Chapter 66 : Growing Pains and New Beginnings

Spring, summer, autumn, winter.

In the slowly changing seasons, with noticeable growth, Siyeon and I were getting closer to the upper grades of elementary school.

Fourth grade.

For Koreans, this is the time when we begin to get accustomed to using chopsticks, our awkward pronunciation starts to be corrected, and the so-called “crazy growth period” begins.

Siyeon and I were fully benefiting from this growth, but the side effects of rapid growth were also slowly following us in an unwelcome manner.

First, the obvious difference in height and small sizes.

This marked the point where clothes that once fit well were no longer usable.

“It’s uncomfortable…”

“It doesn’t fit anymore.”

Siyeon complained as she tried on clothes that fit her just last year, but now felt tight.

It was truly the stormy growth period; clothes for boys, which had been acceptable, were now completely unusable.

The second side effect of growth was something that hit me hard as well.

No matter how much I tried to deny it, physical changes specific to girls were slowly becoming apparent.

As I lowered my head, directed at my chest, I heard a voice from someone who had noticed my gaze.

“You should start buying new clothes, right? It’s time for you to wear underwear, too.”

A new change had appeared in the small space shared by Siyeon and me.

The last time we saw her was in Sokcho—Venus, the former magical girl.

Now, she had adopted the name Ji-eun Seo and was working with us, supporting us in practical aspects as a government official.

After retiring, we hadn’t heard from her for a while, but it turned out she had been involved in this line of work.

Somehow, our case had come up in the discussions about magical girls, leading to her involvement.

Unlike other magical girls who were assigned legal guardians or parents to act as representatives, our case was a bit different.

Since we had no parents to take care of us, the proposal was to provide minimal support.

To my surprise, this sensible suggestion came from a few government officials who were familiar with us.

“Ugh…”

Anyway, that was that, and this was this—when the topic of buying underwear came up, I hesitated to respond.

As I lowered my head towards my chest, I scratched the back of my head and couldn’t answer clearly.

Though I knew logically that it made sense, a small part of me—the last remnants of my former self—was deeply opposed, refusing to accept that change.

“It’s better to get used to it quickly.”

“Ugh…”

However, her advice, coming from someone who had more experience as a woman, echoed in my mind.

With growing resignation, I had no choice but to head to the department store.

I couldn’t avoid it forever.

Eventually, the moment would come when I had to accept that I had become a woman.

In the fitting room of the department store, standing without a top, I struggled to put on the item.

It wasn’t much different from a swimsuit, but for some reason, it felt so uncomfortable.

‘Goodbye, my last shred of dignity…’

I thought to myself that it wouldn’t be difficult after the first time, and with my eyes squeezed shut, I felt the soft fabric of the top, marking the disappearance of the last remnants of my male self.

Before I wrapped myself up in it, I had felt such strong resistance, but once I put it on, it just felt like a tight-fitting sleeveless top.

How can I even express the whirlwind of emotions—despair, emptiness, and bewilderment—stirring inside me?

Sigh…

The complex feelings that had been filling me up were things that could hardly be put into words, so all I could do was let out a sigh that flowed down my throat.

As if she couldn’t care less about such complicated feelings, I began to hear Ji-eun unnie’s voice right outside the changing room.

“Still haven’t put it on?”

“No… I put it on.”

As soon as I answered with a muffled tone, the changing room door squeaked open.

Before the names “Venus” or “Ji-eun unnie” could even form in my mind, she was fiddling with the straps of her top.

“Yeah, this should be enough.”

With a satisfied nod, Ji-eun unnie proceeded to select clothes in the right size for us, filling a paper bag with items.

Into the bag fell skirts and other things I hadn’t even asked for.

It was a moment when my sense of self, which had been lingering ambiguously between male and female, suddenly tilted toward one side, forced by growth and circumstance.

After having the special assorted cutlet, which now seemed smaller, at the department store food court, we returned home.

With just the two kids and the two dolls, the house had felt spacious, but now with an adult added, it started to feel a little cramped.

Ji-eun unnie was putting away the clothes we had bought at the department store, and suddenly, she muttered while staring at the ceiling.

“Come to think of it, next year, right?”

Her mutter didn’t seem to be just to herself, so I quickly searched my mind for a common topic that we both would know.

Having just turned 12 and moved up to the 4th grade, next year, we’d be entering 5th grade.

And there was only one thing that was anticipated around that time.

“The monster, right?”

“Yeah, they’ve both been resting for a long time. Do you think they’ll be okay?”

Ji-eun unnie nodded, and my response, without thinking, hit the mark perfectly.

With a worried expression, she asked, and I replied nonchalantly while scratching my cheek.

“Well, not using it doesn’t mean it’ll wear out…”

As I had said, there were no side effects like losing power from not using my magical girl powers for a long time.

In fact, even if a monster showed up right now, I could fly over and turn it into a barbeque.

However, the reason I didn’t do that was due to the promise made with the monster.

Whether it was the Medic Tentacle or the Tentacle Monster, the promise with that surprisingly pathetic monster was still in place.

Unlike human society, which was filled with fraud and corruption, monsters kept their promises.

Sometimes, it even seemed that monsters had more of the human virtues than humans themselves.

Anyway, after hearing my indifferent answer, Ji-eun unnie began neatly folding the clothes that had been haphazardly thrown into the paper bag and putting them into the closet while mumbling to herself.

“Seems like the magical girl hopefuls are different.”

“Hopefuls? What do you mean…”

I wanted to say a mountain of things, but I just swallowed them down and looked at my smartphone.

Anyway, having an adult at home brings a sense of security. The little things like laundry, preparing breakfast and dinner, and the minor issues that arise in the apartment while I’m at school—all of it has become surprisingly comfortable.

Questions that I used to hesitate to ask Siyeon have become easier to bring up at home.

“When are we supposed to move out?”

“By April, we need to leave.”

Her answer came indifferently.

The redevelopment story was progressing rapidly due to adult circumstances, which we had no knowledge of. By the time the topic was being discussed, there was nothing we, as residents occupying just a corner of the apartment, could do about it.

If about 80% of the households in the redevelopment area agreed, the remaining 20% have little say. Instead of stubbornly holding out, we decided to choose one of the options presented.

There were two choices left:

1. Wait for the redevelopment, which might take an uncertain amount of time, while receiving a small moving subsidy and living in a rented room or one-room apartment.
2. Sell the current apartment and start fresh elsewhere without worrying about this place.

Even with an adult around, things seem to move forward more smoothly. Honestly, it’s really hard for just two kids to be involved in such matters.

“So, have you decided what to do?”

“Let’s just sell it and find another place. The neighbors upstairs and downstairs are terrible anyway…”

Instead of going through the hassle of finding a one-room apartment or monthly rent to get by, I thought it would be cleaner to just sell and move on. The process of receiving moving expenses and then moving into a redeveloped apartment seemed complicated and included extra fees, so I opted for the simpler option.

I didn’t like the neighbors above or below, so I thought this might be a good chance to move on.

“Be careful with new villas or officetels, though.”

“They’ll help, right?”

I jokingly asked my sister, standing nearby, for help. After all, a large amount of money like this, even for monthly rent, involves thousands of dollars, so she nodded.

“They’ll help, but… honestly, I’m not very familiar with the law.”

“It’ll be fine. We have two magical girls here… if anything goes wrong, we’ll just go to the landlord and fix it, right?”

Knowing exactly what my sister had in mind from all the community discussions, I smiled and joked.