My jeans shouldn't be purple

The two men wait outside the car while Chang Seol gets dressed inside the car. They hear the sound of her head bumping, her soft whimper, and ruffling of clothes, and then, there's another bump.

"Don't do it so fast." Sin Jeong-Hyuk, who is feeling bitter and resentful for some reason, snaps, "Your IQ is already low. I don't want it to drop lower after receiving continuous concussions."

Instant silence!

"You are weird." No Shi Won narrows his eyes on Sin Jeong-Hyuk, scanning him from his head to toe. "A normal person would run in the other direction after seeing two giant beasts."

Sin Jeong-Hyuk thinks about the moment he saw the bird and the serpent. This is inexplicable by science but he has seen it happening before his eyes. The bird is Chang Seol for sure. The serpent must be No Shi Won.

So, her parents wanted her to marry a man who could turn into a giant serpent.

He takes a deep breath. Chang Seol's parents are strange. Who would arrange a marriage between their daughter and a serpent? Even if Chang Seol can turn into a giant bird… He releases his breath again. Why is she a chicken headed dragon? It doesn't make sense. Either she should be a dragon or a chicken. She can't be both.

"I am done." Chang Seol's voice comes from the car. "Come in!"

"Thank goodness!" Sin Jeong-Hyuk pulls the car door and gets in before No Shi Won could. He takes a seat beside Chang Seol who is fully dressed in the same clothes that she was wearing when she left the share-house.

There's a separation wall between the driver's seat and the back seat. Sin Jeong-Hyuk hears the sound of the car door opening and someone sitting on the driver's seat.

In the following moment, No Shi Won enters and takes a seat opposite them. The car accelerates toward the city.

Sin Jeong-Hyuk waits for someone to speak first.

"So," Chang Seol begins with a quiet and calm voice. Her eyes are fixated on No Shi Won. "Why did I turn into that bird thing?"

"It's a cockatrice," No Shi Won tells her, "and why? Didn't I tell you that you are a shapeshifter?"

"Can't you explain more?" Chang Seol frowns at him. "What the hell is a shapeshifter?"

Chang Seol has no idea what a shapeshifter is. The inner corners of Sin Jeong-Hyuk's eyes tremble for a moment. He leans back and looks toward the window, watching the barren lands pass by the car.

"There are many theories." No Shi Won explains, "In simple terms, a shapeshifter is who can change into one form to another. It can be a human who can become a wolf or a wolf who can become human."

"Isn't it the same?" Chang Seol creases her forehead. "Human to wolf or wolf to human?"

"It's not." No Shi Won shakes his head solemnly. "For a wolf, a human is a strange species. Someone who is a wolf from birth won't be able to understand the ways of humans even if he turns into one. It will take a long time for his brain to start working as a human. Think of the time when you turned into a cockatrice."

After a pause, No Shi Won looks at her intently. "Did your mind also change? Perhaps, a little. Your senses were heightened. You started seeing the world differently. When you turn back into a human, it won't be the same. You might have high hearing or a high sense of smell but it will never be the same."

She blinks her eyes several times. Her voice is hesitant and confused. "Actually, it's the same."

"I know that it wouldn't be the same." No Shi Won stops talking and stares hard at her. "What did you say?"

"I see more colours." Chang Seol tells him slowly, "Patches of extra colours are everywhere. What should be brown isn't brown anymore. Certain objects are the same but…" She looks down at her clothes. "My jeans shouldn't be purple."

Sin Jeong-Hyuk studies her in silence, absorbing her words gradually.

"That's not all." Chang Seol knits her brows. "I see colours around people. When someone speaks, it's brighter."

"What do you mean?" No Shi Won questions her, confused.

Chang Seol turns her gaze to him. She has expected it to be over but it's happening again. There are vibrant colours around No Shi Won -- drops of a bright yellow, dark shade of green that is the same shade as his serpent skin, and traces of red in the jelly-like bubble around him. It looks like it would pop if someone touches it. But…

She gazes at Sin Jeong-Hyuk. The bubble around him is different. He has a white aura around him with patches of ultraviolet. It's only two colours. She has been close to Mister. The bubble doesn't go away even if she touches it.

"I need to talk to my grandfather about this," says No Shi Won in a wavering tone. "I didn't hear about this ability. I know about synesthesia: a condition that lets humans associate colours with sound but I have never heard of a shapeshifter getting synesthesia."

"If it's synesthesia." Sin Jeong-Hyuk interrupts No Shi Won, "It could be something else."

"That's true." No Shi Won leans forward, interested to hear more. "Do you feel or hear differently?"

"It's louder for sure," Chang Seol replies in a low tone. "I understand that you and I are shape-shifters. I am guessing that our engagement wasn't about a promise and a bet. Tell me everything that you know."