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Daniel Park was always destined to receive unsolicited attention.
He had grown accustomed to the way strangers would jeer at him on the streets, how they would make snide remarks loudly at him on purpose.
After enduring a lifetime of bullying and belittlement from others, a few people sneering at him was a trivial matter he could overlook.
Things didn’t change, even when he abruptly gained a second body that was the complete opposite of his original one. It was stunningly handsome and athletically gifted—two things Daniel could never call himself before.
People continued to whisper at him while he was out and about. However, this time, strangers gave him a different kind of gaze. Some looked at him with admiration, others with jealousy. Either way, nobody ever looked down upon him in his new body.
But Daniel wasn’t used to this. Being granted a second body overnight can’t erase the memories you made in your first immediately.
Still, he did his best.
SNAP!
A woman in office attire giggled as she quickly shoved her phone into her pocket. Daniel glanced back at the woman, knowing that his photo had just been taken without his permission.
He sighed before walking away. It would take a while to get used to this.
Daniel stood in front of the school gates scrolling through Pacebook on his device, lost in his thoughts.
“Can I get your number, hottie?”
Daniel snapped back to reality and looked up from his phone to meet the middle-aged lady’s gaze.
“Um…” A bead of sweat ran down his neck as he realized she couldn’t be any younger than thirty-five. “I’m sorry, ma’am, I’m a highschooler…”
The woman rolled her eyes in response. “So?” She placed her hand on his belt, rubbing her index finger in circles. “It doesn’t matter—I like ‘em younger, anyway.”
Daniel backed away awkwardly from her. “I’m not…” He wasn’t sure how to defuse the situation without causing a ruckus near the school. To make matters worse, the woman only grew more touchy as Daniel tried to slide out of her grasp.
Suddenly, Daniel felt a pair of hands on his shoulders forcefully yet gingerly pull him away from the lady. A boy his age with cotton-candy-colored hair—Eli Jang of the beauty department—glared at the woman.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing, bitch?” Eli seethed, stepping between the now appalled woman and a very much startled but thankful Daniel.
“What the—who are you?” She questioned before realizing what both Eli and Daniel were wearing: Jaewon High’s uniform. “Damn prep school kids,” the woman muttered under her breath before dashing out of the scene.
Eli turned back to Daniel, whose uniform was now slightly disheveled from the adult woman’s fondling. “Are you alright?” Eli scratched the back of his head. “I know I was a little harsh back there, but sometimes you need to use a bit of force when people get too close to you. Whether it be with your words or your fists.”
Daniel shook his head, “No, you—you were amazing! Thank you for your help. I wasn’t really sure what to do back there, and my mom told me I should never hit a woman…”
He recognized Eli despite not crossing paths with him in his second body. Eli was the one who gave Little Daniel a rather questionable haircut when he first moved to Seoul to attend J High. However, Daniel never would’ve expected that this seemingly kind boy with girls flocking to him would be the one to protect him from a troublesome stranger.
“She’s right, she taught you well.” Eli smiled, his expression bittersweet. “But there are times where you have no choice but to break your morals in order to defend yourself. Next time that happens, don’t be afraid to push them away or kick them. It’s an act of self-defense.”
As he finished speaking, Eli pulled his phone out of his backpack. His face turned a ghastly white and he sprinted in another direction, waving without looking back.
“Shoot—it’s Yenna’s dinnertime in three minutes! See you around, Daniel!” He yelled.
Daniel, baffled, waved goodbye back at Eli’s figure as it gradually disappeared farther into the distance. He could only pray that Eli made it to wherever he was headed in time.
Daniel, Zack, and Vasco were currently on the subway headed to their ‘coffee date.’ (Vasco saw pictures of a dog cafe and invited them, Zack declared the bill was on him, and Daniel simply brought himself.)
“Fuck—how many more stops? I swear we’ve been on this thing for twenty minutes!” Zack groaned. He held up his wrist with an expensive silver watch exasperatedly. “Why did we let him choose the cafe?! This moron probably can’t even spell his own name! What if the restaurant turns out to not exist or something?!” Zack pointed at Vasco. A few people on the subway glanced their way—it would be impossible for them to have not heard Zack’s outburst.
“No swearing, Zack! Don’t be like the bad guys! I would wait four million years to see some cute puppies! Daniel, how many more stops does the GPS say?” Vasco asked.
“Just seven more! Another twenty-two minutes it says,” Daniel responded, checking his phone. “Cheer up, Zack! How about we play word chain while we wait?”
“Ooh, I’ll start! Clock!”
Zack grumbled. “Kimchi,” he added.
The group of boys continued with their word game before it soon was drowned out by the sounds of people giggling. A bright flash nearly blinded them as they covered their eyes defensively.
They turned their heads in unison to be met with a group of teenage girls who all had their phones out, pointed in their direction. The girls quickly hid their devices upon seeing the three staring at them.
“Ack—do you think the handsome oppa saw us?”
“Probably not, right? He’s so cute, should I post it on TicTac?”
At that moment, Daniel recalled Eli’s advice. “Sometimes you need to use a bit of force when people get too close to you. Whether it be with your words or your fists,” Eli had told him just a few weeks prior. He took a second before deciding to confront the girls.
But his friends beat him to the punch.
“You’re not gonna ask before taking someone’s picture?” Vasco queried. “I’m jealous, Daniel, you’re so good-looking that random girls take pictures of you…”
“Delete that photo, right now.” Zack loomed over the girls, a stern look decorating his features.
One of the girls frowned. “Why should we? It’s not like it’s hurting anyone. Did the handsome oppa tell you himself that he doesn’t want his photo taken?”
Everyone turned to the handsome oppa in question, Daniel. “Um… I feel a bit uncomfortable with it. But you can keep the photos, just don’t post them online, please,” he uttered. “And next time you want a picture, just ask.” He flashed a polite smile.
The group of girls were already starstruck by his beauty—and they were stunned once more by his charming smile.
“Thank you, oppa!”
“We won’t post it, I swear on my baby brother!”
“You’re the most gorgeous guy I’ve ever seen!”
Zack and Vasco deadpanned. They were both thinking the same thing: It must be easy being a handsome guy.
Daniel suddenly rushed for the subway door—he was a hair late. “Guys! We just missed our stop! Should we just walk there?”
“SHIT!” Zack hollered at the top of his lungs.
The next time the fact that he was attractive dawned on him was when a man pressed his lips to his when he was walking Enu and her pups with Jay.
It was too instantaneous for him to foresee it. Luckily for Daniel, though, he was currently with someone who would go to any length to protect him.
Jay, in a split second, kicked the man away from Daniel.
Daniel wiped his mouth, not daring to swallow. The stranger tried to kiss him with tongue. Neither Jay nor Daniel bothered to run after him, Jay instead redirected his attention to Daniel.
Daniel, being the telepathic mind-reader he was, somehow understood that Jay was asking him if he was alright.
“I’m fine, Jay,” Daniel patted him on the back. “Thanks for your help. I don’t know why that guy suddenly came up to me and did that…” He felt a chill run down his spine upon remembering the feeling of the man’s chapped lips on his.
The situation seemed to have calmed down—until both Jay and Daniel realized their grip on the leashes had loosened.
They both looked at each other, fear and horror overtaking their expressions.
Their panic didn’t last very long. Enu and her puppies soon reappeared, dragging the man who assaulted Daniel across the asphalt. He was beaten-up, scratches along his arms and legs. Chunks of his hair were ripped out and stuck out of some of the pups’ mouths.
Daniel and Jay glanced at each other once more. Jay shrugged, crouching down to pet the dogs affectionately.
Oh well. At least the situation had been resolved, right?
A group of men nearing retirement age snickered at Little Daniel as he helped his mom push a load of cardboard boxes through the neighborhood.
“Gosh, that boy is handsome. It’s a pity he’s poor, he has to slave away with his mother and collect those raggedy-old boxes for a few scraps of won.”
Daniel’s original body had lost weight and now slightly resembled his perfect one. It would be far from accurate to say he was still the uncomely, repulsive looking pikachu of Logan Lee. Now, he had combat experience after training his Copy ability with Gun and his body was quite lean.
Even though he was well-aware that he could easily defeat the elderly men ridiculing him, he chose to not resort to violence.
After making sure his mom wasn’t looking at him, Daniel stuck his middle finger up at the group of men without looking back.
Being handsome was something he could get used to when he could make the most of it at times like this.