2 - Mom??
2 - Mom??
My family was terribly poor.
My parents were uneducated and at the very bottom of society.
With their lacking abilities, they struggled desperately to raise me.
Thanks to that effort, I grew up relatively comfortably.
However, I failed to meet their expectations.
Human bloodlines are stronger than people think.
They forge a powerful bond between parents and children.
That means even I was nothing more than a common member of the lower class.
No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't surmount it.
I did my absolute best with what I could do, but with my brains, getting into some mediocre university in Seoul was all I could manage.
[Oh my goodness, our son!! Congratulations!!]
But because my parents hadn't even been able to set foot on a university threshold, they were proud that I got into a university in Seoul.
But I felt sorry.
The money they invested in me was their blood and sweat.
To receive that kind of support and only graduate from a pathetic university like this.
I know.
That it's not easy to succeed graduating from this university.
So I tried even harder.
[I'll pay for my own university tuition.]
Despite my parents' dissuasion, I insisted on paying the tuition myself.
I wasn't going to be wildly successful anyway, so I couldn't let my parents' expectations grow any higher.
I applied for ROTC.
The pressure of tuition.
And because this was the only way to resolve my military service all at once.
I tried.
Effort was all I could do.
But in the end, could I really not overcome the wall of social status?
I ultimately failed to enter the major corporation I aimed for.
I barely managed to get a job as a sales representative at a medium-sized company that required traveling all over the country.
[Congratulations, our son!!]
[You're a full-fledged office worker now. Appa is proud of you.]
Even so, my parents were happy because it was a company whose name they recognized.
So I thought it was a bit of a relief.
But the place I entered... regular employee in name only, the base pay was pitifully low.
It was a structure where my incentives only went up if I ran around doing sales myself and raised my performance.
[What the hell do you actually do right? If this job doesn't suit you, get the fuck out and go somewhere else!]
It was an everyday occurrence to be cursed at by my boss.
I really tried.
People with connections who could help with sales were better at selling than me.
In the end, nothing was different.
Society was all about bloodlines after all.
My life was becoming devastated.
Above all, there was something I desperately wanted to do for my parents, but couldn't.
Going on a trip with my parents.
I couldn't do it.
My salary fell ridiculously short.
Above all, sales required money.
The company didn't cover those sales expenses.
I had to cover everything out of my own pocket.
[Are you having a hard time with anything, son?]
[I'm fine, omma.]
[Your face looks so gaunt... Should omma make you samgyetang?]
[No... I'm fine! I eat well wherever I go!]
[Are you really okay?]
[Yes, appa......]
[If you're having a hard time, don't hide it.]
My parents seemed to have read something in my face regardless.
[I'm really okay, appa. It's just because I drank a bit too much alcohol. That's just how sales is.]
But I ended up lying.
I didn't want to tell them that the people who made and raised me were living so miserably.
I didn't want to cast any more shadows on my parents' faces.
[Hey, you little asshole!! Didn't I tell you?! If we can't clear this today, you and I are both fucking done for?!]
Peoeok!
A blunt impact was transmitted to my shin.
But it didn't hurt.
Because my fear was much greater.
Because if I didn't resolve this, I'd get fired.
[Go beg right now!! Even if you have to beg, shove it onto them and come back!!]
My boss was a bad person.
Only his words sounded plausible.
He was a low-level human just like me.
But he was an even worse human being.
Because he was someone who only wanted to squeeze me dry so he could have it easy.
But I couldn't talk back.
Nothing would change even if I talked back.
Because I had spent my whole life learning that hierarchy was just like that.
Winter.
It was a little past 5 PM, but it was already pitch dark outside.
I was out of my mind.
The alcohol I overdrank the day before.
My beaten shin still ached.
[Uub!]
The alcohol I drank yesterday came rising up.
It was because of the sour smell coming from the heater of the used car I bought with borrowed money.
[Fuck... fuck......]
Curses rose up from my mouth.
My parents were righteous people.
They taught me never to curse.
[...I'm sorry......]
But I had no choice but to curse.
I felt like I couldn't endure it if I didn't.
My mental state was shattering to that extent.
Large electronic billboards were visible outside the window.
A woman who used to be a female cam streamer and then hit it big as an idol was advertising yogurt.
[If I... had been born like that, I wouldn't be suffering through this kind of hardship.]
Her dancing and singing are the worst.
But being a beauty forgives everything.
Her unrealistically beautiful appearance was more than enough to cover up her subpar abilities.
Someone works themselves to death and ends up looking like this.
While someone else is born pretty and gets to do so well.
[...Fucking jealous.]
Was it because of yesterday's alcohol?
Or was it because I lost my mind staring at that bitch whose only redeeming quality was her looks?
Bpaaaaang!
The steering wheel I was holding had crossed the centerline before I knew it.
Kwaang!!!!
With truly terrible luck, I collided head-on with a speeding red sports car.
Of all times, I hadn't fastened my seatbelt then.
Because after getting chewed out by my boss, I was completely out of it.
Jjaenggeurang!!
My body was thrown outward.
Kwadangtangtang!!
Uduk!
Udududuk!
The sound of my neck snapping.
The sound of every bone in my body being crushed echoed in my ears.
The feeling came clearly.
Death.
I lost consciousness like that.
**
"..."
"......!"
What is this?
I died, though.
I can sense someone's presence.
"...Wake up."
I hear it clearly.
A young man's voice.
What is this?
Did I survive?
That can't be.
I'm supposed to be dead.
It's certain.
If I survived that accident right now, I'd be crippled nine times out of ten.
No way.
Even with all four limbs intact, making a living was hard enough—let alone as a cripple?
Hell would unfold.
"...I said wake up!"
Furthermore, that voice I hear right now.
It's not a very friendly voice toward me.
No.
I have to die!
I can't live suffering like a cripple!
"Oh, seriously!"
Peok!
The instant feeling of my body being kicked by someone.
Teolseok.
And soon my body rolled around on the floor.
What the hell.
Is it okay to treat a patient like this?
Beonjjeok.
My body is hoisted up.
What is this?
It's light.
It doesn't feel like the body I've felt until now.
Has modern medicine advanced even to this point?
Even after an accident like that?
Can you get up without hurting this much?
Ah.
No.
There's a heavy feeling around my chest.
It feels like I have heavy pouches attached to my chest.
Is it a cast?
Because my ribs broke?
To think only my ribs broke.
Damn it... I thought I'd finally find peace.
Do I have to live this horrible life again?
"I told you to get up when I said it nicely?!"
Standing right in front of me was a man I was seeing for the first time in my life.
A school uniform... is he a high schooler?
He's taller than me and has that greasy pretty-boy look; he must be somewhat popular with girls.
No, that's not what's important.
This guy and I are complete strangers.
That means he shouldn't be treating me this way.
"What are you... huh?"
What?
What is this?
I definitely used my own voice, didn't I?
What is this delicate, wispy woman's voice???
Hwak.
The man snatched my hand.
"Looks like you're still not fully awake!!"
"Wh-What the hell!"
And pulling my wrist, he started dragging me out of the room.
I wanted to resist, but I couldn't.
Because this student's strength was several times stronger than mine.
What on earth is this situation?
I can't adapt.
The young girl's voice coming out of my mouth.
Above all, my wrists.
The wrists I could see with my eyes were terribly thin.
Snow-white skin.
It was definitely not my hand, blackened and worn out by labor.
A woman.
I became a woman.
A clear, slender voice.
Snow-white-skinned arms.
And because of the large breasts visible beneath me.
What I thought was a cast was actually breasts.
When I lowered my eyes slightly, I could see two huge lumps of fat through my loose crew-neck t-shirt.
The feeling of those two lumps of fat wobbling around my chest every time I walked felt so entirely foreign.
Is this a dream?
Or did I come to heaven?
What on earth is going on here?
"It's the exam today! If you miss it today, your chance is revoked forever!! Don't you know?!"
"W-Wait a second... What the hell are you even talking about right now, I have no idea......"
The male student stopped dragging me and glared at me.
It wasn't a terrifying glare, but the pressure squeezed my chest unimaginably.
I was so flustered by a feeling I never would've felt back when I was a man.
"You aren't trying to make up some excuse about sudden amnesia, are you? You know that kind of crap doesn't work at all!!"
The hands gripping my two shoulders started trembling violently.
An unknown desperation was welling up in his gaze.
"Noona! Why are you suddenly trying to avoid it?! Knowing full well it's useless to avoid it!"
"...No, seriously, what are you talking about......"
"If you run away, it's over! There are no chances left!! You know what happens to the people who ran away! They all die!! Our family is totally finished!"
The man in front of me.
The person presumed to be my younger brother.
That kid was currently tearing up.
"Noona, you have the skills!! You taught me well!! You can totally do it, why are you acting like this?!"
If I don't take the exam, a huge problem will arise for me right now.
To the extent that my own younger brother was talking so passionately.
Hwaak.
The man... no, my brother hugged me.
"I believe in noona. You'll do well. So please, don't think weird stuff and let's take the exam. Okay?"
If I said I didn't know here, I'd be totally clueless.
Whether I like it or not, I am now this man's older sister.
If I don't play along here, I'll be treated like a weirdo.
"...Yeah, okay."
"Thank you... Thank you so much, noona......."
Kkook.
My brother hugs my body tightly.
This person and I have no relation whatsoever.
But I felt familial affection.
The heart of a younger brother worrying about his older sister.
"Oh right, this isn't the time for this!! I need to get ready quickly...! Omma!!"
"Yes, Doryeonnim."
"Dress noona up!! Quickly!!"
Doryeonnim?
Why is a person who is omma speaking in honorifics?
Cheolgeureok.
I could find out the reason right away.
Cheolgeureok.
A woman wearing a black iron collar around her neck.
Because a woman wearing only black underwear was crawling on all fours right in front of us.
