Asa Jin-tta X Geum Tae-yang
001. Asa, the Loser X Geum Tae-yang
TS Syndrome...
A rare condition where a person’s physical gender suddenly switches began to spread.
It started just a week ago.
Online communities and various media outlets began buzzing with talk of TS Syndrome.
Back then, I was holed up in my room, constantly writing posts filled with hatred toward people with TS Syndrome.
I just brushed it off as someone else’s problem.
I thought it had absolutely nothing to do with me.
At that moment, I felt like I was king.
I posted on online communities and left hateful comments, feeling as if I owned the whole world.
That is, until then.
But then...
Was it around the fifth day after TS Syndrome started trending?
My body suddenly started burning up.
My whole body felt hot and heavy.
When I put the thermometer in my ear...
It was a whopping 40 degrees.
I just thought it was a simple cold.
After all, even up until then, I’d been lying in bed, bashing people with TS syndrome.
That evening.
To relieve some of the stress I was feeling about having to go to school the next day, I decided to make kimchi stew for the first time in a while.
I ran to the kitchen, grabbed a frying pan, added various ingredients, and turned on the gas stove.
I was standing in front of the gas stove, simmering the braised kimchi for dinner.
But then...
Suddenly, my lower abdomen started to ache.
I clutched my stomach and collapsed right there.
It was a pain I’d never experienced before—as if all my internal organs were twisting.
Cold sweat poured down my face.
I barely managed to get up, turned off the gas stove...
...and collapsed right there.
I have no memory of what happened after that.
When I opened my eyes, I found myself slumped in front of the gas stove.
And...
I thought it was still morning.
When I touched my lower abdomen with my hand, the pain was completely gone.
But...
Has my skin always been this soft and supple?
Ah….
This wasn’t the time to be thinking about that.
As I slowly pushed myself up from the floor, I noticed the cold, stewed kimchi.
“Oh, what a waste… I’ll have to throw all of this away…”
I guess there’s no helping it.
It’s already cold…
It’s the middle of summer, so food left out goes bad quickly.
I transferred the kimchi stew from the frying pan into a food waste bag.
I’d better throw it out right away so the flies don’t swarm around it.
Summer really is a hassle.
I tied the food waste bag tightly, slipped on my slippers, and went outside.
As I passed through the front gate and stepped into the alley...
It was pitch black.
What’s going on?
“Huh...? Why is it still nighttime...?”
I hurriedly pulled my phone out of my pocket to check the date and time.
'July 21, 11:00 PM. Monday'
“Huh? Monday? And it’s even 11:00 PM?”
More than a day had passed.
And there was another big problem.
It’s the design academy I attend…
It runs pretty much the same way as a regular school.
So if I’m late, I get demerits and have to clean the academy…
On top of that, I’ve already racked up quite a few demerits…
“This means I’ll have to clean…”
But this wasn’t the time to be upset about something so trivial.
Because the number 12 was flashing in red on my phone’s call app.
“Ugh… I’m screwed…”
I had a whopping 12 missed calls from Geum Tae-yang.
I’m in big trouble.
There was no doubt he’d throw a punch the moment we met.
He’s the guy who makes me run errands at the academy every single day…
Geum Tae-yang is the kind of guy who goes out of his way just to beat me up.
If he didn’t see me, he’d get angry for a while and demand to know where I’d been…
And after that, he’d beat me up even worse.
But I didn’t go to the academy today.
I’m in big trouble.
I’ve never missed a single day before…
This time, it might not end with just a beating.
What should I do?
What can I do?
I was just pacing back and forth, feeling helpless…
No matter how hard I thought about it, I couldn’t come up with a solution.
I’d already tried everything I could.
I was so exhausted from the constant bullying…
I even tried to relieve my stress by cutting my wrists and thighs with a box cutter…
But even that didn’t stop Geum Tae-yang from beating me up every day.
Even that was useless…
So, to get revenge, I tried working out at the gym to build up the strength to fight back.
But there was no way I could beat Geum Tae-yang, with his superior genetics.
He’s so strong that I can’t even put up a proper fight…
Someone is walking toward me from over there.
His hair is dyed yellow…
It’s Geum Tae-yang, with a muscular build and a tan.
How on earth am I supposed to beat that?
Wait a minute.
You mean Geum Tae-yang is walking toward me from over there?
Huh?
“A-am I seeing things?”
I rubbed my eyes and looked again...
Golden Sun is glancing around everywhere with a furious expression.
And he’s slowly walking this way.
I wasn’t seeing things.
Judging by that angry look, he’s clearly come here to beat me up because he’s so annoyed.
Definitely...
I hurriedly pulled my hood over my head.
Then I walked over to the utility pole next to the food waste bin and crouched down.
If I do this, won’t he not recognize me…?
My heart was pounding.
The sound of footsteps coming from behind was getting closer and closer.
Still, I absolutely refused to look back.
The footsteps came right up to my nose.
And...
They stopped.
“Ah... I’m screwed...”
Geum Tae-yang was approaching from behind me...
I kept pretending not to notice, fumbling through the food waste.
Just then.
Thud.
Geum Tae-yang grabbed my shoulder.
I could feel a hand—at least twice as big as mine—clutching my shoulder tightly.
That hand felt unusually large compared to usual.
Thump.
Thump.
My heart started pounding.
Cold sweat poured down like rain.
I knew there was nowhere left to run.
I turned around with a creak...
For some reason, Geum Tae-yang was looking at me with a bright smile.
Then, in a friendly voice, he spoke to me...
“What’s up? It’s you, sis?”
“Huh...?”
I was on edge...
And suddenly, he calls me “sis.”
For a moment, I thought I’d heard wrong.
“I thought you were someone I knew. I’m sorry.”
“Eh, eh…?”
What’s going on?
Why doesn’t he recognize me?
Plus, it seems like he thinks I’m a woman…
“Oh, I’m sorry. That must’ve startled you, right?”
“Oh, no. It’s okay….”
“Anyway, you’re really pretty. Do you have a phone number?”
“Ah, no… I’m not really the type to give out my number…”
I quickly turned him down.
I just wanted to get through this situation first and think about it later.
“Tsk… I get it.”
“Yeah…”
Kim Tae-yang, who had clicked his tongue in disappointment when I turned him down, turned away.
“Phew… That’s a relief…”
It is a relief that he didn’t recognize me, but…
“Wait, hold on. That’s not what I meant…”
Because that wasn’t the problem right now.
I was still crouched there, lost in thought.
Geum Tae-yang’s reaction was so different from usual.
“You say you don’t recognize my face?”
This is Geum Tae-yang, who always picked on me at every opportunity…
This is Geum Tae-yang, who would search high and low for me if I disappeared, even going so far as to throw punches.
But…
Huh?
Surely not…
A thought flashed through my mind.
The high fever that had soared to 40 degrees since yesterday morning…
And the lower abdominal pain that suddenly started while I was making braised kimchi…
I clearly fainted right after the pain began, as if I’d collapsed.
But…
These are symptoms I’ve heard about many times before.
I’d looked up so much information on TS syndrome while writing posts insulting and expressing hatred toward people with the condition.
After all, I needed a justification to insult and hate them.
So I knew more about TS syndrome than anyone else.
And…
These were definitely the exact same symptoms as TS syndrome.
Considering that I didn’t wake up until a day after I fainted…
No way...
Could I have TS syndrome too?
I hurriedly pulled out my phone.
Just as I was about to open the camera app and switch to selfie mode...
Riiing.
My phone rang loudly, echoing through the alley.
The name “Geum Tae-yang” appeared on the screen.
I craned my neck with a creak.
Geum Taeyang turned around and came right up to my face.
Thump.
Thump.
My heart was pounding wildly, as if telling me to run away fast.
But I…
Couldn’t even twitch.
With a predator right in front of me…
I already knew there was no way to escape.
I just sat there quietly, looking up at Golden Sun.
Our eyes met as Golden Sun looked down at me.
He was glaring at me with a fierce gaze...
My shoulders flinched for a moment, but...
Golden Sun paid no heed and grabbed my head with one hand.
Then it spoke.
“Found you… So you’re that loser, huh?”
“Ah…”
“But looks like that loser guy turned into a loser girl?”
“Huh…?”
The phone I was holding slipped out of my hand…
and fell to the floor.
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