Chapter 27

Commonly, there’s a saying.

If you ever get to see the filming of a comedy show known for being hilarious with your own two eyes, it would be unbelievably boring.

And that was only natural.

A variety show is like taking hours of footage and squeezing out only the juiciest bits into a short, condensed version. Naturally, the raw, unedited state before all the trimming had to feel dull.

And perhaps life itself was like that too.

Waiting patiently for a long time just for a brief moment of joy and happiness.

Because of those ordinary, seemingly meaningless days, moments of joy became all the more precious.

Why am I suddenly thinking about this, you ask?

It wasn’t anything else. It was simply because daily life at the Fixer Office was much more peaceful than expected.

‘What’s up with that oversized fishbowl? Is it some kind of high heels for merfolk?’

I was busy mopping the hallway of our flooded office.

The culprit? A merfolk client’s fishbowl.

If they have small heads, they should’ve worn a compact fishbowl or something.

Walking around letting water leak from a loose fishbowl—what a nuisance.

Ah, by the way, the “fishbowl” here refers to the round helmet that merfolk wear on their heads.

It’s a product filled with oxygenated water designed for merfolk who feel discomfort on land.

Of course, ideally, one should choose a size that fits their head properly.

But apparently, these days, merfolk seem to think bigger is better. Go figure what’s trending among them.

Anyway, thanks to this mess, I found myself pushing the mop with my weak arms when suddenly, something caught my eye outside the window.

‘Snow.’

The sky was heavily overcast, casting everything in a dreary gray.

Beneath it, pristine snowflakes fluttered down like sprinkled sugar.

It was the first snowfall.

The first of the year—and also the first snow I’d seen as Yuria.

I didn’t feel any deep emotions about it.

I’m not a kid anymore, so why would I get all giddy over some snow falling in the city?

Still, maybe because I’ve always enjoyed staring blankly at rain or snowscapes, watching snow settle over the dazzling city wasn’t half bad.

“Oh my, it’s snowing.”

“Huh? Really? Well, considering the date, it’s about time.”

Alice and Raven, who had been drying off the sofa, seemed to notice it too.

They paused, putting the sofa down momentarily to gaze out the window and admire the first snow.

Though, while Alice’s eyes sparkled slightly, Raven looked annoyed, as if he’d rather not deal with this.

Perhaps noticing Raven’s mood, Alice tilted her head curiously.

“Mr. Jin, why do you look so uncomfortable? It’s the first snow we’ve had in a while. Can’t we enjoy it for a bit?”

“Snow is something you only love when you’re young and pure in heart—or mind. Once you become an uncle or auntie, everyone hates snow. Do you even know who has to clean it up?”

“Uh… doesn’t it just melt on its own if we leave it?”

“If you don’t clear it, it melts halfway and turns into a solid sheet of ice. Then you’ve got to break it up or spread sand everywhere—it’s twice the work.”

Well, the snow falling now didn’t seem like the kind that piled up.

Raven scratched the back of his head irritably as he said this.

Perhaps it was the perspective of an adult who’d lost their childlike wonder.

Thinking back, he used to be a soldier before becoming a Pixie.

You could roughly guess where such thoughts came from.

Come to think of it, shoveling snow *is* annoying.

As I quietly nodded in agreement, Raven, who had already grown tired of the snowy scene, scolded Alice.

“That’s enough. Alice, lift the sofa again. There’s still moisture left to dry.”

“Aww. Can’t we look a little longer? Mr. Jin, you’re such a buzzkill. You have no sense of romance.”

“Shut up. What if mold grows on the floor? Do you even know how much it costs to maintain this office every month? Last time you broke the doorknob, we had to fix it, and now my wallet’s thin again, you know!”

“…Ugh. Fine, fine! I’m really sorry for breaking the doorknob! But if you’re so worried about money, why don’t you stop gambling on dragon races? Your wallet’s thin because you keep throwing money into the void!”

Those two are at it again.

I watched Alice and Raven start bickering with an exasperated expression, then shrugged it off and went back to mopping the floor.

Today marked my first week working here.

This was practically a daily event.

How many things could they possibly fight about in this tiny office?

Last time, they argued for over an hour about toilet paper.

But anyway, they’d make up soon enough and go back to being friendly like nothing happened.

By the third day, I’d stopped trying to mediate their fights. Honestly, worrying about them just drained me.

“If money’s so important to you, why don’t you sell that impulse buy you made on home shopping last time…”

“No way! I’m stuck managing two kids as employees, and now you want to take away my only hobby?!”

“Ha! I might let it slide with Yuria, but calling me a kid is totally uncalled for! Where do I even look like a kid?!”

“…”

Ahh, I can’t hear this.

I squeezed the mop and slipped out the back door of the office.

The Fixer Office occupied the entire second floor of an old building.

Maybe that’s why the back door led directly to an external staircase.

Meaning, stepping out the back door brought me face-to-face with the snow.

‘Hmm, it feels nostalgic seeing snow after so long.’

Looking through a window and seeing it up close were two different experiences.

After glancing around, I hugged the mop, which was almost as tall as me, close to my chest.

Then, I stretched out my hand and let a snowflake fall onto my palm.

“…”

The snowflake melted instantly from my body heat.

The droplet left behind on my palm reminded me of fleeting moments.

I wiped it off on my skirt and carefully descended the stairs.

The lively commotion of interesting people never ceased in this office.

Somehow, it all felt like snowflakes—beautiful but quick to vanish if you tried to grasp them.

Well, whether snowflakes or anything else, as long as spring could come, I didn’t care.

*

I secretly wrung out the mop using telekinesis outside and returned to the office.

By then, the argument seemed to have simmered down.

Raven and Alice were sitting at opposite ends of the same sofa, both staring at their smartphones.

Why bother sitting on the same sofa if they weren’t going to talk?

Suppressing a laugh, I casually squeezed myself between them.

“Hey, why are you sitting here? It’s cramped.”

“Y-Yuria? There’s space over there…”

The sofa was a bit too small for three people.

Sure, I wasn’t exactly large, but this was technically a two-seater.

But that was the point.

After glancing at their troubled faces, I grabbed their hands and placed them firmly on my thighs.

Their hands naturally touched, and both Raven and Alice awkwardly turned their heads away.

“Ah…”

“Cough…”

Look at these idiots.

Thinking back, they’d fought over something so trivial.

Were they just waiting for the right moment to reconcile?

Knowing they’d likely make up by tomorrow morning, I decided to sacrifice myself for the sake of office peace.

If they fought over something silly, they could reconcile just as easily.

I pressed down on their hands, signaling I wouldn’t let go until they made up.

Perhaps overwhelmed by my charisma, they reluctantly began apologizing to each other.

“Sigh… Mr. Jin, I’m sorry for breaking the doorknob. I should’ve been more careful.”

“No, it’s my fault. If I hadn’t gambled so much on dragon races, a broken doorknob wouldn’t have mattered. I messed up too. Sorry.”

Honestly, I tuned out their apologies. It didn’t matter.

Chances were, Alice might accidentally break something else in the office today.

And Raven definitely wasn’t giving up on dragon races anytime soon.

But none of that mattered to me.

All I wanted was for the awkward atmosphere to disappear before I left work.

After all, I only had three weeks left here.

Whether their bad habits changed or not was up to them.

Alright, this reconciliation was good enough.

Feeling satisfied, I nodded at Alice and Raven.

Stopping a fight mid-argument was tough, but patching things up afterward was easy.

I felt quietly proud of maintaining another peaceful day at the office.

‘As expected, I’m still rational and reasonable. Who else could pull this off?’

Absolutely not affected by Raven calling me a kid.

Nope, not at all.

“I say, maybe it’s time I took an interest in dragon races too. What’s so fun about them…?”

“That’s a great idea. Though I won’t gamble anymore. Dragon races are worth watching at least once in your life. Especially the power of Andrea 11, which I’ve been rooting for lately…”

Just like that, the office returned to its usual vibe as if the tension had never existed.

Suddenly, a familiar story caught my attention on the TV screen amidst the white noise.

[Next up, a groundbreaking development. Nemesis Corporation has developed the world’s first prosthetic arm capable of channeling magic, sparking widespread excitement. The ABP-1137 unveiled by Nemesis achieves what was once thought impossible: combining magic with machinery. Using their proprietary method, they’ve proven that magic can flow through artificially designed prosthetics, opening a new chapter in history…]

Ah, that.

I knew about it from the source material.

Perhaps because I leaned forward like a meerkat, intrigued by the news, Raven and Alice also turned their attention to the screen.

“Magic in prosthetics? Mr. Jin, is that even possible? Magic only flows through living bodies, right?”

“Well, if it’s on the news, it must be real. I don’t know much, though.”

“Wow… So now, non-humans with physical disabilities can use prosthetics freely too!”

Alice clapped her hands in delight, genuinely excited.

After all, the main reason non-humans avoided prosthetics was due to magical rejection.

If true, this opened a new horizon of opportunities for them.

“Well, are you interested in this?”

“Hmm, I guess I am…”

“What about you, part-timer?”

“…”

Nod.

I nodded at Raven’s suggestion.

If this was indeed the moment from the original story, I could roughly guess what he was about to propose.

“How about we go to the party Nemesis is hosting? It’s in four days.”

“Huh? How did you get invited to something like that?”

“I got the invite about a week ago. One of our clients was affiliated with Nemesis a few months back.”

“That was… before I joined, right? I wanna go! I’m super curious about Nemesis’s prosthetic arm!”

“Okay. Are you coming too, part-timer?”

“…!”

The launch party for Nemesis’s new magic-adaptive prosthetic arm, titled *Beyond the MetaFuture*.

Honestly, there was no reason to refuse.

At this point, it was a lavish party hosted by Nemesis, now a major corporation, complete with endless delicious food. How could I resist?

And there was one more reason I couldn’t refuse.

This party marked…

‘The moment the Fixer Office crew becomes whole!’

It was the stage where the third member of the Fixer Office would shine.

Even without me, things would run smoothly. I could just hide in the crowd and watch.

This was going to be fun! My heart raced with anticipation.