Chapter 108

About two hours had passed since Shiyeon stepped out the front door.

It wasn’t even 10 o’clock, and yet 23 minutes had passed since then.

A black van entered the apartment’s ground parking lot.

The sliding door creaked open, and from inside appeared a girl with striking golden hair that exuded an unmistakable American vibe.

A few men in business suits followed her, their physiques familiar from Shiyeon’s memory.

Meanwhile, it seemed the security guard didn’t think the van belonged to a resident and rushed over to the driver’s seat to say something.

‘It certainly stands out a lot.’

The van started again, and only two people remained in the parking lot as they walked toward their apartment building.

After opening the shared entrance door through the intercom, the doorbell rang shortly after.

After silencing the loud doorbell sound from home by manipulating the intercom, Shiyeon approached and opened the door.

“Hello, Haseyo.”

“Oh, hello….”

“I’ll be here around 3 PM, so please take care of Tiara until then.”

“Okay.”

With a click, the door closed.

A foreigner had entered her usually familiar home.

What words should she start the conversation with?

“Why did you want to see me? Or, thank you for defeating the monster yesterday?”

Even if she said that, would she understand all the words correctly?

Talking with foreigners required an immense amount of courage.

Stuck in awkward silence, it was ultimately the girl who broke the ice first with clumsy Korean.

“Are you the magical girl I saw in Los Angeles?”

“Oh, yes… that’s me.”

“Oh! Nice to meet you!”

It seemed Tiara understood a bit of simple Korean, as she spoke in English with a reasonably comprehensible sentence.

Then, while fiddling with a toy-like magical wand in the air, she suddenly raised it and shouted….

“Transformation!”

Along with the English word “Transformation,” she was enveloped in a burst of light.

That must be her transformation line.

‘Huh?’

The shape, which Shiyeon thought would barely stop at a similar height, surged upwards like a large tree, eliciting a surprised gasp from her.

The form she revealed after transforming was at a level that made Shiyeon tilt her head upwards by about 45 degrees.

She had grown quite a bit since middle school, reaching over the 150 cm mark, but this was a significant increase in height.

180? 190? Anyway, she had a tall frame that perfectly fit the description of towering.

“Long time no see!”

“Uh…”

Having transformed back, she suddenly opened her arms wide as a sign of greeting and hugged Shiyeon tightly.

Knowing this was a common greeting in America from her 9-day trip, she awkwardly reciprocated the hug.

Though the girl bent down somewhat, those two enormous mounds that poked out made it hard to breathe.

After exchanging that surprisingly heavy greeting for a Korean, Shiyeon barely continued the conversation with the help of her smartphone translator.

Her real name was Anne, and she was a twenty-two-year-old adult.

“…You tried to fly here yourself?”

“That’s right! But instead of South Korea, I ended up in North Korea.”

However, as they continued talking, it became clear that this person was far crazier than her outward appearance suggested.

Having just become an adult and unsure of what to do, she had desperately wanted to come to Korea, so she flew directly to a place that took over 10 hours by airplane.

The problem was, although she could find it on a map, she didn’t understand the concept of North and South Korea.

“What is this?”

“You American idiots!”

Shiyeon sensed an unusual atmosphere and speech that was quite different from what she had seen in dramas.

Because of that, she said she was forced to return home, and there were almost international issues because of it.

When she searched “American magical girl North Korea,” something indeed came up.

Apparently, this was a big topic from about two years ago when North Korea had reacted nervously.

Now that she thought of it, she vaguely remembered hearing something about it during a meetup….

Anyway, since she had taken the day off school today to handle her assigned task, she typed into the translator, “Is there anything you want to eat?”

[Is there anything you want to eat?]

“Is there anything you want to eat?”

Regardless of how the real pronunciation sounded, as long as they communicated correctly, that was what mattered.

She could understand even the cheap English pronunciation that Shiyeon had never practiced in conversation.

If there were moments when it seemed like she truly didn’t understand, they struggled through showing the translation screen to continue their conversation.

“Ah! KFC!”

The acronym for the chicken brand that’s most familiar to foreigners.

She came all the way to Korea and wanted to eat that among all the chicken options?

‘Hmm…? Isn’t that available in America too?’

“This?”

Anyway, while searching delivery apps as she was told, Shiyeon found a familiar old man’s face.

Just to check, she pressed the screen, and then, with a rather embarrassing word to say, she showed it to her.

Anne leaned closer with a curious expression as she came near the smartphone screen.

It seemed this logo was also well-known among locals, as she shook her head like to say that wasn’t it.

“No Kentucky, Korean Fried Chicken.”

“Oh, okay, okay….”

Only then did she finally understand what the acronym KFC meant, and still with her cheap English pronunciation, she moved to the screen showing her favorite chicken place.

Boneless fried chicken, fried, soy sauce, seasoned, and even sauces she usually didn’t order.

Since she was told Anne was from America, she figured she had to show her the essence of Korean chicken by ordering a variety of flavors that she normally wouldn’t get.

It’s said that excess can be worse than deficiency, but when it comes to chicken, its versatility is infinite.

Even if she had to throw it back in the air fryer again, she could always share it with the mascot or Shiyeon.

While waiting for the chicken to be delivered, the story began again.

Anne was open, scattered, and active.

“Let’s take a photo together with Transformation!”

“Uh…”

While discussing the uncomfortable tipping culture in America, she suddenly stood up to suggest mixing in her transformation incantation to take a picture together.

Naturally, even if it was just a simple English word, it was an incantation.

As she transformed in a flash of light, she pulled out her smartphone lens, and eventually, they snapped pictures of each other in their transformed and non-transformed states, and a mix of both.

In many ways, she seemed like a person who would drain the energy from you just being around her.

“Next time… can I have your number?”

‘Delivery guy, please hurry up.’

After talking about tips in America and taking photos, she then asked about the relationship between South and North Korea and followed it up by asking for Shiyeon’s phone number.

With the conversation going in unpredictable directions, Shiyeon squeezed her eyes shut and wished the intercom would ring as soon as possible.

Had she ever waited for a chicken delivery like this in her life?

The notification that popped up on her phone showed that the delivery person had set out.

It truly felt like the longest 8 minutes.

Even for a chatty person, when meeting someone for the first time, chicken could make you focus solely on eating.

Though they fried the same chicken, strangely, she heard Korean fried chicken was tastier.

“Very, very crispy…!”

“Hey, Gomtaengi. You should come and eat too.”

“Uh, can I?”

Gomtaengi, who had been keeping quiet in a corner, perked up her ears at the invitation and, dropping the performance of being a doll, slowly flew over.

“If you’re a magical girl, you must know.”

“Oh, mascot!”

Anne exclaimed “mascot” in understandable English as she watched Gomtaengi flying to the table.

It seemed the mascot here was also referred to as a mascot over there.

As if she suddenly remembered her own mascot, Anne subtly rummaged through the pocket of her hoodie and pulled something out, palm up.

“Click.”

“Eek—!”

Shiyeon felt her heart drop.

A black-furred rat was calmly sitting on her palm.

A rat, symbolizing the plague, was in her house?

Not even reaching the thought that it was her mascot, she immediately searched for an electric fly swatter.

Initially, a creature the size of a palm wouldn’t be caught in a single strike with a fly swatter, but she shifted her gaze around.

Finally, with the electric fly swatter in hand, she approached the rat, which was sitting leisurely on her palm and sniffing with its adorable nose.

The rat, feeling the murderous intent from her gaze and the fly swatter, looked at her for two seconds, then jumped off her palm and scurried around the room.

After that, the surrounding sounds became muted.

Like swinging a hammer, she threw or swung at the little black furball frantically.

“Stop! Stop!”

“Help—! Help!”

As the adult’s body restrained her, she gasped heavily, and only upon hearing Anne’s voice telling her to stop and the sounds of the rat did she finally calm down.

It turned out that rat was Anne’s mascot.

Now, not only were there teddy bears, but even a rat joining the party.

The sound of it nibbling scratched at her ears.

‘Wow, that really scared me.’

Even now, her heart was pounding, as if she could hear it next to her head.

As she clutched near her left chest, Anne lowered her head and spoke, still unable to touch the chicken she had been admiring.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you like that.”

“Oh, it’s okay… eat as much as you want.”

After all, she would only see this person today.

It wasn’t the military where she had to see people she disliked for months, so she decided to let it slide generously.

‘By the way…’

Leaving her feelings aside, she gazed at the rat nibbling on the fried chicken on the table and thought.

That’s supposed to be a mascot, right?

Could a rat that looked so realistically made be acceptable?

She truly thought it was freshly pulled out of some sewer trap.