The Anonymous Post
Somehow, I ended up with the box of sanitary pads. No matter how I tried to stash it away, the bulk size made it impossible to fit in my bag. “Will you be okay on your own? Should I ask Seokjun to walk you home?”
“N-no… I’m fine. Thank you.”
I turned down the kind offer with a polite bow, even though she was clearly worried. It wasn’t like the walk was that far. “Goodbye!”
“Come visit again sometime.”
Before the well-meaning kindness could make me feel any more embarrassed, I hurried out of the apartment with everything in hand. When I finally made it home and swung the door open, Mom happened to be passing by the entrance. Hyunseo came out of our room right after, heading for the water purifier, and both of them stopped dead in their tracks. They were clearly curious about what I was carrying.
“What’s that in your hand? You said you went to Seokjun’s place.”
Mom was the first to speak. Couldn’t you just pretend you didn’t see it? After a moment of hesitation, I forced the words out through gritted teeth.
“…Sanitary pads. Seokjun’s mom gave them to me.”
“Whaaat?!”
Hyunseo reacted instantly. “Oh! So you have to think about that stuff now too, Oppa!”
For some reason she sounded way too excited about the word “period,” raising her voice beside me.
“…Why are you so hyped?”
I shot her a glare, annoyed by the whole situation. “Now you’ll finally understand how hard this is for me.”
“You’re actual trash.”
Basically, she was just happy we could share the same pain. I couldn’t help but voice my genuine admiration with the harshest insult I could muster from the bottom of my heart.
“Aww, I should thank Seokjun’s mom. I never would’ve thought of that.”
Mom ignored our bickering completely. She took the box from me, set it in front of the bathroom, and muttered to herself as she walked back into the living room. Right after placing it down, she picked up her phone. From the context, she was clearly about to call Seokjun’s mom.
I kicked off my shoes like usual and tossed my worn-out backpack into the corner of the room. “Hello? Oh, Seokjun’s mom.”
Once I stepped inside, I could faintly hear the call starting. It had been a while since Mom talked to her, so she’d probably be on the phone for at least thirty minutes.
Hyunseo, who had only drunk some water, returned to the computer. I spread my blanket out roughly, placed the chest support pillow I’d gotten from the teacher on top, and flopped down on my stomach. Ever since receiving it, lying face-down had become much more comfortable. Humans really will invent anything if they need it badly enough.
While marveling at humanity’s obsession with convenience, I remembered that tomorrow was the first of May and called out to Hyunseo. “Hey, Hyunseo. Don’t forget to pay me back tomorrow.”
“Huh? Oh, yeah.”
Her answer sounded half-hearted. Had she even been listening? She was probably too focused on the game right now, so I decided I’d remind her again once she got into bed.
Even though we shared a room, we existed in our own worlds. That was just how we were as siblings. Still lying on my stomach, I started searching on my phone.
Beastman Disease Korea
My interest was still firmly fixed on articles about myself. The news hadn’t gone completely viral, but a few communities were quietly sharing my story. I killed time by reading the posts that reposted those articles. The places where my article was getting the most attention were a few minor galleries—especially the Beastman and Furry minor galleries. The ones that posted pictures of animals pretending to be people.
I want to catch Beastman Disease too (10)
The title alone was shocking the moment I clicked in. The content was even worse.
If you catch Beastman Disease, you’d be surrounded by fluffy fur every single day, right? You could just bury your face in your tail and sniff around all the time. I think medicine needs to advance fast so they can make a way for people to catch Beastman Disease on purpose. I know all you beast-fans are thinking the same thing.
It was the kind of post you could only laugh at after actually catching the disease yourself. There really were all kinds of crazy people in the world. With that thought, I scrolled down to the comments.
Comments trying to distance themselves from the horrifying post were an added bonus. This kind of back-and-forth was part of the gallery’s charm. Even though it was just a minor gallery, seeing my mosaic-blurred photo floating around gave me a strange feeling. They probably never imagined the actual person was reading this.
Feeling mischievous, I carefully removed the tail cover, turned on my phone’s camera, and took a silent photo. I cropped it so only the tail and waist area showed, attached it to a new post, and decided to stir things up a little.
I Am the Actual Person Who Caught Beastman Disease
A provocative title paired with a single real photo. Even that only showed the tail clearly, with just a bit of the waist visible on the blanket. I didn’t add any text to the body. I wondered what kind of comments the gallery users would leave later. With that half-indifferent attitude, I forgot about the post while finishing the game’s daily quests past midnight.
When Hyunseo finally turned off the lights and got into bed, I remembered the post and opened my phone again.
I Am the Actual Person Who Caught Beastman Disease (42)
The moment I refreshed, the scroll bar stretched dramatically. “Whoa…”
Other posts only had around ten to twenty comments, but mine had exploded to forty-two. For this gallery, that was a massive number. Excited, I clicked into my own post.
The reactions were even more explosive than I’d imagined. Thanks to my post, the gallery—which usually only got a new post every few minutes—had become noticeably more active.
Everything from claims that it was fake to expressions of envy. Some people were even digging up news articles to compare the photo I posted with the one in the article. These people were really serious about the fur. But this was as far as I was going to throw bait. Without giving any more clues, I just watched the gallery burn while chuckling to myself. Since I’d ended up with this body anyway, a little mischief like this was fine, right?
Satisfied with my trolling, I closed my eyes in relief. When I opened them again, May 1st had arrived. For once, I woke up on my own without Mom having to wake me. Rubbing my eyes, I checked the time on my phone—9:27 a.m.
…Huh? School should’ve started a long time ago. My brain froze for a second as I blinked my sleepy eyes. Oh, right. Labor Day.
Realizing belatedly that May 1st was also a holiday, I flopped back down on my side. For a moment I’d thought Mom had overslept. The surprise had half-woken me up. Since I’d woken up earlier than usual for a holiday, I stayed in bed and tapped away on my phone. Suddenly the game screen rotated to portrait mode, and a call screen popped up.
The caller was the hospital. It was early morning… or maybe not that early anymore? Either way, they were calling before lunch. Since I already had my phone in hand, I casually swiped to answer.
“Hello…”
My voice came out drowsy, like it was underwater. I’d only just woken up, after all. Soon, a familiar voice came from the other end.
“Hello. Yes, this is Professor speaking. Is this Hyunwoo?”
“Yeees, Professor…”
“Oh my, did you just wake up?”
The professor’s voice was clear even though it was still fairly early. I answered with difficulty while fighting off sleep, and a teasing voice came back from the other side.
“Mhm, haaah…”
“Would it be possible for you to come to the hospital this evening with a guardian?”
Unable to hold back a long yawn, I stretched it out. The professor made his usual suggestion and waited for my agreement. There was no reason to refuse when they were paying me. “Yeees, I understand.”
“Alright, I’ll see you in the evening.”
The call ended abruptly after my short confirmation. Thirst hit me soon after, so I got out of bed and headed for the water purifier.
“What was that call about?”
I ran into Dad in the kitchen. He must’ve heard the conversation and figured out I’d been on the phone. “Mm, it was the hospital.”
“Why? What for?”
Even after I explained it was the hospital, he kept pressing. Why else would a hospital call? I answered half-heartedly. “They just want me to come in this evening.”
“Huh? Just you?”
Dad’s ridiculous question made me raise my voice first thing in the morning. “No, obviously with a guardian.”
Dad had a habit of saying frustrating things like this sometimes. Whether it was telling outdated jokes or making comments that completely missed the mood. After explaining with a cold expression, Dad suddenly pointed at himself.
“If it’s a guardian, can’t Dad go?”
“I guess so.”
“Then I’ll go.”
His indifferent answer made me uneasy. Going to the hospital with Dad instead of Mom? Dad probably meant to reduce Mom’s burden, but still…
“It’s not a veterinarian examining you, right? Heh heh.”
“Ah, no… it’s not like that.”
It would just mean the embarrassment would shift from Mom to me. When we arrived at the hospital later, I felt secondhand embarrassment just imagining Dad making that joke to the professor. Dad, please just stay quiet. Stop with the weird jokes and be still.