Chapter 4: Reality is worse than fiction

Reality is stranger than fiction.

Lying on the bed, my mind inevitably fills with stray thoughts. The bed is so soft. The room is so warm.

From such meaningless musings to darker, gloomier worries.

Even with the lights off, the room is brightly lit by my halo. I lay face-down on the bed.

My silver hair spills forward, tickling my neck, and the unfamiliar sensation makes me shiver involuntarily.

When I raise my hand to brush the hair away, a small, soft hand catches my eye. The moment I notice it, a sense of unease spreads through my body, scrunching my face.

Swishing hair, tiny hands and feet, soft skin, the strange sensation of wings and halo, and the empty space between my legs.

The unease I’d pushed aside while talking to others creeps back up my spine now that I’m alone.

“… Ugh.”

What a fuss.

Some people turned into walking lizards or furry bipedal wolves.

And here I am, fretting over wings, a halo, and becoming a girl. So foolish.

Even so, the worry is real. Just because others have it worse doesn’t mean I’m not struggling.

Grumbling on the bed for a bit.

Enough, let’s text my friends, I thought, picking up my phone—

Flash!

“Eek!”

The phone lit up brightly, blaring a loud ringtone.

I squeezed my eyes shut against the max-brightness screen, threw the phone across the room in a panic, and only then regained my senses.

“That scared me…”

Crawling across the bed, I picked up the phone and saw [Mom] in big letters on the screen.

Oh, it’s Mom. What’s up at this hour?

I got startled for nothing. Calming my racing heart, I reached for the call button…

No, I can’t answer!

Swiping away from the green button, I ended the call and hurriedly typed a message.

—Can’t talk right now.
—What’s up?

The little “1” next to the message vanished quickly, and soon Mom replied.

—Hey
—Nothing big
—I stopped by with some side dishes, but you weren’t home

Of course, she came when I wasn’t there. Bad timing. I won’t be back for a week…

—I’m out right now
—It’ll take a while to get home, so just leave them inside
—Love you

—Okay, my son
—Love you too

The phone went quiet.

I let out a small laugh. It wasn’t a call, just a short text, but talking to Mom somehow lifted my gloomy mood.

Yeah.

In a week, I’ll have to tell my family about my new body. That Mom’s son is now a daughter with wings and a halo. That their brother is now a sister.

Will they be shocked? Or take it in stride?

One thing’s for sure: no matter what I look like, my family will accept me.

So, even if it takes time, I’ll have to get used to this body someday.

When dinner time came, Jimin texted me, and I headed to the lobby. Then I remembered I forgot to text my friends.

Oh well. They’ll probably curse me out but have fun without me.

I’ll contact them later.

…

Stepping off the elevator, I couldn’t help but notice a tall woman with a sharply scaled tail swishing.

Being tall must be nice. So noticeable.

Jimin, spotting my glowing halo, waved me over.

“Hey, Jimin, you changed clothes?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. I changed when I got to my room.”

Something felt different about her. She was wearing different clothes from earlier, though still casual.

“Where’d you get the clothes…?”

“I brought them? … Garam, you didn’t bring any stuff?”

What.

I was supposed to bring stuff?

Shocked by Jimin’s words, I stood there, mouth agape, unable to speak. Her dragon tail started wagging again, and I stepped back for safety. The tail drooped sadly.

“Um, didn’t the National Intelligence Service people tell you to bring stuff?”

“Did they…?”

Racking my brain, I vaguely recalled something like that. I was too frazzled to listen properly back then.

What do I do? Wear the same clothes for a week? I can’t go out to buy anything…

My wings drooped as I panicked, but Jimin came closer with a solution.

“If you really need something, ask the staff. They can get stuff for you. We can’t go out, but they can.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah.”

Phew. That’s a relief. What a dumb mistake…

Hehe, as I giggled goofily, Jimin sidled up.

“Garam?”

“Yeah?”

“You’re so cute. Can I hug you?”

“No way.”

“Aww.”

Dinner was a buffet. The restaurant was lively, everyone already seeming friendly.

“So many people… They must’ve gathered everyone from across the country.”

“Yeah.”

Oh, there’s that bipedal lizard from earlier, flicking its tongue. So eye-catching. My halo’s nothing compared to that presence.

I thought my shiny halo was pretty noticeable… Is my height the problem?

Feels like I’m 0 wins, 1 loss. A weird sense of defeat.

Ugh, whatever. Why feel defeated over this?

Let’s eat!

One piece of meat.

Two pieces.

Three pieces.

Piling my plate high with meat, I returned to my seat…

“Achoo!”

A sharp, spicy scent tickled my nose, making me sneeze.

Setting my plate down and pinching my nose, I realized the source was Jimin’s plate.

“Jimin, what’s… that?”

“Oh, since transforming, I’ve been craving spicy stuff. Dragons must love spicy food.”

That bright red stuff doesn’t look just spicy.

I tried to endure, but the spicy smell was too much, so I slid my seat over.

Jimin’s tail drooped, and I felt a twinge of guilt, but it’s her fault for piling on the spicy food…

Anyway.

Meat!

Time to dig in.

A mountain of meat. Leaving any would be rude to the meat and the chef. With a determined look, I started tackling the pile.

Nom nom.

So good… and so full.

“Ugh…”

I succeeded in honoring the meat but failed to protect my stomach. Still, no leftovers. Can’t waste food…

“You’re so small, didn’t you eat too much?”

“Well… I got excited and grabbed a ton of meat…”

But I ate it all! Yep.

It was delicious.

Just, my stomach’s so full I can’t move. My wings are limp too.

I resent this small body. Back then, I’d be full but not this miserable.

“Ughhh…”

Lying on the table, groaning strangely for a few minutes, I recovered enough to move my upper body. Still can’t walk, though.

Across from me, Jimin was eating ice cream from a cone for dessert. Gimme some.

“You can’t even move from eating too much, and you want ice cream?”

“Well, yeah, but…”

The sweet smell of ice cream is irresistible. I want it despite being full, but I know it’ll make me suffer more, which is the real pain.

“Do angels get drawn to sweet stuff? Like how I crave spicy food.”

“Maybe…? Feeling this craving, it might be true.”

I get Jimin now. Craving something this much makes her spicy food pile-up make sense.

Maybe my meat obsession is because of this appetite. All the meat I grabbed was sweet-marinated.

If I’d known there was ice cream, I’d have filled my plate with that instead!

…

No, I can’t fill up on ice cream. Gotta eat real food. Not eating with ice cream right in front of me is messing with my head.

Calm down.

As my stomach settled, my phone rang.

[Junseo Kim] on the screen.

My friend. Guess he got tired of waiting for me to join the game or reply and called. Here goes.

<Why aren’t you answering? I’ve been waiting over an hour.>

“Oh, I forgot to text. Sorry.”

<… Who’s this?>

Oh no.