Transformation – 3

“It’s dark.”

As daylight saving time ended, the moon, which had been rising later due to the shift, began to rise again at its usual time.

Dodging the swarm of police and paramedics, moving here and there, it had already become night.

“Yeah.”

The man was walking with the woman on his back.

People’s attention was drawn to the sight of a young man carrying a student in a school uniform.

“Am I heavy?”

The woman asked, sniffing. Perhaps because she had cried her eyes out, her voice was very hoarse.

“Heavy.”

The man replied, bouncing her up as she slowly slid down.

“Sniffle-“

The woman, apparently not satisfied with the man’s answer, kicked him in the side with her leg, even with her eyes swollen red.

Of course, it wasn’t a proper stance, so it didn’t really have much impact.

The man, who had been walking along the main road, turned onto a relatively narrow path when he came to a fork.

As he turned, a familiar alleyway appeared, and he paused for a moment, taking it in.

‘Has it only been a few days since I left? Why does it feel like it’s been so long?’

He barely managed to suppress the burst of laughter that escaped him.

Lifting the woman up again as she slid down, he moved on.

Familiar surroundings came into the woman’s view. She buried her face in the nape of his neck.

She could smell dirt, sweat, and a faint scent of blood.

“Ahjussi.”

The man felt her hot breath.

“What.”

At the man’s blunt words, the woman tightened her arms around his neck.

“Thank you.”

“For what.”

“Just… for everything.”

“Is that so.”

The man continued to walk forward, looking ahead.

Kim Sung-ah rubbed her face against his back at his indifferent reply.

“I mean it.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

And then, silence again. The man dragged his feet through the alley.

A few passersby looked at them strangely, but upon seeing their disheveled appearance and tattered clothes, they nodded in understanding and passed by.

“Ahjussi.”

Kim Sung-ah called him again.

“What is it now.”

He said, noticing her house getting closer.

“You’re going home, right?”

“Where else would I be going?”

“You’re going home too, right, Ahjussi?”

“………..”

“You’re coming home too, right?”

Kim Sung-ah’s arms tightened.

“Right?”

Her voice was filled with force, as if confirming, as if interrogating.

Meanwhile, the man’s steps stopped in front of the gate.

He patted her thigh twice with his hand. It was a signal to get down.

Kim Sung-ah carefully placed her feet on the ground. Although she was a Magical Girl with a body more durable than that of an ordinary person, the aftermath of being directly hit by the Four Heavenly Kings’ attack still remained.

As her soles touched the ground, a tingling sensation ran all the way to the top of her head.

“Ugh….”

“Are you okay?”

“I’m okay. I can walk.”

She carefully moved her feet and opened the gate. The old hinges creaked as the gate opened.

Kim Sung-ah entered the gate and stepped into the yard.

“Ahjussi… come in.”

The two faced each other, separated by the gate.

“…Sigh.”

Seeing her tearful eyes, he let out a self-deprecating sigh and followed her into the house.

As Kang In-ho entered, Kim Sung-ah unconsciously smiled.

Walking towards the house, Kang In-ho noticed the weeds that had grown rampant during his short absence.

‘She must have been busy. It’s not being taken care of at all.’

Entering the house, he realized his assumption was wrong.

“Oh my… you need to clean up a bit….”

He covered his eyes with his palm at the sight of the messy living room and kitchen.

“Ah, I’ve been a little busy….”

Kim Sung-ah, who had been focused on getting him into the house, made a lame excuse as she saw his shocked face.

“Busy my foot, hey….”

He went to the kitchen and frowned at the sink.

“Ah, not there! Eek!”

As Kim Sung-ah tried to hop into the kitchen, Kang In-ho picked her up.

“Ah, Ahjussi….”

Kang In-ho, holding her in a princess carry, moved towards the second floor.

Bang!

“Ahjussi, put me down. It’s just a little messy….”

Despite Kim Sung-ah’s pleas, Kang In-ho kicked the door open, and her room was revealed in all its glory.

“Look at this. Are you a human or an animal?”

Clothes scattered everywhere, panties and bras draped over the chair like a Salvador Dali painting, were on full display.

“Ah, Ahjussi!!!”

Kim Sung-ah struggled in his arms, but he didn’t let her go.

“How can you be living in an even bigger mess than before I came?”

Kim Sung-ah averted her gaze to his chest as his somewhat angry voice fell from above.

Just as she was about to bury her face in his chest, Kang In-ho dropped her to the floor.

As she rubbed her sore butt, Kang In-ho turned around.

“Clean your room, take a shower, and come downstairs. …We’ll talk then.”

“Ah, okay.”

Kang In-ho, who had come back down to the first floor, put on an apron and rubber gloves.

He began to scrub the surroundings with detergent.

He scraped off the rotten food that hadn’t been properly filtered out and the grime stuck to the edges.

As he sprayed water on the areas he had scrubbed with detergent, the sink gradually regained its former appearance.

He also took the opportunity to sort the recycling. The trash was mixed haphazardly, without proper sorting.

“Sigh… I must be crazy.”

He belatedly blamed himself for saving her, but he thought he would have done the same thing even if he went back to that moment.

‘My body just moved on its own.’

Whether it was a sense of responsibility as an adult or pity for Kim Sung-ah, he had somehow stepped in to block Tols’s attack.

“Because of this meddling nature of mine.”

[You’re great in every way, but you have only two problems.]

[Getting angry easily and being nosy.]

His senior colleague’s words replayed in his ear.

He gave a bitter smile and continued cleaning, and after about an hour, he succeeded in restoring it to its former state.

“I’m tired.”

As he sat down on the dining table chair and wiped sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand, he heard someone coming down from the landing.

“I’ve cleaned everything.”

Kim Sung-ah, who had become fluffy and clean in no time, was looking at him with a cautious face, wearing a thin T-shirt.