Chapter 26: The Lingerie Predicament

Chahuayuan’s face also lit up with delight.

“Oh, it’s lovely, truly lovely! Brother, your figure is perfect for this, even more suited than mine!”

“‘Hmm, it’s… it’s alright,’ he demurred. ‘So, when did you get this outfit?'”

“‘Probably… when I was in my first year of high school? Dad rarely let me pick out two pieces of clothing I liked, but unfortunately, they didn’t quite fit.

The main issue was that the dress didn’t have enough room in the bust, so it ended up stretching out of shape on me… But it looks perfect on you now, Brother, with your slender figure!'”

“‘I strongly suspect you’re implying my chest is smaller than yours…'”

“‘What does it matter? Huh? Wait, could it be, Brother, that you’ve slowly started to care about your bust size? Is your maiden heart blossoming so quickly?'”

“‘Eek!'”

Chajingyuan jolted as if waking from a dream.

“‘N-no, not at all! It just slipped out!'”

“‘Oh, it doesn’t matter, really. If it looks good, it looks good! Come on, turn around and let’s have another look?'”

“‘Uh…'”

Guided by Chahuayuan, Chajingyuan turned his back to the mirror, attempting to lift the light hem of the dress.

The dress’s hem appeared long, yet being high-waisted, its length was just right. The lower half of the skirt was semi-transparent, perfectly revealing half of his thighs.

With a gentle lift, the fair skin of his upper thighs immediately became tantalizingly visible.

The taut, yet supple curves seemed to stir something within Chajingyuan.

Lightly raising his hands, Chajingyuan spun in a small circle, allowing the airy skirt to billow around him.

“‘Wow…'”

A stirring, indescribable sensation welled up within him.

Chahuayuan immediately let out a sly, teasing chuckle.

“‘So cute, so cute! Brother, you’re really getting into character this quickly, aren’t you?'”

“‘N-no, not at all!'”

Chajingyuan snapped back to reality once more, his face flushing crimson as he clutched at the skirt’s hem.

“‘I was just playing along with the mood, that’s all. I have no interest in such girlish things!'”

‘It’s truly astonishing,’ Chajingyuan reflected inwardly with a silent sigh, ‘how easily these flashy, elaborate clothes can make one lose themselves!’

To change the subject, Chajingyuan brought up an issue that had been bothering him earlier.

Facing the mirror, he pressed down on his chest with a faint sense of unease.

“‘Ah, but… doesn’t it still feel a bit… strange??'”

“‘Not at all,'”

Chahuayuan responded, her gaze naturally falling to her brother’s chest.

“‘Brother, this size is just perfect, absolutely perfect. Aren’t these well-proportioned curves simply adorable?'”

“‘I wasn’t complaining about the size!'”

“‘Eh? So what exactly is your complaint then?'”

“‘Don’t you feel like it’s a bit… deflated?'”

Chajingyuan pouted slightly.

“‘And it also feels a bit… chilly…'”

“‘Deflated?'”

Chahuayuan felt a sudden surge of confusion and immediately reached out to press it.

This time, Chajingyuan didn’t immediately cry out, for Chahuayuan had pressed against nothing but air.

“…”

What had initially seemed a respectable fullness, under the external pressure, suddenly crumpled inward by half an inch, like a plastic bag.

It was then that Chahuayuan had an epiphany.

Ignoring Chajingyuan’s startled ‘Hey, don’t just suddenly grope me!’, Chahuayuan slipped her hand inside the dress, feeling between the bra and his chest. The conclusion: it was half empty.

The bra Chahuayuan had found for her brother was a C-cup, but his own modest bosom, by any measure, certainly didn’t qualify as a ‘C’.

“‘Indeed… I was too hasty.'”

Chahuayuan sighed, filled with regret and self-reproach.

“‘So, how about this? You definitely can’t go without one, so I’ll just take you to buy some properly fitting ones tomorrow?'”

“‘Huh??'”

Chajingyuan froze instantly.

He suddenly realized that his insistence on the ‘fit’ of the underwear had, it seemed, ultimately backfired.

Tugging at his silver hair, Chajingyuan timidly stepped back.

“‘C-can I just buy them online?'”

“‘How would online shopping work? You have to try on intimate apparel to know if it’s comfortable, and we don’t even have a tape measure in the house!'”

“‘But, but, I don’t want to go to a place like that, nooooo…!!'”

“…”

In any case, the next morning, Chajingyuan, who clung desperately to the edge of his bed, refusing to accept his fate, was forcibly dragged by Chahuayuan. He was eventually made to put on a little skirt and pulled out the door.

“‘I-I… I don’t want to gooo!!'”

After a night of internal struggle, Chajingyuan’s wails remained as piercing as ever.

Chahuayuan appeared quite helpless.

“‘Alright, Brother, relax. What’s there to be ashamed of? You were clearly enjoying wearing my skirt yesterday, so what’s so unacceptable about a lingerie store?'”

“‘It’s not about shame… sh-sh-shame! I’m an old man in my twenties, and you want me to go to a ladies’ lingerie store and ask those young women how to buy underwear?

It’s so embarrassing, so embarrassing, so embarrassiiing… Ouch, ouch! Why did you hit me?!'”

“‘We’re both only twenty-three! If you’re calling yourself an old man, then what does that make me?'”

Chahuayuan, exasperated, landed a heavy thwack on her brother’s head.

“‘Besides,’ she continued, ‘you’ve clearly already become a young girl. As long as you play the part, no one will notice, and who would even be embarrassed?

It’s just a common sight, you know, like a teenage girl visiting a lingerie store for the first time to pick out underwear.'”

“‘But that’s precisely the problem, isn’t it, boohoo…'”

Chajingyuan’s expression was utterly mournful.

No matter how many times his defenses fell, he truly didn’t want his mind and body to become a soft, delicate girl.

“‘…Hey, but speaking of which, if you’re saying I’m a teenage girl, then how old do you actually think I am?'”

“‘That, I’m not sure about. I just said it offhand.'”

Chahuayuan tilted her head back, lost in thought.

“‘The principle is something I copied from a short paper on the dark web,’ she explained.

‘It states that this kind of retrovirus, when loaded with our desired appearance genes, can promote the degeneration and redifferentiation of relevant cells, causing the original appearance to regress and change.

Although it also mentioned that if the gender doesn’t match, it could indeed lead to excessive regression, causing a setback in physique and bone age… but there haven’t been any detailed quantitative studies…'”

“‘So you’re saying you’re using me as a human experiment!'”

“‘Don’t bring up old grudges! You brought this upon yourself!'”

Chahuayuan lightly tapped her brother again.

“‘I wouldn’t just leave something like this unattended,’ she assured him. ‘I’ll carefully monitor your health. For now, just think of yourself as a cute, small, white-haired middle school girl, like my little sister.

Didn’t we already practice this once during dinner yesterday?'”

“‘I don’t think that’s good at all…'”

“‘It’s perfectly fine, really. During those years when we were studying and practically estranged, I always thought it would be nice to have a sister.'”

“‘That’s exactly why I absolutely don’t want to play right into your hands!'”

“‘It doesn’t make much difference anyway,’ Chahuayuan countered. ‘I’m the one who’s been paying for food, rent, and everything else.

So, do you want to be set up as my sister, my cousin, or perhaps a cohabiting middle school girl, perpetually ‘kept’ by me, Chahuayuan, a 23-year-old lady? Pick one.'”

“‘First, can I not choose? Second, why do I always feel like you’re secretly hoping I pick the latter option?'”

“‘Just an illusion.'”

Chahuayuan put on an innocent expression.

“‘—By the way, if you find both identities unacceptable, you can choose both: “a direct blood relative junior, perpetually supported.” Of course, that’s also the truth.'”

“‘You’re finally showing your true colors!!'”

Over the past few days, Chajingyuan, having lost his identity as a brother, had grown increasingly suspicious that his sister might have been a dangerously perverse individual all along.