As mentioned earlier, there were no choices.
Of course, if one were to investigate the surroundings centered around Shiyeon, there would naturally be concerns about her real name or her appearance before transformation being discovered.
But what does it matter?
If it were found out that she is a magical girl, there is no insane clause that requires her to quit her job.
Neither the people around her have to make uncomfortable considerations, nor does the magical girl herself have to suffer from shame plays through transformation phrases or magical incantations.
The path chosen by magical girls for everyone’s comfort is simply one that conceals their identities.
There’s no need to reveal their true identities, but there’s also no need to wrap them up so tightly.
Especially when family matters are involved, it had to be clear whether their identities were discovered or not.
“And you five, sit here.”
I pointed to the sofa across from the completely broken desk.
They cautiously stepped forward, their movements careful as they sat on the armrests, urged by their parents and the atmosphere, the pressure weighing heavily on them.
“Take off your outer clothes, show your name tags.”
As soon as the last one sat down, I had them take off their thick coats and checked the names written on them one by one.
“Pen, paper.”
I extended my right hand behind my shoulder with my palm open, and I heard a hurried clattering sound a few times, with an A4 sheet and a ballpoint pen being placed in my hand.
In the name tags of the ones hastily scribbling, three-letter names.
I etched those unforgettable names into my eyes and mind, folded them twice, and tucked them away into my clothes.
I wanted to beat up monsters just like on a rainy day right away, but…
Seeing their swollen faces that showed signs of bruises and their timid expressions, I slightly restrained my emotions and stood up, stepping onto the debris of the broken desk and opening my mouth.
“Don’t let your faces and names be revealed.”
Some of their gazes, previously fixed on the floor, gradually lifted.
These kids, already in middle school and causing trouble with their studies and smoking.
It’s funny, but they also have dreams.
Based on their actions, they belong to the creative arts type, completely unrelated to studies.
At the very least, there’s a futile hope for them to carry out their dreams beyond academics.
And why is that hope futile?
“Singers, models, celebrities, YouTubers… it doesn’t matter, the moment your names pop up, you’re risking everything to send them straight to hell or some other world. Remember that.”
Because right now, I plan to break them.
After everything is done, I’ll line up the perpetrators with swollen faces, making them lower their heads to avoid showing their faces, and take a picture.
Because of the infringement of portrait rights, it would be troublesome if I got sued.
With silhouettes like this, Shiyeon should recognize them.
Just as I was about to throw my body out the window of the vice principal’s office, I pulled my foot back inside and spoke again.
“Oh, right.”
I almost forgot the most crucial thing.
The usual feelings experienced by victims of school bullying.
A statement meant to convey that directly to them.
“If I see you near Shiyeon with thoughts of revenge or anything strange because of today’s incident, it won’t end with you.”
The gazes turned towards the perpetrators’ parents.
This is a threat.
A clear, unmistakable threat that one should not make as a public figure.
But I also have my family involved in this.
“Your daughters’ actions have not escaped your knowledge.”
I made a face of disdain towards the parents and flew into the sky through the window.
Today, I might have shattered the families of five.
In any household, it would certainly not pass quietly.
But as always, my family is much more important than others’ families.
I’d rather choose a sumptuous meal worth 50,000 won to make my family smile than donate 50,000 won to save 50 refugees whose faces I don’t know.
‘Hopefully, they’re waking up soon.’
Checking the time on my smartphone from the sky, it was 11:38 AM.
I transformed in the empty apartment rooftop for Shiyeon, who had gone to bed early the previous day, and headed towards our apartment block.
Taking the elevator down to the first floor and walking a bit to Building 202.
Then, from Building 202, I took the elevator to the fourth floor, to our home.
I carefully opened the door and entered the entrance, making sure to be as quiet as possible.
As soon as I walked in, I noticed the kitchen, not immediately visible.
From there, Shiyeon walked out cautiously, her steps hesitant.
As she walked into the living room from the entrance, the first sound I heard was one mixed with surprise.
“Mary, your hair…”
Her hair had been cut short—this was Shiyeon’s first time seeing it.
It would likely feel this way until it grew long again.
“I changed up my style a bit.”
I swayed my bobbed hair nonchalantly, as if it was nothing.
A brief and casual conversation followed by a long silence.
Although the path to conversation had opened up since yesterday, I still didn’t know how to approach it.
Should I say I’m sorry for not noticing up until now?
Should I have spoken up sooner? It’s all resolved now, so don’t worry?
Words that were about to come out remained stuck in my throat.
I took off Shiyeon’s uniform with her name inscribed and placed it in the laundry basket. I also put her smartphone on the desk.
It was an unusual time for both of us to be home, as usually neither of us would be.
“Are you hungry? What do you want to eat?”
“…Spaghetti.”
Shyly looking away, Shiyeon expressed her desire for what she wanted to eat.
Spaghetti—something that could be made if you just knew how to boil noodles.
Come to think of it, she had always liked noodle dishes quite a bit.
“Okay, let’s have it together after a long time.”
I spoke casually, like a few years ago, and headed towards the induction stove in the kitchen.
Since it was for two people, I boiled a whole bag of pasta generously.
When the water in the large pan began to boil vigorously, I threw in the noodles from the bottom to the top.
To avoid it being boring with just spaghetti, I took a small pan for frying eggs and added a handful of the meat that Taehyun’s aunt had given us.
It might sound like a weird combination, but as I work my way through the various foods in the house, it turns out to be just that.
Once the noodles are cooked just right, I drained them from the sieve, discarding the water.
If I had bacon, the quality of the spaghetti would have improved, but most of it was included in the sauce product.
The drained pan still had plenty of heat.
After pouring tomato-based meat sauce generously into the pan, I mixed in the noodles back into the hot pan.
And just like that, the spaghetti was done. The ends of the chopsticks that stirred the noodles were dipped into the sizzling meat in the small pan.
I don’t use more than one cooking tool for a single dish.
It’s a timid rebellion against the dishes, aiming to reduce the cleanup.
After stirring the food a few times, the cooking was done.
Today, there was unusually a two-portion meal on the dining table that usually only faced solitary battles.
“All done—”
Two bowls, two forks.
To make picking the noodles easier, the ends were jagged like crocodile teeth.
With the squelching sound, I scooped a mound of noodles to each of our plates.
Twisting the fork, I rolled the pile of noodles into a portion for my mouth.
Chunky minced meat rolled around my tongue, while the slippery noodles tried to evade my teeth before eventually being bitten and breaking apart.
Slurp, slurp.
The sounds of eating without any conversation continued on for a while, and after a few more scoops…
The sea of red noodles that had been abundant in the pan quickly revealed the bottom.
If we’ve eaten, we should clean up. While dipping my hands in the sink close together, my mouth opened on its own.
Unexpectedly, the words compelled by my heart spilled out.
“Don’t go to school starting tomorrow.”
“…Huh?”
“Let’s transfer schools. Once we get the paperwork sorted, we’ll go to our school.”
I wiped my hands on the towel after shaking the moisture off inside the sink.
On my way back home, I had already completed the online application in the sky.
Even though it might be hard to be in the same class, if I continuously visit and hang out during breaks, we could naturally make friends even in different classes.
Honestly, Shiyeon just doesn’t match my taste, but compared to girls my age, her hobbies aren’t that strange.
She simply got entangled with some odd girls.
It’s infuriating to think about it again.
Just as I turned my body to head back to the living room, I was enveloped by Shiyeon’s embrace, which now seemed to have grown, no longer similar but somewhat larger.
The words that had been stuck in my throat finally slipped out softly.
“Ugh, you should have said something sooner…”
I let out a lament mixed with disappointment.
Gently, but as smoothly as I could, I stroked Shiyeon’s hair.
After that, to ensure Shiyeon could truly feel at ease, I recounted the events of what had happened at Mihwa Middle School one by one, explaining how I dealt with each situation.
Sitting on the sofa, I shared every detail.
From pretending to be Shiyeon, to collapsing on my desk at school.
The first time punching the perpetrator in the face when they picked a fight.
The tale of being dragged to the vice principal’s office.
Transforming dramatically when the girl’s parents arrived.
And lining up their parents while describing the reality of the perpetrators until they were swollen with bruises.
“Well, and this is the evidence I took.”
When I showed the photos from the vice principal’s office, Shiyeon seemed relieved, perhaps satisfied, but wiped her tears with a face that was too ambiguous to tell if she was laughing or crying.
It was a strange expression, but definitely a happy one.
Just then, feeling relieved, I slightly relaxed the middle finger from my fist and gently rubbed at her temple.
“Ugh, if you cry and laugh, you’ll grow horns on your butt.”
“Puhuh!”
As I brought up a proverb that didn’t fit the situation and made a joke, Shiyeon couldn’t help but let out a laugh.
Our relationship, which had only been growing more distant, began to fill the gaps through the somewhat uncomfortable bridge of school bullying.
