CH 4.2

Kwon-woo shook his head in embarrassment. “I have no idea. I don’t have any powers of magic or martial arts, and you probably don’t either. We didn’t eat anything bad and there was nothing out of the ordinary. There wasn’t the slightest sign of anything like this when we were working in your room.”

“You’re right. Though… us kissing was something out of the ordinary,” Kwon-woo said as his eyes met hers.

“Do you think that’s why?” Se-ha asked. “The kiss?”

“It’s a possibility,” Kwon-woo said. “The act of kissing in the East and West is symbolic.”

“There’s also the fairy tale in which a frog kisses a princess and his body changes,” Se-ha added. “Although it was not the princess’s body that he changed with. Anyway, there are a lot of fairy tales like it. I once read a ghost story telling you to be careful because kissing a doll will change your soul.”

“So if we do it again… we might go back to normal.”

Se-ha considered this for a moment before nodding in agreement. Kwon-woo slowly approached her, standing in front of the mirror with his hands wrapped around her.

This was how I looked? Se-ha asked herself, gazing at the figure in front of her. She couldn’t help but feel a sense of discomfort and strangeness as she looked down at her face. It seemed to be bothering Kwon-woo as well, as he furrowed his brows in frustration.

“Having to kiss my own face is the worst,” he muttered.

“I agree,” Se-ha replied, feeling a mix of disgust and amusement at the situation.

Despite their reservations, they both knew that they had to try again. Kwon-woo stood on his tiptoes and pressed his lips against Se-ha’s, slipping his tongue inside her mouth.

When their lips touched, Se-ha felt a tightness in her stomach and a heavy sensation running down her spine. She shuddered with a sharp pain that seemed to come from deep within her body.

The pleasure she felt through Kwon-woo’s body differed from anything she had experienced. It was as if a heavy weight was rising inside her, filling her with an unfamiliar sensation. Was this what it felt like for all men?

When Kwon-woo broke the kiss, they both gasped for breath, looking at each other in confusion.

“Nothing’s changed,” Se-ha said, her voice filled with disappointment.

Despite the intensity of the kiss, they were still in the same bodies they had always been in. Se-ha couldn’t help but stare at her body in confusion, even though it was one that she had seen every day. It was so unfamiliar and new now that it had become hers.

Wait…

—I want to make that man mine.

—You can make that man yours…

Se-ha’s mind was racing as she remembered something that had been forgotten for a while. She took a deep breath and looked in the mirror, seeing Kwon-woo’s face staring back at her. She clenched and opened the large hand, testing whether the body responded to her will.

Meanwhile, Kwon-woo, who had no idea what she was thinking, frowned as he touched his damp body. He reached for Se-ha’s jacket on the ground to cover himself up. That was when Se-ha remembered the object in the jacket pocket.

“Wait!” she exclaimed, running over to Kwon-woo and taking the jacket from him. Surprised at her sudden movement, Kwon-woo let the jacket go and sat blankly. Se-ha opened the lid and saw a strange light emanating from the lipstick’s red body.

“It’s this lipstick,” she said. “The person said that if you put this on…”

—There is someone you want so desperately that he visits you in your dreams, huh? I’ll grant you a wish in return for the favor. Put on this lipstick and kiss him. You can make him yours.

She didn’t believe it for a second, but even if it was true, she thought she could steal the heart of the person she kissed. She didn’t think ‘You can make him yours’ meant he would be hers literally.

But if you really thought about it, maybe… This was it…

Se-ha clenched the lipstick in her hand. A sense of exaltation washed over her. Her perspective widened, and she could hear her heartbeat loud in her ears.

Yes, what I wanted…

What I wanted wasn’t love in the first place.

“Is that the key to putting things right?” Kwon-woo asked, eyeing the lipstick in Se-ha’s hand.

“I’m sure,” Se-ha replied, her voice filled with conviction.

“No wonder,” Kwon-woo said, a thoughtful expression on his face. “To be honest, when you came out wearing that lipstick, I couldn’t take my eyes off of it. It was strange. There was an odd scent that made me dizzy, and I was suddenly attracted to you like crazy. That’s why I told you not to like me. To push you away, although I didn’t mean to…”

Kwon-woo reached for the lipstick, convinced it was the key to fixing their situation. “I understand if there is a spell or some sort of magic in that lipstick. Then if I put this on and kiss you, we can go back to normal…”

But Se-ha slapped his hand away and clutched the lipstick like a lifeline. Kwon-woo couldn’t understand her actions.

“What are you doing?” he asked, a confused expression on his face.

Se-ha stepped back and clutched the lipstick even tighter, as if it were a lifeline. Kwon-woo’s body was a new world, completely different from Se-ha’s. He had the power to get everything he wanted—appearance, wealth, and connections. Above all, he had the bloodline and potential to reach the goal Se-ha could never achieve alone. Se-ha couldn’t help but feel a surge of strength and determination as she realized this.

“I,” she began. That’s right; she wanted him. Her sincere wish had finally come true. To punish the sinned and get what was mine. With a wicked grin, Se-ha watched as her face twisted in shock. 

“Why should I change?” she asked. “This body is mine now.”