Chapter 21: Pink, But Not a Slut (7)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 21: Pink, But Not a Slut (7)
When you're working, break time feels incredibly short. Even if it's the same ten minutes, it feels like an eternity when you're working and a mere blink of an eye when you're resting. It’s as if someone is intentionally shrinking the clock only during breaks.
Currently, I only have reasons to go outside three days a week: for my duels and my weekend part-time job.
Originally, there was nothing besides the duels. When I was monitoring Yubin, I’d just step out for a moment to check on the convenience store, so it didn't really feel like "work."
But once I started the weekend part-time job, the weekdays began to feel short, even though I technically had far more days off. It felt like even on my rest days, all I could see was the next day I had to work.
Every Saturday at 2:00 PM, I start my shift at the cafe. It’s already been three weeks. With each passing week, Pink has become more talkative. Perhaps because we had a small spat last week, she was being especially noisy today.
"But then, the cat suddenly just laid down and showed me its belly! It was like it was begging me to pet it."
"Right."
She had been talking about a cat she met after work yesterday. Summing it up, she probably played with the cat for maybe ten minutes, yet she’d been talking about it for an hour.
If I didn't answer, she’d pressure me as if telling me not to ignore her. If I gave a dry response, she’d take that as encouragement and talk even more. Since the result was the same regardless of what I chose, I opted for the less exhausting latter and gave her half-hearted replies.
"So I petted it with my hand, and it loved it! Look!"
This time, she stopped prepping ingredients and pulled out her smartphone to show me a picture of the cat.
"Yeah. Cute."
I didn't have much interest in animals, so I gave a standard response and continued prepping the fruit for the juices. I needed to finish this quickly to get even a moment of rest.
"Your reactions are no fun!"
I thought she was finally going back to work when she put her phone in her pocket, but instead, she slapped my back with a high-pitched shout. Seeing how she struggled to control her strength, it seemed she occasionally forgot she was a superhuman.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm a boring person, so just get back to the ingredients."
This week, work felt particularly like work. Pink talked a lot and often mentioned Team Hunter Killer, but she never let slip any important information. Even though she’d reconciled with Yubin, Pink rarely attended meetings, so she likely didn't have much vital intel anyway. Realizing there was nothing to gain, my motivation plummeted.
Ultimately, that lack of motivation affected my performance at the job. Honestly, I didn't need this part-time job to make a living.
But since I’d chosen this job specifically to dig for information, the lack of results made it hard to find any energy. To make matters worse, tomorrow was a day when my target, Pink, wouldn't even be there.
"By the way, you said you aren't coming in tomorrow?"
"Yeah. I'm meeting some friends."
"Friends?"
It was genuinely surprising that she had friends who could put up with her boisterous personality.
"Yeah. Friends from work. They said we should see each other since it's been a while."
Since office workers can only meet on weekends, they must have decided on Sunday, which is relatively less busy than Saturday.
Hearing Pink's words, a sudden curiosity struck me.
"Do your friends know you're a superhuman?"
At my question, she stopped prepping and stared into space, deep in thought. Then she looked at me and shook her head.
"Probably not. I've never really mentioned it. I didn't used to make it obvious that I was a superhuman like I do now."
Superhumans have to deal with various prejudices in society, so she probably didn't go around flaunting it back when she was in school.
I felt a slight sense of unease, but they were her friends, and if they were meeting just to see her face after a long time, they had to be old friends. Even if they found out she was a superhuman, they’d surely accept it. Or so I thought.
Even if I felt uneasy, there was no need for me to give her advice. What would I gain? We’d just fought and made up last week; it would be awkward to say something that might ruin her mood again so soon.
"Wouldn't it be better to tell them?"
"We're high school classmates. They'll find out eventually as we live our lives. It won't be too late to tell them then."
Pink resumed her work, her hands moving again. Dismissing it as no big deal, I helped her finish the prep.
*
The next day, Pink didn't show up as scheduled. I arrived when the Boss opened the shop in the morning and helped with the opening preparations.
The Boss taught me the process in detail, mentioning that my hours might change or I might have to handle the opening again in the future. I wasn't sure how much longer I’d be working here, though. If Pink quit, I’d have to quit too, and if my surveillance target changed, that would also be the end of it.
Still, since I was an employee for the time being, I decided to learn thoroughly.
After a quiet morning, the afternoon arrived, and the other part-timer showed up for her shift. She usually worked the evening shift and handled the closing. Since I only saw her briefly when I left, I only knew her face. All I knew about her was that she’d been working at the cafe for about six months.
"Hello."
She greeted me first, so I gave a polite nod. With Pink gone, I started working with a bit more focus than usual.
The evening part-timer had more experience than me, so there were no issues. It was my third week on the job, and I was becoming familiar enough with the work to find things to do on my own.
However, I couldn't help the lack of motivation. It felt like I was just working a real job, having forgotten my original purpose.
"Mr. A. Are you and Yura dating by any chance?"
"What?!"
I whipped my head around at the sudden question from the other part-timer, who was moving some supplies while I washed dishes.
"Oh, it's just that people said the atmosphere between you two is great when you work together, and that you're very in sync. You seem so low on energy today since Yura isn't here."
It was true that I lacked energy because Pink wasn't there. Of course I wouldn't have any energy when my primary objective wasn't in front of me.
But as for the "great atmosphere" and being "in sync," that was a complete misunderstanding. The atmosphere was just Pink being excited by herself; I never really matched her energy.
And as for being in sync, while I’d started finding work to do, I was still inexperienced, so Pink often had to help me out. It must have looked that way to others.
"No. You've got the wrong idea."
"I see. I was just wondering."
I didn't know what she was "wondering" about, but it felt like some strange rumors were circulating within the cafe. Seeing as the Boss hadn't said anything, she probably just dismissed it as idle gossip.
"Good work today."
Finally, the uninspiring shift ended. I changed my clothes and headed toward the subway to go home. If just finishing work made me this happy, how great would I feel on a day I won a duel?
Even though Yubin was my girlfriend, I still had a strong desire to win whenever we met as enemies.
"It's still hot today."
I sighed, remembering the weather forecast saying there would be no rain for a while. Since it was summer, the days were long, the sunlight was still scorching, and the heat was a constant worry even after sunset. This summer is going to be brutal, I thought as I reached the subway entrance. Just as I was about to step inside...
"What the...?"
I spotted familiar pink hair at a convenience store bench next to the entrance.
Pink, who had skipped work today to meet her friends, was slumped over the table alone. I couldn't see her face, but with that vibrant hair color, it couldn't be anyone else.
"Is she back already?"
She’d said she was meeting old friends, so I expected her to be out until dawn, yet here she was sitting alone before the sun had even fully set.
Since my surveillance target was right there, I couldn't just go home. I decided to approach her and strike up a conversation.
"Kwon Yura. What are you doing?"
When I spoke right in front of her, Pink slowly turned her head. The scent of alcohol wafted from her, and her face was already flushed.
"Ohhh! Mr. A~!"
Her attitude shifted instantly upon seeing me. She raised her voice and pushed herself up from the table.
"You reek of alcohol. Have you been drinking since the afternoon?"
I thought she’d be drinking until night, but it seemed she’d started early and was already wiped out. If I’d known, I should have just gone home.
"That is correct! I drank a bit by myself because I was in a bad mood!"
Puzzled by her words, I looked at the bottles on the table. Two bottles of soju and a bag of snacks sat there; the soju bottles were already empty.
"I thought you were meeting friends?"
Sensing this would be a long story, I sent a text to Yubin saying I’d be late and sat down across from Pink.
"I met them. I met them..."
Her voice suddenly lost its strength. She propped herself up with her arms on the table and stared at me.
"I did what you said and told my friends I was a superhuman."
It was just the beginning of the story, but looking at her state, it was obvious how it had ended.
"They said it's disgusting."
The moment I heard her words, a surge of revulsion rose within me. To me, humans and Superhumans are the same—just fellow Earthlings. I can understand feeling a sense of rejection toward something alien, but to feel that way toward an old friend? I couldn't wrap my head around it.
"What is?"
"I don't know. They just said... it's disgusting..."
She tilted an empty bottle toward the plastic cup in front of her, looking for more. I took the bottle from her hand and set it under the table.
"Wait here a second."
I walked into the convenience store, and her eyes followed me. I came back out with two bottles of soju, sat across from her, placed one in front of her, and kept the other for myself.
"Drink."
She was my surveillance target, but that didn't matter much right now. Over the past three weeks, we’d met every weekend, laughed, chatted, and even bickered. We’d grown close. I felt that if I were just an ordinary person, we probably would have been real friends.
And seeing a friend drinking alone because of the psychological shock dealt by others was not a pleasant feeling.
"Cheers! Cheers!"
Pink opened her bottle and filled her plastic cup, offering a toast. I opened mine and toasted with the bottle itself. I wasn't particularly fond of alcohol, but Pink looked like she desperately needed someone to talk to while she drank.
"So, what did you do?"
"What do you think? I flipped the table and walked out."
That sounded exactly like something Pink would do. However, seeing her stare blankly at the table without a hint of cheer, she probably just left the scene and came straight here. No matter how much they showed their disgust toward her, to Pink, those friends were likely still friends until the very end.
"Don't give them your heart. People like that aren't your friends."
I clinked my bottle against the cup in her hand and took another sip. Pink gave me a wide grin, downed the rest of her cup in one go, and refilled it.
"Now I don't even have friends."
With a deep sigh, she drained the cup again.
"You have me. I'm here."
Pink was certainly a woman with an energy level so high it was hard for me to handle. Part of it was because my own energy was lower than average, but even with that difference, I didn't harbor any negative feelings toward her.
To be honest, there were moments when I thought having a friend like her would be fun. Ultimately, setting aside the official business of surveillance, the personal feelings I had for her were positive. That’s why I felt good when she reconciled with Yubin, even though they were enemies, and why my heart softened immediately when she apologized to me. I’d even sent her an apology text because I felt I was in the wrong too, and she’d replied cheerfully.
"Huh?"
The only thing I could say to her right now was that I was her friend. At least the people at the cafe and I didn't hold any prejudice against her. I could do that because I was from Spacetro. But for her, there were also the people at the cafe.
"You have the people at the cafe, too."
"Right. There are people who like me."
She looked at me, her eyes crinkling into a smile.
"Hehe, then we're friends too, right?"
"Yeah. We're friends. Friends."
Clinking our drinks once more, we shared a toast. I couldn't heal the wounds Pink had received. I couldn't solve her problems. But I could at least listen.
If someone asked if this was also part of my surveillance, I couldn't deny it. But it was also true that my anger at how she’d been treated was greater than my duty to monitor her.
She and I were in an adversarial relationship. But ironically, because we were enemies, I knew better than anyone how much responsibility she had to carry and how much weight was on her shoulders.
As someone who loses to her every time, I might curse her and the other Superhumans, but it genuinely pissed me off to see people who knew nothing—and had no intention of understanding—insulting the woman who fought to protect the Earth.
As we continued to drink, we eventually went through three more bottles. Completely wasted, Pink was now slumped over the table.
"Hey."
I tried to wake her up so we could head home, but there was no response.
"Kwon Yura."
"Mmm..."
She reacted slightly when I called her name, but she showed no sign of getting up. The sun had set, and it was time to go.
"You have to go home, right?"
If I knew her address, I’d just put her in a taxi, but the only thing I knew was the direction she walked in when she left work. She didn't look like she’d sober up anytime soon, so I figured I’d have to take her home myself. She’d probably wake up on the way.
"Hey. Wake up."
I hoisted the unconscious woman onto my back and began to walk, one step at a time.