Chapter 5: Cinderella(1)

Shutdown System.

One of the human mistakes that should never have existed now stood in my way.

As I left the capsule with a bewildered expression, the darkened room welcomed me.

Checking the small clock on the desk, I saw the hour hand pointing to 10 o’clock.

My excited heart sank in an instant.

The tranquility that settled in brought forth anger within me.

I shot up from my seat.

The sound of my heavy footsteps echoed through the hallway.

“Ha.”

I sighed as I leaned against the cold hallway wall.

What difference would it make to be angry?

The shutdown system wasn’t something that applied to me, so I had just laughed it off. Who would have thought it would catch up to me like this?

I headed straight for the living room.

As I opened the door to the hallway, the bright light of the living room greeted me.

I recalled the sound of the television always on and my mom sitting on the couch watching variety shows or the news.

That old, faded memory resurfaced, overlapping with my current situation.

I had reunited with someone I would never see again. But what was I doing right now?

No matter how good the game was…

“Hayeon?”

“Mom.”

“Oh, it’s already 10 o’clock?”

I naturally moved closer and sat next to my mom. No matter how different the world was, a mother was still a mother.

Without saying a word, I pulled her into a hug.

“Do you need pocket money?”

“No.”

Early in the morning. As I got out of bed, I thought about it. This was an opportunity.

An opportunity that started with borrowing the body of my younger sibling from another world.

As I stepped out of the room, a familiar boy rushed past me.

It seemed like he had been gaming all night; dark circles were prominent under his eyes.

Until what age does the shutdown system apply?

“Hey.”

“… Me?”

Hayeon, the owner of this body, had called Harang “oppa.”

So that’s why my name felt unfamiliar to him.

I crossed my arms and nodded my head.

“How old are you?”

“I’m 18…”

“Then how old am I?”

“Are you crazy?”

“Answer me properly.”

“15…”

With that last remark, Harang went into the bathroom.

There was a lingering gaze that seemed to view me as something strange.

An opportunity that had started in the body of a 15-year-old girl.

I couldn’t let that slip away.

The owner of this body, Seo Hayeon, could curse at me for all I cared.

It was a selfish thought, but I had many things I wanted to say to the mom I had reunited with.

“Don’t come back.”

So I could keep on living.

After Harang came out of the bathroom, I too began my shower.

The reflection of a small girl in the mirror gave me no particular feelings.

Was it familiar?

The unconsciousness of the body?

In any case, the shower was over in an instant.

I dried my dripping hair roughly with a towel and sat at the living room table when my mom, who was preparing breakfast, rushed over and grabbed my head.

“Seo Hayeon!”

“Oh, yes?”

“I told you to dry your hair properly.”

As I absentmindedly nodded, my mom started to meticulously dry my hair with her hands.

There was something strangely familiar about her touch.

Even while eating, my mom poured all her attention into drying my hair.

She even brought over a hairdryer to finish the job.

Harang, who was watching from the side, pouted and complained.

“Mom, you didn’t dry my hair.”

“You dry quickly because yours is short.”

I knew that my mom’s affection wasn’t solely directed at me, but I still felt good.

I smiled lightly and moved my chopsticks.

After finishing breakfast, I put on my school uniform.

The girl standing in front of the mirror seemed to feel awkward in the clothes she wore, turning her body back and forth repeatedly.

Who would have thought I would be going back to school?

Moreover, wearing a middle school girl’s uniform.

An inexplicable sense of betrayal made me feel strange.

To make the most of this opportunity, I planned to live as Seo Hayeon.

The uniform I was wearing was familiar to me.

It must have been because I had followed the same path as Seo Harang, who attended this middle school.

“I’m off!”

“I’ll see you later.”

I left the house with Harang.

He frowned when he saw me walking behind him.

What could he possibly dislike?

His already unattractive face looked even worse when scrunched up like that.

Then suddenly, I remembered my 18-year-old self.

“Of.”

“Are you planning to ignore me if I don’t call you ‘oppa’?”

What a ridiculous guy.

“Don’t smoke.”

“… What?”

My 18-year-old self was a smoker.

I had picked it up naturally while hanging out with friends.

I hadn’t been caught by my family, but during the winter of my 18th year, my mom found out.

That day, she cried.

It must have reminded her of my father, who had passed away.

He was a heavy smoker.

Even after being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, he continued to smoke.

My last memory of him was his detached smile as he looked up at the sky with a cigarette in his mouth.

“Uh, how did you know?”

“The smell is strong.”

I walked past a flustered Harang, who hurriedly followed me from behind.

Since our school was nearby, we were headed in the same direction.

He cautiously opened his mouth while glancing at me.

“Uh, you didn’t tell Mom, did you?”

“If Mom finds out, she’ll cry. Don’t do it.”

Although he was still in his naïve boyhood, he wasn’t stupid.

Harang nodded with a serious expression.

Then he took something out from his pocket and crumpled it.

The faint smell of tobacco pierced my nose.

“Haah…”

The sensation of wearing a skirt for the first time feels unfamiliar.

The touch of the wind blowing underneath my legs feels as if someone is gently brushing my thighs with their hands.

“Are you hurt?”

“No.”

“Then why are you walking like that?”

At Harang’s pointed question, I lower my gaze.

I then notice my legs walking in a really awkward manner.

I need to be careful.

I turn my gaze to observe the movements of other female students.

With the extraordinary senses this body possesses, I replicate those movements perfectly.

Suddenly, a small curiosity arises.

Was this world’s Hayeon using this ability well?

“Of.”

“Why…”

Harang seems to be feeling deflated after being caught off guard.

His anxious glances at me make him look unmanly.

I lightly tap his back and say, “Did I play well in the game?”

“You? You played like crap!”

That wasn’t the answer I wanted to hear.

I frowned, and Harang quickly turned his gaze away.

“Was I really that bad?”

“You always lost to me. That means you were terrible.”

I couldn’t discern the exact standard.

Frowning, I stared at him, and he sighed before speaking.

“Um… you were bad, that’s right.”

Finally, that was the answer I wanted.

Nodding in satisfaction, I quickly ran past Harang and took off.

The sensation of running in a young body felt refreshing.

No matter how much I ran, I didn’t get out of breath.

My legs felt light, and there was no stiffness in my shoulders.

“Hey!”

Harang called out from behind, but I ignored him and kept running.

After running for a while, I arrived at the front gate of the school.

This place, where the middle school and high school were adjacent to each other, was where I had to part ways with Harang.

“See you!”

I waved at Harang, who had followed me, and he awkwardly waved back.

I didn’t like seeing him look so helpless.

I knew where my classroom was through my student ID.

Passing through the front gate, I entered the school and walked down the hallway.

After climbing the stairs, I arrived in front of the 2nd year, Class 3 classroom.

Without panicking, I opened the door and stepped inside.

As soon as I entered, many gazes turned toward me.

Familiarity, warmth, and since there weren’t any particularly bad looks, it seemed I had a good rapport with my classmates.

“Haah!”

As soon as I stepped into the classroom, an unfamiliar female student rushed toward me.

There was a surprisingly friendly closeness.

But it felt strange.

My body naturally reacted, and I evaded the embracing female student.

In a smooth, unawkward motion, I took a slight turn and passed by, causing her to distance herself, confused.

“Hello.”

I waved lightly in greeting, and the female student waved back with a perplexed expression.

My gaze quickly scanned her from head to toe.

I checked the girl’s name tag.

Her name is Lee Sohee.

Thanks to Hayeon’s good relationships with her classmates, many friends come over to greet her.

My head spins rapidly as I try to memorize the faces and names of the children.

“What are you doing?”

Not being able to find my seat, I awkwardly stand there, and Sohee approaches, snatching my bag away.

As I stare at her blankly, she confidently walks over and places my bag in an empty seat.

“Are you going to the snack shop?”

“The snack shop?”

“Yeah.”

I furrow my brow and check the time.

There’s still some time before the first class starts, so it seems okay to stop by the snack shop.

“Let’s go.”

I need to get used to this life.

Avoiding it isn’t the solution.

Once I gave my approval, Sohee approached and linked her arm with mine.

Surprised by the unfamiliar closeness, I tried to pull my arm away, but Sohee’s grip was surprisingly strong.

Had we always walked like this?

Looking around, no one seemed to find it strange.

Sohee chatted endlessly.

With her small mouth, she had so much to say, and all I could do was give her the occasional response.

With the soul of a man over forty, I couldn’t keep up with a middle school girl’s conversation.

It seemed Sohee found my reactions amusing, as she flashed a bright smile.

We stopped by the snack shop and bought some simple bread.

After that, time flowed without anything special happening, and we entered class.

The crooked letters on the electronic blackboard wouldn’t register in my eyes.

Was it because I underestimated middle school-level problems?

No, it was simply that I had lived for a long time away from studying, so it felt difficult.

I grabbed my head in frustration.

Right now, I couldn’t keep up with the class.

Even after class ended, I struggled with the textbooks.

The truly fortunate thing was that Hayeon’s friends were considerate kids.

When they saw me concentrating on my studies, they didn’t come over.

But that was only a temporary measure.

If time flowed like this, I would lose all of Hayeon’s friends.

After spending the entire day only studying, my first day at school came to an end.

As students began to leave, the classroom became empty and lifeless.

“Hayeon, Hayeon!”

When I lifted my head at the sweet-sounding voice, Sohee was approaching me, looking at me.

This time, she was even closer.

Seeing her lean so close to my desk, I stepped back a bit.

“What is it?”

“I’ll see you tomorrow…!”

Whispering quietly, it seemed she wanted to say that, and she softly whispered it in my ear.

That was quite cute.

I watched blankly as Sohee walked away, and before I knew it, the classroom had emptied out.

Let’s go back and play some games.

I gathered my bag and left the classroom.