Photosynthetic Slugs and Raid Boss Priorities
The fluttering fallen petals... The awkward meal finally came to an end. Anemone's team took Chae-ah with them to prepare for the afternoon schedule. "We should head to the practice room early too, since we'll be moving with Baek Ga-yeon starting this afternoon."
"Mm—." My senior slurped down the last of the broth and let out a satisfied sigh. "Alright. Belly's full now—time to get to work."
We settled the bill and stepped out of the soup joint. Slanted afternoon sunlight filtered down the alley. Lunch hour was winding down, so the office workers were thinning out on the streets one by one.
We exited the alley and returned to the Luminus Entertainment building. Passing through the lobby, we rode up to the practice room floor, where the faint thump of bass echoed down the hallway.
We stopped in front of the door labeled BLOSSOM. "Huh, still practicing?"
I cracked the door open. Creak— Inside the spacious room stood massive mirrors, speakers, and water bottles scattered across the floor. And right in the middle of the practice room...
Min Seol-ah was sprawled face-down on the ground.
"Min Seol-ah...?" I thought for a second I'd seen wrong.
"Forget-Me-Not? What're you doing?" My senior tilted her head.
Seol-ah slowly rolled her head toward us. "...Photo...synthe...sis."
"In the practice room?"
"Forget-Me-Not likes greenhouses better than the wild... warmer..." Seol-ah mumbled, eyes still closed.
I was more shocked by the scene on the floor than her cryptic reply. Amid the slightly dusty wooden floorboards gleamed an unnaturally clean trail. It started at the window and snaked along the path the sunlight had taken, ending right where Seol-ah lay now. It looked exactly like she'd sluggishly crawled after the warmth as the sun moved from east to west.
"Did you... crawl on the floor?"
No way. She's an idol, after all...
"Mm. Forget-Me-Not slug."
"Your clothes are gonna get dirty, though?"
"Too... baaa...syyy... And Forget-Me-Not's always cluu...uun."
Seol-ah let her arms flop even looser. Her fingers, stuck to the floor, dangled limply.
"Dust and me... we're buddies... it won't dirty meee..."
"...That doesn't sound clean to me."
"Forget-Me-Not's a plaaant..."
Her eyes stayed shut. Her speech dragged on slow, like she might drift off any second.
"Weren't you a snail a minute ago?"
"Evo...lution...?"
"Don't just throw that out there."
The pinnacle of laziness... What to do with her? As I pondered, the practice room door burst open with gusto, and a petite shadow barreled in.
"Ah! O-necchan! Sleeping on the floor agaaaain-shumka!"
Magical girl Shiroi Kanna. Kurosawa Natsumi. She spotted Seol-ah flat on the floor the moment she entered and planted her hands on her hips for a stern scolding in broken Korean.
"How many times has Watashi told you not to sleep on the floor-shumka! Catch a cold and Watashi gets chewed out by Michael-saaan!"
"Floor... has sun... so waaarm..."
"It's gonna get dirty-shumka!"
Natsumi grunted and wedged her arms under Seol-ah's armpits. Then she started dragging her toward the beat-up sofa in the corner. Gruuunt. Seol-ah's body mopped the floor as it slid along. Thanks to her, the sun trail she'd cleaned earlier started shining even brighter.
Should I help? As I hesitated, a cheerful electronic chime rang from Natsumi's pants pocket. Her eyes lit up instantly.
"Ack! Boss raid alarm!"
No hesitation. She dropped Seol-ah like yesterday's news, priorities flipping in a flash.
"Ah."
Fluttering fallen petals... How pitiful the back of the head of one who falls without knowing when to go. The forget-me-not's skull dies flower-like.
Thwack—!
"......"
A dull thud echoed as Seol-ah's head hit the floor, but Natsumi was already whipping out her phone at light speed, thumbs flying.
"Yosh—! Almost missed it-shumda! A little later and Watashi would've cried all night-shumda!"
"...Kanna... Forget-Me-Not huuurtsss..."
"Hold on, O-necchan! Boss HP at 10% now-imda! Catch this and Watashi'll give you hooowaa!!"
Natsumi's thumbs hammered the screen.
"Yosh—! Finishing blow! Finishing blow!!"
A burst of noisy effects blared from the phone speaker. Natsumi threw both hands up in victory.
"Cleared it-shumda!!!"
Only then did she glance back at reality. "...Huh."
Seol-ah was still splayed on the floor, cradling the back of her head with one hand, eyes half-open from the impact.
"Kannaaa..."
"Hai, O-necchan!"
"Forget-Me-Not... just... felt like it diiiied..."
Seol-ah's drowsy death rattle slithered across the practice room floor.
I sighed and approached her. "You okay?"
"Forget-Me-Not withered... couldn't bear fruit... couldn't scatter seeds... just diiiied..."
Still talking nonsense, so she seemed fine.
Natsumi beamed innocently and pocketed her phone, as if forgetting she'd just slammed her teammate's skull into the floor.
"Ah! Manager-saaan! Daijobu-imda! O-necchan's vitality is total weed-level—won't die from this-shumda!"
"Forget-Me-Not... really huuurtsss..."
Finally, Natsumi crouched beside her in a fluster. "O-necchan! Really hurts-ka?"
Seol-ah pondered slowly before replying. "...My heart."
"Eh?"
"Heart huuurtsss... Water forget-me-not... Forget-Me-Not... but got forgotten. Kanna abandoned Forget-Meee-Not..."
Natsumi's face stiffened a bit.
"No, didn't abandon-imda!"
"Abandonned..."
"Just a quick game-imda!"
"Forget-Me-Not died on the floooor..."
Seol-ah kept flopped on the ground, arms dangling limply like a plant that had truly breathed its last.
Natsumi sweated bullets and glanced at us. "...Manager-saaan. O-necchan's mad-shumda."
"You just now realizing?"
"What to dooo-ka?"
"...Let's get her up first."
Natsumi and I each grabbed an arm and gently lifted Seol-ah. She went limp, flopping upright like a ragdoll.
"Forget-Me-Not wants hooowaa..."
"You a kid? Ask Kurosawa here."
We sat her on the sofa in the corner, but she immediately keeled over sideways. "...Forget-Me-Not sleepy."
"She's just sleeping, right? No concussion?"
"Mm... Good night kiss pleaaaase."
"What's that?"
"Dunnooo... Anemone said gotta do it before bed."
Seol-ah mumbled that and buried her face in the sofa backrest. Her breathing evened out steadily—she was out for real.
"Watashi's luck is insane today-shumda! Manager-saaan, look! This is super rare legend gear-imda!"
Confirming Seol-ah fully asleep, Natsumi bounced back to life, shoving her phone screen right in my senior's face with sparkling eyes.
"Whoa... that's good stuff?"
"Hai! Watashi farmed dungeons till dawn for this one-shumda! Michael-saan would yell, but no choice-imda!"
"Y-Yeah... impressive."
"Cool, right? Manager-saaan should try this game—how about it?"
"I've already got my own world to protect..."
"If you've got a world to guard already, no helping it-imda! Watashi gets it!"
Her innocent grin made the nape of my neck ache. At this rate, maybe BLOSSOM only scouted problem children with association funding.
A reasonable suspicion crossed my mind. But the biggest issue hadn't shown up yet.
Creak— The door opened again.
"Huh?" Natsumi looked up first. "O-necchan!"
It was Baek Ga-yeon. Dressed in practice clothes: ponytail, comfy tee, training pants. Barely any makeup, but she somehow grabbed your eye anyway.
Ga-yeon scanned the room and cocked her head. "Huh? What's this—Seol-ah not on the floor for once?"
"Manager-saaan moved her-imda!" Natsumi shot her hand up.
"I helped too-shumda! Praise meee!"
Ga-yeon's gaze shifted to the sofa. I'd just been draping a blanket over Seol-ah.
"...Creepy."
"...Pardon?" I froze mid-motion.
What the hell's the problem now.
"You know we've got magical girl duties this afternoon, right? Leaving in 15."
"...Got it."
Her reply was curt.
"O-necchan! Manager-saan's nice-imda! Helped Watashi and Forget-Me-Not O-necchan too-shumda!"
Natsumi chimed in brightly, oblivious to the mood, but Ga-yeon just flicked her forehead with a finger instead of answering.
"Yeah, yeah. But all guys are the same. Don't get too chummy."
"O-necchan should date a bit-shumda! Or you'll end up an old spinster-imda!"
"...Don't need it. And you're single too."
"Watashi's young, so it's fine-shumda! After idol retirement, Watashi'll get cozy with a hot older guy!"
"Hot older guy...?" My senior muttered under her breath.
Natsumi nodded eagerly, eyes shining. "Hai! Handsome, nice older guy! That's Watashi's type-shumda! Money? Watashi'll earn plenty-imda!"
"What 15-year-old fantasizes about sugar daddies... And guys like that are rare?"
"Manager-saan qualifies-imda! Here's ticket number one for Watashi's husband list-shumda! Age up by Watashi's retirement!"
Natsumi's bombshell declaration. My senior gaped at the ceiling, all higher brain functions surrendered.
Twitch. Seol-ah stirred on the sofa. And then came Baek Ga-yeon's utter contempt.
"...Gross."
"I didn't say a word."
This is so unfair.