The Most Precious Childhood Friend in the World
The Most Precious Childhood Friend in the World
Lee Seoyun.
He often faced misunderstandings due to his androgynous name since his school days.
On the day of his elementary school entrance ceremony, the school mistakenly recorded Seoyun's gender and gave him a stationery gift set overflowing with pink as an entrance present.
This incident became the catalyst for bullying, and Seoyun was ostracized throughout his entire school life.
The boys always played excessive pranks on him to the point of making him cry, and the girls ignored Seoyun because they didn't want to associate with him.
After entering a high school in a different region, all the bullying disappeared, but the timid personality Seoyun had formed in his childhood remained unchanged.
Seoyun, who wasn't very sociable, spent a lonely school life until the day he became an adult.
Fortunately, amidst the misfortune, he did have someone who could be called a close friend.
"Why are you always alone?"
Third grade of elementary school, a memory of their first meeting that he still can't forget.
That day was also a day he had been bullied by friends.
A boy approached Seoyun, who was sitting on a playground swing and crying.
With messy hair, pale skin, and broad shoulders, he was Kim Junwoo, a senior one grade above attending the same school.
"Just... I like being alone..."
"Liar. Who likes being alone?"
"It's true. Being alone is more comfortable for my heart..."
He talked back, forcing a smile, but couldn't hide his slumped shoulders and face marked clearly by tear stains.
"Hmm... Is that so?"
Junwoo, who had a lollipop in his mouth, took some candy from a black plastic bag he had looped around his wrist and handed it to Seoyun.
"I'll give you this."
"Th, thank you..."
Seoyun sniffled and clutched the candy in his hand.
Finding that sight oddly cute, Junwoo chuckled lightly, looked around the empty surroundings, and then whispered quietly into Seoyun's ear.
"You know, I was originally going to eat that, but I gave it to you. So don't cry."
"Mmh..."
Junwoo said he was on his way to run an errand for his parents, patted Seoyun on the shoulder, waved his hand, and left.
Seoyun thought his retreating figure, treating him kindly without prejudice, was cool.
From that day on, Seoyun and Junwoo became inseparable friends.
Living in the same apartment complex and frequently running into each other coming and going became the catalyst for their closeness.
Junwoo found out that he was being ostracized at school and always held their meetings at his own house.
There was no chance of getting caught, and they could play and joke around to their heart's content, so Seoyun also agreed enthusiastically.
And so they graduated elementary school, middle school, high school...
Junwoo, who spent every day together with him until the day he became an adult, took a leave of absence from university and simultaneously enlisted in the military.
At the time of Junwoo's enlistment, Seoyun was a high school senior, busy studying for the Suneung and couldn't visit often.
"I want to go to the same university no matter what..."
Junwoo, who was a model student from a doctor family, entered a prestigious university in the Seoul area.
Seoyun, whose grades were average, tried his best to study hard and chase after Junwoo, but the results weren't good.
Since there was no university he could go to, he tried to enlist in the military as an escape.
He decided to solve the military service issue first and then start anew, but...
"Sigh... Lee Seoyun-ssi, you are exempt from military service."
"Huh? Wha, what did you say?"
"Exempt from military service. Your documents show your gender as Nb. You didn't even need to come for the examination... Did you perhaps not know?"
Seoyun, who went for his military service examination, heard words from the military doctor that struck him like a bolt from the blue.
His joy at receiving an exemption was very short-lived; hearing that the reason for the exemption was a 'sex chromosome genetic disease' plunged him into great shock.
He was told it was a rare disease without an exact name.
It was similar to 'Klinefelter Syndrome', which involves hormonal disturbances, but beyond a level that interferes with daily life, if management is neglected, one's gender might suddenly change at any time.
They said cell mutation makes one prone to disease, and this was also the reason for receiving the military exemption.
Seoyun immediately returned home and had his parents explain everything from beginning to end.
The story that he had suffered from a genetic disease since birth and grew up with an uncertain gender, that this was why he was given an androgynous name, and that he had received a terminal diagnosis but grew into an adult safely without any health issues.
In conclusion, he was definitely male now, but no one knew when his gender might suddenly change.
The reason for the Non-binary notation was also because of this.
"Why... on earth why..."
The vitamin he always took after meals turned out to be treatment medicine to slow the progression of the disease.
Why they had kept this fact a secret until now—Seoyun, trembling with a sense of betrayal, fought with his parents and then ran out of the house.
"No wonder there were so many differences from my friends."
Physical bone structure, small stature, snow-white skin, slightly swollen chest and pelvis, emotional personality.
Listening to the explanation, it all seemed to be due to the genetic disease.
With nowhere to go, Seoyun wandered around and then went to visit Junwoo at the military base.
Aside from family, Junwoo was the only person he could open up to and talk with.
"Seoyun-ah~ It's been so long, really? You don't even visit often, I'm really disappointed."
Junwoo, who entered the visitation room in his military uniform, had become a handsome man with tanned skin.
His childhood friend, whom he had missed so much, somehow felt unfamiliar.
"Junwoo hyung... you know..."
"What? Is something wrong?"
"I got exempted from military service. I have a genetic disease I didn't know about."
"Really?"
The smiling expression on Junwoo's face changed.
He sincerely worried about Seoyun and listened attentively to his story.
"Sex chromosome genetic disease? It's okay! As long as you're alive and not dead, that's what matters! And whether you're a woman or a man, I'll always be your close friend!"
"Really?"
"Of course~ Where would our 13 years of friendship disappear to?"
Junwoo, who lightened the mood with his easygoing laugh, stroked Seoyun's head.
He reassured him, saying that there was no chance of suddenly becoming a woman now.
Hearing the comfort he wanted to hear, Seoyun's eyes reddened as he pulled Junwoo into a hug.
"Thank you..."
"Geez, being pointlessly nice..."
He wanted to act spoiled like a child and rubbed his head against him.
"It's okay~ It's okay~"
"Mhmm..."
Seoyun held Junwoo's body tightly and didn't let go for a while.
One might misunderstand and think it was strange.
Several months passed.
Seoyun, who had accepted his difference from others, returned to his usual daily life.
He made up with his parents and studied hard for the Suneung, going to the library diligently.
Seoyun's goal of wanting to go to the same university as Junwoo never changed.
"Ah..."
While studying, his phone alarm went off, and Seoyun closed his book as if he had been waiting for it.
Seeing the text that Junwoo, who had recently been discharged, was coming to his house, he grinned like a fool and tried to calm his pounding heart.
In his boring 24-hour study life, meeting Junwoo was his only deviation.
Ding-dong—
Three minutes after receiving the text, the doorbell rang.
Junwoo, who lived in the next building of the same apartment complex, visited with both hands full of gifts.
"Hello, Mother."
"Oh my~ Junwoo-ya~ You could have come empty-handed~"
"Ah, but it's a bit much to come empty-handed when I'm always coming over to hang out."
"Right, thank you~ How come you keep getting more handsome as days go by?"
"No, I'm always the same, really."
He humbly bowed his head in denial, but Junwoo was a handsome man who heard everywhere he went that he was good-looking.
With superior genes, he had a tall height of 183cm, a muscular physique built through fitness, and an attractive appearance that could rival celebrities.
An acknowledged alpha male life where he could get girls' phone numbers just by walking down the street in broad daylight.
It makes one wonder why he still hadn't gotten a girlfriend.
"Is Seoyun inside?"
"He's probably studying in his room right now? He's studying so hard saying he wants to go to the same university as you..."
"Really? Then I should help him study a bit."
Seoyun's parents added unnecessary comments, worrying about their son.
He had set too big a goal and had been frustrated once before; they were already very worried that he might fail the Suneung this time and be shocked again.
"Seeing him study so hard like that, I'm sure Seoyun can do it too. I'll do my best to help him."
"Really? Hearing that from you, Junwoo, puts my mind at ease~"
Junwoo handed the fruit box he brought to Seoyun's parents and opened the bedroom door.
Even though he had been waiting for Junwoo's visit more than anyone, Seoyun was sitting at his desk studying without even glancing his way.
He even secretly smiled as if asking for praise for studying hard.
"Working hard, huh? Amazing~"
Junwoo, who had already figured out his intention, stroked Seoyun's head and sat down next to him.
Seoyun, who casually swatted his arm away, frowned.
"Don't touch me."
"Huh? Is it the rebellious phase now?"
"It's not that..!"
Junwoo's attitude of always treating him like a child was annoying, but he didn't dislike it.
Seoyun tore his gaze away from the workbook, sat facing him, and grinned.
"You know~ Do you know what happened today?"
"Why? Did something happen?"
"No, this morning..."
Things that happened at home, trivial stories he saw on an internet community, news stories about living in the world.
Seoyun, who kept talking without stopping, was happier in this moment than anyone else.