Chapter 4: Good Fortune Comes with a Smile

Here assessment of the human being named Seo Han-byeol was generally favorable wherever she went.

189cm, a towering height that naturally made people look up, coupled with a delicate appearance that seemed somehow mismatched, and a gentle, docile personality.

She didn’t possess any outstanding talents or skills, but she was always smiling brightly and never uttered a complaint, no matter what happened – a genuinely kind person.

Even now, after becoming a woman for some reason, that assessment hadn’t changed.

The fact that she, or rather, he, was able to keep her job despite the bizarre phenomenon of her appearance and gender completely changing overnight was largely due to the good reputation she had built through her usual behavior.

“Hanbyeol, would you like to have lunch together today?”

Therefore, even if it wasn’t Cha Hye-won, there were many people who wanted to enjoy a meal with her. Some were simply comfortable and got along well with her, while others harbored feelings beyond that.

“I’d love to—”

“Unfortunately.”

Of course, regardless of which it was.

“Seo Han-byeol already has a prior engagement with me.”

It seemed someone wasn’t willing to tolerate either option.

“…Pardon? Ah, yes, I understand. Enjoy your meal.”

The employee, flustered by the fierce gaze of the person who had suddenly appeared behind Seo Han-byeol – whether a superior or a protector, it was hard to tell – fled the scene as if running away.

“…Again today, is it?”

“Yes.”

All that remained was a harmless, weak pushover, trembling like cattle being led to the slaughterhouse.

I happened to discover that the Team Leader really hates fish.

To be precise, it seems she dislikes most things that come from the sea, not just fish. You could call her a seafood hater.

Not just fish, but also clams and oysters. Cephalopods and crustaceans too.

She even hates seaweed. I’ve never even seen that woman eat a single sheet of gim.

Well, most seafood has a unique sea smell, a fishy odor, so it’s not strange to dislike it. It is a little unexpected that she won’t even touch gim or miyeok, which even babies like.

“…”

Actually, what’s more amazing than the fact that the Team Leader is extremely averse to seafood, or rather, what’s irritating, is how I came to know about the Team Leader’s tastes.

It’s only been two weeks since I fully grasped her preferences. In other words, I didn’t know her tastes before that.

What does that mean? It means that throughout the entire year we were pretending to be lovers, I didn’t notice.

Unlike now, when the Team Leader suggests we eat together, back then I was the one who suggested it first, and I decided on the menu too.

It’s not like I ignored the Team Leader and decided unilaterally because I wanted to disregard her. In the first place, what was I supposed to do when she just said anything was fine, even when I asked her what she wanted to eat or if she had any favorite foods?

Looking back, it’s a wonder I managed to avoid seafood all those years.

Anyway, I only learned about the Team Leader’s tastes after my gender changed to female. That’s when the Team Leader started taking me out for lunch every day.

The fact that I learned her tastes in just three months, when I couldn’t figure it out in a year, also means that the Team Leader ate with me often.

And when I say often, it’s practically every day. Nine times out of ten, whenever I came to work, I was dragged away by her.

“Um, Team Leader.”

“Yes, Hanbyeol.”

…Why?

I just, I just can’t understand it.

“There’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you for a while…”

Why is this woman being so kind to me now?

We’re no longer lovers, and I’m no longer a man.

“Why are you being so nice to me… It might be a spoiled complaint, but I want to know the reason.”

Even so, the Team Leader, or rather, Cha Hye-won, is treating me favorably enough that even someone without a clue would notice it. There’s no reason to do so.

If it were someone else, for example, the Head of Department or other Team Leaders, I would feel grateful for being treated to a meal, but I wouldn’t think it was strange.

But this woman is Cha Hye-won. She’s a cold-hearted person who never even gives her subordinates a simple compliment, let alone treats them to meals.

“It’s also very burdensome to be treated to meals every time… I feel like I’m getting special treatment…”

That kind of person is treating someone to a meal? Even buying a meal for a subordinate who isn’t even a direct report? Leaving aside this person’s inner thoughts and everything else, it’s just too conspicuous.

It’s only thanks to the fact that the people I work with are all kind that it’s not a bigger deal, but a subordinate spending time alone with their superior every time? It looks suspicious no matter how you look at it.

Even if you think about it simply, they might think I’m being favored over other employees, and if someone has a little more imagination, they might suspect an office romance. Well, maybe before, but now that I’m a woman, there’s no chance of that kind of suspicion.

“Special treatment, you think?”

Cha Hye-won, who had been listening to my rambling for a while, opened her mouth for the first time.

“I didn’t think there was any reason to consider it special treatment. At least, I don’t.”

“But this kind of situation itself…”

“Is there a problem?”

Her voice was as cold and inorganic as usual.

“I actually think there’s less suspicion now than before.”

“Pardon?”

Cha Hye-won’s eyes, which usually look down, met my eyes.

“The Seo Han-byeol of the past was a popular man in many ways. Especially with the female employees.”

“…Was I?”

Was I… popular?

“Even if you weren’t particularly popular, if you spent a lot of time with a colleague of the opposite s*x, that alone would have been enough to cause the kind of suspicion you’re talking about.”

Although the beginning was a little difficult to understand, the Team Leader’s explanation had some validity.

The fact that a man and a woman spend a lot of time alone together in the company is enough to raise suspicion in itself. Even if the rumors that spread as a result aren’t true, it’s human nature to enjoy gossiping.

“But the current Hanbyeol is a woman, just like me. Regardless of whether you were a man in the past or not.”

“…That’s… right?”

“If we’re both women, people don’t suspect anything even if we spend time together so openly. They just think of it as ordinary socializing.”

However, such rumors rarely circulate between men and men, or between women and women.

The world has changed, and the Internet has become widespread, so there’s no one who doesn’t know what the word “homosexual” means, but that doesn’t mean that same-s*x relationships are an easy topic to bring up.

No matter how often we spend time together, they’ll probably just think we’re building camaraderie within the same team.

“And as Hanbyeol knows, I’m not the kind of person who would do that.”

And considering the Team Leader’s image, there probably aren’t many people who would think of it as ordinary socializing, let alone official favoritism or discrimination.

Thinking about the pitying glances I get every time I return to the office after a meal, I guess they think it’s the time when a subordinate who’s been targeted by the devilish Team Leader is being chewed out?

“So, whatever my intentions are, people won’t suspect anything.”

“I see…”

…That’s true.

“So, what’s the reason you’re being so nice to me…?”

A proper answer to my question hasn’t come back yet.

“Honestly, I still don’t understand.”

The time when the Team Leader started showing me a favorable attitude was exactly when I became a woman.

Not when we were dating, not after we broke up, but why only after I became a woman?

“…”

The Team Leader remained silent for a while in response to my question.

“…I wonder why.”

And after a moment of silence, the words came out of her mouth.

I could immediately understand what those words meant.

“…I understand.”

She doesn’t want to talk about it. Even if she explains or makes excuses, there’s no possibility that it’s true.

The Team Leader chose to hide her true intentions, her inner thoughts. She didn’t want me to figure out what she really meant.

Then I can’t ask her any further. I’m a subordinate, and she’s a superior.

There are etiquette and manners to be observed between superiors and subordinates, and this country is even more sensitive to such things.

“Thank you for the meal today.”

“Go back first.”

In the end, I had no choice but to get up from my seat first without any gains.

Perhaps it’s impolite for a subordinate to get up from their seat before their superior.

Well, whatever, no one’s said anything so far.

“Seo Han-byeol.”

Then, the Team Leader’s voice called out to me as I was about to return to the office.

“What do you think is the reason I’m spending time with Seo Han-byeol like this?”

“…”

The words “How am I supposed to know?” almost burst out of my throat, but I barely managed to hold them back.

“I don’t know…”

I asked because I don’t know in the first place.

“I think you’ll probably never know.”

Is she teasing me? No, she’s not the kind of person who would tease anyone.

“But on the other hand, I also have a feeling that I’d like you to know someday.”

“…”

No emotions can be read from her stiff expression or her inorganic voice.

She says I’ll never know, but on the other hand, she wants me to know someday.

What does that even mean? Can’t she just be honest and tell me her true feelings as they are?

“I think so too.”

I don’t know.

She’s a person I can’t understand at all, really.