The Wobbly Tale
I kept stealing glances at the empty seat beside me, fingers fumbling as I tucked the things I’d pulled from my desk back into my bag.
The class rep was doing the same up front, turning around every few seconds with a worried look on her face.
I remembered she’d said she didn’t feel like coming today, so I’d just taken a deep breath and slung my bag over my shoulder, walking slowly toward her.
“Class rep, you don’t need to worry. Harin’s at home.”
“Ah, yeah. I know that. She replied to my message on Kakaotalk.”
“On Kakaotalk?”
“Yeah. She must’ve responded well to treatment. Check this out?”
She said that, then pulled her phone from her pocket, tapped the screen a few times, and turned it toward me.
“Look!”
I leaned in close, eyes on the blue screen filled with speech bubbles.
[Harin, not coming to school today?]
[Tired.]
[Got it, see you later!]
The smile the class rep showed with her arm stretched out looked bolder than ever before.
If this were a manga scene, sparkling eye effects and “confident” captions would have popped up everywhere, but—
No, that wasn’t it at all.
Her eyes really were sparkling a faint pink.
So faint it was almost unnoticeable, yet the tiny glints of light in her pupils were anything but imaginary.
“Class rep, did you catch some kind of magical girl sickness?”
“W-what do you mean by that?”
“I mean… your eyes are sparkling pink, so I was wondering…”
I remembered hearing that glaucoma or cataracts would cover the eyes with something, but could a magical girl have such a chronic ailment?
“W-why would I… catch one… if I’m a magical girl…?”
“U-um…? Not at all?”
“There’s… no reason… to catch one…?”
The class rep just tilted her head with a puzzled look, like she genuinely couldn’t understand.
I thought magical girls must not be able to get sick.
Yeah, that made sense. She’d once said sleep and fatigue were wiped away entirely with magic.
…But.
“Then why was Mina sick…?”
“Ah.”
I scratched my head awkwardly, face heating up as I continued.
“Ehehe… even if I say it like this, it’s a bit embarrassing, but I have so much mana that… I can keep using purification magic pretty much all the time.”
“Even the one that removes fatigue?”
“Yeah. Usually we mix it with the sleep-boosting spell, but I just keep casting it nonstop!”
That actually made sense.
The confession yesterday from Kim Minah floated back into my mind.
She said she couldn’t use most magic, so she preferred close combat.
Added to that, the class rep’s talent was so exceptional that I’d unconsciously compared myself to her again and again, hiding that fact.
As someone who couldn’t use magic at all, both of them looked amazing to me, even if I didn’t fully understand how…
If the gap was that big, how incredibly powerful must the class rep’s sister have been?
No, of course she was strong, that’s why she was the strongest magical girl, and it should be clear in my memories.
“What exactly was Lunafall…”
The thought slipped out before I could stop it, too curious to hold back.
“Hm?”
“Oh, no. Class rep. I suddenly got curious…”
The moment the words left my mouth—
“What exactly are you so curious about?!”
“Kyaaah!”
Right beside my ear, Kim Minah asked in a bright, ringing voice.
Loud enough to make me jump, heart slamming in my chest as I whipped around.
Kim Minah’s face was full of playful mischief.
“Hah… hah… you scared me…”
“Why so surprised? Siwoo! What’s the point of scaring me like this and ruining our chemistry!”
I calmed my pounding heart, voice still shaky as I answered.
“W-when… did you even come in…”
“From the moment you were asking about Lunafall, of course! Siwoo, you finally decided to study about magical girls!?”
Kim Minah laughed brightly and patted my back.
My worries from yesterday felt instantly washed away.
“…I couldn’t live my whole life without knowing.”
“Umm! If you studied, it makes sense you’d get interested in Lunafall! She’s the strongest magical girl!”
“Aha…”
The class rep smiled sheepishly.
“Well… my sister was amazing. I keep chasing after her, even though she’s been missing for a while. Still, I’m so far behind…”
“…”
Kim Minah’s eyes went wide in shock.
I wondered why she reacted that way for a second, then realized.
Yesterday Kim Minah had said her close friend was Lunafall’s sister and had outstanding talent, comparing herself unconsciously.
But she hadn’t named the friend at the time.
She probably assumed I didn’t know who she was.
But now I did—Lunafall’s sister, the one who’d been missing all this time.
The gears in my head had already spun out of sync the moment the class rep casually revealed it.
Kim Minah probably panicked and was worried I’d catch on to something I’d supposedly heard yesterday.
But I wasn’t that oblivious.
“Anyway! I think we should stop talking about this. Since we’re all here, how about we head to the cafe together?”
“Umm… I’ve been to the cafe too many times already. Oh, what about that cake shop?”
The moment talk turned to sweets, the two girls’ eyes sparkled.
“…Isn’t that just the same as the cafe?”
After all, we’re just going to eat cake and drink coffee.
So couldn’t we just call it the cafe?
“No way! Cafe is about coffee! Cake shop is about cake!”
“Ah, is that so?”
Kim Minah’s reasoning actually sounded convincing.
Why did swapping main and secondary feel so natural?
It was the same thing once it was in your mouth anyway.
“Fine. Cake shop is on me!”
“Ow, it’s okay! You don’t have to treat me! Siwoo!”
“Yeah, Siwoo. We don’t have anywhere to spend our activity fund anyway.”
The two magical girls declared proudly, and I scratched my head.
“Even if I’m always getting treated, it stings…”
“Eee! If the person involved is fine, it’s fine! Right, Seoyeon?”
The class rep smiled without answering, nodding along to Kim Minah.
“Besides! We couldn’t play properly yesterday, and you listened to my worries! This is my thank-you!”
That part could stay hidden.
“Alright… then next time I’ll treat.”
“Yeay! Make sure it’s something super delicious!”
*****
“The cake was so good! This shop is always delicious no matter when I come!”
About an hour later.
Kim Minah patted her plump stomach with one hand, beaming after devouring plenty of cake.
The quality was high enough that, among the cakes I’d eaten in recent years, it stood out.
“Good thing the Demon King Army didn’t attack this time, right?”
She joked, though half of it was serious.
Why did the Demon King Army always show up whenever we went out to eat?
“True… they used to ambush me at the cafe all the time! Last time two executives suddenly appeared and went wild…”
“…Hmm.”
I nodded at Kim Minah’s complaints, turning my head slightly toward the class rep.
She watched Kim Minah grumbling with a puzzled smile, then met my gaze and winked one eye, bringing her index finger to her lips.
“Shh!”
I nodded along and fell into step with them.
As we walked, the class rep suddenly stopped and pulled out her phone.
“What’s up?”
“Support request. They’re coming from Busan.”
“Hic… so far away…?”
“Mm. We need a purification-type magical girl, and even though all the nearby ones have been called, it’s still not enough. I’ll go and come back!”
The class rep glanced around, then slipped into the dark alley behind the empty building.
We stood back-to-back without a word, blocking the entrance of the alley while keeping watch.
“Innocent Heart! Transformation!”
A bright pink flash erupted behind us, then faded.
When I turned, the class rep was already in her outfit.
“Thanks for covering me. I’ll be back in a jiffy!”
—Flash!
She bowed lightly, then launched into the sky and soared away.
I unconsciously watched her rise, then quickly lowered my head, feeling like I was about to see something I shouldn’t.
“What’s wrong, Siwoo? Why the face?”
“I don’t think it’s right to look up from below…”
“Ahaha.”
Since she didn’t seem to be teasing me, Kim Minah nodded and stepped forward first.
I followed her, moving my own body.
“Umm… even just going and coming back will take forever…”
“Can’t they use instant teleportation to go super fast and come back?”
I remembered the time I’d thrown myself into the shadows when Harin went off with the Demon King Army.
The places where they emerged had looked strangely similar, and the teleportation had caused mild motion sickness, but…
If we could teleport instantly, it would be quicker to deploy and quicker to return. Wouldn’t it be much more convenient?
“Ugh, how do you even do instant teleportation? Siwoo. You watch too many anime.”
“…?”
“Why would flying magical girls be important! There’s no such thing as instant teleportation magic in the world!”
“…”
My imaginary world shattered right then.
Then what was that portal I’d seen when Harin, the Demon King Army, and I went together…?
“So how exactly do the Demon King Army appear…?”
“It’s magic they use! It’s a bit different from ours! Ah, actually, research on instant teleportation magic has been done, but it hasn’t been commercialized. The mana consumption is enormous, and if you miscalculate the coordinates, the person’s body…”
“I don’t want to hear any more…”
I’d been watching the dangerous way Harin dealt with the Demon King Army all this time.
My stomach twisted.
**END OF CHAPTER**