What Just Happened to Me? Part 2
The place where Na Jia had invited us to meet was a restaurant in Seoul.
Fortunately, it wasn't too far from my house.
When I looked it up online, everything from the restaurant's name to its interior design felt somewhat overwhelming.
Just looking at the photos, it practically oozed formality.
It looked like the kind of place where businessmen in suits would gather to have serious discussions.
Well, Na Jia had told me not to worry about formalities and just come dressed comfortably.
She probably meant it, too.
It wasn't like we were doing anything grand; it was just a celebration of our victory.
Eating delicious food, getting to know each other, and bonding—that was all.
As long as I didn't look completely ridiculous, whatever I wore would be fine.
The problem was... I had no idea where that line of "not looking completely ridiculous" lay.
That was true whether I looked back at my time as a guy or searched through Yu Nabi's memories.
I don't have a clue...! What am I supposed to do?
In my past life, I was a quadriplegic. In this life, I suffered from severe social anxiety.
There was no way I had any experience making plans to meet up with people.
Most of the "appointments" in my life had been with my parents.
I didn't know. I really didn't know a single thing.
I had no idea what kind of clothes would keep me from standing out too much while still looking decent.
In the end, the solution I chose was simply to take the best path available.
If you don't know something, the least you can do is ask.
I woke up early in the morning, washed up, and went to wake up my sister—no, wait, I have to call her eonni now.
Anyway, I woke up my sleeping sister and started whining.
"E-Eonni. Help me out. Please?"
"What? What is it? Is the house on fire?"
"No, it's not that..."
Unlike me, a social outcast, my sister was an elite with a healthy social life.
She must have met plenty of people and attended many important gatherings.
She would have a sharp eye for fashion and presentation.
Actually, anyone would be better than me.
Right now, I was practically a blank slate.
I felt bad for disturbing her rest after she had worked hard all week, but this was a matter of survival.
I had no choice.
After all, family was the only option when it came to people I could comfortably talk to and ask for help.
Still half-asleep, my sister rubbed her eyes.
"I'm still half-asleep, so speak slowly. What do you need help with?"
"Well... I won a gaming tournament recently. The teammates I played with wanted to meet up... so I'm going out today."
"You won a tournament and didn't even tell me?"
A brief silence fell between us.
Come to think of it, I hadn't told my family yet.
I decided to face it head-on.
"Things were chaotic, so I forgot... I wasn't trying to hide it."
"Right, I guess that happens. Anyway, you're going out? You?"
"Yeah."
"They aren't bad people, right?"
"They should be fine. One of them is actually pretty famous."
"Alright. I guess wonders never cease."
My sister stared blankly at the ceiling.
She looked like she was experiencing a profound sense of change.
Hmm, is it really that shocking?
"First, get up. Let's do something about that messy hair of yours."
"My hair... isn't it fine? I literally just brushed it."
"You brushed it? That? Did you only brush your bangs?"
"..."
"Go sit in front of the vanity."
Despite all her grumbling, my sister was still my sister.
In my past life, she was the older sister who had devotedly cared for me alongside our parents.
That warm heart hadn't gone anywhere; she carefully began to tidy up my hair.
My long, loose hair was gathered neatly.
She tied a section of it, then divided the strands into several sections.
After that... I couldn't really tell. She made loops, pulled sections through, and wove the strands together.
As she braided my hair, she started asking how I was doing.
"Is the game going well? It looks like you've been playing late."
"Yeah. I'm getting results. I even won the tournament."
"I'm glad you seem to be enjoying it. Oh, Mom said you've been working out lately?"
"I figured... I needed the stamina."
"Good thinking. Working out is always good for you."
My sister was very busy these days.
Because of that, we hadn't had much time to talk like this lately.
It wasn't like we talked a lot before either, but we had never been on bad terms.
My sister was strangely mature.
Maybe because of the age gap, she felt less like a bro... sister, and more like having a third parent.
Besides that, she asked a lot about where I was going.
Who I was meeting, and what we were going to do.
Part of it was probably to choose the right outfit for the occasion, but she also seemed worried about me.
"Don't follow strangers just because they offer you candy, okay?"
"They said they're buying me beef."
"They sound like great people. Is there an extra seat?"
"..."
"If I make a joke, you're supposed to play along."
"Ah, right. Sorry."
Now that my hair was done, it was time to pick out clothes.
Needless to say, neither I nor my sister liked revealing or overly flashy clothes.
Outcasts like me had a chronic habit of feeling safe only in neutral colors.
Fortunately, the clothes pulled from my closet fit that description.
White sweaters, blouses, and the like.
A few cardigans I bought recently were also selected as candidates.
I preferred pants over skirts, but she threatened to stop helping if I kept complaining, so I shut my mouth.
My sister held the clothes up against my body one by one, humming in thought.
"Why? Are they all bad?"
"Of course not. Do you never look in the mirror?"
"A mirror? I don't... have much reason to look at one."
"Sigh. What a waste. It's a talent in itself to inherit all the good genes that should have gone to me and act like this."
Her eyes stared intently at my chest.
She held the blouse up against me once more.
She looked a bit annoyed, but it must have been my imagination.
She was probably just frowning to estimate the size.
"Nabi, when did you buy this?"
"Well... um. I'm not sure."
"It looks a bit small. Try it on."
I don't know about that.
Surely my sister was mistaken.
It wasn't like I was a growing kid.
Actually, I wasn't even sure if I'd ever had a proper growth spurt.
My height right now was barely 150 centimeters.
Without a shred of exaggeration, I was the height of a middle schooler.
Kids these days grew so fast.
When I went out to exercise, I occasionally ran into students in school uniforms, and it was harder to find someone shorter than me.
My body hadn't grown properly during my teenage years.
As a result, my closet was still filled with clothes from my school days.
Even after throwing away the old, worn-out ones, it was still the case.
There was no reason to throw away clothes that were still in good condition.
That was how some "survivors" remained.
It seemed this blouse was one of those cases.
Anyway, age aside, there shouldn't be any clothes in my closet that didn't fit.
Because my size had never changed.
It seemed highly unlikely, but well, if she wanted me to try it on, I might as well.
"Huh?"
"I knew it. It's tight."
And indeed, it was tight.
This shouldn't be happening.
No matter how much I denied it, reality didn't change.
My memory wasn't wrong.
The sleeve length still fit perfectly.
My height really hadn't changed at all from a few years ago.
The problem was the buttons.
The fabric wouldn't meet, so the buttons wouldn't close.
In other words, my chest was too big for it.
"N-No, something's wrong. Let me try again."
"Is there really any point in forcing it?"
Yes, there was.
I didn't know why, but there was.
It made a huge difference to my pride and honor.
I tensed my chest and pulled the fabric together with both arms.
Doing this allowed me to barely manage to align the buttons.
After struggling desperately.
I finally succeeded in fastening the buttons.
I had barely managed to win my battle against the clothing.
But my sister didn't celebrate my victory.
She only frowned, looking as if she had witnessed something she shouldn't have.
"Just take it off. It's way too tight."
"..."
"If you wear that out, everyone's going to stare at your buttons, wondering when they're going to pop."
I couldn't even argue.
A belated wave of embarrassment made my face burn.
My sister was great, but she had a tendency to speak a bit too bluntly sometimes.
She could have put it a bit more gently.
Was she under a lot of stress at work?
At any rate, just as she said, it would be hard to wear this blouse out.
I couldn't keep my chest tensed the entire time.
And it was true that the tight fit made it stand out too much.
The moment I let my guard down and relaxed.
The button that had been holding on for dear life snapped off with a loud *ping!* and struck my sister right on the forehead.
My chest felt strangely relieved.
A faint red mark bloomed on my sister's forehead.
And then, a strangely familiar expression caught my eye.
Yes. Havoc had worn that exact same expression when we fought not long ago.
Her face practically screamed:
What the? What did I just get subjected to?
Her face looked so absurdly blank.
It was so rare to see my sister look like that that I couldn't help but let out a snort.
Laughter burst out of me.
"Pff... Hahaha... Ahaha..."
"You think this is funny?"
"Ahahaha!"
After that, I suffered a terrible vengeance.
Both of my cheeks were pulled and stretched mercilessly.
