“Huh? Gray? What are you talking about?”
Ha Gangin looked around, still holding the paper cup sloshing with water.
“Ah, my outerwear? I bought this new last week. The clothes I wore before were getting a bit worn out….”
‘That’s not it.’
“W-well, uhh….”
—Ssshhh
Lee Hoeseo trailed off, letting out a deflating sound.
“Hey, drink some water first.”
Just before handing the water to Lee Hoeseo’s left hand, Ha Gangin saw Lee Hoeseo’s hand trembling violently and pulled it back.
“Never mind, looking at your condition right now, it’ll be too hard for you to hold and drink it.”
“Wait a moment.”
‘….’
‘Here it is. This should do.’
With a swish, Ha Gangin went out the door and returned in an instant. In the cup he held out was a straw—the kind you’d use to drink yogurt—from who knows where.
“Here.”
“Nngh….”
“What are you doing instead of drinking?”
‘I…, ha….’
—Slurp
—Sip, sip
“Haa….”
Although he was drinking through a straw and his lips were still dry, it was enough to wet his throat.
“Krrgh, khm, hm.”
Then he exhaled and spoke.
“What do you mean, gray?”
“To be exact, I don’t even know what color it is….”
“I don’t really know. I just can’t see it well.”
Ha Gangin’s head grew even more complicated.
“Wait, that makes even less sense….”
Today alone, he had already been shocked three times.
‘First my friend said he turned into a girl, then he said he can just go around outside during the day now, and suddenly what?’
“First of all… right now, I can’t see your face properly.”
‘If I focus on the outline of your face… I can tell the person in front of me is Ha Gangin, but still.’
“And the clothes you’re wearing now… fuck. I can’t distinguish the colors at all.”
“It’s like I’m looking through a filter; everything looks blurry.”
“Hm… then….”
‘What, is it because it’s dark?’
Ha Gangin looked around, found the light switch, and turned on the lights.
—Click
“How’s it—”
“Kiyaaaaahk!”
The moment the LED light flared on, Lee Hoeseo let out a scream.
“Hey, I can’t see. I can’t see anything—!”
“What do you mean….”
“J-just close your eyes.”
“Ugh… okay.”
—Clench
“This… I think this is better.”
At that moment, the doctor who had been standing behind them—whether because there were no more patients and he was free, or because he hadn’t found the right timing to leave—suddenly appeared and spoke.
“Ahem, guardian…. I told you that AGTS symptoms involve changes in constitution, disease, and genetic traits, did I not?”
“Ah, you were still….”
The doctor ignored Ha Gangin and looked at Lee Hoeseo, whose pupils were wandering aimlessly toward the empty air with vacant eyes, and began to speak.
“It is possible that the patient may have developed a problem with the optic nerves. We would need to run tests to know for sure….”
The doctor put on a deliberately serious expression and approached Lee Hoeseo.
“Uuugh….”
“I will recommend an ophthalmologist I know, so please go there. I will call ahead.”
“….”
Lee Hoeseo, silent for a moment, nodded reluctantly.
“Y-yes….”
“Very good.”
“It usually takes less than six hours for the body to stabilize to some degree, but given the exceptional nature of the patient’s case, I recommend being hospitalized for the day.”
“Also, I will prescribe a simple anti-inflammatory and painkillers for three days. If you experience any abnormal symptoms after taking them all, please come back.”
“…Yes.”
“If this can even be called a disease… it is a rare case that has scarcely appeared worldwide, and the patient’s case, even among those, is….”
“I do hope nothing serious happens.”
With those words, the doctor left the two behind and walked out leisurely.
*
“Ahem.”
It had already been ten minutes since conversation had vanished from the hospital room. By now, it was Ha Gangin’s third dry cough.
For both of them, the longest ten minutes, filled with silence, of the entire day.
“….”
“…Can I sit down?”
The one who spoke first was the one standing.
“…Yeah.”
—Thud
Ha Gangin naturally sat down on the edge of the bed.
—Jolt
“I didn’t mean sit next to me….”
“Is that so. Then….”
—Shift
“No, don’t actually get up!”
“….”
‘Then what am I supposed to do now… Get up or not?’
“….”
“Fuck, this is so awkward. Can I open my eyes?”
“Why are you even asking that? You should do that on your own.”
“…Argh, use your head. Now that I’m up, I’m telling you to turn off the light.”
“Huh? Ah…, o-okay…?”
—Click
“Is that good?”
“Yeah….”
“O-opening them?”
This time, Ha Gangin didn’t bother to add anything unnecessary.
—Sliiide
“How is it?”
“Even now… I can’t see clearly.”
“But it’s better than before. At least I can tell what is what.”
“…I heard about the allergy earlier. I’m feeling it too.”
“I finally became able to go outside as I please….”
Lee Hoeseo looked visibly dejected.
Ha Gangin hadn’t seen him this down since back in middle school when the guy got scammed in a game in real time.
Ha Gangin soon raised one finger and said in a rather cautious voice.
“Hey.”
“What, again.”
“Then how many of these are there?”
“Fine… I’ll take a look.”
‘…!’
—Flick!
“Ow! Why am I the one hurting? And you little shit, are you messing with me…!”
“Krp… sorry. So you can see?”
“Who do you take me for, a blind man?”
“I can make out the shapes of things nearby, okay?”
“Yeah, *pfft*, you always made fun of my 0.4 vision, but now do you get how I feel?”
Fortunately, Lee Hoeseo’s mood seemed to have improved somewhat for some reason.
“Argh, damn, this is insane!”
Perhaps, it might have improved too much.
—Bolt
“Huh?”
“You stood up?”
“Ah… so I did.”
Silence once again.
“Can I sit down now?”
“Huh? Uh. S-sure.”
—Plop
“Haa… I can’t believe how much I walked around today.”
As he said that, Ha Gangin looked at Lee Hoeseo.
“What, why?”
“Nothing, nothing.”
“If you have something to say, say it.”
“No, just… they definitely said you’d recover quickly, but I was just thinking it’s faster than I expected.”
“They said yours was an unusual case, so it would take longer than others, but apparently the stabilization period is originally short. AGTS syndrome or whatever.”
“Special? Ah, my allergies disappearing and my eyes going half-blind?”
“That’s not what I… I meant besides that.”
“I’m only asking now.”
“Yeah.”
Ha Gangin asked the question he had wanted to ask for a while now.
“Did you really turn into a girl?”
“Probably not….”
“What did you just say?”
“Hey, you. They did a physical exam on you while you were passed out, and they said you completely turned into a girl?”
“It’s your own body, how did you not know?”
“….”
“Get out.”
“Huh? Suddenly?”
“I said get out.”
“No, even if you say that out of nowhere….”
“I said get the fuck out, you bastard!”
—Slide
—Clack
“Why are you throwing a fit again all of a sudden…?”
‘He did go out without a fuss, but don’t tell me inside that bastard is….’
‘Sigh, since I’m out anyway, I might as well buy some drinks.’
Ha Gangin took the stairs and walked down.
‘Damn, should’ve just taken the elevator. It’s higher than I thought.’
“How the hell did I get up here before….”
“First floor…. Was there a convenience store?”
—Clomp, clomp
‘Guess it’s okay to drink something.’
‘Ah, there it is.’
—Ding-dong
‘Let’s see here~.’
‘That drink with the pine tree on it is just sweet and not even that good…. I really don’t get why he likes that stuff.’
‘I’d rather eat pine bark.’
“Ah.”
‘Well, I’ll just have an ion drink.’
“I’ll pay with Pay.”
“Ah, I’ll pay for this candy separately in cash.”
—Ding-dong
‘Guess I should head back in now.’
*
“Just a peek… I’ll only look and put them right back on.”
‘But first….’
—Sliiide
‘Eeeek!’
Lee Hoeseo moved his now fully mobile upper body this way and that, and drew the curtain.
Dusk was gradually settling through the window on the wall side, but enough light still filtered in to see something.
‘Then, now….’
—Gulp
‘I-it’s my body, so what.’
—Rustle
‘I couldn’t see well in the first place anyway!’
Justifying his actions like that, he pinched the front of his pants with his thumb and index finger, and soon carefully pulled them down using all five fingers.
‘Let’s see….’
—Squish
“Eek…!”
Believing there would naturally be another layer inside, he pulled down the patient gown bottoms without hesitation, but there was nothing there.
—Snap
‘Uwaaaaah—’
There was only a “thigh” several times softer than the cheek he had pinched with his fingers earlier.
Lee Hoeseo froze once again.
‘I-I couldn’t see properly because I was scared.’
Moments ago, the instant he pulled his pants all the way down in a kneeling position, he panicked at the bare skin he saw and immediately yanked them back up.
The thigh that his fingers had accidentally touched while pulling down his pants was definitely softer and more tender than anything Lee Hoeseo had ever felt before.
‘Is this really my body….’
‘It’s totally like a kid’s.’
Lee Hoeseo, who had been sitting blankly for a while, suddenly thought,
‘Come to think of it, why did I bother pulling my pants down? I could’ve just felt the outside.’
Since he was the type who had to act on a thought immediately to feel relieved, he got back into position and this time, instead of pulling the front of his pants down, lightly swept his palm over the outside.
—Rub
‘Ah.’
‘It’s definitely… not there.’
‘It’s gone.’
‘….’
It was a farewell with no promise of reunion—perhaps an eternal one—with Lee Hoeseo’s precious manhood.
“Uuu….”
Feeling suddenly melancholy, Lee Hoeseo’s strength left his body.
—Flash
‘Fuck, what kind of sound did I just make?’
‘Did I just say “Uuu” out loud?’
Realizing that, his mind instantly snapped back to clarity.
“Ha, fuck. No, whoa….”
At the sound of his own voice, Lee Hoeseo got goosebumps and felt like he was going crazy.
“Aaaaaah!”
“Fuck, this is too fucked up.”
Since it had come to this, Lee Hoeseo decided to just go all out.
“It’s my body; I should at least look at it properly!”
He was so worked up that he hadn’t even noticed the curtain fluttering in the wind from the window while he’d been screaming earlier.
‘I can’t see properly, but….’
—Rustle, rustle
Lee Hoeseo turned his body toward the wall and grabbed his pants.
‘Just once. I’ll look carefully just once and pull them right back up.’
“Huuup.”
—Whoosh!
—Bang!
“Hey, I bought that shitty drink you like—”
—Tremble
“Hic,”
“Ah.”
“Ah, fucking hell…!”
—Slide
“I-I didn’t see anything?”
“Hey! Come back here, you bastard!”