Small Ones Are Fine Too... Wait—There Aren't Any?
I tried on my sister's clothes a few more times after that, but of course not a single piece fit.
Outfits that sat perfectly on her turned into nothing but crop tops the moment I put them on, and with every failed attempt, Seong-ju's expression grew darker and darker.
This whole exercise was for Mom's sake, but if I kept going, I was going to leave a serious dent in my sister's towering pride. I managed to calm Mom down just enough to pull her off the warpath of desire, then walked over and gave Seong-ju a gentle pat on the back.
"It's okay, unnie. Some people are just small. You know how many people out there actually prefer that, right?"
"You... do you actually want to die?"
"What? Why are you getting mad when I'm trying to comfort you? This is exactly why you don't have a boyfriend!"
"Just die, you little bitch!"
Seong-ju brought a knife-hand chop down on my head in a rage, and I screwed up my face as pain split my skull in two.
God, that hurts like hell.
Is this even a person? She's a gorilla.
With the top of my head still throbbing, I ran to Mom to tattle on Seong-ju's violence—only for Mom to pile on and completely destroy her.
"Mom, unnie hit me."
"This time you had it coming. And no fabricating, son. Look at that—how is that 'small'? There's simply nothing there."
"Mom...?"
Seong-ju's hollow voice echoed through the room. A distant, freezing atmosphere began to settle over everything, and a flustered Mom fled to the kitchen under the excuse of dinner prep.
"Come to think of it, dinner still isn't ready, is it? Mom's going to head out first! You two siblings—no, sisters—have a nice little chat!"
She bolted for the kitchen without so much as a glance back. I patted Seong-ju's back again, trying to console her.
"Unnie."
"What."
"I'm sure there are people out there who like cliffs, too. Just like how NSFW art has a flat-chest tag."
"GET OUT!!!"
Seong-ju started hurling everything within reach with savage force, and when even ominous objects resembling dildos began flying through the air, I beat a hasty retreat to the kitchen after Mom.
I arrived to the sound of my sister wailing from the bedroom, and what greeted my eyes was the evening banquet Mom had been so diligently preparing. I carefully sampled a few dishes one by one—then let out a hollow laugh at the mountain of chicken breast salad piled high on a plate.
Right. That goddamn chicken breast salad. That's part of why I ran away from home in the first place.
Two out of three meals a day were that miserable chicken breast salad. Who the hell would stick around and not bolt?
I was staring at the dressing-free salad with pure hatred when Mom, apparently nearly finished with dinner prep, pulled my luscious tails into her arms.
"Son."
"Yes, Mom."
"So you really have no intention of moving back home, do you?"
She asked it lightly, and I answered with a bright smile.
"No, Mom. No matter how I look at it, this house and I just don't fit. Starting with the meal plan, all the way through daily life—none of it works."
"What a shame. Mom really wanted to enjoy these plump, soft tails to her heart's content. Would it be all right if I dropped by now and then?"
"As long as you don't bring Dad, anytime. I feel a little bad saying this about him, but if Dad shows up, this place is going to get turned upside down for sure."
Mom and Seong-ju I could allow. Dad was an absolute no. Unlike them, he was a man who took cleanliness extremely seriously—if he ever visited, he would completely overhaul my raccoon-den of an apartment without a second thought.
"So if you want tail therapy, come alone. The moment you show up with Dad, I won't let even you in from that point on."
I laid down the law, and Mom nodded with a sunny smile.
"Well, of course. And if I come alone, I get these plump, fluffy tails all to myself, don't I? Hehe... Mom's not that stupid."
...Honestly, sometimes you kind of are.
I forced the words back down my throat, pointed at the cooling food, and said,
"But Mom, shouldn't we eat dinner soon? The rice is getting cold."
"Oh! The tails just felt so good I got carried away..."
See? What did I tell you? My mom really is a bit of an airhead.
I snorted at her endearing cluelessness, and from beside me the Fox God let out a sigh and spoke.
"Haa... Save for a slight difference in appearance, they are unmistakably mother and daughter. Spitting images of one another."
After finishing a warm family dinner, I immediately started preparing to head home.
Seeing my family again after so long had been nice, but spending the night and traveling during the day would only raise the risk. Even today, I'd nearly been spotted by other people several times on the way over, so I asked my parents for understanding.
"I'm sorry. If I still looked normal, I would have stayed the night—but this form is pretty dangerous if anyone else sees me."
"It's fine. Nothing is more important than your safety, no matter what. But do you have to keep living like that?"
"No. Apparently I can transform into a human form once I meet certain conditions—I just haven't met them yet. I figure I probably will before too long."
Until now I'd only been streaming, so growth had been slow—but once I hired an editor and started uploading videos to Latube, the time it took to gather Jeong-gi would shrink considerably.
Judging by the editor's skill and the appeal of my current body, the fast end was about a month; the slow end, six months at most. By then I'd have gathered a full million people's worth of Jeong-gi and could live something resembling a normal life.
Of course, the part where I holed up at home drawing lewd art and enjoying happy time wouldn't change one bit.
I waved goodbye to my parents—and then, settled into the box, a sudden question occurred to me.
Come to think of it... wasn't this whole reunion a little too smooth?
In the gender-bender novels I used to read, the parents would always suspect the protagonist, and the protagonist would have to dig up every black mark in their past just to prove they were their kid. All kinds of ridiculous stunts.
So why didn't Mom and Dad show even a shred of doubt?
Right before Seong-ju closed the box lid, I stopped her and put the question to my parents.
"Dad? Mom? Something just occurred to me—why didn't you question my identity at all? I could have been some random weirdo pretending to be your son, right?"
Mom seemed to mull it over carefully, then answered at a measured pace.
"You're right, it was suspicious. A pretty girl with these fluffy, perky ears and plump, adorable tails suddenly shows up claiming to be our son—of course we'd be suspicious."
"For people who were suspicious, you sure didn't show it."
"Of course not. The second you opened with 'I messed up' at our first meeting, every last doubt vanished. That is so clearly something only our son would say—how could we possibly doubt you?"
Mom giggled, ruffled my hair, then pulled something from her front pocket and held it out to me.
"But son—or should I say daughter? Accidents are absolutely not allowed, okay? If you really get into trouble, Mom is going to be mad."
"If you're going to say that, why are you handing me a condom? That guy and I are seriously not like that."
"Hehe... You never know where things might go between a man and a woman. Just take one for now."
Wasn't there a saying about not being able to spit on a smiling face? Mom was beaming so brightly I couldn't refuse the condom, so I shoved it into a corner of the box with the plan to dispose of it on the way home.
"Anything else you're curious about?"
"No, I should get going."
"What a shame. We finally got to see each other after so long—I wanted to talk a little more."
Mom made a sulky face, nuzzled into my tails one last time, then reluctantly let them go.
"I'll come visit soon, son! Make sure you keep those tails nice and soft!"
"Are you coming because you miss your son, or because you want tail therapy?"
"The latter, of course. Obviously fluffy, luscious tails are more precious than a son, aren't they?"
Apparently done listening to this sanity-melting conversation, Seong-ju slammed the lid shut on those final words.
"If we get any later I'll be exhausted, Mom. I've got work tomorrow, so I'm taking this one home now."
"Hold on, Seong-ju. Honey—don't you have anything to say to Seong-hun? You've had your mouth shut since dinner without a single word."
I couldn't see anything with the box sealed, but I could feel Mom fixing Dad with a murderous glare. A moment later, Dad stammered out a few words of fatherly advice.
"Son."
"Yes, Dad."
"Remember this: a sound mind dwells in a sound body. Never neglect your training."
"...Yes."
It was classic Dad advice, but I had no intention of taking it to heart. Drawing the lewd art I was into and enjoying happy time with the manga I was into sounded like a much better use of training time.
I answered Dad's counsel in a small voice, and Seong-ju—apparently deciding it was time—hoisted the delivery box and started moving.
"Mom, Dad? We're really leaving now! And don't worry about Seong-hun—I've got everything under control."
"Under control? You show up every day and throw gorilla tantrums."
"I will abandon you on the side of the road, I swear to god."
"I'm sorry."
I do not want to become a stray.
Faced with Seong-ju's genuine threat, I immediately tucked my tail between my legs.
And just like that, our brief little family reunion came to an end.