Chapter 7
Chapter 7
First Meeting
Creak—
When Yuri opened the front door and stepped inside, both Ji-eun and Seol-young, who were sitting at the table, looked up at the same time.
Seol-young had been taking notes in her notebook, but when she saw Yuri, her face brightened.
“Oh, Yuri unni, you’re back?”
“Yeah, I’m back. Seol-young’s here too. Hi, Seol-young.”
“Yes, hello.”
She was a girl Ji-eun had started bringing around about a year ago, saying they were friends.
Every time Yuri saw her, she found herself fascinated by Seol-young’s hair and eyes, a strange color somewhere between silver and white.
Yuri smiled back warmly at Seol-young’s greeting and waved her hand lazily.
The limp gesture made Ji-eun narrow her eyes sharply.
“Unni, do you know what time it is?”
“Uh... maybe ten?”
“It’s eleven-thirty.”
Ji-eun clicked her highlighter shut, turned around, crossed her arms, and looked Yuri up and down.
Then she sniffed the air and frowned.
“Did you drink?”
“Yeah, a little.”
“A little?”
“A liiittle... a lot?”
Yuri sat down across from Seol-young and answered honestly.
Ji-eun’s brows immediately knit together.
“With Mari unni?”
“Yeah.”
“Unni, my academy exams are right around the corner, okay? If you go out drinking while I’m studying and come home this late, how am I supposed to focus? I get worried.”
“Sorry, sorry. My bad. But today was seriously a huge, super special day.”
“Every day is a special day for you!”
Ji-eun brought over a glass of cold water and set it down in front of Yuri with a thud.
“Drink this before you wash up.”
“Okay, Mom.”
“Tsk. Again.”
Yuri grinned and swayed a little from the alcohol.
As she lifted the glass, a faint sprinkle of sparkling dust slipped from her fingers for just a moment.
Seol-young looked up from her book and watched Yuri.
“Are you okay, unni? Want me to get you more water?”
“No, I’m okay. Thanks, Seol-young.”
Yuri took a sip of the cold water, then slowly closed her eyes.
Ji-eun had already moved over and sat beside Seol-young, clicking her tongue.
“She’s going to fall asleep like that.”
“She does look tired.”
Seol-young smiled quietly as she watched Yuri.
After scribbling a few more notes, she stood up and quietly moved to sit beside her.
“Should I go buy you some hangover medicine?”
“Mmm... no, it’s okay.”
“Yep. You’re definitely drunk.”
“I drank a lot. Ugh...”
Yuri wrapped her arms around the table and buried her face into them.
Her brown hair spilled across her arms.
Seol-young watched her quietly before speaking in a low voice.
“Unni, are you sleeping?”
“Not yet...”
Seol-young leaned in close, bringing her lips near Yuri’s ear.
“Try using it.”
Your ability.
“Hm? I didn’t hear that.”
“Pfft.”
Yuri mumbled without even opening her eyes properly, making Seol-young laugh softly as she straightened back up.
“It’s nothing. Go to sleep. You look exhausted.”
From the desk, Ji-eun spun her pen and glanced over.
“She really must be tired. Fell asleep at the table.”
Yuri’s breathing gradually evened out into soft, steady breaths.
Seol-young looked down at the sleeping Yuri for a moment, then stretched out her pale fingers and gently poked her plump cheek.
Poke.
It sank in like jelly.
No reaction at all.
So when she’s drunk, she just passes out.
Seol-young stood up and returned to her seat.
Scratch, scratch.
She resumed writing, but her eyes kept drifting back toward Yuri.
Between the strands of brown hair, one thin pink streak was visible.
Seol-young’s lips curled up ever so slightly.
A little later, at the Awakened Association headquarters.
The moment Mari opened the meeting room door, every executive seated inside turned their eyes toward her.
The vice-chairman at the head of the table set down a thick stack of papers and spoke.
“Hero Jo Mari. About the Pink Witch case.”
“Yes.”
“How many years has it been already? An S-rank hero unable to catch one S-rank villain. People upstairs are talking. Asking if the villain is actually stronger. Wondering if this is becoming dangerous.”
“I’m working on it.”
“Working on it.”
The vice-chairman stared at her over his glasses.
“And how many years have you been ‘working on it’?”
Mari sat with both hands neatly placed on the table, her expression unmoving.
“I’m handling it. If I rush and lose her, what then? If you’re in such a hurry, why don’t you catch her yourselves?”
The air in the meeting room froze.
“Or assign another hero.”
Mari stood up.
“The Pink Witch is my exclusive case. If another hero gets involved, the damage will be worse. We’ve already seen that happen before. Cleaning that up would be quite troublesome for you.”
The vice-chairman opened his mouth, then closed it again.
Mari gave a shallow bow.
“I’m busy, so I’ll be going.”
Leaving the meeting room, Mari headed down the hallway toward her office.
She bought a canned coffee from the vending machine and sank deep into a chair by the lounge window.
Holding the hot paper cup in both hands, she closed her eyes.
She was tired.
Why was answering those people in the meeting room so exhausting?
She took a sip of coffee.
Then, beyond the glass door, someone stood there, their short hair swaying.
Outside, Hye-eun smiled brightly and waved excitedly.
“Kang Hye-eun.”
Mari muttered her name under her breath.
Hye-eun pushed the door open and stepped inside.
“Did your date go well, sunbae?”
“What date?”
“I saw it on CCTV yesterday. Walking hand in hand with her. Drinking wine too. Quite a lot, actually. And after that, you were practically carrying her.”
“Stop hacking. Ever heard of privacy? Why are you stalking me?”
“It’s for work.”
“Since when did ‘work’ mean tracking my movements?”
“Your movements are basically villain movements, sunbae.”
Hye-eun grabbed a coffee from the vending machine and smirked.
She dragged the chair across from Mari with her foot and sat down, cradling her cup in both hands.
Then she stared at Mari.
“So what kind of person is she, exactly?”
Mari took a sip of coffee and looked out the window.
Hye-eun laughed quietly.
“Got it.”
Fine, don’t tell me.
She didn’t press any further.
The two sat side by side, sipping coffee in silence.
Mari stared into her cooling paper cup.
What kind of person?
Behind her closed eyes, a memory from three years ago slowly resurfaced.
Three years ago.
Boom—!
A deafening explosion rang out, and an old neighborhood collapsed.
It had been Mari’s attack.
By the time she realized she had lost control in the heat of the moment, the building had already crumbled and dust was billowing everywhere.
Mari stood there blankly.
What did I just do?
Did I destroy an innocent building?
Her eyes turned to the rubble.
The Pink Witch emerged from the dust completely unharmed.
Mari scanned her from head to toe.
Not a scratch.
The two stared at each other for a moment.
Mari opened her mouth, then closed it again.
She didn’t know what to say.
She didn’t know how to fix this ruin, this disaster.
Then the Pink Witch spun around.
With the tip of her umbrella, she painted a streak of pink across a broken wall.
Then another.
And another.
All across the ruined alley, she casually left colorful graffiti behind.
Flowers.
Fish.
Stars.
Mari stared at it blankly.
Then the Pink Witch turned back and looked at her.
Holding her umbrella, with a smile curling beneath her lace eyepatch, she shyly made a V-sign with her free hand.
And then darkness swallowed her whole.
She disappeared.
Mari stood there for a long time, staring at the colorful wreckage.
From the place she vanished came a fresh, sweet scent.
Her heart pounded violently.
She pressed a hand over her chest.
The next morning, the news blamed it all on the Pink Witch.
Mari said nothing at the press conference.
Some time later.
After putting the blame on a villain, Mari couldn’t focus on anything.
Thump. Thump.
With her mind unsettled, she wandered aimlessly.
Before she knew it, she was standing on the subway, holding onto a strap.
Just letting the train sway her along.
Then two women stepped in front of her.
She instinctively took a step back.
A brown bob haircut swayed right in front of her eyes, paired with a blouse and skirt.
A glimpse of a pale nape.
A small frame, more than a head shorter than her.
And from that direction came a fresh, pleasant scent.
Mari found herself staring.
The woman beside the bob-haired girl narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
Mari quickly looked away.
But her eyes drifted back again.
Why do I keep looking?
The subway doors opened.
The two women moved to get off.
And suddenly, alarm bells rang in her head.
For some reason, she felt like she couldn’t let her leave.
She didn’t know why.
But before she realized it, her hand had already reached out and grabbed the hem of the bob-haired woman’s clothes.
“Eek.”
The girl let out a small sound as she was yanked back.
The woman beside her grabbed onto her and pulled her the other way.
“What’s your problem?!”
“Huh? Ah...”
Mari couldn’t say anything.
She just stood there, unable to let go.
She could feel everyone in the train staring.
I can’t let them find out who I am.
The brown-haired woman slowly turned around.
Their eyes met.
Pink eyes.
“Why are you grabbing me?”
“I...”
Because it feels like I can’t let you go.
But saying that would sound even stranger.
“‘I’ what?! Let go of my sister, you psycho!”
The woman beside her yanked hard.
Mari unintentionally pulled the bob-haired woman toward herself.
Caught in the middle, she flailed helplessly.
“Ah—”
“Hey! What is wrong with you?! Let go!”
That shout snapped Mari back to reality.
“S-sorry!”
The moment she let go—
Whoosh.
Thud.
Both women tumbled straight to the floor.
Beeeeep—
The doors started closing.
Panicked, Mari dug into her pocket, pulled out a business card, and threw it toward them.
Her hero business card.
“T-take this!”
The doors shut.
Through the window, Mari saw the other woman glaring at her with disgust as she fixed the bob-haired girl’s skirt.
The bob-haired woman sat there on the floor, staring blankly at Mari with her mouth hanging open.
Then something dropped onto her lap.
A lottery ticket.
A one-thousand-won winning ticket.
The subway began moving.
Mari stood silently, watching her face disappear into the distance.
Her heart was still pounding.
Louder than the sound of the train wheels.
Whether it was because of the lottery ticket—
or because of her—
she didn’t know.
That was her first meeting with Lee Yuri.