#04 Kang Minsu
Kang Minsu.
A fourth-year in the Physical Education department. On the surface, he had the kind of handsome face and rock-solid, muscular build that made him popular — but he was also the school's notorious delinquent, forever popping up on Everytime in fresh waves of drama involving women.
Even I, someone who couldn't care less about campus gossip, knew who this senior was. That's how famous he was.
I'd wondered why a thug like him was acquainted with Yerin at all, but apparently he held the title of vice president of the club — in name only — just so the club could meet its minimum membership requirement to stay officially recognized.
One look at him and it was obvious: he had his sights set on Yerin. Of course he did·····
"Hey, are you ignoring me? If you bump into someone, you apologize."
Seoyoung had collided with him, and a low, intimidating voice rumbled out of him, thick with irritation.
"Ahh·· eep, I'm sorry!!"
"Hmmm·· hm? Now that I look again, you're actually pretty cute. I figured only nutcases like Yerin hung around a place like this."
Once he'd gotten a look at Seoyoung's face, Minsu began sweeping his gaze over her body, scanning her up and down with unmistakable lewdness.
"Uhm·· if you stare at me like that···"
His blatant, unapologetic leer made her face burn, and she wanted to snap at him to knock it off already — but her hopelessly timid personality meant the words never came out the way she meant them.
I mean, who on earth stares at someone openly like that, right to their face?
"Don't be so harsh~ Anyway, you've got a pretty nice body too, don't you? How about you come hang out with me outside?"
He slid behind her――
And with that, Minsu's hand clamped down hard on Seoyoung's backside.
Sqeeeze――
"Hyiiiik!?"
"Hm? Come play with me. I'll make sure you don't regret it."
Every fiber of her being wanted to shake off that hand and break free, but the sheer difference in size and strength between a man and a woman made prying his grip loose anything but easy.
And then···
Viiiiing ――――
Ugh—!
The crest on her lower abdomen — the one that must never, ever show itself — spread out its presence and began to emit a faint glow.
And before long, the hand that had hurt began to feel gradually, terribly, soft.
"Hnngh····"
Sensing her reaction, Minsu smirked and kneaded her backside even harder.
"Oh? So you're the type who's into this? Should've just said so."
"Nnh·· no, I'm not···"
Her body responding in complete defiance of her words, Minsu caressed her like he was savoring every second of it — and then his hand finally began creeping toward her chest――
"That's far enough, don't you think?"
Yerin snatched Minsu's arm just as it was reaching for Seoyoung's chest.
Under the frankly terrifying glare Yerin leveled at him,
"Whoa, whoa~ don't look at me like that, it was just a joke! All in good fun. We're just getting to know each other, that's all."
"If this is how you 'get to know' people, then don't bother coming to the club room ever again."
Yerin snapped at him, her face thunderous.
"Wow, you do realize you can't keep this club running without me? Can't even say thank you, and you come at me like this? Fine, I'll quit the club, then."
"We don't need you to keep the club running anymore, actually. Seoyoung's joined us, so I don't have to put up with your garbage behavior anymore."
Wait·· hold on. That sounds an awful lot like me.
Minsu glanced sideways at me, then grinned.
"Oho, is that so···? So you're officially joining, huh."
He licked his lips, his eyes flicking back and forth between me and Yerin — but before long, he backed down, tail between his legs.
"Yeah, yeah, my bad. All I have to do is stop with the jokes from now on, right? And Han Seoyoung, was it? Looks like I'll be seeing a lot of you around. Keke."
With that, Minsu sauntered out of the club room, still grinning.
What did he even come here for in the first place···· And I'm pretty sure that wasn't an apology···
"Whew·· I'm sorry about that."
"N—no, Senior, you don't have anything to apologize for."
"Still, now that I've warned him once, he should behave. If he tries anything like that again, tell me. I'll make sure he's thrown out for good."
"Thank you·· Ah!"
Had this much time really passed? If I factored in the distance from here to the lecture hall·· oh no!
"Senior! I'm heading out first!"
Run!!!
Despite sprinting desperately all the way to the lecture hall, Seoyoung ended up late to class anyway.
Two weeks later.
Ever since the demon beasts had first revealed their existence to the public in the downtown district, reports of them appearing all across the city had been coming in with mounting frequency.
After I handed some of the demon stones from my hunts over to Yerin, it wasn't long before she'd built me a demonic energy detector — a device that could sense the miasma the beasts gave off. From that point on, tracking down monsters got noticeably easier.
In the beginning, I'd had no idea where the enemies would appear, and every single time I was reduced to scrambling just to clean up whatever mess had already been made. But now, the drones Yerin had scattered far and wide across the city measured the demonic energy nearby, letting me predict where a demon beast would emerge and get there ahead of time to prepare.
Even when the beasts did show up, they were simply no match for Solaria, grown stronger with every demon stone she absorbed.
And having fought so many of them by now, I'd noticed their attack patterns were monotonous enough that they might actually be easier to deal with than before····.
If things kept going like this, wouldn't I breeze my way all the way to the boss?
Fufufu···
Unlike the worries she'd had when she first became a magical girl, Seoyoung's days had grown smooth enough that a flicker of confidence had taken root in her.
These days, dealing with the crowds of grateful citizens afterward took more out of her than the demon beasts ever did.
"Thank you so much for today!"
"You're so pretty!"
"Just one photo with us, please!"
Click ―― click ――
No matter how many times it happened, being swarmed by people was something she never quite got used to, and she always fled the scene like she was running for her life.
"Th—thank youu!!"
Whew·· exhausting.
But I'm meeting Seol-ah tonight, so time to perk up and get ready!
We agreed on the evening, so I've got a little time left, right?
She ducked quickly into a spot no one could see, released her transformation, and headed for the downtown district where they'd promised to meet.
In front of the clock tower in the heart of downtown — their meeting spot.
Seoyoung paced back and forth along the bustling, crowded street, glancing down at her smartphone. The agreed time had come and gone a good thirty minutes ago.
Is Seol-ah still far away····?
It was all in the past now, but after what had happened to her, she could well be running late just from poor condition. Still, as Seoyoung tapped her foot against a rising undercurrent of boredom——
"Oh my~? What's a pretty lady like you doing here all alone?"
At the smarmy, nasal drawl, she turned her head with a scowl.
Standing there was a man of frankly shocking visual impact. A glossy full-body black bodysuit clung to every inch of him without a gap, and stamped across his head in huge, vivid red letters was a single T.
Was it some kind of sightseeing costume, or was he just an attention-seeker? Without the faintest idea what he actually was, Seoyoung dismissed him as nothing more than a suspicious weirdo in a bizarre outfit and shot him a wary look.
"Wh—what do you want? I'm meeting someone."
"Playing so cold~ I just saw such a pretty face sitting all lonely by itself and thought I'd keep you company. What do you say — how about you grab a cup of coffee with·· WAAGH?!"
It was the very moment the man had swaggered one sleazy step closer.
Swisssssh―― pt!
Somehow, some way, a single dusky flying insect dropped down and landed with a plop on the man's shoulder. It was the same grotesque, oversized bug Seoyoung had seen on the demon beasts she fought regularly.
"·····?"
"AAAAAHH! What the hell is that thing?! It's on me! Get it off! Get it AWAY!"
In an instant, the face of a man who'd been playing it so cool and worldly went ghost-white, pale as a sheet of paper.
The moment the bug fluttered its wings toward him, any thought of hitting on Seoyoung was wiped entirely from his memory. He spiraled into full-blown panic, thrashing and flailing all by himself, whipping his limbs in every direction — and honestly, the sight was one for the history books.
"KYAAAAH! Get it off! I said get it off! Mommy, heeelp meee!"
"··What is wrong with that guy? Is he some kind of comedian?"
Seoyoung could only blink at the spectacle, eyes narrowed in sheer disbelief, as the smug man in the bodysuit — who'd been so full of himself not a minute ago — shrieked in terror at a single bug, tears streaming down his face as he bolted.
With one last cry of "Mommy!" the man vanished at roughly the speed of light into a back corner of the district.
The bystanders murmured among themselves at the sight of the bodysuit maniac who'd caused a scene and fled all alone, and Seoyoung let out a hollow sigh, pressing a hand to her forehead.
The absurd little episode passed, and quiet settled over the clock tower once more.
Seol-ah still hadn't shown. And inside my chest, alongside that lingering unease from a moment ago, a genuine, creeping anxiety had begun to build.
"Did she forget we were meeting today…?"
I pulled out my phone, fidgeted restlessly over her contact, and finally pressed the call button.
Riiiing――
"The customer you are calling is not available. After the beep, you will be connected to voicemail. Charges will apply once connected. Beeeeep――"
Seol-ah wasn't picking up. Was she feeling sick? Or had something really, truly happened to her? A cold jolt of fear shot through me, and I briefly considered running straight to her house — but then I told myself she'd probably just crashed into a deep sleep from exhaustion, and calmed myself down. In the end, after waiting for a Seol-ah who never appeared, I had no choice but to turn around and trudge home alone.
I fell asleep with that hollow feeling in my chest, and the next day I arrived at school and searched the lecture hall — but there was no sign of Seol-ah anywhere.
Missing our appointment yesterday was one thing, but skipping class too··? And she still hasn't even read the message I sent her yesterday.
Something's wrong! Something must have happened to her!
The moment class ended, my heart racing, I ran to the club room where Yerin was, barely stopping to breathe. When I flung the door open and burst inside, my face was written all over with worry I couldn't hide.
"Senior Yerin! Seol-ah is gone!"
Looking at me as I burst in, the senior gazed back with eyes that said she already knew Seol-ah had disappeared.
As if she had something to say about it too, she opened her mouth.
"About·· you know, Seol-ah··. I think the Traitors have taken her."
"········The Traitors?"