“Thank you, Boss!”
Haru took a deep breath and handed Hana, who was clinging to Kim Sehee, over to her. Hana reached out for Kim Sehee’s embrace, but couldn’t quite reach. Kim Sehee also wanted to play with Hana more, but she had work to do, so she swallowed her disappointment and had to say goodbye.
“Have fun playing with Hana.”
“Boss, aren’t you going to play with us?”
Hana, still in Haru’s arms, asked, but Kim Sehee shook her head regretfully.
“I want to play with Hana too, but unfortunately, I can’t right now.”
Kim Sehee gently patted Hana’s head. Hana didn’t seem to mind, smiling as she received the affection. After seeing Kim Sehee off, Haru put Hana down on the floor and then scolded her with a stern expression.
“Hana! You can’t wander off from me! Got it?”
“Mi… sorry, Haru. I won’t wander off next time!”
Haru looked at Hana and said, “I was so shocked when you suddenly disappeared! And you didn’t even answer your phone!”
“Hiiing…”
Hana had no choice but to endure Haru’s scolding. The fault was hers since she had been running around everywhere. Haru had clearly told her not to leave her side.
“Well, at least we found Hana! So, shall we play a little longer before going?”
“Okay!”
Haru took Hana’s hand and they wandered around together. The grapes they had eaten today must have been at least a few bunches. And because they had eaten such sweet grapes, their stomachs were full. It felt like they had feasted after a long time.
—————————————–
“Yaaawn!”
Maybe because they ate too many grapes yesterday, there was a lingering sweetness in their mouths. Even after brushing their teeth, the sweetness didn’t go away. But at least there was no stickiness, so it was fine. Still, for the sweetness to remain even after brushing… their grapes must have been amazing.
By the way, something felt itchy on their chest. In the early stages, there wasn’t much sensation, but it seemed like their chest had grown a little. They made a sad face. Even though it was still flat, there was a slight curve now. They were really becoming a girl.
Something felt strange. When they were a boy, this was unimaginable. They weren’t a man with gynecomastia, so they never had to worry about their chest. But now, they couldn’t help but be concerned. Even when wearing a T-shirt, their chest felt sensitive.
With a sad expression, they went to find Maru. Maru was busy typing away in the office. They grabbed Maru’s sleeve and said, “Maru, my chest feels sensitive…”
“Uh… huh?”
As soon as Maru understood what they were saying, she picked them up and rushed out of the office at lightning speed. It was so fast that it felt like there was an afterimage. Of course, Maru wasn’t a hunter, and there wasn’t really an afterimage. It was just their imagination.
Maru placed them in a room and looked around carefully, like a thief about to steal something. After checking the surroundings, she looked at them and said, “Hana, you have to be careful with your words! You’re a girl now, so you can’t talk like that in front of boys.”
“Why can’t I talk about my chest?”
“That’s a secret between girls. There’s no need to tell the boys, Hana!”
“Okay. Then I’ll only tell Bora, Haru, and you, Maru.”
They realized they had been too careless. It was a bit inappropriate to talk about their chest so boldly in front of boys. Their cheeks turned slightly red. Even though they weren’t fully aware, they were still a girl…
“Hana, let me take off your T-shirt for a moment.”
Maru gently moved her hand to take off their T-shirt. They raised their arms to make it easier for Maru. After taking it off, Maru touched their chest. Her hand was warm.
“Hmm… Hana, you should start wearing a junior bra now.”
Maru put the T-shirt back on them. They didn’t understand what she was talking about. They knew about bras, but a junior bra was new to them. Curious, they asked Maru, “What’s that, Maru?”
“Well… there are bras for elementary school students. You’re still young, Hana.”
“Can’t I wear the bra you’re wearing, Maru?”
“You’re still too young. Let’s wait until you’re older, okay?”
Maru’s chest was big, so they couldn’t imagine how long it would take for theirs to grow that much. At least until middle school graduation, maybe. Or maybe their chest would never grow. Honestly, they hoped their chest would stay small.
Every time I moved, it was annoying and my shoulders hurt, so it didn’t seem like a good idea. And there was absolutely no advantage to having big breasts. People say men like it, but I wasn’t planning to date any men. It was just a burden.
“Hiiing…”
“Since I have time today, shall we go shopping together, Hana?”
“Okay!”
I had no choice but to trust Maru’s judgment. Having lived as a man, I knew nothing about women’s underwear. It was only natural. Anyone who knows a lot about women’s underwear is either a playboy or a pervert! Otherwise, there’s no way to explain why someone would know so much about it.
“Then wait in the room for a bit… I need to tell the manager. Of course, it’s a secret that we’re going to buy Hana’s underwear, so we’ll say we’re going out to buy clothes, okay?”
*Nods nods*
I nodded in agreement with Maru. If I said I was going out to buy underwear, it would be really embarrassing. When I was a man, I could confidently say I was going to buy underwear, and it wasn’t embarrassing at all. That’s because men’s underwear has no appeal whatsoever.
In fact, men’s underwear is in the same category as plain clothes, with no sexual appeal, whether in society or on the internet. But women’s underwear is different. Compared to when I was a man, the level of embarrassment was on a whole different dimension. My face turned red just from talking to Maru about buying underwear.
Fortunately, Maru is a woman, so she understood my struggles. If it were a company full of men, like the military, I wouldn’t have had anyone to talk to. Or maybe I wouldn’t even have been able to stay there in the first place. So I sat on the bed, waiting for Maru to come back.
After waiting a few minutes, Maru opened the door and came in. In one hand, she held car keys. It seemed like the plan to go out had been successfully established. I rushed over to Maru.
“Hana, let’s go!”
“Okay!”
I followed closely behind Maru as we headed to the elevator. The employees around us thought I was going out to buy clothes and gave me compliments.
“Hana, going out to buy clothes? I wish I could go with you!”
“If you go with her, Hana will get scared.”
There were also male employees making silly jokes along the way. But after receiving Maru’s sharp glare, they quickly looked away. Despite being a new employee, Maru seemed to have an incredible amount of authority.
And so, I got into the car in the parking lot and we headed to a nearby department store. Of course, the research institute building was far away, so it took us several dozen minutes by car.
———————————————–
*Shuffle shuffle*
I had no choice but to take reluctant steps. Maru grabbed my hand and urged me to come along. I couldn’t accept the reality unfolding before my eyes. I couldn’t even imagine whether this made sense or not.
“Hana, why are you so embarrassed! It’s proof that you’re growing, so there’s no need to be embarrassed! I also buy the underwear I wear here.”
Yeah, that was the problem. Buying underwear wasn’t something you could do with just any mindset. If it were men’s underwear, I would have just known the size and picked anything. After all, you only wear trunks, so there’s no need to try them on, and if I told the staff I wanted to try them on, they would look at me weirdly.
Who in the world tries on men’s trunks before buying them?
But the place I was entering now was different. First of all, the colors were too vibrant. Coming from a place where only dull-colored underwear was displayed, I couldn’t keep my composure in a place with such colorful and lace-adorned underwear.
“Ma… Maru, on second thought, I don’t think I really need this!”
I said this and tried to quickly leave, but Maru’s large frame blocked my way.
“Eh…”
“Hana! We’re settling this today!”
“Uwaah!”
I had no choice but to be dragged by Maru’s hand into the forbidden world.
