The Taste of Tteokbokki and a Dream of Happiness
"Nnngh..."
A weekend, at long last.
Whether the renovations still weren't finished or the school had simply decided we might as well rest while we were at it, they'd tacked on one extra day off — and just like that, a golden stretch of downtime was born, running from Wednesday all the way through Sunday.
On top of that, I hadn't even gone outside except for a single day, which meant the Demon King's Army hadn't gotten a chance to interfere. Lee Harin didn't seem to have anywhere to sortie to, either; she was sprawled listlessly across the sofa, staring at the TV. A long peace, tasted for the first time in a while, was a genuinely good thing.
Of course, the fact that my childhood friend — who also happened to be a former Magical Girl and a former Executive of the Demon King's Army — had planted herself in a house that used to be mine alone, holding court like she owned the place, was a little much. Anyway.
"Harin, are you just going to stay home the whole time?"
"Yeah. The Demon King's Army hasn't shown up anyway. And I don't want to run into that pink-head and that blue-head if I go out for no reason."
Was I supposed to be grateful that Harin wasn't going out, or was that a misfortune? As long as the person in question was sitting right here, I clearly wasn't going to find the answer.
While I was turning that over, the phone I'd left on the table gave a short, sharp buzz.
"Hnn..."
I glanced over at Harin. She was still killing time in a daze, watching TV or staring out the window. And when I'd asked her a moment ago, she'd said she was staying in...
Going out should be fine, then.
"Hey, I'm heading out for a bit."
"Sure. Go ahead."
I threw on some clothes and stepped out the front door. Before long, I arrived at the cafe, where the class president was already waiting inside.
"Ah, Siwoo!"
She waved at me brightly. I headed straight for her table, pulled out a chair, and sat down. Something good must have happened — the pleasant smile on her face showed no sign of going anywhere.
"How've you been? I heard from Mina you two were hanging out when the Demon King's Army attacked. You didn't get hurt, did you?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Oh, now that I think about it, we ordered drinks at a cafe that time too, and then we got attacked. And the time before that as well."
"H-hold on... then we should drink up and get out of here, fast! We can't let a holiday this rare get ruined like that!"
"Agreed."
After a short wait, the drinks and snacks she'd ordered ahead were ready, so I stood up to go get them. She made a face and tried to sit me back down, but the situation was close enough to last time that I grabbed the buzzer without so much as a backward glance and walked off.
No way. She's treating me — this time I'm definitely bringing it over myself.
"I could've gotten it..."
The class president let out a small, deflated groan, then took a sip of her sweet brown sugar bubble milk tea. Watching her, I offered up a brief, silent thanks of my own and put the straw to my lips.
A refreshing strawberry flavor and the sweetness of sugar hit me at the same time. It was pretty artificial, but so what?
We didn't talk about anything special after that. Just ordinary time. Whether studying was going well lately, how we'd spent the holiday — the kind of conversation ordinary friends have.
Before I knew it, the drinks and snacks on the table had vanished, and we had to pick one of two options: order something else and keep talking here, or head outside and wander until we found another shop. After a short back-and-forth, we went with the latter. Trying a slightly different menu didn't sound like a bad idea.
Jingle, jingle.
We left the cafe with that cheerful little bell at our backs.
"Nothing went wrong this time, though, right?"
"Thankfully. If something had happened this time too, I probably never would have set foot in a cafe again."
I was about half serious. If I got attacked by the Demon King's Army every time I went to a cafe, I probably wouldn't go anywhere near one for the rest of my life. Of course, if the class president or Kim Min-ah or Harin were there to protect me every time, that might be a different story...
Not that I'd have to worry about any of this if the Demon King's Army just didn't exist. Please, just let this recent stretch of peace hold...
"Hm? Siwoo! What about that place?"
We'd been walking down the street together when the class president gave my shoulder a few light taps, stopping me, and pointed. I followed her finger. A sign came into view — a white background with red lettering.
"Tteokbokki?"
"Yeah! That place is amazing. But... can you handle spicy food?"
"I'm not... terrible with it. As long as it's not insanely spicy, I'm fine."
"Really? I can't handle spicy food very well, so I only ever get the rosé tteokbokki! Is that okay?"
"Doesn't matter to me. Oh, I'll get the tteokbokki. You paid for the cafe."
"Ah! Thanks!"
With the class president smiling brightly beside me, I started toward the tteokbokki shop. The moment we opened the door, a faintly spicy smell punched its way into my nose. I couldn't even imagine how hot it would have been if we'd ordered the spicy kind. Not that it mattered — we were getting the rosé anyway.
"One rosé tteokbokki set, please!"
The class president called it out cheerfully as she sat down. The woman at the counter nodded, then turned to us with a pleased look on her face.
"Oh my, is that your boyfriend?"
At the woman's words, the class president's face went apple-red in an instant.
"Ah—! No! He's a friend! A friend!"
I nodded without a word.
"That so? You're in here by yourself day in and day out, so when I saw you bring someone I figured it had to be a boyfriend!"
With that, the woman headed into the kitchen.
"Ahaha... w-what a thing to misunderstand, right?"
"W-well, yeah..."
A thick silence settled between us. What broke it was the muttering of a little girl as she pushed open the shop door.
"Mmm! So this is... a tteokbokki shop! How exciting this is!"
At a glance, she looked about six or seven. Her hair was a little on the white side, but ever since mana had come into the world, people with unusual hair colors — whether they were born with them or acquired them later — had started showing up from time to time. They were rare enough that I hadn't really seen one in person, but... maybe this little kid was something like that.
"Ma'am! I shall have one tteokbokki, if you please!"
"All right, sweetheart. Just sit tight a minute, okay?"
"Understood!"
The little girl scurried over and hopped up onto a plush chair. A short while later, the owner brought out a single enormous plate of rosé tteokbokki and set it on our table. For a moment I wondered if we could even finish it all — it was that much food — but the class president just sat there with sparkling eyes, swallowing hard.
"Wow! It looks so good!"
We'd just started eating when the little girl's tteokbokki was set down on her table as well, off in the corner.
"Waaah! I shall eat well!"
She offered her thanks and then proceeded to inhale the food, vacuuming it down in a way that looked exactly like a child her age. For a while we just ate, without talking. And then it was time to pay.
"Ma'am! Here is the money!"
The little girl toddled up to the counter and held out a wad of crumpled bills. The owner picked up the bundle, licked her thumb, and counted through it one by one. Then she tilted her head, bent down to the child's eye level, and asked:
"Oh my? Sweetie, you're a thousand won short."
"Ah! Did I err in my calculations?!"
She clapped both hands over her head and plunged into horror, so dramatically you could practically hear the cartoon wham that should have come with it. I took a step over beside her, held my card out to the owner, and said:
"I'll just cover this child's order too."
"Ah?!"
The little girl, who had been wailing, looked up at me with eyes that suddenly shone.
"You have my thanks! My deepest thanks! I shall never forget this kindness!"
She even bowed her head as she said it. Watching her thank me that earnestly, she seemed so genuinely innocent that a laugh slipped out of me before I knew it.
"It's fine. It wasn't much anyway."
"E-even so...! A-as repayment, I shall grant you whatever you desire!"
"Don't worry about it. Really."
What would I even do with a favor from a little kid like that?
Even as the card went through and we stepped outside, the little girl trotted after me, bowing her head over and over.
"Big Brother! You have my thanks! Might I inquire as to your name?"
"Jung Siwoo. Jung Siwoo."
"Jung Siwoo... Jung Siwoo... I shall remember it!"
She bowed one last time, then ran off into the distance, waving her arms the whole way. The class president and I waved back, returning the goodbye.
"Her way of speaking is pretty unique, huh?"
"Yeah. Well, some Magical Girls have a concept like that too. Little kids love copying stuff. Maybe that's it?"
"Yeah, probably."
Kids that age did tend to latch onto one thing and sink into it completely, so an unusual way of talking wasn't that strange. I just hoped she wouldn't remember speaking like this once she got older.
"Anyway! I had fun hanging out today, Siwoo! Let's do this again!"
With the class president's bright goodbye still in my ears, I started for home. Along the way, I didn't forget to stop by the mart and pick up a box of Choco Pies.