I Am Your Mother
"We're home! Mom, make some braised short ribs!"
"Braised short ribs? Why the sudden craving?"
"I bought some 1++ Grade A Hanwoo ribs!"
"Oh my, what's the occasion? Did you win the lottery or some—"
Yu Sihyun's mother, the full-time housewife Yu Saetbyeol, froze in shock. She had cleaned the house from top to bottom and prepared a feast, thinking her son was finally visiting after so long. Yet the people who entered after punching in the passcode weren't one man, but two women.
The one who strode in first with complete confidence was a petite black-haired girl who looked strikingly familiar. The resemblance to both her daughter and her own reflection in the mirror made Saetbyeol's mind spin at high speed. Trailing behind her was a stylish blonde woman carrying an enormous amount of luggage. She looked somehow familiar too, and her eyes carried an awkward, deeply apologetic gleam.
After a couple of steadying breaths, Saetbyeol reached her conclusion.
That black-haired girl must be our eldest son!
So that's why we've only exchanged texts for the past two months!
"My son... became a girl...."
"......"
"My son became a girl...."
"Ah, Mother... it's a little hard to explain, but—"
Overwhelmed by the collision of her own deduction and the reality in front of her, Saetbyeol covered her mouth and stumbled backward. The blonde woman, still burdened with luggage in both arms, reached out toward her.
"My son brought a girl home!!!!"
"Isn't that the more surprising part?!"
- Click.
"What?!"
The bedroom door flew open as Yu Sihyun's father, Yu Jeongwon, emerged. He took one look at the pair standing in the entryway and froze. His eyes landed first on the cute black-haired girl staring back with an expression of pure exasperation. Before he could even register how much she resembled his daughter or wife, instinct kicked in.
This is our son.
After announcing he was heading to an interview, the boy had shut himself inside his one-room apartment for nearly two months without a single phone call. It was definitely him. The combination of paternal instinct, perceptiveness, and hard-earned experience let Yu Jeongwon piece together the entire story in less than the blink of an eye.
"It's real! Sihyun brought a girl home!"
While his parents made a huge fuss, Sihyun calmly slipped off his shoes. Only Spica remained visibly anxious, shifting her weight from foot to foot.
- Thump thump thump thump.
"What?! Oppa brought a girl home?!"
From upstairs, Yu Sihyun's younger sister, Yu Daon, came racing down the steps. She took in the two unfamiliar women at the entrance and her parents happily celebrating the news that their son had brought home a girlfriend. No brother was visible anywhere, yet they kept saying brother had brought a girl. For a moment she wondered if her two-timing older brother was hiding somewhere else in the house, but that didn't seem to be the case.
Though the situation defied common sense, Daon's sharp intuition quickly noticed that the black-haired girl looked almost exactly like the reflection she had just been staring at in the mirror. She could even detect faint traces of her brother's former features. As the eldest daughter of the Yu family—and someone deeply immersed in subculture thanks to her brother's influence—she reached the obvious conclusion in record time.
The truth is always one.
"Oppa turned into a girl!!"
"Yep. That's your brother."
"And he brought a girl who's clutching presents in both hands and nervously staring at Mom and Dad!"
While secretly observing the family clapping and exclaiming in a whirlwind of delight and astonishment, Spica leaned close and whispered into Sihyun's ear.
"(Sihyun-ssi. How did every member of your family recognize you at first glance without any explanation at all?)"
"(Isn't it just because they're family?)"
"(Even though you have become a woman?)"
"(Yeah. Because they're family.)"
"(I see.)"
Spica seemed genuinely amazed that Sihyun's family had identified the feminized version of him without a single word of explanation. Sihyun wanted to clarify, but since he didn't fully understand the phenomenon himself, there was nothing he could say. It wasn't the sort of thing that could be grasped with simple logic like one plus one equals two, yet when he had tried to explain it earlier, Spica had simply nodded in acceptance. It didn't seem particularly important, so the matter quickly slipped from Sihyun's mind.
"What exactly is your relationship?"
"How long have you been together?"
"Where did you meet?"
"Can we at least come inside first?"
"......"
"Come in, come in."
"......"
"Excuse us...."
Sihyun and Spica had successfully, and rather boldly, entered the Yu family home.
"Should we eat first? Or start with tea? Or if neither..."
"Or?"
"Should we clear out of the house and give you two some privacy?"
"Mom! What are you saying this early in the morning!"
"Oh ho ho ho."
After a short bout of bickering, all five of them gathered around the dining table. Father and mother sat along one long side of the rectangular table, while Sihyun and Spica took the other. Daon dragged a chair over to the short end beside Sihyun and plopped down. Since an explanation clearly took priority, they decided to begin with tea. While the leaves steeped and snacks were arranged, Sihyun unpacked the gifts Spica had carried.
"All right. Before we get to the explanation, it's time for our dear one's gift presentation."
"Wow~"
Amid enthusiastic applause, Spica placed the many presents she had lugged in onto the table one by one.
"First, an ultra-premium 1++ Grade A Hanwoo set! Three kilograms of ribs and two kilograms of chuck flap tail!"
"Ooh~"
"Imported whiskey! Ballantine's thirty-year-old!"
"Thank you! Dad will enjoy this very much!"
The meat went straight into the refrigerator while the liquor was spirited away by a humming, delighted father. Just as Sihyun had warned her beforehand, he really did love alcohol. Spica felt a small wave of relief.
"A cosmetics set! I don't know much about these, but it's a high-end brand!"
"I'll use it well, oppa! And oppa's girlfriend too!"
The cosmetics set was immediately claimed by the younger sister. It had originally been intended for the mother, but Spica refused to panic. A veteran magical girl never lost her composure.
"And here's another cosmetics set!"
"Wow! Thank you, oppa! Two whole cosmetics sets!"
Now she panicked. Why? Why was the sister taking both of them? The confident demeanor Spica had shown earlier evaporated as she watched the girl happily hug both boxes. The mother still looked remarkably young; that kind of skin didn't happen without serious skincare. Maybe she only used specific brands? Should Spica have researched more carefully? But her junior had insisted that high-end cosmetics were the perfect gift for mothers!
When she saw the mother staring at her with open expectation, a cold sweat broke out across Spica's back. Panic crawled up her spine.
"And for Mom, a snack-and-tea set. The snacks are from a famous patisserie, apparently."
"Oh my, how thoughtful. Thank you, I'll enjoy them."
"Ahaha. It's nothing, really."
Thanks to Sihyun smoothly covering for her, Spica barely survived the moment. She felt as if her blood had dried up completely. She wanted to punch her past self for ignoring Sihyun's advice that snacks would be a better choice than cosmetics for his mother. What had she been thinking with that arrogant line about It's because Sihyun-ssi has never lived as a woman, so of course you wouldn't know? If she simply listened to Sihyun-ssi, rice cakes and rice would appear even in her dreams!
The gift-giving, joyful for some and nerve-racking for others, finally ended. A perfectly steeped cup of tea was placed before Spica. Only then did she realize they hadn't even begun the real conversation yet.
After taking a sip of the fragrant tea, Sihyun prepared himself to speak. Beside him, a tense Spica clutched the hem of his clothes and endured the intensely curious stares from his parents.
"All right. This is Spica, and she's my partner."
"......"
"Huh? Spica? The magical girl Spica?!"
"YES, YES, YES!"
The only one who reacted with genuine shock was, surprisingly, the younger sister. Both mother and father appeared far less surprised than expected. The father spoke calmly.
"Don't worry, son. Mom and Dad already know everything."
"You do?"
"You became the partner of a magical girl and were transformed into a woman by magic, correct?"
"Y-yes, Dad. How did you know?"
It seemed both parents had already guessed exactly why Sihyun had become a girl. Neither Sihyun nor Spica had ever imagined the pair would know the truth, so both of them were stunned. This information shouldn't have been known to ordinary people.
Ignoring their daughter, who was internally screaming What are you talking about?! Explain it to me!, the father continued. Ignoring their sister, who was internally screaming Don't ignore me, tell me too!, Sihyun and Spica focused every ounce of their attention on his words.
"Your mother was once a magical girl as well. And Dad also became a woman in order to trigger her Special Awakening."
"?!"
"Every single day back then was incredibly hot."
"It really was~ Mom was young too, after all~"
This was the first shocking truth Yu Sihyun had learned since the day he was born. While his sister was still trying to process the information and rack her brains, Sihyun's mind reeled from the massive blow. His father stood up, walked over, and pulled him into an embrace.
"It must have been difficult."
"Dad..."
Sihyun returned the hug. They hadn't embraced like this in years; after he grew older he had found it embarrassing. His father's warmth wrapped around him like a blanket.
"You accepted it for the sake of everyone else, didn't you? Because when a magical girl's partner becomes a woman, the magical girl grows stronger?"
"Yeah..."
"You did well."
Everyone watched the father and son hugging with warm, gentle eyes. Daon didn't fully understand what was happening, but she could sense the touching atmosphere and simply read the room. Whether she truly didn't comprehend or simply didn't want to was something only she knew.
"Were you the same, Dad?"
"Hm? Same in what way?"
"Did you also become a woman for the sake of other people?"
The father shook his head.
"No. I was simply curious how good it would feel to do lewd things as a woman. So I persuaded the researchers and the higher-ups that turning a magical girl's partner into a woman would increase combat effectiveness, and that's how I ended up like that."
"....Huh?"
The father smiled brightly.
"It turned out to boost power far more than expected, so it became mandatory for the partners of all magical girls to become women as well."
"......You bastard!"
"Urk!"
A righteous punch born of filial outrage landed squarely in the center of the Yu family living room. Yu Jeongwon crumpled to his knees.
"So you're the root cause of all this!"
"Ugh... what a fine punch..."
Sihyun's father remained on the floor as his son glared down at him coldly.
"Since we're already on the subject, there's one more thing I should tell you."
"There's more?!"
"Back then... your mother and I were young."
"??"
"We were lovers who couldn't keep our hands off each other, but a magical girl must retire if she loses her virginity. So for many days we couldn't do any lewd acts at all. We were both starving for the scent of each other."
"....I really don't want to hear this."
"And since transforming a magical girl's partner into a woman was still brand new at the time, no one had even considered using contraception magic."
"Stop! Let's end this story right now!"
Sihyun desperately tried to cover his father's mouth, but the words came faster than his hand could move.
"No.... No...! That can't be true! That's impossible!"
"Look me in the eyes. Can't you feel that this is the truth?"
Struck by the verbal body blow, Sihyun's legs gave out and he collapsed to the floor.
"NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! No....!"
Father and son lay sprawled on the cool living-room floor, each having taken a direct hit. It was summer.