Righteous Homecoming (2)
Righteous Homecoming (2)
"Huaaaaam..."
I yawned so wide my mouth felt like it would split.
Inside the rattling intercity bus. Maybe because it was Saturday lunchtime, the passengers including me could be counted on one hand.
On my way down to my parents' house to resupply on side dishes. This time, I tried sitting in a special seat.
By the name of 'Male Consideration Seat'.
Originally, in my common sense, 'consideration seats' meant pink seats for pregnant women or yellow seats for the elderly and disabled.
But in this world, they consider young men with perfectly healthy limbs.
At this age, I've proudly secured a warm and soft seat. Should I call it deeply moving?
'But fuck... if you think about it the other way.'
Doesn't sitting in this seat itself advertise that 'I'm a man with a dick'?
I had that thought for a moment, but soon stopped thinking.
Who cares. If it's comfortable, that's enough.
I pulled my hat down low and pulled my mask up to my nose. I turned my head toward the window and admired the outside scenery.
'Nice. Peaceful.'
Fortunately, unlike last time when I went home, no one tried to hit on me or talk to me. It was pleasant.
.
.
.
Before I knew it, the bus arrived at the stop. Familiar neighborhood scenery.
I headed toward my parents' house with light steps.
Maybe because it was weekend lunchtime, or maybe it's just a quiet residential area. The streets were deserted.
Well, there were occasional passersby, but no one clung to me.
As I walked, a thought suddenly occurred to me.
Living in this world, you often get bombarded with aggro just for being a 'young man.' But surprisingly, the street difficulty isn't as hellish as I thought.
The reason was simple.
Because besides me, there are plenty of people who 'look like men' scattered on the streets.
Women in this world favor short cuts or two-block hairstyles. And there are quite a lot of women with broad shoulders and big builds packed with muscles and padding from working out.
At a glance, it's hard to tell if they're male or female. They're unintentionally diverting my 'aggro'.
'So even if I walk around openly...'
From afar, people probably just think, 'Ah, there goes a well-built handsome woman who looks like a general,' or 'She must be a stylish lesbian (?)' and brush it off.
Thanks to that, I could walk in the blind spot of that 'misconception' and enjoy my own peace.
Well, that's just my guess. No one knows the real reason.
That's enough idle thoughts.
My head was already full of my mother's savory braised beef and steaming hot freshly cooked rice.
Before I knew it, I was in front of the house.
Riiing, beep.
"I have arrived..."
As I opened the door lock and stepped into the entrance, I stopped short, unable to finish my dramatic line.
"······?"
The entrance floor was a mess.
From colorful sneakers to high-heeled sandals and loafers. Shoes filled the narrow entrance, scattered haphazardly. Roughly counting, there were at least three or four pairs.
'······Are they liquidating a shoe store?'
That was when.
From the inner room, specifically my younger sister Ji-hye's room, the sound of loud laughter leaked out.
— Kkyareureu! Really? That's awesome!
— Hey, so what did she say?
Looks like friends came over. They probably didn't hear me come in.
I thought for a moment. Should I go say hello?
No need. We don't know each other, what's the point of showing my face? They're here to hang out, and if some guy who's supposedly her older brother snoops around, it'd only make them uncomfortable.
I decided to just ignore it. I quieted my footsteps and headed to the kitchen. My only goal was the refrigerator.
I carefully opened the refrigerator door.
"Let's see..."
Mom said she put side dishes in the fridge via text. I scanned the inside.
This is aged kimchi. That's stir-fried anchovies. And a heavy container sitting in the corner.
I opened the lid a little, and along with the savory soy sauce aroma, delicious-looking chunks of meat shyly revealed themselves.
'Found it. My provisions.'
I'll pack this tomorrow morning. I'm planning to stay here the night anyway.
Actually, I could just grab the side dishes and sneak back to my place like a stray cat... but since I came all the way home after a long time, I thought it'd be nice to have dinner with the family before leaving.
I took out my phone from my pocket and sent a text to Mom.
[Me]
: Arrived home. But Ji-hye's friends are here.
The reply came in less than a minute.
[Mom]
: Oh my, you're here now? Ji-hye said she had a group project and called friends over, so I stepped out for a bitㅠㅠ
: Are you uncomfortable? Son.
[Me]
: Doesn't matter.
: I'm staying overnight tonight. I'll have dinner together and then go.
[Mom]
: Okay~ Mom will come back soon! Just rest a bit~
I shoved the phone back into my pocket and moved toward my room. I had to cross the living room, and the noise from beyond that door was a bit annoying.
That was when.
Bang.
Ji-hye's door burst open and she popped out. She came face-to-face with me as I was passing through the living room.
Her eyes went wide.
"······Uh? Oppa, you came?"
"Yeah. To get side dishes."
"Uh...uh... when? No... I... uh... today I have a group project so friends came over..."
Ji-hye stammered in a fluster, then subtly reached behind her back to grab the doorknob.
Her hand movement to close the wide-open door was urgent.
"It's fine. Don't mind me, keep doing what you were doing."
I tried to pass by nonchalantly.
But just before the door closed, faces squeezed through the gap.
"What? Ji-hye's oppa?"
"Omg······."
Eyes poured over Ji-hye's shoulder.
Ji-hye quickly spread her arms to block the door gap.
"Ah, guys. No. Go inside, please······."
Ji-hye pushed them back with her back, but the friends stuck their heads over her shoulder.
"Oppa, hello~ We're Ji-hye's friends!"
"Wow, you're really tall."
"Oppa, if it's not too rude, could you take off your mask······."
Ji-hye seemed even more flustered by the attention. She looked at me with a tearful face and mouthed 'sorry'.
I just gave a slight nod.
"······Work hard on your project. Oh right. I'm eating and sleeping over tonight."
That was it. I turned away without hesitation, as if I had no further business. Behind me, I heard a wistful sigh.
Click.
I entered my room and locked the door. As the door closed, the ruckus became muffled and distant.
I took off my hat, tossed it onto the desk, and looked at the bed. My brow furrowed.
"······."
The blanket was disheveled.
The pillow was out of place, lying askew, and on the mattress, there were clear creases as if someone had walked over it.
Did Mom or Ji-hye search my room? Or maybe last time when I went back to my place, I didn't make the bed and just left it like that.
I couldn't remember. I stood there looking down at the crumpled blanket for a moment.
"Ah, whatever."
I decided to stop thinking. It was too bothersome to consider cause and effect.
I just threw myself onto the bed.
Thump.
The mattress cushioned my weight and sank softly. But the moment I buried my head in the pillow, a strange sensation brushed my nose.
Sniff.
It was an unfamiliar scent.
A sweet, subtle floral fragrance that couldn't possibly come from my room. It smelled like shampoo mixed with citrus, or maybe a luxurious body lotion.
'Did they change the fabric softener?'
Or maybe Mom sprayed a ton of fabric deodorizer instead of cleaning to get rid of the musty smell.
I decided to just let it go. After all, it's better than a stale smell.
Lying on the bed, I blankly counted the patterns on the ceiling, then suddenly felt curious and picked up my phone.
What I was going to look into today was 'part-time jobs'.
Actually, in this world, men can survive without having to work.
Basically, if you regularly visit the 'Sperm Donation Center' and fulfill your duty, a decent 'Male Subsidy' gets deposited into your account.
On top of that, there are plenty of welfare benefits like housing subscription bonus points and loan interest exemptions.
So-called economic freedom is guaranteed.
But if a person just lazes around doing nothing, their brain is bound to get moldy.
A moderate amount of work is a source of vitality in life and also a source of funds for additional entertainment.
Of course, the average men in this world seem to think a bit differently than me.
I don't need to look far. Just look at my friend Park Hyun-woo. He says he lives in a 'Male-only safe villa' and blows all the monthly subsidy on rent.
Of course, there's no problem with his survival.
His girlfriends No. 1, 2, and 3 buy him food, clothes, even the latest game consoles. He's a model kept man who personally practices the principles of capitalism.
"Well, I can't go that far."
Anyway, I opened the browser with the intention of earning a little pocket money. Not to start right away, but as market research.
I dryly typed keywords into the search engine, Googol.
[Part-time job recommendations]
[Male-preferred part-time jobs]
[Men's part-time jobs]
Enter.
The loading finished and the screen changed.
"Whoa, what the..."
The search results that appeared on the screen made my eyebrows twitch as I scrolled down.