The Tail That Started It All

After the eighth period, everyone had already run a lap around the track as usual. I was sitting on the bleachers catching my breath like I always did during gym class when the teacher ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sidled up to me.

“Hyunwoo, any interest in joining the track team?”

Out of nowhere, our gym teacher was asking if I wanted to join the track team. I shook my head at the curiosity sparkling in his eyes.

“Nah…”

I’d picked the film appreciation club because I didn’t even want to move around during club time—what the hell would I do in the track team? I hated any activity that required actual effort.

“You were moving at a real athlete’s level just now, you know?”

When I shot him down so bluntly, the gym teacher widened his eyes like he wanted me to at least think about it. Come to think of it, I guess he was the one in charge of the track team. After his persistent suggestion, I made myself crystal clear this time.

“I really don’t want to.”

“Ugh… I see.”

Only after the second rejection did the teacher finally look like he’d given up. The obvious disappointment on his face was hard to miss. I’d felt something was off right after arriving at school, but now it was undeniable.

‘My running… got insanely faster.’

My stamina and speed had improved to an unnatural degree. I couldn’t believe it myself, so I spread my palm open and stared at it. Thinking back, there was no way I could’ve covered that distance in five minutes no matter how fast I ran. On top of hating water, I was now a ridiculously quick runner. My body was clearly starting to resemble an animal’s. With preferences this distinct, I couldn’t help but realize it.

I sat there in a daze, waiting for fourth period to end, when—

“Hey…”

“Hm?”

Someone poked my shoulder from behind and started calling me with just a single “hey.” When I turned around, it was a classmate. A bit on the stocky side… and his name was definitely Juhan. One of the guys I sometimes chatted with about manga and anime. Still, our conversations usually went through Seokjun; we weren’t exactly close. Why was he suddenly calling me first?

“Can I touch your tail? Just once?”

“Uh… sure?”

The question that flew in after my confusion was surprisingly polite and careful. The completely unexpected request made my voice tremble. This guy was suddenly saying he wanted to touch my tail.

‘Well, it’s not like it’ll wear out.’

I tilted my head for a moment, then coolly swung my tail toward him.

“Don’t grab the middle—it hurts. Just the edges.”

“Oh, thanks.”

Juhan immediately thanked me and reached for my tail. As I’d asked, he gently placed his hand only on ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the very edge. Since he wasn’t touching my skin directly, it felt strangely floaty—like someone was just stroking my hair.

“…Whoa, it’s insanely soft.”

He started carefully petting the fur, unable to hide the enchanted smile spreading across his face as he let out a deep sigh of admiration. Was the texture really that good? Come to think of it, aside from when I showered, I’d never actually touched my own tail before.

‘Let me see…’

Curious now because of Juhan’s reaction, I reached behind me and grabbed a handful of my own tail fur. The moment I did, heavenly softness enveloped my palm. Something softer than quilt batting filled my hand.

‘Holy…!’

The luxurious texture was enough to shock even me. It felt slightly stiff at first, but when I stroked it with the grain it turned silky and fluffy—extremely satisfying. This was really part of my body? Even though I could feel it through the nerves in my tail, I still couldn’t believe it.

I was lost in the blissful sensation of the fur when, not long after, more people started gathering around.

“Hyunwoo, can I touch it too?”

“Uh, if it’s okay… me too.”

Maybe because Juhan had been brave enough to ask first? One by one, the other kids started crowding in with curious faces, asking to touch it too. Even if it wouldn’t wear out, this many people was a bit much. Still, since I’d already let one person do it, refusing now would just make things awkward.

“…You have to be gentle.”

In the end, I turned forward and offered my tail again. Five hands—no, eight? Having so many people petting it continuously was starting to tickle.

“Wow, whoa.”

“What kind of fur is this? Is it really a fox?”

“So this is what fox fur feels like.”

The continuous stream of admiration and comments came from behind me. My classmates must have already guessed from seeing my appearance, because they were all calling it fox fur. Curious fingers kept stroking my tail.

…I couldn’t take it anymore.

“Ugh.”

“Whoa!”

Whoosh!

After holding back the tickling as long as I could, I gave my tail a big swing. A few startled voices rose from behind me. I quickly pulled my tail back from where it had been freely touched, put some distance between us, and muttered quietly.

“…Stop. It tickles.”

“Ah, okay.”

The fingers immediately withdrew obediently. Their docile attitude somehow made the atmosphere even more awkward. Normally they would’ve pestered me at least two more times. The sudden silence was broken by the school bell.

The ring signaling the end of fourth period. As the long-awaited lunch hour arrived, the school filled with noise. Countless irregular footsteps. Soon hordes of students stormed toward the cafeteria. It was the daily war that broke out at exactly 12:30. The kids in our class avoided the cafeteria entrance and instead came and went through the center of the school ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠building. Our cafeteria banned gym uniforms. Since we had gym for fourth period, it was basically decided that we’d be eating lunch late. Of course, there was the loophole of wearing your gym clothes over your regular uniform, then stripping them off the second the bell rang… but if you didn’t have a friend to carry your gym clothes back to the classroom for you, it was basically donating your spare uniform to some anonymous person. Since I was in my regular clothes, I didn’t need to stop by the classroom, but I still wanted to go with my classmates.

So I headed back to the classroom and checked today’s lunch menu.

The standout dishes were the fish cutlet and braised chicken. My brain had already finished scanning the delicious options. The kids in the classroom split into two groups. The “hurry up” faction that changed and rushed straight ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to the cafeteria, and the “take it easy” faction that changed into their regular clothes, sat around chatting in groups, and waited for the less crowded time. I belonged to the latter.

After killing about five minutes in the hallway, I went back into the classroom. The ones who were leaving had left, and the ones staying were still there. I joined the group clustered against the hallway wall like it was the most natural thing in the world. A bunch of otakus whose conversations mostly revolved around card games, manga, and anime. Seokjun, who had been in the same class as me since freshman year and was relatively close to me. Special note: he attends an art academy. Then Juhan, who was close with Seokjun—the same guy who’d asked to touch my tail earlier. And added to that was Byeonghwa, who was close with Juhan. This one was a mobile game addict. Apparently he was playing five different ones at once.

“What are you guys talking about?”

“Ah, um…”

These were guys I’d had perfectly normal conversations with just the other day, but the moment I appeared the atmosphere froze instantly. Seokjun answered my question awkwardly. He was supposed to be the closest to me out of the three, yet ever since yesterday he felt the most distant.

“Still feeling awkward?”

“Huh? Ah… no, well, uh.”

When I asked if he was still uncomfortable at his half-hearted response, Seokjun scratched his head, avoided my eyes, and barely managed to speak. He seemed to be trying to close the emotional gap somehow, but it clearly wasn’t as easy as he wanted.

“…It really is you, right?”

“Yes, it really is.”

Seokjun’s question—checking again today like he had yesterday—made anger flare up. I scrunched up my face and cut him off. Proving that I was me turned out to be this difficult. At least my family had accepted it somehow after seeing my changed appearance last night, but just imagining what would’ve happened if this had occurred outside the house was horrifying.

“So what the hell happened?”

“I don’t know, fuck. I woke up yesterday and I was just like this.”

I explained my ridiculous situation to Seokjun, who had opened the conversation with a bewildered face, throwing in a few curses along the way.

“How did you even catch it?”

“No idea. I looked it up and they said the cause is unknown.”

A rare disease shrouded in mystery, with neither cause nor cure known. I’d searched about Beast Disease until I was sick of it.

“Does it get better?”

“Even if it doesn’t, doesn’t that mean automatic military exemption?”

“True, that’s pretty nice.”

Instead of asking the person right in front of them, the three of them exchanged glances and talked about my condition among themselves. Military exemption this, lucky that, jealous of that. It seemed they still weren’t used to me yet. No matter how much their heads knew it was me, visually I was basically a complete stranger they’d only seen for two days.

Having them talk about me while I was standing right there was incredibly uncomfortable.

“If it’s a disease like this, it’s actually a huge win.”

“You were running crazy fast earlier too.”

The three of them spoke carelessly since it wasn’t their problem.

“Hey, I’m seriously stressed out right now, you know?”

I was losing my mind over shedding fur and showering, but they didn’t seem to understand when I explained my troubles.

“Still, compared to what you gained, isn’t it more like evolution than a disease?”

“For real. It’s not even painful like catching the flu.”

Then Seokjun asked again if it wasn’t more like evolution than a disease considering what I’d gained. When he followed up by saying it wasn’t even painful like the flu, I was momentarily speechless. Thinking about it carefully, he wasn’t entirely wrong. Yeah, normally if you caught a disease you were supposed to be bedridden, right?

“…I guess so?”

Listening to the two of them passionately argue, I found myself half-convinced and tilted my head. Normally, catching a disease meant you were supposed to feel sick. But instead of getting sick, my physical condition had actually improved. Did it even make sense to call this a disease by normal standards?

“Ah…!”

While I was still pondering, Juhan suddenly let out a sound like he’d thought of something.

He lifted one corner of his mouth and started talking.

“Wouldn’t it be hilarious if you got better while wearing girl’s clothes and walked down the street?”

“…Not funny.”

His joke sent a chill through my blood. I immediately cut Juhan off with a firm “not funny,” then briefly imagined the scenario he’d just described. An absolutely terrible thing that must never happen. Just thinking about it sent a horrifying image flashing through my mind. It might be a joke to him, but to me it could become a fucking nightmare.