Just a Transit Card, Right?
"Th-this is for a transit card, r-right?"
As if she had no intention of letting a once-caught opportunity slip away, Jihoo's mother kept the teasing going even after both Jihoo and I had taken our seats at the table.
"Auntie has always dreamed of looking after a grandchild for you, you know."
"…I genuinely didn't realize that was what you meant. Please stop."
"Honey. You'll make time tomorrow, won't you?"
Jihoo's mother completely ignored my desperate plea, jabbing her elbow into Jihoo's father's arm beside her and pressing him for an answer.
"Ahem. Dear. Mini's in a tough spot. No matter how adorable she looks when she's flustered…"
"Mister…!"
Jihoo's father cleared his throat and, with a look that suggested they ought to ease up, tried to rein in his wife's relentless jokes.
For the first time, an adult was taking my side. I felt a small, genuine swell of gratitude—
"…Shall we head over toward Jamsil tomorrow, dear?"
"Mister?"
"Ahem…. Mister…. Just me, hmm…."
Over a single form of address, Jihoo's father betrayed me in an instant and defected to his wife's side.
W-was the word Mister really that offensive to him?
Ever since the day we'd all gone shopping together, Jihoo's mother had become "Mother"—but for his father, nothing had happened yet that would justify changing the title, so it had simply stayed the same.
Apparently, spending about a week as the only one still stuck with "Mister" had left him quietly sulking.
That much I could understand… but did he really have to be this petty about it in a situation like this?
"F-Fatheeer…."
"Dear. We still have a meal to eat. Let's stop teasing the children, shall we?"
"Hoho. Shall we?"
The moment I reluctantly changed the form of address, the endless stream of mischievous teasing ended as if by magic.
No—Jihoo's father had told her to stop, sure, but given his mother's personality, she was not the sort of person to let go of a good bit once she had her hands on it….
"…Don't tell me you did that on purpose?"
"Ahem. The seasoned side dishes turned out especially well today."
"Oh, come on! Both of you are terrible! What's the big deal about a title, anyway!"
Despite my outburst, the two of them focused on their meal as if they had rehearsed it in advance, stonewalling my protests completely.
Even with me fuming right in front of them, the faint smiles tugging at the corners of their mouths made it painfully clear that nothing I said was going to make a difference.
In the end I let out a small sigh, gave up, sat back down properly, and quietly picked up my chopsticks.
"You've got it rough."
"…If you know that, maybe help me a little."
"I clearly told you I wouldn't help, didn't I?"
"That still counts?"
I let out a hollow laugh of pure disbelief and glared at Jihoo sitting beside me.
He, too, simply picked up a piece of meat and ate it as if nothing were wrong, no matter how hard I stared him down.
Earlier that afternoon, when I'd been crying and making a scene, both of them had been so flustered they could barely get their words out. So why were they this composed now that I was glaring at them?
"You stop too and eat."
"I'm in the middle of being mad right now…?"
"It's not like you're actually angry, anyway."
It was true that I wasn't truly angry—but how on earth could he tell?
I'd always been fairly easy to read, but I didn't think it had ever been this transparent.
I tapped the corner of my mouth with my fingers and fretted, my tail swishing lightly back and forth.
…Tail?
"…Don't tell me it's that obvious?"
"Yeah. Looking at your tail, it's ridiculously obvious. You're flustered right now, aren't you? Your tail went stiff."
"Ack! Aaaack!!!"
I buried my face against the table to hide the heat rushing into my cheeks, grabbed my wildly thrashing tail with both hands, and held it still.
Ah. Seriously. Seriously. Seriously….
Why is it that even though this is my own body, you only ever make me suffer, tail?
I didn't want to lift my head, but I had no choice. I carefully raised it just enough to gauge the reactions of Jihoo's family around the table.
His parents were pretending to focus on their meal, but the corners of their eyes, which kept flicking my way, were curved into soft crescents.
"Why didn't you warn me beforehand."
Out of sheer embarrassment I thumped Jihoo's side with my fist and complained far too late.
"I clearly said I wouldn't help…."
"Ah, damn it…! How long are you going to keep that up!"
Hearing him trot out the exact same excuse as before made me snap for a second, and I nearly swore right in front of his parents.
We might casually toss light curses at each other on a normal day, but I couldn't do that in front of a friend's parents.
I'd almost slipped up in a moment of irritation.
"Until you become an unawakened person again."
"That's forever, you bastard!"
In the end, I slipped up.
Between the mortifyingly expressive tail and the fact that I'd sworn in front of both of them, I was so distracted I barely registered how I managed to finish the meal.
When I finally came back to myself, the table had already been cleared, and steaming cups of tea and a spread of sweets had been set in front of everyone, myself included.
"Mini. You really don't need to worry so much about it."
I was still staring down at my teacup and fidgeting with it when Jihoo's mother spoke first.
"Hoho. Close friends—or couples—are bound to let a few rough words slip now and then."
"I clearly said I'm not marrying that guy…."
"It's just a manner of speaking. Looking at me like that is a little scary, you know."
Despite claiming it was scary, Jihoo's mother set her teacup down with a thoroughly unbothered smile.
"More importantly—while our Mini has been resting, I heard from someone I know at the Association. Until a vacancy opens up, you're allowed to complete the theoretical coursework in advance at an Association branch."
"Really? There was a system like that?"
As far as I knew, nothing of the sort existed.
"So it seems. Starting next week, you can go to the Association branch closest to your house."
"Yes—thank you for looking into it for me."
"Oh, please. We're hardly strangers."
Mother laughed lightly and took a sip of her tea.
Father, who had been quietly watching the exchange, seemed to mull something over before speaking up.
"Then. Mini, are you planning to commute to the Academy from home?"
"No. I heard you can apply for a dormitory at the Academy, so I was thinking of doing that."
No matter how used to moving my tail I'd become, making a round trip of two or three hours every day was, honestly, not realistic.
From the moment Jihoo had first suggested aiming for Academy admission, I'd already looked into the free dormitories available on campus.
They were free, so they wouldn't strain anyone's finances, and being on Academy grounds would cut the commute down dramatically.
"You're going to live in a dorm? Think you can handle it?"
"Hey. I've done dorm life before. As long as you follow the rules, it's no big deal."
I'd even lived in a dorm during university, so I didn't expect anything particularly difficult or inconvenient….
"No. I mean, can you live in a women's dorm."
"…Huh?"
"Academy dorms are four to a room. Can you share a room with three other girls?"
Ah. Right. I had become a girl. Of course.
The fact I'd completely forgotten while researching dorms hit me late, and a cold sweat slid down my spine.
There was no way I could share a room with actual girls. The dorm plan had no choice but to be scrapped.
"I-I'll just commute. Leave a little earlier, that's all…."
So I had no choice but to make that two-to-three-hour round trip after all.
The thought alone was dizzying enough to make me want to sigh on the spot, but with no other options, there was nothing for it.
"Oh my. Mini. Why don't you just board here with us instead?"
"That would be far too much of an imposition…."
Under normal circumstances I would have accepted without a second thought—but ever since learning that maids lived in this house full-time, it had become the option I wanted to avoid most of all.
Even one week here had been exhausting enough with how conscious of them I'd been…. Boarding at Jihoo's place was absolutely out of the question.
I was desperately turning down Mother's insistence that I stop being polite and just stay, when Father cleared his throat beside us and smoothly cut into the conversation.
"Ahem. Dear. Mini seems far too burdened by the idea of boarding again. Wouldn't it be better to offer a simpler form of support instead? Something to help with the commute, for instance."
As he spoke, he drew his wallet from his coat, then pulled a single black card from inside it.
He held the card out to me just like that, and I took it on pure reflex.
But… why was he suddenly giving me a card?
"Use that for your commute. It's from your old man, so don't feel too guilty about it."
"Uh, yees…. Thank you…?"
Was he trying to cover my transit fares? In that case, was this card meant for me to tap as a transit card from now on?
I'd accepted it without thinking, but I decided I wouldn't actually use it—just keep it—and was about to slip the card into my pants pocket when—
"Good. You'll want to get around comfortably, so make sure you buy a full-size sedan."
"…Excuse me?"
A full-size sedan?
"Th-that's—wh-what…? Th-this isn't for a t-transit card, i-is it?"
My flustered voice shook so hard the words barely came out properly.
Was he telling me to buy a whole car with this card?
"The maid assigned to you can drive as well, so you can leave the driving to her."
"W-wait a second, Father. B-buy a car? That's way too much!"
I hurriedly pulled the card back out of my pocket and stretched my arm out toward Father to return it, but—
"Mini. I'm sorry. We can hide our tails, so we don't keep any vehicles with seats comfortable for beastfolk who have them. I'm afraid you'll have to pick one out and buy it yourself."
"No. No. No! Father!"
"Fill it with gas on that card, and handle all the interior setup with it too."
Apparently, once he'd handed it over, he had no intention of taking it back.
"Ah, right—then that girl will need a place to stay as well. I'll look into something near Mini's house."
"No! Father! That really isn't necessary!"
"Is that so?"
"Yes! Buying a sedan just for commuting doesn't make any sense!"
If I didn't stop this right now, a full-size sedan purchased for "commuting" and a maid waiting downstairs every day were going to be dumped on me as a matched set.
Still, waving both hands frantically and pleading with Jihoo's father seemed to help—he nodded as if conceding the point.
Thank goodn—
"So Mini prefers an SUV over a sedan. Dear. We'll need to look into brand showrooms that can deliver within a month."
"I already sent the reservation texts, as it happens."
"Both of you, please!"
Only after a long, drawn-out struggle with the two of them did I finally manage to close the matter without further disaster—by inventing the excuse that I wanted to experience the feeling of a freshman who commutes on her own.
"If something comes up later and you need it urgently, use it then."
"But…."
"It's for emergencies you can't predict. Just accept it quietly."
In the end, though, he never took back the card he'd already given me. With no other choice, it settled into the deepest corner of my wallet.
It was only one extra card. So why did my wallet suddenly feel so much heavier…?