It definitely changed.
There was no need to even nitpick words or attitude. The posture sitting on the dining chair, the indifferent hand gesture propping up the chin, and the atmosphere occupying the space itself had changed.
Ding dong-
Just then, a cheerful bell rang.
"Oh, it's here."
Jin-hyuk jumped up from his seat as if he had been waiting.
"Uh, Brother! No!"
Ji-hye was startled and tried to block her brother. In this rough world, for a man to open the front door alone late at night and greet a delivery person. That was practically throwing a fish in front of a cat.
But Jin-hyuk lightly ignored Ji-hye's restraint.
"What do you mean no. I'll go pay and come back."
"B-But..."
Her brother had already crumpled his shoes on and gone out to the entrance. Clack, the sound of the door opening was heard. Ji-hye and I held our breath and watched the entrance.
But then.
'...Why is he taking so long?'
If he just paid and took the chicken, it would take 30 seconds. But 1 minute passed, 3 minutes passed, and before we knew it, over 5 minutes passed with no sign of him.
Could it be that the delivery person had bad intentions and is pulling something? Trying to force their way into the house? Or the moment he opened the door, a gang waiting outside...
Anxiety crept in, and just as I was about to kick my chair back and stand up.
Beep beep beep... Biiiip...
Beep.. beep beep... Biiiip...
The sound of pressing the door lock buttons was heard, followed by a warning sound. It was a password error.
Clunk—
The sound of turning the doorknob was heard, but the door didn't open.
"...?"
—Hey, Seol Ji-hye. Open this door a bit.
Jin-hyuk's annoyed voice came from outside. Ji-hye ran frantically and opened the door.
Bang.
The door closed and Jin-hyuk entered. Holding chicken boxes in both hands, his face was full of annoyance.
"Why are you so late? Nothing happened?"
I asked urgently. My heart was pounding, afraid he might have suffered something terrible.
"Ah, yes."
Jin-hyuk answered nonchalantly as he put the chicken down on the dining table.
"The delivery person was spacing out a bit. Maybe they didn't know how to process the payment, they were fiddling with the terminal for a long time so it took a while. It'll get cold. Let's eat quickly."
My son calmly tore open the packaging. The savory smell of oil filled the living room.
We sat around the dining table as if possessed. I couldn't even remember how many years it had been since Jin-hyuk ate in front of us, facing us at the table. He was a child who always locked himself in his room and ate alone.
But as soon as the box opened, I thought 'Oops'.
'Ah, it's bone-in.'
I forgot to order boneless. Boys like Jin-hyuk have weak grip strength and are clumsy with chopsticks, so they can't pick apart bone-in chicken well. Just as I was contemplating if I should debone it for him.
Rustle.
"Since I paid, the drumstick is mine."
Jin-hyuk skillfully put on a plastic glove and grabbed a drumstick. And without hesitation, brought it to his mouth.
Crunch, chomp chomp.
"..."
Ji-hye and I dropped our jaws and watched the scene. The guy moved his tongue and teeth a few times inside his mouth, then ptui, spat out a bone clean of meat.
His deboning skill is almost machine-level. Without getting sauce around his mouth, eating so expertly like that.
"...What are you doing? Not eating?"
Jin-hyuk looked at us while chewing.
"Ah, y-yeah... We should eat."
I blankly picked up a piece of chicken. It's good that he eats well but... was there really some change of heart? Can a person change to this extent?
I carefully opened my mouth.
"Jin-hyuk-ah."
"Yes."
"Today... did something really happen? Mom is... happy that you suddenly became so bright but... also a little worried."
At my question, Jin-hyuk stopped eating. The guy swallowed what was in his mouth, then looked at me with an 'Oh right' expression.
"...?"
"I told you via message around 12, Mom."
"...Huh?"
Jin-hyuk took a sip of cola indifferently, then tossed out the words.
"That I got accepted to college."
"..."
Silence flowed. Hoyeon University? It is a prestigious university in our country but... getting accepted there changed a person like this?
"Um.. are you really going to go to college?"
I asked carefully. Usually, men only receive the acceptance certificate and don't actually attend.
Even if they do attend, they listen to cyber university classes safely at home, or prefer Male Universities where only men are gathered.
A general university where face-to-face classes are mandatory, and a campus teeming with energetic female students at that. Because men fear being thrown bare-bodied into that rough female-dominated society more than death.
But Jin-hyuk picked up a chicken wing and answered calmly.
"I have to go. If I don't go to college, how will I make a living. Though looking it up, it seems there's no issue living off the Male Support Fund either."
The guy grinned and added.
"Mother. A person's value is created through labor."
I almost was touched for a moment by my son's philosophical words. To think my son was having such deep thoughts. But the emotion didn't last 3 seconds.
"...Actually that's bullsh*t. I just don't really know what to do right now either."
"..."
I looked at my son with a dumbfounded expression. Talking about the value of labor just a moment ago, then switching stances in 1 second. I simply cannot figure out what's inside my son's mind.
"Um... if you feel really lost... how about attending a university near home without needing to go far? Or you could register for a cyber university safely even now."
Go Young-sook, the mother of two daughters and one son, was seriously contemplating her son's career path and his sudden change.
Just a moment ago, I was going Swoosh~ in my head. If you ask what Swoosh~ is, it's just Swoosh~. It means I was emptying my brain without any thoughts. Like flying a paper airplane.
But right now, I have seriously many thoughts.
Honestly speaking, even if they say this world is a gender-reversed parallel world, up until now there wasn't much sense of reality.
Because I only played games in my room and didn't go outside. The scenery beyond the window is the same, and the state of my room is the same, so how could I feel it?
Seol Ji-hye making a fuss, well, she's a high school girl in puberty with hormones running wild, so I let it pass. Since she's so fickle.
But seeing even Mom, who has been through all sorts of hardships, looking at me with embarrassment and worry... only then does the shock approach a bit differently.
When I was just with my sister I didn't think much, but now that Mom is here, random thoughts are rushing in like a tsunami. It's absolutely not that I didn't think because I was playing games. Really.
How should I say this...
'Mother of this world, I seem to have been switched with Fake Jin-hyuk. Oh my, is that so? Which world's Seol Jin-hyuk are you? That I don't know either. Okay, let's go to the mental hospital. Oh my, no Mother, I misspoke for a moment. Then you are our Jin-hyuk right? Yes, that's correct. Okay, let's do well from now on.'
Hmm.... No. Let's really think about it later. Let's just tear into the chicken for now. It tastes bad if it gets cold.
But the chicken is tasty. The seasoning is well done.
More than that, I'm a bit annoyed. That delivery person earlier. It was a woman with her hat pulled down low, but as soon as I opened the door she froze as if she saw a ghost. Is a man that fascinating?
Thanks to that, I shivered outside in the cold weather. Even though I wore a warm hoodie on top, I only had thin training pants on the bottom. Why does payment take 5 minutes. Her hands were shaking and she dropped the card three times.
Unlike my grumbling inner thoughts, my mouth was diligently tearing into the chicken meat. Then Mom suggested worriedly.
"Um... if you feel really lost... how about attending a university near home without needing to go far? Or you could register for a cyber university safely even now."
'Hmmmm...'
I put down the deboned chicken bone on the plate and fell into thought for a moment.
University near home. Honestly, it is tempting. 10 minutes for commuting. Being able to sleep more in the morning is a huge merit. Since it's dangerous outside the blanket.
But... it's Hoyeon University. That Hoyeon University that guys who think they're hot sh*t in Korea risk their lives to get into. Kicking away a fortune that rolled in is not in my dictionary... well, it happens sometimes, but it's very rare.
Above all, I don't want cyber university. You want me to stay stuck in my room all day staring at a monitor?
'That's a bit...'
I shook my head firmly.
"Near home is a bit tempting but... still, I got accepted to a prestigious university, it's a bit of a waste not to go. It's beyond a waste, it's crazy."
"That is true but..."
"And I'm not attending cyber university. Waste of tuition. Since I became a college student anyway, I should enjoy campus life."
"Is that so...? Okay. Let's talk about that again later."
Mom stepped back for now. She seems to have noticed that trying to dissuade me further is useless. Once the atmosphere was roughly settled, something I was curious about earlier suddenly came to mind.
"But Mom, did you change the front door password? Wasn't it originally Ji-hye's birthday?"
"It's Mom's birthday?"
"..."
Suddenly I became an unfilial son who can't remember his mom's birthday, no, who doesn't even know the password to the house he's lived in for over 10 years. But if I panic, I lose. I retorted shamelessly without changing a single expression.
"When did you say you changed it?"
Ji-hye, who was tearing a chicken wing next to me, cut in as if dumbfounded.
"Brother what are you talking about? It's been Mom's birthday since we moved into this house."
"Really? I must have been confused."
I shrugged my shoulders and passed it off as nothing. Confusing the password to the house I go in and out of every day doesn't make sense, but whatever. The world is full of people who get drunk and knock on other people's front doors.
I picked up one more drumstick. The house password in this world is Mom's birthday... I should make a note of it.