274 – EP.11 Living Together-2
***
“This is cheaper, right?”
After putting the potatoes into the cart, Seong-ah asked In-ho, who was slowly moving forward.
“Huh?”
“Potatoes. These are 30 won cheaper.”
“That’s right, the number of bundles is different.”
Kang In-ho pointed to the price tag, and Kim Seong-ah looked at the price tags of the two products.
“That’s 6 in a pack, and this is 4.”
To Kim Seong-ah, who had not yet realized the difference, Kang In-ho explained it like an instructor at an academy explaining a wrong question.
“The price difference isn’t that big, so it’s better to buy as little as possible.”
“Why?”
“You can’t just eat potatoes all week.”
He thought of the food ingredients that were rotting away in the refrigerator.
“Ah…”
Have I come to a belated realization, or am I just responding appropriately? Seongah Kim let out her single exclamation.
“For now, let’s eat curry today. Do you like curry?”
“I don’t hate it.”
“Hmm… The reaction is so lukewarm. So what’s your favorite food?”
“…I can’t think of anything in particular.”
“Ugh, then let’s eat curry.”
Kang In-ho shrugged his shoulders as he put carrots into the cart.
Kang In-ho skillfully walked around the supermarket. The time spent on shopping was not that long, as I was able to move efficiently by inserting only the necessary ingredients and moving around without having to stay in the section for too long.
She ran after him, and Kim Seong-ah’s gaze, which she had only been looking at his back, turned to the freezer.
“Ice cream?”
He came next to her, saw what was at the end of her gaze, and spoke.
Without asking her, he opened the door to her freezer and grabbed two of her melon-flavored ice creams.
“Um… I bought all the curry ingredients, rice, light bulbs, batteries, rolling pins…”
I checked when he made it and looked at the small piece of paper to see if he had missed anything.
After finishing checking the list, he moved the cart to the checkout.
The supermarket cashier skillfully scanned the barcode.
“The total is 70,920 won.”
It came out a bit. Seeing the amount displayed on the screen, Seongah Kim thought.
“…….”
Kang In-ho looked at Kim Seong-ah blankly.
Kim Seong-ah, who did not understand the meaning of that gaze, tilted her head.
After a moment of silence, Kang In-ho was the first to speak.
“I have no money.”
When he said something like why don’t you know something that is obvious, Kim Seong-ah opened her mouth slightly and made a blank expression.
Card… Did you bring it? She searched her pockets.
“Ah, sir….”
Handing the card to the cashier, Kim Seong-ah glared at Kang In-ho.
Kang In-ho whistled, quietly avoiding her gaze.
***
On the way back home. Kang In-ho and Kim Seong-ah were trudging down the street, each holding a melon-flavored ice cream in their hands.
In-ho Kang’s free hand was holding a heavy plastic bag. It was a plastic bag containing items worth 70,920 won.
Although she paid her own money.
“Does this seem familiar?”
She looked up at him, who had already eaten half of the ice cream.
“What?”
He licked the melting surface with his lips and answered with unclear pronunciation.
“No, well… I think I’m used to buying things. I also seem to have some know-how.”
“I’ve been sleeping for a long time.”
From Noble mtl dot com
After I got a job, I moved out of the house and lived alone. He took a moment to reminisce about his old days.
“Before he became the Four Heavenly Kings, he was a human.”
“Let’s say so.”
“Are you going to be so uncooperative?”
“If you twist it, you’ll have to use that scale again.”
“How restrictive is that magic? It’s not like candy you can take out and eat whenever you want?”
Kim Seong-ah let out her snort.
“But why suddenly the Four Heavenly Kings?”
The man put the remaining ice cream into his mouth.
“You said you don’t have any memories from when you were the Four Heavenly Kings… I thought maybe you were somehow purified by my magic… That’s what I thought.”
“I can’t say anything about that. When I came to, I was in a park and some strange cosplay molester was poking my butt with a stick.”
“Something is right, but everything is wrong.”
Kim Seong-ah ended the conversation by putting her ice cream in her mouth.
Like that, the man and woman walked down the street for a while.
Kang In-ho, who was unfamiliar with her path, seemed to be following her, half behind her footsteps.
“How long have you been living alone?”
It was Kang In-ho who broke the new silence.
“Five years.”
“Are there any other relatives?”
“I have an aunt, but she doesn’t come often. She lives far away.”
I see. Kang In-ho looked at the sky helplessly.
“But why is that?”
“Even though I live alone, I don’t think I’m making a living.”
Kim Seong-ah let out a sigh at the fact that was suddenly thrown out.
“That’s right. I need to learn something, but it’s not working out well. It’s not something they teach at school… And I’m too busy with magical girl work.”
“So you go to school in the morning and become a magical girl at night?”
Do kids only come in at night? Kang In-ho asked.
“It would be convenient if it was fixed like that. These guys… They don’t care about the day or night. Sometimes, I have to run out of class or something like that.”
At his innocent question, Kim Seong-ah laughed as if air was leaking from a balloon.
“If they attack you at any time…”
He was about to ask her what she did with her daily life.
Before I could finish speaking, rashes began to appear on Ososo’s skin.
“Look at this.”
As if she was bored, the magical girl looked up at the sky.
It was still too early for the sun to set, but the sky became dark.
Kim Seong-ah grabbed the wooden stick of the ice cream and pulled it out. She put the whole ice cream in her mouth and swallowed it.
“Look at that.”
Seongah Kim looked at the countless black things densely blocking the sun and said as if she was sick of it.
“You mean it doesn’t matter between day and night?”
***
People on the streets began to react to the sudden change.
Some people tried to share this scene on social media with their cell phones, while others with good sense began to run away to what they thought was a safe place.
In the midst of those people, Seongah Kim did her stretching by stretching her arms and legs.
“We need to evacuate people.”
Kang In-ho said, his face hardening.
“No, I don’t have time for that.”
Kim Seong-ah took a deep breath and put her hands out in front of her.
Her cane stuck out on a street covered with sidewalk blocks.
“Let me transform here?”
“It’s no problem. I’ll forget everything anyway.”
Kim Seong-ah gave an ambiguous answer and grabbed the center of her cane.
A blue and mysterious light began to shine on her body.
“The brilliant, sacred power of the star.”
Her clothes begin to glow and transform.
“As a legitimate contractor of the star, I wish to use its power.”
Comfortable training clothes change into the fluffy clothes decorated with stars that you see in the park at night.
“The light of dreams and hopes that will annihilate evil will shine here.”
Her hair, tied back, is undone and tied into two pigtails.
A star decoration is attached to the head.
“The magical girl of the stars. Lyrical star. Appears!”
In the place where Kim Seong-ah disappeared, a magical girl appeared, twirling her wand and looking at the sky.
The dark clouds in the sky added. In fact, it wasn’t a dark cloud.
Kang In-ho squinted her eyes and looked at the sky. It was a flock of bats.
Thousands of human-sized bats were falling from the sky.
People who were taking pictures of the sky with their cell phones also started screaming and running away.
“They look like little bastards, but there is a huge difference in numbers.”
Kang In-ho muttered worriedly.
As if responding to his words, the magical girl increased her power.
“Sagittarius.”
After reciting her spell, she stepped hard on the ground with her right foot.
With a thud, a huge constellation began to be engraved on the ground.
Brightly shining dots are embroidered on the streets, and blue lines connect dots.
“Target confirmation.”
The lyrical star took her foot back slightly.
Then she raised her staff diagonally.
“Magic charge.”
Light began to gather at the tip of the wand, and the constellations carved on the ground began to glow in the same color.
Kang In-ho felt as if the ground was pulsating.
“Release magical power control.”
The cane begins to shake. It was a shape that barely managed to block a huge force.
“Safety device released.”
The lyrical star did not lose his cool even though his cane was being shaken mercilessly.
“Barbaric firing between adjustments.”
“Ascella.”
“The sharp light of Chiron, annihilate the enemy.”
“It’s magic, so there’s no avoiding it!!!!”
With her cry, a bundle of light shot into the sky.
***
On the way back, Kim Seong-ah was completely exhausted.
In conclusion, she succeeded in blocking the enemy’s offensive.
Although the exterior wall of the building was damaged in the process, no major accidents or casualties occurred.
Kim Seong-ah thought that was all she needed.
“That’s amazing.”
When she heard a compliment from someone who had been her enemy for some time to her face, she felt something strange, but she did not dare express it out loud.
“But is it okay? Everyone has seen it. Shouldn’t magical girl activities be kept secret?”
“Don’t worry. I’ll forget everything tomorrow.”
“You said that before. What does it mean?”
“The power of the star erases all memories and records of magical girls or evil forces.”
“But the damage remains.”
“It roughly fits into reality. Well, something like a gas pipe bursting…”
“Because it’s magic, you can’t tackle it.”
Kim Seong-ah laughed at his ridiculous words.
“I kept it today too.”
She muttered as she watched the sun set over Kim Seong-ah. The orange sunset was brightening the sky.
“It must be difficult.”
Kang In-ho said while looking at Kim Seong-ah.
“It’s okay because I’m used to it. They also have restrictions on crossing over here. Considering the number of attacks today… There won’t be any attacks until at least the day after tomorrow.”
“No, that’s not it.”
“Yes?”
Kim Seong-ah tilted her head at his words.
“That… No.”
Kang In-ho, who was about to say something, closed his mouth. It was because my thoughts changed.
He and she walked and walked to get home.
“I have to put it in the refrigerator quickly.”
Kang In-ho said as he entered the house. The milk in the plastic bag had become lukewarm.
“Please clean up. I need to wash up….”
Kim Seong-ah, who was taking off her shoes at her entrance, covered her mouth.
A shoe she had not seen before caught her eye.
“…What is this?”
Before I could finish asking
, Someone walked in from the kitchen.
“Seong-ya.”
“Huh? Aunt?!”
Kim Seong-ah froze in place at the sudden appearance of her relative, and Kang In-ho, who came in after her, also followed her.
A woman who appeared to be in her late 30s looked at In-ho and Seong-ah alternately.
“Well… Who is the person behind that?”
She asked her niece for an explanation, and in response to the sudden question, Kim Seong-ah rolled her eyes back and forth and spoke gibberish.
“Ah, that’s… Who is this guy… Well, I know him, so it’s not like I’ve known him for a long time… Recently, ah, I found out…”
At the moment when the aunt’s eyes narrowed at her nephew’s behavior, which clearly showed that ‘I was embarrassed’, Kang In-ho, who was behind her, came in front of Kim Seong-ah and said.
“I am Seong-ah’s tutor.”
From Noble mtl dot com
Kim Seong-ah gaped at the shamelessness of her confidently spitting out her curse words. Fortunately, her face was not visible to her aunt as she hid behind Inho’s back.
“A tutor?”
Seongah Kim’s aunt crossed her arms, and she looked him up and down her.
“Yes.”
Kang In-ho nodded his head loudly.
“But… Does the tutor do the grocery shopping together?”
Her fingers went to the plastic bag he was holding.
In response to her request for an explanation, Kang In-ho took a deep breath and opened her mouth.
“It’s MZ-style tutoring these days.”
Tak, the sound of Kim Seong-ah hitting her forehead with her palm was heard, and Kang In-ho thought to herself.
‘Hey, explained it well. ‘It’s me too.’