289 – EP.11 Things I tried hard not to face-1
***
He came out into the yard and watched the setting sun.
As the days passed, the sun set faster.
The sight of the setting sun, coloring the clouds red, was very beautiful.
It was a spectacular view created by nature, one of the few that can be seen in the city.
It was the same sun, but the sight of it waking up and disappearing at night touched my heart more than the sight of it rising and brightening the morning.
Maybe it was because it felt like I was burning away the bad memories of the day into the setting sunset.
“Whoa….”
But today I couldn’t let my complicated heart go into the sunset.
It was like a chewing gum stuck to asphalt, stuck tightly to his heart and tormenting him.
He looked at the sky. The sky is getting darker.
And then I opened my cell phone.
[Disaster message: Unidentified strange creature appears, evacuate quickly to a nearby shelter]
It was a disaster notification that came at 6:32.
With this, the assumption that there may have been a raid on the way to school or between classes is also destroyed.
He slowly walked around the yard and stopped.
I accidentally hit the nose of my shoe on the ground.
I remembered a conversation I had with a senior at my company one day.
[How many cigarettes do you smoke a day?]
[I think it blooms about 5 times?]
[What changes if you smoke?]
[I just smoke it when I feel like sh*t and it makes me feel better.]
[It’s amazing, smoking makes me feel better.]
[If there were no such effect, who would pay a lot of money and ruin their body to smoke this?]
[That’s also true.]
“Should I at least smoke a cigarette?”
He mumbled inadvertently and then burst out laughing.
[You should not do this.]
The senior’s voice came right after.
***
Kim Seong-ah opened the front door. When her front door opened with a clanging sound, Kang In-ho, who should have been inside her house, was greeting her.
“Oh, mister.”
Suddenly, you raise your voice to express your happiness, but then lower your tone.
Along with the joy, awkwardness and unexplained discomfort suddenly reared their heads.
“Good job.”
He greeted her with his arms crossed around her.
“Yes, thank you.”
Kim Seong-ah passed him and entered the house.
He followed her into her house.
“What about dinner?”
This was what she said as soon as she took off her shoes and left a mess in her front door.
“It’s done. All you have to do is place the spoon.”
“It smells good.”
She was physically and mentally exhausted from the battle with the forces of evil she encountered on her way home from school.
Her appetizing smell made my mouth water, and my empty stomach churned even more.
She walked to her dining table, quickly pulled out a chair, sat down, and waited for him.
He seemed familiar as he took out a spoon and chopsticks from the spoon container and placed them in front of her.
Dinner was a very simple side dish of grilled Spam coated in egg wash.
From Noble mtl dot com
“Delicious.”
The making method and appearance were simple, but since it was a proven side dish, it was bound to receive a positive response.
Seeing her appreciating her taste more than before, he kissed her mouth.
Should I talk while eating? Should I say something before eating?
“Are you not eating?”
She asked, stuffing her second spam into her mouth and squishing it.
He smiled bitterly, scooped up a spoonful of rice and put it in his mouth.
He chews the taste of the bland rice and swallows it.
“I received a disaster text message. I guess they invaded?”
“It wasn’t as difficult as I thought because I was a bit more clumsy.”
She said, picking up some of the vegetable side dishes and putting them on top of the rice.
“Going to school, doing magical girl activities… Must have been busy today.”
“That’s right. But the good thing is that the kids came during dismissal time. Luckily, they all went to class.”
“Do you want to lie?”
Kang In-ho cut off her words as she lied without even blinking.
“…Yes?”
Kim Seong-ah blinked her eyes, unable to understand the situation as his tone became heavier.
“You didn’t go to school from Monday to Thursday.”
***
“…….”
Seongah exercised her right to remain silent.
Well, there wouldn’t have been anything to say.
“It’s a short thought. The teacher and I have already exchanged numbers. Did you think this would be hidden?”
I throw my hardened words at her.
Slow voice, cold tone. It was definitely going to hurt.
However, it was thrown because it hurt.
“I told you not to talk.”
Her voice sounds very small.
At that moment, a very small feeling of irritation crawled up the back of her neck.
Which teacher in the world wouldn’t tell their guardians that their students were absent?
Did she think that if the student asked the guardian not to tell, she would listen?
Not only was his thinking short, but he was also stupid.
I asked her, pressing her head against her oncoming migraine.
It may have been a question with an obvious answer, but it still had to proceed due to procedural reasons.
“Are you sick enough to miss school?”
“No.”
“Were there any enemy raids on your way to school?”
Even if people’s memories are created through the magic of the stars, they are only for the next day.
I can view disaster texts and news sent on the same day.
And, from Monday to today, there was only one news related to the forces of evil.
It was something that happened around 6 o’clock today.
“…No.”
Contrary to the thought that she would avoid the situation with an obvious lie, Seong-ah answered honestly.
“Then why didn’t you go?”
Now let’s get to the point.
“…….”
She closed her mouth again.
“I have to go to school, take the college entrance exam and go to college.”
“…Can’t I just not graduate?”
“What?”
It’s not that they won’t take the CSAT, but they say they won’t graduate.
She gritted her teeth and looked straight at me.
Is it anger? Or is it annoying? A talismanic feeling that is difficult to explain comes straight to me.
“You’re a magical girl anyway. What’s going to change if you go to college? Can’t I just live like this?”
“…….”
This time, I have nothing to say.
Kim Seong-ah continued to pour out words as if she was gaining momentum.
Although it was a sophistry, with her words sloppily spliced together, I could easily understand the meaning of what Seong-ah was trying to convey to me.
“If you think about it, the life of a magical girl who protects people’s dreams and hopes is more…”
“Seong-ah, you.”
She cuts her off.
She felt like she had found the final piece to put together a puzzle that had been scattered in vague pieces.
A magical girl who started from a young age.
Last year, right before graduation, I suddenly had a series of absences.
I study, but I have no will to go on to higher education.
Absence from school this week without any particular reason.
“Seong-ah, you.”
I see her.
Her mysterious eyes are focused on my lips.
She slowly opens her mouth and delivers the sentence she made in her head to her vocal cords.
The words formed in the vocal cords escaped her lips through the uvula and tongue.
“Do you still want to be a high school student?”
“……”
There is a magical girl in front of me who doesn’t want to grow up.