Chapter 76

“Dabin unnie~!”

Today is the anniversary of the founding of the middle school Pretty Heart attends. In other words, it’s a weekday that’s not a public holiday, but students get to skip school and rest—a truly blessed day. And… for some reason, I ended up going on a date with Pretty Heart on such a day. Well, it’s more like babysitting, though.

“You really went all out with the outfit.”

“Of course!”

The reason we ended up on this date is because Pretty Heart called me yesterday and threw a tantrum, saying we hadn’t met much lately except for training, so she wanted to go on a date… So, I had no choice but to agree. Let me be clear—we’re not in a relationship. A middle schooler is a no-go for me. I’m not a lolicon.

“Unnie, let’s go!”

“Alright.”

By the way, she’s really excited. What’s so great about linking arms with me that makes her so happy…? Speaking of which, it’s getting chilly, so I see a lot of street vendors selling hotteok and bungeoppang. It’s only mid-autumn, but they’re already out.

“Should we grab some bungeoppang first?”

“Yes!”

“Give me 5,000 won worth of bungeoppang.”

Ugh~… these days, bungeoppang costs 1,000 won for two? What is this…? Street food prices have really lost all sense of morality. These guys don’t even pay taxes, yet they raise prices at the slightest excuse… Still, at least it’s not one of those tiny, overpriced, and poorly filled junk foods. It’s properly sized and stuffed with red bean paste… Oh, the red bean paste is surprisingly smooth and sweet. Usually, red bean paste is dry and not sweet at all.

“……”

“…What?”

“Ah~.”

“Sigh… fine, here.”

“Hehe~.”

She was staring at me, so I figured she wanted me to feed her… Well, she’s just a kid, so it’s fine.

“Unnie.”

“Yeah?”

“Here. Ah~.”

“……”

Ah~ since I fed her, now she wants me to eat hers? Seriously… this is something families or couples do. But if I don’t, she’ll probably pout, so I’ll just go along with it.

“By the way, even though it’s a date, I’m not sure what we should do.”

“Then how about we go there?”

“…A clothing store?”

“They sell scarves and gloves too!”

“Ah~ you want to match couple outfits?”

“Yes! Absolutely!”

“Uh, sure…”

This place sells all sorts of things. Right next to it is an accessory store… it’s like a full-on date spot. Pretty Heart definitely planned this. She’s the type to do something like this.

“Since winter’s coming, let’s get matching scarves first! Then mittens, necklaces, rings… hehe…”

“Snap out of it, Nari.”

“Huh? I’m perfectly sane!”

“Doesn’t look like it…”

“I’m sane!”

…We should stop at gloves. If we go into accessories, she’ll probably want to get matching wedding rings.

“How about this scarf?!”

“Hmm… the design is nice, but the texture feels a bit off.”

“Then this one?!”

“…Oh, this one feels really good.”

“Let’s get this one then!”

Pretty Heart’s… energy level is through the roof… Thinking about how long I’ll have to keep up with this energy is making me dizzy.

“Next is…”

“We’ve walked a lot and bought a bunch of stuff, so let’s stop by a cafe for a bit.”

“Hmm… should we?”

Pretty Heart eats a lot, so she’ll probably eat a ton at the cafe too, right? Well, money’s not an issue, and if this stops her from going on a rampage, then it’s fine. Alright, let’s head to the nearest cafe.

“Mmm~!”

“……”

Money isn’t a problem, but… seeing her stack up and eat all this is still shocking. Ten slices of cake, including tiramisu, a mountain of macarons, cupcakes, tarts… what is this? I’m fine with just one tiramisu and a coffee.

“All that’s going in there…”

“Huh? Ah, hehe…”

I thought we’d eat lightly and then go get dinner, but she’s eating this much…? We haven’t even had dinner yet, so for Pretty Heart, this might actually be a small amount… She’s always eaten a lot, so it’s fine.

“Umm…”

“What’s wrong?”

“Well~… lately, unnie, you’ve been going on solo trips abroad. I want to go with you too!”

“Is that so…? But on the surface, it’s for work.”

“But I want to go too! Just the two of us! Cozy… hehe…”

“You… your desires are leaking out way too much…”

Why does a middle schooler have such intense desires…? This is way worse than a teenage boy.

“Mmm! Let’s go walk around again!”

After Pretty Heart finished all the desserts, we left the cafe and started walking around again. Just wandering aimlessly, buying snacks whenever we saw something tasty, and exploring. Then we found a movie theater and checked if there were any movies we could watch right away. There was a decent comedy, so we went to see it. Of course, we had to wait a bit, so we got popcorn and cola.

“Caramel popcorn, this is good.”

“It’s sweet!”

…By the way, the amount of popcorn we bought was insane. Six of the largest sizes. But Pretty Heart’s stomach managed to finish it all, which was impressive. What’s even more impressive is that she still paid attention to the movie.

Anyway, the movie was just plain fun. It might not be the best date movie, but as long as it’s fun, it’s fine. Now that we’ve seen the movie… should we go get dinner?

“What should we eat for dinner?”

“Hmm~… you decide, unnie!”

“Alright? Hmm…”

Hmm… since it’s a rare date… ah, that’s a good idea. Among the expensive places we can go to from here… let’s try an omakase place. A regular restaurant would be fine too, but since we’re here, we might as well go all out. Money’s overflowing, so we should use it.

“I’ve been to fine dining places a lot, but this is my first time at an omakase place!”

“Is that so?”

“My family doesn’t really like Japanese food…”

“Then you probably haven’t had much sushi either.”

“Yeah. My older brother buys it for me sometimes.”

“Oh? You have an older brother?”

“He’s in the military right now!”

“I see.”

The military… it’s impressive that he’s serving without any exemptions. Usually, people from wealthy families use mental health or other reasons to get exempted and serve as public service workers. That way, they skip basic training too. Especially since mental health exemptions have the lowest priority, so they rarely get called.

“…? This tastes more familiar than I expected?”

“Even though it’s Japanese omakase, it’s still catering to Koreans. So while it has a somewhat exotic feel, it has to suit Korean tastes. Plus, no matter what kind of sushi it is, it’s just rice with wasabi and fresh ingredients on top.”

“Ah~.”

By the way, this place is really good. The sushi is delicious, and the other dishes are great too. But it’s also really expensive.

“…By the way, unnie.”

“Yeah?”

“Since you’re stuck as a magical girl, why not enjoy middle school life… with me?”

“…What?”

“I mean… then we could be together at school too…”

“…Nari. No matter how I think about it, that’s crossing way too many lines.”

“Ah, sorry…”

Pretty Heart was already pretty extreme, but now she’s getting even worse… Is she going to be okay like this? I seriously think she needs to see a psychiatrist for counseling.

“Did you eat well?”

“It was really delicious… but the portion was too small.”

“I figured…”

Anyway, our meal at the omakase place is over. I’m full, but Pretty Heart says it wasn’t enough. Considering the desserts and popcorn she had earlier, I thought it would be fine, but she’s way beyond my expectations… I guess I’ll have to take her to a cafe and feed her some more.

“Then should we find another cafe? We can grab some street food on the way.”

“Sure! I saw a crepe stand far away before we came here, let’s eat that!”

Crepes… there are crepe stands in Korea too? I thought those only existed in Japanese anime and manga… Ah, she’s probably going to ask to feed each other again.

“I’ll have this one! What about you, unnie?”

“Then I’ll have that one.”

Mine is a chocolate cream crepe. In contrast, Pretty Heart’s is a whipped cream crepe… Ah, she’s offering it to me again.

“Take a bite!”

“Uh, sure.”

First, I take a bite of Pretty Heart’s crepe, then I feed her a bite of mine. Why does she enjoy this so much…? By the way, this chocolate cream crepe is delicious. I heard you can make crepe cakes with this batter, maybe I should ask Chubby to make one. Slathering it with chocolate cream would make it super sweet and tasty.

“By the way, what are you going to eat at the next cafe?”

“Hmm~… this time, instead of cake or tarts, I want to try something else.”

“Really?”

“Ah, look over there! That cafe… they sell parfaits!”

Oh, parfaits… I thought those only existed in Japanese anime and manga, but they’re in Korea too… Then let’s go try some parfaits. I’ve never had one in my life, so I’m really curious.

“Mega Ultra Deluxe Parfait…?”

“It looks like a huge cup with a mountain of parfait, right?”

“That’s perfect for you.”

“Hehe…”

There’s a parfait that’s just right for Pretty Heart… this place seems good. Plus, there are quite a few people in the cafe, so it must be decent… let’s go in.

“It’s really expensive…”

After entering the cafe, I ordered one Mega Ultra Deluxe Parfait and one chocolate parfait. We sat down, and the two parfaits were served. One of them is overwhelmingly massive. The amount is so huge that eating it would probably give you diabetes…

“Mmm~!”

“Is it good?”

“Yes! It’s not just about the quantity, the taste is great too!”

Impressive… I should start eating mine too. Here we go… chocolate parfait… mmm, this is good. Well, it’s chocolate, so it can’t go wrong.

“…Even though you’re the one eating the abnormally large one, why does mine look so pitiful in comparison?”

“It’s all in your head!”

By the way, the cookies on top… do you eat them separately? You eat them first and then keep scooping with the spoon, right? Otherwise, it’ll spill, so this must be the way. Pretty Heart’s doing the same.

“Phew~…”

“You actually finished all that. Are you feeling okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine!”

…Well, she’ll be fine once she transforms into a magical girl. But I’m a bit worried about after she retires. Once she becomes an adult, her body will age, and eating like this will take a toll on her health. ……Wait, that’s her choice. I don’t need to worry about that. If her health suffers, it’s her responsibility.

“Hehe, today was fun!”

“Really? That’s good.”

After that, we walked around some more, grabbing street food whenever we saw something tasty, and enjoyed the date. As the sun started to set, the date was coming to an end. Most of it was just eating, so I’m not sure if it was a proper date, but seeing her happy makes it worth it.

“Um, unnie.”

“Yeah?”

“One last thing… can you kiss me on the cheek?”

“A kiss? Sigh… you really…”

“Ah, um…”

“…Bend your knees a bit.”

“Huh?”

A kiss on the cheek… Pretty Heart really asks for the strangest things. Well, since I’m doing it, I might as well go all out.

“Ugh…?!”

…Bet you didn’t see that coming, Pretty Heart. Grabbing your chin and giving you a deep kiss—who could’ve expected that?

“…Phew~!”

“Your birthday was at the end of summer, right? This is a two-month late gift.”

“…!!!”

For other girls, this might not mean much, but for Pretty Heart, this is the ultimate reward. With this, stop complaining and being jealous all the time.

“Da, Dabin unnie…”

“I did it because you really like me. If you seriously want to win me over, try again after you become an adult. Got it?”

“…Yes!”

Really… she’s such a cute kid. Except for the fact that she’s seriously into me. …I hope this impulsive act doesn’t cause any problems.