Chapter 24: Wet Wings and Old Games

5: A Simple Thank You

Another typical morning.

The only slight difference is…

“I’m here… Huh?”

“Dry my wings!”

When Junseo arrived, my wings were dripping wet.

“Ugh… You were waiting with wet wings just to ask me to dry them?”

“You wouldn’t get it since you don’t have wings! Drying them alone is such a hassle!”

Even as I grumble, watching Junseo sit behind me to start drying my wings makes me think I’ve got a great friend.

This is why you need good friends.

Junseo picks up the hairdryer, tests it a few times, and begins drying my wings while speaking.

“You wore clothes over wet wings? Your outfit’s soaked.”

“I couldn’t just stay naked. Besides, I was gonna change anyway, so it’s fine.”

I’m wearing the same sky-blue dress from yesterday. Every time I see it, I remember that embarrassing moment…

Ugh.

Forget it, forget it.

Let’s just forget that.

…

Warm air blows from behind.

His hands gently but firmly knead my wings—not too soft, not too rough.

As my soggy wings turn fluffy, I feel relaxed and content.

Drying them myself is exhausting, but having someone else do it makes it a healing experience.

Basking in the warmth, I start to doze off when Junseo tosses out a comment.

“Now that I look, it seems like you’ve grown a bit?”

“Hah, you noticed! I’m a whopping 148 cm now, isn’t that amazing?!”

That’s right.

I’ve grown.

And no one noticed.

It broke my heart. Not my friends, not my family, not even Jimin or Jisoo—who’s always bragging about her horns—acknowledged it.

Thinking about it, I’m kinda mad. Jisoo calls me every time her horns grow, but she doesn’t care when I grow? I’m ignoring her next call as punishment.

Anyway, I’m not a tiny kid anymore!

At this rate, I’ll reclaim my old height in no time. Heh.

No, maybe I’ll grow even taller. I’ve always looked up at my friends, but once I’m grown, maybe I’ll be looking down at them.

I can’t help but grin. Goodbye, short old Garam. In this life, I’m definitely hitting 170 cm.

“Yeah, yeah, very impressive.”

“Hmph! Put some sincerity into your praise!”

I cross my arms and puff out my chest with a dignified—though still childish—voice. Junseo chuckles and keeps drying my wings.

…

“Looks dry to me.”

“Yup, all done. You can stop now.”

At my words, Junseo turns off the dryer and stands.

I spread my wings and flap them. No heavy, wet-feather feel—just light, fluffy ones.

Perfectly dry wings. Seeing them lifts my mood.

I’m definitely asking him to do this again.

“The house is clean today? It’s usually a mess when I come.”

While I test my wings, Junseo looks around. I puff out my chest proudly.

“Hehe, I cleaned up in advance since I was gonna ask you to dry my wings! Pretty good, right?”

Making him do chores and dry my wings would be too shameless, even for me. An angel’s kind heart couldn’t allow that.

So I cleaned up beforehand!

“You know that’s your job, right? Not something to brag about.”

“Whine.”

Junseo’s blunt words shut me down.

He could at least praise me a little. So mean.

“Anyway… You eaten? Not ramen again, right?”

“Of course!”

I raise my voice, then pause for effect—a conversational trick to build suspense.

Junseo turns to me.

Drumroll.

A tense moment. I open my mouth slowly, take a breath.

His eyes lock onto me.

And…

“I haven’t eaten!”

Thwack!

“Ow! Why’d you hit me?!”

“No reason.”

With nothing to cook in the fridge, breakfast ended up being ramen.

Slurp.

Ahh, that cheap, hearty saltiness.

“Why’s your fridge so empty? There’s nothing to cook with.”

“Cooking’s a luxury for a broke student. Ramen’s enough… W-Wait, don’t hit me again!”

Seeing Junseo raise his hand for another flick, I quickly shield myself. He sighs and lowers it.

“You gotta eat proper breakfasts. Won’t you stop growing?”

“If that mattered, I wouldn’t have grown at all.”

Hmph.

Some people grow, some don’t. You wouldn’t understand the pain of a former 167 cm.

Guess you wouldn’t, since you’re tall. The sorrow of not growing despite milk and exercise.

Tch. Annoying pretty boy.

I grab a glass and drink some water. Holding it, my thoughts drift to my halo.

Oh.

This could be fun.

I raise my hand above my head. Junseo looks at me, curious.

I place the glass in my halo.

“Tada! Look, a cupholder!”

“….”

Junseo stares at me with cold eyes.

What?

What’s wrong?

“You’ll spill it. Take it down.”

“Nope, it’s super stable.”

I shake my head slightly. The water sloshes but doesn’t spill.

Pure stability. Stable, in English.

“Hehe…”

“Fine, do what you want.”

With a glass in my halo, I can’t stop giggling. I kinda want to try eating ramen like this, so I tilt my head forward.

Hold on.

…

Splash!

“….”

“….”

“Don’t look at me like that…”

My dress is soaked, clinging to my body. Thankfully, it’s not see-through, but it’s still embarrassing.

“Uh… I’m gonna change, so turn around, okay?”

“Y-Yeah.”

I confirm Junseo’s turned away and rush to the closet. My freshly washed T-shirts aren’t dry yet, so I reluctantly grab another dress. My underwear’s soaked too, so I grab a new pair.

Rustle.

Swish.

The house is silent, the sound of fabric against skin painfully clear. My face flushes with embarrassment.

Thud, thud.

Clothes hit the floor. Finally, my underwear drops.

“Ha, hah.”

My face feels like it’s steaming. I hurry to change. What am I doing in front of my friend?

“D-Done. Phew.”

“All changed?”

“Yeah, you can turn around.”

I fan my flushed face, trying to cool down.

“Uh, Garam.”

“Yeah?”

“Couldn’t one of us have just gone to the bathroom…?”

“….”

…

Why do good ideas always come too late?

Why?!

“See ya.”

“Yeah, tomorrow.”

I wave Junseo off and collapse onto my bed.

Burying my face in the pillow, my body trembles, my cheeks turning red again.

“Ughhh, so embarrassing.”

I groan into the pillow. Every time I recall what happened, my body spasms.

He must’ve heard everything.

The rustle of clothes, the sound of them coming off.

Even—somehow—that weird moan I let out!

Argh!

Arghhh!

ARGHHH!

We used to be the same gender, but changing in front of a guy? I’m insane!

“I’m crazy, I’m crazy…”

My face is burning. Water would evaporate into steam if you splashed it on me.

“Ughhhh…”

I kick the blanket, sending it flying.

Unable to take it, I leap out of bed. I need to forget. Do something to erase this memory.

I stomp to my desk and turn on the computer. Whirrr. The fan hums, and the monitor glows blue.

I’ll game to wipe this memory away.

“Hoo…”

Browsing the desktop, I spot the RPG from the PC café yesterday.

“Maybe I’ll play this today.”

My voice stammers, still embarrassed.

I double-click the icon. The update window opens, confirming it’s the latest version, and the play button lights up.

Yup.

I click without hesitation.

…

The login theme plays.

This game always had weirdly good music. The gameplay was meh, but the music brings back memories.

Getting scammed and losing money as a kid.

Getting hacked and losing all my items.

Going to confront someone IRL and getting wrecked.

…

“Are these really memories?”

Maybe not.

I type in the faintly recalled ID and password. I hit enter, and a loading circle spins…

Ding!*

—Incorrect ID or password.

“….”

After a few more tries, I hit the “Find ID” button.

After some hassle, the character selection screen loads, and my character appears.

Pale white skin, purple bald head.

A Priest.