Ch.302IF Side Story: From the Beginning (70)

I had a rather ordinary dream.

No, it really was an ordinary dream. Just me and Hayun, with Seo-hee, Yeon-woo, Ju-a, Chae-yeon, and Jihye there, along with Pang Pang.

We were talking about nothing special, yet somehow we were laughing and having fun.

The room we were in wasn’t even a place I recognized—just a cozy cabin-like space. Everyone was dressed differently: some in pajamas, others in hoodies and shorts, and some in regular clothes…

I suppose that’s how dreams work. In reality, we would all have been wearing pajamas.

I don’t remember much of what we talked about. It probably wasn’t anything remarkable enough to remember.

But I was simply happy.

As if that was the future I wanted.

That warm, cozy feeling was just so nice.

“…”

Actually, that cozy sensation was something I was feeling in real life.

It wasn’t just cozy—it was a bit hot. Hot and somewhat damp, especially around my back.

Something warm was pressed right against my back.

I knew exactly what it was.

As my dream slowly faded and I returned to reality, I opened my eyes to see a wall.

The wall of my room at headquarters.

Somehow, I had ended up sleeping pressed against it.

And Hayun was pressed right against my back.

She wasn’t hugging me or anything. She just had her hands lightly touching my back, and her forehead seemed to be resting against me. As if it had been extremely cold last night. Even though it was already summer weather.

The sound of Hayun’s gentle breathing made me feel a bit embarrassed.

It must have been hot, since we had kicked off all the blankets. Considering we had started with separate blankets, it seems we both kicked them off.

Getting hot and kicking off the blankets, then feeling a bit chilly and snuggling together, which made us hot again, so we didn’t need to cover ourselves with blankets… The result of that infinite loop was our current situation.

And probably the source of my dream from last night.

That unusually cozy and warm feeling. It was Hayun’s body heat.

“Ah.”

Realizing this a bit late, I finally felt flustered.

Well, I thought it might be a bit much from the moment Hayun came in here. Even though the bed was generous for a single, it wasn’t exactly spacious for two people.

But I thought one of us would give up and move elsewhere before we ended up pressed together like this.

I mean, it’s summer. It would definitely be hot and humid.

The weather was too mild to turn on the air conditioner so we had opened the window, but it wasn’t exactly cool or cold either.

Yet somehow, I had slept deeply, comforted by Hayun’s body heat. Good grief.

A sense of moral wrongness washed over me.

What should I do?

Is there a way to get out without waking Hayun? No matter how I move, her body would move with mine.

Plus, since I wasn’t facing her, I might accidentally step on her or crush her if I’m not careful. Needless to say, I didn’t want to do that.

As I was squirming, trying to figure out how to move—

Knock knock.

Someone was knocking on the door.

A chill ran down my back, which should have been warm from Hayun’s body heat, and I felt my body temperature suddenly drop.

[Jieun?]

It was fortunate, if you could call it that, that it wasn’t a staff member—wait, is it fortunate? The person beyond the door was Seo-hee?

No matter how close you are with friends, it’s difficult to perfectly predict their reactions. Besides, everyone here is a magical girl.

They all have a sense of justice, but at the same time, they have the pure hearts “required to be magical girls.”

They all have their quirky sides, and you never know how they’ll react. I can say this from experience.

How would Seo-hee react if she saw us? Would she tease us all day? Or…

But I couldn’t make a loud noise either.

Strangely enough, I tend to soften around Hayun. Not that Hayun is weak, but that doesn’t mean she can’t get hurt.

Throughout our time together, I’ve seen Hayun get hurt for various reasons. So I’ve decided not to be someone who hurts her.

“Mmm…”

So I didn’t want to wake Hayun who was sleeping against my back.

That’s what I was thinking, but…

[I’m coming in?]

While I was stuck, unable to do anything, Seo-hee said that and flung the door open.

I hadn’t locked it. So what I heard was the sound of the door opening.

I braced myself for Seo-hee’s teasing.

…Come to think of it, I’m not sure why she would tease us, but anyway—

“Hey.”

But what I actually heard was that.

A slightly lowered voice that sounded somewhat angry.

“What time do you think it is to be like this?”

Seo-hee said.

“Huh?”

I unconsciously responded and lifted my head slightly to look back as much as I could.

Hayun’s pink hair came into view—it was difficult to turn my head enough to see Seo-hee.

I heard footsteps, and then Seo-hee immediately shook Hayun awake.

“Hmm?”

Hayun made a somewhat dazed and strange sound.

“Get up. Today’s not a holiday.”

Seo-hee said in a still rigid voice.

…

Oh, right.

That’s true.

Today wasn’t the weekend. We have to go to school.

I had completely forgotten because of that cozy feeling…!

When I hurriedly got up, Hayun finally staggered up and sat on the bed.

Then she rubbed her eyes.

“Hurry up and wash. We need to eat.”

Was she late waiting for us? Seo-hee said that with an openly displeased expression. Then she turned around and strode out.

It was like a character walking angrily in a comedy manga, walking in a way that expressed “I’m angry.”

“…”

Looking at Hayun, her face was bright red.

Yes, that makes sense. We were pressed together like that. She’s probably just now remembering what position she was in.

There’s no point in saying anything to Hayun when she’s like this.

I’ll just pretend nothing happened.

“…Let’s wash up.”

“I-I’ll wash up in my room…!”

“Huh?”

Before I could say anything, Hayun jumped up from her seat, flung the door open, and ran out.

Before I could call after her, her footsteps had already faded into the distance.

I scratched my head.

Well, I was obviously going to tell her to go back to her room first.

…She didn’t think I was suggesting we wash up together, did she? No matter what, we’ve never done that before. We’ve never even been to a public bath together.

That would be, well, a bit, you know.

As I got up, I realized there were still two blankets and two pillows on the bed.

The sheets were damp with sweat.

“…I don’t even know what to say.”

Let’s just not say anything.

With that thought, I headed to the shower.

*

After washing up and checking the time, I realized we hadn’t slept in as much as I thought.

In other words, we had plenty of time to get to school.

Well, all magical girls, including Seo-hee, were model students, so maybe they were already stressed just by the possibility of being late.

If worst came to worst, we could just put on our circuits and fly there.

…

Come to think of it, I hadn’t thought about going to school like that this morning.

Couldn’t we just wear pants under our skirts?

With that thought, I approached where everyone was gathered—somehow, they were all staring at me expressionlessly, which was a bit scary.

…Why?

Is it because I came out last? Seeing Hayun sitting among them, I guess I did take my time.

Was I too leisurely?

Hayun with her face bright red and head bowed low. And all the others staring at me, making it strangely feel like Hayun and I had committed some crime.

“What?”

When I asked that, they all turned their heads away.

“Let’s eat.”

Ju-a said in a very stiff voice.

“…”

Feeling a bit intimidated, I deliberately held my head high as I went to sit down.

There was a table in the center with chairs around it.

In the middle was a large tray piled high with sandwiches.

It seems everyone had gotten up early to make them.

…

Well, this feels a bit unfair.

They could have woken me up. I would have helped.

Feeling wronged, I reached for a sandwich.

Hayun and Ju-a slid over and sat right next to me on either side.

I might understand Hayun, but seeing Ju-a do it too, maybe they weren’t actually angry?

But their faces were too stiff for that.

…I wish they’d just pick one approach or the other.