Physical Examination (1)
Physical Examination (1)
"... Good morning, Head of the Family-nim."
After finishing the meal served by the Household Robot and completing my preparations like showering, Rina was standing in front of me.
She was dressed in the same suit pants as when I first saw her, a white shirt with rolled-up sleeves, and a light jacket.
I'd hoped for something a bit more feminine, but yeah, that was a stretch.
"Morning, huh? Feels weird. It's 1 p.m. right now."
"As I mentioned, 1 p.m. is morning here. It's 400 years later, after all."
Rina's voice was calmly subdued.
She'd always had a somewhat low tone for a woman, but today even the slight inflection she usually had was gone.
"... You seem subtly irritable. Sorry if I was frustrating..."
"... No. I have low blood pressure right after waking up..."
Rina narrowed her eyes slightly and touched her forehead.
With her pale face and not a hint of a smile, she really looked like mornings were tough for her.
It was 1 p.m., sure, but from her perspective, it was morning.
"Sorry, Head of the Family-nim. I didn't receive proper household training under an adult."
"No, you don't need to self-deprecate that much."
I tried to defend her.
Come to think of it, I'd heard Rina had no siblings or parents.
I didn't know when her parents passed, but judging by the vibe, it was probably pretty young.
And yet she inherited the family business—definitely no ordinary person.
Though it probably came at the cost of something like neurosis.
"I've heard that 400 years ago, it was an equal society regardless of gender. I respect that. Such a beautiful world. Lowly men and superior women eating at the same table. I have a dream. A world any male rights activist would dream of. It must truly have been an ideal world."
"No, you're romanticizing it too much. It was still a world where people lived..."
I waved it off.
Back then, it was female rights activists running wild.
No beauty there either.
"No. Even if men now aren't worth that much... the past is beautiful by law. Please teach me. I believe there's much to learn even from the world 400 years ago. Thank you."
"You... that praise has zero soul in it."
I belatedly realized Rina had zero real interest in the world 400 years ago.
Well, unless you're a historian, I only learned about 400 years ago from Korean history textbooks too.
"......"
She was forcing it out of consideration for me, but it was obvious she didn't actually see the past as some ideal society—from that rapid, perfunctory tone.
Rina stepped aside and extended her arm toward the path for me to pass.
"Let's go, Head of the Family-nim."
It felt weird, like a gentleman yielding the way to a lady first.
"... You're so polite. Feels like I'm a lady in a dress, my face is gonna burst."
"I studied 400-year-old manners. I hope it brings back some nostalgic memories for you, Head of the Family-nim."
"No, no, that's not it. It was the same 400 years ago. No such manners. You'd have to go way further back, like medieval Europe or something. Even 400 years ago, there were plenty of rude punks."
"Oh, that romantic era?"
"The past wasn't all romantic. You're having way too many fantasies!"
"I'm not saying I am? Did I commit some rudeness?"
"As if—"
"But being this polite only happens when it's just us two. You know what I mean, right?"
"Exactly, it's not real manners... uh... yeah."
Rina suddenly turned serious, catching me off guard.
As the Chairperson of Eden Genesis and a social intellectual, she was quite cautious.
Makes sense, if you think about it.
By her standards, being overly polite to me probably looked as ridiculous and absurd as bowing 90 degrees to a monkey or a dog—she'd emphasized that several times.
She was warning me now.
Don't feel hurt when she changes around others.
About her attitude shifting.
"Then let's go, Head of the Family-nim. The S-X Virus exam will be done at our own Bio Center."
"... Is that so?"
"Why the formal speech...?"
"Think of it as a sign of respect."
"... You don't need to do that for me, Head of the Family-nim. I'm much further down the family line."
"......"
"The government wanted to handle you at a national institution, but we reached a compromise."
"'Handle'—harsh word."
"Definitely handling, yes. To suppress the S-X Virus, various measures are needed."
The S-X Disease, which abnormally increases testosterone, is a disaster in a female-dominant society.
And since it's contagious too, I should be grateful they weren't just isolating me.
"You're one impressive lady."
I suddenly spilled my honest thoughts.
"If I were the government, I wouldn't listen to some random individual. The S-X is that dangerous a virus. Coddling everyone would collapse order. But you convinced them for my sake."
"......"
Did I get too casual?
I thought it was okay since she's my 11th-generation grandniece.
Age-wise, she's older.
'Should I say, "Sorry, Grandniece-nim?"'
As I sneakily gauged her reaction, Rina looked at me.
"Of course. I'm an advisory committee member for the government's social maintenance policy, and their biggest sponsor too."
"... You sound so robotic."
"And I'm the Head of the Family-nim's grandniece. We're family."
"......"
Unwavering turquoise pupils.
They stared at me clearly, reminding me of Seo-yoon.
'Ah, sis... heart throb...'
This one, Rina, is totally the type popular with women.
She's a company leader, sure, but she has that heart-fluttering quality.
Even I, a guy, feel it—must be huge with women.
'Wonder if she has a girlfriend?'
Not that I'm a yuri fanatic, but two pretty girls tangled up...
"......"
... I approve, approve.
That'd be a pretty beautiful scene. Ahh.
Of course, if I could squeeze in between for perfect yin-yang harmony, even better.
'Kang Do-yoon, you crazy bastard, she's your grandniece—what are you thinking...'
I tackled myself with guilt.
But I was curious.
In a world where men can't function, is sex nonexistent?
Unless they've erased sexual desire, lovers are a must.
If they treat neutered men like dogs, then as 'humans,' lovers would have to be women.
Is this society led by lesbians?
Is porn just lesbian-only?
... Yeah, possible!
"I'll take you to my most trusted researcher friend."
Rina snapped me out of my fantasies.
"Please...!"
"No need to be nervous. She's cute. And despite appearances, she's a total elite."
From the Penthouse, we took the private elevator straight down to the basement.
There, we met a woman in a lab coat—white hair, jewel-like blue eyes, looking like a ball-jointed doll.
"Waaah—! Way, way, waaay—! Freakishly... monster-like!"
That was the first thing she said, with a bright face.
*
"Waaah—! Way, way, waaay—! So... so ignorant, massively, huge..."
"......"
"Dog-thing, monster-like, yes!"
"What did you just..."
This girl's got a mouth on her.
I could kinda make out the weird words mixed in.
She looked pretty cute, but calling a person a monster?
My favorability plummeted.
No matter how big and clear her cute blue eyes are or how round she makes them.
Human malice boils up instantly.
'And her boobs are small too.'
It was a split-second scan of the researcher Rina introduced, head to toe.
White hair, shining blue eyes...
Her rare, beautiful mixed-race face was doll-like, but definitely no manners.
'Is this how they treat men in this era?'
I hoped my grandniece would say something, but she took no action.
Instead, she got straight to business.
"Cut it out, Uriel. This is our Head of the Family-nim, you know."
"Eck— Head of the Family-nim or not, he's a man, right? Should I... bow politely? Politely?"
"......"
What's this woman saying?
Her pronunciation's off.
Definitely a foreigner.
She looked about my age, but short.
Maybe 158cm.
Hard to gauge foreign ages, but around 22.
Impressive to be Chief Researcher at that age, sure.
But with that speech, hard to trust.
"This bitch, can she even do research properly? She's just all bubbly innocent? Weren't those early-grad genius types usually messy-haired with dark circles?"
"This bitch? You mean, you little sucker?"
The doll-girl tilted her head.
Her hair flowed smoothly, skin flawless.
Light makeup, maybe, but she's way too well-groomed—makes you doubt if she's even working.
"Uriel is Eden's Chief Researcher. She's my most favored right-hand. Top education course in the Nordic Federation, graduated early. Even as a kid, she had achievements the academic world noticed. Now as an adult, she's professor-level... I can show you papers if you want..."
As if anticipating my backlash, Rina rattled it off.
"... Fine. I wouldn't understand them anyway."
Rina seemed used to it—or didn't care—and corrected Uriel's speech.
"Not 'pickled radish,' she meant 'politely.' And even if he's Head of the Family-nim, he's a man, so I won't say to be fully courteous like you think, but hold back on the useless talk."
"Hueeng, Chairperson-nim, so strict—! It was just impressions, just impressions..."
"Kang Do-yoon-ssi isn't some art piece. Ugly's to be expected."
I never said ugly—you're just voicing your thoughts.
With my grandniece piling on, my vision went dark.
No one here to protect me, huh.
"Deff... defi... not pretty... scary, Chairperson-nim. Bumpy... and hard-looking—"
Uriel nodded.
And they started chattering in their own lingo, excluding me.
"You knew that. Untreated biological male, no T-Limiting."
"Man walking without T-Limiting, scary... maybe scary..."
"That's why we have to control him perfectly. The government trusts us."
"And the Chairperson-nim trusts me?"
"Yeah. After growth, surgery's hard, like I said—control with drugs. You can do it, right?"
"Huh? Drug... control? Not surgery?"
"......"
Her eyes went wide, like surgery was obviously on the table.
It chilled me to the bone.
'No way, Rina?'
I checked my grandniece's eyes, but she went quiet a moment, then shrugged.
"Surgery or drug control, I'll leave it entirely to your judgment, Uriel. You're the T-Limiting authority."
"Chairperson-nim's praise, my chest is tickly-tickly-tickly. For real— Huh, feels good though..."
"Hey, you, thinking you're cute 'cause you kinda are doesn't mean baby talk changes your value— don't casually judge surgery on someone else's dick—"
I couldn't help but butt in.
No, I impulsively blurted it out.