Get on the Same Boat (4)
Get on the Same Boat (4)
“...What?”
The owner asked again, flustered. It was no wonder.
The whole point of the conversation had been to warn her not to buy land here. So now hearing that we wanted to buy the café despite her warning, she must have been dumbfounded.
“Young lady, if this is because you feel sorry for an old woman like me, please think again. I...”
“No! That’s not it at all!”
Jo Ah-yoon immediately shot back.
“I just think it’s a great opportunity. You get to offload a place that’s become a burden, and we get to buy a place we really like. Win-win, right?”
“No—hey, Jo Ah-yoon. Come here a sec.”
I grabbed the suddenly worked-up Jo Ah-yoon by the scruff of her neck and whispered into her ear.
“Ah-yoon. What’re you talking about all of a sudden. Why are you trying to make her sell a perfectly fine place.”
“It’s not perfectly fine and she’s going to end up selling it anyway. Better I buy it sooner rather than later. Didn’t you say you liked the atmosphere here? The location’s not bad either.”
“Taking over a business isn’t like queuing for some famous restaurant. You don’t just go ‘bam-bam’ first come, first served.”
“No, I think it’ll be fine. This area’s been designated a monster Caution Zone—who else is going to buy here besides me?”
“I guess no one but a crazy bitch like you.”
“Right?”
If anyone was buying up land in a monster-sighting Caution Zone, ninety-nine people out of a hundred would curse her as a crazy bitch. The remaining ten would eye her suspiciously, wondering what kind of illegal scheme she was running with that land.
“Ah-yoon. Think about it. But you know what that means? It means no customers. What’s the point if no customers come? No matter how much you want to open a place for personal satisfaction, you still have to factor in profitability.”
“Heheh~ Oppa’s only thought of one thing, not the other.”
Jo Ah-yoon grinned.
“This isn’t just a monster-sighting warning area, it’s a ‘Caution’ Zone. That means it’s still a place that hasn’t turned into a full-blown slum yet.”
“Right. In a few months it’s scheduled to be upgraded to a Warning Zone, and they’ve already issued an evacuation advisory for residents.”
“Only thinking of one thing. Oppa, a Caution Zone is an area where it’s entirely possible the designation could be lifted later. If the monster report rate drops below three incidents a week, it gets withdrawn automatically.”
“Is that even possible? Monsters only ever increase, they don’t just disappear...”
No, it’s entirely possible.
“You’re not seriously—“
“Oppa, if you have power, you use it.”
Simple. We’d just go exterminate the monsters ourselves. With abilities specialized in high-speed movement, we could easily sweep the area clean of any roaming monsters without anyone noticing or reporting it.
Jo Ah-yoon grinned and whispered shamelessly into my ear.
“You know what? There are statistics showing that areas that go from being a Caution Zone back to normal designation become famous for being strictly managed, and the land values actually skyrocket several times over...”
“Hey, you. What happened to love and peace.”
This was the classic private misuse of power.
“...She has to get what she’s owed.”
“No, is that... right?”
“It’s right for now.”
Jo Ah-yoon said firmly.
“The time has come to set aside Magical Girl Pink Deneb and live as Cassiopeia, soaring through the cold, hard skies of capitalism...!”
“What happened to protecting people.”
“Uh... capitalism is an ideology, and ideology is a dream. So technically, it still falls under protecting dreams, doesn’t it?”
“Wow....”
All I could do was marvel at her genius-level scalability. Apparently she thought it was a pretty novel take too, because she winked at me and turned on the charm.
“I’m smart, right?”
I kind of wanted to knock on her head. To see what kind of sound it would make.
How long had it been since I’d explained the potential risks of transforming, and here she was already figuring out how to exploit it. Was she bold or just utterly impervious to the concept of danger?
When did our Ah-yoon get so rotten.
Is there really no one left in this harsh modern world who can hold on to their innocence?
Red Vega flashed through my mind, but I wiped the image away quickly.
‘She’s not innocent, she’s just cracked.’
And aside from her sense of justice, she wasn’t exactly innocent in other areas either.
I’m still genuinely curious where she got the nerve to openly watch adult broadcasts from her hospital bed. Sure, it was on a small smartphone screen, but with someone right next to her—wasn’t she embarrassed?
“Right... our Ah-yoon, I’m so proud. Guess it’s true that people who’ve earned money know how to spend it, she really knows how to invest....”
As her way of thinking just proved, Ah-yoon is not stupid. She has a normal mindset that knows to prioritize her own life. Someone like that wouldn’t run around wielding the power to transform without doing proper research first.
Thinking about transforming just to make money. By my cost-benefit calculus, that’d be a non-starter, but apparently not by Jo Ah-yoon’s standards.
Suspicion hardened into certainty.
Jo Ah-yoon’s transformation is far safer than mine.
‘She didn’t tell me on purpose... was she being considerate?’
Probably.
If our transformations have different levels of safety, I might end up feeling needlessly resentful.
Jo Ah-yoon had once vented about her magical girl powers. ‘She’s strong as hell and I only got supporter abilities—I want to hit things hard too.’ Having experienced that, it wasn’t strange for her to worry that I might feel the same jealousy and inferiority complex she had.
She’d learned to care not just about money, but about people’s feelings too. Her growth made me both proud and a little lonely.
“Your Jo Ah-yoon is so good at handling money.”
Though honestly, living like a total doormat isn’t great either. Nobody’s going to lose out if Ah-yoon buys this place, so taking a small profit isn’t a bad thing.
I have a tendency to push money to the back burner, so it’s reassuring to have someone beside me who knows how to look out for it.
“Well then, shall we try negotiating again~?”
Jo Ah-yoon smiled brightly and waved at me. As if to say, don’t worry, leave it to me.
Then she returned to the negotiating table and talked things through with the owner in earnest.
She launched into a full-scale persuasion effort, talking about how captivated we’d been by the atmosphere here despite our short visit, how disappointing every other place we’d seen had been, and how she was prepared to take a loss.
Mixing jokes with earnestness, she charmed the owner, drifting from destiny to feng shui to all sorts of scatterbrained superstitions.
She didn’t leave out the money talk either. The moment this area was designated a monster-sighting Caution Zone, the chances of anyone else taking it over had already become slim. Having someone appear who wanted to buy the place now was practically a miracle.
She hammered home over and over that this was a gain for the owner and a loss for us.
Though later on, we’d probably make several times the profit...
“So, how about it?”
The owner didn’t look too reluctant either. If anything, she seemed intrigued.
Looks like I wouldn’t have to keep hunting for places even after the new year.
Reliable, Jo Ah-yoon!
“I’m sorry. It’s still a bit...”
Not so reliable yet, Jo Ah-yoon!
“W-what? Why not?”
“They say the young go looking for hardship... but still, once you take a financial loss, it’s not easy to recover from. I have a child around your age, so it worries me. I’m grateful you like my place, but if you take your time looking, you might find something even better. Let’s just pretend this conversation never happened...”
“W-wait just a second!”
Jo Ah-yoon urgently stopped her. She leaned in suddenly and whispered something into the owner’s ear. I couldn’t hear from where I stood. I could tell the owner’s expression didn’t look great. She looked full of questions.
“....”
Then she took off her hat. She straightened her hair a little, and the owner studied her intently before her eyes widened as if she’d just realized something.
“Ah....”
The owner nodded, her expression warm and kind.
“You understand, right? I need a quiet café.”
“Yes... I understand. Let’s talk more about it later. Here’s my number.”
Jo Ah-yoon took the note, likely with a phone number on it, and put her hat back on.
“See you next time.”
“Ah-yoon, you have to pay.”
Jo Ah-yoon practically fled the store like she was embarrassed. The two untouched americanos were awkwardly left behind. I quickly pulled out my wallet.
“Sorry. How much is it?”
“It’s fine. It’s on the house today.”
The owner chuckled and waved me off. Meaning I should put my wallet away.
“No, but I should still pay...”
“Please tell my new business partner for me. Thank her for all her hard work.”
That was when I realized what Jo Ah-yoon had secretly revealed.
“Have a good day.”
“...You too. Have a good day.”
I turned away, feeling good, and stepped out. Catching up to Jo Ah-yoon, who’d gone ahead, didn’t take long. She was waiting for me just outside the alley.
Her chilly sigh scattered white like a falling star and disappeared. I walked up to her.
“Cold?”
“No.”
“Then why are your cheeks and ears so red.”
“...Shut up.”
Covering her bright red face, she dashed off at an unusually fast pace. But her stride was far shorter than mine, so catching up wasn’t hard.
“What did you say to her that a nice owner like that just let a couple of young idiots throw their money away?”
“What do you think... ugh, dammit. Stop laughing like that. Seeing you laugh, you already know.”
“Not know. Just predicted.”
She clicked her tongue like she was dumbfounded, then muttered quickly.
“I told her I used to be a magical girl. That as a former magical girl, I need a place people won’t visit often where I can be quiet.”
“That’s pretty admirable.”
“So embarrassing... like it’s something to brag about, the way I boldly announced it.”
Jo Ah-yoon covered her face with her hands.
“God, seriously....”
Was she feeling self-loathing over using the fact that she was once a magical girl like a weapon? Fine with privately exploiting her transformation but can’t stand even mentioning magical girl. I could almost grasp her standards, yet they kept slipping through my fingers.
She’d been trembling as if sobbing, but gradually the trembling became delight. When she uncovered her face, a pleased smile was in full bloom.
“Still, I got what I wanted, so it’s fine?”
“Yeah... if you’re happy, it’s fine.”
Just how much had she liked that café? Jo Ah-yoon turned back for a moment to study the alley. She examined the shop’s lighting, glowing softly in the shadows of the backstreet.
“Ah, see, that’s the one. There’s nowhere else but there for me.”
“You like it that much?”
“Yeah!”
Jo Ah-yoon answered instantly and laughed, a simple “hehe.”
“If you like it, I like it too.”
After all, Jo Ah-yoon was the one with the concrete vision; I was just adding a little support.
“What should we name our place? Oh, and who do we invite to the opening? What date should we set it for? And what’s the deal with this monster that’s supposedly prowling around here?”
Ah-yoon smiled softly and started going over what to do next, full of hope.
“Oppa, what do you think...”
“Ah-yoon.”
“Yeah?”
“Earlier, you said being a magical girl wasn’t something to brag about.”
I also turned my head slightly to look back at the alley. I couldn’t see it anymore, but my nose could still catch the faint scent of coffee. The sound of the music from inside too, and the metallic clink of the register.
“I think it really is something to brag about.”
A lot of attention gathers on magical girls. Some people idolize them, some envy them.
But the great majority of people feel one emotion before any other.
“Because you’ve worked so hard.”
Gratitude.
The bills left in my wallet held a gratitude that couldn’t be contained inside it.
**
“What the heck.”
Han Jae-jung looked around.
“Ha, hahaha...”
“Jae-jung, try some of this.”
“Hey, jerk, what’re you doing.”
“The chicken legs are gone!”
All that should have been left was to go home and rest comfortably.
He’d been planning to welcome the new year quietly and peacefully.
What had he been doing to end up like this.
Surrounded by magical girls, he counted down the seconds until the new year.