Gender Reversed Geum Taeyang - Chapter 23

Chapter 23 – Home Visit (2)

If you had to choose just one sense that you absolutely wouldn’t want to give up among the five senses, smell usually doesn’t make the list of candidates.

Naturally, it’s hard to consider smell more important than sight or hearing.

In reality, it’s just a matter of relative importance – losing any sense would be incredibly inconvenient, but some people tend to completely disregard the sense of smell.

As for me, I didn’t have any particular thoughts about it.

Until today.

“Wow…”

Yuhan looked quite excited from the moment we arrived near my neighborhood.

He even had that characteristically mischievous-looking smile in the car.

Someone seeing him for the first time might misunderstand and think he’s having strange thoughts, but I know that’s just how Yuhan smiles sometimes, so I know it’s a pure smile.

… Right?

Yuhan’s face as he looks around inside the elevator shows that his excitement hasn’t subsided yet.

Obviously, he’s not excited about the elevator itself.

From what he’s saying, it seems he finds it fascinating that I, who can still be considered young, live in an apartment like this.

Since I know I’m an unusual case, I’m not bothered by such reactions. If anything, I’m just happy to feel somewhat validated.

Well, that’s not what’s important right now.

Hmm. I know this really looks weird, but… that fragrant scent that’s been lingering around Yuhan since earlier, one I didn’t notice during our previous meeting…

Damn.

Yes, it’s stimulating my sense of smell.

I’ve seen posts like that on the internet. Posts about perverts who quietly inhale when the man sitting next to them on the bus sighs, trying to catch their scent.

Does this mean I’ve become equivalent to such people now?

Actually, earlier when Yuhan’s body, different from ordinary men’s with its firmness, and his hard arms wrapped around me while helping with the seatbelt, I caught a whiff of his shampoo scent…

… Considering I got excited by that scent then too, am I equivalent to or worse than that pervert?

My eyes furrow with unbearable self-loathing. This is absurd.

“Hm? Pfft! What’s with that expression? Relax your brow. You’ll get wrinkles later.”

Yuhan says this while gently pressing my brow with his thumb. He seems somehow familiar with the action, as if he’s done it many times before.

Yuhan, despite being male, has a larger overall build including height than me. How should I put it, like a successful model.

Anyway, he has a body type that’s rarely seen, and when someone like that blocks my path as I stand in the corner of the elevator, somehow the space feels like it’s becoming sealed off.

And in that narrow space, blocked by walls behind and Yuhan’s body in front, came the bombardment of fragrance.

Body lotion? Shampoo? Doesn’t seem like cosmetics. An unidentifiable fruit scent invaded my nose.

This is truly driving me crazy.

It’s really unfair. I wasn’t originally such a perverted person.

These days… though I hate to admit it, I seem to be showing somewhat perverted desires.

This is really…

Obviously, I don’t act like this when I’m with Junhyeok.

Acting so disgustingly toward someone I love? Me? That’s crazy talk.

No, I’ve never even imagined doing such things in my life.

I pride myself on having lived a fairly wholesome life.

Clearly, these dirty desires seem to be trying to surface lately. I’ve never been like this before – could these be desires that were hidden inside me? That’s the one thing I can’t accept.

“Hey… are you okay?”

The warm breath that feels precarious this time brought a mint scent.

Perhaps because we’re so close, even subtle stimulations are detected sensitively.

Is it okay for me to be like this?

Come to think of it, these urges that have intensified recently always target Yuhan.

Why do these desires become so hard to control when it comes to Yuhan?

“Ari? Why are you so quiet?”

“Uh, um? Ah, well.”

“Is it because of what happened yesterday?”

“Ah… yes.”

“Pfft. Coming home reminded you of it again? Don’t worry, I’ll properly get my payback today.”

…

Maybe because I’ve been swayed by this perversion all day, I forgot that the reason we agreed to meet was because of yesterday’s incident.

After causing such trouble for Yuhan just yesterday, now I’m…

Yuhan shows a seemingly villainous smile in front of me. I know that such exaggerated actions are meant to ease my guilt. I’m at least perceptive enough to know that.

But that only deepens my self-loathing.

Having these desires for another man while having a boyfriend.

That the target is such a kind person.

Yet having strange thoughts whenever I see him.

It was too pathetic.

###

It’s quite unfortunate to meet someone I get along with so well in this reversed world.

Hmm. Does that sound strange?

I meant it’s unfortunate that it’s in the reversed world when I’ve met someone I get along with so well.

I didn’t particularly have friends in the original world. During middle school, I couldn’t properly engage in school life due to worries about the future, and high school…

Anyway. I don’t think I particularly lack social skills, but it was somewhat sad that I couldn’t make even one friend.

That’s why becoming friends with Ari made me quite happy.

But…

Since this is the reversed world, all the people I get along with well enough to be friends are women, and especially Ari, who gets along with me extremely well, is objectively quite a beauty.

Though we haven’t known each other long, even in those few conversations we had, it was so enjoyable that I wanted to maintain a friendship with Ari.

Of course, it’s not that I didn’t find her attractive as the opposite sex.

But getting closer than friends with someone who has a partner would be crazy. How could sweet me do something so inconsiderate?

Anyway, I tried to think of Ari as much as possible like a same-sex friend, but I’m also a man in my prime twenties. It’s natural to sometimes have impure thoughts when seeing such a woman.

Sometimes I felt myself treating her more as a woman than a friend.

…

Still, I tried my best. This much should be enough.

Even now, lying on Ari’s bed and enjoying games with her sitting in a chair, this is the result of my efforts to treat Ari naturally like a same-sex friend.

It might seem just impolite, but since Ari isn’t saying anything about it, well.

I wanted to play comfortably at a friend’s house too. Anyway, this rudeness will end today, won’t it?

Mario Kart, a racing game played on the Nintendo Switch that Ari owns.

It’s slightly different from my taste which prefers calm things, but I’m not the type to be too picky about games.

With the game console placed on Ari’s bed, I’m lying face down on the bed, and Ari’s sitting in a chair pulled up beside, playing the game together.

When I asked if I could borrow this for broadcasting, she immediately agreed. Maybe because she’s a woman in the reversed world, she’s quite open-minded.

While borrowing it, I asked if she wanted to play together, and she immediately accepted, resulting in this situation.

Already several rounds in, and I’m in first place.

This body boasting ridiculous performance is perfect in everything except luck, and that makes it optimal for winning games.

As expected, those perfect abilities produced the best results even in racing games.

This round too…

“Huh?”

“Ari, what’s wrong? Did something happen?”

“No, it’s just… look at this.”

As Ari’s character gestures, a red shell item flies toward me.

An item that can automatically track and hit enemies, the most annoying item when used by opponents.

So this is what luck means.

Giving me only weird items…!!

Leaving my character hit by the shell near the finish line behind, Ari took first place.

“While only giving me shitty banana items!!”

“Pfft!!”

“What? Do you find me funny?”

“Um… a little?”

This kid. Despite getting really withdrawn when feeling even slightly sorry, seeing her tease me little by little shows she must have gotten somewhat comfortable with me.

Maybe because I’ve been in this position for so long, my body feels really stiff, so I put down the game pad and turned over to lie down and stretch.

“Yaaawn… I don’t like this.”

“Ah, um, Yuhan! Your clothes!”

“Huh?”

Oh. My clothes must have ridden up while I was stretching.

I’m not usually the type to pay much attention to such things, so I didn’t notice.

Through the reversed world filter, is this equivalent to a woman showing her stomach at a man’s house? I feel a bit uncomfortable being compared to a woman, but well, that’s the kind of world this is.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do; in the reversed world, follow the reversed world’s rules.

“Ah. Whatever.”

Just saying that, I pulled my clothes back down.

And looking to the side, I saw Ari staring at me with a flushed face.

“What? First time seeing a man’s body? Ah. You saw my ‘grand fall’ clip that time too, so I guess it’s not the first time.”

“N-no! That’s not it!”

“Or. Are you staring because you like my body? That’s really disgusting…”

When I made a playfully contemptuous expression, Ari didn’t know how to react.

She seems to have little immunity to men.

Though her reactions are fun to watch, I should stop this kind of teasing here.

“Hehe. Alright. Just get ready for the next round. This is really the final round.”

“That’s the third time you’ve said that…”

Well.

Isn’t it normal not to count bland victories or my losses as final rounds?

The result of the final round?

I won first place in about two more rounds before ending. Still, this is what I mean by a game of skill.

After that, we played some other games, went into Ari’s broadcasting booth, sat together to plan computer specifications and such.

Since I know a lot about computers and used many professional terms, Ari showed me another surprised expression.

Shouldn’t she be used to my uniqueness by now?

Anyway, there was a lot to do, and we actually did a lot. As a junior streamer, I received a lot of help too.

Playing like that, before we knew it, it was 5:50.

As expected, Ari and I get along so well that time passes quickly.

Now we’re chatting at the dining table, and an hour has already passed.

I’ve received a lot today, should I cook dinner?

Even with a nice place, she’s still living alone, wouldn’t it be nice if someone cooked for her?

Hehe. Seems like a good idea…

-♩♫♪

Huh?

Is that Ari’s phone? No, it seems like an alarm.

Looking ahead, I see Ari wearing a panicked expression.

“What…? What’s wrong?”

.

.

.

“Yuhan… our broadcast starts in 10 minutes?”

Ah.

“Ah.”

(End of chapter)