The Magical Girl's Comrade 2
The walk home felt endless, the medicine bag dangling from my pinky finger and swinging with every step.
My body swayed weakly from the fever, and I drifted through the quiet autumn streets in a hazy daze. That was when I noticed it—a single shadow in the middle of the sidewalk, unnaturally dark, like spilled ink.
Why does only that shadow look so thick?
Neither the streetlamp shadows nor the tree shadows were anywhere near that pitch black.
A faint memory surfaced through my foggy mind—something from training about always staying alert for unnatural phenomena.
A villain? No… is it a monster?
If it was a monster, innocent bystanders could get hurt. I had to check.
I approached cautiously, one careful step at a time.
The closer I got, the more the shadow seemed to writhe like a living thing.
I kept my finger hovering over the emergency report button on my smartwatch, ready to call for backup at any moment.
That was when it happened.
The shadow swelled upward.
It’s a monster!
My eyes widened in shock. I tried to press the button, but in my panic I dropped the medicine bag that had been hooked on my pinky.
I summoned my wand at the same time and transformed into my white magical girl outfit.
The hem of my skirt had barely fluttered in the wind before a colossal black wolf—far larger than any tiger—burst from the shadow, dripping hazy magical energy as it lunged straight at me.
Clang!
I reflexively swung my wand and knocked away its claws, but the force sent me crashing onto my backside.
—Grrrrrr.
The wolf stared at me with blood-red eyes and let out a snort-like huff, as if mocking me.
“Did you just laugh at me? You think I’m that easy? Come on then.”
My body was so feverish I could have collapsed at any second, but I gritted my teeth and raised my wand.
I can handle a monster like this by myself.
The moment the wolf kicked off the ground and zigzagged toward me, I swung my wand again.
White afterimages lingered in its wake, transforming into small magical circles.
The circles twinkled like stars before firing pure white beams at the wolf in rapid succession.
“Ugh, why won’t it hit?!”
Every time the light was about to connect, the wolf would duck low or kick off the ground sideways. The white beams only grazed its fur before slamming into the pavement and walls.
Shattered stone fragments flew everywhere. Large, crater-like dents formed in the walls.
Seizing the opening, the wolf closed the distance in an instant and slammed its massive body into me.
Boom!
“Ack!”
My body flew through the air and smashed into the wall. Chunks of rubble rained down on top of me.
A dull, stinging pain spread across my entire back. My long pink hair was coated white with concrete dust and debris.
Shit. My back feels like it’s about to snap after what that bitch put me through yesterday.
I clutched my waist, groaning in pain, but the wolf didn’t wait. It attacked again immediately.
I scrambled to my feet and tried to block with my wand, but my spinning head and blurring vision refused to let my body move properly.
The wolf’s enormous shadow swallowed me whole as it charged.
This is it.
Fine. Just kill me. Those sharp claws will tear me to shreds.
I hope it doesn’t hurt too much… but it probably will, won’t it?
If I have to die alone and lonely in the middle of the city, at least let it be quick.
I offered one last silent prayer in my heart.
Still… if I close my eyes, maybe Soyeon will be waiting for me in the sky.
Facing death head-on, I was ready to close my eyes without regret.
Kim Soyeon.
But Soyeon wouldn’t want this. I couldn’t meet her after ending things in such a pathetic way.
I opened my eyes and raised my magical wand high.
The massive wolf was right in front of me, casting its shadow as it bore down.
Time seemed to stretch out slowly.
Its red eyes locked onto my face.
Neither of us looked away.
Its razor-sharp claws glinted viciously in the sunlight.
I should dodge.
No—if I dodge now, it’ll be too late.
I clenched my teeth and gripped the wand with all my strength.
—Clang!
The instant the wolf swung its claws, I blocked it perfectly with my wand.
My entire arm went numb from the impact. Both my legs nearly buckled under the crushing weight.
But I held my ground.
My legs trembled violently, yet I didn’t fall.
“Ugh…!”
The wolf was thrown off balance by the recoil and brushed past me.
Its black fur grazed my cheek.
Now.
I spun and swung my wand at the wolf’s exposed back.
Multiple white magical circles bloomed along the wand’s trajectory.
The white patterns that spread through the air around me pulsed like beating hearts.
The magic gathered in the circles exploded all at once.
You won’t dodge this.
We were too close. And its back was against the wall.
“Disappear!”
The circles unleashed their light simultaneously.
White beams shot toward the wolf’s back and flanks.
—Yelp!
With a short, agonized cry, holes were punched clean through the wolf’s body.
It dissolved into black smoke.
“……Hah. Got it.”
The words had barely left my mouth when my legs nearly gave out.
If I hadn’t used my wand for support, I would have collapsed right there.
Sunlight gently settled on my eyelids. Only then did I realize I had been holding my breath.
“Sujung!!”
I turned my head to see Sohee and the other magical girls running toward me from a distance.
Among them, only Sohee’s face was deathly pale.
“You just…!”
Sohee couldn’t finish her sentence. She stopped in front of me, eyes darting between my face and the spot where the wolf had vanished.
I awkwardly adjusted my grip on the wand.
“You saw that, right?”
My breathing was still ragged.
Still, the corners of my mouth lifted slightly.
“I won… haha!”
Sohee stared at me with a ghostly white face.
She’ll praise me, right?
I thought it looked pretty cool, even if I do say so myself.
My lips twitched in anticipation of the compliments I was sure I’d hear.
But Sohee grabbed both my shoulders with a firm grip and poured out a torrent of words.
“You idiot! Why were you just standing there with your eyes closed instead of dodging?! Were you actually trying to die?! Haah, seriously!”
“……”
Ah. So she saw it from the beginning.
But I still won in the end…
I winced. Her shrill voice made my head throb.
Her scolding—mixed with panic and anger—rang in my ears, but I couldn’t really make out the words.
I stared blankly at the spot where the wolf had been. It had already scattered like smoke and disappeared.
“Still… I won.”
“How can you say that right now?! Why did you close your eyes?! Why were you just standing there like an idiot instead of dodging?!”
Because I wanted to die.
Because I wanted to go to Soyeon.
The truth I had buried rose all the way to my throat.
“No… the sun was just too bright…”
“What? You expect me to believe—”
Before Sohee could continue her interrogation, I clutched my head with both hands and exaggeratedly staggered.
Seeing me like that, Sohee hurriedly supported my shoulders.
“Does it hurt? Are you injured?”
“I’m not hurt. It’s just the cold making me feel weak.”
I pointed at the medicine bag rolling on the ground.
“See? I was on my way home after buying medicine.”
Sohee silently picked up the bag and placed it in my hand. Then she suddenly pulled me into a tight hug, whispering, “Be careful.”
Why is she acting like this all of a sudden?
Her unusually bold action left me frozen in her arms. Soon she released the hug, looking awkward as she averted her gaze.
“I need to return to the branch office. Take care of yourself!”
I gave polite nods to the other magical girls. “Thank you,” I said. “See you later.”
I was finally ready to head home and rest. If only my phone hadn’t started buzzing angrily in my coat pocket.
[Dayoung] Come here and report.
She’s watching through magic? Reports get to her this fast?
Kim Dayoung really is a disgusting human being the more I think about it.
[Sujung] I’m sick. Sohee is heading back and will report instead.
[Dayoung] Come together and report.
The text made it clear there would be no more excuses. My lips jutted out in a pout. Stress made my neck feel stiff.
Does that mean she already knows I’m sick?
If that’s the case, I should’ve just let the wolf send me to heaven.
“Sohee! Let’s go together!”
I called out to Sohee, who was already walking away.
She looked back at me strangely when I suddenly changed my mind, but eventually turned around and walked with me toward the branch office.
“It’s nice going together. It feels like it’s been a while since we walked side by side.”
“Has it? Yeah, it has been a while.”
“Do you really not care about me at all?”
“Huh?”
She stopped walking and looked at me. I could see her hand—the one holding her magical wand—trembling slightly.
“Even though I text you every day asking to meet, you always say you’re busy and avoid me.”
“Uh…?”
“You’ve been avoiding me on purpose, haven’t you? I like you. You know that. You don’t have to keep acting so lonely and pathetic forever… Kim Soyeon is dead, after all.”
“……”
“You were dating Kim Soyeon, weren’t you?”
“Huh…?”
“Dead people are dead. Please, just come back to reality already.”
The sudden verbal blow left me speechless, mouth hanging open.
“You look surprised that I knew? I saw you two kissing by chance. Even so, I waited patiently without saying anything until now.”
She was right, but those weren’t words you said to someone who was clearly struggling.
I had thought she was someone who respected boundaries, but I was wrong.
Or maybe something was pushing her to act this way.
“Why? Did you start seeing someone else already?”
“…It’s not like that. Let’s talk later. I’m still hurting because of Soyeon. Please don’t do this to me too.”
My head was really starting to ache now.
When I pressed my palm to my forehead, a flash of panic crossed Sohee’s unsteady eyes.
“……I’m sorry. You’re sick, and I only thought about myself.”
I answered her with a faint smile. The hurt in Sohee’s eyes was painfully obvious.
I didn’t know what else to do except smile.
It wasn’t that I disliked Sohee.
I just didn’t want to ruin our current relationship by handling this poorly. At the same time, I couldn’t develop feelings for her either.
The very idea of meeting someone new or dating again simply didn’t occur to me.
There was still far too much of Soyeon left inside me.
The awkward walk with Sohee somehow brought us to Kim Dayoung before I even realized it.
I couldn’t even remember how we had gotten here.
I had simply matched my steps with hers, one after another, until we arrived.
Kim Dayoung sat with her legs crossed, wearing a languid expression. She didn’t spare Sohee a single glance—her eyes were fixed only on me.
God, how repulsive.
If it weren’t for that text, I wouldn’t have called Sohee back, and things wouldn’t have become this awkward between us.
I should have just gone straight home.
No.
This was bound to happen eventually anyway.
“Sohee, you can leave. Sujung, I have some good medicine for you. Stay behind.”
“Dayoung unnie, I wanted to stay with Sujung and—”
Magical girls usually called each other affectionately.
But this was still a company. The longer you stayed, the more the hierarchy naturally asserted itself.
“Leave, Sohee.”
Sohee looked back and forth between me and Kim Dayoung.
Her lips moved slightly as if she had something to say, but the moment Dayoung’s cold gaze landed on her, Sohee bowed and left the room.
Now only Dayoung and I remained.
“How are you supposed to pay back the money if you keep getting sick and resting?”
Whose fault is it that I’m sick in the first place?
“Does being sick happen on command?”
Her words blaming me while I was burning with fever made irritation flare up inside me.
“It’s because of some disgusting person that my body ended up like this.”
The corner of Kim Dayoung’s mouth twitched upward.
“Impressive. Your personality snaps right back after just one day. Is that some kind of ability?”
“Why did you tell me to stay?”
I wanted to go home quickly.
Sweat was starting to form in my palm, making the medicine bag stick to my hand.
“I’m sick. I need to go home and rest. I really can’t do anything today.”
“Who said you had to do anything?”
Kim Dayoung spoke leisurely.
“I said I’d give you medicine. Medicine.”
Medicine is medicine. What is she even talking about?
I lifted the hand holding the medicine bag.
It was my way of saying she already knew.
“I already took the medicine.”
Even as the bag swayed right in front of her eyes, Dayoung didn’t look at it once. She only stared at me.
“It’s very effective medicine.”
“No thanks. I don’t want it.”
Because anything you give me will probably just make me sicker.
“Sujung.”
That voice.
“You need to take your medicine.”
The low, gentle, and caring tone slipped into my ears.
It sounded exactly like Soyeon calling my name.
My grip on the medicine bag tightened.
“Stop imitating Soyeon unnie. I really hate it.”
She laughed as if amused.
“How scary.”
Dayoung slowly rose from her chair. The sound of her heels clicked sharply through the office.
Don’t come closer.
I gripped the medicine bag even tighter.
As she drew nearer, the cold perfume scent I had grown sickeningly familiar with grew stronger. The smell that seeped into my lungs devoured me.
Dayoung stopped right in front of me.
She wore a beautiful smile.
Her crimson-painted lips parted.
“Open your mouth and stick out your tongue.”
“……”
“So I can give you the medicine.”
You crazy bitch.