The monster extermination was somewhat different from what I had imagined.
Contrary to the expectation that it would be over in the blink of an eye, there lay the monster, its scream frozen into an agonized expression, trapped in ice.
In the middle of the road, it had become a piece of contemporary art.
From the rooftop, I descended and struck the monster from above with my cane, exerting strength, and the monster shattered with a brittle sound.
Among the crude noises of the ice shards rolling meaninglessly on the ground, one could see the terrifying face of the monster trapped inside.
“Well, didn’t it go well?”
It was evident from just a glance at the scene that things had not gone as planned.
Shiyeon must have felt the same since she held the cane close to her chest with both hands and stuttered.
“Wow, it’s completely broken.”
Within the shattered heap of ice.
Gomtaengi stood there in awe and kicked a small shard of ice with his foot, admiring the modern art piece carved with the monster’s suffering.
The monster, like the content in a mold, was dispersing into powder in its sorry state.
Despite the grandiose claims, the pitiful outcome was apparent, and with an awkward scratch to the right cheek with a finger, there was a suggestion.
“…Let’s practice this separately later.”
“Yeah…”
After a solemn moment of mourning for the monster, it was nearing 8 PM.
We returned to normal at a point where people barely passed by and headed home.
Under the night sky, amidst the glittering signs surrounding the convenience store, it caught my eye.
Even though my stomach was full from the delivery food ordered by Gomtaengi, I felt thirsty for some reason.
After swallowing saliva from my parched mouth, I gestured toward the convenience store as I looked at Shiyeon and asked.
“Shall we grab a drink?”
“Yeah!”
With a loud reply, Shiyeon practically clung to my back.
Apparently equally parched, she grabbed both my shoulders from behind and guided my steps toward the convenience store.
I felt like a robot being remotely controlled.
Matching my steps as if marching in military formation, we went left-right, walking toward the convenience store.
Once inside, Shiyeon’s grip loosened.
“Welcome!”
“Hi!”
After exchanging a light greeting with the part-timer, we headed to the refrigerator to look for our desired beverages.
There was plenty of soda at home from the delivery food, but I was looking for a drink that would slide down my throat smoothly.
My finger traced the misty glass of the fridge, revealing the transparent interior.
Beverages in 500ml bottles each cost 2500 won, a price that still seemed outrageous.
For reasons unknown even to myself, I picked up a fruit drink that I usually wouldn’t even glance at.
Shiyeon chose an orange-flavored drink in a bottle shaped like a character.
Though I knew she liked orange juice, I didn’t expect her to pick one with a character cap.
“4800 won.”
After paying, we stepped out of the convenience store and uncapped the drinks with a crunch. I took a sip of the fruit drink.
The taste was like diluted fruit juice.
Though it was mostly water, it had a subtle fruity aroma.
‘Why do I pay money for this…’
Even as we both thought the same, with the 2500 won lingering in our minds, we guzzled it down.
From the side came a slurping noise, like someone sucking on a baby bottle.
Understanding the source of the sound didn’t stop me from glancing over instinctively.
Of course, it was Shiyeon sipping directly from the bottle’s cap.
Even as we approached the apartment and got onto the elevator, the slurping continued.
Back at home, she drained the bottle and crushed it with the suction pressure.
The distorted face of the character on the PET bottle overlapped strangely with the suffering expression of the monster, making me feel uncomfortable.
“You go shower.”
“Huh? I don’t wanna!”
At the entrance, I grabbed Gomtaengi, who was trying to sneak into the room, and took him to the bathroom.
If it were my elementary school days, I might have just dunked him into soapy water immediately, but considering a recent incident where a toy was lost at an amusement park, I handled him gently, like a precious doll, slowly submerging him in luke-warm soapy water without letting his face touch.
“Gee…”
As I gently pressed his fluffy limbs and body to remove any food smells, Gomtaengi seemed surprised by the unexpected kindness.
Pressing his limbs steadily, like squeezing out a sponge, the creature looked back at me with a frightened expression.
“Who… who are you?”
“Why, do you prefer the old method?”
“Oh, it’s you.”
Despite treating him kindly, the shock on his face made me frown.
The fleeting sense of warmth was quickly disrupted when he realized it was me.
“Alright, it’s me.”
Then I gently cupped his head with my palm and dunked it into the soapy water.
“Ughg….”
Bubbles bubbled around his muffled breathing – the water seemed to boil with his breath.
This is what fits between me and Gomtaengi.
After washing him by hand, I decided to hang him on a laundry hanger until he was dry enough.
I couldn’t let him drip all over the house.
With his limbs well squeezed dry, he would be okay once the outer layer was dry.
Just as I finished washing and shook off the water while stepping out of the bathroom, Shiyeon was watching TV in the living room.
“Mary, Mary, look at this!”
“What is it?”
“あなたの 心に 愛を 伝える 魔法少女！ ピンク 登場!”
(A Magical Girl to Convey Love to Your Heart! Pink makes her appearance!)
Unprompted Japanese drew my attention to the screen. There was a subtitle at the bottom.
A news channel focused on stories about magical girls.
Understandable Japanese words played while I stood from behind the sofa, leaning on its back and watching TV.
Oddly realistic, almost live-action scenes made me wonder if this was an animated tokusatsu series.
“What is this? Some kind of Ranger-like tokusatsu anime?”
“Nope, it’s a magical girl from Japan named Pink.”
Thinking that of course even Ranger or Rider series had tokusatsu adaptations for magical girls, I got an unexpected reply.
It wasn’t tokusatsu; it was a real-life magical girl.
Lately, none of my predictions seemed to hold up.
“Hmm.”
The magical girl named Pink was appropriately pink-haired, with exaggerated pigtails that made me wonder if they were physically possible.
Wouldn’t that weigh her down?
The way she was presented seemed different from how Korea would handle magical girls.
People were bustling around her as if at a fan signing event.
Japanese subtitles passed one by one, and then she lifted an arm dramatically while making an affected statement.
“私、韓国に 行きます!”
(I’m going to Korea!)
Her bold declaration was accompanied by Japanese text that appeared on the screen.
And then there was a subtitle clearly marking her as “Pink (32)”, a number that contradicted the youthful behavior she displayed.
The cognitive dissonance lasted for a while, and I was left making faces.
I had mistakenly assumed she was in her teens. What? Thirty-two?
What was that incantation earlier? Something about your heart…?
There’s no way someone over thirty should be saying that kind of line.
The grand interview ended with Pink announcing her visit to Korea.
Though unclear, something about a meet-and-greet event in Korea was mentioned.
Checking the magical girl gallery on my smartphone after the TV news, the community response was immediate.
[Holy f*ck!!!!!!!!! (1)]
[Chickenshit… (5)]
[Crazy pink fans? (3)]
[Korean magical girls don’t do signings like that? (12)]
[Ripe fruit, they say! (1)]
Community members were the quickest to react.
Indeed, with each refresh, eight new posts would appear, generating explosive reactions.
“Whew, chaos erupted!”
“What are you looking at?”
While checking community reactions on my smartphone, Shiyeon tilted her head backward to ask me.
“MG gallery.”
I casually turned my wrist to reveal the blue-toned gallery screen.
Unlike photo-sharing or travel SNS platforms, this was unfamiliar territory for Shiyeon.
Anyway, the Japanese magical girl named Pink was coming to Korea for a meet-and-greet.
Though I nonchalantly passed it off as just that…
The ripples of the meet-and-greet turned out to be evident the next day, at school.
“Where’s Dongha?”
“He’s skipped school to see the meet-and-greet in Busan.”
“What an idiot.”
