The Secret I’ve Been Hiding
The December after the sports festival had arrived, marking the beginning of winter break. Of course, I was still spending my time at home, but it felt far less boring than during summer vacation.
I started visiting the library during my free hours alongside my father, and with my bare skin allowed to exercise as well, I no longer felt the slightest sense of confinement.
After the laptop incident, Mother had personally conducted item inspections every time Ryu Young stopped by the house, and even my father had contacted Ryu Young’s mother. According to reports, several items from Ryu Young’s villa had been seized.
I worried that my actions might have been a bit excessive, but Father only smiled, stroked my head, and said it couldn’t be helped.
Seeing that Ryu Young accepted everything without much protest or resistance made me wonder if there was something from my original world that I didn’t know about.
After the laptop incident, Seolhwa noona and Seolhui noona had felt guilty toward Ryu Young, but Ryu Young had given a wry smile and said it was fine. Seolhwa especially looked apologetic and even offered to give me the doll she cherished.
Since that day, whenever I went to wake Seolhui noona, she would jump up, rush to the bathroom, and as soon as I took even one step closer, she would sprint away in three quick strides.
Feeling a little wronged and sad, I would stop and try to approach slowly, but she refused to let me get any closer than a certain distance. Seolhwa, on the other hand, happily clung to me, and Mother sighed while firmly pressing Seolhui noona’s forehead, giving her a tiny scolding.
And today, the last Saturday of December, Seolhui noona who had reconciled with Ryu Young was once again meeting him every Saturday for training sessions.
Today, it was justified as the final training session of the year, so I had been allowed to watch. I had also been pestered because I had promised to turn Ryu Young into a dragon battle coach.
We arrived at the training hall of the Ability Management Center. Among the machines I remembered from the sports festival, Ryu Young was stretching with only her mask on. As soon as she saw me, she jumped in surprise, quickly pulled off the mask, hid it behind her back, and gave a fake cough.
“Ahem! Y-yah! You should’ve said you were coming!”
“Should I tell my coach’s student in advance that I’m here?”
“Of course! Students have private lives too!”
Blushing furiously, Ryu Young shouted while I chuckled and stepped closer. I reached my hand between Ryu Young’s arms and snatched the mask she had hidden behind her back to examine it.
It was some kind of complex tool I couldn’t see in my original world. For now, even after looking at it, I could only tell it was a mechanical mask that covered the mouth.
I placed the mask directly on Ryu Young’s lips and said, “You don’t have to hide it, little dragon, but don’t overdo it… Let’s see some moves after a long time.”
Ryu Young blushed at my words, gave a small nod, and was about to rush into the training hall when she turned back and handed me the bracelet she was wearing.
“T-that… don’t let the movements break. Keep it.”
Taking the bracelet from Ryu Young, I smiled broadly. Ryu Young’s ears were already turning red, and she quickly entered the training hall, calling out to Seolhui noona who was waiting outside.
Seolhui noona approached me, pinched my cheeks vigorously, and left her usual encouraging words before heading into the hall. It was a sight I hadn’t seen in a very long time.
However, the level of training had clearly changed from what I remembered about half a year ago. Seolhui noona, who used purer lightning than wires now, and Ryu Young, who was diving into Seolhui noona’s gaps while dripping water from the mask in her mouth and throwing punches, both had become far stronger than half a year ago.
Ryu Young’s punches and kicks felt softer and more natural than before, but the power contained within them had increased several times over, and Seolhui noona was now moving between walls and walls like she was riding wires without them, incorporating the residual lightning scattered all around as her own weapon.
I kept my body from tingling in the recent magic use while watching the training between Ryu Young and Seolhui noona. Now was the time to focus on strengthening Ryu Young and Seolhui noona rather than fighting myself.
“Noona, do you need to pee? Want to go to the bathroom together?”
“Eh? Ah, no, I’m fine, Seolhwa.”
Of course, Seolhwa had mistaken my bouncing for the urgent need to go to the bathroom, but I was holding something else in instead.
Seolhui noona’s golden lightning had disappeared as Ryu Young had said, but the previous golden lightning had turned blue, and Ryu Young hadn’t used any tools except the mask, yet she didn’t seem lacking at all in her fight against Seolhui noona.
I stroked Seolhwa’s head as she followed Seolhui noona’s moves, looking at the two girls. It seemed like the time when I could give them advice was long past.
Both of them had found their own fighting styles, and with how much they had trained together, there was nothing more I could teach them about strategy or technique.
Maybe it was a side effect of training too much. Thinking that a new opponent would be nice, Se-ah’s name came to mind.
Mother—well, Mom—was watching the training with a dissatisfied expression when I approached her and asked when Se-ah would return. Mom just said it would take some time and didn’t know exactly, adding that Seolhwa was stronger than her peers but weaker than Ryu Young and Seolhui noona. No other students at school could beat Ryu Young and Seolhui noona, and even teachers couldn’t match them in density.
Even the most brilliant techniques and strategies were useless against a one-sided density difference. Density difference… density difference?
“Can we pause the training for a moment? Thank you. Seolhui noona, can you compress lightning? Just do as much as you can.”
I thought that if a person’s density difference occurred, raising the density of the superpowers themselves might fill the gap. I paused the training and asked Seolhui noona to compress lightning.
Mother looked a little surprised but gave me a proud smile while stroking my head. She received the microphone from my hands and began explaining in detail how to compress superpowers.
Seolhwa, who had been bouncing around, suddenly crept closer and entered the training hall, starting to practice the method of compressing superpowers using her own water droplets as Mother had taught.
Mother’s explanation was professional and detailed enough that I thought it could be applied to magic, and Seolhwa’s friendly approach made it easy for children to understand and try.
Seeing Ryu Young, Seolhui noona, and Seolhwa all practicing to raise the density of superpowers inside the training hall, Mom smiled brightly and stroked my head, saying, “As expected of my son, you have good sense. It’s true that they can’t get anything new from fighting each other anymore.”
“Mom—wait, Mother… How do you know so much about compressing superpowers?”
I realized I had called her Mother again and quickly corrected myself to Mom. Mom smiled faintly and answered that she had also gone through similar worries at my age.
Father often said that Mom had been a fighter since she was a child, so there must have been a time when the gap between steps was too wide, just like now with Ryu Young and Seolhui noona.
I nodded in understanding of Mom’s answer, then asked if Mom had also had a good rival. Mom gave a wry smile and replied that even if it wasn’t a rival, she had knocked down plenty of opponents.
Mom’s eyes seemed to be hiding something from me, but I couldn’t tell what it was.
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“Happy New Year~!”
The new year had dawned. I was now eleven years old, Seolhui noona would turn thirteen next year and enter middle school, and Seolhwa would turn eight and enter elementary school.
And now was the time to keep our most important family promise. To reveal to Seolhwa that I was a boy.
But there was one problem. Would Seolhwa be able to hide the fact that I was a boy from Ryu Young? Since there was no particular reason to hide it from Ryu Young, Mother had contacted Ryu Young’s mother first to explain the situation, and Ryu Young had agreed to join our small New Year’s party this year.
Ryu Young’s mother had been greatly shocked by the news that I was a boy, but she said Mother had convinced her well.
So, when our entire family except Seolhwa and Ryu Young gathered for the small, slightly tense New Year’s, I cleared my throat and made my decision.
“So… Seolhwa, and little dragon. Actually, I have one secret…”
At my words, Mom and Dad looked at me with slightly tense expressions, and Seolhui noona pulled away a little, her ears blushing.
I took a deep breath and slowly opened my mouth, staring at the concentrated eyes of Seolhwa and Ryu Young.
“I… I’m actually a boy…”
The confession I had uttered with my eyes tightly shut was met only with Mom and Dad’s gasps and Seolhui noona’s hiccups; I heard nothing from Seolhwa and Ryu Young.
Peeking cautiously, I saw Seolhwa with a playful smile and Ryu Young staring at me with disbelief.
“Eh~ even you, noona~ It’s believable that a pretty noona like you is a boy?”
“Yeah, and superpowers or not, what does it matter if you’re a boy? I would’ve laughed so hard if there was no auntie around.”
I no longer had the energy to explain and gave Mom and Dad a pleading look. They kept clearing their throats and confirmed it was true. Seolhwa’s face started to harden. She told them not to joke and laughed a few times, but when they kept saying it was true, she went all the way to Seolhui noona and asked if it was real.
Seolhui noona nodded slightly, her face and ears bright red, proving it was true. Ryu Young, who had already accepted it from Mom and Seolhui noona, blushed just as much and began to stutter, unable to speak properly. She froze in place.
Seolhwa approached me slowly with a shocked expression, grabbed my chest, and shouted, “N-no!!”
“S-Seolhwa!!! What are you touching!!”
“Noona… oppa? Oppa? Oppa is noona…? Eek…?”
Seolhwa, clutching my chest and shouting no, staggered as if hit by a shock and collapsed onto me. I shouted in surprise, but Seolhwa only kept repeating noona and oppa in my arms.