Chapter 3 : How does the world turn ?

Anyway, for that reason, I went out with my sister for the first time in a while.

Well, I was about to.

“You’re going out like that?”

“Huh?”

I was changing clothes to go outside, but my sister stopped me.

The way she looked at me wasn’t normal.

Her eyes glinted like a snake’s, and since I had raised her on my back since she was little, I knew what that meant.

Those were the eyes of a predator who had found its prey.

Since childhood, even the Bogeyman couldn’t stop Ye-eun when she had that look.

“Like that?”

They say prey can instinctively sense danger.

My danger sensors in my head were blaring.

My survival instincts urgently screamed to run away.

I glanced around, and when she was momentarily distracted, I darted for the front door.

Clank, clank.

“What the heck! Why won’t this open!”

While I fumbled with the handle in a panic.

Like a scene from a horror movie, my sister’s words quietly reached my ears.

“I locked it.”

“Why’d you lock it?”

“There was a strange woman in my brother’s house. I didn’t want her to escape.”

“What the… no, what if that strange woman had tried to hurt you?”

“I thought I could take her.”

Not very surprising, but my sister was a jiu-jitsu black belt.

I didn’t compare her to a martial arts master for nothing.

When she wanted to exercise as a child, I pulled together all my money to send her to a jiu-jitsu academy.

At the time, she was so skilled that she outperformed not only her peers but even seniors a year above her.

The instructor assured us that a black belt was within reach.

I thought we might finally have a gold medalist in our family and supported her earnestly. But the problem was, this darn girl declined the offer to become a professional athlete, saying jiu-jitsu didn’t pay.

To top it off, she secretly quit the academy!

At the time, I was so mad I wanted to smack her upside the head, but I refrained because I knew I’d lose in a fight.

Still, after that, she focused on her studies and eventually got into a fairly prestigious university, making me forget all about it.

“I made at least a dozen girls cry with my joint locks.”

I nearly became my sister’s beloved joint-lock doll.

If I hadn’t been able to prove I was her brother, that’s exactly what would have happened.

My back is damp.

Is this cold sweat?

“Han Jeongho. Back to position.”

“Yes.”

My sister sat me down and began to pull out various items from the bag she had brought.

From small scissors to women’s powder, a strangely shaped brush, and a pen.

There were even some square packs whose purpose I was very curious about.

It was a small bag, but it contained a lot of miscellaneous things.

It was like a four-dimensional pocket you only see in cartoons.

“Come here. I’ll do your makeup.”

“What if I refuse?”

“You’ll get to feel exactly how many bones make up your body.”

“On second thought, I always liked makeup.”

To a born macho man who only put water, soap, and camouflage cream on his face, makeup was an excruciating process.

She dabbed my face with a strange cushion, smeared something sticky all over, and then used a brush like a famous artist to draw a picture.

Then she threatened my eyes with something like scissors.

“Uh, ack! Stop! The secret base is at Dongdaemun Exit 3…!”

“Don’t open your mouth. The powder will get in.”

Today, I felt just how great the martyrs of Korea were.

I don’t know what kind of mental strength our ancestors had to endure such harsh torture, making me reveal the secret base’s location that even I didn’t know.

The layers of makeup piling up on my face reminded me of the time I spread mud all over my face at the playground.

It was like a dying flashback, memories of those times playing out like a panorama.

Oh, there’s five-year-old Ye-eun.

I see the Ye-eun who used to cling to me, saying “Brother, brother.”

Wow, she was so cute back then.

The old film continued to play, showing new scenes one by one.

Ye-eun performing at the elementary school talent show.

Ye-eun smiling brightly after her middle school entrance ceremony.

When Ye-eun entered her rebellious phase, becoming fierce, and throwing a tantrum on her middle school graduation day because she didn’t want to go to school.

Just as I was about to drift into the scene of her high school entrance ceremony, her voice brought me back to reality.

“Okay, done!”

“Long live Korean independence!”

Today was a joyous day of liberation for our nation.

I vowed to circle the date with a red pen on my calendar as my sister handed me a hand mirror.

“Here, take a look.”

In the mirror was a woman who looked completely different from earlier.

If the morning version of me was just a pretty woman, now I looked like a celebrity ready to appear on TV.

“How is it? Doesn’t it suit you?”

“Is this makeup? Or a disguise…”

Do you know why Asura only puts makeup on half of his face?

So that Dr. Hell wouldn’t recognize his subordinate’s face.

I decided never to trust a made-up woman’s face again.

“Isn’t this too much? Am I going to an idol audition?”

“I only did simple basic makeup. You’re naturally pretty, so just a little bit does the trick.”

“Has the definition of ‘simple’ changed without me knowing….”

I don’t know how the world works anymore.

A world where men go out with full makeup. I wish it would just collapse.

“Good thing I brought nipple patches.”

For the first time in my life, I wore patches on my chest.

I was horrified by the malicious touch that threatened my masculinity, but I couldn’t resist the jiu-jitsu master’s deadly neon valley, so I was forced to wear them.

“Wear these clothes.”

Today, I lost control of my life.

After many twists and turns, the siblings finally stepped outside.

But things were rocky from the start.

The trials I thought had ended were just the precursor to a coming storm.

As soon as we stepped outside, all eyes were on us.

People looked at us as if they’d seen a zebra escape from the zoo.

Some groups even whispered about us.

“What are you staring at! Never seen someone with makeup before?!”

I wanted to shout out, but my confidence seemed to have shrunk along with my height.

If a zebra rampages in the street, it might get hit with a tranquilizer dart, so I decided to keep quiet.

Just as I was trying to block out the world with blurry eyes.

A man broke away from the crowd and suddenly approached us.

“Excuse me! You’re totally my type. Can I have your number?”

It turned out the man I thought was a bystander was actually a hunter.

A wild hunter suddenly appeared, bringing tension to the relaxed streets.

In an already unpleasant situation, encountering a guy asking for my number awakened my dormant ferocity.

‘You dare approach my sister?’

I glared at the man with piercing eyes.

Does he have multiple lives or something?

Trying to get my sister’s number right in front of me showed remarkable confidence, a trait to be admired in a macho man, but that didn’t mean I approved of him as a brother-in-law.

As long as I was watching, it was unacceptable.

“No, I meant your number.”

But no. The man’s phone was aimed at me.

When I twisted my shoulder to avoid it, he adjusted the phone’s direction accordingly.

In disbelief, I asked.

“Me?”

“Yes! You’re really my type!”

“?”

What kind of nonsense is this?

My expression twisted as if I had just heard that a bull lost a fight to a frog.

Trying to make sense of the situation, I wracked my brain, but I couldn’t comprehend what he meant.

It was a phrase my brain refused to accept.

Uh… um, let’s break it down slowly.

This man asked for my number.

He called me his type.

Was there another meaning to the word ‘type’ that I didn’t know about?

Perhaps ‘type’ and ‘role model’ are synonyms?

So, he was actually saying, ‘You’re really my role model.’

Maybe I misheard ‘sparring.’

‘I want to spar with you. Can I have your number?’

An amateur boxing athlete.

Always falling at the professional threshold but never lacking in passion.

One day, his fellow athletes approached him.

‘Sorry, sparring with you isn’t helping us train.’

‘It’d be better if you found another partner, friend.’

So his partners left for the professional world first.

Left with no sparring partners, the man set out in search of a new one.

While wandering the streets as usual, he coincidentally met me.

A man radiating the aura of a strong fighter. How would he fare in the ring?

Unable to resist his competitive spirit, he asked for a sparring match—

—but that wasn’t the case.

“You’re totally my type.”

He was genuinely hitting on me.

I began to question whether a man hitting on another man was even possible in today’s open-minded world.

Do men really exchange numbers instead of punches?

Am I falling behind the times?

Unless LGBT legalization had taken place nationwide while I was stuck in the military, this was impossible.

But the impossible had just happened to me.

It had happened…

“Excuse me?”

Without a response from me, the man urged for one.

I needed to reject him.

I should reject him.

But how do I reject him?

How to naturally decline a same-gender confession.

That isn’t in any book.

It’s probably an unsolvable dilemma even for a top university student.

I sent a pleading look to Ye-eun.

Help me, Ye-eunmon..!

My sister, who was watching the situation with amusement, stepped forward after receiving my signal.

“Sorry, but my sister… pfft, has a boyfriend… keke.”

She hiccuped at calling me “sister” and mentioning a boyfriend, but luckily it didn’t hinder communication.

Hearing that I had a boyfriend, the man sighed regretfully and walked away.

A few other men who had been watching also sighed and left.

I looked at the incomprehensible scene in confusion.

What… what does this imply?

Then I heard giggling next to me.

Ye-eun spoke excitedly.

“Wow~ Han Hyojeong, you’re so popular~?”

How does the world work?

“By the way, trying to get your brother’s number in front of his sister. Does he have multiple lives?”

How does it really work….