episode_0278

***

At 6 o’clock, Kang In-ho left the cafe and headed back to Sungin Girls’ High School.

As soon as he arrived in front of the school gate, he made an ‘Oops!’ face, because a different scene was waiting for him than during lunch time.

“Should I just run away.”

Looking at the high school girls rushing out, his face turned blue.

Before he could even put that thought into action, he, who was standing blankly in front of the school gate, found himself in the middle of an outpouring of reason.

He could not help but hope that the group would come out quickly as the gazes of children were looking at his face secretly, avoiding him.

“It looks a bit like that?”

Hearing a passing sound, he reflexively touched his face.

‘Are you handsome?’

I remember the face of this dimension that I saw while washing my face in the bathroom.

It was true that it was definitely not a very ugly face.

However, if you asked him if he was handsome, it was difficult to say yes.

‘Rather handsome is….’

He thought about the faces he had ever had.

The first face that came to mind was that of a saint.

Blue eyes that look like the ocean, curly hair, and a softly curved face shape.

I thought it wasn’t the face that came closest to the word ‘boy’.

‘And then…’

The next thing that came to mind was a face in the martial arts world.

His face there was handsome, different from that of a saint.

Tall, stocky body, and face with thick lines overall.

He was a kind of pleasant guy, he said.

Thinking of the two faces, the current face was just ordinary to him.

Is this what the squid theory of relativity is like? he thought.

“What are you thinking, no answer when I call you?”

He was startled by a sound that suddenly came from under his chin and pulled back.

“Ah, it’s over.”

“Okay, let’s go home now. I’m hungry.”

Kang In-ho nodded and made eye contact with several students standing at a reasonable distance behind her.

“Hey, hey, look this way.”

They whispered among themselves, but unfortunately, it was all heard.

“Friends, right?”

When In-ho pointed backwards with his eyes, Seong-ah Kim thought for a moment and corrected her answer.

“Kids in the same class.”

Seongah Kim walked past him with strides and took the lead.

Kang In-ho, who had been silently watching her moving away from time to time, gave a slight nod to her ‘classmates’ and followed behind her.

***

“It was a bit uncomfortable, wasn’t it?”

As she walked along the wide road, she suddenly asked.

“Huh?”

“The kids.”

In response to his question, Seongah Kim said.

“Uncle understands. There was no engineering school nearby, let alone a boys’ high school, and there were no male teachers at the school, so the kids couldn’t come to their senses whenever they saw a boy.”

She grumbled with a tired face.

“I knew that boys’ high schools were like that… but I didn’t know that girls’ high schools would be like this…”

Kang In-ho recalled his school days, when he would rush to the window when he heard “It’s a girl!!”

“What fantasy do you have about women?”

Seongah Kim chuckled.

“Everyone has fantasies about the opposite sex.”

When In-ho responded as if making an excuse, Kim Seong-ah smiled and tapped his shoulder.

“How was school?”

He asked, recalling the conversation with his homeroom teacher.

“It was just like that. Take class, study during break time.”

Seongah Kim looked ahead and played with her hair with her fingers.

“Is there a department you want to go to?”

“Well… I hadn’t thought about it.”

An indifferent answer comes back. Kang In-ho glanced at her face.

It was a face without a single trace of regret or concern.

‘Then why are you going to school?’

He swallowed the question that rose up to his throat. It was because I thought it was too deep a question.

“What about you?”

As he was swallowing his words, she asked.

“Huh?”

“Didn’t your homeroom teacher ask you anything strange?”

“Specifically?”

It occurred to him that he had asked various questions about himself as well as Kim Seong-ah, but he shrugged.

It wasn’t a particularly important question.

“Really? After 5th period, he called me aside and talked about me in private.”

Narrowing her eyes, she remembered what happened earlier.

“Maybe it’s because I came here as a guardian.”

“Is that so… Hmm…”

We walked around chatting like that. And when I arrived at a crosswalk,

Kim Seong-ah’s feet stopped abruptly.

“You asked me earlier if there was a department you wanted to go to?”

“Yes, I did.”

With a crooked smile, Kim Seong-ah pointed to the road on the other side.

Like awkward CG, the space seemed distorted.

“This happens once every two days, so can I afford to think about the future?”

– Boom!

With a huge vibration, the space twisted and something huge jumped out.

Cars began to stumble and skid as a strange creature suddenly appeared on the road.

“Kooo!!!”

The monster, which had the lower body of a horse and the upper body of a human, began to stir up the road.

The traffic light is cut out in the window, and cars are flying around.

The road quickly became chaotic due to the monster that appeared just in time for work and school dismissal.

People screaming and car horns honking were intertwined.

“Did I use too much force last time? This time it’s one guy.”

Seongah Kim, who had already completed her transformation, ran forward without any time for Lyrical Star to catch her.

She grabbed her staff and jumped up, stabbing the horse in the back with the sharp end of her staff.

“Kaaaa!!”

The monster writhed in pain, and the lyrical star hanging on its back fluttered like a flag.

The sight was dangerous, so Kang In-ho unconsciously tried to run to her, but was soon stopped.

“I’m fine! Because it will end soon!!”

Lyrical Star shouted when he saw Kang In-ho trying to come this way.

The lyrical star took center stage and stood on the back of the horse. I shook my body back and forth to try to get her off.

Although his body stumbled greatly, Lyrical Star did not fall to the ground. She had a staff that she had nailed to the back of her horse.

As a dangerous rodeo was taking place on the road, people who had run away from afar were watching the scene as if they were fascinated. Some even took out their cell phones and took pictures.

“Target confirmation.”

Regardless of whether anyone sees it or not, the Lyrical star never forgets what he has to do.

“Charge horsepower.”

“Disable horsepower control.”

The wand began to shake. In particular, blue light began to rise from the part embedded in the body.

The monster began to rampage even more. Cars flew and broken iron bars flew in the sky.

“Single hair between adjustments.”

Lyrical Star pulled out the staff that was stuck on the horse’s back like a thunderbolt.

There was a blue light at the end of the staff, which was already ready for attack.

With an unwavering stance, she pointed the tip of her staff at the monster’s head.

“It’s magic, so there’s no avoiding it?”

With a huge explosion, a beam of light shot out from the tip of the staff, and the Lyrical Star flew through the sky with its recoil.

***

The end of the monster that was attacked by her was tragic. This is because the entire upper body, including the head, disappeared without a trace.

Immediately after dealing with the monster, Lyrical Star was surrounded by a crowd of people.

“Please take a picture with me too!!”

A student wearing the same school uniform as her cuddled up next to her.

click

After confirming that her and the lyrical star’s faces were clearly displayed on her cell phone, the high school girl left the group.

“What is your sister?”

The kid who barely got out of the overturned car asked her.

“My sister is a magical girl!”

The Lyrical star said proudly, placing her hands on her hips.

“Sister!”

“Hey, lady!”

“Sister!”

The lyrical star kindly welcomed the crowd of people.

“This is Kim Cham-gi, reporter for Chojung Ilbo. Are you available for an interview?”

“No.”

Of course, there were exceptions.

***

It took quite some time to get rid of the people who were persistently following us, and as a result, we were only able to come home long after dinner time.

Kang In-ho took out the leftover curry and reheated it.

“I feel sorry for Carrera again. If there’s anything you want to eat, let me know anytime.”

“I don’t really want to eat anything… but the curry is delicious too.”

Seongah Kim scooped up more rice than the day before and put it in a bowl.

“Unexpected.”

Kang In-ho said while rubbing curry.

“What is it?”

She also mixed the curry.

“You said the memories would disappear anyway, so there was no need to deal with him, right?”

He put the spoon in his mouth.

Kim Seong-ah remained silent, still mixing curry into her rice.

It seemed like he was choosing something he wanted to say.

“Have you seen the old magical girl cartoon?”

“Me? I’ve seen it a few times. Why is that?”

“Magical girls in comics always symbolize dreams and hope.”

“Is that so…?”

Seongah Kim scooped up rice with a spoon and put it in her mouth.

After drinking a few more drinks, he pursed his lips and spoke in a calm tone.

“Even if people forget in one night, I want to be remembered fondly until then.”

Even just for a moment.

Seongah Kim swallowed the last words.

“…….”

Kang In-ho watched her eating with her face down.