Half-Assed Hero, Lee Hayun (2)
"Me? I'm working part-time. Can't you tell?"
Lee Hayun said it while slouching in a posture that was awfully arrogant for a part-timer. Even with a customer right in front of her, somehow she had her legs crossed—I couldn't quite wrap my head around it with normal sensibilities, but I let it slide for now. Not because I thought I was being some old fogey or anything. That girl Lee Hayun was the type where 1. you chat with her a bit, and 2. suddenly the intimacy level flips back and forth. So her acting all loose like that in front of me probably meant she saw me as a 'close junior.' ...Yeah. I could buy that much.
But if Lee Hayun was the part-timer at this convenience store, there was one thing that didn't add up crystal clear.
"...Want some discarded stuff? Why are you standing there all spaced out?"
"......"
"You like tuna mayo? Somewhere... Ah. There's Jeonju bibimbap too."
...Robber. How the hell did she hear about it?
"What time do you work until?"
"11. One hour left."
Since there was time to kill anyway, I plopped down in the convenience store and chatted with Lee Hayun. Makeup this, training that—it started off tough with topics that were hard to volley back and forth, but food talk was manageable enough. Her food preferences were useful intel for me, after all.
"I like all kinds of noodles... yeah."
"Me... red bean bread! Red bean bread with whipped cream!"
"...?"
"You don't know? It's delicious."
"...I'll try it next time."
She brought up this unheard-of 'whipped cream red bean bread' mid-conversation, so I filed it away in my head. Her guard was already way down, and stacking up favor steadily would open more options down the line. Now with 59 minutes left, as she grinned brightly, I looked down at her innocent smile and turned away before she could question it.
Outside the convenience store was boringly dead. The shop near my one-room always had a customer or two even at this hour, but here, shockingly, there hadn't been a soul passing by for about 20 minutes. Even though it was wedged between residential areas. Shouldn't there at least be someone popping in for smokes? Was this a neighborhood full of early-sleeping non-smoker grannies and grandpas?
I pondered for a sec and asked Lee Hayun.
"Is it usually this dead here?"
"Mm... mostly? Around this time, yeah?"
Lee Hayun stretched with a groan, ripping open a carton of cigarettes and neatly stocking the shelves as she spoke.
"Been working half a year now, and weirdly, people vanish right around this hour. No idea why."
"......"
"Once, not a single customer for a whole week? From 10 to 11. Exactly this slot."
She hummed some mysterious tune while tidying up. ...Was it because I'd seen her drenched T-shirt clinging to her body a few hours ago? Even with the baggy hoodie and convenience store uniform layered on top, I could roughly picture what was underneath. Not the time for this. Quietly, so Lee Hayun wouldn't hear, I swallowed the saliva pooling in my mouth.
"Noona."
"Yeah."
"Gonna head out now. Was out for a run and ended up here."
"...You didn't come to buy anything? Just leaving?"
"Ah..."
Come to think of it, I hadn't planned what to buy. If the part-timer wasn't Lee Hayun, I'd have just browsed and bounced. After a moment's thought, I grabbed a throat candy from right under the counter.
Beep, beep. The register chimed. Before I could pull out my card, one shot out of Lee Hayun's wallet first. It had some weird animal drawing... anyway, memorable card.
"Here. Pay for hanging out with me."
She flashed that toothy grin, lip corners tugged up like always. Recalling how she always brought up money stuff a lot, I thanked her and left the store.
*****
I jogged lightly back about 200 meters, like heading home. Any gazes on me? Any presences lurking nearby? I scanned casually, turned a few corners, waited 3 seconds. Then whipped around 180 degrees and headed back to the convenience store.
About a minute. Long enough for any perp staking out the store to make their move. Waiting around forever gets you nowhere. Strike fast when the chance hits. So if a criminal was hiding nearby, they'd be crossing those auto-doors by now.
Worried if it was a knife-wielding robber... but an evolution-type transcendent like Lee Hayun wouldn't be in much danger from some normie's slash. Still, if the robber was a transcendent too, that'd be a slight concern. I could heal her, but I didn't want any other guy's scent on Lee Hayun.
As I neared the store again, I killed my footsteps to avoid screwing things up. From afar, the convenience store lights still gleamed unchanged. Good—the residential street was packed with parked cars, letting me slip through shadows and hide where I had a clear view of the store.
...Unfortunately. Nothing yet. Just Lee Hayun counting the register cash before shift change.
Hmm. Maybe the perp couldn't act with me inside? Or was it all my imagination? Or perhaps they'd given up since I'd lingered so long. Popping the gifted throat candy in my mouth, I scanned around idly. Alleys left and right. Diagonal one too. No presences anywhere. Eerily like a ghost might pop out.
"......"
Rough guess, 50 minutes. I'd stick till her shift end. If it was some other clerk, getting stabbed wouldn't faze me. Pulling my neck warmer higher, I melted the candy and watched the alleys.
*****
10 minutes passed. Rustle—tiny footsteps nearby. My stakeout as if I were Lee Hayun's stalker ended there. I snapped my gaze to the sound.
A woman looking a bit tense crept through the alley with cautious steps. Around 170cm? Tall for a chick. Other than that, thick glasses. Average build—no gym-toned vibe, but not skinny or fat either.
If she'd been walking normal, or even smoking while strolling, I wouldn't have cared. But her chest heaving with deep breaths, constantly glancing back—super suspicious. That bitch. The robber.
But... hard to say. Being a woman and all, and her face looked too mild for bold robbery. Watching longer, her feet pivoted straight toward the store.
Ting-a-ling. The door opened, woman entered. Unlike when I went in, a chipper "Welcome!" rang out clear.
Still nothing. No sudden knife pull—just casually shopping down the middle aisle. Maybe I judged too quick by looks.
As I revised my take on her, she shrugged her shoulders big like she'd steeled herself and pocketed her glasses. Some transcendents are like that. Need minor conditions met to activate powers. Or self-limit normally.
Bad vibes—I stepped out carefully from the dark. Should've posted closer? At 15m away, she beat me to the counter, snack in hand.
She stared dead at Lee Hayun's face, tense as hell. While scanning. While taking card for payment. While handing it back post-checkout. Even as Lee Hayun tilted her head at the weird customer.
Stare.
...If she was just a diehard fan of trainee hero Lee Hayun, maybe. But—
—Ting-a-ling.
"Hey."
"...?"
After locking eyes awhile, Lee Hayun keeled over like she'd dozed off. Not a fan, then.
"Misunder—"
Thud.
Heads don't shatter easy, but they make a surprisingly crisp sound. I grabbed the woman's skull, slammed it into the floor. She twitched like a bug; I headed to Lee Hayun.
Looked just asleep. But magic-types are tricky till you see the full hand—could be nasty. Like eternal sleep till caster releases. Or hypnosis as the real deal, not sleep.
Anyway. She didn't come just for a snack. Probably to rob the till. Or harvest organs from the sleeping girl here.
I laid Lee Hayun comfy on the floor, approached the subdued woman. Still twitching. A bit of blood from her head bouncing on impact, but comms possible? Fine.
"F-fuck..."
"Undo the magic first."
"C-can't... undo... asshole... after 1... past..."
She gagged, drool spilling, flailing hands. I yanked her hair, hauled her to my eye level. She clawed my arms and hands begging release, feet dangling pitifully.
"For real?"
"Why... would I lie... you fuck..."
Not frontline fighter, but I'd picked up bits over villains' shoulders. Especially Yojora's. People crack honest easier than you think. Especially when life's on the line.
So.
Thud.
Slammed her head again. Louder sans feet grounded.
"Hoo..."
Hadn't used force in ages. Felt hot. Dropped neck warmer on counter, healed her head quick. Mana churned her insides; gagging quieted fast.
But the gaze back? Pissed-off murder glare. Not honest yet.
Thud.
Blood and mystery fluid splattered. Nose busted this time, wrong angle. Sigh, healed again. Gagging faded; now a fish-out-of-water blank stare.
Finally chatty?
"Magic. Undo."
"......"
Silence. Then shaky hands fetched glasses—those thick ones. Lee Hayun's eyes snapped open right after.
"...Hm?"
Her sparkling jade-green eyes blinked behind lids, mismatched the brutal scene.
"...Huh?"
She rustled up, shuffled over awkwardly. Glancing between standing me and the kneeled, trembling woman on the floor.
"...Customer. Did you fall?"
"......"
Classic Lee Hayun. But why the sigh?
"Ugh...? Why's my head throbbing...? Woojin, why're you here again?"
"Noona. Call first."
"Call? Suddenly? Who?"
"112. And where do you check CCTV?"
"112? Uh, yeah, that... over there, the room like a warehouse inside, computer..."