Family in the Gender-Reversed World
“......”
Daseul was still clutching my sleeve, head bowed low. The bold move she’d pulled at the goods shop had vanished completely; she was back in full shy armadillo mode. Yet the aura radiating from that silence felt far stickier and more resolute than before.
“U-um… Siwoo.”
“Hm? What’s up?”
“Our house… is actually really close from here. Besides what we bought earlier, I have a lot more valuable goods at home. So… would you like to come over and see them?”
Whoa. Would you look at that?
I whistled internally. Even without the gender-reversed world setting, I wasn’t young enough to miss what it meant for a male high schooler to step inside a female classmate’s house—especially when her parents might be home. No matter how hard you pushed the “we’re just friends” excuse, visiting someone of the opposite sex carried real weight.
Miss Im Daseul, aren’t you progressing a bit too fast?
Through the military-otaku brain filter, this was like a runaway train in a dating sim, skipping three or four favorability events in one go and barreling straight toward the H-scene. Of course, since I possessed the mind of a healthy man in his twenties, it would be a lie to say I didn’t waver for a second… But the core of push-and-pull is that the push matters more than the pull.
“Hmm—”
I rested my chin on my hand, pretending to think it over while staring straight at her. Daseul trembled under my gaze and hugged the goods bag tightly to her chest. Her eyes quivered with a mixture of hope and fear.
“That took courage, Daseul,” I said, reaching out to gently stroke her hair. She let out a tiny “Hik!” and hunched her shoulders, but she didn’t pull away. If anything, she accepted the touch quietly.
“But what can I do? I need to get home before it gets too late. My parents will worry.”
“Ah…”
Her face fell instantly, like a puppy watching its snack get snatched away. The sight was so adorable I couldn’t help smiling, as if driving the nail in deeper.
“Don’t look so disappointed. We’ll see each other at school tomorrow anyway, right? Training isn’t something you finish in a single day. We’ll pick up where we left off. See you then!”
“……Okay. Got it, Siwoo. Get home safe.”
She fiddled with my sleeve a moment longer, reluctant, then finally waved goodbye with what looked like a firm decision. I shot her a wink, turned on my heel, and coolly headed down the street.
Feeling a stare was usually just paranoia, but this time I was certain Daseul was watching me from behind. Naturally, I didn’t look back. Some things taste better when you leave a little lingering aftertaste.
Man, today was seriously productive.
I shoved my hands into my pockets and hummed a tune. The soul of a discharged army sergeant wearing a yankee shell was pretty satisfied with the parade of unreal rom-com moments that had filled the day.
But the moment I stepped onto the bus home, I found myself pondering this world’s “common sense” all over again.
Now that I think about it, she’ll be there when I get home.
In typical otaku media, a gyaru’s family usually falls into one of two categories. First, the little sister—loli gyaru, mesugaki, pure-and-haughty, whatever flavor you prefer. They all ultimately serve as toppings for the same rice bowl. Second, the little brother—tsundere boys who act disgusted by their older sister’s dried-fish-girl habits but secretly look after her. They exist to trigger her maternal instincts or reveal her unexpectedly domestic side.
I don’t have much data on older sisters or brothers. They rarely show up. Applying these tropes to a real family felt questionable, yet ever since I’d been possessed into this world I couldn’t help viewing everything through that lens.
Because back in my original world, a beast known as a “little sister” had lived under the same roof.
That girl was seriously… not human. Entering my room without permission and rummaging through my stuff was standard procedure. Extorting my allowance and spilling my secrets to our parents was daily life. While real siblings are usually like that, she had taken it to another level.
But the little sister of this world was nothing like the one in my memories.
The Siyeon I remember… was a literal angel.
Was it the gender-reversed world setting? Or had this world’s Kang Siwoo simply hit the jackpot? No matter how far I dug through my memories, I couldn’t recall Siyeon ever getting annoyed with me or talking back. Instead she treated her older brother like something precious that needed constant protection—a fantasy little-sister archetype the old me could never have imagined.
Ugh… Just thinking about it gives me goosebumps.
I rubbed my arms as I got off the bus. Standing in front of the door, an odd tension settled over me. What would today’s angelic little sister look like?
Ding-dong.
The electronic lock released. The moment I opened the door, the gentle aroma of doenjang stew and warm air wrapped around me. It was the unmistakable scent of a real home—something my old one-room apartment could never provide.
Not that I had chosen to marry into this family or anything.
Before I could even kick off my shoes—
Tap tap tap tap—!
Rapid footsteps burst from the living room. A girl in a neat school uniform came flying toward the entrance. She still had a trace of baby fat on her cute face. My little sister, Kang Siyeon.
“Oppa! You’re finally back? Why are you so late!”
The instant she saw me her face lit up. She hurried over and naturally took the bag from my hand as if claiming it.
“Isn’t that heavy? Give it here. The outside world is dangerous—how can a boy stay out so late? I was worried sick!”
“Uh… yeah. Sorry. I was hanging out with a friend.”
I answered while slipping off my sneakers, still a little dazed. Siyeon puffed her cheeks, clearly unhappy with the response, and launched into a lecture.
“What friend? Not those delinquent-looking unnies, I hope? The problem is that Oppa is way too pretty. The world these days is scary, you know!”
This was it. The little sister of a gender-reversed world.
To the old me, a little sister had been nothing more than a creature who barged into my room, stole my allowance, and yelled, “Hey, Kang Siwoo, make ramen.” Real siblings were supposed to treat each other like insects and avoid talking unless parents were around. That was the rule.
But Siyeon in this world was completely different.
“Hurry up and wash your hands. I made rolled omelets and meat side dishes—your favorites. They’ll taste bad if they get cold, so come quickly!”
She pushed my back, guiding me toward the bathroom. She had even prepared a towel in advance. While I lathered soap on my hands, I stared blankly at my reflection in the mirror.
……I really can’t get used to this.
If it had been my original little sister, she would have stayed in her room playing on her phone and said, “Ugh, Oppa, you smell. Go away,” whether I came home late or not. Here, she treated me like fragile glass art, fussing over every detail.
The moment I sat at the table, Siyeon piled my rice bowl high with meat.
“Eat lots, Oppa. You’ve been losing weight lately and it makes me sad. A man should have some meat on his bones to look healthy.”
“…Aren’t you eating?”
“I ate earlier! Just watching you is enough to fill me up. Oh, right—did anything happen at school today? No one bothered you, did they?”
Siyeon rested her chin in her hands, watching me eat with a contented smile. The look in her eyes wasn’t that of a sister watching her brother; it was closer to a father gazing at a cherished pet or a young daughter. Goosebumps again. I chewed the meat filling my mouth and deliberately looked away.
Kindness was nice, but when it was this overwhelming it felt like watching a horror movie. Was this the true terror of the gender-reversed world?
“……Siyeon.”
“Yes? What is it, Oppa? More side dishes?”
“No, it’s not that… Why do you treat me so well? Did you do something wrong?”
Her eyes widened, then she burst into bright laughter.
“What are you talking about, Oppa! It’s only natural to take good care of your one and only brother. All you have to do is stay pure at home and receive love. Your little sister will handle all the hard stuff outside!”
She reached to pat my head but frowned slightly at my platinum-blonde yankee hairstyle.
“But Oppa, this hairstyle really is a bit much. It’s too tempting. What if weird women try to approach you? Should we dye it black tomorrow? Yeah?”
“…I’ll think about it.”
I gave a vague answer and kept shoveling rice into my mouth. The angelic little sister was undoubtedly the ultimate otaku fantasy, the pinnacle of every fan’s dreams. But to a man with the mentality of a discharged sergeant, the excessive kindness only registered as an uncomfortable “status ailment.”
I’d almost rather she cursed me out like before…
But Siyeon, unaware of my inner thoughts, took my empty plate and headed to the sink. Even her energetic, kind back view made me rub the goosebumps on my arms once more.
Family life in the gender-reversed world. This might actually be even more hardcore than school.
It wasn’t like I had suddenly become a yankee—I had been living like this since childhood. Yet she never got tired of nagging every single time I came home… This was true madness.