[TS] The Return of The Gamer - Chapter 7

The first thing I did after the incident was a paternity test with my father.

At first, my father pleaded with me, saying that he didn't have to, that it was just a joke, and to let it slide, but it was eventually done at my mother's urging.

The result was, as expected, 99.993%.

Until then, my father had seemed to be just going along with this farce, but with the results of this test, he seemed to have almost accepted that I was Lee Yu-jin.

“…Honey, just in case, are we sure there wasn’t another child between us?”

“You’re talking nonsense again.”

“I don’t believe it. Yu-jin ended up like this….”

“Like this? That’s an odd way to put it. What’s wrong with Yu-jin? She’s just pretty.”

“…You don’t understand the heart of a father who has lost his son.”

It wasn’t that I didn’t understand.

It is said that fathers who have sons have one dream.

That is to share a drink with their grown son and pour out their true feelings.

Of course, even if that were the case, it was impossible for the previous me to drink alcohol, so in a way, my father's dream might have been off from the start.

‘No, was I the one that was off?’

Even though the pain wasn't my fault, I felt a sense of guilt.

Lost in such thoughts, my father's gaze shifted to me.

“You… can walk.”

“Yeah.”

Even though it was something I had already seen countless times, the fact that he said that now was no different than my father finally acknowledging me as Lee Yu-jin.

“Is there anything hurting you?”

“No.”

“The hospital? What did they say there?”

My mother answered instead.

“She hasn’t gone yet.”

“…What? Are you out of your mind? Your child is like this─”

“Are you going to make our child look like a zoo monkey again? I won't do it.”

“Looking like a zoo monkey… You know that’s not what it’s like.”

“Whatever you say, I’ll do as Yu-jin wants.”

“Ugh….”

Feeling that he wouldn't be able to persuade my mother, my father's gaze turned to me.

“…Yu-jin, you say something. You should go to the hospital anyway, don't you think? How do you know what side effects there might be? You had a seizure, didn't you?”

That’s the absolute truth.

After the seizure, my entire body was completely changed.

It was almost miraculous that my parents' genes remained in the test results.

Even at the time, I instinctively felt death, so I don't know what would happen if such a thing were to happen again.

But… even so, I still don't want to.

“I’ll go when I get sick later. I’m fine now. Really.”

“…Stubborn. It’s Yu-jin alright.”

My father still didn't seem to understand, but if I felt anything strange, then I could go to the hospital then.

At least, that's what I thought.

“Alright, then….”

My father shook his head and checked the time on his smartphone.

“I’m going to go straight to the company. You take Yu-jin and go home.”

“Alright.”

“Dad.”

“…Hm?”

My father reacted a beat late.

No matter how much he knew it in his head, it would take him some time to adjust to the fact that I was Lee Yu-jin.

“…Why?”

“Tell me if you need a drinking buddy later.”

The romance of a father who has a son.

I don’t know what that is, but it wouldn’t be so bad to hear it once.

“Hah.”

My father belatedly burst into a chuckle, as if he couldn't believe it.

I laughed along.

*

Changes started to appear in small parts.

“Uh… you’re eating… together?”

That was my sister's first words when she found me sitting at the dinner table.

“Just speak casually.”

“Is… is oppa a little strange? And unnie… is strange too.”

My sister, too, seemed to have accepted to some extent that I was Lee Yu-jin, having heard the test results of my parents and me.

Of course, that was only what appeared on the surface, and if you looked closely, she still hadn't adapted.

“Just call me oppa.”

For now, that's easier for me too.

I never thought about the issue of titles in the first place.

“Is it strange for me to be here?”

“No… you didn’t used to eat with us, did you? I was just curious.”

Unless it was a special day, I didn't eat with my family.

There were many reasons, but the biggest reason was, of course, the inconvenience of movement and my lifestyle.

It was much more convenient and faster to set up a meal on my desk than to painstakingly move me, who couldn't even move my body properly, to the dining table.

In addition, my lifestyle was different from my family’s, so even if I tried to eat together, the timing was already off.

Of course, that was the story up until now, and since my mobility was gone, shouldn’t I eat dinner together?

“I’m going to eat with you from now on.”

Like ordinary families.

The things that should have been done a long time ago.

“Ah… I see.”

My sister closed her mouth.

She couldn't stand the awkward air, it seemed.

As we were both staring at our smartphones in silence, my sister was the first to break the silence.

“Um, oppa. I’ve been curious about something since yesterday.”

“What is it?”

“What lip tint did you use? The color is really pretty.”

“…I didn't put on anything.”

“That’s your bare face?”

It's not surprising that she reacted like that.

My face, even I… had no way to describe it.

“How would I know how to put on makeup?”

“Oppa, that's such an anachronistic thing to say. In this day and age, men─ ah.”

My sister seemed to realize something strange then, and an awkward atmosphere flowed again.

“What are you two doing? Come and get this.”

My mother's call broke the silence.

It was a truly fortunate timing.

“Alright, let's eat.”

My father said that the company work was delayed today because he took time off in the morning, so we, my mother, sister, and I, were having dinner together.

“It’s delicious.”

“Eat a lot.”

It was a very delicious dinner with my family after a long time.

*

“Yu-jin, you can wash yourself now, right?”

As I was thinking about when it was time to wash, I was stopped in my tracks by my mother's bomb declaration.

“Uh… yeah.”

“Okay, then, do that.”

My mother went back to her room after that.

There had been so many things in the past two days that she looked tired.

“……”

But, why?

I felt strange for some reason.

It should be natural, but I felt a little distance from my mother for some reason.

Until now, I needed someone's help to wash.

If it was a simple face wash or brushing my teeth, I could somehow do it myself, but I had to have someone help me shower.

‘It was going to come someday anyway.’

I had become a woman, and the illness that had been holding me back until now was gone.

Excluding the former, it was something I had been longing for, so it was a level where I couldn’t thank God enough.

I need to slowly accept my changes.

I am still Lee Yu-jin, but I have to change from now on.

“Uhm.”

It's nothing special.

Thinking so, I slowly took off my clothes in the bathroom.

Swish, the sound of my clothes falling sounded particularly loud, unlike usual.

Along with the falling clothes, another me in the mirror was starkly revealed.

“Oh….”

An exclamation came out on its own.

Perhaps it was because I had never really faced my naked body before, so the shock was even greater.

Among them, what stood out the most was, indeed….

‘…It’s pink.’

It was self-deprecating that I would think of such a thing, but that’s what it looked like.

The me in the mirror was still unfamiliar, and the most beautiful.

But now, it’s me.

I had to accept it.

“…Cough.”

It was strange.

Everything that has happened to me now is only good things, but for some reason, tears burst out.

“Ugh….”

Afraid that the sound of crying might leak out, I cried as quietly as possible.

I instinctively realized where this sadness came from.

I was afraid.

I was afraid of changing, and I was afraid of what would come to me with the changes in the future.

Fear comes from ignorance.

I didn't know my mother would suddenly distance herself from me like this.

I thought there would be some time, just a little, very little time.

It was a mistake and ignorance.

I didn't know anything.

That’s why I was even more afraid.

“Ugh….”

I tried to hold back my tears.

I stretched out my legs, which had been squatting, and stood up, feeling the blessing that had come to me slowly.

“…You bastard.”

A man cries over such a petty thing.

It's so ridiculous that I can't speak.

No, isn’t it not necessarily true anymore?

After shedding a flood of tears, I thought that my current state was very funny.

“Hoo….”

I tried to steady my breathing.

I don't know what will happen in the future.

Many things will change without me even having time to adapt.

Even so─

Still,

I will live.