Seoul Outing (2): The Tail That Wouldn't Stop Wagging
After checking into the hotel, Ha-neul and I headed straight for Samseong Station. Sniff sniff sniff. I'd developed a habit of smelling the air every time I visited a new place. The acrid, smoky exhaust of Seoul that I hadn't breathed in nearly two years was harsh, yet oddly nostalgic at the same time.
It wasn't just the smell of pollution. There were cosmetics, perfume, the sweat of passing people, and the sweet aroma of fish-shaped pastries. Yeah. It was the smell of humans living their lives.
Swish swish. Swoosh swoosh. Fwip-fwip-fwip-fwip. The moment I saw all the people, my tails naturally started wagging like crazy. I stuck close to Ha-neul's side and began taking in the passersby and the cars. Thankfully, even though I'd been reincarnated into a world where yokai ran wild instead of the Korea I remembered, people's fashion and the car models hadn't changed. The food was the same too. Even the brand names were all familiar.
Oh, that guy just made eye contact with me. I flashed him a bright smile. It had been so long since I'd seen a man who wasn't part of our little group that I couldn't help feeling happy. I gave him a playful, flirty little grin.
He jolted like he'd been shocked, then put on this strangely determined expression and started walking straight toward me. Huh. I hadn't expected him to actually approach.
Did he have something to say? A moment later, the man reached us, gave a polite bow to both me and Ha-neul, and got straight to the point.
"Um, excuse me… miss, are you doing a nine-tailed fox cosplay? Did you… were you just looking at me?"
"Yep, I was."
The man, clearly hopeful after my cheerful confirmation, cleared his throat and continued.
"Ahem… this is honestly my first time in a situation like this, so it's pretty awkward, but… here goes. I feel the same way about you, so could I possibly get your phone number—"
"Oh. I don't have a phone number."
"…Sorry?"
"I don't have one. Sorry about that."
"…"
The man stared at me with a blank face for a second, then turned away with a clearly dissatisfied expression. I thought I heard him mutter "fuck" under his breath.
How rude. What did I even do to deserve that?
"Don't you think? What a weird guy. Are all Seoulites like that?"
"Anyone with eyes could see you were the one in the wrong, Miho."
"What? What did I do?"
"I saw everything. Of course the fox would pull something like that. You gave that poor man a flirty little smile first. Then you hit him with the 'I don't have a phone number' line. I'd be pissed too if I were him."
"But it's the truth. And it wasn't a flirty smile. I was just happy to see someone and said hello…"
How was a friendly smile and a greeting considered flirting? Was this that whole "popular kid" vibe or something? I genuinely didn't get it.
"Just don't do anything that could be misunderstood in the first place. Stay still. Just stay still."
"…Fine."
She didn't understand how nice it felt to meet people after so long. How tragic.
Well, thinking about it, I could see how it might have been misinterpreted. But I was finally exploring a real city after nearly two years. Of course I was in a good mood.
Anyway, surrounded by the curious gazes of countless people, Ha-neul and I continued strolling through the streets. I wanted to eat this, I wanted to eat that. There was food everywhere, so my eyes were spinning. But what caught my attention most of all was the unmistakable smell of those fish-shaped pastries.
Huff huff. Huff huff huff. Huff huff huff huff.
"…Miho, put your tongue away. And stop wagging your tail."
"Buy me some pastries."
"I'll buy them if you put your tongue away."
I clamped my mouth shut as hard as I could. My tongue danced wildly inside, protesting for its freedom, but as long as I kept my lips pressed together, it couldn't escape.
When we reached the food cart selling the pastries, the words burst out of me before I could stop them.
"What the fuck!"
There were no red bean pastries. There were black-filled ones, but they weren't red bean. They were chocolate. Chocolate fish-shaped pastries? What kind of blasphemous combination was that?
Shocked, I asked the lady working the cart.
"Ma'am, don't you have any red bean ones…?"
Only then did she look up. She was startled once by my fox ears, twice by my tails, and three times by my chest before concluding, 'Oh, she's doing cosplay!' She must have seen a lot of cosplayers around here.
She stared at me intently for a moment, then smiled and answered.
"You're a foreigner! How is your pronunciation so good?"
Ha-neul patted my head and replied for me.
"Yeah… she's a foreigner, all right."
"Oh my, aren't you that girl I see on TV all the time? What was your name again…"
"I'm Lee Ha-neul."
"That's right! The Force Arts master Lee Ha-neul! See, I knew I recognized you!"
Apparently Ha-neul was famous enough that even regular people knew her name. Okay, fine, you're famous. But why are you treating me like an idiot and passing me off as a foreigner? Where are the red bean pastries? The red bean ones.
When I made a sullen face, Ha-neul explained.
"Miho, who in the world eats red bean in their fish pastries? That's weird food. Weird."
"What the hell is this bullshit—"
"Oh dear, looks like the foreign young lady learned a bad word. You shouldn't say things like that, dear. You really shouldn't."
Good grief. A world where they put chocolate in fish pastries instead of red bean? This world was doomed.
I got scolded by Ha-neul. Thoroughly scolded. She was so angry that she even grabbed my fluffy ears and yanked on them.
"Ow, that hurts…!"
"Then maybe don't do things that deserve getting scolded? Never, ever do that again! Got it?"
"…Yes ma'am."
"If you pull any more surprise stunts, I swear I'll go to a pet store right now and buy you a dog leash. I'm not joking."
"…"
Ha-neul finally let go of my ears, then immediately grabbed my hand tightly. To explain why she ended up gripping my hand like that, I need to rewind to about thirty minutes ago.
Chomp chomp. Nom nom nom.
"Good, right?"
"…It's pretty decent."
"Isn't 'pretty decent' an understatement when you're already on your fifth one?"
"…"
I had to admit it. Chocolate and fish-shaped pastries were a match made in heaven. It was so good that I genuinely wondered why no one in my old world had ever thought to sell chocolate ones.
As I ate the pastries and continued sightseeing around Seoul, my tail began spinning at full speed. It wasn't just wagging anymore. It was literally rotating like a helicopter propeller. Ha-neul had told me—well, asked me—not to wag my tail, but controlling my tail wasn't something I could do with willpower alone. She seemed to have given up on that battle.
Even if there was a cosplay event nearby, a spinning tail was more than enough to draw everyone's attention. It would have been fine if they just looked, but quite a few people actually came up and asked to take photos.
I learned that asking cosplayers for photos was apparently part of cosplay culture. It wasn't rude at all. Plus, since they could take a picture with the famous Lee Ha-neul too, a lot of people approached us.
Some asked about my tail. I just vaguely said it was a high-tech animatronic tail ordered from overseas. When someone asked, "Can I touch it?" I politely declined, but—
"Whoa, a tail!"
"Miss, can I touch it?!"
Pure evil. The children's hands showed no mercy.
"Hey!"
One of the little brats grabbed my tail tight.
"Kiiiiii… Yip! Yip! Yip! Grrrrrrrrrr…"
"Wahahahaha! This lady's weird!"
Dog noises came spilling out of my mouth. I didn't really want to admit it, but fox tails are actually quite sensitive. Light stroking was fine, but if someone grabbed it like that, I couldn't stop the dog sounds from coming out.
Since there was nothing I could do about it, Ha-neul didn't get angry at me. She just gently scolded the kids and sent them away. What terrifying little creatures. And how were they so strong?
There were a few close calls, but I somehow managed to suppress my instincts and charm powers. I was able to continue my Seoul outing.
While we were wandering the streets, it finally happened.
"Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof!"
For the first time in my life, I encountered a dog. It was a large Golden Retriever. The owner must have been a fan of Ha-neul's, because they asked her for a photo. Naturally, I was put in charge of taking the picture.
"Okay, here we go."
"Grrrrrr…"
"One."
"Grrrrrrrr…"
"Twooo."
"Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof!"
Wait, why had this retriever been barking at me nonstop since earlier? It was even baring its teeth. Weren't retrievers supposed to be famous for being friendly to people? This damn dog.
Fine. Let's see which one of us is more dog-like. My competitive spirit kicked in.
"Grrrrrrr…"
"Grrrrrrrrrr…"
I set the phone down and started growling right back at the retriever. The dog stepped forward with flashy footwork and struck a pose. How dare a pet dog raise its paw at a person? You think only you can stand on four legs? I can stand on four legs too, you bastard.
"Yip! Yip! Yip! Yip! Yip!"
I switched from two-legged to four-legged posture and unleashed a barrage of fierce barks at the retriever.
"Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof!"
The retriever bared its teeth right back at me. And so began the great growling battle between me and the Golden Retriever.
"B-Boksil, why are you acting like this all of a sudden! I-I'm so sorry, he's not usually like this with people… this is strange…"
The owner grabbed the retriever's leash.
"Miho, why are you acting like this all of a sudden! I-I'm so sorry, she's not the type to dislike people either… wait, that's not what I meant…"
Ha-neul looked like she wanted to grab my leash too, but I didn't have one. Therefore, this dog fight could be declared my victory as the one who had achieved freedom. This was the superiority of humans. Take that, you inferior beast.