Awkward Family Gathering
“Ah… ha… try……ing…”
“Ah, so close!!!”
“Ahhhh…”
I strained my throat as hard as I could, forcing out a voice. But contrary to what I'd hoped, nothing coherent came out.
“I thought your voice was coming back a bit lately… Guess it's still too much?”
Seo Yeon shook her head regretfully. My own feelings were a tangled mess, so I couldn't bring myself to look straight at my sister's face—the one who'd been helping with my rehab.
Lately, I'd started regaining some mental stability bit by bit. Along with that, I'd been doing rehab exercises to recover my lost voice. On top of it all, school life was settling into a normal rhythm. Thanks to that soccer game at lunch, I'd gotten somewhat closer to the boys, and faster than I'd expected, my daily routine was starting to feel ordinary again.
Anyway… right on cue, regardless of time or place, I'd been practicing speaking with my sister's help.
“Kids, sorry to interrupt practice… but can I come in for a sec?”
A knock-knock on the closed door, followed by Mom's voice. Our eyes reflexively turned that way, and soon the door opened as Mom cautiously stepped inside.
“M-M-M… Mom… ma…”
“Yes, it's Mom…”
I barely managed to call out to her, and Mom replied with a gentle smile and a warm voice. It made me so happy that my expression softened involuntarily, a goofy grin spreading across my face.
“The pronunciation isn't perfect yet, but it's getting better little by little!”
Treating it like her own achievement, Seo Yeon was even happier than me, roughly ruffling my hair. My head was a total mess, but the sense of accomplishment kept my mood from souring.
“So, Mom, what's up? You seem like you're tiptoeing around Sua…”
“Ahaha… That obvious, huh? Well… somehow it got moved up, and Grandpa's ancestral rite is the day after tomorrow. Looks like the relatives will all be coming here…”
“Ah……”
My brief joy evaporated at the sudden news. My face drained of color as I stared straight at Mom. She watched my reaction carefully, fidgeting anxiously with her mouth shut tight.
'Oh… I'm screwed…'
The thought flashed through my mind unconsciously. After my gender transformation disease got out, my story had spread to all the relatives—there wasn't a single family member who didn't know I'd become a girl. But they'd only heard about it; I'd never actually faced them in this body even once.
How was I supposed to look them in the eye…? I couldn't even imagine it. My throat creaked as I swiveled my head stiffly, my face on the verge of tears as I glanced back and forth between Seo Yeon and Mom.
“No need to look so miserable. Just show your face and act normal like always, right?”
“Sca… ry…”
“Scary?”
“Uh-huh……”
I nodded silently in agreement. Seo Yeon called me an idiot and launched into a pointed lecture, making sure I heard every word.
“You're gonna have to face them eventually anyway. Since it's happening, why not doll yourself up super cute and mess with the cousin bros?”
“No… way…”
I shook my head furiously, rejecting her idea outright. I was already going crazy just thinking about how to greet them face-to-face—could I really stand in front of the relatives looking like a girl?
“……Ahhhh!”
No matter how I turned it over in my head, it felt utterly impossible. If we'd been going to the rite at someone else's place, I could've dodged them with every trick in the book. But our house was the eldest of the three siblings' families, so unless I hid in a PC bang, there was no avoiding the relatives.
The realization made me want to cry, my face twisting involuntarily.
Sis, can we crash at a motel for just one night?
“You hate it that much…?”
Seo Yeon narrowed her eyes as she asked, and I nodded vigorously in affirmation. At my desperate full-body flailing that screamed how much I meant it, she and Mom exchanged glances and fell silent for a moment. I was the youngest in our house. Among the cousins, there were two high school seniors and two more in college. Excluding Seo Yeon, the only girl in the family before, there were no other female siblings—it was a total boys' club.
But… with the gender transformation disease, I'd wedged myself into my sister's spot as the family's lone princess.
We'd always messed around from a guy's perspective, hanging out like bros. Just thinking about how they'd treat me now made my head hurt. Obviously… they'd be uncomfortable around me. No doubt.
“Come to think of it, you haven't talked to the bros since you got sick, right?”
“Cha… ting… stil… l… do… ing…”
“Huh? Really?! I figured they'd ghosted you…”
Surprised, Seo Yeon didn't hide her shock. Truth be told, I hadn't told her, but it was about two months after we'd told the family about my disease. I was still struggling to adjust to this woman's body, miserable in a reality far from what I'd imagined.
That's when the cousin bros reached out first. Knowing I couldn't speak properly, they didn't call. Instead, they added me to a group chat and started talking. They asked how I was as if nothing had changed, and even though I ignored them at first, I eventually started replying one by one.
Without facing each other, I'd slowly started reconnecting with the cousins.
They still seem uncomfortable around you, Sis.
“Kinda hurts my feelings… Am I the only one getting the cold shoulder…?”
“What, the bros are all total wimps who can't even hold a girl's hand?”
She was spot on. The cousins had never had girlfriends, went through all-boys middle and high schools, and the college ones were in STEM majors with barely any girls. They always lamented having no chances to meet women.
Thrown into an environment with almost zero contact with the opposite sex, they couldn't hide their awkwardness around our sister—even though she was family. As her little brother with a familiar face, I never felt that way. But objectively, no one could deny Seo Yeon was a beauty, so I got where they were coming from.
“Hmm… So that means you might feel super~ uncomfortable too, Sua?”
“……Huh?”
Seo Yeon's lips curved up as she pondered for a second. Something scheming glinted in her eyes as she turned to me, and I flinched involuntarily at the mischief.
**
“Uwoooo! Uwuk! No…… way!!!!”
“Aaaah! Quit thrashing already?! It's gonna be fun to doll you up pretty like this!!”
“Ahhhh!!!”
Early morning, my room echoed with my tearful screams. Amid the chaos, Seo Yeon pinned down my flailing escape attempts with brute force, desperately trying to strip me.
After Mom's warning about the relatives coming, I couldn't decide and just agonized until time slipped away. When I snapped out of it, the day had arrived.
Honestly, I'd planned to steel myself and bolt from the house. Going to a PC bang alone was scary with all the stares, but I figured I could beg Seongjun to let me crash at his shop for the night. I'd even prepped and gone to bed.
But Seo Yeon had seen through me. Who'd have thought she'd sneak into my room while I slept and lie down next to me…?
The heavy feeling on my body made me crack my eyes open in the morning, only to come face-to-face with her soft smile right in front of me: “Sleep well, my. Lit. tle. Sis.?” The chills from that moment… even now, my spine tingles.
“Let's make the bros' jaws drop!!”
“Uh, ugh! No… way!!”
The more she fussed to change my clothes, the clearer my protests got—ironically.
Seo Yeon looked amused at my improving speech, then yanked my pant waistband down with all her might.
“Hyaa?!”
Feeling them slide down, I panicked and grabbed the hem, yanking upward desperately. My teeth gritted, hands trembling with effort, but the overwhelming strength gap was unbeatable.
“Ugh! So stubborn?! Dolphin pants are so comfy!! And they slay a virgin's heart!!”
“Eeeeeek!”
She dangled her favorite dolphin pants in front of me with one hand, urging me to try them. A horrified yelp escaped me automatically.
“You two… quit the ruckus. Mom says come down for prep…”
We were deep in our clothes-changing tussle when Ji Hoon—home after ages—walked in with an openly uncomfortable scowl. From his face, he was here reluctantly at our parents' request.
He still found his girl-turned-me awkward, averting his eyes elsewhere.
“Ah! Wait! Just changing clothes, then we'll go! And knock before entering your sister's room!”
“……Not undressing?”
“Gotta undress to change, duh?! Whoa?!”
Seo Yeon bellowed back at his jab, then lost balance and toppled forward. Her hand still gripped my waistband, and I couldn't withstand her falling weight—tumbling toward Ji Hoon.
Thud—! We hit the floor. Feeling eyes from above, I cautiously lifted my head while face-down.
My gaze met Ji Hoon's, his face twisted in discomfort.
“……”
He stared down at me with uneasy eyes, lips pressed tight, then fled the room like it burned.
'Yeah… he still hates me.'
I was used to it now, managing a bitter smile as I tried to get up.
'Huh? Why does my lower half feel so… exposed?'
The weird emptiness drew my eyes downward.
“……Eh?”
And there it was—my bare lower half, clad only in plain white panties, nothing else.
“U-U-Uwaaa…!!”
I'd flashed my panties at Ji Hoon. Girl panties, no less… The realization hit like a truck, blood rushing to my face in an instant.