Riiing, riiing— Riiing, riiing—.
The dreadful alarm blared, signaling precisely 5:40 AM.
During the interview, I’d been told work started at nine.
Yet, upon starting, the actual start time I learned was 8:20 AM.
With the company located a fair distance away, a one-way commute typically stretched to just over an hour.
This meant I needed to catch at least the 6:30 AM train to ensure a safe arrival at the office.
“Ugh…”
The sun had yet to even begin its ascent.
Keeping my eyes shut, I blindly stretched a hand towards the incessant blare of the alarm.
Curiously, my fingers met only empty air.
Frustration mounting, I pushed myself upright and fumbled for my phone.
As I settled back, a leaden weight seemed to cling to my limbs.
My shoulders and neck ached, a dull throb that suggested a poor night’s sleep.
A short sigh escaped my lips, and as I stretched, a groan involuntarily slipped out.
“Ugh… I’m dying….”
‘What was that?’
‘My voice just now was strange.’
“Ah… Ah?”
The sound that emerged from my throat was not my usual thick, low rumble, but the rich, mezzo-soprano of a woman barely roused from slumber.
It was a voice so alluring, almost enchanting, that it felt utterly alien.
“Wha… what?”
Even this voice, laced with confusion and alarm, was not my own.
Wondering if I was trapped in a bizarre dream, I stumbled frantically towards the bathroom.
And there, reflected in the mirror, was my new reality.
“Oh, for f*ck’s sake….”
A curse escaped my lips unbidden.
“She’s better looking than most actresses….”
Her stunning beauty seemed utterly at odds with the coarse language I’d just uttered.
Though her eyes held a sharp, almost piercing quality, I imagined she would be undeniably lovely when she smiled.
Clad only in a white T-shirt and men’s boxers, she exuded an air of elegant dignity, making the attire seem not awkward but rather sophisticated.
What would be the best way to describe it?
Perhaps the quintessential student council president type?
“My height… seems to have shrunk a bit.”
I could distinctly feel a reduction in height.
Given my previous stature of around mid-170 cm, this new height likely hovered in the late 160 cm range.
Turning to examine my new form, I watched as long, black hair cascaded to my waist, swaying with an ethereal lightness.
As I completed my turn, a particular sensation drew my attention to a specific area.
“My chest….”
They were, to put it mildly, rather prominent.
Having never spent intimate time with a woman, I couldn’t discern the cup size, but their sheer volume was undeniably eye-catching.
Perhaps for that very reason, I found it difficult to look directly.
The awkwardness made me avert my gaze repeatedly.
Yet, each time I looked away, my eyes were invariably drawn back to the face in the mirror.
The woman in the mirror mirrored my every movement, yet I knew, with a chilling certainty, that this was not me.
I pinched and pulled at my cheek.
I’d always wondered, whenever I saw characters in movies or comics do it, why they’d ever pull their cheeks like that.
“Now I get it.”
Muttering to myself, still tugging at my cheek, I understood with absolute clarity that this was no dream.
“Haa….”
I ambled back to the bed and sank onto it.
They say too many thoughts can make your mind go blank.
My mind was precisely in that state.
I, who had lived an entire lifetime as a man.
Naturally, having been born male, I had lived my life as a man.
It was a self-evident truth.
Could a person’s gender truly change in such a way?
If so, why had I spent so many long years living as a man?
My thoughts spiraled, one question begetting another, leading me down an endless path of contemplation.
Until, finally, I reached the culmination of my thoughts.
“Why… did I become a woman…?”
I muttered the words aloud, then brought both hands to my face.
The sensation was soft and yielding.
The feeling was so utterly alien that I instinctively recoiled, snatching my hands away.
The cause remained a mystery.
More pressing than understanding the ‘why’ was the immediate concern of work.
What could I possibly tell my colleagues at the office?
That I suddenly woke up as a woman?
No, was the company even important in this absurd situation?
My mind swirled with an endless barrage of questions.
Who, seeing me transformed like this, would ever believe I was a man?
“Ah, ID card.”
Frantically, I pulled out my wallet.
Surely, something would remain to prove my identity…
“…It’s gone now.”
The name etched onto the ID card was not my original name, Choi Min-hoo, but Choi Yeon-bi.
“…”
Just in case, I even checked my driver’s license, only to find the same three characters, Choi Yeon-bi, boldly emblazoned there.
“Who the hell is Yeon-bi…?”
What on earth could have transpired in a single day?
I racked my brain, desperately trying to recall how this could have happened.
I’d vaguely remembered eating dinner at a convenience store, taking the subway home, and then, immediately upon arriving, shedding my clothes and collapsing into bed.
That was the sum total of my activities.
I hadn’t done anything out of the ordinary.
I’d even looked at my phone before bed, as always.
Then, a sudden thought struck me.
“Oh, come on….”
I suddenly recalled seeing a community post yesterday and diligently pressing a red button.
Clutching my pounding heart, I used my phone to check my bank account.
After inputting the quick authentication code, I accessed my account.
“One, ten, hundred… billion, ten billion….”
And then.
“Five hundred billion….”
An astronomical sum, one I had never seen nor dared to imagine, was displayed in the account.
Gazing at that immense figure, I managed to steady my trembling hands just enough to place the phone gently on the bed.
The red button.
That red button had been real.
I inhaled deeply, then exhaled slowly.
This rhythm of breathing in and out continued for a prolonged period.
As soon as my racing heart had somewhat settled, I snatched up my phone once more.
‘Is this real?’
‘It is real.’
Even in the mirror, I was a woman.
My previous form, that of Choi Min-hoo, was nowhere to be found.
My memories and the clothes I’d worn just yesterday remained unchanged, yet I myself was utterly different.
The same held true when I checked my messenger app.
All the messages I had exchanged with colleagues and friends were still there.
‘Did… only the person really change…?’
I couldn’t quite fathom how this had come to pass.
It seemed that these were the only remaining vestiges of the person named Choi Min-hoo in this world.
Even if I were to step outside and scream that I was Choi Min-hoo, I would still be Choi Yeon-bi.
Therefore.
“…I’ve completely disappeared.”
Choi Min-hoo was no more.
The years I had lived, my entire existence, had been wiped away.
“…”
A bitter taste filled my mouth.
Had all the years I’d toiled and endured, striving simply to live, now been rendered utterly meaningless?
Lost in such thoughts, I suddenly found myself tapping the banking app once more.
Recalling the sum I’d seen earlier, my heart began to pound anew.
The money remained, untouched.
Five hundred billion.
Just to be sure, I verified the account holder: Choi Yeon-bi.
It wasn’t money someone had deposited; it was simply there in the account.
Truly, legally acquired funds, with all taxes already accounted for.
A sudden wave of doubt washed over me—was this money truly usable?
To test it, I navigated to an online shopping cart and purchased a computer monitor I’d long had saved there.
After completing a few authentication steps.
The funds were transferred immediately.
“…It really works.”
‘Of course, it’s money, so I can use it.’
Muttering to myself, I stared blankly at my bank statement, now 200,000 won lighter.
“Five hundred billion….”
As I continued to stare blankly at the account for a considerable time, an unwelcome name abruptly blotted out my phone screen.
‘Team Leader Bastard’
“I’m… quitting.”
There was no longer any compelling reason to remain at this company.
I promptly disconnected the call, and a single message from the team leader immediately appeared.
[?]
A lone question mark.
Checking the time, it was already past my supposed arrival at the office.
Of course, given that the actual start time diverged entirely from what was stipulated in my contract, my absence at this hour was, strictly speaking, entirely justified.
That solitary question mark ignited a spark of anger within me.
And now, I was a person free to express my anger as I pleased.
[Team Leader, this company is so utterly pathetic and low-class that I can’t stand another moment. Enjoy working there for the rest of your miserable life.]
No sooner had I sent the message than a ‘read’ notification popped up.
[Choi Min-hoo. Have you lost your mind? You don’t sound drunk, so are you really acting like this just because you got a talking-to yesterday?]
A message, tinged with obvious bewilderment, instantly returned.
He still believed I was Choi Min-hoo.
This suggested that the existence of Choi Min-hoo still lingered in people’s memories.
“That’s a relief.”
It was truly fortunate that he hadn’t forgotten me.
[No? I’m perfectly sober. Oh, and by the way, Team Leader, please stop wearing those dreadful clothes. You genuinely look like an old man. I bet you were planning to show up in that same outfit today, weren’t you?]
[Hey. What the hell do you think you’re doing, you punk? We took in a college dropout, and this is how you repay us?]
[Team Leader, didn’t you ‘graduate’ from some diploma mill that hands out degrees to anyone who pays? Haha. And for someone with a university education, you certainly act more uncultured than anyone else. Do you truly believe you’re in a position to judge academic backgrounds?]
Not content with that, and emboldened by my newfound youth, I continued to barrage him with messages before he could even formulate a reply.
[It’s truly admirable, almost as if every single member is family, how you all gather together to run this pathetic excuse for a company. You’re certainly managing a company with such *distinguished* academic backgrounds~]
[You utterly insufferable young punk!]
He was clearly furious, even making typos in his rage.
[Oh, and that urgent task you assigned me the other day, the one you insisted had to be completed by today? I still have it. I’ll be tossing the USB drive in the trash right now, so you can go ahead and redo it yourself. ^^]
My phone began to ring again.
‘Does he think I’ll answer?’
‘Since it’s not my voice anyway, I can’t answer.’
“Blocked~”
With a satisfying click, I blocked him, then rose from my seat, feeling remarkably refreshed.
Just before I blocked him, I’d vaguely glimpsed messages threatening lawsuits and other repercussions, but not a single one instilled any fear.
Choi Min-hoo no longer existed in this world.
More precisely, the Choi Min-hoo he remembered was gone.
‘He can sue all he wants.’
A profound sense of relief washed over me.
It felt as if years of accumulated resentment had vanished in a single, exhilarating sweep.
Just moments prior, I had been so utterly exhausted that I yearned for even three more minutes of sleep, but now my mind felt perfectly clear.
‘Shall I think about what to do next?’
With a clear mind, I poured myself some coffee from home and placed it before me on the desk.
It was a refreshingly new morning, unlike any I had ever experienced.
****
“Hmm… Is this enough?”
Chewing idly on a paper cup, I gazed at the monitor.
It displayed a list of items organized in an Excel sheet, along with their approximate prices.
“I can’t risk losing everything by doing something foolish….”
There are fools in the world who, despite receiving immense blessings, kick them away with their own feet.
I refused to be one of them.
Therefore, I would proceed with utmost caution and systematic planning.
“First, perhaps I should get a car?”
I resolved to spend lavishly.
