Gender Reversed Geum Taeyang - Chapter 37

Chapter 37 – Fanatic (1)

This is why I felt burdened about meeting Sehee.

I think it’s been over an hour, right?

Since I couldn’t move my body freely, I had to listen to her constant nagging right next to me until the end.

But it’s not that I want to say anything bad about Sehee.

How could I say anything bad about the person who’s worrying about me when I’m not in my right mind.

Even though she’s a woman from the parallel world, her reddening eyes seem like she’s holding back tears right now.

I feel very sorry.

Being worried about is also part of human relationships. In a way, not telling her the bad news until the end could have been an act of only thinking about myself.

Sehee was the closest friend I had from the orphanage, the one who followed me the most, so I should have at least let her know the news.

“Sehee, come over here.”

“…Huh?”

I pulled Sehee, who was sitting on the floor next to the bed, closer and embraced her.

Due to the position, Sehee’s face ended up awkwardly buried in my chest.

When I carefully apologized, I felt her breathing start to calm down a bit.

Hmm. Is it really calming down? It also seems like her breathing got a bit uneven.

Anyway.

After that, perhaps she felt embarrassed for crying in front of a man, she pulled away from me with a slightly flushed face.

“I’ll do the dishes. And tidy up the room a bit. You just rest there.”

“Huh? I can do that later, why don’t we just rest together?”

I said that, and while there was some sincerity in it, judging from Sehee’s eyes, it seems she has no intention of backing down.

It’s embarrassing as a 23-year-old man to have my younger sister called over to do the dishes, after getting injured while working a side job unloading cargo…

But I don’t have the strength to stop her since I’m stuck on the bed and can’t move an inch.

“No way, I absolutely won’t give in, so remember that.”

“Okay…”

“Ah, and I heard laying on your stomach is worse when your back hurts.”

“Really?!”

There was a reason why it didn’t heal well back then. The saying about needing to be critical of online information wasn’t for nothing.

With Sehee’s help, I turned over with a groan, and Sehee went to the sink to start doing the dishes.

My house is quite small. I think there aren’t major problems in daily life, but any sound can be heard throughout the entire house.

The sound of Sehee doing the dishes echoes through the house.

Even a quick glance shows her clumsy movements and the accompanying noisy sounds.

But somehow, listening to that sound brings a sense of stability to my mind.

It’s been a while since there was another person in my house besides me. Ari hasn’t even come in here yet.

She came all the way from the orphanage because she was worried about me, and now she’s helping with the chores in the house.

Having someone who cares for me this much makes me feel so happy. Is this what they call “fortune”?

Just the addition of one person to this mundane house makes me feel the place is so cozy. I never thought the day would come when I’d feel this way about this small room.

I suddenly feel my past self, who always tried to handle things alone even when things were difficult, was rather foolish.

That’s the thought I had.

“It’s like a married couple.”

Heh. What kind of thoughts is this kid having.

The words slipped out of my mouth, but they were probably drowned out anyway.

Today, for the first time in a very long time, I fell asleep with an incredibly comfortable feeling.

###

3:30 AM. It’s already far past my usual bedtime.

The tedious meeting has finally ended.

[Okay, I’ll head back now, sis.]

[Sleep well, sis.]

[Don’t delay the meetings next time. Hehehe.]

“…Yeah, go.”

Tired of the same old meetings every time. Am I losing my initial motivation?

No, but since we postponed the meetings for a few days, couldn’t we have just handled it tomorrow, which is the regular day off on Sunday?

My rational side feels this is nonsensical, but my instinct just keeps voicing discontent.

Still, the situation doesn’t sit well with me.

This week, Yuhan’s broadcast, or more specifically, Yuhan’s appearance, was emitting a completely different vibe from usual.

Yuhan, who always had a comfortable atmosphere and exuded energetic expressions while hosting the broadcast, suddenly changed completely.

The sunken dark circles, the languid voice as if exhausted, and the slowed-down movements that even looked somewhat seductive.

I don’t know how to describe it, but his actions without any particular thought seemed almost like movements to captivate women.

On the first day, I was worried about the changed appearance and tried contacting him by text, but I eventually got a reply later saying there was just a busy schedule.

I mean, he said he was fine, so I couldn’t just grill him about it, so I just enjoyed Yuhan’s broadcast in my own way.

Hmm. Yuhan’s broadcast basically shows a very free atmosphere.

If it were other male streamers, they would have already banned the kind of chatting that I, even as a viewer, shrugged off, and instead initiated raunchy jokes themselves.

Especially recently, the sexually harassing comments towards Yuhan have rapidly increased, bordering on pure obscenity.

And…

Not to boast, but in the midst of that torrent of sexually harassing comments… Aristo235, there was me too.

On a day when I was particularly stressed out, I wrote that kind of chatting from an alt account, and felt an incredible sense of gratification.

It was the first time I ever crossed that line.

Towards that man, who, contrary to his appearance, had such a warm heart, and was incredibly good-looking.

Afterwards, I fell into considerable guilt and self-loathing, but that sensation remained etched in my mind forever. It was an unforgettable pleasure.

The guilt lingered even until the day Yuhan stayed over at my place, but… my mindset has changed now.

After visiting Junhyeok the day Yuhan left, for some reason, my mind has become clear.

No one in love or in a relationship would anonymously sexually harass their beloved or partner.

Of course, I’ve never done anything like that to my partner, Junhyeok, either.

But those memories surfaced.

The conversations of my high school friends.

‘This bastard is always spouting this crap.’
‘What, you retard. If you’re jealous, just get out.’
‘These damn retards, for real!’

Even when I’m alone, I don’t particularly like to utter curses out loud.

My friends can use curses all they want, but I just didn’t like it when I did it myself.

Anyway, whether I liked cursing or not isn’t the important part here.

Conversations between friends.

There must certainly be cases where it’s not like that, but it’s a very common situation for friends to needlessly hurl curses at each other.

After all, it’s not like their relationship will become more distant with meaningless cursing, and it could even bring them closer.

Also, I’ve seen plenty of cases where friends tease each other about breast size, and thinking about that, the “friend” relationship seems to be one where the freedom to use language is quite guaranteed.

In fact, I was the peculiar one for always avoiding the use of curses.

Yuhan and I aren’t in an old, long-standing relationship, but we’ve already formed a bond close enough to be considered best friends.

So, this kind of thing is natural between ‘friends’. ‘Friends’ commonly use curses and lewd talk, after all.

So the sexually harassing chatting I do is just messing around with friends. There’s no need to feel guilty about it.*¹

That’s why for the first two days when Yuhan was acting differently, I actively participated in the chatting.

The usual time for indulgence was moved up a little, albeit irregularly.

The meetings with the manager and editors that always took place after the broadcast were postponed.

My daily routine always ended with Yuhan’s broadcast.

But eventually, the dissatisfaction burst out.

[Sis, why have you been acting so irregularly lately? Is something wrong?]
[CEO, we need to upload something to Newtube… T_T]

Tomorrow is Yuhan’s regular day off. I really wanted to watch today’s broadcast, but I can’t keep delaying my work either.

I wanted to finish it as quickly as possible, but there was a lot of backlog and it’s already 3:30 AM now. Finally, the work is done.

I’m too sleepy to even have the energy to take a shower.

For now, I’ll just sleep quickly, and watch today’s broadcast again tomorrow.

I look forward to tomorrow.

###

No time to wash my hair.
No time to carefully choose my clothes.

Why, why did Yuhan go to work unloading cargo?
I regret my usual dislike of hearing donation sounds during my game streams. I should have at least turned that on.

Instead of ending the game broadcast early, I should have done a radio broadcast. If I had, would I have been able to hear the news?
And if I couldn’t even do that, I should have at least woken up earlier today, instead of waking up well after noon.

They’re all just hindsight.

The most urgent thing now is to hurry to Yuhan’s place.

Why is the underground parking lot so vast? Why is there a speed limit on this road? Those people are crossing the crosswalk so slowly, I should make a U-turn.

I honk the horn in situations where I could wait, and occasionally exceed the speed limit.

I arrived at Yuhan’s neighborhood much faster than expected, but in the end, I’m still late.
I should have come here yesterday.

I parked the car in an appropriate spot and headed towards the address I had heard before.

The gloomy atmosphere permeating the entire neighborhood seeps into me.

Seriously, this is driving me crazy.

My footsteps slow down more and more, weighed down by guilt.

What’s the point of being good at studying or having some money at home? I’m a useless friend who can’t even take care of one.

I finally arrived at Yuhan’s house.

I know it’s impolite for a woman to suddenly visit a man’s house.
Men need preparation time when meeting someone, they say.

But I wasn’t in a state of mind to think about that kind of etiquette.

I knocked on the door and heard some movement inside. It’s Yuhan.
The fact that he’s not coming out right away means his physical condition is probably still very poor.
Or is he just getting ready to come out?

“Yu, Yuhan… it’s me!”

…Can’t he at least say something? Is he in that much pain?
Should I try calling or at least sending a text?

I was in a state of confusion for a while, when a sound came from the door.

This is the first time I’m entering Yuhan’s house.
It’s pathetic that I had a bit of anticipation in this serious situation, as a woman entering a man’s room.

The door creaks open. Ah, so he’s able to get up! That’s good news.

“Yuhan! Are you okay…”

The one who came out was a woman I’ve never seen before. No, that’s not quite right.
I’ve seen her before.

On the day I first met Yuhan.

The female student from the orphanage.

That day, she kept glaring at me with a hostile gaze until the end.

Her name was… Sehee, I think.

She’s standing at the entrance, looking at me.

With the exact same gaze as that day.*²

(End of Chapter)

T.N. 1. Copium on full throttle lol.

2. A tiny cliffhanger.