Chapter 3

“Hmn…”

My head hurts…

And what is this ringing sound on my ear? It’s so noisy that I can’t go back to sleep…

But shortly after, the ringing died down. I scratched my head and tossed around the bed. Then I pulled the sheets to cover my whole body.

I strangely feel cold today… but it feels nice to sleep.

So, sleep, I did.

[‘You’ve missed a call from…’]

Hmn? What’s that?

[‘You’ve missed a call from Mr…’]

Why is my phone so noisy? At least let me sleep peacefully… my head hurts, you know? I feel like vomiting.

But the phone had no considerations as it started ringing again. This time, the sound lasted so long that it finally annoyed me.

I forced myself up as I stretch my arm to reach my phone which was supposed to be on my bedside table. The sudden movement made my head throb in pain, resulting in my bad mood.

As soon as I grabbed my phone, I immediately laid back down and went under covers.

Without lifting my eyelids, I swiped the phone and placed it on my ear. I was just about to lazily tell the person to quit calling when suddenly…

“Ms. George, what time do you think is it?”

A cold voice floated over making me open my eyes in shock.

I immediately swiped the screen once more, successfully ending the call. My heart was racing so much that I felt like my brain is also beating. The throbbing won’t stop, but I forced myself up.

With one glance on my phone screen, I saw the time.

6:32. I’m late for my work.

“Fudge…”

What can I do? I can only force myself up and go to work even if I’m already half an hour late.

It’s better to be late than never, right? If I don’t go there any minute now, then my work would definitely end in vain.

I will lose my position and job without even having the chance to beg for a second chance.

My boss isn’t someone who would just forgive tardiness… and even yesterday, I already have the feeling that he’ll fire me.

It’s all because of that lady. I wouldn’t start drifting with my thoughts if she didn’t come in my office. I wouldn’t have entered a trance in front of my boss if I wasn’t thinking about how to get rid of them.

It’s all her fault!

But I have to admit that this headache I’m currently having is all my fault.

I never meant to drink so much, but I can’t help it. I was just so anxious. I don’t want to get fired, but if my boss says so, then I can’t do anything.

That’s why I decided to enter work earlier today. But it was all in vain.

This headache is killing me.

To start, I first have to hurry up and get ready. At least I have to show my face on my last day to say goodbye to my office and to my friends, especially Phoebe. I just hope they don’t get fired like me because they took undertime yesterday to celebrate my first anniversary.

If they get fired because of that, the guilt would haunt me for the rest of my life.

I was supposed to get out of bed, but what is this?

I can’t reach the floor?

“Hmn?” to make sure I was inside my room, I tilted my head and scanned the place.

Yes, I was in my room. But for some reason, my room felt unusually big. Even my bed.

I peeked my head towards the floor, and I saw that it was also unusually higher than before. As far as I remember, I can just easily step my foot on the floor before, but now… it seems impossible.

And what’s this? Whose leg is this?

It’s so thin and small that I almost didn’t recognize it was a leg. I followed the root of the leg with my eyes, and realized something so absurd.

“No way…” I mumbled.

This can’t be possible…

I lifted my hands and placed it in front of me. And that’s when I realize that…

“Where’s my boobs?!”

Wait! This can’t be happening!

I knew my chest wasn’t that big and bouncy, but I still have them! Even though they just look like humps, it’s still considered as boobs! But it’s all gone now!

Who took it?!

But wait, can boobs be taken?

Ah, my head hurts so much that I can’t think straight.

First, we need to calm down. Calm own, Tiffany, and then think. What could’ve possibly happened that made you lose your chest? But then, I noticed something else.

My body… my whole body had shrunk?! And not only that… I even grew something not normal!

What, is this some kind of experimental drug that makes people shrink like what I saw in anime?! Will people in black also come and hunt me?! Oh my gosh, if that happens I’d be dead in an instant!

Or is it the kind of drugs that makes people transform?! Either of the two, there’s only one solution in mind…

I need to hide!

And hide, I did.

But days had passed and I still hadn’t gone back to my original state.

Every morning, I’d stand up and run to the mirror just to see whether there’s some changes or not. But even today, as I stare at the mirror, it was still the same.

All that I see is my five-year-old self, just with different hair color and… and…

Ears and tail.

When I look at the mirror like this, all I can see is my mystical ears and tail. I look like a cosplayer, but believe it or not, this is actually real.

My ears looked like that of a fox, and my tail too.

My hair turned gray, matching the color of my eyes. Even the ears and tail that I’ve grown was of the same color. I don’t know if I’m dreaming or not, but several days had already passed.

My phone kept ringing too. But strangely enough, I never received a message of dismissal from the company. It was lucky of me.

Does that mean I’m not fired yet?

But in my condition right now, I think it’s better to be fired. I can’t walk around looking like this. And who would believe that the 25-year-old Tiffany George turned into a five-year-old kid with ears and tail?

Only crazy people would believe me.

But you see, when people think that they’ve been lucky, fate just really have to crush their morale. Because right after the ringing of my phone, a text came.

[‘You received a message from Mr. CEO.’]

This is it. I can feel the dismissal letter in his message.

But just to be sure, I picked up my phone and read it. But what was written on the message was more heartbreaking than an expulsion letter.

[‘If you don’t come today as well, pay me 1 million for breaching the employment contract. Have a good day.’]

That last line wasn’t even funny!

And because of that message, here I am… standing in front of the huge company, wearing my hoodie.

This is my jacket. It was already big for me even on my normal appearance, but now it looked like a gown. But this is the only cloth I have that could hide my ears and tail at the same time. I have no luxury to complain, so I just made some modification so that I wouldn’t look like a crazy kid.

I even just walked here. The cabs won’t let me ride because they say I’m still too young to run away from home. Of course, they didn’t know that I’m actually an adult.

But it doesn’t matter anymore. I made it here, alive and kicking. Now all I have to do is cross the road.

My heart raced upon looking at the wide road that I have to cross. There is a pedestrian lane, but I don’t know why I’m nervous. Maybe it’s because the size of the road is doubled in my eyes?

Before, I would just cross this naturally, but now… I can’t even lift my feet. My leg is so short that I’m afraid the cars wouldn’t see me passing and just suddenly run through me.

I don’t want to die… especially while having this weird ears and tail. I don’t want to die.

And it’s on that moment that…

“Hey, you crossing?”

I heard that familiar voice.

I turned to look at that person, and there, I saw her smiling face.

“Phoebe…”