Chapter 25: Pink, But Not a Slut (11)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 25: Pink, But Not a Slut (11)
The first time I felt my body changing as a superhuman was in my second year of middle school.
At first, my parents told me it was just the typical physical changes everyone goes through during puberty, and I believed them.
But six months later, I realized that what they said wasn't meant to reassure me. They were simply averting their eyes from the person I was becoming—a superhuman.
Scientists from the Earth Defense Union came to my school, and I was taken to a research institute in the car they brought. Dressed in white, feeling the gradual shifts in my body, it didn't take long for me to realize that I possessed a power unlike anything I had known before.
If I set my mind to it and exerted myself, I grew exponentially stronger. If I was injured, I healed in an instant. No matter how much I moved, I never felt fatigue, and when I focused, the whole world seemed to move in slow motion.
It felt as if there was a switch in my body that allowed me to turn my superhuman powers on and off at will.
Life at the institute was quite long. I spent six months there, unable to go home. No matter how much I cried and begged them to let me go back, the adults wouldn't listen.
There were other children at the institute, but I never met a single one. After six months had passed, I was finally allowed to return home.
I wept uncontrollably when I saw my parents' faces for the first time in half a year, but they weren't looking at me. They only spoke to the people from the institute who had brought me back, never offering me a single glance or a word of concern.
When I returned to school, my friends had moved on to the third year, and I was placed there with them. There were so many memories they had built together during my absence. Just as I was about to feel the sting of isolation, my friends reached out to me.
So, my friends are happy to see me after all. But two days later, they began to shun me. They didn't answer when I spoke to them, and they wouldn't look at me even when I stood right beside them. I was there, yet it felt as if I wasn't. Like an invisible person...
I wasn't originally the most outgoing person. I wasn't completely gloomy either; I was just ordinary, no matter how you looked at it.
Around the time I was heading to high school, I told my parents I wanted to go to a school far away. They still wouldn't meet my eyes, but they granted my request.
I started at the new school, and my parents strictly forbade me from telling my friends that I was a superhuman. It wasn't the tone of someone giving advice. They threatened me, warning me never to speak of it.
My high school years were happy. Because I had come from far away, I didn't know a soul, but that actually allowed me to change my personality. I was more active than anyone else, making friends who treated me without prejudice.
As I went through puberty, I was aware that I was developing faster than my peers. Perhaps because of that, whenever boys approached me, their intentions were transparent. I don't recall being close to any boys from that point on.
Through my time with my friends, I learned that everyone enjoyed it when I was lively and proactive. So, sometimes I acted more energetic than necessary. Occasionally, I wondered, Who was I originally? But it didn't matter. This was much better than being shunned by everyone.
In my second year of high school, my parents got me a small studio apartment. It was near the school, and they told me to live there, promising to send me an allowance until graduation. I actually felt relieved. It was better to live alone than to live with parents who wouldn't even look at me.
I graduated high school. Just as they had for my middle school graduation, my parents didn't show up. I couldn't reach them after that day, and only the final sum of money they had sent remained in my bank account. I had known since I started living in that studio—my parents had abandoned me.
I wanted to go to university. I wanted to study cosmetology and had even picked out a school, studying hard enough to get the grades for it. But I couldn't go. As soon as I became an adult, I had to find a way to survive on my own, so I worked part-time jobs here and there.
Thinking I was finally free from my parents' shadow, I proudly told people I was a superhuman. I thought being different from others would make for an interesting story.
People shunned me.
Even those I had been laughing and talking with normally until yesterday no longer welcomed me.
Why? I hadn't changed. Was being a superhuman really that loathsome?
I received a call from the Earth Defense Union. They asked if I wanted to work for them for the sake of the planet.
I was a superhuman, and there were alien forces invading Earth. With my power, I could help people, and maybe then they would stop shunning me. Yes. If I became a champion of justice that everyone cheered for, everything would be okay.
Three years passed since I joined the Earth Defense Union. Nothing in my life had changed. I would win duels, and when I looked for a new job, I would proudly say I was a superhuman, only for people to shun me again.
But I didn't give up. Surely, somewhere, there was someone who wouldn't turn away—someone who would see me as the human Kwon Yura, not as Pink, the Hunter Killer of the Earth Defense Union.
I started a new part-time job at a cafe a bit far from my house. It was about two bus stops away, a distance I could easily walk, so I thought it would be convenient. I couldn't quit working part-time. Although I received a salary from the Earth Defense Union, it wasn't enough to live on.
Rent, taxes, phone bills, and so on. After paying those, nothing was left of my EDU salary.
While I was working the counter at the cafe, some guy kept bothering me, asking for my number. Eventually, he started raising his voice. Unable to take it anymore, I got angry and threw him out of the shop. The Boss called me over.
"You're a superhuman, aren't you?"
I knew from long experience. I was about to be kicked out.
"Go back to work."
"Pardon?"
The Boss's words were something I had never heard in my life.
"I said, go back to work. Or are you quitting?"
"N-no!"
The Boss said I could keep working at the cafe. She didn't judge me; she saw me as the human Kwon Yura. A few days later, I asked her.
"Boss. You know I'm a superhuman, so why didn't you fire me?"
"What does that matter? I'll hire anyone who's pretty or handsome, even if they're a bit bad at the job. Being a superhuman isn't a flaw. A pretty girl wants to work, so what's the problem?"
Those casual words meant the world to me, and I decided to keep working at the cafe. Perhaps influenced by the Boss who had accepted me, the other employees also accepted me for who I was, even though they knew I was a superhuman.
One day, the Boss said to me:
"From today, work in the kitchen instead of the counter."
I could understand her reasoning. The Boss herself had no prejudice, but as rumors spread that a superhuman was there, customers might be uncomfortable if I was at the counter. I didn't care about the customers' reactions. It was enough that I could keep working in a place that had accepted me.
The Boss probably did it without much thought, but for her sake, I tried to stay out of the customers' sight as much as possible. I wore oversized jumpsuits and a mask so that even if people caught a glimpse of the kitchen, they couldn't clearly identify me. I occasionally came out to the counter to chase away troublemakers, but people didn't seem to pay much attention then.
I had been working at the cafe for two years when a peculiar new part-timer joined. Many people had passed through the kitchen during that time, but they all quit quickly. They probably didn't want to work with a superhuman.
I figured this new guy would quit soon, too.
"I mean, the fact that I'm a superhuman."
"That's none of my business."
He was a strange fellow. Usually, when I told people I was a superhuman, most would pretend to be okay with it while quietly shunning me. But this guy said it didn't matter at all.
We were the same age, and apparently, he had lived abroad when he was young. Was it common to see Superhumans in other countries?
His name was 'A.' It was a bit of a strange name, even for a foreigner. I thought about adding 'ssi' to the end, but it sounded like a curse word, so I debated how to call him. Since we were the same age, I thought it would be okay to be friendly, so I jokingly called him "A-ssi," and he didn't seem to hate it.
Following A's advice, I decided to tell my friends that I was a superhuman. They were friends I'd known for a long time, and though it had been a while since we'd met as adults, I hoped they would accept me for who I was.
Working at the cafe for a few years had made me forget. Even among the same kind of people, a superhuman is an unwelcome existence. What on earth went wrong? What did I do wrong?
My mind was in a state of turmoil, so I sat on a bench at the convenience store in front of the subway station and drank alone. I was used to drinking alone. I had never drank with anyone else before.
As I was getting drunk, A appeared. He drank with me and took me home. A accepted me exactly as I was, without prejudice. Thanks to A, I was able to reconcile and become friends with Red.
A told me we were friends. I finally had a friend.
I drank with A again. We went to a place I'd always wanted to visit because it was always crowded whenever I passed the subway station. I unknowingly put a lot of effort into getting ready, which took a long time, but I was happy nonetheless.
The older girl who had worked at the cafe for six months teased me, but even that was fun. It was my first time drinking with a friend. I hoped A enjoyed drinking with me, too.
It was raining. From inside the back door of the cafe where I had worked for two years, voices could be heard clearly. It was the voices of the girl who had worked there for six months and another girl who had been there even longer.
The sound of the rain seemed to fade away, and their voices echoed through the whole world.
"That retarded superhuman." "That bitch is possessed by a ghost because she can't get a man." "The way she wags her tail at the new guys."
"Everyone fucking hates her." "What a total slut." ...
What did I do wrong? I'm just a superhuman.
Is that a crime? The fact that I'm a superhuman. Is my very existence a bad thing?
Then... what am I supposed to do?
*
I stepped away from the cafe's back door, pressed the umbrella into Yura's hand, picked up the one she had dropped, and headed toward the cafe.
"!"
When I opened the back door and walked in, the two who had been badmouthing Yura just moments ago were startled, but they quickly smiled and greeted me.
"Mr. A. What brings you here? At this hour?"
"Yura left her wallet behind. I came to get it for her."
I forced a smile back at them. The two women before me looked like hideous, hypocritical monsters, but I acted as if I hadn't heard a thing. As if nothing had happened, I went to the storage room and grabbed Yura's wallet from a shelf. I wanted to scream every curse word in the book at those two women right then and there.
I, too, considered Yura a friend, and the moment I heard that baseless backstabbing, a surge of rage boiled within me.
"I'll be going then."
"Yes. Get home safe."
I didn't bother responding to their final farewell and left the shop. Yura was still standing in the same spot. Her T-shirt was soaked from the rain. I took off the shirt I was wearing and draped it over her shoulders, then folded her umbrella.
Taking my umbrella back from her hand, I led her toward her home as she stared blankly into space with unfocused eyes.
I didn't get lost since I'd been there once before. I didn't say a word to her as we shared the umbrella. Yura didn't say anything to me, either.
We walked in silence until we reached her house.
When I had carried her home on my back while she was drunk, the distance felt long, but reaching her house now didn't take much time at all.
"..."
Even after standing in front of the building entrance, she remained silent for a long time. I placed the umbrella back in her hand.
"Go in and rest. I'll contact you tomorrow."
There was nothing I could do for her right now. I thought it would be best to let her have some time alone, so after giving her the umbrella, I opened the other one and slowly walked away from her house.
As the rain grew heavier, the noise became louder, and the sound of water with every step felt grating. Even the sound of the rain seemed to be whispering cruel things to her.
Twenty steps? Thirty steps? I don't know how far I walked. What was certain was that I hadn't walked long, yet in that short time, I felt a whirlwind of emotions. Just in case, I turned around to see if Yura had gone inside.
She was still standing there. Like someone who had lost their soul, she stood exactly as she had when I handed her the umbrella.
I couldn't just leave Yura standing alone in the middle of the downpour, so I turned back and approached her.
"Let's go inside."
I hesitated for a moment before entering the passcode on the door lock. I could get in because I had seen her enter it the day she was drunk. I wondered if it was okay for me to enter, but I decided that getting her inside was the top priority.
We took the elevator to the seventh floor. To lead the motionless Yura, I took her hand and checked her condition once more in front of her front door.
A sigh threatened to escape, but I forced it down as I opened the door and stepped inside. I took off her shoes and sat her down on the living room sofa. Because the rain had intensified, both Yura and I were soaking wet despite the umbrellas.
"You're all wet."
I grabbed two towels from the bathroom, draped one over her legs, and used the other to dry her hair.
"..."
I couldn't find the words to speak. I felt as if the moment I uttered a single wrong word, the Yura before me would shatter.
Her eyes were hidden by the towel, but her trembling lower lip was all the more visible. I never knew a person's lips could tremble like that.
Where did it all go wrong? Returning to the cafe for the wallet? Deciding to drink today? Encountering those women before leaving? No matter how much I retraced our steps, I couldn't figure out where the mistake was.
It was only natural. I knew nothing, and there was nothing I could know.
The only thing I knew for sure was that Yura had looked happy while we were drinking together.
"You've been out in the rain, so wash up and go to sleep."
Why did Yura have to be treated like this? Why are Superhumans treated this way?
Shouldn't people hate Spacetro instead? Why do people hate the Superhumans who fight to protect them more than the Spacetro invaders?
Why was Yura receiving the hatred that we should rightfully be getting?
Right now, any comfort I offered her was nothing but hypocrisy. I was a Spacetro soldier sent to monitor her, and we were enemies.
"I'm leaving."
After drying her hair, I set the towel down and stood up to leave. But the sensation of someone tugging on my sleeve made me stop.
She was holding onto my sleeve with a trembling hand—a frail hand that lacked the strength to even keep its grip. It was as if she desperately wanted to hold on but felt she couldn't.
I took the hand that was clutching my sleeve and sat down beside her.
Yura had just lost the place she thought she could rely on. Even if I was an enemy, perhaps right now, I was the only person in the world who looked at her without prejudice.
Words of comfort didn't seem like they would be enough.
What could I possibly say to Yura right now? Was it enough to just stay by her side?
Would that be okay?
Her eyes, hidden behind her bangs, were trembling. I saw her expression as she bit her lower lip hard, trying to endure.
"I won't go."
The emotions she had been holding back for fear of being shunned again finally burst, and she wept uncontrollably.
She cried so sorrowfully, like a young child who had lost something precious.