Somi's Gyaru Makeover
Somi was a beauty who'd landed the starring role in a magical girl series. Even in-universe, the verdict on her face ran quite high.
That said, her uniquely cheerful, high-energy personality meant people often claimed she didn't live up to her looks. Honestly, her appearance was striking enough to captivate any boy in school.
Somi herself had no such awareness. And it wasn't just her — most of the girls in Magical Girl Carol Muse were the same way.
Jeongmi, the class president, was also one of the story's standout beauties, yet she had no idea she was pretty. That was how it usually went in animation: unless a character was built around vanity or narcissism, they almost never registered their own looks.
Which left Somi with no choice but to agonize over how to seduce the PE teacher. She had never, not once, imagined she'd be worrying about something like this. Anyway, what mattered to her right now was somehow — any how — kissing him.
"I've never even worn makeup. I don't have a clue how you're supposed to do it."
Back home, Somi grumbled to Tambourine. Tambourine puffed up and spread her wings in triumph.
Somi narrowed her eyes at her.
"Got a bright idea or something?"
"Heheh! This Tambourine has had an epiphany, taemp! Men, by nature, are drawn to females similar to themselves… I mean, women, taemp!"
"My mom and dad are complete opposites, though?"
Somi shot back with evidence on the spot, and Tambourine's momentum faltered. She didn't fold, though. She doubled down.
"That teacher will definitely go for a woman who looks like him, taemp! So just do your makeup along those lines, taemp!"
"What? You want me to dress like a guy?"
"That's not it, taemp! You're still way too young, taemp!"
Tambourine gave two big flaps of her wings. Several magazines popped into existence in midair. Somi stared, startled.
"What!? Tambourine? You could do this too?"
"Heheh! The fruits of my training, taemp! Anyway, that's not the point, taemp! Look at this, taemp!"
Somi looked at the magazines Tambourine had produced. The title on the cover was Monthly Makeup.
A woman tanned a deep brown — just like the PE teacher — winked from the cover. Her jeans had been cut so short they were practically hot pants, baring not only her thighs but the full curve of her hips, and she wore animal-print stockings and a bikini. Cowboy hat, boots, a revolver in her hand: the whole look was outrageously attractive.
"Wow. What is this?"
"It's gyaru fashion, taemp! Doesn't she look like that teacher, taemp!?"
"She really did tan her skin pretty, just like him! I didn't know this kind of fashion even existed!"
Somi flipped through the magazine, studying the gyaru looks. Page after page of models whose bodies and faces radiated sheer confidence, posing in unapologetically sexy clothes.
She glanced down at herself. Her figure was healthy and well-proportioned; it would look good in just about anything. Pulling off outfits this bold, though — the kind that put that much skin on display — was another matter. She wasn't sure she had it in her.
"There's a chapter on middle-school gyaru fashion in here too, taemp!"
"Wow. The skirt's short."
It was a world away from how she looked right now. Somi twirled a lock of hair around her finger, thinking.
Image change.
Her heart gave a little thrill, the way it did at the start of an adventure.
"We're short on time, taemp! A week at the outside, taemp! If you don't land that kiss before then, we might have to say goodbye, taemp!"
"I don't want that!"
Somi shot to her feet. Losing her magical girl powers was one thing. Parting with Tambourine was worse.
She clenched both fists. Drive had never been her problem.
What kind of style do guys even like?
What was that supposed to mean? Wooju couldn't concentrate on class at all.
Studying at school was a male student's most basic, most obvious duty. A boy who couldn't keep up was deadweight, and deadweight got corrected with the paddle. That was common sense.
Which was why Wooju always paid attention. Today, though, it just wouldn't stick.
"Shin Wooju! Read the next part."
"Yes!? Ah… um…"
Caught off guard, Wooju fumbled his textbook open. The bald Korean teacher's face crumpled on the spot. He rapped his pointer against the podium, then called Wooju to the front.
"Shin Wooju! Up here!"
"Y-yes!"
Wooju came forward and dropped into the punishment position. The Korean teacher showed no mercy, laying into his ass with the paddle.
"A student zoning out in the middle of class!? You will repeat it every time you get hit! I am trash!"
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
"Ugh! I am! Trash! I am! Trash! I am! Trash! Ugh!"
The teacher only stopped after about twenty strokes. There was real feeling in every one of them.
Wooju clutched his ass in an awkward half-crouch.
"Sit down! I won't let it slide a second time!"
"Yes! Understood!"
Wooju saluted and returned to his seat. He'd been spacing out during class, so getting hit was only fair.
The beating had been brutal, and it still didn't help. Somi's words kept looping through his head.
When the period finally ended, he headed down to the girls' classroom.
Boys weren't supposed to wander into the girls' class on a whim. Last time he'd at least had the excuse of running an errand for the PE teacher. This time he had nothing.
He figured he'd see Somi, then get out. His heart was hammering so hard he didn't think it would settle until he saw her face.
Is this… love?
Wooju eased the door open. He knew where Somi sat. She wasn't there.
He scanned the room. No Somi. Maybe she'd gone to the bathroom.
Then a girl came trudging toward him — a girl with yellow-dyed hair.
"Wooju. What's up?"
It was Somi. Wooju stared, stunned. The voice was hers. The whole atmosphere was not.
Her hair, dyed a brilliant yellow, hung fully loose instead of in its usual style, a dazzling golden waterfall. She'd swept it into a two-to-eight side part and pinned her bangs, stuck on false lashes that made her eyes look razor-sharp, and painted her lips in peach tint.
The uniform was a different creature too. White loose socks reaching just below the knee, a skirt short enough that her thighs were almost on display — nothing like what Somi usually wore. She'd undone the front of her blouse, a hint of cleavage showing, and her nails were done in a bright polish.
"So-Somi? That look…?"
"I tried an image change! How is it?"
Wooju felt like a grenade had gone off in his chest. The paddling he'd just taken from the Korean teacher seemed to evaporate. Somi's newly sensual look was, without exaggeration, the best thing he had ever seen.
"You're so pretty!"
"Really? That's a relief."
Somi said it and beamed. Wooju could have sworn that smile was just for him.
She gave a light turn, like a fitting model, showing off the full transformation. Wooju clapped like a delighted seal. The thought that she'd changed her whole image for his sake made him ridiculously happy.
"Shin Wooju! Did you forget that boys aren't allowed in the girls' class without official business? I let it slide once. And here you are again?"
A stiff voice cut in from behind. The class president. Wooju spun around, waving his hands in a hurry.
"S-sorry, class president! I'm leaving."
"This is a rules violation. Twice. If I let it go, I'd be breaking the rules myself."
The class president cracked her disciplinary whip with a threatening snap. Wooju shuffled backward, and a sour ache flared through the ass that had already been beaten once today.
"Assume the position. Five strokes, per the school rules."
"…… Please go easy."
Wooju hung his head. Getting punished by a classmate was one thing. Getting hit in front of the girl he liked was worse. The class president put five strokes across his ass.
Somi didn't so much as glance over. The only thing on her mind was whether she could land a kiss on the PE teacher.
Wooju took his punishment and bolted back to his own classroom.
"How do I look?"
Gyaru-fashion Somi threw both arms wide as she presented herself to me. The transformation was nothing short of dramatic.
"Not bad. You're pretty."
"Right!? But Mom completely lost it over the makeup. Heheh~"
Somi gave her own forehead a cute little bonk. Fair enough — I'd probably have something to say too if I were her parent. So Somi's folks were the normal kind, huh.
"I don't look like a kid anymore, right? So? Want to take my kiss?"
"Hmm. You're still a little kid, Somi. Changing your clothes and dyeing your hair doesn't change that."
Somi puffed her cheeks like a blowfish, sulking.
"I-I'm a complete adult! Look at this. Who would even see me as a kid?"
"Your skin's still smooth and white, though."
Gyaru came in two flavors: kuro-gyaru, built on a dark base, and shiro-gyaru, built on a white one. Both had their charms, but I wanted to see Somi as a kuro-gyaru. That look carried a much stronger hit of corruption, which I liked.
"Tanning salons are super expensive, though…"
"Hm? You even looked into tanning salons?"
"Yes. There's no way I could afford it on my allowance."
She said it with a self-deprecating little laugh.
Couldn't tan because she didn't have the money. What a colossal waste of national resources. I pulled a few bills from my wallet.
"Use this. Get a tan."
"Whoa! Can I really take this!? This much!? This looks like more than enough for tanning!"
"Buy whatever you want with the rest. Somi's a magical girl who saves people. You're allowed to accept this much."
"Thank you!"
I'm the one who should be thanking her.