“Hey, Ji-Soo, wake up! It’s time to go,” a voice drifted from downstairs.

  Shit, I forgot today was the first day of high school. I shouldn’t have messed around so late last night.

  “Just 5 more minutes~” she said. Hugging her pillow harder and diving deeper into her blanket.

  So comfortable~ this is the best. Fuck school.

  But she couldn’t stay in her bed forever. No student is allowed to.

  Bang!

  The bedroom door flew open, slamming against the wall.

  Before Ji-Soo could process the noise, a hand clamped onto her ear and twisted.

  “Ow! Ow! Ow! What are you doing, Mom?!”

  “I told you to wake up!” Mom screamed in her ears.

  The scream was so loud, it caused her to wince in pain. It hurt so much that for a second, she even thought she had gone deaf

  She tumbled out of bed, clutching her throbbing ear as she hit the floor. Even the door is against her today. So annoying.

  “Go brush your teeth. Now!” her mom said. After that, her mom walked out of the room.

  But she wasn’t safe yet. There is more than one annoying person in this house.

  “I told you. You should have woken up earlier,” her brother appeared from behind the door, “you were so much smarter when you were a kid. Now look at you. Always getting scolded by mom.”

  “Shut it,” Ji-Soo growled, glaring at him through her messy bangs. She didn’t like how he kept grinning at her. It makes her feel like a fool. But there is no way he would shut up from just that.

  “You’re wasting your look. Why do you even leave your hair long when you’re just going to turn it into a bird nest?”

  Should I punch him? She thought. But that would be too tiring a thing to do right after waking up. So she decided to be a kind little sister and let him off the hook.

  This body is so heavy. Just walking to the bathroom takes a lot of effort. The two lumps of fat on her body were so absurdly big that whenever she walked, it bounced like a basketball.

  Finally, after exerting much effort, she was in the bathroom.

  Since she had just been woken from her sleep, her hair and appearance were in shamble. But even so, the girl in the mirror still looked incredibly beautiful.

  So beautiful that if the version of her in the past were to see, she would have immediately fallen head over heels.

  She has almond-shaped eyes with defined corners, long, sweeping lashes, flowing black hair, and healthy pink lips that look naturally full. Her body was well-proportioned, giving off an aura of purity and innocence

  “Hah~” But why does this have to be how she looked?

  Even after all these years, she still didn’t like how she looked. Not literally, of course, since everyone like pretty girl. But the reason for her dislike is that she was once a man. A thirty-year-old man…

  If the world is giving her a chance to live again, why couldn’t it have at least put her in the body of a man? Or even better, her old body. It wasn’t that hard, so why couldn’t they do it? It even made her feel like she was an imposter who was violating the body of a young girl…

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  By the time she finished, her brother was standing ready at the door. Smiling. “It’s your first day in high school. How do you feel?”

  “Shit.” Please don’t even ask me that.

  “Haha. Figure.” For no reason today, whatever word that came out of his mouth made it seem like he was mocking her.

  “Get out. I have to dress,” she grumbled, annoyed just by the sight of him. “Or do you want to look?”

  Her brother: “...” Why would he? What does she think he is???

  He didn’t want to seem like a pervert, so he ended up leaving the room. Closing the door behind him.

  So finally, she has some time to herself. It’s just the first day of school, and it has already been this chaotic. Just imagining the rest of the school year filled her with dread.

  ‘Fuck.’

  Wait, where did the uniform go? I thought I put it here. She thought as she searched through the cabinet. She has to ask her mom.

  “Mom, where did you put my uniform?” She yelled, hoping her mother would hear.

  “I put it in the bottom drawer! You’re already in high school and yet does not know where your clothes are?” Her mother answered, just as grumpy as her. She must have been pissed off at her daughter's laziness. Why does her daughter always act like the neighbor's son? Isn’t a daughter supposed to be more organized than this?

  The daughter in question: But you’re the one who messed with my uniform…

  When she was finally done putting on her uniform, she brushed the dust off the name tag on her chest. On it was her school information.

  Ji-Soo Park. 10th grade. Class 1-A.

  Then, she quickly grabbed her backpack and came downstairs. But her mom was right behind her, appearing to hold something.

  “Since you didn’t eat breakfast yet, take this and buy something at school.”

  She immediately brightened up.

  “Thank you mom,” she immediately answered.

  Mom hadn’t changed since her past life. Just like how she remembered mom in her past life, she wore the same nurse outfit, the same nametag with Aera on it, the same face–no, not really. She was younger.

  It’s a good thing that this was a parallel world. At least she knows the people here, but if it were to be one of those cases where people were transmigrated into an otome game, then she wouldn’t have known what to do.

  When she arrived at the door, her brother was outside on his bike waiting for her. But her sight also caught a figure.

  “Going to school, Ji-Soo? High school already?” an old granny said, smiling on the bench outside. “How time flies~. Just a few years ago, you were still a small kid running around the neighborhood.”

  Ji-Soo, who noticed the granny, closed the door behind her, but didn’t lock it. Her mom had to go to work. After she was done, she immediately answered the granny, not wanting to leave her hanging.

  “Yes, Granny Mi-Sook. It is my first day,” she said simply, smiling back.

  To her, Granny Mi-Sook is the same, too. She also hadn’t changed.

  “Well, good luck. Tried not to get bullied by some naughty kid. I heard teenagers nowadays are pretty vicious.”

  Ji-Soo looked at Granny, who was smoking a cigarette and smile. Granny really knows her stuff.

  “Kids have always been mean granny”

  “Oh. Be on your way. You don’t want to be late on your first day,” Granny said. “I don’t want to hold you back. When you’re back from school, I’ll have the chicken soup ready for you.”

  “Thanks, granny…”

  Whenever she saw people acting like this around her, she was always reminded of her past life. Granny never acted like this in her past life. The two of them didn’t have a good relationship. Even her mom, who was severely strict, barely hit her in this life. Is this because of the way she looked? Too cute? Too soft?

  Is it the way she looked in her past life? Probably.

  Is it her gender? Possibly.

  One thing is for certain. Even if she didn’t do a lot, people still liked her. It made her annoyed. She hated how much appearance determined someone’s affection. It made the affection seem fake.

  Anyway, she’s thinking too much. It is time to get on her brother’s bike and go to school.

  *******

  The way to school was the same as she remembered.

  The same familiar street. The same vendor. The same shop. The same people.

  She hugged her brother’s waist tighter. Rubbing her face on his back in order to hide away the emotion rising inside her. She felt like crying.

  ‘Every one is the same, except you.’

  ‘And my gender.’

  ‘You’ve never existed in my past life…’

  “Hey, stop sniffing my shirt. Do you like me or something?” he asked, feeling greatly disgusted.

  “No. Asshole. Why would you think that?” she rolled her eyes.

  “Yeah, don’t lie. I know you have a brother complex.”

  Ji-Soo: “…”

  And that was how the two of them ended up bickering with each other half of the way. Until they were interrupted by something unexpected–

  SCREEEEECH!

  The bike swerved violently. Ji-Soo gasped, clutching Ha-Joon’s shirt as he abruptly hit the brake and barely avoided the collision with a sleek, black sedan

  They were almost hit.

  “Hey! Watch where you’re going!” She barked, hopping off the bike. “Just because you have a fancy car doesn’t mean you own the road!”

  The driver’s window rolled down. A uniformed chauffeur looked out, pale-faced. “Oh, I’m terribly sorry, Miss—”

  Ji-Soo: “Miss"? What's with the whole "miss" thing? It sounds so corny.

  Then the one behind the driver also pulled down his window.

  "You don't need to apologize to the likes of her," he said coolly. "She'll never be able to understand this kind of luxury anyway."

  ‘What?’

  “What did you say?” Her brother stepped forward, lengthening his words for dramatic effect. How dare you say that about my sister? You have a deathwish?

  The boy in the back seat didn't even blink. He simply raised his window without sparing either of them a second glance.

  "Drive," he said.

  The engine purred, and the car began to pull away.

  Something inside Ji-Soo snapped. How dare he run away? Without thinking, she ripped the sneaker off her right foot.

  “Hey! I’m talking to you!”

  She hurled the shoe with the precision of a major league pitcher. It struck the rear window of the moving luxury car with a

  THWACK!

  Seeing that her shoes had hit, she was satisfied. But even so, she was still fuming with anger.

  “I can’t believe anyone can be so rude! If I ever see you again, I’ll show you what it’s like to be a true man!”

  Ha-Joon stood frozen next to his bike, staring at his sister, who was now standing on one leg in the middle of the road.

  “...”

  Can’t you look at yourself in the mirror? He thought. 'True man'? Really?