That Day Finally Came
We were sitting there in a daze, staring out the window toward the sunlight, just passing the time from our different perspectives.
"Sua… has something bad been happening to you lately?"
"…Huh?"
One of the girls, who had naturally gathered around me for some girl talk as usual, glanced at me cautiously and asked the question gingerly.
As I widened my eyes in surprise, the girl who asked waved her hands frantically in the air.
"Oh, no, I mean… you just look really unwell lately…."
Apparently, my twisted expression had been pretty obvious.
For some reason since yesterday, my condition hadn't been great. My chest felt oppressively tight in a bizarre way, and a dull ache centered around my pelvis and lower back kept nagging at me whenever I thought it had let up.
Maybe I've been sitting too much playing games….
I tried to brush it off as no big deal, but feeling under the weather was making my mood gloomy too, and my face kept hardening into a scowl.
I scribbled on my whiteboard: [It's because my body's not feeling good.]
"How about going to the nurse's office? What's wrong with you?"
[My back hurts so much.]
"Aren't you just sitting around too much at home?"
Was that really it? I pondered it deeply, but I couldn't recall doing anything that would strain my back.
Maybe my sitting posture was bad, putting stress on my back muscles.
"Is it really just your back that hurts?"
At that moment, Seongjun, who had been listening quietly from the side, narrowed his eyes.
Song A Yeon nodded along, staring right through me as if peering into my soul.
Really, I was just saying it hurt—why were they reacting so sensitively?
Irritation bubbled up unnecessarily, twisting my face even more openly.
"See, you're being sensitive… Does your chest feel tight or anything?"
Song A Yeon tilted his head after observing me for a few seconds.
Too lazy to even write a response, I just nodded vaguely and flopped face-down on my desk.
My mind was blank, and with the irritation, my whole body felt heavy and depressed.
I'd definitely taken my depression meds this morning….
Maybe the meds I'm taking lately aren't suiting my body….
It seemed like a reasonable thought, but up until a week ago, my condition had been good enough for normal life.
"Ughhh…."
"Are you really okay…?"
Seongjun's voice came from beside me.
I turned my head slightly to the side, and our eyes met.
"Your complexion looks pretty bad…?"
Seongjun, who had been watching me silently, stood up from his seat.
"Can you make it to the nurse's office on your own?"
"Uh, uhh…."
Too drained to even write, I answered with a short groan instead.
Seongjun's face openly screamed annoyance, but deep down, he extended his hand toward me.
"Oho~ So, Mr. Park Seongjun, this is how you flirt with the school's top beauty?"
Song A Yeon grinned mischievously and poked Seongjun's side.
Seongjun shot him an irritated glare, clearly displeased, but he didn't pull back the hand he'd offered me.
I grabbed Seongjun's hand and carefully stood up.
Ah… why am I so dizzy…?
Was it because I stood up too suddenly? My vision spun, and my body lurched toward Seongjun.
Thankfully, he caught me quickly, steadying me just in time.
It was weird. I couldn't understand why I felt so nauseous and dizzy, like I was about to puke.
Did I eat something bad? As that thought crossed my mind, Song A Yeon narrowed his eyes and approached me quietly.
"You said your chest feels tight and your back hurts, right?"
I nodded to Song A Yeon, who asked again as if confirming.
Then, as if something clicked, he glanced at the girls who had been fidgeting worriedly beside me.
A few of them, catching his eye, looked troubled at first and thought for a few seconds.
Soon, their gazes turned to me unnaturally.
"Uh… wait, no way, is that…."
"Hey, Park Seongjun! Go over there for a bit!"
"W-what?! What's going on all of a sudden?!"
"You're so clueless! A Yeon, can you take Seongjun and give us some space for a sec?"
The girls urgently shooed Seongjun away.
Song A Yeon grumbled but dragged the protesting Seongjun out of the classroom for a moment.
Confirming no boys were around, the girls sighed in relief and surrounded me tightly, blocking anyone from approaching.
Was this some new kind of bullying? But the next instant, one of them dropped a bombshell.
"Sua… you must be one of those who gets really bad period cramps, huh?"
"…Huh???"
I thought I'd misheard— a short, shocked sound escaped my lips.
My face naturally paled in the unbelievable situation.
The girls seemed to think I was just embarrassed because they'd casually mentioned a girl's "that time" without consideration.
But… unlike the other girls, I couldn't brush this off lightly.
My life as a girl still felt so unfamiliar; I wasn't prepared for something like this at all.
Me… getting my period…? In this… tiny body…?
My head wouldn't process the reality fully.
It had only been about two months since my body had fully become a girl's.
Maybe it was weirder that it hadn't come until now.
A body that could bear children….
"Uh, ugh…."
The moment I became aware of the changes in my body, my head throbbed.
My condition was still bad, and the more I thought about it, the more my back ached sharply.
"Hic… ugh…."
The relentless pain pressing down on me, mixed with an inexplicable gloom, finally made tears burst out.
"S-Sua? Are you okay?"
"Let's get you to the nurse's office first. Do you have pads?"
"Ugh…."
My body froze stiff.
Of course I didn't carry something like that around.
With tears streaming down my pitiful face, all I could do was stare blankly at the girls surrounding me, lips pressed tight.
"No way… you didn't bring any?"
I nodded faintly to the question, and one girl rushed back to her seat, rummaging through her bag.
She came back holding something—a pad, unmistakably.
"The nurse's office should have some, but just in case, here, take these."
"Uwugh…!"
Practically shoved into my hands, I couldn't move for a while, just staring dazedly at the pad in my grip.
As I sat there blankly staring at it, the girls started pushing my back, urging me to hurry to the bathroom.
I… don't even know how to use this….
The tears wouldn't stop, and it was hard to admit to my classmates that this was my first time.
It felt unnatural for a high schooler to have no period experience, so in the end, I was pushed out of the classroom with the pads in hand.
"Ah… heading to the nurse's?"
As I stepped out, Seongjun approached as if he'd been waiting.
Song A Yeon, standing beside him, yanked at his uniform hem and raised his voice slightly.
"Hey, you idiot! Why are you so clueless at times like this?!"
His scolding gaze naturally fell on the pad in my hand.
Pushing the clueless Seongjun behind him, he hurried over to me.
Leaning in close to my ear, he whispered cautiously in a small voice.
"Why are you standing there spacing out?! Hide that quick! What if other guys see?!"
"…Ah!"
Finally realizing, I frantically stuffed the pad into my skirt pocket.
"I figured it might be that time. You okay?"
"Uuu…."
"Ah, sorry! It's weird for a guy like me to ask, right?"
Song A Yeon rubbed his hands together apologetically.
Maybe from hanging out with girls so much, he was quick on the uptake even about stuff like this.
Considerate, I guess….
For some reason, Song A Yeon gave me an odd sense of familiarity.
We'd become acquaintances naturally through Seongjun, but I still felt uneasy around him.
Despite being a guy, his personality was more thoughtful than girls his age, and his tastes weren't much different from theirs, so he always blended in with the girls.
His delicate looks could've passed for a girl's with slightly longer hair, but his similar tastes made it hard to shake the feeling he was unique.
He was almost the opposite of me—outwardly girly, but somewhere in his personality, guy-ish traits stuck out bluntly.
Ah, whatever… maybe I'm overreacting….
First things first, deal with this before it becomes a bigger problem….
I wrote quickly: [Gonna hit the bathroom real quick.]
"Be careful. Oh, and I have something I'm curious about—got time later?"
Song A Yeon hesitated uncharacteristically, then whispered so only I could hear.
I didn't quite get what he meant, but it was the first time he'd pulled me aside personally, so my head tilted instinctively.
What's he so curious about…? This is so random….
Still clueless about his intentions, I left the questions hanging and hurried alone to the staff bathroom to handle the urgent matter.