The absurd place where unreasonable parents throw away their own concepts but still send their children there.
The biggest enemy of living expenses, which is said to siphon off hundreds of thousands every month, academy.
It’s been a while since we’ve talked about money-related topics, which weighed on my mind…
“I should have said it someday.”
“Go into your room and wait.”
It was the perfect timing to bring up money, so I decided to have a serious talk.
There isn’t much needed for a serious conversation.
Just a bankbook with consistent deposit records will do.
Among the two stacked bankbooks, I picked up the one at the bottom.
I picked it up with my thumb and index finger and headed to Siyeon’s room.
Once inside the room, I sat opposite Siyeon, who was sitting on the floor, and handed her the bankbook.
It smoothly passed into Siyeon’s hands.
“Open it.”
Right after I finished speaking, there was the sound of stiff paper fluttering about three times.
A bankbook with a nine-digit number, an amount close to 500 million.
An amount so large that a student of similar age couldn’t even imagine holding it.
Even Siyeon’s eyes widened in surprise.
Realizing the value of several tens of thousands of won, she now held this fortune in her hands.
“What is all this money…?”
“Since you came out of the orphanage and became a magical girl, this is the money you earned.”
I nonchalantly pointed to the front with my index finger at Siyeon’s question.
Whether you go to study academy or piano academy, it doesn’t matter.
Since smartphone bills and living expenses are deducted from my account, if there’s anything else you want or need, use that account.
“I was originally going to tell you right after you entered middle school…”
Originally, I had planned to talk to her about money as soon as she started middle school…
I added that I missed the timing and was only now explaining it.
Still in disbelief of the amount, Siyeon stared blankly at the bankbook she was holding.
“Is this really my money?”
“Yeah, you need to save it. Earning money is tough, but it goes out in an instant, so soon I’ll get you a check card to keep with you.”
Now that I’ve said what I needed to say, I decided to get up and return to my room.
By the way, I wondered what kind of academy she might be thinking of; piano? Computer? Or just a study academy?
Regardless of what type of academy she wanted to attend, it was her decision, so it wasn’t my place to interfere.
The moment I pulled my butt off the floor…
“…Ah.”
It seemed Siyeon still had something to say as she slightly parted her lips, so I turned back.
“Yeah?”
Even with my slightly halted steps, no words came back.
An awkward sound lingered in the air, making me conclude that I must have misheard it, and I started to move my feet again.
Our conversations became less and less.
Well, isn’t this the normal relationship of sisters?
Considering the typical portrayals of younger sisters and older brothers, or older sisters and younger brothers on the internet, this might actually be better.
Even when we send messages via messenger apps, we don’t check them, and when we do meet, we bicker like we want to kill each other.
Compared to those heated relationships, at least we get replies when we send messages through the app.
[Photo sent.]
As I fiddled with my smartphone, a new message notification gradually came down from the top.
‘Huh?’
But it didn’t stop there; an avalanche of messages came in an instant.
[Photo sent.]
[Photo sent.]
Before I could even check the first message, more messages arrived consecutively.
‘Who is it?’
Desperately tapping on the avalanche of notifications filled the screen with a one-on-one chat window.
There was a name marked as Anne/tiara.
The chat window was filled with pictures of familiar suited uncles and one foreigner awkwardly inserted among them.
Where had she been wandering around for a few days to have so many pictures in front of various cultural properties?
Even though I wasn’t reading them, her messages, filling the screen, felt noisy.
[I’m learning good sauce in Korea!!!]
The last photo and message that appeared in the chat window showed Anne holding a large green sauce container with a joyful expression.
I’ve seen videos where foreigners go crazy over grilled meat dipped in sauce, and it seemed she was no exception.
[Please come back safely.]
As soon as I left a message, the number 1 notification disappeared.
Where could she be that she’s only staring at her smartphone?
Maybe she wasn’t yet familiar with Korean typing, as after the number 1 disappeared, a short message popped up after a brief silence.
[Goㅁㅏ!!—]
For the time it took, the message seemed too short, and it made me think she was probably getting help from someone nearby to type in Korean.
Anyway, I’m now liberated from the American magical girl.
It was slightly concerning to leave my contact information behind, but would there really be anyone in Korea that I know other than myself?
I figured we could just casually keep in touch and eventually fade out.
[8 photos sent.]
[I grilled meat with my American friend Korean style. It’s delicious.]
[Photo sent.]
[Without sauce, my heart hurts.]
[Photo sent.]
[I found sauce at the store! It’s a miracle! (emoticon)]
[Photo sent.]
[I found a place that sells Korean food. I’m so happy.]
‘Ha.’
…There was a time when I thought like this.
If it’s anything related to Korea in daily life, Anne sends a bundle of photos along with her thoughts.
Since sending such short replies seemed half-hearted, but extending them even longer left me without anything worthy to say, I decided to send a slightly longer message saying, “You can feel the taste of Korea even in America :)”
[I think it’s different from the taste I had in Korea, but it’s really delicious! :)]
After finishing the conversation at a comfortable level, I turned off the smartphone screen.
Here I was, casually walking home after finishing my exhausting chat on the way back from school.
As I matched my pace beside me, Taehyun cautiously asked.
“Who are you chatting with so much?”
I had slowed down my steps while typing messages, yet I could have just gone ahead.
Lifting my head slightly, which had been down looking at my smartphone, I replied,
“A foreign friend.”
Matching his pace with mine, Taehyun widened his stride.
Today, the residents of the PC room had all abandoned it in pretending to go to academy.
Unlike Siyeon, who said she wanted to go to academy on her own…
They were simply forced to go by their parents, and even if they rebelled, it was no use.
The surprising part was Taehyun.
Among the three boys, he looked like the one most likely to study hard, yet didn’t plan to attend any academy at all.
“Aren’t you going to a 학원 (academy)?”
“Why waste money on an academy?”
He was the type who just studies at his own pace.
And his grades were generally upper-middle range in class.
That said, he didn’t have parents with a strong educational fervor, so he enjoyed quite a free life among middle school students in South Korea.
As we were nearly at the apartment, he suddenly spoke up.
“Wanna have dinner at my house today?”
It was an enticing offer.
With almost no reason to go directly home, and having tired of eating the same homemade meals lately.
You could call it my mom’s special touch?
After I casually visited Taehyun’s 17th-floor apartment and met his aunty, I began dropping by his place often.
The purpose was, of course, home-cooked meals.
“Hmm, what’s for dinner?”
“I don’t know, should I call my mom?”
“Go ahead.”
Taehyun tapped on his smartphone in rhythm and called his aunty.
His aunty’s high voice was audible over the smartphone speaker, even from quite far away.
“Hello? Mom, what’s for dinner today?”
“…!! …!”
“Oh, stir-fried pork? Mari is coming too, is that okay?”
Looks like Taehyun’s dinner at home tonight is stir-fried pork.
It’s not too spicy if the seasoning is adjusted, so it suits both me and Siyeon’s tastes.
With stir-fried pork, when you put a forkful over hot rice, after marinating the sliced onions and carrots in that bright red seasoning, oh…
I’m salivating just thinking about it.
“…! …!!”
“Oh, you’ll make it soon? So hurry and bring her over, alright? Arasseu—”
After a brief exchange of pleasantries with his aunty, Taehyun abruptly hung up.
A characteristic of boys, they never keep a phone call longer than 30 seconds.
After he ended the call, we stepped into the elevator.
Not stopping at the 4th floor, the elevator began ascending smoothly to the 17th floor.
Ding, with the sound “17th floor,” the door opened, and I followed Taehyun into his home.
“Mari, you’re here! Come in, come in! Sit on the sofa and watch some TV!”
“Ah, yes…”
“Taehyun, prepare the rice bowls and spoons in advance.”
No matter how many times I experience it, Aunty’s warm welcome is always a bit awkward.
As she instructed Taehyun to set the rice bowls and spoons on the table, she came to greet us at the entrance before heading back to the kitchen.
The sweet and spicy aroma of stir-fried pork wafts through the air.
Even if I feel a bit shy, any attempt to help might make Aunty panic, so I obediently sat in front of the TV on the sofa and waited for dinner to be ready.
The TV is playing a drama whose title and storyline I’m not aware of.
A strange scene where a lady brought a kimchi container to an office and faced off with a man in a suit.
“What the…?”
I don’t know what had happened beforehand, but the actress grabbed some pickled kimchi straight out of the container and threw it at the man.
“No matter how much of a drama this is, is that really plausible?”
I’m not particularly interested in dramas, so I picked up the remote laying sprawled on the sofa and changed the channel.
Before I knew it, Taehyun had already set the rice bowls and spoons on the table and stealthily approached from behind the sofa to watch TV with me.
“What are you watching?”
“The news.”
What was currently playing was the 5 PM news.
“Next news. Recently, American magical girl ‘Tiara’ came to Korea, drawing significant interest.”
The news was showing Anne, who had recently returned to America.
In that side of town, it seems everyone knows who each magical girl is, so it makes sense she could appear on public news like this.
I figured it was just a common article about foreign magical girls, but then…
“She said she met a good friend in Korea and posted a photo on her SNS community.”
“Uh?”
The problem was in the following picture transition.
The infamous photo that appeared on screen was enough to make Taehyun, who had been quietly watching behind me, utter an offhand remark of doubt.
A picture of Anne transformed into Tiara along with a picture of me before transforming appeared right there on the news.
‘No way…’
Without any mosaic on my face.
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