Chapter 10: The First Day of a New Life

Utilizing the time Im Seon-ah spent showering, I explored various parts of the house.

The interior design and furniture felt adequately neat and modern.

‘Why is there only one bed, though…’

I have no idea~ I’ll think about it later.

While wandering around, I also found a mobile phone that I presumed to be mine.

I worried about what I would do if it had a lock pattern, but fortunately, I was able to open it with fingerprint recognition.

The lock screen opened, revealing the wallpaper.

I checked the contacts, but there was nothing particularly useful to glean any proper information from.

This was because the wiki entry for Lee Ha-yeon stated that no information regarding her family relationships could be obtained.

I had hoped there might be some information on the phone, but regrettably, there was none at all.

‘Hmm… but why is Im Seon-ah living with Lee Ha-yeon?’

It’s not as if Im Seon-ah picked her up like a stray cat choosing a new owner.

No. In a way, it was a perfectly plausible story.

After all, Im Seon-ah used to whine about wanting to take every stray cat she saw home.

If you replace ‘cat’ with ‘person,’ it becomes entirely possible.

Well, I’ll look into that gradually later.

For now, I searched Lee Ha-yeon’s phone, which was right in front of me, for any more information I could gather.

Even if she was just an elementary school student, I didn’t touch her search history.

In fact, I had already deleted all search history before any curiosity could even arise within me.

That’s what a gentleman does. Or rather, a lady now, I suppose.

But seriously, why does this kid have absolutely no games on their phone?

Back in my day, you couldn’t survive elementary school without playing mobile games.

Vowing to install a few games tomorrow, I then turned off the phone.

There was even less information to be gleaned from an elementary schooler’s phone than I had anticipated.

****

A few minutes later, Im Seon-ah, her hair still damp, approached me with brisk steps, her entire body wrapped snugly in a towel.

Having vaguely registered Im Seon-ah’s appearance through blurry eyes, I closed them completely and spoke.

“Uh… Unnie… fix your towel.”

“Hmm…? What’s the big deal? It’s just us girls.”

To your eyes, it may seem like there’s only a girl here.

Unable to bring myself to openly gaze upon that sight, I moved to an angle where Im Seon-ah’s form was as obscured as possible.

“What… are you doing? You’re not a crab. Why are you moving sideways?”

“Sometimes I just feel like walking sideways. I’m putting it into practice today.”

“And why are you looking to the side instead of at your Unnie in front of you?”

“Crabs walk sideways, don’t they? So, if sideways is forward, then it’s only natural to look forward.”

Though I had no idea what kind of nonsense I was spouting, I roughly retorted and then dashed into the bathroom.

At the sink, I washed my face to keep my skin soft and fresh, then meticulously brushed my teeth.

Upon entering the bathroom, I saw a bathtub filled with water.

I worried it might be Im Seon-ah’s used bathwater, but thankfully, it appeared freshly drawn.

Had she drawn it in advance for me, who would enter next?

After a quick rinse with the showerhead, I gently dipped my feet into the bathwater first.

Soon, every part of my body, save for my head, was submerged beneath the surface.

“Ah~ So refreshing.”

It was quite exhilarating to utter a line typically spoken by old men at a public bath, all while inhabiting the body of a ten-year-old.

As I immersed myself in the warm water, the tension that had accumulated throughout the day slowly began to dissipate.

‘Ah, this is too good.’

For about twenty minutes, I splashed around, playing in the water and thoroughly enjoying my therapeutic bath.

It was as I finished my bath and was drying my hair with a hairdryer.

“Ha-yeon, we have lessons tomorrow, so let’s go to bed a little early tonight.”

Although the whirring sound of the hairdryer made it difficult to hear exactly what Im Seon-ah was saying, I offered a perfunctory affirmative reply.

“Uh-huh.”

A woman’s hair took much longer to dry than I had anticipated.

Normally, I wouldn’t even bother with a hairdryer, just a quick towel-dry would suffice.

“All done!”

“What’s all done?”

“Drying my hair.”

Hmph. It was incredibly tough. My arm felt like it was going to fall off from holding the hairdryer.

“Oh? Then come here quickly and let’s sleep.”

“Huh? Already sleeping?”

A glance at the clock revealed it was only eleven o’clock.

Surely, a modern person’s leisure time ought to extend until dawn, shouldn’t it?

“Your teacher is coming tomorrow morning, you know. So you have to go to bed early tonight.”

Ah. She mentioned something about homeschooling.

“Tsk… Alright. I guess I’ll go to bed early today.”

“Yes, that’s an excellent choice.”

Giving me a thumbs-up, Im Seon-ah then led me into the room.

She then tucked me into the not-so-spacious-looking bed, switched off the lights in our room, and smoothly lay down beside me.

Hmm? What is this? Why are you lying next to me?

When I was looking around the house earlier, the fact that there was only one bed had bothered me a little, but…

Even so, two people sleeping in this narrow bed is just not right.

“Uh… Unnie. Doesn’t it feel a little cramped…?”

“Really? Unnie doesn’t think so. Well, since Ha-yeon says it’s cramped… I do have a good solution.”

“What is it…?”

Rustling, Im Seon-ah fidgeted and squirmed, then promptly adopted a position where she was hugging me.

“…”

“How’s this? Now, instead of cramped, we’re practically glued together. Don’t you think you won’t even have time to feel cramped like this?”

It feels like there’s no space between you and me at all.

“Get off.”

“Oh…”

After a brief reply, Im Seon-ah returned to her original spot, turning her back to me with a sullen expression.

“Sniffle, sniffle… Our Ha-yeon is already going through puberty…”

What are you even saying? You’re not some worried mother with a pubescent daughter.

Knowing that no response was the best response, I simply closed my eyes and prepared to fall asleep.

Im Seon-ah, who had subtly glanced back at my silent form, let out a ‘tsk’ sound and settled back into a proper lying position.

“Good night, Ha-yeon.”

“…Good night, Unnie.”

Ah, I still can’t get used to calling her Unnie.

The longest day of my life had finally come to an end.

If I were to fall asleep like this and tomorrow were to arrive as if nothing had happened.

Then I would have to continue living in this child’s body.

Initially, I had been flustered. But honestly, after spending a day as Lee Ha-yeon, I wasn’t entirely dissatisfied.

After all, upgrading from a life of servitude to a beautiful girl judge was undeniably a sweet deal.

Yet, there was still something that bothered me slightly.

How should I put it… I couldn’t easily shake the feeling that Seo Joon-hyeok’s entire twenty-six years of life had vanished in an instant.

Well. Time would heal everything, I supposed.

‘Let’s just sleep.’

After vanquishing this sleep-talking demon king, Im Seon-ah.

“Mmmph, hehe, Ha-yeon’s cheek is tasty…”

What kind of dream is she having?

I pushed Im Seon-ah, who had somehow plastered herself to me, a good distance away.

“Ugh, don’t push me away…”

No matter how I looked at it, Im Seon-ah seemed more suited to the role of a ten-year-old beautiful girl than I was.

Her mental age was precisely around that point, after all.

****

Into the darkened space, a brilliant light streamed in, dazzling my closed eyes.

“Ugh…”

“Ha-yeon, wake up now. The teacher will be here soon.”

“Just five more minutes… Seon-ah.”

I pulled the blanket I was covered with even tighter.

It was an action imbued with my strong will to sleep longer.

However, that action was swiftly thwarted by Im Seon-ah’s blanket-snatching attack.

“Don’t call me by my name so naturally, Ha-yeon, get up quickly.”

Ah, I must have called Im Seon-ah by her name without realizing it.

Shielding the bright sunlight with the back of my hand, I slowly opened my eyes.

“Quickly wash your face and eat some cereal. Unnie has to leave soon.”

“Where to…?”

What? She’s going to leave me, a mere child, alone and go out by herself? That’s just too much, too much.

“Unnie has to go to work at the courthouse.”

“What about me? I’m a judge too. Then I want to go to work as well.”

Why should I have to do something as boring as homeschooling with a tutor?

At best, it would be elementary school level education, so why should I have to sit through that?

However, Im Seon-ah seemed to have interpreted my inner thoughts in a completely different way.

“Ha-yeon. Even if you always want to be in the same place as Unnie. There are times in life when you just have to bear it.”

It’s not particularly because I want to be with you. Why is she drumming her own beat and playing her own janggu (TL Note: A Korean idiom, ‘buk chigo janggu chigo,’ referring to someone making a fuss or doing something alone, often in a self-important way, like playing both drums (buk) and hourglass drum (janggu) by oneself) all by herself?

“…Still, this Unnie loves our Ha-yeon, who has become so much more affectionate…!!”

Easily sidestepping Im Seon-ah, who was rushing towards me with open arms, I walked into the kitchen.

“So, what am I supposed to eat?”

“Tsk, that’s mean… Eat cereal, I said.”

On the dining table, a bowl of cereal sat with milk.

Oh. It’s my favorite cereal.

It was a slightly sweet cereal with dried fruits mixed in, a meal I often favored when I was too lazy to cook proper food.

On the living room TV, the morning news was playing, presumably put on by Im Seon-ah.

I might as well watch that while I eat.

As a member of the Republic of Korea’s judiciary, I thought it wouldn’t be bad to see what kind of criminals were out there today.

[A shocking incident has occurred at a high school in Seoul.]

[According to the police, three students from the same class subjected a victimized student to months of assault and bullying, ultimately resulting in the victim sustaining severe injuries and being diagnosed with a permanent disability in their leg.]

Tsk, tsk, what rotten scoundrels. I should be the one judging such people.

[The victimized student is currently receiving treatment in the hospital, but their recovery is uncertain. The three perpetrators have been detained by the prosecution for investigation, and the prosecution is reviewing charges of grievous bodily harm. Educational authorities have stated that they will use this incident as an opportunity to establish fundamental measures to prevent recurrence.]

“Wow, school violence still happens these days? Back in my time…”

I had merely mumbled to myself quietly, but it seemed Im Seon-ah, who was some distance away, had overheard my soliloquy.

“Ha-yeon. You know you’re ten years old, right…? When exactly was ‘your time’?”

Well, my school days were about ten years ago.

Based on this body’s age…

“Hmm, I suppose it would be around my sperm (TL Note: A humorous and absurd reference to a time before birth, implying extreme youth, used for comedic effect) days?”