Sweet Hannam Seong Yuhan
Clip.
A feature that lets you snip a highlight out of a stream and share it with other viewers. You can even play that short video in another streamer's room through a video donation, and people who see the shared clip might wander in. Plenty of streamers block video donations, but still.
An achievement on the level of standing a water bottle on end… wouldn't that be a pretty big help growing a channel?
…That was what I thought after the stream ended.
If there was a problem, it was this: my broadcast was a minor stream with barely any viewers, and I was a day-one streamer, so there was nobody who'd go through the trouble of promoting me like that.
It wasn't God lending a hand. If He'd been helping, it wouldn't have been this half-assed. He wouldn't have turned me into Geum Taeyang in the first place.
Well, nothing I could do about it. I saved that footage on my own. I'd have a use for it someday.
Anyway… I was confident yesterday's stream had been a huge success. Thirty people at stream's end. To someone who didn't know better, it might have looked pathetic, but for a Minor Streamer, that was what you called a great achievement. And I thought I'd landed a decent number of lines that fit the concept. There was still room to grow, but it looked like I wasn't completely without talent. I had a long way to go, so streaming hard and putting in the work, consistently, was my assignment as I saw it.
That was why today, Sunday, was a scheduled day off. Meaning I wasn't streaming. ……Well. You had to rest when it was time to rest.
When I said that, the viewers who'd apparently gotten pretty attached over a single day threw a fit out of disappointment, but what could I do? I had my own things to take care of.
Ever since I'd left the orphanage and gotten my feet under me with part-time work, I'd gone back every Sunday to help out with this and that. After coming to the Gender-Reversed World, I'd talked to the Orphanage Director on the phone, and apparently nothing much had changed here either—she was already expecting me on Sunday.
Anyway, this was a part of my daily life I couldn't give up. Growing the stream so I could repay the Director with money mattered too, but still.
I was about to head out when… my eyes kept catching on the leather jacket. It wasn't like I used to wear clothes like that, and every time I put it on I ended up taking it off because it was too hot, so why couldn't I let it go? Maybe it was something genetic, imprinted into Geum Taeyang's body. I didn't really know, but when I tried to leave without wearing it, my feet just wouldn't move.
…Damn it. I wasn't this kind of person.
Looks like becoming Geum Taeyang had given me a new taste in fashion.
I'm Kim Yumi, eighteen.
Today was the day I had a date with my boyfriend, Jihu. We'd liked each other since the start of the semester—wasn't this what they called a match made in heaven?
Even if we loved each other, I didn't want to look clumsy as a woman…… but my leg still ached from twisting it during gym class on Friday. I'd just tough it out for now and think about it again after the date.
I could see Jihu in the distance. He wasn't that tall, and it wasn't like his looks were anything special, but none of that mattered. That wasn't why I liked him.
"Jihu!"
"Yeah, Yumi! Sorry! I'm super late, huh?"
Didn't they always say guys took a long time getting ready? I wasn't some petty girl who couldn't understand being a mere twenty minutes late!
"Yumi, is your leg okay now?"
"Ah. It still hurts a little, but this much is no problem!"
Honestly it felt like there might be a problem, but I couldn't show that kind of weakness! Still, the fact that Jihu was worrying about me made me secretly happy.
"That's a relief! Then let's hurry and catch the subway. We're gonna be late for the movie!"
I'd wanted him to worry a little more… but let's not think about that.
It was really close!
Jihu said he needed to stop by the bathroom, and by the time I'd waited, there wasn't much time left before the train, so we had to run down the stairs. Ah. That had been a bit much for my leg. It kept throbbing.
Luckily, one seat left.
"Jihu, my leg's a little…"
"Whoa! Yumi, there's one seat left!"
The moment Jihu saw the seat, he went straight over and sat down.
Yeah… as long as Jihu was happy, that was what mattered… let's think positive. Seeing him smile so brightly, I felt like I could endure this much pain.
Hm? The person next to him seemed to be looking this way. Had Jihu bumped them when he sat down?
I glanced slightly in that direction…
Oh my god.
He was terrifying. He looked genuinely terrifying. A delinquent? Could the word delinquent even cover it?
Fierce eyes, tarnished blonde hair. And a piercing through his ear. Those three things seemed to speak for his entire personality. Copper-toned skin that seemed to drink the light made his already savage looks even more vicious.
For a moment, the thought flashed through me that I was lucky those eyes weren't looking at me. The urge to look down circled in my head, but I couldn't. I couldn't take my eyes off him.
The face hidden beneath that savage atmosphere was…… I didn't know how to put it. Handsome. Truly, overwhelmingly handsome. A celebrity…… didn't seem quite right. Clear eyes, hidden behind that fierce gaze. A sharp nose and jawline I hadn't noticed a moment ago. Red lips that looked like they might spit something nasty at any second.
And that body. Even at a glance he had to be six feet. And muscle a single T-shirt couldn't hide—not excessive, but solid—showing itself off.
Alpha male.
A few days ago I'd seen people online using the word alpha female to mean a superior woman. This person was an alpha male. I didn't really know, but he absolutely had to be. Instinct etched into my genes made me look at that man. Shouldn't the phrase superior male be used for someone like this?
I swallowed. My gaze drifted naturally toward the man's lower body……
"Hey."
I'm fucked!
I had to look away naturally. I couldn't try to check whether he'd been talking to me. I had to believe he hadn't, and pretend I didn't know.
Jihu looked at that man with a startled expression.
Please don't!
"You lookin'?"
I'm actually fucked.
No. Why were the words coming out like that? I'd definitely been about to say Excuse me.
I'd thought becoming Geum Taeyang had just made me like leather jackets, but even my vocabulary had gone this way. Damn it. Nothing was going right.
The male student who'd bumped me and taken the seat next to me. At first I looked over because I was annoyed, and in front of him I saw the girl who'd come in with him. From the way they talked, it was obvious they were dating.
It was annoying, but they were students out on a date—of course they'd be excited. I wasn't the kind of guy who wouldn't understand that.
But the girl in front of him didn't look so good. From her slightly furrowed brow, to an expression that looked faintly displeased, to a leg that kept twitching. Even at a glance, you could tell there was something wrong with her leg.
Was it right to take the seat for yourself and leave someone with a hurt leg standing? Your own girlfriend, no less? If he didn't even know her leg hurt, how little attention did he pay to his girlfriend?
Maybe it was because the remnants of my previous world hadn't disappeared, and I just couldn't stand watching a girl with a hurt leg left standing. No—it was probably just as a human being.
I felt uncomfortable. Obviously that didn't mean I had any right to lecture these kids, and I couldn't force someone else to give up a seat, so I was just going to offer mine.
Sweet Hannam Seong Yuhan isn't dead… or so I thought.
Excuse me.
"Hey."
Ah, fuck. The girl who'd been staring at my face glanced away. I still couldn't stop here.
Excuse me. You there, student.
"You lookin'?"
You son of a bitch.
My mouth had a mind of its own. How did Sweet Hannam Seong Yuhan end up like this.
Why was he calling me? Had I stared too obviously? What would Jihu think of me. No—more than that, what was going to happen to me. Terror wrapped around me.
I flinched.
That man suddenly slung an arm around my shoulder. The situation was so shocking and so scary… and yet I could feel his solid arm through the skin of my neck. His firm chest pressed against my body. When I'd playfully squeezed Jihu's arm before, it hadn't felt anything like this.
A strange excitement rose in me. No. I couldn't do this. Get a grip!
Getting scared of a man I'd never met. Getting turned on by a delinquent-looking guy. As a Korean woman, I felt self-loathing. I didn't want to look like a pathetic girl in front of Jihu.
I should say something even now. What did he think he was doing? Even if he was a man, you didn't just put your hands on someone else's body!
I was about to protest when that man ran his tongue slowly across his lips and whispered to me.
The breath that burrowed into my ear sent my willpower flying. My mind went blank. His glistening lips, the warm breath brushing my face, the heavy voice traveling through him—it was all too intoxicating.
Was this my type?
If he'd just talk a little more. If he'd just whisper to me.
All that came out of my mouth was something pathetic.
"Y…yees?"
"Your leg looks pretty bad… Did you hurt it? You okay? Standing's only gonna make it worse. Oppa'll give you his seat. Ride comfortable."
"Th… that's… I…"
A man with looks that outclassed any celebrity and a perfect body, with his arm around my shoulder, whispering in my ear. I was confident that no woman could keep her reason in this situation.
Jihu was looking at me, but my mouth wouldn't move. My instincts wanted this moment to continue.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing to someone else's girlfriend?"
"…What?"
That man's answer to Jihu's shout was a single word. Seeing his icy expression, terror spread across Jihu's face.
When Jihu shouted to try to help me, a thought flashed through me for a second. Why are you butting in.
I felt like if this went on any longer, I wouldn't be able to pull myself away from this man. I should be protecting Jihu… I was Jihu's girlfriend… I needed to snap out of it…
…
…
…
…No. That wasn't it.
What had Jihu ever done for me? Twenty minutes late to our meeting. Barely even cared that my leg hurt, and even knowing it, he took the one remaining seat for himself.
And this man? We were complete strangers, and he noticed something was wrong with my leg and gave me his seat. This man had done something for me. …Oppa had done something for me.
Rational thought wasn't happening. I was getting addicted to the faint scent coming off Oppa's body. I wished he'd keep holding me.
"Tsk."
Ah. Oppa was pulling away from me. A wave of disappointment filled me.
As time passed, my dazed mind slowly came back.
Now arriving at ──
The doors opened and Oppa left, and the space he'd vacated filled with pathetic men.
"Yumi, are you okay?! How is there even a person like that?!"
The pathetic ma— no. Jihu said.
"Uh… yeah…"
Jihu looked at me with a face full of worry…… and today, Jihu's face, everything about Jihu, looked so unbearably ugly.
I honestly didn't know if today's date was going to go well.
I just wanted to see Oppa one more time. I wanted to be held against that solid body again.
What even was life. Why was it this exhausting.
I'd just given up my seat out of kindness, and the girl got scared and the boy got mad at me. I mean, this was too unfair. It was always this damn Geum Taeyang body that was the problem.
I kept grumbling as I walked. After walking a little, I saw the orphanage up ahead, and my mood shot straight up.
Since falling into the Gender-Reversed World, this was the first time I'd felt this happy. I was worried the orphanage family might have changed too much. But it didn't matter. They were family.
I picked up my pace.