What the Hell Is This Man?
"What the hell is this man?"
@ Lee Minho
"I'm the only one who can help you right now..."
I looked at Seoyeon with a pitiful, sad expression, as if I had suffered some unfortunate incident. I was expecting her to agree to my request, but I was also preparing for the possibility that she might refuse.
Moreover, since this is a gender-reversed world, I should use the position of being a man when I can.
"Of course, I'll help you! Just trust me!"
But Seoyeon immediately agreed to my request without any worry on my part.
"Thanks, really..."
"What kind of relationship do we have... I'll help with anything I can. Besides, this is stalking — I can never forgive such a thing!"
Stalking is a well-known crime even in this world, just like in the original world. Naturally, men are the ones who often suffer from stalking.
Before meeting Seoyeon, I researched stalking-related crimes. In this world, it's said to be a fairly common problem along with something else. Both are considered crimes that trash who are socially buried would commit.
Looking at the numbers, it seems like more happens in this world than in the one I lived in. How the hell are these women so horny?
I thought maybe all the women in this world are like that, but then I met Seoyeon and Hyeji who don't show such behavior, which confuses me. Maybe it's because they haven't unleashed their overflowing libido, so I haven't seen it?
Anyway, that's not important.
"By the way, have you reported it to the police? It would be good if we catch them, but I think contacting the police would be much more helpful."
"I reported it to the police before meeting you. When I said it seemed like I was being stalked as a man, they said they'd help right away."
The police said they'd help as soon as they received my report. However, I checked if I had ever reported a stalking issue in this world before, and according to the police, there was no report under my name.
So, it seems the second possibility I thought of was correct.
There are people who, when they encounter a problem they can't solve alone, can't ask for help from others and keep it bottled up inside, suffering alone. It seems like I was that type in this world.
But I don't plan to just suffer. While the police help, I plan to gather evidence and drive out the stalker.
"Then, wouldn't it be better to leave it to the police?"
"There is that option too... but I also want to catch the stalker with my own hands. We'll move in two directions. The police will move as the police, and I'll move to catch the stalker on my own."
As we were talking, the auntie from the restaurant brought the pig's feet soup we ordered.
"Two bowls of pig's feet soup~"
"Thank you~!"
Minho and Seoyeon received the soup and placed it in front of their seats.
Actually, this pig's feet soup restaurant is one I've been to before but the first time visiting this specific one. What I mean is, it's the same pig's feet soup restaurant I often went to in the original world, and also the first time eating it after coming to the gender-reversed world. In this world, since men becoming housewives is quite common, I thought the pig's feet soup restaurant run by an auntie might have changed to run by an uncle, but surprisingly, the auntie was still running it.
Is it because there's no need to consider gender for cooking?
I still feel like there are many things I don't know about this world.
I was eating the rice while sipping the hot soup, seasoning it with the spicy daegi and shrimp paste. Watching the white soup gradually turn red as it becomes delicious, I couldn't hold back anymore and quickly scooped up a spoonful and put it in my mouth.
Mmm~ This taste. It's really delicious.
It was the same taste as the pig's feet soup restaurant I remembered. Maybe because the owner is the same even in the gender-reversed world, the taste is just as good.
After confirming the taste, I quickly started eating the delicious pig's feet soup. Since I didn't eat anything after lunch because I was thinking about the stalker, it tasted even better.
Then, feeling a gaze looking at me, I looked up and saw Seoyeon staring blankly at me. Looking at her eating rice, it seemed like she hadn't eaten even one spoonful while I was eating several.
"Why are you looking at me like that? Did I do something wrong?"
Thinking that maybe I did something against the common sense of this world, I asked. Seoyeon, hearing my voice, snapped out of it and shook her head left and right.
"Ah, no, that's not it... I was just thinking how deliciously you eat the pig's feet soup..."
"Really? Don't you usually eat it like that?"
"Eat pig's feet soup deliciously? What do you mean? When eating rice, you eat it deliciously, but is there a way to eat it badly?"
"That's... I heard that in this world, men don't like pig's feet soup much. From internet stories, even here, they chew it slowly, and I was surprised to see Minho eating it so well..."
"Really? Why is that... I can't understand. Eating such delicious food in that way?"
For now, I got some good information. Since it's a gender-reversed world, the tastes of men and women might differ a bit, so I need to check this part too.
"I can eat almost anything well, so you don't have to worry too much? If we meet again next time, introduce me to some delicious restaurants then."
"Meeting again?! Ah, okay... I'll look for it hard."
"Ah... You don't have to look too hard. Just make it reasonably delicious."
Since I'm not picky about my taste, as long as it's reasonably delicious, it's fine. But Seoyeon seems not to hear my words at all because she's muttering to herself.
So, the two of us stopped talking for a bit and enthusiastically ate the pig's feet soup. Precisely, I was eating it enthusiastically alone, and Seoyeon was eating it slowly while peeking at my eyes.
"Um, and... um, how have you been?"
"Huh? What?"
In the middle of eating deliciously, Seoyeon started talking. Her face was bright red, as if embarrassed about something.
@ Kang Seoyeon
It was a feeling of losing the lead when being with a type of man I hadn't seen before, Minho. Normally, I would lead the conversation, but Minho was more naturally guiding it...
Moreover, it was so different from the men I saw on the internet that it was shocking. The men I knew were shy and didn't want to be with women, extremely picky.
But Minho is completely the opposite.
He treats me like a woman, casually and friendly, and it feels like he's taking care of me. Or, in other words, it feels like he's seeing me as a woman.
Simply looking at a man eating pig's feet soup in front of me, seeing that appearance makes my heart race fast, or something... lovable.
Since I haven't felt this emotion before, I don't know what to say. So, when Minho was eating the pig's feet soup enthusiastically, I unconsciously stared at him blankly.
I thought this wouldn't do, so I turned the topic to something I could talk about well.
"Um, and... um, how have you been?"
"Huh? What?"
"After we broke up, how have you been..."
Minho showed a strange expression when he heard my words.
"I told you earlier, right? I found the stalker, and besides going to school, there doesn't seem to be anything special?"
"Ah, right? Why did you ask if you knew? Haha..."
Ah, this idiot! I said something without anything to say, and then repeated what I said.
"And... I slept after coming back, then watched some internet broadcasts. The streamer named Seoyeon I mentioned last time."
"Ah, I see? How was it?"
I knew Minho was watching my broadcast, but I didn't know he was watching it yesterday too. Was he listening to the story about catching the stalker or accidentally meeting a university senior?
Then, there's no way he wouldn't know that I'm the same person as streamer Seoyeon right in front of him!
"That wasn't from the beginning. I started from the middle where I was optimizing. It was pretty good, with good lines and all. But it seems like she suffered a lot because of the snipers."
"Ah, so you started from that part..."
I thought my identity was revealed, but it didn't seem so, and I let out a sigh of relief in my heart. If I plan to continue the connection with Minho, I would have to reveal that I'm a streamer, but honestly, I don't want to reveal it without preparing my heart.
The sniping is honestly something I can block and not catch at all, but for the fun broadcast angle, I leave it open. So, it seems like I'm stuck in bronze, but even with such bad conditions, I believe it's skill to bravely escape!
"Do you watch it too? Your name is exactly the same."
"Ah, that's... I watch it often too."
Still, this might be a pretty good atmosphere. Since we have the same topic to talk about with Minho, and the difference is how much more there is. I have the common point of going to the same university, but the more common points, the better, right?
"What do you think? Do you think that Seoyeon person can escape from bronze?"
"Hmm... Well, if you practice a bit more, you might be able to escape? It felt like she really wanted to escape."
Somehow, Minho saying she could escape made me feel good too. It seems like she really can!
"Then, do you do optimizations too? If you don't know about optimizations, it wouldn't be very fun to watch. If you do, let's do it together with me!"
"Ah? That's... well, I do, but I want to enjoy it alone, so I'll keep it secret."
"Ah, then there's no helping it."
I threw out a move to do optimizations together, but it was rejected. If Minho saw my nickname 'My Dream is Escape from Bronze', he would know I'm the streamer Seoyeon, but since I was going to tell him anyway, I thought it was fine, but it's a bit disappointing.
Because I dreamed of playing games with my boyfriend in high school, I also wanted to play games with Minho, but since it was rejected, I felt a bit disappointed.
When internet broadcasts and optimizations came up, our conversation flowed out like water from a broken dam. At this point, I felt that talking to Minho was too comfortable.
No, is Minho making me comfortable?
As the conversation continued, before I knew it, we had finished all the pig's feet soup and it was time to get up. When I came out of the restaurant and asked Minho about the future.
"So, how do you plan to catch the stalker?"
"Well, that's... I'm going to lure the stalker. While I'm at school, I'll frequently go to a specific location, so if you watch from afar, I want you to observe the stalker's movements."
Am I taking on the role of scout? I promised to go to the rooftop of the building where the location Minho mentioned tomorrow would be well visible and watch from there.
By the way, I have to do broadcast work, what should I do?
Hmm... If I try to catch two rabbits, I might lose both, but... I'll catch both!