comes several times a year in short bursts, and it's hard to predict."
"Ah…" I let out a short sigh of relief at those words. So this was a silver lining in an otherwise terrible situation. Well… it still wasn't much comfort. Whether it was menstruation or heat, both options sucked. If I'd originally been a girl, maybe it would've been different. But I wasn't.
"Ugh, gross…"
"What's wrong?" While I was tilting my head with a strange sense of discomfort, a short voice came from the professor, who had been typing on the keyboard.
"No, it's just…" When I asked what was wrong, the professor looked briefly flustered. Then, with an expression like he'd seen something he shouldn't have, he rubbed his chin and revealed the reason for his sigh.
"There was an overseas article about a Beastman Disease patient who didn't realize they were in heat and ended up pregnant with their younger brother's child."
"…Eek." I couldn't help but recoil in disgust the moment I heard the news. What kind of horrific disaster was that? No wonder even the professor had let out a groan. Anyway, this story seemed to end on a relatively normal note. Being called to the hospital on a holiday had been unexpected, but at least I was getting paid, so I was grinning.
Just as we were about to leave the consultation room, the professor called me back. "Ah, have you talked with your mother about hospitalization yet?"
"Hospitalization?" The professor suddenly stopped me and brought up inpatient treatment. Hospitalization? This was the first I'd heard of it.
"Why all of a sudden?" While I blinked and asked, the professor frowned slightly at my answer.
"Oh dear, your mother didn't tell you. I'll drive you home, so talk to her about it when you get back."
"…? Okay." On the way home in the professor's car again today, I pushed away Dad's face as he teased me about what secret conversation we'd had, then asked Mom once we arrived. At the mention of hospitalization, Mom let out an "Ah!" as if she'd forgotten.
"Ah, that… I completely forgot." She belatedly brought up the hospitalization story as if it weren't a big deal. Mom had been forgetting things a lot lately. It wasn't like I could nag her about forgetting to call me. Anyway, she eventually confessed what had been discussed earlier. Apparently, it had been conveyed to her over the phone.
"Why? What did they say?"
"It wasn't anything special." When I pressed further, Mom tried to brush it off, saying there was no need to hear about it.
"Come on, just tell me." I kept pestering her. I wanted to know what that "nothing special" was. It was my body, after all. I should know.
"It's just… they said hospitalization. They want to keep you in a room and monitor your progress, especially with the reporter situation. They don't want to keep shuttling you back and forth between home and the hospital."
When I kept hovering and bothering her, Mom finally gave a brief explanation of the phone conversation. There were reporters loitering around the hospital, and it seemed they wanted to keep me there for management. Of course, that was just Mom's guess, so it wasn't certain. Still, it sounded plausible.
Hospitalization, huh… I'd been in and out of hospitals a lot since I was little because of minor illnesses, but I'd never needed to be admitted. I'd visited often, but never had any major accidents. So the idea of a long hospital stay was intriguing. Lying around all day without going to school sounded like heaven.
With that simple thought, I blurted out to Mom, "Can't I try being hospitalized?"
"What are you talking about? You just don't want to go to school." Mom saw right through my intention in an instant. I was caught without any chance to make excuses.
"Well, yeah, but exams are over…"
"Honestly, you think you don't have to study just because exams are done?" My belated excuse was immediately shot down. Her logic was so sound that I had no counterargument.
"You're going to be a third-year in high school next year, no matter how little you care about studying."
"Urk." The heavy word "third-year" struck my heart. In truth, compared to other moms, she was already being lenient by not forcing me into evening self-study sessions. I was the one being unreasonable here.
"Stop saying useless things."
"Got it…" When she told me not to say pointless things with a firm tone, I finally gave up on the idea of hospitalization and quietly lowered my tail. Not metaphorically—the actual tail felt like it was drooping. As I trudged into my room, Hyunseo, who had been sitting at the computer, spoke up.
"You went to the hospital again?"
"Yeah." After answering, I grabbed the game console. When I used the computer, Hyunseo got the console. When Hyunseo used the computer, I got the console. It was the bare minimum rule to fight less. Usually, the conversation would've ended there.
"What did they say at the hospital?"
"What do you mean, what did they say? Same old stuff." Yet for some reason, Hyunseo asked again. A question with an obvious answer, asked anyway. It felt like he was trying to make conversation for no reason. Definitely the attitude of someone hiding something.
I'd only been lying face-down on the chest support pillow for a moment when I caught on immediately, stood up, and said, "Hey, you got your allowance, didn't you?"
"Ah, shit, how did you know?" At my confident question, he looked shocked and hurriedly grabbed his wallet, clutching it tightly. Still, I walked over and held out my hand without hesitation. After hesitating, he reluctantly paid back the money he'd borrowed.
"Damn it, now that you're earning money too…"
"That's that, and this is this." Hyunseo grumbled and made a sulky face, but I firmly took the money and put it in my wallet. Even between family, money matters had to be settled clearly. That was our family's ironclad rule, regardless of being older or younger brother. If I brought this up with Mom, the logic was on my side. There was no way I was going to pretend I didn't know.