[Magical Girl’s Diminished Sense of Urgency, Applause During Interview]
[“Well said” Magical Girl Sun, A Right Jibe at Animal Welfare Groups]
[“Don’t Mistake Monsters for Pets” Sound Arguments….]
[Animal Protection Organization, Previously Scheduled Protests Canceled in a Row… Was Sun’s Jibe Impactful?]
[With a Scream, “It’s a Monster!” Revealing the True Colors of the Animal Protection Organization….]
After returning home, I could see the positive reactions to my actions through the articles.
At the same time, there were negative reactions towards the animal protection organization.
It’s been a long time coming, but who would have thought reporters would be on my side?
After pulling off a big stunt, I received a phone call from Ji-eun, my older sister.
The main topic of the call was her asking if I was okay after seeing the article, along with the usual worries and a bit of nagging.
“I’m fine, the reaction has been quite good this time.”
“I was shocked, thinking what trouble you got yourself into this time.”
I found myself momentarily speechless at the voice coming through the smartphone.
Isn’t this enough of a trouble already?
Did Ji-eun sense the contradiction I was feeling as well? After a brief silence, her voice followed.
“Actually… you did get into some trouble, didn’t you?”
“Right.”
“Anyway, I’m glad nothing major happened. How’s school? I haven’t heard from you or Siyeon lately.”
“Um….”
An ambiguous groan mixed with confusion followed my trailing words.
School life? How should I explain this?
Should I mention that Siyeon transferred to my school as well?
The clueless school kids would probably just mumble something about studying abroad, but I can’t do that with Ji-eun.
Ah, whatever, I’ll just say something acceptable.
“Just so-so.”
“Is there anyone bothering you?”
A common question that often comes up when adults see students.
When I first heard the question, I thought Ji-eun must have eaten something funny.
“Come on, who would bother me?”
Bother me? Who?
I casually said, thinking she was too tired from taking care of Juwon, but the response was quite different.
“I’m asking if you’re bothering anyone, not if anyone is bothering you.”
It came back to me with a deadpan, entirely opposite meaning.
Well, of course, I can be a bit feisty, but that doesn’t mean I’m a villain.
On what basis does she suspect I am bothering my classmates?
“…What do you see me as?”
“Hehe. Just kidding, just kidding… I’m glad to hear you’re doing well. Is Siyeon doing okay too?”
Siyeon’s recent news is best heard directly from her rather than through me.
I heard the sound of clacking keyboards from the room.
Fixing my gaze on the light visible through the crack in the door, I casually spoke through the smartphone.
“She’s in her room, do you want me to get her?”
“Yeah, let me hear her voice after a long time.”
“Alright.”
I shifted my position from lying sideways on the long sofa, freeing my ankle that was resting on the armrest, and turned around to stand up.
I walked towards the room, grasped the handle of the half-opened door, and gently pushed it open while saying.
“Siyeon, it’s Ji-eun on the phone.”
I burst into the room, holding out the smartphone.
What filled the screen was another Japanese-style animation.
A bunch of guys popped up, but it’s probably a wholesome sports anime, right?
I walked into my room, leaving Siyeon behind as she took the smartphone.
She would naturally return it after the call anyway.
‘What should I have for dinner…’
Excluding essential foods like eggs and rice, the fridge was surprisingly empty.
As I rummaged through it without deciding what to eat, a beeping warning sound resonated from the fridge.
The sound was alerting that the door wasn’t closed properly, but it also felt like it was urging me to close it quickly.
In the end, I couldn’t decide on dinner and closed the fridge with a thump.
I mean, just for looking into the fridge for too long, it starts screaming.
While I was deep in thought, Siyeon emerged from her call and came to the fridge, extending her phone to me.
“If you didn’t have dinner, come home.”
“Oh.”
I rounded my mouth in surprise at the unexpected good news, quickly putting on some clothes that I had just thrown around as I was only in my underwear.
Wearing black pants with white stripes and slippers without socks, I simply threw on a plain gray long-sleeve shirt.
Since I wasn’t going far, I dressed casually.
This was truly the outfit of an uncle sitting under the parasol of a neighborhood convenience store.
Dressed appropriately in her outdoor clothes, unlike Siyeon, I dragged my slippers as I headed next door.
Room 601 of Building 201.
Juwon might be asleep, so I decided to lightly knock instead of using the doorbell.
The door clicked open, and Siyeon rushed in to greet.
“Sis, we’re here!”
“Welcome! Siyeon, you’re getting prettier every day.”
“Hehe.”
Siyeon blushed and scratched her cheek at the frequently given compliment.
It suited her as someone in middle school dressing up nicely for an outing.
“Marie… um, you got your hair done too….”
Meanwhile, she hesitated as she looked me over dressed in sweatpants and a gray long-sleeve tee, barefoot in slippers.
What’s up with that?
Why?
“Yeah, still healthy!”
After saying that, she raised her thumb while choosing to say I looked healthy instead of pretty.
Why’s she doing that?
The house of Ji-eun, whom I visited after a long time, had indeed transformed in many aspects into a baby-friendly home.
The most noticeable change was the rubber puzzle flooring and multiplication tables stuck to the wall.
It seemed that the transition from an adult’s house to a child’s home was evident every time I visited.
However, the main character of this transformation, Juwon, was nowhere to be seen, so I took a look around and asked my sister.
“Where’s Juwon?”
“He’s out for a walk with my husband; he should be back soon.”
As we took off our footwear while entering the living room, we gathered around the low table to start our conversation.
The first topic was about dinner.
It seemed she hadn’t really prepared anything, as she immediately opened a delivery app.
“What do you guys prefer? Bone-in or boneless?”
“Isn’t boneless better because of Juwon?”
If asked to choose between bone-in and boneless chicken, it would almost always be chicken.
I wondered if bone-in chicken might be tough for Juwon to handle and asked more about it.
But just as if she had foreseen it, she smoothly continued speaking as she tapped away on the delivery app without a care.
“Juwon is Juwon, but with five people, one chicken wouldn’t be enough.”
“What brand does this house order from?”
“Just something that tastes good, here and there? Soy sauce from MeX… Fried from HuX… Seasoned from PeX….”
After ordering one boneless fried chicken, a chicken neck fried option, one soy sauce chicken, and one seasoned chicken, the conversation naturally shifted to school.
It was a question I knew would eventually come, but it arrived much sooner than expected.
“You two went to different schools before, right? Siyeon was in an all-girls school?”
“Ah, that’s….”
I fumbled with my words as I got blindsided by her sudden question, glancing at Siyeon.
Am I really supposed to say this out loud?
Just as I thought that, Siyeon suddenly turned her head to Ji-eun and directly replied.
“I struggled to adjust at my last school…”
“Now Siyeon is also attending the same school as Marie.”
Siyeon, who seemed to have trouble continuing, made a “V” shape with her fingers to show that they were in the same school, lightening the mood that was about to sink.
“Oh really? Then you must be in the same school.”
“Also in the same class.”
“How nice, that’s wonderful!”
Upon hearing that they were in the same class, Ji-eun clapped briefly, saying it was great.
The situation didn’t start well, but in any case, it was the best outcome that they were in the same school and same class.
Other questions followed like whether they made a lot of friends and if there were any boys they liked, etc….
Perhaps because it was a co-ed school, the questions kept pouring out well before April even arrived.
However, there was no way I would ever develop romantic feelings for those people.
“I have a guy friend from the PC bang; we’re gaming buddies.”
I answered nonchalantly while shaking my legs as I lay there, referring to my gaming friend from the pc bang.
Ji-eun looked at me with a dismayed expression as if she knew I would say that, her mouth twitching in disbelief.
“Ugh.”
At that moment, the sound of baby shoes squeaking came from the entrance.
The noise of the door lock being entered and the sound of baby shoes overlapped, briefly making the entrance loud.
With a beep, the door opened, with the sound indicating that the password was entered correctly.
The squeaking of shoes grew closer.
Uncle Dae-han entered, his expression surprised as he saw us sitting or lying in the living room.
“Oh? What’s up with you two? Marie, you cut your hair short?”
“Hello~”
“We’re here to visit!”
As soon as he heard our voices, Juwon, holding onto one hand tightly while waving the other nervously, entered with excitement.
He still mispronounced our names.
“Unni, Uhhni!”
“Juwon, Juwon! You have to take off your shoes!”
Squeak squeak squeak, the sound of short steps echoed rhythmically.
As soon as Uncle Dae-han let go of his hand for a moment, Juwon dashed in short strides, and seeing that, Uncle was startled; he stretched out both hands to catch Juwon before he rushed inside.
He could not tolerate dirt entering the house.
“Juwon, wash your hands and come sit down; there’s chicken ordered.”
The emptiness of the evening meal would always be satisfied with chicken.
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