Now It's 2 and 4
The next day.
"You could rest a little longer, you know."
"No, it's fine. If I stay any longer, Mom will start fretting over nothing."
Jihoo's mother watched me with a look of clear regret as I hurried through my preparations to head home first thing in the morning.
I slung the duffel bag—its contents a haphazard jumble of the clothes I'd left out—over my shoulder.
"I'll come again later."
"Alright. Get home safely."
As I stepped out the front door with Jihoo's mother seeing me off, Jihoo himself was already standing outside, as if he'd been waiting for who knew how long.
"Hey. Why are you hanging around out here?"
"I'll take you home. Get in."
"I'm fine. I can get there on my own."
But my firm refusal didn't faze him in the slightest. He simply started walking toward the car.
"Hey! I said I'll go by myself!"
I shouted at the back of his head, but he didn't so much as pretend to listen.
"If I let you go alone, Mom's going to pester me about it all day."
"Going back and forth takes forever. Just go back inside."
"Too late for that. Just get in already."
We bickered the whole way down the path to the front gate.
On the first day, I'd hitched a ride because my tail made public transit a hassle. But asking him to drive me all the way out to my neighborhood when he had no business there felt wrong.
"Get in."
"I'm not getting in."
Neither of us yielded an inch until we were past the gate.
Jihoo strode ahead, opened the rear door of the car, and gestured for me to climb in.
"Look, I—"
"Young Madam."
I was about to refuse his offer one more time when a voice called out Young Madam from behind me.
Maybe a week of hearing that title had worn me down—my head turned toward the sound as naturally as anything.
"What is it?"
"You left this behind."
A maid came running with her long skirt gathered in one hand and pulled a familiar white pouch from her apron pocket, holding it out to me.
Wh-why is that outside my bag?!
"E-eh?! Th-thank you!"
After going through oviposition—something I'd never even imagined—I'd completely forgotten the condom pouch existed. Seeing Ryu Seorin holding it made me snatch it out of her hands in a panic.
I'd never taken it out of my bag. How on earth had a maid ended up with it?
"Young Madam."
"Y-yes?"
The maid gave me a distinctly mischievous smile as I stood there flustered.
Don't tell me…
"A size that small would rather be bad for the young master's health, so perhaps you ought to simply discard—"
"Aah! Aaaah!!! L-let's go! Let's go right now, Jihoo!"
She opened it! She saw what was inside the pouch!
Before my mind could go completely blank, I shrieked and scrambled into the open rear seat of the car.
"…What the hell? You were dead set against getting in a second ago."
"It's nothing. Just go! Hurry up. Start the car already!"
I ducked my head, grabbing a fistful of my hair to avoid Jihoo's puzzled stare.
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught the maid's expression—she wasn't even trying to hide her laughter, her lips trembling and her shoulders shaking.
God… she's not going to get the wrong idea, is she? Please don't let anything weird reach Jihoo's parents.
My heart hammering like it was about to burst, I rolled down the car window.
"…Please keep this a secret."
"Of course, Young Madam."
"Ugh…"
Whether from the shock or something else, my face burned so hot it felt numb.
I stuck my head out the open window to cool my flaming cheeks.
As the car pulled away, the maid kept waving until she was completely out of sight.
"Hey."
The low voice from the seat beside me made me flinch.
"W-what…?"
"What possessed you to start carrying around a pouch like that?"
"I-I didn't pack that!!!"
I shouted before I could stop myself.
My voice must have been too loud—Jihoo's brow furrowed slightly.
"Obviously Mom packed it for you. Since when do you carry pouches around?"
"R-right! I didn't want to carry it around!"
"Then that's that. Why are you yelling? It's just a pouch."
Jihoo tilted his head, looking genuinely confused.
His reaction sent a wave of injustice washing over me, and I bit down hard on my lip.
To Jihoo, who had no idea what was inside, I must have looked like I was screaming over nothing. But the moment I thought about the pouch's hideous contents, my voice just got louder on its own.
"Sss…"
Not that I could tell him his mother had stuffed a mountain of condoms in there with a stern reminder to make sure we used protection.
I stewed in silent indignation and shoved the pouch deep into the duffel bag.
Even with the cold wind pouring through the open window, my blazing face refused to cool down.
"What's with you?"
Instead of answering Jihoo's casual question, I whipped my head away.
Like I could say anything!
Mortified and alone with it, I kicked the back of the driver's seat a few times for no good reason.
There'd been a bit of a ruckus, but after that we made it to my place without further incident.
"I'm just gonna drop my stuff off. Wait a sec. Lunch is on me—let's grab something."
"Sure."
I left Jihoo resting his chin on the steering wheel with that short reply and hurried out of the car.
I needed to dump this hideous pouch somewhere in my apartment before I could feel even a little at ease.
The moment I opened the shared entrance, I noticed something stuck in the mailbox, but I headed for the elevator first.
I tossed the duffel bag into the dark, empty apartment like I was throwing it away, then immediately took the elevator back down to the first floor.
"It's for me."
The mail I'd checked on my way out of the shared entrance had the three characters of Park Miri written clearly on it.
"Where do you want to eat?"
"I dunno… What's that?"
"I'm not sure either. It was in the mailbox, so I grabbed it."
Only after getting back in the car did I examine the mail more carefully.
A familiar logo was stamped on the front of the envelope.
"It's from the Association?"
"Ah… then it's probably your ID. You got a new female identity made when you renewed your registration, right?"
"Guess so."
I leaned comfortably back against the rear seat and let my tail settle naturally across my lap.
In that relaxed position, I fussed with the mail, trying to open the envelope—but the adhesive was stuck so firmly it wouldn't give.
"Ugh, it seriously won't open."
"Quit struggling. Give it here."
"It's just stuck really hard."
I placed the mail in the hand he held out toward me.
The envelope was sealed so unnecessarily tight I figured even Jihoo would have trouble with it.
But contrary to my expectations, he tore the opening open with ease and handed it right back.
"…Thanks."
I took the mail back with a faintly awkward feeling. Inside was a flyer packed dense with various administrative notices, plus two familiar-looking ID cards.
One was Park Min's familiar ID, with only the photo and the first digit of the back half of the resident number changed. The other was a brand-new ID with the name Park Miri written on it.
"My first back digit went from 1 to 2 and 4…"
I looked down at the two IDs in turn, feeling complicated.
I'd figured my resident number would change when I became a woman, but I'd never imagined I'd end up with an identity younger than I was now.
"4? You've got to be kidding me. So you're a 2000-born now? Call me hyung."
"Bullshit."
Jihoo turned around with an incredulous laugh at my words.
"At least you didn't end up with two birthdays."
He said it casually, staring at the IDs in my hands.
"Yeah."
"Almost had to celebrate my little sister's birthday twice. What a pain that would've been."
"I said cut the crap."
I put on my most menacing face, but Jihoo didn't so much as blink—he just grinned at me.
"Hey. Lunch is on me. Feels weird for an older brother to freeload off his little sister."
"You're seriously dead! Since when are you the older one?!"
"C'mon. Anyone can see I'm the hyung here."
Sure, I now had an identity four years younger, but the person inside was the same.
The sheer absurdity of him suddenly calling himself my older brother made me snort a hollow laugh and glare at him as I opened my mouth.
"That's ridiculous. Who says anyone can see you're the older one? Looking like this, of course I'm the o—"
Mid-sentence, in that sulky tone, I realized a word that absolutely should not come out of my mouth was about to slip free, and I clamped my lips shut.
"…Hey. Uh… want to get sushi?"
"Y-yeah. Yeah, let's. That conveyor-belt place we went to last time was pretty good."
He must have roughly figured out what I'd been about to say, because he hastily changed the subject.
In the sudden silence, the car rolled slowly forward.
"Never use a title like that."
"Blech… You think I'd call you that? Don't say disgusting things and just drive."
Me calling him by that title?
Just imagining it made me feel sick.
Why the hell would I ever call that bastard oppa? Not in a million years.