What I Gave Up – 1

“Kkeuweeeeeeck!”

A staff was impaled into the chest of a monster with the head of an alligator.

A cluster of blue light burst from the gap of the hole created as the staff pierced through.

Lyrical Star ducked her head to avoid the arm swung by the giant alligator, then took her stance.

“Point-Blank Shot!”

Bang! Bang!

A massive explosion erupted twice from the end of the staff.

Due to the explosion inside, blue smoke escaped from the alligator monster’s mouth like a soul.

It was clear that an ordinary creature would have died, but Lyrical Star didn’t stop there.

She pulled out the staff, and flesh stained with blood came with it.

Lyrical Star raised the staff upwards and placed it against the alligator’s jaw.

Bang!

Star’s Power seemed to gather at the tip of the staff, and then it blew the head off.

The body that lost its head turned to dust and scattered in the wind, and Lyrical Star also gradually released the tension she had built up and looked around.

“Oh… Mozambique Drill….”

Kang In-ho, who was watching it from not far away, muttered.

“Let’s get out of here quickly.”

Before he could even admire her amazing shooting skills, Lyrical Star approached.

Kang In-ho took out his cell phone from his pocket. It was the budget phone she had given him recently.

[4:32]

In a few hours, the sun would rise.

“Get ready.”

Kang In-ho put his arm around her shoulder and hugged her.

“I’m ready.”

He said after taking a deep breath, in a position as if he was being carried on her back.

Kukwang!

With her stomping her foot once, the two soared into the sky.

Even while cutting through the sky at a fierce speed, he felt as comfortable as if he were on an airplane.

‘At this speed, I shouldn’t be able to withstand it normally, but I wonder if there’s a safety magic.’

He thought, hanging on her back.

The flight didn’t take long. In just 10 minutes, they were able to arrive at home, and the clock in the living room was approaching 5 o’clock.

Kim Sung-ah entered the dark living room and quickly ran to the kitchen.

With a click, the kitchen light turned on.

“Ugh… I’m not going to get any sleep today either.”

Kang In-ho groaned, rubbing his stiff shoulders, and Kim Sung-ah also yawned deeply in agreement.

She had woken up around 3 o’clock and rushed to the scene, so she was in an ambiguous state of not having slept, but not having stayed up either.

“Have you ever not woken up?”

“I’ve woken up a little late before.”

She muttered weakly, collapsing on the table.

Kang In-ho walked to the refrigerator and took out a water bottle. As he tilted the open water bottle, cold water poured into the cup with a gurgling sound.

“Keuha.”

He let out an exclamation as if he felt alive after drinking the cold water without stopping, and Kim Sung-ah stared at him.

“Ahjussi, make me some ramen.”

“At this hour?”

“I’m hungry.”

“Alright.”

He skillfully found and took out a pot, then put water on it.

During those few minutes while the water was boiling, he looked at the ingredient list written on the ramen package for fun, and Kim Sung-ah looked at him for fun.

After putting in the noodles and stirring them a few times with chopsticks, chewy ramen was completed.

He put a dishcloth on the handle and placed the pot on the table.

“Aren’t you eating, Ahjussi?”

Kim Sung-ah asked as he brought a bowl and chopsticks for one person.

“Uh, if I eat and sleep, my face gets swollen. Are you okay with that?”

“I’ll probably get swollen too, right?”

“Will you be able to go to school like that?”

“I’m not going to school.”

“Why?”

“Huh? Well, I didn’t get any sleep anyway… Even if I go to school in this state, I’m just going to sleep anyway. I think it’s better to just sleep comfortably at home.”

“Is your attendance okay?”

“Yeah, well. So far….”

She avoided his gaze and picked up the ramen.

Kang In-ho didn’t bother to add any more words. It was a matter for her to judge.

She shook the steaming noodles up and down a few times, and then put them in her mouth.

With a slurping sound, the noodles were sucked into her mouth.

Like a hamster full of seeds, her cheeks puffed out.

“Eat slowly. You’ll get indigestion.”

Kang In-ho handed her a cup of water.

“Thank you.”

She said with inaccurate pronunciation.

“It would be perfect if I ate rice here too.”

“Hold back on that.”

“I’m just saying. Who said I was going to eat it?”

Kim Sung-ah pouted and grumbled.

“But, does eating noodles at night make your face swell?”

She suddenly muttered as if curious, after eating the noodles for a while.

“It’s not the noodles that make you swell, it’s the salt. It’s because there’s a lot of salt in your body, so it absorbs moisture and makes you swell.”

He recalled a Namuwiki document he had read while slacking off at work one day.

“Oh… I see. You know a lot. I guess that’s what it’s like to be an adult.”

“I just know it.”

“But, why don’t you know how to transform?”

“Hey!!”

Kang In-ho blushed and yelled, mentioning what had happened a few days ago again.

“Keuheuheuh, ah~ It’s still funny. What are you doing in the middle of the night.”

Remembering him chanting the transformation spell with a serious face, she laughed again.

“Anyway, I’m glad you can’t transform.”

“Are you building up to provoke me again?”

“No, really. If you were to transform, something evil might act on you and turn you back into an enemy.”

She suddenly makes a serious face while eating ramen.

“Could that happen? The magic diagnosed that I don’t have any problems now.”

“That’s the story if you transform. So I hope you can’t transform.”

“But I can feel the power….”

“If you don’t answer the call of the owner, there’s a reason for it. There’s no need to dig it out.”

“If you could transform with a plausible spell, everyone would have transformed. Transformation spells are self-hypnosis and a kind of oath.”

“So, you need some kind of will or belief?”

“Yes.”

She put the noodles in her mouth again.

After eating a very late-night snack, she roughly brushed her teeth and lay down on the bed.

She didn’t feel well because she lay down right after eating, but she didn’t care.

“Heuheuheum~ What should I do when I wake up? Should I tell him to go to the department store?”

Suddenly, she thought it had been quite a while since she had gone shopping. She decided what to do when she woke up.

“It would be fun to go shopping at the department store with Ahjussi.”

Thinking that, she soon fell asleep. The Sleep Demon lurking under the bed covered her.

That afternoon, Kim Sung-ah dragged Kang In-ho, who wanted to sleep more, to the department store.

He seemed very tired, yawning so wide that his mouth was tearing apart as he walked.

“I’m going to buy clothes, and then go to the food court and eat out!”

Her steps seemed very light, excited about going out after a long time.

“Yeah, let’s do that… Let’s eat Chinese food for the first time in a while… Eum?”

The ringtone rang from his pocket as he yawned.

“Who’s calling?”

“I don’t know, just a moment. Hello? Ah… yes? Ah! Ah! Yes, yes. Oh, hello.”

Kang In-ho bowed to the invisible person on the other end of the line.

“Yes, yes, ah, yes. I, yes. I’ll talk to her well and make sure she goes to school. …Ah, yes? I see. Yes, yes, I understand.”

“What was that call about?”

As soon as he hung up, Kim Sung-ah couldn’t help but ask.

“Your homeroom teacher.”

“How does the homeroom teacher know Ahjussi’s number? You only got a cell phone a little while ago.”

“I got the number when I went to school last time. I’m your guardian, so I thought I should know your cell phone number.”

“Heol….”

“What’s ‘heol’? For now, I’m your cousin on the outside. So, I had no choice if I wanted to look natural.”

Kim Sung-ah felt something sinking as she saw him shrug his shoulders.

She raised her chin and asked him as if she was interrogating him.

“So, what did the homeroom teacher say?”

“What else, she asked if I knew anything about you being absent today. She told me to make sure you go to school.”

“And?”

“And? She wants to meet me for some career counseling?”

“Me?”

Feeling something strange, she checked again.

“No, me.”

“???”

Suddenly, Kim Sung-ah’s face hardened. She didn’t even know why.