After hearing Hyun's true feelings, I leaned back with a much more relaxed mind than before.

Of course, while my mind was more at ease, my thoughts were still incredibly complicated, making me feel dizzy.

*Do I like Hyun...?*

That can't be right. I've always denied it, but after the heart-fluttering feeling I experienced when I saw his face earlier, I couldn't dismiss it as a misunderstanding anymore.

Why not?

Because if I start arguing that my racing heart is due to heart failure, my hot face is from rheumatic heart disease, and my dizziness is from anemia...

Following that logic, I'd become a critically ill patient who should be admitted to the ICU immediately.

But denying it so strongly seems a bit much.

It's disrespectful to Hyun too.

"Your skin is so white that it's hard to see the shed skin."

"Heeek...!"

The moment I felt his large hand gently stroke my back, I curled up from the electric sensation that shot through me.

The sound that came out was much louder than I expected, startling even myself as I covered my mouth.

"...Are you okay?"

Hyun's voice trembled, seemingly startled as well.

In, in this situation, I need to stay calm...

"Th-that area is sensitive, so please be gentle..."

I'm not lying, I swear!

It's true that areas where you've just shed skin are much more sensitive than other parts!

It's similar to how skin becomes sensitive after being scrubbed at a bathhouse!

It absolutely doesn't have any strange meaning!

SLAP!

"Eek!?"

Wh-what was that!?

Startled, I turned around to see Hyun looking at me with an expression that asked if something had happened.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing... Just now..."

"Nothing happened, why? A mosquito just landed on my face, and when I tried to catch it, it made a loud noise, that's all."

It was an obvious lie. Especially since there were no mosquitoes in this house.

But I figured pointing that out wouldn't benefit either of us, so I quietly turned back around.

"Tell me if it hurts."

"Ah, okay."

I nodded, then squeezed my eyes shut and bit down on the pillow like a gag.

But closing my eyes only made my other senses more sensitive.

From the touch of his fingertips on my back, to his nails slightly scratching my skin, to the feeling of him pulling off the shed skin—I could feel everything clearly.

...I almost made another sound.

*Don't close your eyes, ever.*

I immediately opened my eyes and looked down at the stone bed, searching for any strange patterns to distract myself.

But just like how thinking "don't think about a pink elephant" makes you think about it more, my heightened senses became even more focused on Hyun's every movement.

Swoosh—

"Hyaaah!?"

SLAP!

"...!?"

"It's fine, don't turn around. Every time you turn around, I forget where the shed skin was."

"It's not like the shed skin randomly changes position, what are you talking about...?"

"Must be short-term memory loss."

[You two are really making a scene.]

I blinked at the Light Dragon's voice, tinged with a sigh.

Honestly, I didn't want to admit it, but the Light Dragon was right.

Why am I acting like this?

It's not like I did anything wrong, so why should I feel embarrassed?

Be confident like a man. Hiding behind a pillow just makes it more embarrassing.

No, there's no need to be embarrassed in the first place. Hyun has already seen everything when he helped me bathe. The only difference is that things have grown a bit after molting.

And anyway, Hyun will have to help me bathe in the future too, so I can't just hug a pillow every time.

I need to get used to it and be confident starting now.

"Wait a moment, let me adjust my position."

"Huh? Sure."

I adjusted my sitting position, tossed the pillow I was hugging aside, and straightened my back.

After deciding to be confident, I found it much more embarrassing than I expected, but it was too late to back out now, so I crossed my arms and endured.

"C-can you see better now?"

"...Huh? Oh, yes. Ahem! I can see well."

Right. This is fine.

That's what I thought as I proudly showed my back, but in my determination to be confident, I completely forgot how sensitive my back had become.

Tap.

"Hyaaah!?"

"...Hey, if you're going to move like that, cover yourself with the pillow."

...Shit.

* * *

Mahaprajnaparamita Sutra...

...What comes next? I can't remember well, so let's try something else.

The East Sea waters and Mount Baekdu will dry... dry...

Back... It's really thin, and why are the arms so thin too? How does such strength come from this body?

SLAP!!

"Heek!? Wh-what's wrong?"

"...Nothing, it's nothing."

I rubbed my stinging cheek and sighed deeply inside.

Yu Sia, this clueless guy, does he not realize what he looks like?

Of course, it's not Sia's fault, but I wish he had at least some awareness that he now has a woman's body.

If he did...

*We probably couldn't live like this...*

Thinking about it, this was only natural. His body became female, but his mind could only remain male.

A person who lived as a man for 18 years since birth couldn't possibly accept being a woman just because his body changed.

However...

If I consider what the Light Dragon said, maybe treating Sia like a woman is the right thing to do.

—There is flesh and there is mind, not mind and then flesh. The mind follows the body. So take good care of it.

If we're not careful, he might truly be consumed by the "dragon's" body.

In that sense, it might be better for him to accept it as a "woman's" body rather than a dragon's.

—And being drawn to the dragon's body is not strange either. It's natural to be attracted to the perfect form of a dragon in every aspect except efficiency.

I was truly shocked when he said that last part.

At that time, Yu Sia looked like an elementary school student to anyone.

—Hey, Choi Hyun. You're not...

—No, Noona! No, really, I'm not! Hey! Watch what you're saying! Who are you trying to make into a criminal!?

—That's just a figure of speech. If it's hard to accept, use that as self-rationalization. You want to protect your friend too, don't you?

Whether to remain just childhood friends and watch him become a dragon, or to abandon that relationship and treat Yu Sia as a girl.

This question has been tormenting me since the day I spoke with the Light Dragon until now.

*Of course, that's...*

...impossible to decide.

If I choose the former, I might eventually have to kill Yu Sia with my own hands.

If I choose the latter, it's almost like breaking Yu Sia's heart with my own hands.

He's the childhood friend I searched for over 10 years. He's like my only remaining family.

The only friend and family who knows my past.

How could I possibly...

"—Hyun? Choi Hyun!"

"Huh?"

"Um... your hand has been still for a while..."

...Right. This isn't the time to think about that.

I closed my eyes briefly, then opened them and smiled wryly at Yu Sia, who was glaring at me.

"What, are you complaining because I stopped?"

"No... that's not it, it just feels weird with your hand on my back for so long... That area is sensitive..."

"Hey, tell me it's the part where you finished molting that's sensitive. You're making this sound weird."

"Oh, what are you saying! That's not what I meant!"

I chuckled as I watched Yu Sia flap his wings in irritation.

Yes, this is fine for now. This distance is just right.

"Okay, okay. Stay still, it'll be over soon."

"Sigh... Seriously, go out and meet some women. Huh? How long have you gone without meeting women that you're having those thoughts about me?"

"What are you talking about? You'd be the first to get upset if I said I was going to meet someone."

I can still vividly remember how in our first year of high school, he threatened to kill anyone who got a girlfriend before him.

That happened when Tae-Young bragged about dating a girl he met in a game.

*Oh hell no! You!? Really? You're the first to escape being single!? Don't bullshit me!! Even Choi Hyun is single, why are you the first to get a girlfriend!?*

It's still funny thinking about it. He seemed genuinely angry.

Smiling, I lowered my head to remove the remaining scales on Sia's back, and our eyes met as he turned his head toward me.

Since I was close to help him shed his skin, I could see his face very clearly.

The long eyelashes, thin eyebrows, small lips with a hint of moisture, and snow-white skin.

How could all these features fit so perfectly on such a small face?

That thought came naturally—it was an objectively beautiful face.

"Wh-who said I'd get upset! I don't get jealous or anything!?"

With his face and even the tips of his ears bright red, his wide-eyed expression was unmistakably that of an embarrassed "woman."

The fact that such a woman was sitting in front of me without a stitch of clothing made my head spin.

I bit the inside of my cheek to forcibly regain my composure.

"...Well, you know, back in high school, you got angry when other guys escaped being single before you. I just remembered that."

"Ah... y-yeah..."

Yu Sia, unable to finish his sentence properly, quickly turned his head away. The tips of his ears were so flushed they looked hot to the touch.

His long, elf-like ears made it even more noticeable.

—It's natural to be attracted to the perfect form of a dragon in every aspect.

*...Fuck.*

I covered my face with one hand, holding back a sigh.

Whether from concentration or some other reason, my hand was sweaty, which felt unpleasant.