Sunday, the first day since Ji-eun left for her honeymoon in Japan.
Nine nights and ten days, right?
It seems like she took an additional vacation by stacking up her annual leave on top of the five days granted for special occasions.
She mentioned a hot spring tour, but just how many places does she plan to visit?
In any case, it seems Ji-eun is having a good time.
I was beginning to get tired of replying to the messages she sent when she felt bored.
“That hot spring looks nice.”
As I enjoyed the hot spring photos she sent, responding to her messages repeatedly, my phone buzzed with an unusual vibration on this lazy Sunday.
The game screen that was running so smoothly changed to the call waiting screen, showing [Caller ID Restricted].
“What’s going on?”
Caller ID Restricted.
“Ahem, ahem.”
With a couple of short coughs, I adjusted my voice.
It was obvious who would be calling, so I lowered my voice and slid the green button to answer.
“Hello?”
“Yeah, it’s you, right? Mari?”
I went up to the second floor of the room to take the call so the sounds of Siyeon’s game wouldn’t disturb me.
It felt like I hadn’t received a call from the Minister in a while.
Actually, now that I think about it, I genuinely couldn’t remember the last time we spoke directly.
The Minister seemed a bit uncertain too, confirming once again if it was really me.
“What’s up? You’re calling directly?”
“Oh, right… Ji-eun is away on her trip, so I thought I would call.”
His voice was reassuring, letting me know the reason for this direct call.
Turns out, Ji-eun had been the one handling all the small matters and messages until now.
Today I learned something new as I finally heard the purpose of the call.
“By the way, while you were on your trip, did you meet a magical girl from the U.S.?”
“Excuse me? What do you mean…?”
I reflexively started to say no, but then a certain figure popped into my mind.
A girl with golden hair and blue eyes, who had expressed admiration while listening to a ‘damn it’ comment from the Korean mainland.
Did I unknowingly get involved in something annoying?
Why is he asking about that?
It felt like I couldn’t just lie and say no since I hesitated.
More than anything, it felt like he already knew everything before calling.
I had no choice but to spit out a response.
“I think so… Why?”
“Oh, that girl’s name is Ann. Her magical girl name is Tiara.”
“…And?”
With an ominous feeling, I pulled my phone away from my ear.
“She was originally very interested in Korea and said she might come visit sometime…”
I only heard half of that and immediately hit the call end button, cutting him off rudely.
I had no idea why he was telling me that, but I wanted to make it clear that I had zero interest in being involved in that situation.
I thoroughly ignored the incoming call and buried my smartphone in the blankets.
Once I returned to the first floor, Siyeon, who was deep into her game, glanced back and asked.
“What was that call about?”
“Oh, just a call I didn’t need to take.”
I casually labeled the phone with the annoying issue as a call I didn’t have to take, then collapsed in the living room, letting the sunlight stream in through the window.
The warm sunshine felt good, so I grabbed just a pillow and lay down comfortably.
Thus, I forgot everything about America.
I had about eight missed calls, but I hadn’t received any since that day…
“I brought you a souvenir!”
The banana from D, fresh chocolate from Roy, and even some Koi bito.
Since Ji-eun returned from her Japan trip with souvenirs, she didn’t say a word, so I assumed she decided to leave it at that.
Then she gathered us, mentioning she had something to say alongside the souvenirs.
Now that she’s married, it’s time for her to take care of her family soon.
For the next few months, she’d still come to our house for work as usual, but afterward, things might get tough for her, she said.
“Anyway! Until then, I’ll do my best to help! Don’t worry!”
“Okay!”
“Sure!”
It looked like she had well-recovered from the trip, as she boldly stood tall with her shoulders back and chest out while speaking.
I half-heartedly responded; how fast could that day really come…
But those two, her and her husband, how good was their relationship?
Since early summer, something felt off, but by autumn, I was sure.
As her belly grew, she ceased coming to our house around winter.
Now, all we had were messages back and forth with Ji-eun.
Out of nowhere, I got curious and asked her about her due date, and she said around February.
Wait a minute, February?
“Then, during the trip…?”
Considering the average gestation period is about ten months.
Reflecting on the timeline, it seemed she became pregnant not long after getting married.
If that was true, just how intense were their nights during the trip?
As I reminisced about that dull past, I heard a voice.
“I just finished washing the clothes and put them there.”
“Yes, thank you.”
It was the aunty who came in after Ji-eun left.
Unlike Ji-eun, who was so friendly, this one strictly stuck to her tasks.
There was no way she could help out with anything related to magical girls, as she wasn’t anything but a random babysitter with no idea about the world of magical girls.
As we reached the fifth grade, our communication dwindled even more with Ji-eun gone.
Siyeon, who used to cling to me like a gum stuck to a shoe, seemed to grow up as well.
Especially now in upper grades, where hanging out with friends increased after school.
I’d get messages about going to karaoke with friends, having dinner before heading back, and planning to go to a comic event.
We chatted less directly and more through messaging apps now.
“There’s nothing I can do about it…”
I was living a life of immediately returning home after school, while she was living in a completely different world.
On one hand, it was perhaps more comfortable not having to look after her, yet on the other hand, it left me feeling a bit lonely.
It was like watching a little puppy that always wagged its tail at me grow up and make friends with someone else…
If someone were to ask me if I had friends, I’d definitely throw back the question, “Do I?”
While I could communicate better to some extent, after four years of accumulating shared moments in elementary school, those friends had organically built their own bonds.
Amid the rumors going around about being the daughter of a member of parliament, and how one should avoid getting on their bad side, no one seemed willing to approach me first.
Of course, except during PE classes.
In games where there were prizes involved or stakes at play, the same kids who wouldn’t acknowledge me would act as if we were best friends during PE. It made me want to smack them upside the head.
“If I get through middle school well, that’s all I need.”
With that small resolution, I booted up the computer and delved into the AOS genre of games.
I boldly abandoned my past experience of solely playing RPGs and attempted to explore this new genre.
At the end of this glorious exploration…
[This f*cking support motherfker?!]
It ended up resulting in my virtual parents getting lost.
It was definitely a harsh thing to say about someone’s play style, yet because it was all true, I felt far from insulted.
As a brave pioneer, I proudly typed in the chat.
[Yeah.]
A short, terse reply.
The player who was making those profane comments earlier seemed to be boiling over as he not only paused his character but unleashed a torrent of lengthy curses.
Instead of trying to win, I chose to enjoy myself in the game, positioning my character beside the angry one and dancing while responding with another short quip.
[Scratch?]
Triggered by that brief comment, he couldn’t take it anymore and left the game.
After pretty rough first matches, as my games started piling up, my proficiency with the game gradually increased, which led Siyean’s complaints to emerge every now and then.
“I need to do my homework…”
“Just one more game.”
“You said that earlier too…?”
“That one’s still not over.”
Thud, thud, thud, Siyeon stomped towards the power cord.
Siyeon’s grip on the wire was fierce.
“Hey, are you going to unplug this?!”
“N-no! I swear, it’ll just take five minutes!”
In my frantic voice, her hand reluctantly released the wire.
This fight over the singular computer became a daily ritual.
While I played games on the computer, Siyeon would…
“I can’t do without you!”
Watch romantic anime.
Of course, it was anime imported from Japan.
The cringe-worthy bits present in the Japanese that was partially understood resonated far too clearly.
Whenever Siyeon cranked the volume with that type of anime, I would retreat to the second floor.
What was fun while a bunch of men engaged in romance?
Ji-eun’s carefully bought magical girl anime merchandise was now an afterthought.
Instead, the desk fill was taken up with acrylic stands of pretty boy characters and related goods.
After escaping the cringe of those female-oriented anime to the second floor, I turned my gaze to the ceiling just after Seollal.
Surely… didn’t I have something planned for this February?
“What was it again?”
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