Though paralyzed, still radiantly charming! - Chapter 341: Am I still dreaming?

Chapter 341: Am I still dreaming?

Scarlett, where are you?

What’s going on…?

Still basking in the sweet afterglow of making love with Scarlett, Ethan suddenly found himself plunged into a void of darkness. His hazy consciousness was the first to raise the question.

But before he could even begin to ponder it, a bone-chilling cold yanked him out of the void and back into reality.

“Damn, it’s freezing.”

The first thing Ethan noticed as he slowly woke up was the cold, which instinctively made him reach out, fumbling for a blanket to warm himself.

But something felt off.

His fingertips, his body—everything was telling him one thing: he wasn’t in bed anymore.

Did I fall off the bed in my sleep?

But is my sleeping posture really that bad?

Confused, Ethan opened his eyes.

And in that moment, what he saw left him completely stunned.

Because instead of the familiar ceiling of his room, he was staring at a completely unfamiliar space.

“What the…???”

Ethan blinked, bewildered, as he took in the cramped, dimly lit, enclosed space he was lying in.

Is this… a closet?

Okay, so he wasn’t in bed. Hell, he wasn’t even in his own house. After all, his place didn’t even have a closet like this.

Am I still dreaming?

The next second, Ethan shut his eyes, but quickly opened them again.

Because everything he was feeling told him this wasn’t a dream. This was real.

As his mind cleared, his awareness of his body sharpened, and soon, he felt a strong sense of something being… off.

His chest felt heavy, and down below… empty.

Ethan, dazed, lifted his hand and stared at his palm.

It was a slender, pale hand. A hand that clearly belonged to a girl.

The cold, hard reality hit him like a truck.

I’ve turned into a girl?

My dick is gone!!!

Now, most people in this situation might freak out, panic, or maybe even get excited.

But Ethan could only rationally assess everything around him. The room looked like it belonged to a high schooler.

“Wait… did I just… time travel?”

Ethan muttered to himself, and the voice that came out of his throat was a clear, sweet, feminine voice.

That voice startled him into sitting up straight in the closet, his eyes darting around to take in his surroundings.

It was a pretty messy closet, with rock band posters plastered all over the walls. A guitar rested on a shelf, and a pink laptop lay on the floor nearby.

Looking at all this, Ethan couldn’t help but mumble to himself.

“Why does this all seem so familiar…?”

As he thought about it, he noticed an iPhone lying on the floor next to him.

Picking it up, he caught a glimpse of his reflection in the screen.

Long pink hair, slightly messy and falling into his eyes, and a face that was all too familiar.

“Lila Harper?”

Ethan was stunned as he recognized the body he was in, but then it all started to make sense.

No wonder everything felt familiar—this closet belonged to Lila Harper.

In a way, did I just meet my idol?

Ethan couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought. After all, he used to be a fan of Lila Harper.

He reached up and pinched his cheek. The sensation was undeniably real. But why had he turned into her?

At that moment, he glanced back at the phone screen—not at his reflection this time, but at something else that appeared as he stared. A countdown, visible only to him, appeared on the dark screen.

83:67:25

This made Ethan reconsider his earlier conclusion about time travel. The countdown hadn’t ended yet.

He paused for a moment, then, to test a theory, he used the fingerprint scanner to unlock the iPhone. He quickly typed a specific URL into the browser, which brought up a dark login screen. After entering his credentials, the page loaded into several video feeds.

The feeds showed different rooms: a bedroom, a kitchen, a balcony, and an entryway—various still images of his house.

That’s right. It was his home security system.

Ethan clicked on the living room feed and saw a familiar figure crouched in the corner, looking panicked and unsure of what to do.

There was no doubt about it—the person on the screen was his original body.

“So, we really did swap bodies. And it’s my high school body, too.”

He could tell right away that the soul inside his body had to be Lila’s. That anxious, socially awkward vibe wasn’t something just anyone could pull off.

Watching this completely different version of himself on the screen, Ethan felt a mix of curiosity and unease.

Even though he had confirmed the situation, he still didn’t know why it had happened.

He’d checked the news recently—there were no reports of comets passing by Earth.

Could this be that so-called Puberty Syndrome?

Ethan thought back to the urban legends that had been circulating in the city in recent years—strange phenomena that supposedly happened to teenagers going through puberty.

He’d seen something like it before, so he didn’t doubt its existence. After all, the famous Kristen Stewart had gone to their school.

But the problem was, he and Lila Harper had never crossed paths before. In fact, until this moment, he hadn’t even known she existed.

Could Puberty Syndrome happen between two complete strangers?

Ethan wasn’t an expert on the subject, so he couldn’t come to any conclusions.

But regardless, the fact remained that he and Lila had swapped bodies, and he needed to figure out a way to deal with it. Otherwise, the problems that would follow were all too predictable.

So, the next second, Ethan activated the microphone feature on the security system and called out to Lila.

“Hey, you okay?”

He watched as his body on the screen nearly jumped out of its skin at the sudden voice. Lila frantically looked around, but couldn’t find the source of the sound, which only made her more terrified. She crouched down, trembling, muttering to herself.

“Go away, evil spirit… go away, evil spirit… go away, evil spirit…”

Her reaction was so amusing that Ethan had to stifle a laugh. He was tempted to mess with her a little, but he held back, knowing there were more important things to focus on. Instead, he spoke again, trying to calm her down.

“I’m not a ghost! I’m right here. Look up, look up—yeah, over to the left. See that camera?”

Lila followed his instructions and spotted the camera. Her face instantly turned even paler, and her voice trembled.

“The… the camera is talking…”

Has she never seen a camera with a microphone before? Ethan thought, rolling his eyes. He quickly explained, “It’s not the camera talking. It’s the person behind the camera. I’m using it to talk to you!”

Finally, Lila seemed to grasp the situation. And, following the “open window” theory, once she realized it wasn’t a ghost but a person, she calmed down a little. Even with her social anxiety, this was easier to handle. She cautiously asked, “Wh-who are you?”

“You’re in my house right now,” Ethan explained in the gentlest tone he could manage, trying not to scare her. “And haven’t you noticed? Doesn’t my voice sound familiar to you?”

“Huh?”

With that hint, Lila finally started to piece things together. Her expression shifted to one of utter shock.

“Ethan Jones?!”

“Bingo.” Ethan confirmed her guess. “I’m you.”

“How… how is this… this can’t be real.”

The surreal situation threw Lila into a state of confusion. She almost banged her head against the wall, as if trying to snap herself out of it.

It took Ethan quite a bit of soothing to get her to calm down.

“Anyway, for some unknown reason, we’ve swapped bodies,” he explained simply, feeling a bit relieved.

At least time and space seemed to be consistent. If this had been some kind of comet-related event, things could’ve been way worse.

Of course, the current situation wasn’t exactly great either. Communicating with Lila was still pretty difficult. He had to say several sentences just to get one response.

So, Ethan suggested, “How about we switch to chatting online?”

“Huh? C-can we?”

“Of course,” Ethan said, understanding her hesitation. “It’ll probably be easier for you that way, right?”

Lila nodded and, following Ethan’s instructions, went to find her phone. However, she seemed unfamiliar with her current body, and as she stood up, she tripped over her own feet, face-planting onto the floor in the security feed.

Ethan took a deep breath, wincing. That’s my body, you know!

Afterward, he used a messaging app to add his own account from Lila’s phone, successfully setting up a platform for them to communicate online.

The next second, a message popped up from the other side.

“H-hi, I’m Lila.”

Along with it came a meme of Kermit the Frog holding a collar and leash, with the caption: “I like you a lot… wanna be my pet?”

“Huh???”

Ethan was stunned. Sure, that meme was from his own account, but the fact that Lila had the guts to send it was completely unexpected.

He couldn’t help but marvel at how true it was—people who are shy in real life can sometimes be absolute social terrors online.

Little did he know, on the other side of the screen, Lila was currently lying on the couch, practically convulsing in embarrassment.

She had just wanted to break the ice with a meme, but she’d forgotten that this wasn’t her account. When she saw the outrageous memes in the list, she panicked, and in her flustered state, accidentally sent one.

“Ah.”

“Ahhhhhh!!!”

Lila felt like the world was collapsing around her. The embarrassment was overwhelming, and she was convinced this was going to be a permanent stain on her life.

But then, she saw a message from Ethan’s account.

“Glad to see you’re full of energy—that’s a relief.”

Lila’s eyes welled up with tears. What a kind person, she thought, filled with gratitude. She quickly typed out an apology.

“S-sorry!”

Ethan responded almost immediately.

“Don’t worry about it. You’re actually pretty funny.”

“I-I got complimented!” Lila’s eyes widened in disbelief.

After that little awkward moment, Ethan decided to get straight to the point.

“Given the bizarre situation we’re in, there’s no doubt we’re on the same team here. We need to stick together and help each other out!”

“T-team…” Lila read the word and swallowed nervously. She wasn’t sure what kind of image popped into her head, but her attitude suddenly became more serious.

Ethan continued typing.

“The most important thing right now is to avoid causing any more trouble. Since we’ve swapped bodies, we’ll have to temporarily live as each other. I’ll go to school for you, and in return, you’ll need to go to school for me. I’ll send you some notes on what to watch out for.”

What?! Lila’s mind went blank as she read the message. The idea of going to school as someone else was terrifying enough, but going to school as Ethan? That was a whole other level of impossible!

But she wasn’t good at saying no, and Ethan’s request seemed reasonable, especially since they were now “teammates.”

So, when Ethan asked if there was anything she needed to know, Lila, wiping away her tears, typed out a response.

“No, I don’t have any friends. No one will notice me.”

Wow, that’s depressing, Ethan thought, feeling a bit sorry for her. He quickly sent another message.

“That’s okay. From now on, I’ll be your friend.”

Lila froze when she saw the message, tears silently streaming down her face.

It was hard for most people to understand what she was feeling at that moment. She had never had a friend before, and now, not only did she have someone willing to be her friend, but they were also bound together by this extraordinary situation. It was like something out of the sweetest dream.

Filled with emotion, Lila typed out her reply with determination.

“I-I’ll do my best!”

With that settled, Ethan finally felt like he could breathe a little easier.

He got up and left the closet, planning to wash up and get ready to head out. Even though it was still early, he remembered that Lila’s commute to school took over two hours, so it was better to leave early.

Ethan rummaged through Lila’s wardrobe and found her school uniform. After changing into it, he stepped out of the bedroom and headed to the bathroom.

After brushing his teeth and washing his face, Ethan frowned as he looked at himself in the mirror. He lifted the bangs that were covering his forehead. He hadn’t noticed it before when he’d seen Lila around, but now that he was in her body, he realized just how much her hairstyle blocked her vision.

He quickly tied her hair into a simple ponytail, pulling her bangs back to reveal her forehead. It was a practical style, one that wouldn’t get in the way.

But even with just that small change, Lila’s appearance was transformed.

Ethan stared at the reflection in the mirror, amazed. “What a stunning girl…”

Of course, a lot of it was thanks to Lila’s naturally high level of beauty, but part of it was also due to the confidence he carried himself with. Normally, her shy demeanor and hidden face masked just how striking she really was.

After leaving the bathroom, Ethan reconsidered his plan to leave so early. Lila had just sent him the address of her school, and it wasn’t Sherman High School, as he had expected. Instead, it was a place called Westbrook Academy.

He checked the map and realized that Lila’s house wasn’t as far from the school as he’d thought. The commute wasn’t exactly short, but it definitely didn’t take two hours.

Leaving this early would just make him look weird.

“So, what should I do with all this extra time?” Ethan wondered.

Then, an idea popped into his head.

“Maybe I should make breakfast for Lila’s family? You know, to give them a heads-up about what’s going on.”