After purifying the gallery in the contaminated smart phone, I moved on to the shopping app.
I needed wet wipes and two suitable lunch boxes for the on-site learning experience.
And these days, I was completely out of toilet paper at home.
I had nearly used up all the body wash and shampoo as well.
‘Wait, wasn’t I looking for picnic items?’
I suddenly stopped my fingers, which had been moving in a daze, at the thought that popped into my head and checked the basket where I had stored the items.
I had only touched a few necessary items for daily life, yet it had already racked up to a six-digit price.
I was astounded at how expensive the bill was for the few items I had added, but nevertheless, these were necessities for living in this world.
After making sure I had checked off everything I needed for the picnic, I pressed the order complete button.
The notification from my smart phone indicating a deduction of around 100,000 won rang loudly.
“Mary, what did you order?”
As the smart phone beeped, Shiyeon peeked her head over the bunk bed stairs and asked what I had ordered.
Now that I thought about it, evening was approaching, and I had to figure out what to order for dinner.
Shaking my head while lying down, I looked in the direction of the stairs to answer her.
“Not yet, why? Do you want something to eat?”
“Shrimp tempura!”
It seemed she really wanted it, as she quickly called for shrimp tempura.
Imagining shrimp tempura, which most people find agreeable, I searched for it on the delivery app.
The results that appeared mostly consisted of tonkatsu restaurants.
“Shrimp tempura, shrimp tempura…”
Since I was already using the fryer, it looked like they sold various kinds of fried foods.
There were quite a few tonkatsu places, and I started to scroll down until I found one that sold squid tempura as well.
It said squid katsu, but in reality, it was squid rings.
That shouldn’t matter, I thought, and skillfully ordered a tonkatsu set that included rice, along with shrimp tempura and squid rings.
The notification sound from the smart phone was particularly annoying today.
‘Ugh.’
Since it was just two elementary school students eating, it was about 1 to 1.5 servings.
Even after ordering just that, the total amount came to nearly 25,000 won, making me sigh and feel incredulous.
By the time we reached middle school or high school, wouldn’t it be easy for the two of us to hit 50,000 won?
More than a wicked monster, the soaring prices felt far more sinister and frightening.
With a rustle, I heard the sound of plastic being set down at the door.
The doorbell rang, announcing that the food had arrived.
“It’s here!”
With a quick step, Shiyeon dashed to the door.
I followed her down the stairs and headed to the front door.
Click, I opened the door, and there was only the food sitting there; the delivery person had already disappeared with the wind.
In the early days of the delivery app, many delivery people would hand the food over at the door, but these days, it seems they’re quite busy, as they vanish as soon as you open the door.
It’s a harsh world.
At our age, the heavy plastic bags felt ponderous, and we struggled to bring them to the low dining table.
If I had my way, I’d want to misuse the powers of a magical girl to make life easier, but since there’s always a possibility for things to go wrong, I try to rein it in during everyday life.
With delicate hands, I carefully untied the tightly sealed plastic bag.
It was good for small, intricate tasks like threading a needle.
Tick, my hand slipped from the round knot.
‘It’s good…’
Making a rustling sound, I focused back on the knot.
Tick.
Once again, my nail slipped and couldn’t untie the tightly knotted portion.
‘Good…’
With the agility and delicacy of my small hands, I couldn’t finally get the knot….
Tick.
I couldn’t untie it.
‘Good, damn…’
I cursed inwardly as my nail slipped off the very end of the knot.
No matter how much it’s for the safety of the food, it was still frustrating.
Humans are animals with tools; I went to the kitchen, grabbed scissors, and cut the knotted portion.
I should have done this sooner; there was no need to exhaust myself.
I took the food out one by one; the main tonkatsu lunch box went to the center of the table.
I transferred the shrimp tempura that Shiyeon wanted into her bowl, and likewise, brought the squid rings in front of me.
“What’s that?”
Shiyeon pointed at the round-shaped tempura with her fork.
Since she was still quite clumsy with chopsticks, it was a scene of her using a fork.
Of course, she couldn’t use a fork forever, so I occasionally bought her child-friendly chopsticks so she could practice.
“It’s squid tempura; we were going to eat squid before, but you said you wanted shrimp.”
Right after answering her question, it seemed she suddenly remembered the idea of squid monsters.
“Oh… I want one too!”
Shiyeon began eyeing my squid tempura.
There was no way I’d let her take it from me easily.
If I just flat-out refused, it would only stir up her rebellion, so I initiated negotiations.
“I’ll trade you one shrimp for two squids.”
“Ah.”
Judging by her short reaction, the negotiation had failed.
Even I could tell that one squid ring for one shrimp tempura didn’t add up.
“Then how about two squid rings for one shrimp?”
Thus, the re-negotiation began, settling on two squid rings for one shrimp.
“Okay… got it!”
With Shiyeon’s nodding head, the negotiation was a success.
The disposable plastic lunch box was filled with tonkatsu and rice.
And it was evenly divided with squid rings and shrimp tempura.
In that case, wouldn’t it have been better to just share it from the beginning?
“Thank you for the meal-”
“Phew, I’m full.”
The disposable lunch containers were now completely empty.
After wiping the grease remnants off the dishes in the kitchen sink, I packed them into a small container to throw away on the weekend.
Recycling is a hassle, but it’s something that can’t be avoided.
I was thankful for a day passing without any alarms after the meal.
However, sprawled out on the bed, I fell into another dilemma.
“How should I prepare the lunch for the picnic day….”
That’s right.
Thoughts about the picnic day lunch.
Whether I wanted to or not, this was an element that sparked comparisons among kids.
I had to manage at least a decent meal, if not a masterpiece.
“Picnic, lunch….”
The non-artist like me naturally seeks out videos or pictures when it comes to art.
Creating a character with a colorful face in a lunch box was utterly impossible.
To make it look pretty at least, I decided on a full serving of fried rice with octopus-shaped sausage as the side.
And I also decided on quail eggs in soy sauce and a few pieces of fruit.
…Assuming that characters wouldn’t be made in the lunch box, this was the best option.
Suddenly, I realized I had to go buy more things at the mart.
Instant rice and canned ham for the fried rice, and eggs.
For side dishes, refrigerated quail egg soy sauce and sausage.
Lastly, maybe some cherry tomatoes and shine muscat for dessert?
‘…More than I thought?’
Thinking about the on-site learning experience… or rather, the picnic happening on Monday, I realized time was tighter than I anticipated.
Even if I had to make two trips to the mart alone on the weekend, I felt I needed to get everything.
I could order online, but since delivery times are unpredictable, and if there were delays, it would be a hassle.
Even if it was a bit troublesome, it’s better to be certain.
With such thoughts, Friday evening had come.
As I lay on the bed, fiddling with my smart phone.
‘What’s that sound…?’
The sounds of plastic clanging in an empty space.
The metallic sound of cans clinking against each other.
The fragile sound of glass bottles barely touching, sounding as if they were about to break.
It was time for recycling.
Last weekend, I had completely forgotten and left the trash at home, so this time, I had to be sure to go.
‘So annoying….’
If the trash piles up too much, I can’t carry it all at once.
Even if I had to make several trips, I had to keep throwing away the trash.
Plastic waste is generally light and bulky, being remnant waste, so it’s no problem, but the issue is the regular trash and recycling.
Not only is it not small, but with this body, even stacking empty plastics in the recycling bin is a chore.
“Phew.”
With a short sigh, I stepped out to the smelly apartment complex’s trash area, setting down the recycling plastic basket.
After properly tossing in the small fabric softener or shampoo bottles I held in my small hand.
As I approached the regular trash can, I soon spotted a ragged teddy bear with a reattached neck.
“……”
I held the trash bag with both hands at the opening.
Using a bit of rotational force, I tossed the bag right over the teddy bear.
“Gooek!”
At the bizarre sound, akin to a person’s scream, the gazes of people throwing away their trash subtly focused on me.
However, since the owner of that voice was nowhere to be seen, people started throwing away their trash again, thinking they must have imagined it.
After cleaning up all the trash from inside, I returned home and washed my hands with soap.
As I lay on the round, furry carpet in the living room looking at my smart phone, a wave of inexplicable drowsiness began to hit me.
“Yawn….”
Whether or not the teddy bear returned was inconsequential.
Finishing up the day’s work, I led my sleepy body to the stairs, turning off the lights as I went up to the second floor.
Thud thud thud, I looked up at the familiar noise directed at the ceiling.
Thud thud thud, hearing the sound again, I thought it odd, so I laid down on my bed, pressing my ear against the ceiling, but that unpleasant vibration didn’t resound.
‘It’s not the ceiling?’
Finding the source of the noise in detail, I looked toward the glass window of the balcony.
Upon drawing back the curtain, I found the teddy bear tapping on the balcony window with a forlorn look.
I quickly put on my furry slippers, flipped the latch of the balcony glass door down, and opened it.
Then, I immediately stepped on it to prevent it from getting inside.
“Cough!”
“You were to stay in the bathroom for three hours soaking in soapy water before coming to the living room.”
“Yessir.”
With a sharp response, the bear flew into the air, squeezing through the slightly open bathroom door.
Where it passed, the rancid smell of the trash area lingered in the air.
Wait a moment, that smell was not the only thing.
It was the scent I’d missed and didn’t want to have emerging from my home.
With a feeling of disbelief, I hurriedly opened the window and put on the shoes I had left on the balcony as I rushed out.
It was definitely a stronger, more intense scent of nicotine.
Dreading what I might find, I leaned against the railing, stepped up on the ledge, and looked over to see gray smoke wafting up from the floor below.
‘Ah, damn.’
What a hopeless neighbor situation.
Though it was quiet for now, upstairs was a cat-loving floor-noise lady.
And downstairs was the neighbor who smokes on the balcony.
Pulled down by a feeling of despair, I promptly shut the balcony door behind me.
Sitting beside my computer, I grabbed a strawberry-flavored lollipop from the aluminum container.
Then, I headed outside the apartment lobby and sat down on the stairs.
Using a means that manifests partial traits of a magical girl, I pointed my middle finger up from a clenched fist towards the tip of the lollipop.
As warmth surged to my fingertips, the intense scent of melting plastic filled the air.
I couldn’t help but light up the end of that sweet lollipop.
Humans are, simply put, detestable.
