She doesn't freak out, at least

Since Dahlia was too anxious, I decided to speak first. "I'm not really sure how to formulate it better so I'll go straight to the point. When Dahlia told you that I wasn't the same person you once knew, it was more literal than you might have been led to believe. I am not Seo-Yun."

Laura seemed confused while Dahlia only held my hand more tightly. She was shivering slightly.

"We've met once already, in this very room, almost a week ago. I'm Edward."

I pulled on my neck to remove Seo-Yun's face, but it was harder than before, as if her skin was doing its best to keep me inside. Still, by pulling harder, I managed to free my own head, eliciting a loud gasp of shock from Laura. Even Claire seemed weirded out a bit by the sight.

"W-what the fuck?!" Laura exclaimed.

"Here's the proof." I said as I gestured at my body.

Having my own head and hearing my own male voice after these days as Seo-Yun felt wrong somehow. The colours weren't as bright as they were a moment ago, my mouth seemed strange, my voice sounded ugly...

"How... How the heck are you doing that?"

Claire was by her side and put a hand on her shoulder to try to calm her down. I quickly wore back Seo-Yun's head and felt so much better once I fully became her again, her skin almost hungrily latching onto me as I regained her face.

It didn't do that before... But it felt even more intense... I should ask Dahlia about it once we're done.

"It's part of why we're here." I continued in my much prettier voice.

I freed the spines in my fingers, making Laura gasp again. "Have you heard of skinwalkers?"

"S-skinwalkers…?"

"Skinwalkers are beings able to turn humans into skins and wear them, fully assuming their identities, and I recently became one."

Laura glanced nervously at Claire, making me step in. "She knows, and she's fully human, don't worry. Only I changed. In any case, with Dahlia, we formulated a plan. Since I unfortunately now need to wear a skin, we had to find someone I could be while also ideally staying close to her and my sister. Seo-Yun was the perfect target. She was a disgusting woman, I wouldn't feel bad for replacing her, and could use her influence as a model to make things better."

"You're... a monster who wears human skin?" Laura said in a frightened and stunned tone.

Dahlia grit her teeth and looked down when she heard Laura's question, holding my hand even more tightly.

Claire chimed in. "He... He's not a monster! He's still my brother, or my sister, I don't care which. He may not be human anymore, but he's still a kind person who cares deeply about others and wants to make the world a better place..."

"Yeah. With great power comes great responsibility, as Spiderman always says." I added in a joking manner, trying to ease the tension a bit. "I plan to become better than the original Seo-Yun, and be a positive influence instead of a negative one."

Laura held her forehead for a moment. "Shit... It... It sounds so crazy... Did I... smoke anything weird...?"

"I know it's hard to believe, but fantastical creatures aren't, in fact, fictional. Claire and I learnt that a week ago."

After a moment to calm down, Laura then looked at Dahlia, who stayed silent since we started. "So... You... You knew?"

Dahlia shyly nodded but didn't dare to look at Laura. "I... I more than knew…" She let free of her own spines, sighing loudly. "I… turned him myself…"

Laura stared at her, her eyes wide open in shock. "You mean…"

Her shivering was getting worse, and her breath was becoming more erratic. "I'm… a skinwalker too… I've been living as Dahlia for two years… Ever since the summer before we started college…" She started to cry. "Dahlia... never had an epiphany... I just... replaced her... and didn't want to be a bitch like she was... I'm... I'm sorry..."

As her state worsened, I hugged her and caressed her head. "Take deep breaths, relax..." I then continued speaking in her stead. "During these two years, you two became close friends, but she always felt bad for lying about her true nature. She was terrified of people knowing and hating her, but, after seeing how Claire accepted us, she thought of telling you the truth, hoping that you would accept her too. That's how much she loves and trusts you. She's not human, but she's still the same friend you've been with since college started."

Laura didn't say anything for a while, it was a lot to take in. Dahlia didn't have the courage to face her, she was still hugging me tightly, her face burrowed in my chest. Claire stayed next to Laura, observing her.

Finally, after a long moment, Laura stood up and slowly approached us. She wasn't terrified, I took it as a good sign. She put her hand on Dahlia's shoulder, making her look up nervously. She was still crying, her eyes were completely red.

"Okay, I... I'm fairly certain I didn't understand everything... I-I need some time to process what happened, but... if what you said is true, then you're my friend. I'm not going to hate you, Dahl... or whoever you are in reality."

Dahlia went to hug her, crying even more, but of relief this time. "T-thank you..."

Laura hugged her back, a bit abashed. "I-I have a lot of questions, but I will probably wait, to make sure that this whole conversation wasn't just a **** trip..."

"I'll... I'll answer all of your questions as best as I can." Dahlia replied, smiling despite her tears.

"I already have a question, though... How... How should I call you?"

"You can keep calling me Dahl... That's my name now..."

Laura smiled. "Alright, Dahl."

The two of them kept hugging for some time before separating.

"Do you... want to stay for dinner?" Dahlia timidly asked. "We can talk more if you want."