Massage (1)
"That's... incredibly fast, isn't it?"
I couldn't help but ask Officer Unho, who looked thoroughly exhausted. I could hear the surprise in my own voice.
"We only talked about this yesterday. Even for a brand-new system, getting it ready in a single day..."
"There were some special circumstances. Just a moment."
Officer Unho rose from his seat, retrieved a sheet of paper from a nearby table, and held it out to us.
Fields prepared for personal information of guardian and ward.
It was a single A4 sheet. Below the title, various fields for personal information had been laid out.
"Just fill this out for now. Here's a pen."
"Ah, yes. Thank you."
I took the pen he offered and began filling in the blanks. Name, address, health status, income level — a few of the fields were a little unusual, but overall it was a fairly ordinary consent form. Though it was a bit curious that the lower section asked not for my information, but for that of the "person under guardianship."
"And... while you're writing, shall we chat a little? You asked why this was prepared so quickly, right?"
"Yes, yes."
"Simply put, there turned out to be more people like you than expected, Mr. Eunhyuk."
"Ah, like Mr. Donggeon earlier..."
As I marked an X in the field for "experience raising children or pets," I thought back to the two people we'd met earlier. Sherry, an otherworlder of the race known as Demons. And the man who appeared to be her guardian — the fitness trainer, Baek Donggeon. If my guess was right, those two were probably in a similar situation to us. A relationship of guardian and ward.
"Come to think of it, you ran into them earlier, didn't you?"
"Only briefly. We just exchanged a few words."
I said this as I wrote "high school graduate" in the education field. Then something made me glance sideways at Cecilia, sitting next to me. She was studying the application form with a troubled expression. Her ears had gone stiff, twitching now and then. She seemed to be thinking ahead about what to write in her own personal information section.
"Were there really that many people like that? I mean, people like me and Cecilia, or Mr. Donggeon and Sherry?"
"Yes. Quite a few more than you'd think."
At that, I glanced up at Officer Unho. Our eyes met, and he nodded, still wearing that exhausted look.
"I discovered the two of you myself... but reports were pouring in from all over. The station was in complete chaos — people running around asking, 'What are we supposed to do about this?'"
"Ah, so that's why you rushed to set up the foster guardianship system..."
"No, not exactly."
I was about to write roughly 2.5 million won for "average monthly income over the past six months" when his unexpected answer made me look up again. I caught the bitter smile spread across Officer Unho's face.
"Among those in relationships like yours, there happened to be a well-known politician..."
"Ah..."
No wonder it had been so fast. The near light-speed establishment of this system had apparently been thanks to someone's political clout.
"Meanwhile, some prosecutor and a doctor started calling for the expulsion of otherworlders, and the two sides clashed... The police force was in its own state of pandemonium."
"...That must have been rough."
"We couldn't just leave things as they were, so we managed to find a loophole and force a system into existence... and the result is the application form in front of you."
"..."
That was somehow unsettling. If what he said was true, this form was something cobbled together mid-fight. ...Could we really trust it?
"Still, things have settled somewhat for now. You don't need to worry too much."
Had my thoughts shown on my face? Officer Unho's reassuring tone left me no choice but to nod. Well, it would work out somehow.
Once I'd finished filling out my personal information section, I glanced over at Cecilia. Catching my look, she carefully nodded and took the pen from me. Then she began writing her own personal information on the form, one field at a time.
Name: Cecilia.
No family name.
Age: approximately 21.
No experience using magic.
Current illnesses or diseases: none.
Her handwriting was a little crooked, but still reasonably legible. And for the record, she was writing in Korean. How she was able to do that remained a mystery. Cecilia herself didn't seem to know either — she wore a puzzled expression even as she wrote.
And then...
Race: Beastkin, Cat subspecies.
Family relations: "Unknown."
Personal or racial special notes...
"..."
"None."
I didn't miss how her fingertips trembled faintly — only when she filled in those particular fields.
"Alright. You can hand that over now."
I chose not to press her about it and passed the form to Officer Unho. He skimmed the contents once, then stamped the bottom of the document with a solid thump.
"All done."
"Huh, is that it?"
"For now, yes. We might call you back if any issues come up, but for the time being, you're finished."
It was a rather anticlimactic ending. I'd been worrying that a physical exam might come next, and whether timid Cecilia would be alright going through something like that.
"So we can go?"
"Yes. Ah — no, wait a moment."
As I started to stand, Officer Unho gestured for me to wait, then pulled something from his pocket and held it out. It was a business card.
"...Police officers have business cards?"
"You can make them whenever you want, if you put your mind to it. If anything comes up, contact me at this number."
I checked the phone number written on it and nodded. I stood up again and helped Cecilia to her feet as well. I was about to take a closer look at her — she seemed quieter than usual — when Officer Unho's voice reached us again.
"And one last thing — this is just a rumor, but..."
I looked up at him. Cecilia also glanced toward Officer Unho.
"Apparently an otherworlder-exclusive school might be established. Relatively soon."
With that, he bowed his head toward us. We bowed back in return.
"...I'm so tired."
Cecilia flopped face-down onto the bed and mumbled. It felt like déjà vu. I was pretty sure she'd done the exact same thing yesterday. But one thing was certain — Cecilia looked even more exhausted today than she had yesterday.
"Ugh..."
As she wriggled around, her outerwear slipped off and fell to the floor with a soft flop. Without a word, I picked it up and put it away in the closet along with my own coat.
"You did well. That was rough, huh?"
"Mm..."
I patted her back as she lay there, and her expression grew a little more at ease. The soft "Hoo—" of her exhaled breath was adorable. While I was at it, I reached out to stroke her hair as well. I worried she might pull away like she had last night, but whether from exhaustion or something else, she accepted my touch without flinching. I continued stroking her head with gentle, patting motions. Along with the soft sensation under my palm, her expression grew even more peaceful.
"Hyaaam..."
"Was it really that hard?"
"Mm... a little."
She answered in a voice mixed with a yawn. Well, it had been an eventful day. Getting a summons and going to the police station, filling out paperwork there... and meeting a new otherworlder, no less.
The demon girl, Sherry. A demon, and more specifically a Red Demon, if I remembered right. True to the name, her red skin had been striking. Unlike Cecilia, she had an otherworldly quality that was obvious at a glance, and the more I thought about her, the more fascinating she seemed. Would I ever get the chance to meet other otherworlders someday?
"...Hyaaam."
"Well, I should focus on what's right in front of me."
Cecilia kept yawning from sheer exhaustion. This time, I kneaded the area around her shoulders with a massaging motion.
"Whoa, you're really tense. Lie flat on the bed for a second, Cecilia."
"Hm? O-okay."
Following my instructions, Cecilia obediently climbed properly onto the bed. I stood beside her and pressed firmly into her shoulders.
"Mm. This might feel nice..."
A satisfied voice rang in my ears. I felt a little proud of myself.
"Alright, now the other side... hmm."
I'd finished one side easily enough and was about to move to the other when I realized my current position, standing beside her, made it awkward. Either I could walk around to the other side, or Cecilia could flip over, or...
"If you're really that tired, want me to give you a proper full-body massage, Cecilia? Top to bottom?"
"Mm... ...huh?"
I cracked my knuckles and said it casually. I was reasonably confident in my massage skills. I'd never learned professionally, but I'd gotten interested enough at one point to teach myself a bit. And the feedback from people around me had been pretty good.
"A-a massage? Top to bottom...?"
As far as I was concerned, it had been a completely innocent suggestion. So even when Cecilia repeated it back in a flustered voice, I didn't think much of it.
"Yeah. Starting from the shoulders, then the back and... wait, shoulders again..."
Following my own words, I ran my eyes down Cecilia's body from top to bottom. And only then did I realize why she'd gotten so flustered.
"......thighs, calves..."
"..."
"...while straddling you."
A small silence settled over the room.
I genuinely hadn't meant anything weird by it. Because I'd only ever done this for my parents, or occasionally same-sex friends, it had taken me far too long to realize what it would mean with someone of the opposite sex.
Me massaging Cecilia's legs? No — not just her legs. Thinking about it, even her back and waist wouldn't be simple. I'd patted and stroked her before, but giving a massage was a very different matter. Even people who didn't mind physical contact often got embarrassed about massages. And there was no way timid, fearful Cecilia would agree to something like that...
"...Okay."
"Huh?"
Her answer left me blurting out a dumbfounded sound. I vaguely registered her stiffened tail and her ears drawing back.
Okay?
...For real?