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“Hey, hey… you need to wake up.”

It was early morning.

Knock knock.

“Ugh… ugh…”

I wanted to sleep in today, so I didn’t even set my alarm, but the sensation of my cheeks being poked brought annoyance crashing over me.

After all, this was a precious holiday that I had carved out of the scarce time I had in a year. There was no way I was going to wake up.

Knock knock.

With my eyes still closed, I groaned and reflexively dodged the hand attacking my cheeks by pulling the blanket over my head.

By now, Shia should have stopped. If she wanted to see Christmas, she could just call Serena.

…But does this world even have the concept of Christmas? The deity they believe in is probably different anyway…

“Hey… it’s Christmas, and you’re hiding at home?”

Well, it’s not that strange for other worlds to have figures like Jesus or Buddha, so Christmas could exist too… Wait a second.

“Ha… if you don’t wake up, then there’s nothing I can do.”

Why did I think today was Christmas…? I doubt this world even has Christmas…

With a whoosh, in an instant, like a hibernating caterpillar, I flipped the blanket off me, and the playful voice whispering in my ear jolted me wide awake.

“Let’s check if you’re alive, shall we?”

Tickle tickle.

“Eeek?!”

Taking advantage of my dazed state, two cold hands slipped under my arms and started tickling me.

“Ah… no way…! Gah ha ha…!”

No matter how much I wanted to shake off those hands, I was utterly outmatched in strength, like a hamster resisting a cat’s grasp.

All I could do was roll my eyes back, stick out my tongue, and shake my body helplessly while bursting into laughter…

“Ugh… Sh, Shia…?” “Shia? Who’s that?”

With that cold tone that seemed unconcerned, I realized the person tormenting me wasn’t Shia after all.

If it wasn’t my roommate Shia… then who was waking me up…? Could it be Nova instead…?

As I squinted and opened my eyes, a handsome silhouette with messy black hair was clearly visible.

“Ah ha ha… alright, I’ll get up, just stop…”

“Nova…? Who were you calling just now?”

“…Huh?”

Called by an unexpected old name, I rubbed my eyes and confirmed the figure in front of me once more.

Looking around, the familiar scenery of my room came into view.

A snug, almost cramped single room, the desk piled high with medical books,

And I couldn’t help but doubt my own eyes at the presence before me.

My only friend from those days I could never forget—no matter how much time passed, his voice and face were etched in my memory.

“Shinwoo…?”

“Yeah, finally got my name right… Who was that just now? An ex-boyfriend?”

He replied coldly, muttering to himself.

“Well… there’s no way you’d have time for something like that…”

“Th-that’s rude?! Ouch…”

For some reason, Shinwoo seemed displeased with my answer and continued, clicking his tongue.

“Anyway, I can see you were planning to spend the whole day at home just by looking at you.”

“Today…?” Looking at the calendar, today was December 25th, Christmas.

“…Am I still dreaming…? Ugh…”

Shinwoo sighed and pulled on my cheeks, causing me to make an embarrassing sound against my will.

“Yeah… it seems like you’re still out of it. What time did you study until last night?”

“Um… around 3 AM? It’s only 10 AM now… just let me lounge a bit longer~”

Yeah… right. Last night I stayed up late after volunteering, preparing for my second-year major studies.

“Do you have any idea how much work you need to do in this department? You can’t even dream of playing games like you do!”

“Oh… don’t be so harsh. It’s not like that’s completely false~”

“…So annoying.”

Though he says that, this brat who aced the entrance exam to S University’s Computer Science department is the one talking.

It’s ridiculous that he chose the course just to take classes with me.

If that’s the case, why not apply to med school together? When I asked, he said he didn’t want the hassle.

Though the term “genius” can sound like just a sweet excuse, in his case, it definitely applies.

After all, he’s supposed to be a professional gamer, but instead of preparing for tournaments with his team, he’s chilling in college.

Plus, he not only wins awards at competitions but also maintains a GPA over 4.0… it’s hard to believe there’s anyone crazier than this guy who followed a childhood friend into college.

“Why do you look all grumpy? Let’s go out and have some fun for a change.”

…Honestly, I was happy he came, but feeling a little spoiled, I rolled back into the blanket and started to drag my feet.

“Let me snooze a bit longer… waking up and going back to sleep is what real deep sleep is….” “You still seem out of it…”

Tickle tickle~

“Eeek?! No, for real, tickling is cheating… Ah ha ha!?”

Eventually, after more than a minute of relentless tickling that left me in tears, I was finally freed.

Lying on my bed, squirming like an overturned frog, I grasped the edge of the bed. This is probably when they say your back bends like a bow…

Since he was significantly larger than me, I quickly gave up on pushing him away and just tried to hold on to the bed’s edge to endure the tickles as best as I could.

“Ugh… save me…” “So, you’re going to get up now?”

“Ugh… okay… ugh, it’s been so long since I had a holiday and it’s ruined because of you…”

Because I was so mentally awake from all that tickling and didn’t have the energy to fall back asleep, I trudged to the bathroom to splash cold water on my face.

“Do you want more tickling?”

At the shout from the other side of the bathroom door, my instinctive defense mechanism kicked in, and I shot back sharply.

“I don’t need it! For real, stop!”

Realizing I might’ve reacted too harshly, I listened carefully, and a sulky voice came from outside the door.

“Sorry… I think I might have overdone the teasing. Did it hurt?”

“…Don’t come at me like that with that tone… you fool…”

Trying to wash away those indescribable feelings, I splashed cold water on my face repeatedly.

After splashing cold water on my face several times, I finally succeeded in cooling down the heat on my face.

When I wiped my face with a towel and came out, I saw Shinwoo setting food on the table.

“Did you bring a lunch box?… Why go to that length…?”

“I could clearly see that you were still living off takeout food, so I figured I’d check if you ate breakfast.”

“…. I do eat…”

“That answer seemed a bit slow. Do it properly—if I say let’s eat, if you don’t respond, you’ll just skip meals for the entire day.”

I felt completely stripped bare under his penetrating gaze and struggled to find a rebuttal.

“Stop standing there like a statue and go change your clothes—I’ll be out there waiting.”

“Okay… thanks.”

When I thought about it, I could never thank Shinwoo enough.

From our first meeting as little kids, through kindergarten, elementary school, middle school, high school, and now,

Through all the neglected, orphaned days I had, Shinwoo was always by my side.

There was a period I was envious and struggled with a pathetic sense of inferiority.

Unlike me, who seemed to have nothing, he came from a wealthy family and appeared to lack for nothing.

It took a long, convoluted journey for me to realize that it wasn’t pity I should feel but gratitude towards him.

“…Should I try dressing a bit differently today…?”

When I opened my closet, the first thing that caught my eye was two school uniforms—one a boys’ set and the other… a girls’ checkered skirt.

I’d feel wronged if I asked why such things existed.

When I initially went to a specialist store to buy a school uniform, they said they were out of stock, measured my size, and said they’d send it by mail; then they ended up sending me a girl’s uniform that was the crux of the issue.

When Shinwoo heard about it, he laughed and teased me all day, insisting I try it on just once, but, of course, I ignored him.

“…Just today… for just once… should I try it…” Swallowing hard, I made a bold resolution to see that annoying alpha male’s flustered face.

…

…

…

…

“Hey, what’s taking so long to change? What are you…”

As I stepped out in my school uniform, Shinwoo froze as if turned to stone.

Since my hair was already long, just putting on the uniform made for quite a convincing cross-dressing look.

‘But why does this familiar feeling seem… oddly normal?’ The skirt’s characteristic breeze felt surprisingly comfortable.

But more than that, I enjoyed watching Shinwoo’s stunned expression as he gaped at me.

I accidentally slipped into a tone worthy of a queen in an S&M scenario.

“Hey! Are you into this? Why are you so spaced out… pervert…”

After a long silence, I suddenly realized how embarrassing my actions really were.

Shame slowly slipped back as I tried to retreat to my room to change, but Shinwoo hurriedly grabbed the doorknob.

“Wha-what’s going on?! I need to change clothes, so please let go!”

“Listen… I have a once-in-a-lifetime request… can you consider it?”

“Uh? A once-in-a-lifetime request…? Just let go of the doorknob for now…” “In that outfit… let’s go out today.”

“…What?”

 

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