6. How Do I Get Used to a Body Like This (2)
So, it was all well and good that I boldly declared I'd be the one handling him.
"You."
"...."
"Is it really okay for you to be sitting around like some idle bum?"
"What do you mean."
An Gi-yeon had already left for the day. The handover was done, so she'd gone off to do her own work, or so she said.
Then what about this man, Park Won?
Right now he was sitting on a bench, wasting time with a cigarette dangling from his mouth.
I'd been wondering why some musty smell was stinging my nose, and now I finally knew the source.
I promptly reached out and snatched the cigarette he was about to light right out of his hand.
As I crushed it in half right in front of him, Park Won clicked his tongue like it was a waste.
This man. I wanted to hit him.
"This is a no-smoking area, get a grip. And you..., you're my Partner, at least for now."
"That's right."
"I'm asking if you can really just sit around wasting time with nothing to do."
"What exactly can I do, when you're already so full of wariness."
"...."
"Want a smoke?"
"Are you insane?"
"You could smoke if you put your mind to it. You're not a child."
With a look that said what's the problem, Park Won held the cigarette pack out to me.
With my head throbbing and my lower abdomen aching, I shoved the pack back at him with force.
What kind of ability could this idle bum possibly have that the Association went out of its way to bring him back?
"What was the Association thinking, trusting an incompetent ex-convict like...."
"We're outside, so watch your words. There are ears everywhere."
"Tch..., fine. Let me correct myself, Partner. So how much of my situation have you been briefed on?"
At my question, Park Won held up his fingers one by one.
First, that I had to rehabilitate my Magical Girl talents one by one.
Second, that it was still difficult to reveal to the public that Peregrine was alive.
Lastly, strictly speaking, I wasn't the original Peregrine, so I still needed time to adapt.
That was the extent of what he knew.
"You do know everything you need to know, I see."
"Anything beyond that is for me to find out on my own. It's not like you'd tell me just because I asked."
"That's true. No, well, of course I'd tell you if it was truly necessary information. I just don't like you personally. I'll at least keep things professional, Partner. For now...."
"Suit yourself. At any rate, at least keep up that way of speaking when we're outside."
"Yes. Don't you worry about that."
I didn't want to treat this man like a Partner. After all, he was someone with a criminal record.
But it was also true that there were many eyes watching.
For example, Peregrine hit her head and started speaking rudely to her own Partner.... I didn't want to invite that kind of misunderstanding.
If I were Yu Seong-woo, I wouldn't have cared, but taking that kind of false accusation in Peregrine's body was something I couldn't do.
At the very least, I'd make a conscious effort with my speech.
Just in case. On the off chance that someone might be listening.
"First, shall we start with the general principles."
"Please summarize briefly."
"Given your current state, I believe it would be difficult for you to participate in Aberration extermination right away."
"Well, as you can see."
"Until you recover your Magical Girl talents, we'll be conducting exchanges with a Magical Girl named Albatross."
"And the reason?"
"Because I believe it will help with your recovery. While we're at it, we'll also try to extract some information needed for Magical Girl adaptation."
"...."
"I don't know much about the circumstances of Magical Girls. Any objections?"
"No. Not particularly...."
"Then, I'll be off."
"Wait. You're leaving already?"
"There's nothing more to do anyway."
Why is everyone who works at this damn Association like this? If there's nothing to do, they just clock out and leave.
At the very least, before I became Peregrine, I worked around the clock. I even felt self-conscious about taking vacation days.
Suddenly I'm feeling a bit wronged here...?
"Partner, isn't this dereliction of duty?!"
"It's not. That was the condition when I first signed the contract. It's specified in my contract as well."
"What...?"
"Make efforts toward Peregrine's recovery and adaptation, but if there's nothing to do, leave work at my own discretion."
"...."
"That's my role as your temporary Partner. There's no need to go looking for extra trouble beyond that, is there."
He was so brazen about it that I almost got persuaded.
Who does that.
Is the Association a pushover, handing money to someone like this?
"H-hold on. Hold on...! I can't accept that. Everyone else at the Association works hard, so why are you the only one slacking off however you please?!"
"There's not much I can do. And I'm not the only one."
"Ugh...."
An Gi-yeon, of all times, you had to become the poster child in a bad way.
"Still, I can't accept it. I can't just sit back and watch you work like some idle bum while collecting a paycheck."
"Even if we went to find Albatross right now, we couldn't have a conversation. Unlike some people, she's busy focusing on Aberration extermination."
"It's not my fault you're free... no, even so!"
"If it really bothers you that I'm slacking off, then let's do this."
Suddenly, Park Won held out the file folder he'd been carrying.
When I opened it, what came out were documents divided into several bundles.
"...."
What was unexpected was that the documents were more worn and shabby than I'd thought.
That meant the documents had been handled a lot.
Highlights, underlines. Personal notes and memos.
On the important documents, he'd even attached separate sticky notes.
So this man had been doing his own work after all, just like An Gi-yeon.
"Master that by tomorrow."
"What? Why is the conversation suddenly going in that direction?"
"Didn't you say I looked like an idle bum? Then show me you have the right to say that."
"What does that have to do with this."
"I read through that in a single day. If I wanted to, I could recite every piece of information about the Magical Girl in question."
"Huh."
"What I'm saying is, I have no intention of taking criticism about my working conditions from a Magical Girl who's less capable than I am."
Chain-smoker. Ex-convict. Idle bum.
I chewed over every curse word internally as I opened the documents.
The subject of the documents was Albatross.
Her name in particular had been underlined multiple times, as if for emphasis.
Someone old-school enough to take notes this diligently was at least not the kind of person who lied.
"You really went all out. What's with all these notes one by one..., it's not like you're studying for an exam."
"I've always been like this. Anyway, the deadline is tomorrow."
"Ugh...."
Just as I was thinking how cruel the hem of his coat looked as he sauntered away after those final words.
Park Won turned his back.
Then he walked toward me. The Léon sunglasses were walking over.
What. Why is he coming over.
"You've read the Magical Girl manual issued by the Association, haven't you."
"I'm reading it at my own discretion, Partner."
"Read that thoroughly as soon as possible too. It'd be a pain to explain everything one by one."
"I'll handle that myself, Part-ner!"
"Get yourself a hat soon too. Preferably one you can pull down low."
"What? Why?"
"If your identity gets exposed, we'll all be in trouble. So, are you going to stay cooped up in your quarters forever? You'll need to at least wear a hat when you go outside."
It wasn't like I planned to stay in my quarters forever, as he said.
But now that I had this body, going out alone felt somewhat unsettling. Because of the unfamiliar body, everything felt strange on a basic level.
Maybe I should contact the friends I still remembered..., no. That's on hold too.
Most of them were people I only had business-like contact with anyway.
There were a few friends I considered close, but the truth was, Yu Seong-woo's identity was a classified matter right now.
If I contacted them at a time like this, putting aside the issue of keeping secrets, the Association might catch on first and make things annoying.
Did I, at this age, end up losing every single human relationship I'd managed to maintain?
"Then, I'll be going."
"Ah, um. Partner."
"Mm."
Before he left, I had to say that one thing.
"This. These documents. If I read them thoroughly and master them by tomorrow, then no more slacking off from now on."
"Confident?"
"Yes. Even if it's just because I hate the sight of you taking it easy day after day, I plan to master them somehow."
"Do your best, then."
And so, I sat on the bench until Park Won became a dot and disappeared.
The cigarette smell seemed to have subtly clung to me, and it left me feeling vaguely unsettled and unpleasant.
Park Won.
Park Won....
That guy had something shady about him too.
I should do some digging.
Ah.
There was something I had to do before going back.
───
[The next station is □□□ Station, □□□ Station. The doors will open on your left.]
I got on the subway after grabbing a bucket hat at random from a station newsstand.
Before going in, I had to buy underwear. I couldn't go through the ordeal I'd experienced today again.
Not tomorrow, not the day after. I couldn't keep going to work with a band stuck on my chest.
Magical Girls don't stick bandages on their chests.
"I'm screwed. I've never once thought about women's underwear. Much less about wearing it."
As I rode the subway, I was frantically looking up women's underwear.
There was still some time until I arrived at the department store clothing section.
Go straight in, find the underwear I need, and come out. That's it.
Done!
Yes, the plan was perfect.
The problem was that there were more types than I'd expected.
"They're divided by whether there's an underwire or not..., and the types vary depending on the cup that covers the chest. Why are there so many."
Compared to the past, when I'd just buy cheap, long-lasting underwear in bundles, women's underwear was way too complicated.
To the point where I started to doubt whether people really picked these out one by one like this.
"Sure, we have choices too—boxer briefs or boxers. But at least it's simple."
Wait.
Just because I ended up in this body, it's not like I'm wearing underwear to show anyone.
So, I just need to discreetly pick out comfortable underwear. Right?
On the off chance. On the truly off chance that I transform and end up wearing a skirt, I'd at least wear safety shorts.
There's absolutely no situation where anyone would see my underwear.
Couldn't I just buy something like boxer briefs?
"Ah, I'm here."
Just as my stream of consciousness was filling up with underwear, the subway arrived at the station.
At the same time, one type of underwear appeared on the terminal I'd been scrolling through.
Sports bra.
This might... actually be pretty good.