From that day on, Shiyeon began her life with a smartphone.
However, due to the nature of the internet, she couldn’t open it up too much; generally, she needed a popular messenger app for contacting each other.
A basic store where various games could be downloaded.
With just this, she could hang out with friends who had smartphones.
Still, she was a bit worried about some search engines that frequently exposed malicious headlines.
After all, she didn’t care about the news at that moment…
“Be careful; put your smartphone in your pocket while walking.”
Indeed, after smartphones started appearing, bad habits began to form.
Playing games while walking was a given, with the smartphone screen almost glued to her face.
At home, she lay on her bed, constantly attached to the charger.
Every time those bad habits emerged, she pointed them out to correct them, but if they could be fixed with just a word, they wouldn’t be called habits.
These days, I heard that many families experienced conflict with their children because of smartphones…
That’s why she was increasingly understanding the older ladies on YouTube, who advised parents to delay buying smartphones for their children as much as possible.
But somehow, was it a bit different from the resentment that arose from being pressed down by elders?
Unlike the countless families filled with conflict she’d heard, Shiyeon didn’t utter a single negative word and complied, all while expressing her discomfort.
‘Hmm…’
With Shiyeon by her side, she felt that it was not right to be the first to break the rules.
There was a moment of stopping at the crosswalk when she could have pulled out her smartphone and taken a look, but given that they spent most of their day together, it wasn’t that easy.
Against her will, her fingers fidgeted uncomfortably.
In fact, was she more addicted to the smartphone than Shiyeon?
She didn’t have any posts registered in a community, and aside from Shiyeon, her messenger chats were empty.
The only messages she received were card payment notifications or random ads from numbers she didn’t even know how they got her contact.
Certainly, there was no reason to be looking at the smartphone.
Her foot was increasingly kicking the indoor slippers in frustration.
The sound of the air bursting in the empty space inside her pocket inadvertently drew the attention of those around her.
“Those around” meant elementary students, where grading meant nothing.
Otherwise, it was just a few parents from the early morning green mothers’ group, repeatedly opening and closing their flags at the crosswalk without a signal.
Wearing clean white indoor slippers, she found herself heading to class.
As fall advanced, her classmates began to wear thicker clothing.
She saw some kids dressed as if they were forcibly made to wear thick coats.
What will they do when winter comes if it’s already being dressed like that in early fall?
‘The noodle container…’
She decided to focus on the class timetable posted on the blackboard while ignoring the children of others, mumbling the first letters in her mind.
Korean, Math, Integrated, Ethics.
Regardless, it felt disconnected from her mental age and attention span during these unproductive hours.
After four hours that felt the most meaningless in the world, a relatively meaningful lunchtime arrived.
Just like the middle school students puffing away behind the school, the only reason she went to school for lunch was no different.
She couldn’t avoid it since it was compulsory education.
After the relatively meaningful lunchtime passed.
Waiting for the moment to be released from the torture called 5th period.
“Okay, kids, I’m going to distribute your piggy banks and home communications.”
‘Here we go again.’
With the homeroom teacher’s short notice, an ugly-looking, blunt pig-shaped piggy bank and home letter were handed out.
It was an extortion mixed with a game of insight from the school under the guise of a donation.
Though they said it was okay not to put in even a single coin, there were few students who actually did so.
Something that resembled the damp darkness mixed in with children’s picnic lunch boxes.
A competitive display of wealth disguised as a donation, heating up competition among parents.
Of course, there were wise parents who wouldn’t fall for such marketing tactics.
With a natural mindset of “I can’t donate while I’m busy trying to make a living,” even a donation made with good intentions rarely sees 1% of the money actually reaching families in need.
Rather, it would be wiser to find the struggling people themselves and slip cash into their pockets, as money pooled through some organization usually goes towards operating funds.
Naturally, schools are no exception to that item.
After thinking that there seemed to be places still doing it after unveiling the corruption of charity organizations like Love’s Fruit and Christmas Seals, she firmly resolved to pay not a single cent and immediately took Shiyeon’s hand to head home.
“Achuu-!”
‘Huh?’
Shiyeon’s short sneeze upon arriving home.
And from that day on, a small change began.
News about a disease started to spread late through various media, including TV.
The disease, which began in China, had already crossed into the country.
With the crazy kids wandering around, catching diseases and spreading them indiscriminately, the situation started going downhill rapidly.
To make matters worse, there was a family in Shiyeon’s class that had recently returned from a trip to China.
As a result, it turned out that Shiyeon had contracted the disease.
Bringing the situation back to the present.
“Cough, cough.”
Even if she coughed continuously due to the foreign sensation as if something were stuck in her throat, her voice became hoarse, and the dizziness only intensified.
The problem wasn’t just with Shiyeon.
Naturally, Shiyeon wasn’t the only one experiencing an infection since she had been in the same space longer than anyone at school.
Who would have imagined?
That it wasn’t the monster that would kill a magical girl, but the twisted creatures born from a concept diluted in amniotic fluid that spread the disease indiscriminately.
‘Ugh…damn.’
While pressing her forehead, which felt like it might break, she cursed inwardly and secretly drew the blanket off Shiyeon, who was shivering.
“Shiyeon, you shouldn’t cover yourself with the blanket…”
When someone had a fever, keeping the body excessively warm would only prolong the illness.
In case of high fever accompanied by chills, it required wiping the body with a lukewarm towel.
Seeing the world spin in her vision, realizing that both of them would end up sick, she finally recited the transformation spell.
“Sun.”
With the transformation, the throbbing headache and dizziness vanished in an instant.
Even though her recovery might be a bit slower, they desperately needed at least one person who could move normally.
“Mary, here’s a towel…”
“Oh, okay.”
Unlike usual, the mascots, seeing how they were genuinely struggling, helped a little by soaking towels for them.
She plugged the thermometer, which looked like a phone, into Shiyeon’s ear while she lay down, pressing the measurement button.
With a beep, the thermometer displayed a temperature of 38.9 degrees.
“Release.”
Afterwards, she undid the transformation, hurriedly brought the thermometer to her ear, beaten by dizziness and fever.
Click, pressed the button with a beep indicating a reading.
This time it showed 39.2 degrees; if anything, it was even more than Shiyeon.
“Sun.”
Reciting the transformation spell again, she shook off the headache and warmth.
Still, priority was to get at least one person better.
Particularly because of Shiyeon, who was likely more vulnerable than her to illness, she had to stay mentally sharp.
If either of them caught an illness, the best remedy would be to eat well and sleep well.
If it was easy to swallow, well-digesting food…
In the face of illness, porridge was always the answer. This formula formed in her mind as she tossed the smartphone to Gomtaengi.
“Gomtaengi, order some porridge through the delivery app.”
“Yes, what shall I order?”
“Just plain white porridge would be the best… for now, let’s go with beef and vegetable porridge.”
Shiyeon was shivering, only wearing her underwear; all she could do was wipe her body with a damp, lukewarm towel, feeling her heart ache.
Her body trembled adorably, responding to the towel that made contact with her skin.
“Mary, it’s cold…”
“But you have to endure.”
Remembering her painful past, she gently covered Shiyeon only as far as her feet with the blanket.
She also partially closed the door, which had been left open for ventilation.
After transferring the delivered porridge to a separate bowl, she finally managed to sit Shiyeon up enough for her to eat a little. Then she gave her a headache relief tablet she could buy at a nearby pharmacy.
In a situation where, due to an unprecedented epidemic, every hospital was filled with reservations.
In fact, even if she went to the hospital, there was not much they could do, so she chose to rely on her immune system rather than catch more illnesses from the hospitals filled with sick patients.
To make things worse, with a mask shortage causing panic buying — such ridiculous nonsense.
After numerous efforts, Shiyeon managed to reduce her fever and fell asleep.
“Release.”
She undid her transformation and awkwardly forced a bowl of porridge into her tired body.
After swallowing a headache medicine like Shiyeon, she decided to take a short nap on the floor.
In a situation where they could only rely on each other for help.
The only person in her contacts was a public official uncle who had given her a business card during their Sokcho visit, aside from a few people listed that had always come up as restricted callers.
If she told them they were both sick, they would probably inform the minister… and she sent a message saying that she thought she caught the recent troublesome disease, then closed her eyes.
….
At that time, while she was barely asleep due to the effects of the medicine.
Knock, knock, knock, the sound of thick iron doors being pounded woke her up, and she checked her smartphone.
The curtains were completely drawn, and the brightness outside was invisible.
The time was 3:27 AM.
There were numerous missed calls from someone displaying a restricted caller ID and a familiar number.
It was an unreasonable time for someone to visit, but the urgent knocking, which definitely indicated they had arrived at her house, barely prompted her to get up.
“Who… is it?”
“Oh, you woke up! I called, but you didn’t answer… are you okay?”
The voice that came from beyond the door belonged to one of the public official uncles who had left numerous missed calls on her smartphone.
