episode_0174

As I entered after going out, the gaze of my family members immediately focused on me. I smiled as if everything had been resolved, and soon after, Suhyun, who followed me in, first apologized to Dasol. Along with the explanation I had given him. And then Dasol, who also felt rash, apologized.

The adults looked on with satisfaction.

“Oh my, get a hold of yourself. Is the ancestral table all set?”

As if suddenly remembering, my uncle asked, and Suyeon and I briefly made eye contact before nodding at my uncle again.

“I should go and check first.”

He said, moving over to the annex. Dayoung and Dabin were in Suhyun’s room with Jinwoo and Jinseo, and upon hearing that, Dasol and Dajun also went straight into Suhyun’s room. It seems like they would be more comfortable where their peers are.

That being said.

“Dawoon, aren’t you going in?”

Jung Dawoon. The eldest son of Uhyeon, 20 years old this year. A grown-up guy.

“Huh? Oh, I’m… well…”

For some reason, he’s been acting awkwardly towards me since earlier. The conversation was mixed up due to the increased population density, so I might not have noticed it well, but it was even harder to ignore when he was so blatantly awkward.

“Oh, right. By the way, which university are you attending?”

“Me? I go to Y University.”

Y University. Yes, that university. One of the three prestigious universities that usually come to mind when you think of a good university in Korea.

“Oh, right, right. That’s it. Oh, this time, Uncle…? Um… should I just call you Aunt now?”

“Huh? Are you okay with that?”

Uhyeon, who was listening nearby, widened his eyes and asked me.

“What does it matter. Our kids have been calling her Mom for a long time.”

“Wow… you’re thick-skinned. Or maybe you adapt quickly? Either way, it’s impressive. Well… then should I treat you as my younger sister? Wow, this feels weird! This.”

“Do as you please. Morning, Oppa… Eek! This feels weird.”

I had told him to call me comfortably, but when I actually tried to call him, it was really strange. Calling him Oppa… what is this… I’ve lived as a man for 39 years, do I really need to change now?

“Huff. Is that so? Then you can change slowly. Anyway, whether I’m a younger brother or a younger sister, my title won’t change. Oh. I mentioned changing my name, right? Since our family uses ancestral names, it’s easier.”

Wait a moment, what does that mean? In our family, we use ancestral names.

For example, let’s look at our younger generation, Dayoung’s line. All their middle names contain ‘Da’.

In order of age, Dawoon, Dasol, Dayoung (same age as Dajun but born earlier), Dajun, Dabin.

We use ‘Da’ as the ancestral name, and in our line, boys end with ‘Hyun’ and girls end with ‘Yeon’.

Uhyeon, Donghyun, Dohyun, Suhyun. All the boys have ‘Hyun’ in their names.

Doyeon, Suyeon, Miyeon (the second son of the little uncle. Suhyun’s younger sister). All the girls have ‘Yeon’ in their names.

So, my name could easily be changed from ‘Dohyun’ to ‘Doyeon’.

If Suhyun’s friend was not Suhyun but had TS syndrome, it could have been a difficult situation. Well, there’s no need to insist on ancestral names, but coincidentally, Suhyun and Suyeon were the same age.

“Besides that, hey… did you start exercising separately? Or did it just happen as soon as you changed?”

Donghyun’s older brother, Woohyun, let out an exclamation of admiration as he looked at me and asked. The younger sister next to Donghyun’s brother lightly tapped his side, giving him a warning look as if to say not to ask unnecessary questions, but I casually replied, feeling like he was wondering if I had something to hide.

“Wow, you really recognize me. I really put in a lot of effort to make this body.”

Woohyun, who was four years older than me, seemed a bit formal, but Donghyun, who was only one year older than me, usually treated me comfortably like this.

“What’s up, are you really working out? The guy who never listened when told to do something?”

“Well, it’s much easier to lift a weight that’s less than 10kg, even if it’s hard, than to lift 30kg from a body that’s close to 100kg.”

Of course, the problem was increasing muscle mass while reducing fat, but it was much easier to remove fat than to remove a lot of it. I had already achieved that.

“Wow, you’re amazing, sir?”

The older sister looked at me and raised her thumb.

“Oh, stop it. Hehe. Honestly, it’s more difficult to let this body go to waste and gain weight again. To be honest, it was a bit difficult to follow a diet, but the exercise itself wasn’t that hard. The trainer even said that my body is good at building muscle.”

“What, did you take a body profile picture?”

“Yeah. So what?”

“Do you have a picture?”

I immediately opened my phone gallery and showed my body profile picture to my family.

“Wow… man. You’re handsome in person too, and the atmosphere in the picture is no joke.”

“Oh, look at those abs here. Do you still have them?”

“Oh, stop it. They’re not as prominent as they used to be. It’s been over a month since then.”

When I slightly lifted my shirt and touched my stomach, everyone’s mouths dropped open.

“You still have an 11-pack? Wow…”

“I’m still working out. Haha.”

“Haha, that’s great.”

What? What did I just hear? I seem to be hearing a lot of things today that I shouldn’t be hearing. When I turned my head to where the sound was coming from, I saw Daun looking at me with a vague look in his eyes.

What? Daun?

No way. It can’t be.

I cautiously whispered to Daun.

“Uh, hey?”

He was startled and fell from me.

You little rascal. You got caught red-handed.

I was too busy dealing with other family members to say anything, but I’ll have to talk to him separately later.

Anyway, for a while, I chatted with my family by answering questions when they asked me. Soon, my uncle who had prepared the table announced that everything was ready and called everyone over to the separate building.

As we moved to the separate building, my father and uncle, who were sitting on the couch, were laughing and chatting.

“Oh, if you go out, just lie quietly on the bed. If you move around, your back will hurt and all that!”

“No, if Mom asks for help, you should help. If you act like you did in the old days, you won’t get warm food. You know that, right? You should listen a bit and help out.”

“Oh, you’ve become a real gentleman in the meantime, huh.”

“It’s not a gentleman, it’s a son-in-law, dummy!”

They were having this kind of conversation.

Well, it was a bit funny to hear the conversation between the elderly brothers, but when they realized we had come in, both of them blushed and stopped talking.

“Oh, you’re here. Let’s start the ceremony right away.”

With those words, my uncle immediately pulled me over and started the ritual. Commonly known as “hitting the glass,” it is a way of offering a drink to the ancestors in order of seniority. The ritual involves pouring a drink three times, swirling it three times above the incense burner, and then offering it on the ancestral tablet.

After the family all bows together, we wait for the ancestors to partake in the offering before the next person in line offers the drink.

This process continues until even the youngest member of the family has completed the ritual, marking the end of the ceremony.

While the specifics may vary from household to household, this was how things were done in our home.

One peculiar aspect of our family tradition was that women did not participate in the ritual. I never understood the reason behind it, but it had always been that way since I was young. While it may seem patriarchal, I never felt the need to challenge or change it.

However, I was now faced with an issue that I had previously overlooked – my own existence.

Surely, our ancestors never imagined that a disease would arise that could change one’s gender. I never even considered it until last year.

In the midst of the ceremony, my older brother Donghyun offered the drink after my uncle, and then my uncle, the stand-in for my father, glanced at me and said, “Starting this year, if any woman wants to participate in the ritual, let them do so.”

My father seemed to have agreed silently, nodding his head.

Well, it did seem a bit odd for me, as a woman, to be the exception and offer the drink.

“Doyeon, you offer the drink. No exceptions.”

“Yes, Uncle.”

I knelt in front of the incense burner, received the glass from my brother Donghyun, poured the drink into the cup, swirled it three times clockwise above the incense burner, placed it on the ancestral tablet, and then we all bowed together.

And so, the ritual continued until the final offering was made, marking the end of the ceremony. (Since offering the drink was reserved for adults, the youngest members did not participate in this part.)

After the ceremony concluded and the ancestral tablet was tidied up, we began to set up the lunch table in earnest.

“Hyung, did you do everything alone this year?”

“No, Doyeon’s father helped a lot. But then he hurt his back like that.”

“Oh, the master is truly something. Quite the romantic.”

“Pfft! Romantic my foot. It’s just a lack of skill. But well, I’m grateful he helped.”

My mother, secretly grateful for my father’s help despite his back injury, seemed to have a soft spot for him.

It’s hard to describe, but it seemed like she found his clumsiness endearing in a way.

Still, I had always harbored a desire to grow old with a partner like our parents. It was a dream that may never come true now, but it was there nonetheless.