The Naked Female Manga Character
The sound of high heels echoed from the hallway beyond the door. I could tell just from the footsteps. It was my sister.
“She’s here.”
Winter darted behind my back in a panic. The ancient door lock, at least twenty years old, beeped as the passcode was entered. With a cheerful ding-ding-ding, the door swung open.
“I’m home.”
“Oh, you’re back, sis? Must’ve been tough working all day. I finished all the dishes and cleaned the bathroom, so….”
“…Stop.”
My sister stared at me with icy eyes. She looked like a homicide detective who had just spotted her suspect. It was terrifyingly intense.
“Open up whatever you’re hiding behind your back.”
I decided there was no point in trying to conceal it any longer and revealed the hidden Winter.
“Ta-da!”
“….”
“H-hello…. I’m Han Gyeowool, an aspiring trainee. I’d like to impose on you for a while….”
My sister stared blankly at Winter for a moment, then let out a small snort of laughter. She patted my shoulder encouragingly and said,
“Wow, our Taeyang hasn’t even been out of the military that long, and you’re already turning the house into a motel. Look at you, all grown up.”
That was hardly appropriate language to use in front of a minor.
“No, sis, she’s not like that. She’s the one I told you about on the phone yesterday….”
“Since you’re all grown up, it’s time for you to live independently. No need to hesitate—get out right now.”
“…Huh?”
When I failed to process her sudden declaration, my sister moved straight to enforcement. She lifted the wooden dining table with one hand, preparing to swing it. Wow, my sister really is strong.
“You’re not leaving? I said get the hell out, you bastard!”
“Wait, sis! If that hits someone, they’ll actually die! Please spare me!”
My sister raised the table high like an executioner about to deliver the final blow. I desperately tried to stop it from swinging. Meanwhile, Winter had dropped to her knees, head pressed to the floor, hands raised in surrender as she begged like a trapped fly. It was complete chaos.
Thirty minutes later, the situation had finally been resolved.
On the apartment’s emergency staircase, my sister smoked a cigarette while I stood beside her, reading the room carefully.
“You’re not smoking?”
“There’s a kid here, so I’m trying to quit for a bit.”
“…Ah.”
My sister seemed to understand. She stubbed out her half-smoked cigarette in the ashtray. I hadn’t even been hinting at anything…. It felt awkward.
“So where did you pick this one up?”
“She lost her wallet on the bridge and was in trouble.”
My sister looked at me as if she had expected that answer. But my response, coming from someone who had regressed, didn’t end there.
“But honestly, that’s not the important part. She just looked like she had talent, so I snatched her up.”
“…Huh?”
“I’m planning to introduce Winter to Cheon Jonghun, the project manager at SS. If he’s satisfied, I’ll try to make a deal in exchange for helping me get a job.”
This was my true intention.
“Winter is high-quality merchandise worth trading for a price. So there’s a good chance he’ll accept a simple request like a job referral. Cheon Jonghun is someone who can grant that kind of favor without much trouble.”
I smiled brightly and added,
“Looks like my unemployment days are almost over.”
“…You brought her here just for that? To use a kid like her?”
My sister wasn’t a cold person. If anything, she had too much affection. When we took in a single hamster and it died, she cried all day. It was the same with people. Even now, she would casually ask about the friends who had stayed at our house, pretending not to care. And when one of them passed away in a car accident, she used up her precious vacation days to attend the funeral procession and the burial for three full days. Even though she had only known him for two days.
After that, my sister firmly refused to let anyone else stay at our house. She was so afraid of grief that she decided not to let anyone except me into her personal space. That was the kind of person she was. Someone with so much love that she had to live in isolation. Someone who would get angry at the mere mention of a child she had known for less than thirty minutes being used. That was my sister.
There was a way to phrase it nicely to her. I could say I was trying to help a pitiful child. That it was pure goodwill. That would have been enough. But I wanted to be honest with her.
“Yeah. I brought her here because she’s useful and I plan to use her.”
“You weren’t that kind of person.”
“What kind of person was I?”
I wondered what I must have looked like to her back then.
“A nosy, hopelessly kind idiot. A pushover who never asked for anything in return.”
“…What a frustrating guy.”
“Yeah, a frustrating guy. Never listened to a damn word I said.”
My sister smiled faintly, as if recalling a memory, and said,
“…But he wasn’t a bad guy.”
“….”
“I thought you’d give another long speech about how ‘a good person should do this’ while taking care of that child. Not some cold calculation about how useful she could be.”
“I’ve graduated from that.”
“Why the sudden change? You never fixed that personality no matter how much I nagged.”
“I realized there are things more important than those uncertain ideals.”
“And what’s that?”
“Money. And success.”
To learn this simple truth, I had to lose everything.
“Sis, I’m going to succeed. Even if I have to use people and step over them. I’ll succeed, make a lot of money, and make your life comfortable.”
My sister turned her gaze away from the moon visible through the gap in the emergency staircase window and looked straight at me.
“You don’t need to think about me. I didn’t live like this just to make you feel indebted. I can take care of myself.”
My sister had never once mentioned her own sacrifices. Not even in the previous timeline when I had achieved some small success.
“What matters is what you think. Is this really what you want?”
Because it was her, I could answer with complete certainty.
“Yes. It’s what I want.”
“…Alright then. Do your best.”
She looked away from me and turned her gaze back to the moon.
“Taeyang.”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t you want to try going to college now? I’ll take care of the tuition and everything.”
“If you want to throw money into the air, go ahead. I’m confident I can look down on others.”
My sister let out a small laugh. Then she started down the emergency stairs.
“Where are you going?”
“To buy a can of beer. I don’t think I can sleep in the same house as that kid while sober.”
I immediately bowed my head and apologized.
“…I’m truly sorry.”
“Hehe, good. You little shit.”
She really was a soft person.
I stayed on the stairs until I saw her leave the apartment building, then went back inside. I called for Winter.
“Winter, come here for a second.”
She came running over as if she had been waiting.
“Yes! What is it?”
“We’ve gotten permission for you to stay at our house, but there’s still one thing left to do. If you want to spend time here, you have to agree to this condition.”
“I’ll do anything I can.”
“It’s not anything that extreme, so don’t get so worked up.”
“…Okay.”
Facing her slightly dirty face, I said,
“We need to get permission from your grandfather.”
Getting a guardian’s approval was the bare minimum. If his granddaughter disappeared for a whole week without contact, how worried would he be? To prevent him from filing a missing person report and causing trouble with the police, we had to handle this properly.
“…Then, could you help me persuade him a little?”
“Of course I’ll help. From your grandfather’s perspective, he needs to know what kind of guy his granddaughter is staying with.”
Winter nodded with determination and immediately made the call. After a little over a minute of ringing, the call connected. She exchanged brief greetings, then began explaining her current situation in detail. She told him about losing her wallet, how I had helped her yesterday, how she had mistaken the audition date, the story about her precognition, and how she had gotten another chance to audition thanks to my help. She explained the situation and her feelings as coherently as possible.
In the middle, I heard a gruff voice snap, “Hey, you brat. That’s why I told you to put the money on a card instead of carrying cash!” But even while shrinking back, Winter said everything she needed to say. Good job, my little introvert.
“…Um, Grandpa says to turn on the video call. He wants to see you once.”
“Okay, you can turn it on. I’m ready.”
“But… I don’t know how to do it.”
Without a word, I took Winter’s smartphone and connected the video call. The screen lit up, revealing an elderly man wearing air force sunglasses and a fedora. He looked quite stylish—someone you might believe if told he was a senior model.
“So, you’re the one who’s been taking care of my granddaughter?”
“Hello. I’m Seon Taeyang. I wouldn’t say I did anything particularly great, but I am the person Winter mentioned.”
“Nonsense. Doing that much for a complete stranger is indeed a big deal. Refrain from excessive humility.”
I smiled awkwardly. Being praised for something I had done for my own benefit felt incredibly uncomfortable.
“Winter, you want to stay at this young man’s house and take the audition?”
“Yes. If this uncle helps me, I think I can do well. I want to try. Not just being pushed around by others, but doing something for myself.”
“Alright. Go ahead.”
Winter’s grandfather gave his permission without hesitation. I was the one who would be responsible, yet he accepted it so easily. I felt a twinge of doubt and asked with concern,
“Are you really okay with this?”
“She’s all grown up and says she wants to do it. I have no intention of stopping her. Though I do plan to help…. So, give me your account number first.”
I explained that I hadn’t done this to receive money, but Winter’s grandfather said he would only feel at ease if he could give some. Understanding his feelings, I stopped refusing and sent him my account number. As soon as the transfer was complete, a large sum appeared in my account. It was far too much for six days of lodging.
“This is too much money….”
“Hey, young man. Refusing something an elder gives you is even more rude. Don’t embarrass me.”
“…Understood.”
“It’s reassuring in another way. You don’t seem to match Winter’s tastes at all, so I don’t have to worry about anything improper happening. Heh heh.”
Winter’s grandfather spoke cheerfully, as if trying to lighten the somewhat stiff atmosphere. I played along.
“Oh dear, how truly unfortunate. To think I don’t match Winter’s tastes. Haha.”
“Hehehe, well, kids at that age tend to have high standards. It’s not that you’re unattractive, so don’t worry.”
“So what exactly isWinter’s taste?”
At that, Winter’s grandfather let out a low groan and began pondering for a long time. Was that such a difficult question? When I glanced at Winter, she was frantically shaking her head while looking at her grandfather on the screen. What on earth was it?
Her grandfather seemed to steel himself. He avoided Winter’s eyes and opened his mouth.
“Naked female manga characters?”
“Grandpa—!”
…It was a taste from another dimension.