A studio apartment just the right size for one person.
The sun rising outside the window lit up the room. A home furnished with only the necessities. Amid furniture in muted tones that made the atmosphere even quieter, blue hair moved busily about.
“Seriously, this is insane.”
Her school uniform skirt fluttered with each hurried step.
“I set so many alarms!”
The girl in the white dress shirt had a blazer in her hand.
As she put on the blazer while moving, her feet slipped to a stop. She was standing in front of the full-length mirror she had received as a housewarming gift when she moved in.
“I put it on right... didn’t I?”
Perhaps uncomfortable with the silence hanging in the air, the schoolgirl muttered to herself.
Finally escaping the bustle, the girl straightened her clothes. Still awkward, one hand needlessly tugged the hem of her skirt down, while the other smoothed her hair.
“It feels like it’s been over a month... but I still can’t get used to it.”
The first thing she noticed was the change in her eye level. Realizing that even standing slightly on tiptoe wouldn’t be enough, the girl lowered her heels with a small sigh.
Blue hair and eyes that brought the sky to mind. A tiny face so small one wondered if eyes, nose, and mouth could all fit on it. Looks that would rank near the top even in her not-so-long life.
Everything about this new “me” was unfamiliar. And yet the reflection beyond the mirror still felt distant.
At the sound of her smartphone, the schoolgirl turned her head. It wasn’t an alarm, but a ringtone. She hurriedly answered the call and explained her situation, then let out another sigh. This one was a little longer.
Before leaving, the schoolgirl picked up her empty bag and, one last time, met her own eyes in the mirror.
“Ha...”
Her mouth, about to say her original name, faltered. After a brief pause, the schoolgirl spoke her still-unfamiliar new name aloud.
“Ha Yeoncheong... It’s just a school where people around the same age go anyway. Don’t be nervous.”
Lightly slapping both cheeks a couple of times with her hands, Ha Yeoncheong left the apartment.
One month into being a girl, Ha Yeoncheong was now on her first day as a high school girl.