At the same time, two people sat at the table, fiddling with their smartphones and eating tteokbokki with forks.
The only difference between the tteokbokki they were picking at and the ones sold in stores was the similar ratio of Vienna sausages to tteok and fish cake.
There were two people and two beings, making it a rare occasion where four intelligences gathered at the table.
“Is it tasty?”
“Yeah.”
As if to fill the gaps in their earlier conversation, they started talking about trivial matters.
When asked if it was delicious, Shiyeon answered while poking a piece of fish cake, tteok, and sausage with her fork, mumbling as she ate.
The spicy yet sweet flavor flooded their home’s tteokbokki.
As she enjoyed the crunch of the Vienna sausage, she moved her fork to the chewy rice cake laid out on her plate.
“In my opinion, it could use a bit more spiciness.”
“You just eat what you’re given…”
Just as I was about to tell Gomtaengi, who was subtly inserting his preferences, to eat what was given, my gaze fell on his plate.
His plate was full of sausages, without a single piece of tteok or fish cake.
I stopped moving my fork and immediately reached out my right arm, grabbing his head.
“Seriously, no wonder the sausages were gone so quickly!”
“Craaak! A lion, no matter how hungry, doesn’t eat grass…”
“You’re a bear, damn it. If you’re omnivorous, just eat without being picky!”
Seriously, he was nothing like someone who only picks meat out of kimchi stew.
“Uheh-heh!”
Holding onto Gomtaengi’s head as if I would rip it off, laughter erupted from across the table.
When was the last time I saw Shiyeon laugh so playfully like that?
Now, the way she covered her mouth while laughing felt surprisingly similar to girls of her age, making me nostalgic.
“What’s so funny?”
When I asked while still gripping Gomtaengi’s head, Shiyeon responded with a funny remark.
“I didn’t quite realize it before… but there’s a reason for hitting you.”
“Isn’t it?”
Even a middle schooler could understand my actions by this age.
This kid is just asking for it.
With a desperate scream, Gomtaengi struggled to escape.
“Craaak! Does no one understand me!”
“Go check somewhere like a mom cafe; there must be someone.”
Only a madman can understand another madman.
That was my view, so I mentioned that place where illogical people sometimes appear.
Afterward, I returned more than half of the sausages back to the pot that had been piled high on his plate.
During the process of returning the sausages to the pot, I made sure not to let any seasoning stuck to the edge of the plate fall on the table, sweeping it with my index finger and licking it clean.
With a clink, the plate returned to Gomtaengi.
“Ah, um…”
“Yeah? What now?”
Meanwhile, Shiyeon’s mascot was fidgeting anxiously.
Noticing that it couldn’t say a word, I looked at it and said, as if to encourage it to speak directly.
At that moment, an alarm, much like an air raid siren, echoed from outside, announcing the approach of a monster.
Today was an even day, my turn in charge.
Usually, the mascot would give a heads-up before the alarm goes off.
But as soon as my gaze shifted to Gomtaengi, he stopped chewing the sausage, meeting my eyes.
Time froze as our gazes locked.
A brief silence, a subtle awkwardness.
Then, as if determined to finish the contents of his plate before dying, he started to gobble down quickly.
“Is this guy really insane?”
“Whaaa!”
“I’ll be back!”
“Okay, I’ll be back!”
The place we were deploying to this time was the city center.
A place commonly referred to as Rodeo Street.
No matter how many alarms went off, it was impossible for everyone to evacuate completely from such a bustling area.
Only swift and precise action could minimize the damage.
That aside, while flying, I left a few words for Gomtaengi.
“If you do that next time, you’re really dead.”
“The tteokbokki is just too delicious…!”
“Geez, you can’t even speak properly.”
If it’s a road where I can be certain everyone has evacuated and can just smash down with no worries, that’s one thing.
But here, in the center of the city.
If I recklessly smashed down and caused damage to gas lines, water pipes, and all kinds of other buried pipes and wires, there would be no solution to that.
Of course, it wasn’t my responsibility to manage that, but I also didn’t want to be a nuisance by destroying everything haphazardly.
Once I quietly reached the back of the monster, I brought out my cane from behind.
“Gah…!”
“If you stay still, no one will get hurt.”
A beam of high heat emitted from the well-prepared cane.
I angled it upward, ensuring no buildings were in the path, and in an instant, the monster crumbled into a black charred lump without even a scream, collapsing into ashes.
As I watched the completely burned monster, Gomtaengi commented.
“Hot Rod!”
Looks like he picked up some strange words from some forum.
After I cleaned up today’s monster, when I returned home, Shiyeon was tapping on her smartphone with her fork set down on the table.
“What’s up, were you waiting for me?”
“Yeah, we have to eat together…”
She praised me when I returned.
Even though I finished quickly, it must have been over ten minutes.
To think she waited, staring blankly at her favorite food placed in front of her.
The tteokbokki, which had lost its flow during the meal, was only half of what I served at the start.
Since I assumed we would have enough leftovers for tomorrow morning when Shiyeon and I would have a decent amount, I had already told her how to prepare it.
“So if there’s some left over in the morning, let’s make rabokki with ramyeon.”
“Yeah, I like thick noodles.”
Our conversation felt pretty comfortable now, exchanging various topics.
After finishing the meal, we moved on to discussing the monster’s appearance and how to respond.
Especially since it was rare for monsters to appear in bustling areas like today, it was important to teach her that there was no need to deal with them overly aggressively.
“So, it’s important to handle it in a way that doesn’t cause damage to the surrounding roads or buildings.”
“Is that really possible?”
“It can be done with you or me, right? We are among the strongest of the magical girls?”
Especially Shiyeon’s magic was ice, unlike the flashy fire on my side.
Once she becomes a bit more skilled, she could simply freeze the monster before anyone notices and shatter it, killing whatever it is, human or monster, instantly.
Adding an explanation that it would be hard to find a power greater than that for a quiet approach, she nodded, as if she finally understood.
Just when I thought today’s conversation was at an end, Shiyeon spoke up again.
“Ah, by the way, what’s this?”
“Huh?”
Shiyeon suddenly shoved her smartphone towards me, the screen displaying a news article regarding the American magical girl, Tiara.
“Ah… this.”
Is the curse of the monkey paw still lingering?
Scratching the back of my head, I thought maybe I could finally explain what was linked to that time.
The grievances of the pork belly and chicken.
“Remember that time when we weren’t talking much, the house smelled like meat and Gomtaengi was eating chicken?”
“Ah… is that so?”
Shiyeon seemed not to remember well and tilted her head.
Considering it was during a time she was being tormented, it might not have seemed like a significant issue.
Anyway, continuing the story from that time…
There was an American magical girl I met when I went to fight a monster in the States a few years ago, and that person had visited Korea and even come to my house recently.
I ended up ordering chicken and grilling meat while trying to treat her to Korean food, giving a rather late explanation of my actions.
“Ah, I see… anyway, how was today’s monster?”
As if that didn’t matter at all, her response was rather nonchalant before she shot out a question.
I showed the back of my hand with my thumb and index finger extended in a V shape.
“Does it matter? I sent it flying with one shot.”
Our relationship was improving gradually.
The paperwork I applied for had passed with the principal’s approval, and Shiyeon and I could attend the same school, albeit late.
We woke up at the same time, had meals together, and went to the same school.
How convenient it would have been if it had been like this from the start.
Although it hurt a little knowing the cost for new uniforms would double, Shiyeon, knowing how to spend money now, decided she would buy her own clothes and generously paid for it.
So began the first day of our school transfer, bright and promising.
And how splendidly, yet unexpectedly, a good piece of news came flying in.
“Huh, we never got to be in the same class in elementary school…”
“Hehe…”
With a sigh of disbelief, Shiyeon was taken aback upon seeing the class she was assigned to.
We had never been placed in the same class in elementary school, as if fate had cruelly denied us.
Now, finally, we could take classes together in the same classroom at the same school as middle schoolers!
