Gender Reversed Geum Taeyang - Chapter 49

Chapter 49 – Class Observation (2)

“Ugh, if I move this function along the x-axis… no, y-axis by 3… no, 4 units…”

Is this the miserable end of South Korea’s public education?

Usually, during events like parent observation classes, teachers’ lecturing abilities tend to improve compared to normal days.

But this female teacher’s class…

Well. It’s hard to even call it a class.

She can’t even read one problem properly. What’s going on?

Looking closely with Geum Taeyang’s superior vision, her face is subtly flushed.

Is it because she’s embarrassed?

Seeing how she keeps glancing in my direction, she seems ashamed to show such behavior in front of the parents.

I’m disappointed in many ways.

I once saw something like this on the internet.

Children who were too poor to receive education being overjoyed at getting to attend school.

Of course, I’m not saying I’m in that kind of situation. I am at least that much aware.

Still… even after dropping out, when you spend six years doing part-time jobs, you naturally develop an interest in education.

I still can’t forget that strange feeling I had when a noona working as a server at a chicken restaurant told me she was earning money for college tuition.

Well, I got sidetracked. What I wanted to say was… I just wanted to properly attend a school class after such a long time. Even if I couldn’t understand the content.

Also, the fact that Sehee has to keep listening to classes like this is…

This is supposedly a prestigious high school in Seoul, is this really okay?

While I was lost in these thoughts, I made eye contact with the female teacher again. This awkward exchange of glances is already the fifth time today.

Though I don’t like the situation… I’ve already ignored it four times, and there’s no need to show outright hostility.

I gave her a slight smile as if telling her to relax, and her expression brightened considerably.

Damn. Can’t spit on a smiling face.

As the class continued, I leaned back against the lockers again.

Arms crossed, legs crossed, leaning diagonally against the lockers.

It looks quite delinquent-like for someone attending class.

… But what can I do? It’s comfortable.

Since becoming Geum Taeyang, these cocky behaviors pop up now and then.

While rapid outbursts feel like my body is being forcibly controlled, this feels more like a change in my thought process.

It’s not anything major, but compared to how I used to be, it’s a bit, maybe quite a bit more thug-like, you could say.

At first, I thought about controlling these behaviors too, but since they don’t really cause problems in daily life and there’s a certain pleasure in giving in to these minor instincts, I’ve reached a sort of compromise.

Can’t live your whole life rejecting instincts, so this level of compromise should be fine.

Anyway, that results in my current posture.

If anyone finds it uncomfortable to look at, they can tell me. It’s not like it’s something serious.

While I was listening to the class like that, I heard the classroom door quietly opening.

Glancing over, I saw a quite handsome middle-aged man who seemed to have lived a life of meticulous self-management. Though he looks a bit young to be called middle-aged… but how other men look isn’t particularly important.

The luxurious clothes he’s wearing show that he has considerable wealth.

He looks exactly like a rich madam… no. Hmm. What do they call madams in the reversed world? Master?

My vocabulary is shot after not reading a book for several years.

… Whatever. Why do I need to know what they call madams in the reversed world? Just that such a person came in.

The man quietly passes in front of me as I stand behind Sehee.

But.

He glances at me and furrows his brow.

“Tsk.”

He’s clicking his tongue?

A noise that could have been heard even without Geum Taeyang’s superior physical abilities.

Just loud enough for only me to hear. But definitely audible to me.

What’s this? Is he looking for a fight?

And what’s with him standing right next to me after showing such an aggressive reaction?

The veins in my crossed arms become visible as I tense them.

Like that, I suppressed Geum Taeyang’s rapid outburst as if suppressing the Black Dragon in my right hand.

It sounds like chunibyou talk but… that’s just how it is.

Honestly, Geum Taeyang or not, this is quite an unpleasant situation for me personally.

Though the possibility isn’t high, I might have misunderstood, and even if I didn’t misunderstand, I can’t have an outburst over just that on a day like this.

No, I even dressed properly for this, didn’t I?

I even ignored my leather jacket that I wear every day and my instinctive rejection to wear such neat clothes.

If it’s because of my ear piercings… just because of that one thing? If that’s the case, then that’s something that would make me question his mental state.

Maybe there’s just some kind of unavoidable image about me.

Feeling my body heat rising, I rolled up my sleeves.

The class will end in a few minutes anyway, so I should look around the school with Sehee. To calm down too.

“Sss… could you move aside a bit?”

-Seems like your manners are as bad as your looks.

The faintly audible follow-up comment.

Ah

No.

Grind-

My teeth are grinding.

You must endure it, Yuhan.

Today is a very special day for Sehee. Of course, it’s kind of a special day for me too.

On such a day, during class time, to do something noticeable? And in a bad way?

I think that would be a really poor choice.

I consider myself to have more patience than most people.

I also have the cognitive ability to distinguish between times when I need to endure and times when I don’t.

Right now is clearly the former.

I took a deep breath and exhaled.

Bathroom. I want to go to the bathroom.

Earlier, when I was practically forced to get makeup done, I was told to be careful not to smudge it.

But right now, I need to wash my face.

###

This is the first time I’ve formally introduced oppa to anyone.

Objectively speaking, Yuhan oppa isn’t someone who wins people over with first impressions.

Most people’s initial reactions to meeting oppa were either fear or hostility.

He just looks scary but isn’t a bad person… it’s just unfortunate.

Anyway, it’s fortunate that Si-jun was the first of my friends to have a conversation with oppa. Si-jun has quite a good personality. Today too, he didn’t show much of a reaction.

At the beginning of class, he seemed really unfocused, so I wondered if he was still affected by their first meeting, but he soon returned to his usual self, so it probably wasn’t anything serious.

When I turned around after class ended, oppa wasn’t there. Even looking around the classroom, he was nowhere to be seen.

Anxiety overwhelms me.

If he hadn’t been here to begin with, that would be one thing, but someone who was here disappeared.

It might seem strange to worry about someone of his caliber, but Yuhan oppa has had quite feminine aspects to his personality since he was young, and he would often get into accidents by doing unreasonable things alone.

Like that loading and unloading part-time job from before. He’s a man I can’t help but worry about.

“… Where did he g…”

“Sehee! My dad’s here!”

“Ah, huh?”

Looking at where oppa had been standing, I see a middle-aged man.

Si-jun ‘s father.

Though the period I’ve been close with Si-jun was relatively short, I visited Si-jun’s house quite often.

That house wasn’t really a place I wanted to go to that much.

We were friends and all. I couldn’t keep refusing when he asked me to come play at his house, so I would visit occasionally.

Um. To be honest, it was jealousy.

I envied that luxurious apartment, I envied the abundance of food in the refrigerator, and I envied their seemingly harmonious family.

Meeting Yuhan oppa at the orphanage was the greatest luck of my life, but I couldn’t think positively about the fact that I was an orphan.

I was someone who had more inferiority complex than the other children at the foster home, and because of that, none of my friends know anything about my family circumstances. Because I’ve extremely hidden it.

For someone like me, such a family environment… approached me quite uncomfortably.

Personally, what was as uncomfortable as that house, or perhaps even more uncomfortable, was Si-jun’s father.

Whenever I went there, he would welcome me very kindly.

Always delicious food and sometimes even nice things.

But…, the ideology I felt while having conversations.

The obsession with money and contempt for the poor.

The obsession with grades and elitism.

He showed endless kindness to me, who had good grades and a clean appearance… but I knew best what kind of reaction would come if he learned about my situation.

I… couldn’t like this person.

I could overcome the inferiority I felt when looking at Si-jun, but the aversion I felt from this person wasn’t something I could shake off.

Though I always talked with a bright expression, he was someone I could never get close to.

“Sehee! How long has it been! You should come visit more often!”

I need to find oppa urgently.

I don’t even want to have this conversation.

And both Si-jun and his uncle tend to talk a lot, maybe because they’re men.

Since my friend is happily smiling beside me, I can’t just greet them and leave.

I answered with a natural smile.

“Ah… hello.”

A conversation with no end in sight begins.

The clock keeps moving.

People start crowding in the corridor.

But, I couldn’t escape from here.

###

Sehee has always hidden a lot of information.

Especially information about her family.

In the past, I thought I was the only one who didn’t know and tried to press her other friends, but none of them knew either.

Whenever anyone tried to dig into her family, she would make an expression showing she didn’t like it, so facts about her family are still a mystery. I’ve kind of given up too.

Still, I’m somewhat perceptive.

Her family circumstances probably aren’t very well-off.

Looking at the various clues I’ve gathered, that inference is probably correct.

Sometimes she would make slightly uncomfortable expressions while talking with my dad, and if her family circumstances were good, there wouldn’t be a need to hide it so much.

Well, that’s all irrelevant.

What matters is that I like her.

Our family is definitely part of the wealthy class. When it comes to money, it’s a problem I can handle.

Though dad has quite poor perception of ‘poor households’, he’s someone who values my opinion more anyway. Since he particularly cherishes Sehee, it should be somewhat okay.

Anyway, right now we’re having a conversation between me, Sehee, and dad.

Sehee is wearing a smile that seems clearly happy, though not as much as when talking with that man. This will gradually change. This much is enough for today.

I’m very satisfied with this situation.

It would have been even better if that fierce-looking man had seen this harmonious scene, if he had been stupidly watching us unable to join this situation, but that doesn’t matter.

Aren’t we closer to family than an ‘oppa she knows’? Aren’t we more familiar?

I’m the one connected to Sehee. Obstacles can just be removed.

While thinking such thoughts…

A large object appeared.

No…, a large person.

“Sehee, you said you’d show me around the school.”

Water droplets cling to his disheveled hair, and his face somehow looks much fiercer than when I first saw him.

He puts his arm around Sehee’s shoulder while speaking in a low voice.

“Ah, oppa! Where did you go!”

“Just the bathroom for a bit.”

A simple conversation. Somehow Sehee shows a different vitality than when talking with us.

That man looks at dad.

With eyes devoid of any emotion.

With eyes that give you chills when you look at them.

“You must be Si-jun’s father…? We met briefly earlier, right?”

“You…, who are you to suddenly with Sehee…”

“Ah… How should I put it? An oppa she knows? Though we’re closer than that.”

This time he pulls Sehee closer with a faint sinister smile.

My teeth grind.

What’s with him suddenly appearing and doing this.

I should say something but my mouth won’t open properly.

He wasn’t like this earlier, but somehow he gives off a much more intimidating atmosphere than before.

I just can’t open my mouth.

When I finally managed to breathe again.

Sehee and that man were no longer in the classroom.

A miserable sense of defeat washed over my chest.

(End of Chapter)