The Strawberry Ice Cream That Melted Into Blood
I rummaged desperately around the bench where I had been kidnapped, right in the middle of the sister-in-law and daughter-in-law staring contest. Sure enough, the villains hadn't taken the envelope, so it still sat there all alone near the bench.
“……”
Well, what was the point of checking anyway?
“What are you doing? Ohhh, the ice cream?”
Han Yeeun, who had already released her transformation, peeked her head out from behind me. Inside the envelope, it was no longer strawberry ice cream but a strawberry-colored liquid swimming around in the bag.
It was mine, so I couldn't just throw it away.
If they'd at least kidnapped me in winter, I could've said something cool like, “I'll beat up the villains before the ice cream melts.” Why did the sky have to create both winter and summer?
“If I give this to Chaeeun, won't her other arm stop working too? My equipment compartment's probably wrecked…?”
“Puhahaha! You'd be lucky if your sister-in-law didn't shove it in your mouth while yelling, ‘Eat this crappy homemade strawberry juice yourself, oppa!’”
Han Yeeun laughed like it was the funniest thing in the world since it wasn't happening to her.
“My toothbrush is perfectly fine though~”
The toothbrush she proudly pulled from her hoodie was snapped cleanly in half.
“Huh?”
“Ahahaha! You'd be lucky if Song Chaeeun didn't shove it in your mouth while saying, ‘Use this baby toothbrush yourself, unnie!’”
I gave it right back to her in the exact same tone, and her face turned beet red like a carrot.
It was too late to go buy new ones now. Han Yeeun was exhausted and had taken quite a beating, and with my arm like this, pushing it was out of the question.
“Shouldn't we go to the hospital?”
“Hospital bills are expensive. Besides, it's not that serious. It'll heal if I put some saliva on it.”
“The hospital isn't a place where you die and respawn! Since this is related to magical girls, the Management Bureau can treat you.”
“Ah… No, I don't want to cause you any trouble, Yeeun.”
“Huh? I'd just be dropping you off, that's all.”
“No, there are too many things they'd scold you for as a magical girl. Why you went to a place with a villain, why you're meeting a civilian like me, all the times we've hung out together…”
Han Yeeun just blinked at me, apparently not having expected that.
“Hehe, were you worried about me?”
Thump.
“…!?!?”
“Ah, sorry!”
Han Yeeun had tapped my shoulder with hers in what seemed like a moved gesture, but I collapsed without even being able to scream.
“…You were cool, oppa.”
“What did I even do?”
“You crawled over all hesitantly saying you'd take the hits for me. You comforted me. You took the blows instead of me. All of it. To me, you're the real magical girl.”
“Magical boy sounds a bit…”
“Become my magical girl forever. I'll become your magical girl forever too.”
Han Yeeun's eyes were incredibly straightforward. Unlike a ghost like me, trapped by the past.
“As long as you cut back on the drinking.”
“Oppa is my sleeping pill and my cure, so I won't need to drink anymore~”
As we continued talking like that, what was bound to come finally arrived.
With the homemade strawberry juice and the homemade baby toothbrush in hand, I stood in front of my house in a state of extreme tension.
This was the first time I'd been this nervous about entering my own home since I completely bombed a test back in middle school.
I hadn't felt this tense since my parents passed away. What a nostalgic feeling…
My ass. Nostalgia my foot—this is just a nightmare!
“I'll protect you, oppa!”
“Are you going to destroy all the home appliances? You're ready, right?”
“Yep, ready to hide behind oppa!”
Unbelievable.
I carefully opened the door.
“Your morning walk sure was long. Like a married couple who snuck out to have fun while leaving the kid at home?”
Seo Eunha stood there with her arms crossed, greeting us with an expressionless face.
She was scarier than that villain who had held a knife to my throat!
Oh right, Seo Eunha was a villain too. An A-class one at that.
Even without that, she was terrifying!
“That envelope… What is it? And what happened to your arm?”
“Sister-in-law, it's like this—”
“I wasn't asking you.”
“Let's go inside first. I'll explain. Both Yeeun and I are tired.”
She must have sensed something because only then did Seo Eunha relax her expression into her usual indifferent look.
It was scary how her indifferent face was actually her most pleasant expression.
“What's that?”
I showed her the ‘what used to be strawberry ice cream’ inside the envelope.
“Ugh, gross. Why are you showing me this?”
“You literally just asked to see it!?”
“Sister-in-law, sister-in-law.”
Even Han Yeeun was watching Seo Eunha's mood this time as she showed the broken toothbrush.
“Use this baby toothbrush yourself, unnie.”
“Ahahaha! See! Didn't I tell you she'd say that!?”
I couldn't help but burst out laughing, but when Seo Eunha's expression rapidly cooled, I quickly shut my mouth.
“The villains who came after me kidnapped oppa. That's why this happened. Stop it.”
Even Han Yeeun, who was usually so cheerful, spoke to Seo Eunha in a serious tone for once.
But instead of softening, Seo Eunha's expression only grew sharper as she glared at her.
“So… you're saying oppa got hurt because of who exactly?”
“T-that's…”
Han Yeeun immediately shrank back in panic.
“Alright, enough! It was Yeeun who saved me, and these injuries aren't because of her. She saved me, end of discussion about the cause!”
Only then did the two of them stop their power struggle. Seo Eunha grabbed my arm and dragged me into the room.
“Sit. I'll disinfect it.”
“This daughter-in-law will do it instead!”
“Who are you calling daughter-in-law!”
Good grief…
After making me sit down, Seo Eunha didn't apply any medicine. She just stared at me blankly.
What the…?
“What are you waiting for? Take it off.”
“Excuse me?”
“You want me to apply medicine on your clothes? Take your shirt off.”
She shook the red medicine bottle threateningly, so I glanced around nervously before removing my top.
“Oh…”
“Where do you think you're looking? Get out of the room right now.”
Seo Eunha covered my body with her hand and started hissing at Han Yeeun.
But Han Yeeun wasn't the type to obediently listen to a single sentence like that.
“He's the oppa I saved. Don't I have the right to see how deep the wounds are?”
“Then stay quiet. Um… so this is…”
The scar was much larger than I'd thought, deep enough to show the flesh beneath.
I'd really endured this. Even I was impressed with myself.
Seo Eunha looked at my wound with a serious expression, then with professional eyes…
“Aaaaargh!?!?”
“Ugh! You scared me! Just bear with it! All that size for nothing!”
“Who pours an entire bottle of red medicine straight onto a scar!!”
Realizing my scream wasn't just me being dramatic, Seo Eunha glanced at me and quietly moved the medicine bottle aside.
“I should clean the blood first.”
“Y-yeah…”
Now much more cautious, Seo Eunha carefully wiped my arm with a damp towel.
Han Yeeun, who had been watching blankly, must have gotten bored because she suddenly clung to my other arm.
“I'm more reliable than this clueless little kid, right oppa? I'll heal you with my spit~”
“With your alcoholism, saliva might actually work.”
“Puhahahaha!! Can I lick it?”
“Of course not… mmph!?”
Something must have pissed her off because Seo Eunha wrapped my arm tightly with the towel and glared at me.
What? Was she mad that I'd been flirting with Han Yeeun?
“If you keep touching oppa's body while I'm treating his wound, I'll rip out every single one of those twintails.”
“Ehehe, sister-in-law, are you jealous that oppa risked his life to hold me tight and protect me? Is it jealousy?”
“Ow! Yeeun, please stop provoking her!!”
The arm Seo Eunha had wrapped around mine tightened even more.
Tears welled up in my eyes as I tried to stop Han Yeeun.
“How much could it possibly hurt when a kid grabs you?”
I couldn't even call her a villain… seriously!
“Jealous? I've known oppa for eighteen years. Why would I be jealous of some cheap unnie who's only known him for less than two months over ownership rights to my possession?”
“Possession!? Oppa is my precious magical girl!”
“Grrrr…!”
“Grrrrr…!”
Excuse me, ladies? What about my wound?
Treating my injury had already taken a backseat. Trapped between the two women who looked ready to devour each other, I felt my stamina—no, my lifespan—draining away in real time.
“I'm hungry…”
At my careful suggestion, both women turned to look at me at the same time.
“I'll make you ramen. Mix the black bean and spicy ones you like.”
“Spicy food for an injured person? I'll go buy some meat. Since you lost blood, we need to replenish the hemoglobin.”
One wanted to feed an injured person spicy ramen, the other called hemoglobin “heroin.”
“You mean hemoglobin, right? Or are you trying to anesthetize me with drugs?”
“I know that! It was a slip of the tongue because they sound similar! And what's with feeding an injured person a lump of flour!”
“Oppa likes it, so it's fine. Why don't you go drink some alcohol, unnie?”
I was basically a folding screen.
At least there was no more bleeding. I spaced out in a state of nirvana, pondering dinner options…
““What are you going to eat?””
The two of them spoke at the same time, completely cutting off my airway.
“Um… Can I just make some stir-fried pork for myself?”
“Cooking with an injured arm? Fine. Then we'll both cook for you, and you can judge the taste.”
After the negotiations completely broke down, the table ended up with Seo Eunha's special spicy black bean ramen and expensive beef.
“Here, eat up, oppa. If you leave any, you're dead.”
“I grilled it just right! Mom and Dad loved it too!”
Both of them looked at me with expectant eyes.
It was burdensome, but neither dish tasted bad. They were both foods I liked.
I hadn't eaten breakfast, I'd been thrown around everywhere, and I was mentally exhausted to death. And now they wanted a taste test?
“Right, your right arm is injured. Here, say ‘ah.’ I'll feed you the ramen first.”
“Meat should come first! Who eats the side dish before the main course!”
They were going to fight all day again at this rate.
Watching them argue over who would feed me, I hurriedly wrapped some beef around the ramen and shoved it into my mouth.
“Ugh…”
It… really tasted awful…