Why Are You Being So Nice to Me?

"Why are you being so nice to me…?"

I burrowed under the blanket, squirming as I struggled back into my clothes.

When I poked my head out, she was still standing in the same spot, her flushed face half-hidden behind her hands.

…But we're both girls. Does she really need to be that embarrassed? Then again, I've never been a woman before, so what do I know.

"Um… I'm really, truly sorry."

"Alright, I get it. So basically, you just got hot and took them off?"

"Y-yes…"

But if she got hot enough in her sleep to strip down, she must have been sweating a lot too. What am I supposed to do about that?

"I'll cover the sheet laundry fee."

"Don't worry about it. I was going to change them soon anyway."

"Still…"

I couldn't just let this go without doing something.

"I'll do anything else you ask. Please, just tell me anything."

"Then let's start by exchanging numbers. I'll contact you if I think of something later."

"Ah, yes! Of course!"

"My name is Lee Haneul."

"I'm Cha Yerin."

"I know. I saw it on your ID yesterday."

"Ah…"

"But you really mean it about doing anything, right?"

"Y-yes…"

She tapped at her phone a few times, saved my number, then looked up at me.

"Heading out right away?"

"Yes, yes! I should go right away!"

"At least stay for breakfast. Your stomach must be a mess."

"Huh?"

"There's too much for me to finish alone anyway. Don't be shy — eat with me."

Is she actually an angel?

After all the trouble I caused her, she's even feeding me breakfast. How can a person be this kind…

I followed her out to the table, where a pot of bean sprout soup was waiting.

"Did you make this yourself?"

"Yeah. I like cooking."

She nodded and sat down across from me.

Pretty, kind, and she can cook too?

She's literally the perfect wife material.

"It's hot, so be careful."

"Yes — thank you for the meal!"

Home cooking shared with someone else, after so long, was incomparably better than anything I'd ever ordered for delivery.

"So, um, Yerin?"

"You can speak casually with me. It's fine."

"Hmm, then I will?"

"Yes!"

"Yerin, you're a freshman, right? Do you go to Hankuk University by any chance?"

"Oh — yes, I do! How did you know?"

"Most people in their twenties living around here are Hankuk University students. Me included."

I guess because the school is so close, everyone ends up living nearby.

"Wait, you go to Hankuk University too, Haneul?"

"Yep. I'm a third-year now."

She looked at me for a moment, then spoke again.

"But yesterday it was all 'Unnie~ Unnie, you're so pretty~' and today you're coldly calling me by name?"

"Pffft—!"

Why did I even do that yesterday? How long have I even been a girl, and my heart's already changing on me?

"Come on. Call me unnie."

"Umm…. U-unnie?"

Unnie… heard my answer and smiled softly.

"Hey, want to share our class schedules?"

Sharing schedules… does that mean she wants us to keep seeing each other?

"Yes, I'd like that."

"Then I'll share mine through Bamboo Grove."

"Bamboo Grove?"

"Hm? You don't know Bamboo Grove?"

Bamboo Grove… isn't that just a forest with a lot of bamboo?

When I just stared at her blankly, unnie kindly started explaining.

"Bamboo Grove is an app with a bunch of convenient features related to university life. It's really handy once you start using it. You can also ask questions about things you don't know. Especially as a freshman, you'll have a lot of stuff you're curious about. Or you can just ask me."

"I had no idea something like that existed…. Thank you for telling me."

Having no friends of my own, information like this was genuinely precious to me.

After we finished eating, I installed Bamboo Grove just as unnie had said.

I set it up to match my class schedule, and then we shared our timetables with each other.

Unnie looked over mine and spoke.

"You've got a lot of first periods, huh? That's going to make campus life pretty rough."

"Yes…. Required courses made it hard to build a decent schedule."

Then she lined our schedules up side by side and compared them.

"Hmm, looking at this, we could eat together every day except Mondays."

"Huh?"

Eat lunch together?

"Honestly, I don't have that many friends at school either, so I've always eaten alone. What do you think? You can say no if you don't want to."

"No, I'd love to! Let's eat together."

Watching unnie extend yet another kindness toward me, a question rose up in my mind.

…Why is unnie looking after me this much?

"But… why are you being so nice to me…?"

"Hm?"

"I'm a complete stranger, and you gave me your bed, made me breakfast…. If it were me, I wouldn't want to see that person ever again…."

"Ah. I have a little sister, you know. Around your age. When I saw you passed out drunk on that bench, you reminded me of her, and I just… wanted to take care of you."

"Even so…"

That alone wasn't enough to convince me. I knew perfectly well how much trouble I'd caused. A normal person might have left me in the park the moment I started making a drunken scene.

And if I'd kept lying out there in that weather, I might have gotten seriously sick.

Thinking about it that way, the debt I owed her only grew heavier, pressing down on me.

How am I supposed to repay this?

As I sat there fretting with a dark expression, she spoke again.

"Actually, there's one more reason."

"What is it?"

"Because you're my type."

"…What?"

"Because you're just too pretty."

I sat there frozen, face burning at her answer, and she let out a soft little laugh.

"I'm kidding. You don't have to take it so seriously."

"…"

"And honestly, it's not like I did anything that amazing, right?"

"That's not true. Just reaching out to help a stranger is already amazing…."

"Then just think of it as me helping out a cute little sister. That's all."

Unnie said it with a small nod.

"But was something going on yesterday?"

"Huh?"

"Drinking alone until you blacked out, with no snacks even."

"Ah, that was… I misjudged my alcohol tolerance."

"Was it your first time drinking?"

"No, umm…. My tolerance just suddenly dropped?"

Unnie tilted her head, looking unconvinced.

How am I supposed to explain that I suddenly became a woman and my alcohol tolerance tanked…?

"Well, whatever. Just be careful from now on, okay? The world's a scary place these days — especially for pretty girls like you."

"Euk. I understand…."

I still can't get used to being called pretty.

"…And don't go following strangers around so easily."

"Huh?"

"I know you were drunk, but what if I'd been a bad person? You just trotted after me without a second thought."

"But unnie is a good person."

"You shouldn't trust people that easily."

"Then… I can trust unnie, right?"

"…You shouldn't say things like that so freely either."

"Eek."

Why?

When unnie turned her head away, the tips of her ears looked a little red.

"Well then, I should get going now."

"Okay. Get home safe."

"If there's anything you need, please contact me!"

I said goodbye to unnie and headed home. Since we both lived near campus, the distance wasn't far at all.

Once I got back, I finished a shower and collapsed straight onto my bed.

Come to think of it, the semester starts soon.

But what am I supposed to prepare for the start of classes? I've never been to university, so I have no idea what to do.

Normally, seniors would explain everything at orientation or freshman workshops — but sadly, I hadn't even known orientation existed.

By the time I found out about it, registration had already closed.

…I really do need friends.

Then I remembered the app Haneul unnie had told me about.

She said you can ask questions and get information on it, right?

I opened Bamboo Grove and found a Free Board section.

Tapping into it brought up a handful of recently posted threads.

…

So a university community doesn't only talk about school-related stuff.

I tapped into a few of the more eye-catching posts.

I'd clearly come here looking for university information, but everything I ended up clicking had nothing to do with school at all.

The advice on making friends is actually useful.

Approaching people first is the important part.

I nodded to myself, committing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Anon 2's advice to memory.

I kept browsing the board without any sense of time passing, until a notification popped up at the top of my phone.

The moment I saw the sender, I replied right away.

Unnie really is too kind.

Then the board crossed my mind again, and I decided to write a question post of my own.

Confess?

If I'd still been a guy, I might have taken that comment and run straight over — but we're both girls. That made no sense at all.

Well, if I'd still been a guy, I never would have gotten ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠tangled up with unnie in the first place, would I?

Thinking that, I typed out a reply.

After that, I left the occasional comment on funny posts, and time slipped by faster than I expected.