Why Does Your Name Sound Like a Girl's?
"Damn. 'Why does your name sound like a girl's?'"
"...My parents gave it to me. You tryna padrip me right now?"
"Huh?"
It was something I'd heard since I was a kid. All through school, even in college—it never ended. 'Your name sounds like a girl's.' 'In-ah's name is so pretty. Wait, you're a guy...?' 'In-ah-chan~ You're so kawaii again today~' 'How about changing it to something more manly, like Seo In-jang-gang?'
My name sounded like a girl's.
"...Maybe I should just change it."
My name was Seo In-ah. Just your average 25-year-old guy in Korea.
Not the manliest name, but I didn't have any bad feelings about it. I'd heard "girly" so many times it just rolled off. No malice behind it.
It's just a name a lot of girls have.
I got the name Seo In-ah 25 years ago, before I was even born. Back then, my parents—now with my late grandfather gone—were told emphatically by him: "Get the name from a shaman, no matter what!"
My parents weren't big believers, but they humored him and visited one. The shaman took one look and handed over two names.
"Your kid's definitely a girl! Pick one of these two, or disaster strikes. Be warned."
Not a doctor, but she predicted the unborn baby's gender like it was nothing. What if it was a boy? My parents just nodded and went home. Grandpa insisted the shaman was legit and bullied them into using one of those names.
Waaah~ Waaah~
"Congratulations! It's a healthy little prince."
"...Pardon?"
"A boy?"
And sure enough, a boy was born. They didn't reveal fetal gender back then, so no one knew until delivery. Holding their son, Mom and Dad agonized.
Both names were for girls. Sure, avoid disaster, but slapping a girl's name on a boy? Bigger problems. Especially since they didn't buy the shaman stuff—they worried about bullying.
Once Mom recovered, they went back, but a "Closed for Business" sign hung there, shaman long gone. No choice but to ask Grandpa, who was firmer than ever.
"Absolutely not."
"But it's a boy..."
"Shut it! You want your kid cursed with disaster?! One of those two names, end of story!"
In the end, they picked the less girly one of the two...
"...What a tearjerker, huh?"
"Legendary... So, what was the other name?"
"Seo Hye-in."
"...For real?"
"Yeah."
In a dive bar near campus, I spilled the origin story to an old friend over drinks, like some folktale. Nine out of ten who heard it sympathized with my plight.
I'd clap back at the "girly name" jabs with "My parents named me," but it was a lie from the start. Not my parents—a mystery shaman. A collab between a gender-blind fortune-teller and Grandpa's 100% stubbornness. At least it wasn't Seo Hye-in? In-ah's girly, but Hye-in's peak feminine.
"Maybe I should change it..."
"Now?"
"That's why now's the time. Tired of 'Are you a girl?' every damn time."
We laughed it off, but constantly being misgendered by name sucked. Good thing I bulked up young—dodged the bullying Mom feared. After decking the kid who mocked me, I earned "top fist among the girl students." No more bullying, but the laughs at my name? Eternal.
Grandpa, who threatened "Never change it," passed 10 years ago. Parents never trusted the shaman anyway. No one to stop me.
One worry, though...
"What if the curse is real?"
"...Bullshit."
That "disaster" the shaman warned about. Change the name and boom, bad luck? I doubt it.
Having Seo In-ah didn't bring constant good fortune. Injuries from workouts, nasty falls—accidents happened. No reason changing it would curse me.
I chugged my beer. Decision made.
"Screw it! I'm changing it."
"To what?"
"Not too drastic... Seo In-jae? Seo In-ho?"
"Oho... How about something manlier? I got an idea—"
"Seo In-jang-gang my ass. Shut up."
"Lol."
Six months later, I finally changed my name.
"Heh heh heh..."
On my new resident card: Seo In-ho.
Plenty of options, but this felt right. Anyone would peg it as a guy's name. Friends griped I didn't go In-jang-gang, but fuck those crazies.
"Ah, green light."
I gazed lovingly at my new ID and crossed the street.
And then.
"Huh?"
Vroooom!!!
"Oh."
CRASH!
A truck smashed into me.
"Fuck."
Isekai reincarnation. Thought it was just novel, comic, anime fodder. Never dreamed it'd happen to me.
Two moons in the sky, bizarre plants and creatures on the ground. Goblins, orcs, elves, dwarves—a full fantasy world.
In this absurd situation, I flailed to stand but froze.
Flap.
"Grah?"
Filling my view: thick red lizard scales and claws. A massive, intimidating beast gently nuzzling me. One look, and I went limp, accepting the pets. Thrashing might get me stabbed—double reincarnation not on my bingo card.
Anyway...
Seems I reincarnated as a lizard. Didn't notice at first, but my hands and feet matched the giant one.
"Grah."
Precisely, a dragon.
"She's gone."
Five years under Mother Dragon's care. She said urgent business, left me alone in the nest, and vanished.
We'd bonded over her teachings. Not real parents, but...
Like a mentor and benefactor?
Short five years, but educational. Even on Earth, she'd be a great person... er, dragon.
She taught dragon essentials, including Polymorph magic.
Shift from dragon to human form. Probably for dealing with humans, who had power here.
Flap.
"...A girl?"
A girl. Elementary school age, just starting.
My reflection in the calm lake was bizarre. Crimson eyes gleaming like captured suns, long red hair to my waist. Red horns curved sharply from my head—stabby. Flap. Oh, wings too. Big, cool bat-like ones—flyable even like this.
"Urgh..."
Sighing at the lakeside beauty. Knew I was female reborn, but seeing it? Different. Dragon form blurred gender lines anyway. Past-life memories made me think that way.
Hm.
Flap.
"Kinda badass."
Wings flapping human-style felt good. Cool as hell, in old terms? Grinning at the lake girl, I spun in place and headed back to the nest.
Twenty years later, I'd mastered all Mother Dragon left. Time to leave the nest.
Might as well explore since reincarnated. Also curious about her disappearance.
Thus began my long journey. I roamed the continent; the world dubbed me successor to the Flame Dragon, the Little Flame Dragon.
Little Flame Dragon Lea. Supreme dragon of flame blood.
I made a name once, fought here and there, but time dulls dragons too.
"Bored."
Three hundred years passed. Back at the nest, still looking like a pint-sized elementary girl—bigger, but kid-sized.
Dragons live too long. Humans rot five times over; for us, still childhood.
Past-life memories faded. Hunting Mother Dragon? Meh now. Probably dead as rumors said...
"Yawwwwwn~"
Sleep... Now I get why story dragons nap eternally in nests.
Nothing else to do.
Millennia ahead; sleep's the only game.
"Five years' nap... Then Fairy Kingdom for strawberry cream buns..."
Eyes drifting shut.
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