“142.2.”
Mom and I were measuring our heights.
“That’s all you’ve grown? Measure it properly again.”
“It’ll be the same.”
Mom extended the measuring tape again and checked my height.
“Hah. This time it’s 142~”
“No fair. How did my height get shorter? Did you measure me properly?”
“Yep, I did it properly~”
“Ah. I thought I would’ve grown a little more.”
I still had 28 centimeters to go before reaching 170.
Growth plates, please hold on.
“Come here, Doa. Let’s measure your height too.”
Mom beckoned Doa over.
“Okay~”
Doa stood against the wall and had her height measured.
“Doa is 116.2 centimeters. Our baby’s growing so quickly, huh?”
“Yeah, I’m going to grow taller than big sister.”
Her growing taller than me was absolutely unacceptable.
“No, Doa has to stay smaller than big sister forever. I’ll keep doting on you forever, okay?”
“I don’t want to. I’m going to grow.”
“Sniff, sniff, no... You’re already too big.”
Somehow, Doa had grown far too much.
And now I couldn’t even pick her up and hold her anymore.
I hugged Doa and spoke in a sobbing voice.
“Our baby will someday leave big sister’s arms and become a student, won’t she?”
“Yeah. I’ll be eight next year, you know?”
“And what if our baby gets a boyfriend? Big sister’s already sad. Sniff, sniff...”
Mom, who had been listening beside us, spoke up.
“Why is Doa your baby? She’s my baby. Come here, my baby.”
But Doa was still being held by me.
In the end, Mom came over and hugged both Doa and me at the same time.
Suddenly trapped between the two of us, Doa complained about being uncomfortable.
“Ah, let gooo. I can’t breathe.”
“Doa, you can’t get a boyfriend until you’re an adult. And even after you become an adult, you have to get your sister’s permission, okay?”
“Dohui, the same goes for you. You can’t date until you’re an adult either. Even after you become an adult, you need Mom’s permission.”
I let Doa go, stroked my own face, and spoke with a bewitching air.
“Who dares to possess me? No one can have me. I’m far too precious to give to someone else.”
“Oh, dear...”
Then I gazed into the mirror beside us and recited as if intoxicated by my own beauty.
“Mirror, mirror, who is the fairest in the world? Princess Doa. Kekekeke.”
“Doa, close your eyes. That’s gross, gross.”
“Okay.”
Perhaps Mom found me unbearable, because she changed the subject.
“So, school starts next week. Are you ready to go back?”
Ah.
I’ve been dragged back to reality.
“Yeah... I’m going to be in fourth grade now... When will I finally graduate?”
“It’ll come before you know it. You should enjoy this time while it lasts.”
“No... Elementary school is too small to contain an extraordinary talent like me. A larger world is desperately calling for me.”
“Sigh. Go practice the piano. Your competition is coming up soon.”
“I don’t need to practice anymore. The grand prize is obviously mine anyway, so what’s the point?”
Then I covered my mouth with one hand and asked Mom with a shocked expression.
“Oh my, surely not!”
“Surely not what?”
“Surely you’re not saying you don’t know Lee Dohui, the genius beauty who has won the grand prize at eleven consecutive piano competitions?”
“Oh, how shameless. I really wonder whose daughter you are.”
“Heh-heh. Shamelessness backed by talent is confidence and charm, Mom. I hope you’ll recognize your daughter’s charms from now on.”
“If only you could stop talking.”
—Ding-dong—
“The teacher’s here. Go open the door for her.”
“Yes, ma’am~”
I went to the front door, opened it, and ran to hug my teacher.
“Teacher, you’re here?”
“How long are you planning to keep clinging to me, Dohui? You’re still a baby even though you’re getting older.”
“But...! Your maternal love awakens my infant instincts!”
Then I glanced at Mom’s chest beside us.
“Mom has maternal lo—”
“You. Come here.”
As usual, I ran under the bed.
Huh?
My head fit under it, but my body wouldn’t go in.
I ended up stuck beneath the bed with only my head inside.
“Mom, let’s call a truce.”
But without saying a word, Mom grabbed my legs and began pulling.
“Aaah, Mom, wait! My head’s stuck!”
“You need to be punished.”
In the end, she kept pulling until my head came free, then dragged me into the living room by the legs and beat me.
After the punishment ended,
Mom went over to my teacher, who was waiting while holding Doa, and spoke.
“Haha, I’m sorry you had to see such an ugly scene, Teacher. Doa, come here. You must be tired.”
“I’m comfortable here.”
It seemed Doa had realized just how wonderful the teacher’s chest was, too.
She looked like she had no intention of getting off her.
“Not at all, ma’am. I’m actually so jealous of how close you and Dohui are. I wish I had a daughter like Dohui, too.”
“Thank you, even if you’re just saying that. Dohui is such a mischievous child—more so than the boys, honestly. Sigh... If I hadn’t had Doa, I would’ve gone through life thinking all daughters were like that.”
“Haha, that’s better than being timid.”
“That’s true. Doa, come here now. You have to study with your teacher-sister.”
“Okay.”
I went into the room with my teacher and began my lesson.
The one thing I regretted, despite wanting to grow up quickly, was that I could no longer sit on my teacher’s lap, lean against her chest, and have my lessons.
I had gotten too heavy as I grew taller.
“Dohui, have you chosen a piece for the competition?”
“I’m thinking of playing Chopin’s Étude No. 10.”
“You’re good at choosing your own pieces now. I don’t think you need your teacher’s help anymore.”
“Come on, how could I play the piano without you, Teacher?”
“No, you can do perfectly well on your own. More importantly, I don’t think I’ll be able to continue teaching you.”
“What? Why not?”
“I’m getting married to my boyfriend this time...”
“Really...?”
“Yes. Do you think your teacher would lie about something like this? I’m twenty-nine now, so it’s time for me to get married.”
Right. My teacher had a life of her own, too.
At twenty-nine, she should get married...
Even so, I was angry at the man taking my teacher away.
She was the only person I thought I could give myself to.
“Can’t you keep teaching me?”
“Dohui, we promised, remember? We agreed that I’d quit once I got married. And I understand how you feel, but you can’t do that.”
My teacher seemed determined to stop teaching once she got married.
“I’m sorry. Then when are you getting married?”
“In a month and a half, on April 7.”
“At least you’ll finish the competition the week after next before getting married.”
“Yeah. I think it’ll be our last competition together.”
“...”
“Dohui, don’t be too sad. It’s not like we’ll be parting forever, right? We can meet and play whenever you want.”
“Yes...”
“Ah, come here, my Dohui. Let your teacher give you a hug.”
I hugged my teacher and spoke.
“Teacher.”
“Yes?”
“Can I meet the person you’re going to marry before your wedding?”
I had to see for myself what kind of bastard was taking her away.
“Of course. I’ve talked about you so much that he wants to meet you, too.”
“Then when can I meet him?”
“Is tomorrow okay?”
“Yes.”
“I’m going furniture shopping with my future husband tomorrow morning. I can see you in the afternoon.”
After the lesson, Mom and my teacher chatted.
“Oh my, you’re getting married? Congratulations~”
“Haha, thank you. So I think I’ll have to stop tutoring after this competition.”
“It can’t be helped. Dohui must be very disappointed.”
“I’ve already talked to Dohui about it. So I was hoping to spend some time with her tomorrow. Would that be all right?”
“Of course.”
.
.
.
The next day,
I sat in front of the bus stop and waited for my teacher.
I had said I would take the bus to our meeting place myself, but my teacher insisted on coming to pick me up in her car.
A short while later, a black sedan stopped in front of me, and I got in.
“Hello.”
“Oh, look at you. Our Dohui dressed up so prettily today, too.”
“We’re going on a date, so of course I had to dress nicely.”
“Haha, it’s not a date. My future husband is coming, too.”
“...Right. So where is your fiancé? Wasn’t he with you?”
“He said he’d finish choosing the furniture and wait for us at the café.”
“Oh.”
“So what kind of cafés do you like, Dohui?”
“I don’t know much about cafés, so I like them all.”
“The place we’re going is extremely famous.”
We chatted idly, and before I knew it, we had arrived at the café.
When I entered hand in hand with my teacher, I saw a tall, handsome-looking man.
“Honey~”
Urgh...
She called him honey...
My teacher had called someone honey...
“Oh, you’re here? You must be Dohui. You’re just as pretty as I heard~”
I tried to respond kindly, but I couldn’t bring myself to feel anything positive toward him.
“Yes.”
“Hahaha... Shall we order something to drink first? What do you like, Dohui?”
“Anything.”
At my curt reply, my teacher spoke to the thief.
“Dohui likes iced chocolate.”
“I see. Shall I order some cake, too?”
“Yes.”
While the thief went to place the order, I sat down and considered what questions I should ask.
“Dohui, why are you being so prickly today?”
I must have been making it too obvious.
“I’m sorry.”
“No, I know you’re acting this way because you like your teacher. Just try to bear with it a little, okay?”
“Yes.”
The thief came back with our drinks.
That was fast.
With a fake gentlemanly smile, he placed the cake and iced chocolate in front of me.
“Here you go.”
What if my teacher had fallen for that kind of fake behavior?
I was worried.
“Thank you.”
Once the thief sat down, I began my interrogation.
“I heard Dohui has won the grand prize at eleven consecutive piano competitions.”
“Mister.”
“Hm...? Me?”
“Yes, you, mister.”
“Hahaha, am I already a mister? With an eighteen-year age gap, I guess I am.”
He was a cheerful, easygoing man, too?
I couldn’t accept it.
It was one hundred percent an act.
“What do you like about our teacher? Of course, there are countless things, but still.”
“Let’s see... Maybe how kind and considerate she is to everyone?”
I grabbed my teacher’s chest and shouted.
“Don’t lie! I know the real reason—it’s these breasts!”
My teacher’s face reddened in embarrassment and confusion.
“Dohui, what are you doing in public?!”
“I know... I’m bewitched by these breasts, too. If you’d just honestly said it was her chest, I could’ve understood. You hypocrite.”
The thief seemed flustered and didn’t know what to do.
“No, of course that’s one of Yeonji’s good points, too.”
“I knew it. You hypocrite who only cares about appearances.”
“N-no, that’s not...”
“Lee Dohui! What kind of manners are those when you’re speaking to an adult? Your teacher didn’t invite you out so you could behave like this.”
I must have gone off the rails without realizing it.
Okay. Relax...
“Whew. I was being very rude, wasn’t I? I’m sorry, Mister.”
“It’s all right, Dohui. I can tell how much you like our Yeonji.”
It had to be an act.
There was no way anyone could keep smiling after being treated that rudely.
“So, what do you do, Mister?”
“My job? For now, I work as a doctor at a university hospital.”
Damn it.
I’d lost.
There wasn’t a single thing lacking—his looks, his personality, his abilities.
“Please... take good care of our teacher...”
When I suddenly adopted such a deferential attitude, the man seemed flustered as well.
“Uh... sure.”
I had been defeated, man to man.
“Haa...”
Drained of energy, I collapsed onto the soft café chair and closed my eyes.
‘Today, more than ever, I hate that I was born a girl.’
“Excuse me, hello.”
I opened my eyes at the voice directed toward me and saw an unfamiliar man staring at me.
“Me?”
‘What the hell, is he a lolicon?’