Precious Daily Life – 2

“Still sweating?”

On the way back from the Mala Tang restaurant, Kim Sung-ah looked worried.

She was shocked by the sight of her roommate sweating profusely, even at the lowest spice level.

“If I knew you couldn’t handle spicy food this well, I wouldn’t have suggested going.”

She, who had suggested the Mala Tang, looked dejected.

Since he said he couldn’t eat spicy food, she had imagined something like the Nuclear Fire Chicken Noodles, but after hearing his story, even Shin Ramyun was deadly to him.

“It’s okay. It tasted good. It was nice to eat with the ingredients I wanted.”

Making a ‘tss-‘ sound, he cooled his tongue with the cold night air.

“Next time, let’s go to a place that’s really not spicy.”

Even with his words, Kim Sung-ah’s face didn’t brighten up easily.

“Yeah, let’s go to a place with a lot of options. …But, is your homeroom teacher okay? All that hot stuff spilled on her.”

He recalled the image of Lim Soo-ah, covered in the bright red, oily Mala Tang broth.

It wasn’t just a matter of ruining her clothes; she could have gotten burned.

He didn’t know how she tripped in a restaurant where there was nothing to trip over, but Lim Soo-ah, with the hot broth spilled on her chest, was hopping up and down, constantly groaning.

“It seemed like a date, too. That sucks.”

He felt sorry for the man whose date had been ruined and whose face had turned pale.

“She’ll be okay. The ambulance came quickly.”

Even though her homeroom teacher was hurt, Kim Sung-ah was indifferent.

“Now that I think about it, couldn’t we have healed her with magic?”

Kang In-ho said, as if suddenly remembering.

“…Ah, I forgot.”

After a moment of silence, Kim Sung-ah turned her head to the other side, hiding her expression.

“Too bad. Well, she went to the hospital, so she’ll be fine.”

“Right. It’s not our problem.”

While crossing the crosswalk, the sight of a couple coming from the opposite side caught their eyes.

It was a well-matched couple, a tall man and a woman, both with good style, holding hands and talking.

The woman leaning her head slightly towards the man looked even elegant.

Kim Sung-ah’s eyes followed them.

“Eep!”

As soon as she crossed the crosswalk, she took action. She clung to his arm.

At first glance, it looked like a daughter who had been conceived early in life was walking affectionately with her father.

“Hey, what’s this?”

He shook his arm off as if annoyed, but her grip on his arm was stronger and more persistent than he thought.

Embarrassment and shyness. Somewhere in between, those feelings weighed heavily on Kang In-ho’s arm.

“What’s wrong with it? It’s a sign of affection, you know?”

“…Fine, fine.”

He was about to say something but stopped.

Perhaps it was foresight that told him he would be caught up in Kim Sung-ah’s logic no matter what he said.

“♬~”

Clinging tightly to his arm, she hummed, as if in a good mood.

“Looks like you really enjoyed dinner? You seem happy.”

“My practice test scores were good, the food was delicious… Anyway, I just feel like things are going well today.”

Kim Sung-ah’s humming continued until she entered the house.

D-28 until the college entrance exam.

The biggest and worst event for high school students was just over a month away.

Was it because the classroom window was open?

The chilling outside temperature made the atmosphere in the classroom heavy and cold.

Or maybe it wasn’t the window’s influence at all.

The scenery during break time had changed a lot.

Unlike the atmosphere at the beginning of the semester, when students went to the cafeteria or chatted casually, most of them continued studying at their desks, continuing the feeling of class time.

Students who had already decided on a university or who had no interest in studying quietly slipped out of the classroom to take a breather, or spent their break time sleeping at their desks.

Lim Soo-ah, Kim Sung-ah’s homeroom teacher, tried to boost the students’ morale, saying that they should finish strong.

Kim Sung-ah smiled inwardly at the sight of the bandages and ointment marks that were subtly revealed inside her clothes as she talked about her daily life after the college entrance exam in a lively voice.

It felt somehow satisfying.

Kim Sung-ah’s studies were progressing steadily.

There were still many areas where she needed to improve in order to secure a place in the top two grades, but overall, her scores were visibly improving little by little.

The reason for this remarkable achievement was likely that she was either naturally smart or that some kind of motivation had worked on her.

And Kim Sung-ah thought that the reason was the latter.

“I wonder if Ahjussi has left yet.”

While returning from the bathroom, she felt goosebumps on her arms and an unpleasant wave.

She looked at the sky through the window in the hallway. Kang In-ho’s figure did not appear in the sky, but she looked anyway.

He was diligently dealing with the forces of evil.

[Ahjussi, aren’t you sleepy?]

[I took a nap, so I’m okay.]

He took a nap, so why was he okay?

Kim Sung-ah was worried about his health due to the increased number of enemy attacks compared to when she was working as a Magical Girl.

The frequency of enemy attacks, which used to be about once every three or four days, was getting shorter and shorter. On some days, he had to go out more than twice a day.

When she thought of the dark circles under his eyes, she felt both sorry and grateful to him at the same time.

[Just think about the college entrance exam for now.]

He brought out breakfast with a tired face and urged her again.

She had to study hard for his sake.

Whenever class became boring or drowsiness came over her, she thought of Kang In-ho.

Then, strangely, she felt like her concentration was revived.

“Once the college entrance exam is over… Ahjussi can rest too.”

Once the college entrance exam was over, she would become a Magical Girl and help him.

She wished and wished for the college entrance exam to come quickly.

On the way home from school. The surroundings were darkened by the shortened days.

She walked down the dark road.

“……”

Again, she felt goosebumps on her skin. An unpleasant wave came with it.

“It’s not far.”

Kang In-ho would be here within three minutes.

She decided to go out to meet him and turned her steps towards the place where she felt the wave.

Kim Sung-ah arrived at the vacant lot after wandering through the dark alleys for a long time.

“Where’s the enemy…?”

As she looked around, she felt a presence above her head.

She hid in the dark.

A tall man descends from the sky. And Kang In-ho, wearing a mask, follows him down at a suitable distance.

Kim Sung-ah was familiar with the tall man. It was a face she had seen when she had faced all Four Heavenly Kings.

‘The last remaining Four Heavenly Kings.’

She thought she was going to finish things with the Four Heavenly Kings, but there was no sign of battle anywhere.

Rather, they seemed to be talking to each other.

“It’s nice to see you again.”

“Are you going to keep sending small fries to test me? What kind of guts do you have to come find me this time?”

“Haha, we don’t need a special reason to meet, do we? Not between us.”

Crown of the Four Heavenly Kings laughed.

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

Kang In-ho, who had become sensitive due to lack of sleep, reacted sharply.

“No, no. Haha, are you getting along well with the Magical Girl?”

“Why are you asking?”

“No, I was just curious. I was just wondering if things were going well.”

“You, you keep saying things I don’t understand….”

“Well! Now that I’ve roughly grasped the situation, let’s meet again next time.”

“You suddenly appear, do nothing, and disappear?”

“Well, there has to be days like this too. Well, goodbye.”

Crown shrugged.

As he fluttered his cape, Crown’s body gradually became blurred.

The gaze of the slowly disappearing Crown briefly turns to the darkest, most secluded part of the alley.

As Crown, who had suddenly appeared, suddenly disappeared, Kang In-ho had a blank expression, like a dog chasing a chicken, and then left the vacant lot.

Several tens of minutes passed like that.

Kim Sung-ah, who had been in the most secluded part of the alley, came out from under the streetlight.

“…Ahjussi?”

They didn’t seem to be on good terms, but Kim Sung-ah’s face hardened at the sight of the Four Heavenly Kings treating him like a colleague in a strange way.