Ch.184IF Side Story: Galactic Love (9)

It’s a strange feeling.

My stomach isn’t completely full, and as time passes, my strength is gradually draining. I still have no intention of giving up, but if this situation continues, I wouldn’t be surprised if someday I choose to surrender.

But strangely enough, Pang Pang, who should have had nothing to do with my situation, seemed unwilling to give up on me.

If that’s the case, perhaps it’s right that I shouldn’t give up either.

We entered the same tent as usual.

As I slipped into the sleeping bag, fatigue suddenly washed over me. It was an overwhelming drowsiness I couldn’t fight.

My exhausted body was finally taking the rest it had been craving for so long. My body was demanding that I continue sleeping.

Perhaps it meant that since I’d started resting, I might as well get proper rest.

“Pang Pang.”

But before falling asleep, I thought I should say something to Pang Pang, who was lying beside me in the cramped tent.

“Yes?”

Pang Pang responded.

What should I say to her?

Now that I’d opened my mouth, the words didn’t come easily. Well, neither in my past life nor now was I particularly good with words.

When I didn’t know how to comfort Hayun, I would just sit quietly beside her and maybe buy her something sweet to eat.

If I couldn’t even comfort someone properly, what should I say to someone who risked her life to come with me?

I remained silent for a moment.

“Jieun?”

Pang Pang called me again. Just as my consciousness was drifting away, I snapped back to reality and barely managed to move my lips, speaking in a half-asleep voice.

“Still… I’m glad I came with you…”

I wasn’t sure if that was the right thing to say. From Pang Pang’s perspective, it might not have been very comforting.

Unfortunately, I was too exhausted to continue any serious thoughts.

*

Jieun fell asleep right away.

From the moment she entered the bathtub, Jieun had been overcome with fatigue, and after getting out, she was staggering as if she might collapse at any moment.

Pang Pang thought she looked a bit unsteady, so she hovered nearby, ready to catch her if she fell.

Fortunately, Jieun obediently entered the tent and quickly lay down in the sleeping bag.

Then she immediately closed her eyes.

Just as it seemed she would fall asleep right away, she suddenly opened her mouth and said she was glad to be with Pang Pang.

“…”

Before Pang Pang could respond, Jieun was already breathing evenly in deep sleep.

It was true that Pang Pang had prepared and waited for Jieun today.

Seeing how Jieun always returned with such an exhausted expression and fell asleep like the dead, Pang Pang had hoped that even for just one day, she could wash in warm water.

That’s why she had searched for a place to collect water, brought it back, and heated it while waiting.

That wish had been fulfilled, but—

Her feelings toward Jieun remained complicated.

It was a feeling of guilt.

In truth, when they were staying at the house, Pang Pang hadn’t worried much about this guilt. Her ties with the company had been all but severed, and she thought it was fortunate that she could help Jieun in that way.

But—

“…It might be because of me.”

Pang Pang murmured quietly.

The chairman had changed, they said.

She didn’t know whether the previous chairman had fled or been ousted. There wasn’t enough information. But James had said he probably fled.

If that was the case, had the current chairman completely taken control of the company?

…If it were Grandmother, she might have left something for Pang Pang in case something happened to her.

And whatever she left behind would likely be some power that could control the company.

…If the current chairman knew this fact.

She thought they might have come looking for Pang Pang.

They might have come looking for Jieun, as Jieun thought. Jieun had become too important now.

But if that were the case, would they have just left after finding no one at home?

If they had come to capture Jieun, who had the means to properly fight back against them, wouldn’t they have done their best to fight?

If so, they would have tried to capture her before she could transform.

“…I’m sorry.”

Lying turned toward the deeply sleeping Jieun, Pang Pang said those words.

Today again, she couldn’t tell her.

The longer she delayed, the harder it would be to speak. And the betrayal Jieun would feel after hearing it would only grow larger.

Yet Pang Pang still couldn’t say it.

She just wanted to say something positive and try her best to be helpful, hoping to forget her guilt.

Someday, when Jieun learned all the truth.

How would she take it? Would she get angry, saying coming together was the worst choice?

Pang Pang hoped that wouldn’t happen.

“…”

She saw bruises on Jieun’s back. According to Jieun, those wounds would disappear quickly. It was the power of magic.

But no matter what, it must have still hurt.

How painful it must have been to be hit all over, to fall, to be slammed down.

If Pang Pang gave up everything, would things get better? Once the current chairman took over the company completely.

…

She wasn’t sure.

Perhaps Pang Pang herself was also unable to think normally anymore.

In the end, today too, the two of them fell into deep sleep without finding the exact path forward.

*

I slept really well for the first time in a long while.

Even though I was in a sleeping bag, the tent floor was hard. It was somewhat better because we had pitched our tent inside a house, but when we had set up in the mountains before, my back had ached terribly.

My back hurt today too, but that was probably because I had been lying down for so long.

Crawling out of the tent and stretching my back while looking up at the ceiling, I heard a cracking sound from my back.

“Jieun!”

Pang Pang had already prepared breakfast.

Though I say breakfast, all we eat are canned foods. We bought some canned fruits too, supposedly for taste and health, but hmm.

To be honest, I’m not sure if this counts as a healthy diet.

…Still.

“Well, maybe things could get a little better.”

I muttered.

“Yeah…”

Hearing that, Pang Pang’s voice grew quieter.

James and I were hurrying our preparations.

The goal: revenge.

At minimum, to inflict some damage.

It would be great if we could find the chairman directly, but that’s probably impossible. If they have any sense, they would have fled far away by now.

But James and I have a different target.

There’s broadcasting equipment at Noir Corporation Headquarters. James will manipulate it to broadcast my grievances nationwide.

I’m not sure how effective that will be.

But at least, something will be exposed.

That’s all I want.

Pang Pang seemed lost in thought, opening and closing her mouth several times. I could roughly guess what she wanted to say.

She probably wants to tell me not to do it. Maybe she wants to suggest we just run far away.

Or maybe she wants to encourage me not to give up… but considering how Pang Pang has stayed by my side until now, both possibilities seem equally likely.

But I can’t just do nothing.

I still have things I can’t completely give up on.

Ha, it’s strange.

Every time I think I’ve given up on everything, there are relationships that keep coming to mind. In the end, I’m still dangling from that thin line.

I don’t know if it hurts because it’s my arm, or if it’s choking me and I’m slowly suffocating without realizing it.

“…Do you remember what I told you?”

So, I quickly spoke before Pang Pang could say anything.

“Yes.”

Pang Pang, who had been moving her lips without speaking, finally answered with a nod.

The escape plan I had mentioned.

Truthfully, I didn’t really think I would be able to return. I just hoped Pang Pang could escape safely on her own.

Pang Pang would surely adapt well wherever she went.

She would blend in among people with a smile and make friends. Pang Pang said I was one of her few friends, but that was just how things happened to turn out.

…

I know I’m rationalizing.

But there was no other way.

“I’ll definitely come back.”

The probability is low.

I might get caught, die there, or end up in critical condition… all sorts of negative thoughts come to mind. It’s ironic that even this feels like an opportunity to me.

“When I come back, I’ll look for you first, so don’t worry too much.”

Among all the lies I’ve told Pang Pang, this was the only truth.

Jihye is at the orphanage, and the magical girls… well, they’re magical girls. They all have some support to help them get through.

Only Pang Pang is alone.

Like me.

So—at least, as a way to repay the help I’ve received, if I survive and escape, I planned to find Pang Pang first.

“…Okay.”

“Hey, it’s not like I’m leaving today.”

Seeing Pang Pang nod with an unusually dark expression, I said.

“We’ll rest for a few more days, until my condition improves. And when James has prepared all the equipment, that’s when we’ll go. Until then, let’s just rest well together.”

Pang Pang nodded again at my words.

This time her expression seemed a bit more relaxed, which brightened my mood a little too.