Why Did You Break My Egg?
It was delicious.
“Why, why are you like this, little bird…. No, Min?”
“My egg…. hic. Why did you do that?”
My reaction seemed so far outside what the two of them had expected that they could only stand there fretting, watching my face for cues.
Even I was a little startled by how I was reacting.
“Min. Just a second. Just calm down for a moment and listen to this auntie, all right?”
Jihoo’s mother reached for my hand, then saw my eyes and stopped, her outstretched fingers trembling faintly.
“Hey…. hey. What’s wrong with you? Why are you angry?”
Me, angry?
Ah. So that was it. I was angry right now.
Ever since I had watched the egg shatter, a sharp, stabbing ache had been digging into one side of my chest. Tears flooded out in a rush, yet I bit down hard on my lip and forced the sobs back.
Unbearable betrayal and sorrow crashed over me together, but I steadied my shaking voice and spoke.
“Explain…. just explain it.”
No matter how furious I was, this was still a friend I had known for years, and his mother.
I wanted to give them one chance. Just one proper chance to explain.
Why they had shown me something so cruel right in front of my eyes.
“Why you broke my egg. Explain it!”
“A-all right. Min. I’m sorry. We were thoughtless….”
I had rudely snapped at her in casual speech, yet Jihoo’s mother still apologized and reached out as if to soothe me.
“First, I’m sorry we broke it without any explanation. Min.”
I scrubbed the tears from the corners of my eyes with the back of my hand and stepped back, dodging the offered hand.
“I don’t want an apology…. I want an explanation.”
“Th-then…. well…. First of all, Dragon Shifters don’t feel much attachment to unfertilized eggs, so we assumed you would be the same.”
“You think that counts as an explanation?”
“And female Dragon Shifters have a tradition of always…. eating the very first egg they lay. In hopes of producing healthier eggs afterward…. Th-that’s why we did it….”
Was she serious?
Still wiping my tears, I shot a sidelong glare at Jihoo, who was sitting beside me.
“Really…. I brought you straight to the table myself.”
“Why didn’t you tell me beforehand?”
“At first you didn’t even want to look at it…. so I figured it was fine. I’m sorry.”
He hung his head and apologized in a voice that barely rose above a mumble.
As if that apology offered no comfort whatsoever, I bit my lip hard.
“Beforehand. Would it have killed you to say something beforehand? Why does no one ever explain anything properly to me!”
And all the resentment that had been knotted up inside my chest burst free with it.
“Why do you all just make plans on your own and tell me later? Don’t you care that I’ll be completely blindsided?”
The day everyone had suddenly dragged me out shopping flashed through my mind.
“Why is everyone so nonchalant about it…. I-I still flinch every time I look in a mirror…. Always ‘little bird’ this, ‘daughter-in-law’ that! And yet you never explain a single thing!”
All the quiet resentment that had been piling up, knowingly or not, ever since the day I first changed came pouring out in a rush.
“I…. changed, but…. even though I turned into a girl.”
Had everything I had simply laughed off been stacking up as wounds this deep inside me?
“I won’t do it. I won’t stick with that bastard!”
The words tore out of me like a scream.
“Don’t call me little bird. I won’t be your daughter-in-law! I won’t!”
I burst into loud, childish sobs and collapsed onto the floor.
“I’m still just that guy’s friend….”
With that final line I shook my shoulders and cried, pouring out every scrap of sorrow I had been holding back.
“Min. It’s not like that.”
Jihoo’s mother knelt in front of me and carefully took my trembling hands in hers.
I didn’t pull away. I didn’t have the strength left to try.
“I…. I just didn’t want you to feel too confused. So I teased you more and treated everything lightly on purpose.”
Through my blurred vision I could see her face twisted with guilt.
“If you hated it, I will never make those jokes again. I ‘promise’.”
I gave a small, silent nod at her words.
“Hey.”
Jihoo’s rough voice came from beside me.
“Who’s nonchalant. I’m busy yelling and sighing every single day.”
I know.
How hard he has been trying to hide his own anxiety.
And how much that has helped me, too.
“I…. well, my explanations were lacking. I’m sorry.”
“…Yeah. I’m sorry too. I’m sorry for suddenly yelling.”
“No. Min. What do you have to be sorry for? Want to go rest in your room?”
I shook my head at Jihoo’s mother’s question and staggered up from the floor.
“No…. I’ll eat. I’m going to eat….”
Once I had poured everything out, my heart felt a little lighter.
The stabbing pain in my chest from moments earlier was gone; instead I felt strangely clear.
I dragged a chair over and sat back down at the table.
“I-it…. huff…. Please make it delicious.”
I forced the words out as if wringing them from my throat.
“All right. Auntie will make it right away.”
Clattering sounds began to drift from the kitchen.
Listening to them, I sent a single text to Mom, then closed my eyes and waited quietly.
“You okay?”
“Yeah. They said it’s good for your health. I’m fine.”
I answered the voice beside me shortly and offered a small smile.
Actually. I’m a little not fine.
I don’t know why, but it hurts so much.
“Think eating that’ll make me grow taller?”
“…Probably.”
“Really?”
“Sometimes parents feed it to their young kids.”
I forced myself to sound nonchalant and tossed out a joke I didn’t even mean, yet the guy took it completely seriously and answered. It was so ridiculous it made me laugh.
Seeing that absurd side of him made me feel like an idiot for fretting over nothing.
Vrrr.
A short vibration buzzed from the smartphone on the table.
I tapped the new-message notification and checked what had arrived.
I stared blankly at the messages for a long moment.
Then another one arrived right after.
After typing the short reply and hitting send, it finally felt like I could breathe again.
It had all been needless worry.
“Here. It’s ready.”
The instant I sent the message, a plate of yellow omelette with steam curling up in soft wisps was set in front of me.
The surface was perfectly smooth, without a single scorch mark; saliva pooled in my mouth before I even realized it.
Come to think of it, I hadn’t been able to eat properly these past few days because I had no appetite.
“Thank you for the meal.”
I carefully split the center of the omelette with my spoon.
Melted cheese spilled out of the crack like a waterfall.
The moment that rich, savory aroma hit my nose, every bit of hunger I had been suppressing rushed in at once.
As if entranced, I shoveled a full spoonful of omelette into my mouth.
The soft texture and deep, savory flavor spreading through my mouth made my eyes close on their own.
“It’s delicious.”
“That’s a relief. Eat slowly.”
Even with the instruction to take my time, my spoon kept moving busily, stuffing more omelette into my mouth.
While chewing the mouthful of cheese and egg, I turned my head slightly and glanced at Jihoo, who was staring this way.
“Wan’ some?”
“Swallow first, you idiot.”
“Huff…. Want a bite? Why are you staring so hard.”
Jihoo shook his head without answering.
“You eat it all. You cried your eyes out and now you want to share?”
“Why are you a stranger?”
At my words his body seemed to jolt. So he really had wanted some.
I scooped another full spoonful and held the spoon out toward him.
“Take it with your hand and eat. If you open your mouth I’ll throw it.”
“I don’t want that either, you idiot.”
Jihoo hesitated a few times looking at the spoon I offered, then finally took it and dumped the whole thing into his mouth.
“It’s good, right?”
“…Yeah, it is.”
He muttered quietly and wiped the bit stuck to the corner of his mouth with his hand.
“Here. Mother, you have a spoonful too.”
“No…. I’m fine. That….”
“Are we strangers too? We’ve been imposing on you here…. You can speak casually to me.”
At my stubborn urging she finally opened her mouth carefully, as if she couldn’t win.
I slipped the omelette inside. While she chewed cautiously, I spoke as nonchalantly as I could manage.
“And…. you can call me little bird.”
Her eyes went round. She stared at me blankly, as if she had forgotten to chew from the shock.
“It’s just a nickname anyway. Whether it’s Min, Miri, or little bird. Call me whatever’s comfortable.”
“Thank you, Min.”
Jihoo’s mother reddened her eyes slightly and offered a gentle smile.
Feeling oddly embarrassed, I lowered my head and shoved the rest of the omelette into my mouth in a rush.
The feeling was strange, but my egg really was delicious.
After finishing every last bite of the omelette, I stretched my warm body out long and long in a satisfying yawn.
“Min.”
“What?”
“Congratulations. Just now the mana in your body moved.”
At those words the body that had been stretching froze solid.
Something that hadn’t worked even after a whole week of effort was suddenly moving like this?
“Really? It really moved?”
“Yeah.”
“In my opinion, little bird entered her oviposition period, so the mana wouldn’t circulate. Young Dragon Shifters sometimes can’t move mana properly because of the eggs.”
I carefully stroked my belly as if I still couldn’t believe it.
It hadn’t just been painful—this thing had put me through all sorts of trouble.
“Still. Dragon Shifters usually only lay eggs once a year, so there shouldn’t be any more problems from now on.”
“Really?”
“Of course. Dragon Shifters who lay twice get congratulations. I was a bit surprised that little bird did oviposition instead of menstruation, though.”
Listening to Jihoo’s mother, a wave of relief washed over me together with an indescribable, complicated feeling.
Past me who thought menstruating would be way better: goodbye.
Better to suffer all at once once a year than suffer every single month with periods. Whatever!
When I reached that conclusion, a faint smile spread across my lips without me quite knowing why.
“Then since I can handle mana now, I should head home.”
“O-oh, rest for today and go. Your body must be quite worn out.”
At Jihoo’s mother’s urging I hesitated a moment, then nodded.
Then I just have to endure the maids’ stares for one more day and I’m free.
My mood lifted a little. Humming under my breath, I stood up from my seat.