Ch.14I’ll Buy You Tonkatsu Later (4)

“Take a deep breath. It’ll be over in about 15 minutes, so don’t worry too much.”

“Ugh… okay.”

The staff member was preparing to insert the needle as Hamin lay in the blood donation chair.

In Hamin’s life, where he’d only ever received flu shots or COVID vaccines, the largest needle he’d ever seen was now waiting to enter his vein.

If the injection needles he’d seen until now were literally like pins,

the donation needle he faced in the blood collection room was almost like a straw.

*Thud*

So that’s going into me.

Hamin’s hand trembled momentarily in fear.

“Um, I’m not mentally prepared yet, so could you wait just a little bit…?”

“Come on, didn’t you come here to show off? If you’re trembling like this, your girlfriend who came with you might be disappointed…”

*Thump*

At the staff member’s words referring to Doyoung as his girlfriend, Hamin’s already rapidly beating heart began to pound even harder.

Could other people really see us as that kind of relationship?

What if it makes Doyoung uncomfortable to be misunderstood that way?

Maybe I should have worn my usual dull black hoodie instead of this white one.

“N-no… we’re not that kind of relationship…”

Feeling the need to clearly deny any relationship between himself and Doyoung,

Hamin turned his head toward the staff member who was preparing the needle.

“If you’re not in that kind of relationship, then you should try even harder to impress. If you show composure in situations like this, your friend might see you differently, you know?”

Perhaps finding Hamin’s reaction cute as he turned his head away in cold sweat, fearful of the needle,

the staff member patted Hamin’s arm encouragingly despite hearing they weren’t a couple.

“What do you think? Isn’t a student who takes initiative to do something admirable pretty cool, friend?”

The staff member called out to Doyoung, who was waiting in the lounge area that resembled a café.

Perhaps Hamin wasn’t completely shutting down his hopes.

He subtly turned his head in the direction the staff member was speaking.

“Wow! This blood donation center has manga in the café? I never expected to find the complete collection of One Blood here!”

“Ah, collecting novels and manga is the director’s hobby. I didn’t think young people these days would be interested in these things—it’s a bit surprising.”

“This too must be the director’s grace…”

But there was no response from Doyoung.

Lost in the manga displayed in the café, Doyoung had seemingly forgotten about Hamin and started reading with his legs crossed on the café chair.

“…”

“…I’m going to insert the needle now.”

“…Okay.”

*Poke*

Hamin’s heartbeat was indescribably calm.

Even as a needle larger than any he’d ever experienced penetrated his vein, he didn’t even blink as his body accommodated this unfamiliar visitor.

“Good. Now slowly squeeze and release your hand. Don’t squeeze too hard. Just relax, okay?”

“Ah, yes. Thank you.”

Hamin reclined in the chair and moved his left hand as instructed by the staff member.

“It really wasn’t a big deal after all.”

It was almost embarrassing how frightened he’d been just moments ago, his eyes reddening with fear.

His left hand, now with a needle inserted and blood being drawn, felt nothing remarkable.

Rather than painful, it felt fascinating.

The tube gradually swelling with his blood each time he squeezed his hand.

And himself, feeling nothing while watching it happen.

“I wonder what he’s doing right now.”

Hamin turned his head to the right to look toward the waiting area where Doyoung was sitting.

“Ah, here it is. Volume 45. This is what I was curious about.”

Doyoung was still sitting in the same spot, engrossed in the manga he’d been reading.

Hamin had expected him to get bored quickly and check his phone or call other friends to chat, so this was somewhat unexpected.

“What? Is ‘Spear of Fire?’ the original line? I thought ‘Kuk, Ace, what kind of attack is this?’ was from the original…”

Though confused by the discrepancy between the original work and internet memes,

he remained focused on the book he’d been holding while waiting, head bowed in concentration over each scene.

“…So he really was telling the truth about liking [Mari★Hwana].”

Even as Doyoung completely ignored Hamin’s existence,

lost in the world of the book, Hamin found himself smiling without realizing it.

So his comment about wanting to watch movies together wasn’t just a joke.

That realization reassured Hamin from deep within.

Hamin had always struggled to understand Doyoung’s actions.

He couldn’t comprehend why Doyoung kept him around, why he paid more attention to him than to other kids.

‘Did I somehow earn his pity?’

‘Is he keeping me around because I’m easy to make fun of?’

‘Maybe he thinks I look pitiful.’

Whenever Hamin tried to find the reason why Doyoung showed interest in him,

he could only reach conclusions that diminished and killed his own self-worth.

But watching Doyoung smile at the book and its story,

Hamin found, just a little bit, an option that didn’t require him to destroy himself.

‘Maybe he likes the same things I like.’

‘Maybe he wants to be around me because we’ve come to like the same things.’

‘Maybe he enjoys being with me.’

Could it be that Doyoung actually liked him?

Hamin couldn’t quite reach that conclusion.

To make such a choice filled with self-esteem and self-love,

the 16 years of life Hamin had experienced weren’t so generous.

But at least, he no longer needed to kill himself inside.

They shared the same interests.

They liked the same things.

These two conditions allowed Hamin, at minimum, as a “friend,”

to remain by Doyoung’s side—Doyoung who seemed like the protagonist of this world,

while Hamin was merely an extra with nothing to his name.

‘Yes, that’s enough.’

With the feeling of a heavy burden lifting from his heart,

Hamin’s tension eased, and as he watched Doyoung, his eyes unconsciously closed.

**

“Ah, that was fun.”

To think I’d encounter the nostalgic One Blood again in the world of <Half of Half Island>.

The 30 minutes of waiting felt like they passed in 30 seconds.

“Oh, looks like it’s already over.”

The break timer had ended.

Do-Hamin returned to the lobby, gently rubbing his left arm where the needle had been.

“Good job. Does your left arm hurt?”

“No, it’s fine. It only hurt a little when they inserted and removed the needle, but the rest was fine.”

“Hehe, just like I said—it’s nothing, right?”

“Yeah, I think you’re right.”

Do-Hamin nodded with a slightly drowsy face.

“…Were you sleeping? I thought you said you slept well last night.”

“Huh? Ah… I guess I was too tense. When the tension eased, my body probably relaxed too.”

Was it really just because his tension eased?

Hamin was speaking calmly without his usual stutter.

Without the pauses to catch his breath between words, he almost seemed like a different person.

“Thank you for your hard work. We really appreciate your participation in today’s blood donation. As mentioned in our notice, we’re giving two gifts to those who donate whole blood. Which would you prefer?”

“Ah, I’ll take two movie tickets. These can be used at the theater upstairs, right?”

“Of course. If your girlfriend… I mean, if your friend had donated too, we could have exchanged them for burger sets from the hamburger place downstairs.”

“I guess we’ll have to look forward to next time.”

“Thank you, please visit us again!”

With the tickets received as gifts,

Do-Hamin and I headed straight to the theater upstairs.

“Here it is. 11 o’clock—we need to go in right after buying. I’ll buy the tickets, so you go to the bathroom. You’ve been drinking water and juice since the donation, so you should go at least once.”

“Okay, I will.”

The movie was scheduled to start at exactly 11 AM.

If the blood donation center had been crowded, it would have been difficult to keep to our schedule,

but fortunately, everything went smoothly according to plan.

“Did you wash your hands properly?”

“O-of course…”

“And did you shake off properly down there?”

“S-stop it…! Even my mom doesn’t ask things like that!”

“Heheh, let’s go in. If we go in now, the timing will be perfect.”

We entered the designated theater and took our seats.

Since this was a niche film, there weren’t many people in the theater despite it being the weekend.

Even for animated films targeting teenagers or adults, there could be families with children,

but such audiences typically choose animations dubbed in Korean.

[Magical Girl Marina★Farina] was only available with subtitles and no dubbing even on TV,

so naturally, there was no Korean dubbing for the theatrical version.

*Click*

The lights dimmed and the screen illuminated.

After the sponsors’ logos passed by, the film’s introduction began beyond the black screen.

[Pyun! Big trouble, Marina-chan! Farina-chan!]

[Pyung! It’s terrible, Marina-chan! Farina-chan!]

A white doll-like creature bouncing around the screen.

It was QuQuPing, the surface-level mascot of [Mari★Hwana].

[A witch released from her seal is after your powers now-!]

[Pop!]

The mascot, which had been hopping around cutely with bouncy steps,

was skewered by the dark witch who appeared to be the theatrical version’s villain.

At this point, any audience members who thought this was a children’s movie quietly left the theater.

[Magical Girl Marina★Farina The Movie / Tale of the Coup]

[Opening: MONOTONE]

[Song: KlariS]

With a close-up of the mascot lying cold and bleeding,

the title logo appeared with a “thud” alongside a black and white image, and the film’s opening began.

“Ooh… using the witch boss from volume 10 for this kind of direction…? That’s fresh.”

One advantage of watching a movie together is being able to share immediate impressions with your companion.

Since there were hardly any other viewers, and the opening was playing,

I turned to Do-Hamin to share my thoughts on what I’d just seen.

“What do you think about that direction? I think it’s really—”

*Thud*

Do-Hamin’s head fell against me without resistance.

“A-are you sleeping?”

“…”

Three minutes into the movie.

Just as the opening was playing,

Do-Hamin had fallen asleep, using my chest as a pillow.