Youngest Madam?
"Youngest Ma… what?"
The moment the car pulled away, I lowered the duffel bag from the seat and set it on the floorboards, out of Jihoo's line of sight.
I knew perfectly well that someone watching the road from the driver's seat had no reason to glance at a bag behind him — but the unease still needled at me, so I shoved it farther into the corner with my foot.
"D-did you wait long? Sorry for making you wait."
I was spitting out whatever came to mind, just to cover any sound the bag might make, when the car stopped at a light and our eyes met in the rearview mirror. He'd been staring straight at me.
H-how long has he been watching?
I looked away like a dog caught mid-mischief, clamping a hand over my tail so it wouldn't thrash on its own. Sweat beaded along the back of my neck.
"Don't worry about it. I was just running away because they never stop pestering me when I'm home."
Thankfully, the second the light changed, Jihoo turned his attention back to the road without another word. I let out a quiet breath of relief and tried to keep the conversation going as naturally as I could.
"Running away?"
"My parents have been on my case since yesterday about bringing you over already. My head's still pounding from it."
"So we're heading straight to your place, then?"
"No. We're going to the Academy first."
Jihoo gave a little full-body shudder, as if the mere thought made his skin crawl. I frowned, puzzled.
"Why? Shouldn't we stop by the house first? You said they've been hounding you since yesterday."
"I'm telling you — if you set foot in that house today, those two will lock you down and you'll never get back outside."
"Come on. No way. Why would they? I just saw your mother a few days ago."
"Haa…. If you go home today, I'm not helping you. You're on your own."
Jihoo was fretting over nothing.
Sure, his mother had been a little more enthusiastic ever since I'd changed — but she'd always been warm to me even before. And his father was the quiet type; a few polite greetings were usually all we exchanged before he stopped paying us any mind at all.
"They're just happy to see me after so long. That's all."
"Whatever. Do what you want."
In the rearview mirror, Jihoo's face was scrunched up tight, but I shrugged it off, tucking my tail against my side and leaning back into the seat.
It was still uncomfortable — but I couldn't exactly sprawl facedown across the back seat every time I got in a car. I had to get used to this, little by little, whenever I had the chance.
"If it's bothering you, just lie down."
"I'm fine."
I gave him a halfhearted answer and turned my gaze out the window.
As the scenery blurred past in a rush of color, a small flutter of excitement and anticipation rose from somewhere deep in my chest. Maybe it was the good mood — the tip of the tail I'd been holding started to sway, tapping lightly against my thigh.
They called it the Academy with such grandeur, but it had an official name of its own and was technically classified as a university. Something long-winded about the Gate Industry under the Awakened Association — though even Association staff and the faculty just called it the Academy. Easier to say, apparently, and simpler to understand.
This wasn't my first time tagging along with Jihoo to visit. Whenever he ran late on a meet-up day because work piled up, or when he pulled all-nighters for days on end, I'd drop by on little errands often enough. I'd shown my face so many times that the security guard used to hand me a visitor pass the second he saw me. I'd even built up a quiet sense of camaraderie — used to bring him coffee or a drink on the way in.
"Here. Write your name and personal information, and fill in the purpose of your visit."
"Y-yes, sir."
But with my appearance changed, the guard's reaction was nothing like before. Fair enough — looking like this, of course he wouldn't recognize me.
I still felt that old sense of familiarity, but to him I was just some green-haired girl he'd never seen before. I stared blankly at the logbook for a long moment, then answered in a voice thick with fluster and hurriedly picked up the pen.
"Ah — yes… just a second."
I wrote Park Mi in the name field, then habitually started to add the final consonant for n underneath — and froze. Awkwardly, I finished it out as ri instead.
"You're all set. Please tap your pass at the gate before entering."
I took the visitor pass he held out and nodded. Crossing through the entry gate toward Jihoo, who was already waiting on the other side, I tapped the pass out of habit and went to loop the lanyard around my neck —
"Ah, seriously…!"
The cord snagged on the horn growing from my head.
Caught completely off guard, I flailed to untangle it, but pulling only seemed to twist the cord deeper into my hair.
"A-aah!"
It wouldn't come free no matter how I yanked — it just hurt like hell.
"For real. What are you doing."
"I don't know! Why does it keep catching?"
"Hold still. You're making it worse."
Jihoo sighed and reached out, carefully working the cord free from my hair.
"Honestly. You're not an idiot — what is this."
"You try having horns. They're insanely inconvenient."
It wasn't like I'd set out to do something this stupid on purpose. No matter how much time passed, I still couldn't get used to this changed body. For someone who'd been an ordinary human, horns and a tail were still deeply alien.
"I have horns, you brat."
"…You keep yours hidden most of the time, so they don't get in the way."
"Then study hard and learn to hide yours with magic too. There — all free. Let's go."
He finished untangling the cord, slung the pass roughly around my neck, and gave my shoulder a light shove before walking ahead.
"It's not that easy and you know it. Hey! Wait up!"
I grumbled after him for the ridiculous suggestion, raking a hand through what had to be a disaster of hair as I hurried to catch up.
We passed through familiar hallways, and the moment I opened the lab door, a wave of warmth rolled out and made me shiver without thinking.
"Did you leave a heater on in here? Why is it so warm?"
"Probably because of this. Catch."
Jihoo rummaged through a drawer and dropped a small crystal, faintly blue, into my open palm. The same gentle warmth filling the lab seeped slowly from the crystal against my fingertips.
"What is this? It's really warm."
"A Mana Stone."
"Ah, a Mana Stone…. A Mana Stone?! I-isn't it illegal for a private individual to just… have one of these?"
Laws on gate byproducts varied from country to country, but Mana Stones were tightly regulated worldwide. Once a gate was cleared, every Mana Stone recovered went first to the Association's Management Bureau — classified, appraised, logged into the system — and every step of distribution after that was monitored in real time under Bureau supervision. That was the rule.
"Y-you…. Just because you're a chaebol, you think you can do whatever you want…?"
Given how many ugly uses they had, the strict control made sense. There'd even been a country wiped off the map after refined Mana Stone narcotics flooded its streets. Point being — this was not the kind of thing that should just tumble out of a desk drawer.
"It's fine."
To my trembling question, Jihoo only shrugged, utterly unbothered.
"I've got full authorization. These are the lowest-grade Mana Stones, purchased for research."
"So this isn't some unspeakable rich-kid hobby…?"
"Why would I do something like that. I took a professorship so I could research."
He shot me a look of pure disbelief. Under that sharp stare I scratched the back of my head and looked away.
"Fine, fine — if you say so. Stop glaring at me."
"I wasn't glaring. Just sit wherever you're comfortable."
"Like this?"
I pulled over a nearby chair and sat. Jihoo nodded, satisfied.
"Hold the Mana Stone tight in one hand."
"Like this?"
"Yeah. Close your eyes and channel that warm energy through your body into your other hand."
"And how exactly am I supposed to do that."
"Like breathing."
A textbook answer from a Dragon Shifter who'd been flinging magic around since birth.
Until a few weeks ago, I was an ordinary human who couldn't even sense mana, let alone cast a spell, you know.
"It's not that easy and you know it. If it were, I'd already have hidden the horns and tail with magic."
"Hold it for a few days and you'll figure it out. For today, just do that for two hours."
"What? Two hours?"
"I'll handle some paperwork. Focus."
He turned his back without mercy and walked to his desk. I couldn't keep the incredulous look off my face.
"That's it?"
"Yeah."
"Then what was the point of coming all the way to the Academy?!"
All that talk about shortcuts, and he wasn't teaching me a single thing!
This was something I could've done at home. Because of this, I'd agreed to stay at his place for a few days — and this morning I'd even been handed that hideous pouch.
Indignation boiled up and I huffed and puffed, but he kept his eyes fixed on the stack of documents as if my voice didn't exist.
"And where were you planning to get a Mana Stone to practice with? Do that and you'll actually get arrested."
"Ugh…."
"These are just research scraps, which is the only reason you can use them. Normally you wouldn't even be allowed to touch one."
His words were indifferent and completely correct. Left with nothing to say, I bit my lip and closed my eyes.
I kept my eyes shut and concentrated for two full hours, but all I felt was that the Mana Stone was warm.
Having been reduced to a young man who'd simply sat there with his eyes closed for two hours, I climbed into the car with Jihoo in a hollow mood as we left the Academy behind.
"I told you ahead of time. I'm not helping."
"Helping with what? It's not like I've only been to your house once or twice. I know where your bathroom is."
That was all I heard the entire drive home.
Even my irritated answers didn't crack his indifferent expression as he parked the car.
The second we stopped, I slung the duffel bag I'd shoved into the corner over my shoulder and followed him out.
We walked the familiar path to the front door of Jihoo's House. I reached for the handle —
— and the door opened on its own. Someone caught my hand midair as it cut through empty space.
"Welcome home, Youngest Madam."
"…Excuse me?"
Youngest Ma… what?
"This way, if you please."
"W-wait a second! Hey — Lee Jihoo!"
I was being hauled along helplessly by a woman in pristine white, and I twisted around to shoot a desperate look at Jihoo behind me —
— only for him to turn his head as if he'd seen something he shouldn't, and give me a little wave.
"I told you I wouldn't help."
"Lee Jihooooo!!!"