Shall We Spar?
The day after my meditation session with Jeong Seung-a.
Once she confirmed that duty hours were over, Kim Heejin called out to me.
"Seo Harang."
"Superhuman Seo Harang."
"You ready?"
"I'm always ready."
"I like that answer. Nice and clean. Finally living up to that pretty face of yours. Shall we go, then?"
"Understood."
"...Where are the two of you going?"
"Huh?"
At Jeong Seung-a's question, Kim Heejin flicked a glance her way.
Between her abilities and how sharp she usually was, I hadn't been worried about Jeong Seung-a... but I knew better than anyone that that kind of complacency was the most dangerous thing of all.
"Superhuman Kim Heejin invited me to work out with her last time, so we set aside some time to train together."
"...Ah."
"In that case..."
"Can I join you?"
"Uh, that's not really my call—"
"Superhuman Kim Heejin."
Kim Heejin looked at Jeong Seung-a.
"What?"
"May I observe as well?"
A brief pause.
Kim Heejin blinked a few times, thinking it over, then nodded.
"Fine by me. Having a healer around opens up a lot of options."
Opens up a lot of options?
"Are you planning to beat me half to death?"
"Oh? Seo Harang. Getting a little seasoned already, huh? Already assuming your senior's gonna thrash you."
"Ah, that's—"
"You know Unnie hates liars, right?"
"I don't want Superhuman Kim Heejin to hit me..."
I scrambled to deliver my honest feelings, but even I had to admit I looked pathetic doing it.
At those hard-won words, Kim Heejin let out a soft pfft of laughter and planted her hand on my bowed head.
"Unnie doesn't hit people."
Then she ruffled my hair with rough, vigorous strokes, like she was mussing up a pet's fur.
Hey! You're messing up my hair! I thought it looked pretty nice today!
...What did I just think? Where did my beast's heart go?
I gave my chest a couple of light taps, sending out a distress signal, but of course no answer came back.
"So... ah, hang on a second."
Kim Heejin, who had been warming up in front of the quiet parade ground, frowned and took a call. Used to this by now, I loosened my wrists and ankles.
"Ugh, seriously, cut it out already."
She was growling about fifty percent harder than usual. Were they really that on bad terms?
"Fine, fine, I got it. Haa..."
She ended the call with a sigh. My little sister and I were pretty close, so the whole thing didn't quite land for me.
Was I going to pry? No.
Kim Heejin was clearly broadcasting a don't ask attitude, so I decided not to go poking at a sore spot. It bothered me, though.
I was the nosy type by nature. I wasn't sure how long I could hold out.
"So how do you usually do it?"
"Ah—first I run."
"Figures. That's your specialty. And after that?"
"Once I've jogged enough to finish the warm-up, I move into strength training."
"No live combat drills?"
"Well... if it were actual combat practice, I'd want to keep it light... but this unit doesn't really seem to have anyone who enjoys working out, so..."
Our eyes met.
Kim Heejin's and mine.
"I enjoy working out."
Kim Heejin smiled. Ah—that was the first time I'd ever seen her smile like that.
I dropped my gaze. The clean eleven-pack of abs stretching out beneath her sports bra was impressive.
She was shorter than me, but she looked packed solid on the inside. Fundamentally different from me—someone who only looked fine on the outside while being a total softie underneath.
"Perfect timing, right? You're a brawler-type Awakened too. Same as me."
"Uh... I think we're fundamentally different."
"Hm? How so?"
"I don't have a body as solid as Superhuman Kim Heejin's—"
"That's just an excuse, kid."
"Ah."
Kim Heejin gave her wrist a light shake.
"There's no such thing as 'originally like that.' You learn by taking hits and getting tougher. Right? Jeong Seung-a?"
"Mm..."
"Forget it. If you're just gonna get in the way, don't talk."
"Understood."
Jeong Seung-a closed her mouth and sat down. Even after seeing that eye-smile of hers that could light up the world, the unease in my chest refused to fade.
"Obviously I'm not gonna just start swinging without asking. Unnie's had enough of getting passed over for promotion. So I decided—no hazing, no violence."
"Ah... yes, ma'am."
"What's with the 'yes, ma'am'? Anyway, that's why I'm asking you first. You in? Spar with me?"
Was I in? Was that even a real question?
While I'd been rolling around on the floor with Ji Yuna, this woman had been fighting one-on-one with monsters several times our size. If someone like that hit me, they wouldn't even find my bones.
"Obviously it'll be sparring format. You won't get hurt. Probably."
"You just said 'probably.'"
"So what?"
When she came at me with that sue me attitude, I actually ran out of things to say.
Truth was, I'd already made up my mind a long time ago.
If I slacked off on training and got eaten by a monster, that would be a disaster—and if a junior who came after me someday swallowed me whole the way Ji Yuna had, I wouldn't have any way left to hold on.
Even now, I thought of Ji Yuna, treated like she didn't exist by everyone else. I didn't want to end up like that.
"I'll do it."
"Okay. That's what I wanted to hear. I like it."
Kim Heejin laughed, bright and easy. She said she liked it, so she probably wouldn't go too hard on me.
...
"S-spare me!"
"Spare you? Have you lost your mind?"
"Please spare my life!"
"There we go."
WHAM!
Kim Heejin's fist slammed into the ground. Even with the soft gloves on, the impact sound that rang out was one that absolutely should not have been possible.
"You said that was it! You said you were going to spare me!"
"You're not dying, idiot. It just stings a little. More importantly, why are you only running away? This is sparring."
"This isn't sparring—this is bullying!"
"Didn't I say Unnie's not that kind of person? Why are you making Unnie out to be the bad guy?"
"Good people don't bury their fists in their juniors!"
"'Don't' is an order."
Kim Heejin's fist exploded toward me. I was dodging somehow, but calling it a crisis would have been an understatement.
"Hup!"
"Oh? Hitting your senior now?"
"Aaagh!!"
The invincible defense of logic. Blocked by the barrier known as senior, I even lost the attack chance I'd worked so hard to create.
To be fair, Kim Heejin was going easy on me in her own way.
If she'd moved the way she had when fighting that monster last time, I'd already be a corpse sprawled on the ground.
Anyway, we were grinding it out somehow. One attacking, one dodging—and as we moved like that, my footwork naturally started getting faster.
It meant I was getting used to the movement.
"Oh."
Catching that change in me, Kim Heejin shifted up a gear and raised her speed.
Right before her hook came crashing in from the side, I twisted my body somehow and slipped past the attack.
"A junior dodging now?"
"That is genuinely against the rules!"
"Not like you can dodge anymore anyway."
I'd managed to slip away so far, but the world was never that kind. By the time I came to my senses, I was cornered.
Had my little hop-skip dodging gotten on her nerves? It felt like she'd pushed me back like this just to land one solid hit.
"Ugh!"
The method I chose to break free was to close the distance instead.
Kim Heejin's fist, without enough room to accelerate, cut through empty air.
At the same time, a soft, squishy sensation filled my entire face.
"Ha."
"—Why."
Kim Heejin's snort and Jeong Seung-a's bewilderment.
No, why are you confused? This was the only way to survive here!
"You that desperate to rub your face all over Unnie's sweaty body? Seo Harang, you little freak—turns out you're a lesbian pervert."
That was a bluff. I was neither a lesbian nor a pervert. My beast's heart was still going strong.
Kim Heejin's flushed body heat had gathered in the valley between her chest. It warmed my face and carried her distinctive scent with it.
A powdered-milk fragrance that didn't match her rough exterior at all. Sweet and soft and somehow reassuring...
"I'm not a pervert!"
I jerked upright—and found Kim Heejin right in front of me, one corner of her mouth hooked up.
"'I'm not' is informal."
In the end, I took a hit.
Though calling it "taking a hit" was a stretch. It was more like a light contact—her hand resting casually on the back of my head.
"Superhuman Seo Harang."
"Still managing your full rank and name, huh? Hey."
Tap, tap, tap, tap.
Four contacts in a row, four rank-and-name responses—and Kim Heejin's mouth curved up.
"Manageable, right?"
"...Yes, ma'am."
"I'll match your level, so let's take it slow. People who actually like working out are pretty rare, so I've got no intention of being reckless with you."
When I thanked her, Kim Heejin waved me off. Unlike before, the gesture was a little quick.
"Forget it. Kid. I'm getting something out of this too, so call it even."
"Even, ma'am?"
What could she possibly get out of me? While I was thinking it over, Kim Heejin narrowed her brows.
"What? Is that only a thing we say on our side? Even means—"
"No, ma'am. I know what it means. I was just wondering what there is to get out of me."
"What? Wow. Now you're baiting your senior too? This unit's completely gone to hell."
She was saying that, but she didn't seem actually offended.
If anything, she looked far happier than before—genuinely satisfied that she'd found someone to work out with.
Inner closeness.
If Han Jihye was hard to deal with because you could never predict her, Kim Heejin was hard to deal with because the person herself was just that rigid.
And I'd gone and felt a sense of intimacy with the self-appointed discipline officer of not just our living quarter, but the entire unit.
That wasn't a bad thing.
I raised a toast to the fact that we'd taken one step closer. What I actually raised wasn't a toast—it was a sports towel for wiping off sweat—but still.
"I just feel like I've gotten closer to Superhuman Kim Heejin. Hehe..."
"You're laughing?"
"I'm sorry!"
I immediately buried my face in the towel. One step closer, my foot. She had the aura of a tiger that would tear you apart if you got near.
"Why so tense?"
Because you made me tense!
I roared inwardly.
As if she'd heard it, Kim Heejin casually wiped herself down with her towel and said offhandedly,
"I liked it when you got fired up and your voice got louder. Relax. Be comfortable."
"Ah."
I realized those words were for my sake—
"Actually, no. Don't get too comfortable. If you loosen up for no reason and drop your guard, Han Jihye won't let it slide."
—and she immediately corrected herself, invoking the demon who wasn't even here.
"May I ask what you mean by that?"
"Hm? Exactly what I said. If you get boring, Han Jihye's gonna get annoyed."
"Boring..."
"Yeah. I don't care either way, but she seems to have fun teasing you. If your reactions stop being entertaining..."
Wouldn't that actually be a good thing? If my reactions stop being fun, won't she just leave me alone?
"She'll mess with you even more out of spite, won't she? Poking and prodding?"
Mess with me even more than now? That was the one thing that absolutely could not be allowed. Of course it was better than Ji Yuna's pointless harassment—but that didn't mean it was good.
"Anyway! Well, Jeong Seung-a, you worked hard too. Even if all you did was watch."
"Ah... it's fine."
"Figured you'd say that. We're gonna shower—you didn't even break a sweat, so you're just heading in, right? Hey, Seo Harang."
"Superhuman Seo Harang."
"Let's go wash up."
"Ah—understood."
"I'll go wash up as well."
Jeong Seung-a stood from her seat. The easy eye-smile she usually wore was gone.
With golden eyes full of resolve, she spoke as if delivering a verdict upon us.
"Y-yeah, sure."
Even Kim Heejin seemed slightly pushed back by that reaction from Jeong Seung-a. Why she was showing that much determination just to go shower was a mystery—to me and to Kim Heejin both.
"Why's she making a face she never even showed during sorties? What's with her?"
"I'll try to find out."
"No? Why go that far? Just say you don't know if you don't know."
"Understood. Honestly, I have no idea."
"Does not knowing end your life as an Awakened?"
I cried.
On the inside only.