It was a silver necklace.
Perhaps it wasn’t just silver in color but genuinely made of silver.
What was certain was that it didn’t look cheap at all.
At first glance, it seemed like a thin silver thread. But upon closer inspection, that delicate thread was actually a collection of long hexagonal prisms, cut into equal lengths.
Small rectangular pillars of the same size were lined up, converging at the center of the necklace.
Maybe that’s why the center sparkled every time it caught the light.
It was beautiful.
Well, to be honest, I couldn’t completely trust my eyes. Just a few months ago, I had been living as a man, and I never imagined I’d receive an accessory like this as a gift.
In fantasy games, necklaces worn around the neck often had specific effects or enhanced physical abilities. But in the fantasy world I ended up in, called Irelléxia, such things didn’t exist. It wasn’t impossible to make necklaces or rings imbued with magic, but using magic stones in such items was far less efficient than embedding them directly into armor.
Because of that, even in Irelléxia, I never felt the need to wear necklaces or rings. On the contrary, they would likely have been a hindrance during battle.
Granted, even if I had thought the necklaces or rings in Irelléxia were pretty, their aesthetic sense would probably differ from that of this world.
Jewelry there was often excessively ornate. It might be suitable for a ball, but it would be impractical for everyday life.
Given all that, my impression of this necklace could only be summed up as “pretty.”
“It’s beautiful…”
As I gazed at the necklace in my hand and spoke, my sister let out a small sigh. Was it a sigh of relief?
Well, it was the first gift I’d received from her since returning to this world. Moreover, to her, I was someone she had only known for two months. Whatever gift she chose, she must have been worried.
Whether it was something I liked or disliked, my sister was just beginning to learn about me.
“Is that so?”
At my response, she gave a slight smile. However, her expression still betrayed a hint of unease.
Somehow, I felt like I understood why she looked that way.
And because of that, I decided not to ask why she had chosen to give me this gift.
“I’ll make good use of it.”
Perhaps she was thinking of the old me when she looked at me.
Even though the past me was still me, to her, I was different from Chasi hyun of the past.
Even though she knew that I didn’t share the same birthday as the old Chasi hyun, she probably just wanted to do this for me.
The thought made my heart race.
The idea that I was gradually replacing the old me, and at the same time, the fact that she hadn’t forgotten me.
And along with that, a sense of guilt and sorrow toward her.
But at the same time, this gift wasn’t for the past me—it was for the present me.
After all, my sister wouldn’t have given a silver necklace to the old me.
Seeing her smile at my response, I decided to try wearing the necklace right then and there.
I had to hook the clasp on one end to the other end of the necklace, but it turned out to be harder than I thought. Maybe it was because it was my first time trying something like this.
As I struggled with it for a moment, my sister approached me.
“Let me help.”
At those words, my fumbling hands froze in midair.
Without waiting for my answer, she moved closer to me, and I didn’t bother to stop her.
Instead, I slowly turned my back to her.
Her hands, now behind me, covered mine. For a moment, our fingers overlapped.
After I pulled my fingers away, my sister was holding the necklace.
For some reason, my face felt hot.
My heart was pounding even harder than before.
Her shallow breaths brushed against the back of my neck. Did she just let out a small sigh?
The sensation of someone watching me from a place I couldn’t see felt a little strange.
I know well that a gaze is something you can’t feel with your skin. Eyes don’t emit light; they merely reflect it.
But still, when I’m standing with my back turned like this, that sensation of feeling a gaze it’s just an illusion.
Even so, putting aside whether it was an illusion or not, right now, my sister was definitely looking at my back.
I made sure to go to the hair salon regularly.
I didn’t dress up every day like a woman might, but at least I didn’t want to look strange to the sister who saw me daily.
Probably, the hair on the back of my neck was neatly trimmed.
I washed behind my ears cleanly every day. After running in the morning and sweating, I made sure to shampoo my hair properly.
There was no reason for my sister to grow tired of looking at the back of my head.
But even knowing all this, the moment I actually showed her my back, I became incredibly self-conscious.
What if there was something I couldn’t see or notice about myself?
What if my hair was sticking up awkwardly today, and I hadn’t noticed?
What if the ponytail I tied up in the morning had shifted completely to one side and looked weird?
These thoughts rushed in like a flood, but since I had already shown her my back, there was no taking it back now.
All I could do was try not to flinch every time her hand accidentally brushed against the back of my neck.
“All done.”
The time that had felt so long probably hadn’t even been a full minute in reality.
But hearing her say that, I exhaled as if I had been holding my breath underwater for three minutes.
Thankfully, I wasn’t dizzy or anything.
Before turning to face her, I fiddled unnecessarily with the necklace hanging around my neck.
The once-cold necklace had already warmed from sitting against my skin for quite some time.
My fingertips felt a small cube-like charm.
If you weren’t paying close attention or even if you were you wouldn’t be able to tell the necklace’s exact shape just by touching it. Only because I’d already seen it up close could I guess its design.
After taking a short breath, I turned to face my sister.
I let go of the necklace in my hand, letting it dangle around my neck.
Since the necklace wasn’t particularly long, it settled right around my collarbone.
“How does it look?”
Even though I hadn’t changed my clothes, I awkwardly raised both hands slightly, then lowered them again, feeling embarrassed.
Watching me, my sister let out a soft laugh.
She gazed at me for a moment, her eyes moving between my face and my neck a few times.
After a brief moment of embarrassment passed, she smiled warmly and said,
“It suits you well.”
“……”
Hearing those words made me feel unbearably shy.
“I think anything would’ve suited you, though.”
“Oh, come on.”
When she added a compliment, I waved my hand dismissively.
“Not everything can look good on me.”
“No, I really think it could.”
At my response, she smiled as she spoke.
And then, once again, she quietly looked at me for a while.
At first, her smile made me happy.
To her, my past self and who I am now were two different people. But to me, whether it was the me from back then or the me now, I was always the same.
It didn’t matter which version of me she liked.
Of course, I never thought this relationship would last forever.
After all, to her, I was just a junior colleague at work. Nothing more.
I couldn’t be someone she loved.
Not simply because we were the same gender—
but because she hadn’t forgotten my past self.
Whether she thought of me as a man, or if she simply couldn’t forget me because she saw me as family, I wasn’t sure.
But if she could let go of that past, she would surely find a new love.
Maybe that love would help her move on from the past.
That’s why I was satisfied with just watching her from nearby.
But her gaze wasn’t as easily diverted.
Her eyes lingered on me longer and longer.
And soon, her smiling face began to falter—just a little, but noticeably so.
“…Unnie…?”
When I called her like that, it seemed to be the tipping point.
In the end, tears welled up in her eyes.
“Ah.”
Realizing a beat too late that she was crying, she hurriedly wiped her tears with her hands.
But the tears kept flowing.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”
I wasn’t sure what she was apologizing for, but she kept repeating it, rubbing her eyes with her hands.
I didn’t know what to say to her. I kept raising my hand and putting it back down in confusion.
What do I do?
Her stifled sobs, the sound of her trying to hold back, echoed, and eventually, she broke down completely.
I didn’t know how to handle her like this.
Should I hug her? Should I pat her back or comfort her somehow?
Would that be okay—
No, that’s not the point.
What am I even thinking right now?
She’s crying.
Of course, I should comfort her.
She’s the one who was always there for me whenever I felt lonely or afraid.
Even if she doesn’t see me as me, to me, she’s always been my Unnie.
So, when she’s struggling, I have to be there for her.
I knelt down slowly in front of her.
And carefully, I pulled her into an embrace.
She sobbed quietly in my arms for a while.