11. I'm Not Even Mentally Prepared—What Do You Mean I Have to Lay Eggs? (3)
It was a strange dream.
A dream where Park Won took care of me.
He kept changing the warm towel over my numb lower belly, and every time I closed my eyes and opened them again, Park Won was there.
My vision had gone hazy, so I could only make out his outline, but I could still tell. The man always had a faint smell of cigarettes on him.
It was probably a dream. Yeah, it had to be a dream.
There was no way I'd let someone like him fuss over me so meekly, and no way that man would stay quietly by my side.
A guy who's busy rushing off to do his own thing the moment work ends—why would he stick around here?
It really was a dream. I'd drifted off in a daze and was dreaming all sorts of things.
Thank god it was a dream.
"I'm sorry."
In the dream, I quietly said it to Park Won.
The words I hadn't been able to say properly during the day because I'd been out of my mind. Using the excuse that it was just a dream, I quietly murmured them.
Without meeting the eyes of Park Won, who had turned his head, I apologized again in the dream for everything that had happened during the day.
"I'm sorry for getting angry at you when you were trying to help."
"...."
"And for, you know, saying those harsh things."
"...."
"Sorry. Ever since I ended up in this body... sometimes, I can't even understand myself."
Having said everything I wanted to say, I turned over and hugged the pillow.
Every time I shifted on the bed, the sound of my skin brushing against the sheets tickled my ears for no reason.
Like that, through a small gap, I looked up at Park Won.
The dim lighting cast shadows, so I couldn't tell what expression he wore.
But at least... he didn't seem scary.
Twitch.
Something tickled my head.
The ticklish feeling made me toss and turn, and I rubbed my face against the pillow.
It tickled. Something, on my head.... No, something seemed to be sprouting near my ears.
Twitch, twitch... It tickled so much that I kept squirming my face for no reason.
Park Won seemed to mutter something, but I couldn't tell what he was saying.
It just tickled and bothered me, and when I squirmed my head, Park Won's hand touched my hair.
The feeling of relief when I ruffled the ticklish spot with my hand.
If I thought of it as a dream, it wasn't so bad.
Maybe it was because everything I'd been through since becoming a Magical Girl had been nothing but hardship.
A touch like this, if it was only sometimes... maybe it wouldn't be so bad to just call it a break and let myself relax into it.
"Nnghhh...!"
After reflexively shooting upright in bed, I started checking over my body.
Even after all that chaos in the bathroom. My body and my clothes were all clean.
And the comfortable pajamas... they smelled nice too. Nice enough that I wanted to bury my face in them and stay like that for a while.
And my lower belly, which had been so sore yesterday, had settled down a lot.
My hips, which had been heaving... honestly, they were still a bit stiff.
"Somehow, after laying the egg once, I do feel a bit refreshed."
In a lot of ways, it felt like one big ordeal had passed.
I pulled the blanket up, buried my face in it, and squirmed.
Being freed from pain—so this is how good it feels.
"Hnnngh...! Seriously, I feel so refreshed...!"
I started kicking my legs against the bed for no reason, letting out satisfaction I couldn't contain.
Nice. So nice. Starting a clear day like this—so nice.
But why did something smell so good? I didn't know. Right now, I just wanted to savor this feeling.
Because right now, really... I was so happy for the first time in ages.
"You're up."
"Ugh."
Park Won, that's how it was until you showed up.
It was already ridiculous that he was wearing those ridiculous sunglasses indoors.
And why the hell was he wearing a pink apron?
"What's with the getup...?"
"I was cooking."
"No, that's not what I'm asking. I mean, why that of all things...."
"It fits well."
I instantly hurled the pillow I'd been hugging at Park Won and covered the corners of my mouth with my hand.
Hold it in. Hold it in. I didn't want to show this man me laughing. It hurt my pride.
Just because he helped me for a day didn't mean his wrongdoings disappeared, so I shouldn't let him see me relaxed.
But even looking again, the visual was way too violent. A burly middle-aged man in Léon sunglasses and a pink apron.
"As a favor, could you take it off...?"
"Judging by your reaction, you've improved a lot."
"No, don't change the subject. Take it off, Partner. No, wait. I'll take it off for you."
I glared at Park Won seriously and slowly got up.
Something was ticklish, so I scratched my head roughly as I approached him, and he looked down at me.
No, he bent over and started looking at me from up close. What, why. It's kind of intimidating when you stare down at me like that.
I averted my gaze for no reason and reached behind him to start untying the strings of the catastrophic pink apron he had on.
"You...."
"What."
"You've got feathers on your head."
"What are you talking about all of a sudden...? Sometimes I can't understand a word you say."
"Look at this."
Ah, all untied. Bye-bye, pink apron.
Just as I was about to say, go live happily far away from this cigarette-reeking old man—
Twitch.
"Eek...?!"
Covering my ears with both hands, I backed away a couple of steps and replayed what had just happened.
A high-pitched sound I couldn't believe came out of my own mouth, and at the same time, the constant twitching around my ears.
Something kept twitching. Twitch, twitch.... It tickled and annoyed me.
What is this...?
"A, a mirror. Mirror...."
"It's right next to you."
I ran in the direction Park Won pointed and examined the area around my head.
At first I thought it was just hair, but when I lowered the hands that had been covering it, something twitched and stood up.
They weren't cat ears. The hair looked just like feathers....
At a glance, it almost looked like an owl....
"Park Won...! What did you do to me?!"
"Why do you always suspect me first?"
"Because you're the only one who was with me all night...."
"Were you awake then?"
Ah.
"Ah, no. No. I got confused with a dream. I had a weird dream. More importantly, what is this?"
"You've probably entered your first awakening as a Magical Girl. Come out and eat."
"...."
"Do you eat miyeok-guk?"
So it really wasn't a dream.
That man really had nursed me all through the night.
Even after I'd made it so obvious I hated it, cursed at him, and threw a fit in the bathroom while getting soaked.
He cleaned all of that up, and even made miyeok-guk overnight?
Why would he go that far....
───
No, I don't know about all that. The miyeok-guk was delicious.
"It's good! What are you...?"
When I lowered my heated voice with a surprised look, Park Won finally picked up his spoon.
I hadn't been able to eat a proper meal lately because I'd been so out of it.
And sure enough, as the warm food went down, it felt like some of the tension... was easing.
"Hey. Thanks for... taking care of me. If it were me, I don't think I could've been this attentive."
"Now you say thanks."
"Well...! No. Fine... it was my fault, this. But that doesn't mean I forgive you."
"I know."
"And you're okay with that?"
"I'm okay with it."
Reacting flatly, Park Won focused only on eating his breakfast.
As I watched him quietly with my chin propped on my hand, one question came to mind.
Why did this man do it? He seemed perfectly normal on the outside.
Violence and exploitation against Magical Girls. That was clearly something deserving of condemnation.
But... why? Why did he do it? He didn't seem like the type. Did a naturally bad person grow older and reflect on himself?
"I don't get it...."
"And you're off today. Don't go anywhere—rest at home."
"Why?"
"You really haven't touched the regulations manual, have you."
Park Won went on to explain that, according to the Association, a Magical Girl who has laid an egg is basically granted paid leave along with her Partner.
The length varied depending on the Partner's discretion, but it was usually about a day.
"From my standpoint, getting paid to take a day off isn't a bad deal."
"So you really are full of nothing but thoughts of slacking off!"
"Is that a problem?"
"Of course not!"
That idle nature of his really doesn't go anywhere. A lazy bum who wants to get paid no matter what and laze around....
"At your age, seriously."
"I'm going to change first, so go out and work! Part. Ner!"
Squawk.
Just as I was about to raise my voice and squeeze my eyes shut, Park Won cut me off.
"When someone's trying to look after you, take the chance to rest. If you keep that up, the people around you get tired too."
"Ngh...."
"Besides, you're going to have visitors today."
"Who's coming? Ever since I ended up in this body, I haven't even been able to properly contact my friends."
"Yun Ha-ram and Albatross."
"Ugh..., don't tell me they're coming all the way here because of me?"
"Mm."
"I, I don't want that. It's too much...."
"They seemed happy about it themselves. Said they could take the day off under the pretext of Magical Girl guidance and nursing assistance."
I stared at Park Won with narrowed eyes, then set down my spoon.
And then I started glaring at him.
"If everyone slacks off, who's going to protect the city?"
"Some other diligent Magical Girl and Partner will handle it."
"Look. Here. That's me. Me. The person who worked day and night before becoming a Magical Girl. Huh? Are you kidding me?"
"A city where Magical Girls have nothing to do is the safest city there is. You should be happy about that, if anything."
I grabbed the table with both hands and started kicking Park Won's shins with my legs.
Yun Ha-ram, I hadn't pegged her for that. She'd clearly been following Park Won around like a dutiful junior, and now she'd been corrupted.
Just as I was kicking Park Won's legs and pressing down hard, the doorbell rang.
"They're here."
"Ugh...."
"From now on, at least pretend to treat your Partner properly."
"Then maybe you should've acted right from the start!"
Scratch scratch scratch scratch.
Irritably scraping Park Won's legs with the tips of my feet, I let out another squawk.
The feather tufts near my ears, which had been tickling, stood up.