Transmigrated as the Side Top used as an Emotional Trash Can

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READ ONLY AT VANISHINTOFICTION.COM

“So, you came instead of Baek Hanrim?”

Kim Jihwan narrowed his eyes and looked me up and down.

I shrank under his gaze. Fortunately, I still had clothes from when I was young in my closet, so I had hurriedly thrown some on, but I would be in serious trouble if Kim Jihwan happened to remember them.

“Is he out of his mind? He sent a little kid like this here alone?”

“You said you’re Hanrim’s younger cousin, right? Come in.”

Leaving Kim Jihwan behind as he criticized a version of me who wasn’t even there, Cha Gwonhyeok smiled and ushered me into the house. He welcomed me by setting a pair of huge slippers in front of my now-small feet, and he seemed even happier to see me than when I came in my original body.

I put on the slippers and bowed my head with a polite thank-you.

“Come to think of it, this is the first time I’ve seen one of Baek Hanrim’s cousins.”

That made sense, since both Kim Jihwan’s parents and Baek Hanrim’s parents weren’t on good terms with their relatives. Maybe that common ground was also part of why our families had quickly grown close as neighbors.

“What’s your name?”

“Baek Ha… ah, neul, Baek Haneul.”

I made up the name of a nonexistent person on the spot while wondering if I should act like an innocent, cute little kid.

The best thing about reaching the 180-centimeter range had been that people no longer saw me as cute, so this was seriously troublesome.

“Your parents suddenly collapsed? You’re holding up well, not even crying.”

My current story was that Baek Hanrim couldn’t make it because Haneul’s parents had suddenly collapsed, so Haneul had come in his place.

“I’m going home. What are we supposed to do by ourselves when the organizer isn’t even here.”

“Hyung!”

I clung to Kim Jihwan’s waist as he started walking away.

It already felt awkward and strange having to look up at a guy who was normally shorter than me, and being not even 120 centimeters tall made it hard to move around. My legs are short. And slow.

“Hanrim-hyung told me I had to make sure I saw you eat the cake before I came back.”

I appealed to Kim Jihwan as I showed him the cake box I had carefully carried here in my arms.

With my original build, I could have easily carried it in one hand, but now that my body was smaller, even that was inconvenient. My arms had gone numb from struggling to carry it all the way here with both arms. With these stubby little legs, just keeping my balance so I didn’t fall was difficult. It was a miracle I had even made it here.

“He probably bought another one for me to eat with my family tonight anyway.”

“S-Still, he said to celebrate with you… and that he was sorry….”

Right, the real reason I had taken the risk and dragged this child-sized body all the way here.

I felt so guilty toward Kim Jihwan right now that I didn’t know what to do with myself. I felt terrible for breaking the unspoken promise between just the two of us.

The guilt in one corner of my heart had driven me out of the house, insisting that I celebrate his birthday somehow.

“You really look like Hanrim.”

“Huh?”

While I was clinging to Kim Jihwan, my body suddenly lifted right off the ground and my view rose.

“If Hanrim were a woman, would he have a kid like this someday?”

Cha Gwonhyeok lifted me into his arms and brought me eye level with him. Cha Gwonhyeok’s relaxed expression, which I hadn’t seen in a long time, filled my vision.

“Hey, put him down. We need to take him home.”

At the sight, Kim Jihwan approached like he was ready to storm straight out of Cha Gwonhyeok’s house.

I quickly threw my arms around Cha Gwonhyeok’s neck and pleaded.

“Hyung, I don’t want to go. Let’s have the birthday party….”

As if he were enjoying the situation, Cha Gwonhyeok rubbed his cheek back and forth against the top of my head and spun around with me.

“Want to just hang out with Hyung, just the two of us? We can send Jihwan-hyung away.”

“What are you doing to someone else’s kid, you crazy bas….”

Kim Jihwan was about to swear out of habit, then suddenly stopped himself. He was probably watching himself because there was a little kid around.

“Haneul, why are you wearing socks this big?”

Cha Gwonhyeok ignored him and carried me toward the living room, fiddling with the loose fabric of my oversized socks and my toes.

I couldn’t honestly say I had thrown them on in a hurry because I didn’t have any children’s socks at home, right? I’d have to make something up.

“I slept at Hanrim-hyung’s house last night. I didn’t bring socks, so… Hh, hic, ha…!”

He went from fiddling with my feet to suddenly tickling them.

Seriously, does he want to torment a little kid this badly?

“Hehehe, ha! Hyyung! Aah!”

“Haha, you’re cute-.”

Cha Gwonhyeok eventually laid me down on the sofa and started tickling me in earnest. Completely helpless against him, my face flushed red, and all I could do was laugh.

“Hahaha! Hahk, hic, hiiik, huuu…!”

“Cha Gwonhyeok! You psycho… Ugh, anyway, stop it! He can’t even breathe!”

Kim Jihwan stopped him just before I could throw up the soy sauce egg rice I had eaten that morning, and I barely managed to recover.

“Okay, okay, here, Haneul, let’s sit down-.”

“…I wanna sit on the sofa, not on your lap, Hyung.”

I had managed to recover, but I still hadn’t escaped Cha Gwonhyeok’s arms.

Cha Gwonhyeok hugged me close, rubbed his cheek against my head, held my fingers and made my hands open and close like a baby’s, and generally treated me like a beloved stuffed toy.

“Haneul’s so well-behaved and cute.”

Cha Gwonhyeok murmured as he played with my hair.

I wanted to object. This wasn’t me being well-behaved. I was simply in no position to resist. But I kept my mouth shut, thinking that saying that would only make me sound like a child.