The Taste of Worry
A sharp *tiktok tiktok tiktok*, followed by a soft *thirili*.
“I’m back…”
Despite my body being completely drained, both physically and mentally, I somehow managed to get it here and open the front door.
With eyelids that still trembled slightly, I barely lifted them and glanced at the sofa where Harin had always been sitting.
Just like always, she turned her head from her seat and met my gaze.
No greeting, no wave, no chin nod—just a flat, dry response.
“…Yeah.”
That was the shortest reply from Harin, yet because of everything that had happened earlier, even that felt unbearably sweet to me.
“Ah, and this. Chocopai… you want me to put it on the table? You eat it, then tidy up however you want?”
“…Yeah.”
Again, she answered shortly, then looked away from me and stared at the screen of her phone.
I kicked off my shoes, stepped inside, barely managed to open the bedroom door, and collapsed face-down onto the bed like I was passing out.
“Haa… haaa… haaa…!”
A long sigh, half from exhaustion, half from irritation, spilled out of my mouth.
Why…
After that day, I hadn’t just kept getting dragged into magical girl affairs—I’d somehow gotten entangled with the Demon King’s Army too.
If they had just come at me with killing intent, I could’ve handled it.
But that oddly friendly attitude and behavior only piled more chaos into my head.
Harin was my childhood friend and once a magical girl. Even if she’d been brainwashed, I figured it had to be her.
She usually gave me sharp words and actions, but occasionally there were those genuine ones that showed through.
Thanks to those moments, I had managed to keep believing that the Harin I knew was still inside her, and that’s why I could stay by her side.
But Nightmare…
“Uuuu…”
As I tried to continue my thoughts, a sharp headache hammered through my skull again.
I pressed both palms against my temples and barely managed to piece my thoughts together.
Yeah. I still hadn’t figured out what I’d missed, so I tried to replay everything that had happened in my head.
While I was on my way home, I chased Min-ah into the convenience store.
After that, a mountain of aftershocks rained down on my head, and I couldn’t forget any of it.
The cause had been Dark Blue’s strange crimson slash.
And of course Dark Blue was one of Nightmare’s Min-ah clones.
But when I woke up, I was somewhere strange. For a moment, Nightmare appeared.
Then I met a Min-ah who looked completely different—perhaps something close to an awakening.
After I finished today’s hospital visit and parted ways with her, she proposed a scout offer through a disguised Nightmare…
What the hell is this…
“Uuu…”
No matter who I wanted to talk to, I couldn’t bring myself to say something like this to an ordinary person.
On top of that, Nightmare kept begging me to keep it secret…
No, she’d basically been threatening me.
I couldn’t tell even my classmates or Min-ah, and I definitely couldn’t tell Harin either.
“…Haa.”
I let out a short sigh and struggled to sit up.
Harin was still sitting in the corner of the sofa, tapping on her phone screen with her thumb.
I’d warned her not to say anything to Nightmare, but how could I stop them from secretly talking?
I figured that when we met next time, I could just dodge or lie somehow.
“Harin.”
“…Huh?”
She lifted her head slightly at my voice and looked at me.
She still looked a little broken from today’s hospital visit for Min-ah.
One box of Chocopai hadn’t been enough to fix it.
“…Just stop sulking already. I just went to the hospital, that’s all.”
“…Hmph. It’s my heart.”
I sat down right next to Harin and started gently rubbing the opposite palm of my hand with my thumb.
Can I really say it? I should, right?
She wouldn’t fly into a rage or get angry. She wouldn’t cause a scene.
I carried that confused feeling, then made up my mind.
Yeah. I’d tell her.
Nightmare saved me. Today she offered me a scout proposal for reasons I couldn’t understand.
After I confessed everything honestly and asked for help, I opened my mouth.
“After I finished the hospital visit today…”
The moment.
*Thump!*
“Ugh…!”
My heart felt like it was about to burst. I grabbed my chest and collapsed forward onto the sofa where Harin was sitting.
“Oi, oi! What the hell are you doing?!”
“Ah, a… agh…!”
*Beep beep beep…!*
High-pitched ringing filled my ears. Harin felt me up, her worried face hovering over mine.
While tears streamed down my face from the pain, and I barely managed to breathe.
*Someone’s cold, emotionless voice echoed inside my head.*
“Ha… ha…”
*You ignored my warning?*
“Ah, I… I won’t… I won’t…”
“What the hell kind of nonsense is that?! Speak properly!”
Gasping for air, I somehow forced out words of apology.
A few seconds later.
*This time, I’ll forgive you.*
“Ha… ha…”
Only then did the pain squeezing my heart slowly ease.
I exhaled the air trapped in my lungs and kept gasping for breath.
*Next time, I’ll really pop your heart. Hehe.*
After that hallucination, the ringing in my ears gradually faded.
“Oi, you bastard! Answer me! What the hell is wrong with you?!”
Only then did I properly look at Harin’s face—concerned, tears glistening in her eyes as she stared down at me.
“I-I’m fine… It’s just… suddenly my heart felt weird.”
“What the hell kind of nonsense is that?! Tell me the truth!”
Harin shook my shoulder, biting her lip hard.
“I-I’m fine. I’m really fine…”
While making excuses and trying to push myself up, suddenly—
*Whoosh!*
Harin pressed both hands down on my shoulders and forcefully pinned me onto her lap.
“Stay like this!”
She shouted in a voice that was almost a squeal.
“If it hurts, you can’t…”
*Plop. Splatter.*
Tears from Harin’s eyes fell onto my face.
“So just stay like this. Please…”
Listening to Harin, I barely nodded.
*****
“So… you really collapsed because your heart suddenly hurt?”
“Yeah.”
I nodded at Harin’s question.
My back was still lying on her thigh.
The oddly soft sensation and her scent made me want to sit up right then and there, but every time I tried, Harin would grab my shoulder and pin me down again.
At this point, I’d stopped even trying.
It was clearly learned helplessness or something.
*Crack.*
While ignoring the sensation and thinking that, I heard Harin gnashing her teeth above me.
“After getting dragged into their stuff again…!”
Purple tentacles slowly sprouting around her began spewing hidden killing intent.
I unconsciously tightened my grip on the hand I’d been resting on the sofa.
“Ha… ha…”
Her red eyes trembled.
Just to make sure she hadn’t gone crazy again, I reached a hand toward her.
*Swish.*
Something pressed gently against my wrist and ankle, then began to wrap around my entire body.
Startled, I looked down, and now the tentacles that had appeared out of nowhere were binding my wrists and ankles, slowly wrapping around my whole body.
*Swish, swish.*
Without giving me even a second to react, the tentacles wrapped around my entire body and pinned me down.
Then—
*Crack…!*
“Ugh!”
The air in my lungs was forcibly expelled. I couldn’t help but let out a moan.
“Ah…!”
It seemed Harin hadn’t intended it either, because the tentacles that had wrapped around my entire body dissolved into dust and vanished.
I glanced at the tentacles that had suddenly disappeared, then looked back up at Harin.
“I-I’m sorry… I did it again…”
*Swish.*
Only then could I sit up straight beside Harin once more.
Harin looked at me with a trembling voice, eyes still wet.
“D-did it hurt? I’m sorry… My emotions got out of control and I didn’t mean to…”
“…”
“I-I’m sorry… I was wrong… I won’t do it again, please…”
*Swish.*
I reached out and gently took Harin’s hand.
It was trembling in hers.
After I held her hand silently for several minutes…
“…Do you… not hate me?”
“Why would I hate you?”
“I… I…”
She continued in a trembling voice.
“I ignored you, nearly killed you… and even after that, I suddenly showed up and blackmailed you, moved in with you…”
“…”
“You only do things that would make anyone hate you. Today you’re even more irritable than this morning…”
Moisture filled Harin’s voice.
“R-really… you don’t hate me?”
“Yeah. I don’t hate you.”
I tightened my grip on her hand even more.
It should have been trembling, but somehow, it wasn’t at all.
“You worried about me earlier. Even if you complain sometimes like this morning, you’re still not changed.”
“…”
Harin stared at me with red eyes, then soon smiled with relief mixed in.
“…Thank you.”
*****
That night.
After a day full of events, an hour had passed since I lay down in bed, yet I still couldn’t sleep.
Would I end up falling asleep at four in the morning? Then I’d definitely sleep in late tomorrow. What would I do?
While I was still thinking about it.
*Creak.*
The door suddenly opened.