Chapter 40. [Uncle Doesn’t Have a Baby Store Like Us, Gacchan…!!]

“Why is the sunset already visible…?”

Originally, I had planned to just pay my respects, say a brief farewell to the deceased (me), and then leave. I estimated the whole process would take about an hour—two at most.

So why was the sun already setting? Why was the sky bathed in such a deep orange-red hue?

“I was going to stop by School Look today to buy a K-middle school uniform, then head to New World Department Store in Daejeon to buy some underwear…”

If I considered my train schedule, I had to leave for Haengsin Station immediately to barely make it in time. Alternatively, I could head to Seoul Station and catch a KTX to Daejeon. Either way, my department store trip was off the table. Department stores close early, after all.

[Hmm~ True, but maybe things ended sooner than expected?]

“…This is ‘sooner’ to you?”

Jinzuko just smiled silently at my retort, nodding slightly. So I should think positively? Something like that, I suppose…

…Well, I guess. Considering I barely managed to decline Mother’s invitation to stay for dinner, I was lucky to leave at this hour. Had I wavered, I’d have been forced to stay the night for sure…

[Yes. And only Irina-chan showed up, so it ended relatively smoothly, don’t you think?]

“…That’s true. If there had been more than just Irina, then surely… Hm?”

Ouch! That hurt! Jinzuko’s words carried an unspoken sharpness, like a jagged bone piercing through.

[If things had gone as your mother wanted—if a whole busload of women had come like before…] [Then instead of a one-on-one, today could have turned into a real battle royale.] [Like, at first, the entire house is fair game, then only the living room, and finally, the master bedroom with the last one standing on the bed.]

“……”

I looked at Jinzuko with a blank expression: What kind of nonsense is that?

But Jinzuko, as if wondering what was so unbelievable, just smiled back with a expression, unwavering.

“…So this is what they call the infamous battle of female dominance? Is that what this is?”

I never thought I’d live to see the day I got dragged into one of these… But this is that kind of thing, right?

[Huh? A battle? No way~!] [There’s no way I’d fight Gacchan.] [It’s just that I feel a little tricked. You know, I’ve always wondered why all the memories I see in my dreams of Gacchan are full of women… and today, that mystery was finally solved.] [That’s all, really. Just feeling a little mischievous?]

…If that’s not mischief, then what is?!

[Hmph! If I put it in Gacchan’s terms, it’s like this: 『The guy who always whined about being a forever-alone virgin, claiming he never had any romantic experiences, turns out to have had over 100 female friends?!』]

“No, but I’m telling you, they weren’t friends like that. They were just—”

[Ah, sorry. Not ‘female friends,’ I meant ‘defeated heroines.’ My bad.]

“……”

…Yeah. Ever since Mom’s series of bombshell remarks, Jinzuko had been acting like this nonstop.

And whether it was in my past life as a man or in this TS-ed life as a girl, I’ve always found this roundabout, passive-aggressive way women talk utterly exhausting…

…Wait? Does thinking that make me a deceiver, too?

“…Anyway, Jinzuko, you really sound like Kwak Youngjin right now. That pointless jealousy is just like him.”

For reference, back in my past life, our lab had turned that name into a common noun.

[Huh…? Kwak Youngjin? Who’s that?]

“A guy from my research lab. Looks like a praying mantis.”

[Oh, that guy… The only male aside from professors who ever showed up in Gacchan’s dreams…]

“…Anyway.”

Jinzuko’s complaint just now reminded me exactly of how Kwak Youngjin used to grumble at me back then.

He’d always whine about how I was surrounded by women. Accusing me of using a hypnosis app or something, begging me to share it with him.

One day, that lunatic even claimed that if it wasn’t a hypnosis app, then I must be emitting some kind of pheromones.

Then, while spewing that nonsense, he stole my jacket from the communal research lab desk and put it on himself.

Naturally, I was disgusted by another dude wearing my stuff, so I told him to knock it off and put it back.

And then, when I stepped out for a quick smoke break…

I came back to find Kwak Youngjin rolling on the floor, clutching his stomach, gasping and wheezing.

Meanwhile, somehow, Irina was now wearing my jacket.

This was despite the fact that our research lab had the heating cranked up, and she was sweating buckets.

When I pointed that out, she suddenly started wiping her sweat with my jacket, which led to another big argument. Did she think she was some kind of territorial animal or something?

[…Deceiver.]

“……”

See? She doesn’t even try to empathize now.

Whoever said women have great empathy?

Gacchan is sad… real sad…

…But surely, everyone else would understand, right?

I had no choice! At the time, my face was actively deteriorating in real-time, so I was emotionally vulnerable…

Even if I pretended I was fine on the outside, I was crumbling inside…

O-Of course… If I really had been tangled up with that many women to the extent of being called a deceiver… I wouldn’t have any excuses…

But most of them weren’t even like that… At least 70 to 80 percent were just glares of disgust and contempt…

Even if my mental fortitude was as strong as steel… That surface was riddled with scars, scratches, and dents…

“…Uuugh, sniff.”

[O-Oh? Gacchan?!]

“I-I’m not crying…”

[I-I never asked if you were, but wait, are you really crying?!] [What happened to that steel-like mental strength?!]

Yeah. Back then, I had testosterone to keep my mind like steel.

“I don’t knoooow…! It’s not steel anymore…!”

But now, things were different.

In my middle school girl body, the only thing being produced was estrogen, making my emotions all soft and squishy…

“It’s gone now… Sniff! Even if I try to be strong, I’m just a tiny little bean now…!”

[…A-Ah, true, Gacchan is no longer 60cm, just a—No! No misleading statements, please…!]

“Sniff… sniff… Don’t tease meee… It’s real…! Sooner or later, everyone’s going to come for my seed…!”

And then, at that very moment—

[Oh? Isn’t that Gacchan’s former little sister over there?]

“Huh? Oh, you’re right.”

A woman sat on a park bench, crying. A familiar face.

“Sniff… This… is the taste… of my brother… I’m sorry, oppaya… Sniff…”

A crazy woman was sobbing while smoking a heated tobacco device, muttering about the “taste of her brother.”

People in the neighborhood were whispering

about my former little sister

I was just going to ignore it, but for some reason, I had this strange feeling that if I did, this family would completely fall apart.

“…This is a non-smoking area, Han Seol-ah.”

In the end, I had no choice but to stop crying and go to my former younger sister.

“No, unnie.” “Shuuuup… Phewha, huh?!”

—Whoosh!

I swiftly snatched the cigarette she was smoking, along with the pack, and pocketed it. It was one of my past life’s favorite brands, the Kyuikos 2 Hits. In other words, I confiscated it.

“…Give it back!! Give it back, give it baaack!!”

Han Seol-ah lunged at me like a wild dog that had its bone stolen.

—Whoosh, whoosh!

But hadn’t I just come from a fight with Irina without getting hit once? Thanks to Jinzu-ko’s assistance, I effortlessly dodged her attacks using Spirit Step .

“…Kuh! Are you trying to take away even Oppa’s taste from me?!” “Oppa’s taste…?” “Yes! Oppa’s taste! Whenever he came home, he always smoked this…!!” “…Ha, I’m telling you, no, he didn’t.”

As I spoke, I checked the heating knife inside the Kyuikos 2 Hits. It was still fine. It might have a bit of a burnt paper taste, but it should be usable.

—Vrrr.

As I inserted a new cigarette into the heating knife, the device vibrated, indicating it was heating up.

“For one, your former oppa only smoked this brand when he visited home years ago. Where are you getting this ridiculous lie from?” “…Ugh?!” “And for another, your former oppa has been using the God-tier Kyuikos Iluma these past few years, the one that doesn’t even need cleaning. That’s why this old model was just lying around at home.”

Since the source of this information was me, it was an undeniable fact. But my former younger sister, unwilling to accept it, continued glaring at me with burning fury.

“No…” “What do you mean, no?” “Former oppa… He isn’t! He’s still my real oppa…!!”

Ah, so that’s the part that didn’t sit well with her. If that’s the case, I’ll just throw it right back at her like before.

“Oh really? But you threw him awa—” “…No!!” “—Huh…?” “…I picked him up again!!”

Han Seol-ah, uncharacteristically ignoring whether anyone was watching, declared loudly,

“I threw him away, but I picked him back up!!”

As if making sure everyone around heard it.

“So now, he is my oppa again…!! He’s my real oppa!!”

My former younger sister. Han Seol-ah bit her lip so hard it could bleed, her eyes brimming with tears.

“…He is, he is… I threw him away, but I picked him back up…”

Rather than being on the verge of tears, she was already sobbing. She was just holding back the sound because of the people around us. Her eyes and the skin around them had long turned red.

—Vrr, vrr!

Right then, the heating process completed, and the device vibrated.

“……”

I took a familiar drag and looked up at the sky.

“…Ssshh, haaa.”

Of course, I had been saying all that to intentionally wound her.

Still, once upon a time, we were family. When she was little, I had practically raised her like a father rather than an older brother, changing her diapers and everything…

Even if she was my former younger sister,

“He is my oppa… My real oppa… I won’t ever throw him away again…”

Seeing her like that, there was no way I could feel nothing.

“Ah, Officer! Over here!”

It was at that moment.

“Oh, don’t mind this ragdoll; she’s Semi’s dad, so she’s fine. Ah, by the way, I’m Semi.” “O-Oh, really…?” “Officer, I’m still young, so I don’t know Korea’s laws very well. But in Korea, like in the UK, isn’t electronic smoking called vaporizing? So even though it’s a no-smoking area, isn’t it allowed?” “U-Uh? No, of course not. E-cigarettes are just as harmful as regular cigarettes…”

There I was, in a school uniform that clearly had a Japanese style. And there stood the officer, in a uniform that was unmistakably Korean.

“……” “……”

Our gazes met, as if by fate.

“Uh, uh?! Y-You there, schoolgirl…!! No, what’s with that outright delinquent hairstyle… What are you puffing on right in front of me?!”

‘…Jinzuko.’

With no other choice, I immediately signaled to the Jinzuko in the air.

[Yes, yes?! B-But he’s a policeman…!]

—Whooom!

Though flustered, Jinzu-ko began preparing True Celestial Maiden Spirit Fist  as per the signal.

[…But he’s a man, isn’t he?!]

[Unlike us, he doesn’t have an Aga Bang, Got-chan…!!]