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Hmm.

My back hurts.

It’s not just because we fought; it’s because after the fight, Ha-yoon slapped both me and Seo-hee on the back.

The sound was the loudest I’ve ever felt from getting hit.

Seeing the moisture in my eyes, I realized I must’ve done something wrong. I shouldn’t have fallen for Seo-hee’s foolish words.

…

Well, it’s not all Seo-hee’s fault, but anyway.

All my wounds have healed. I am a Magical Girl, after all. While I can’t use magic to do everything in the world, I could certainly heal one little injury without a scar.

Once everything was treated and I got slapped on the back by Ha-yoon, we went back upstairs.

Slowly, I spread out a blanket on the floor to sleep.

Ah, it reminds me of the times when we used to run away. We didn’t just have a blanket; for some reason, I even got out a sleeping bag. Well, with the air conditioning blasting inside, sleeping in a sleeping bag wouldn’t be too bad. It feels nice to crawl into a warm blanket when it’s a bit cold outside.

In a building with many rooms, the reason we set up like this— it must be for the fun of being together.

I can’t tell if there will be another day like this. While it’s not a reason to not meet just because we’re in different grades in the same high school, it’s different when we become college students.

Even in the same university and major, we might have different schedules. Depending on grades, there may be classes that are better to retake, or some might want to pile on more subjects or take it easy this semester.

Up until college, there’s still a break period, but even that will become really hard to coordinate once we graduate.

The best time to play with abandon is really in this age.

Though it feels like there are quite a few exam takers around here, anyway.

Each of us picked a sleeping bag and sat down, but no one seemed to want to crawl inside. We all just sat there blankly.

For some reason, I didn’t want to sleep. It felt a bit sad to sleep when we finally had some time like this after such a long while.

Even though we had plenty of time. It wasn’t like we had to part ways tomorrow.

“…So.”

The first person to speak up was Pang-pang. Perhaps because she drank a can of coffee earlier, she looked a bit tipsy and opened up some energy drink from who knows where while she spoke.

“What exactly happened earlier that made you guys fight?”

“Oh, that’s…”

Seo-hee grinned at me.

“I just wanted to finish what we started in the fight.”

“Huh?”

Ha-yoon asked, looking baffled. She had used polite language with Seo-hee, but now, her slightly stuffy voice sounded almost childlike.

What she was saying sounded more like an adult scolding a child than a child’s words.

Everyone laughed at Ha-yoon’s remark. The words were funny, and Ha-yoon was cute as well.

“…Hmm.”

Stopping the laughter, I thought for a moment and said.

“I don’t think we’d be able to sleep like this, so how about we all step outside for a bit? As long as we don’t go into the sea, it’s fine, right?”

“What are we going to do outside?”

Jua asked, and I shrugged my shoulders.

“Well, how about we do some night flying? Flying over the sea should be fine, right?”

I feel like I would fly really well right now.

My circuits are circuits of hope. What’s before my eyes right now is just hope. There’s no reason to be angry or worry about anything.

There’s nothing wrong with me.

The kids laughed, even louder than before when they heard Ha-yoon’s stuffy voice.

Probably, it was a bit of a silly remark.

That makes sense. If a child suddenly said something like that, it would have just sounded like childish imagination.

But we had the power to make it happen.

“Let’s do it right now.”

Ji-hye stood up and said.

We all got up after her.

*

There was one problem: while all Magical Girls could fly, Pang-pang couldn’t.

That issue was solved quite easily.

With a little change of perspective.

“I’ve heard of witches riding broomsticks, but I don’t think I’ve heard of a witch riding a hammer!”

Pang-pang said, laughing as if confused, and spoke while hanging onto my back.

Exactly.

If Pang-pang can’t fly, then we just need to put her on something that can.

Even though it would look a bit odd to have a Magical Girl riding at my waist, I decided to squeeze my hammer between my legs so that we could both ride it, with Pang-pang tightly hugging my waist as we took off.

I didn’t plan on flying for too long.

Even though it was a bit humid and warm even now— flying over the sea felt refreshing.

In a different sense than when I was fighting with Seo-hee a moment ago.

Colors flew by in front of me, weaving in and out. Colors that might just look dark above the seemingly murky sea illuminated by vibrant light.

We became the fireworks of a celebration. Pink, green, purple, blue, red, yellow. And white.

Seo-hee cheered as she soared upwards. Behind her, the red fireworks spread chaotically across the sky. Unlike carefully planned fireworks, it was just scattered magical colors—beautiful nonetheless.

Still young, not fully grown, children’s fireworks. Not following any predetermined paths, but simply flying freely.

Then Yeon-woo took flight, yellow fireworks blooming like flowers. Chae-yeon flew, surrounded by a blue light as if to envelop her.

The green fireworks bounced below as if those three colors were leaves, bouncing cheerfully as they flew.

The purple star soared high into the night sky— then a pink path appeared among them.

I flew with all my might. Behind me, Pang-pang was making a sound that was either a cheer or a scream.

The wind brushed against my face, and my breath quickened. My hair flowed wildly.

I felt good.

It was a feeling of liberation from everything. From everything that had held me back until now.

Now, it really didn’t matter anymore.

Before I knew it, other kids were flying next to me.

We were flying through a tunnel of blended lights, and although the sound of the wind was too loud for us to communicate, I figured everyone must be feeling the same way as me.

All together— soaring up into the sky—

We burst forth, that randomly mixed fireworks burst upwards.

A story comes to mind.

While angels were decorating the sky with stars, they accidentally knocked over a bucket, and seeing the stars scattered carelessly, God praised its beauty, making the night sky this beautiful.

It felt just like us.

Without rules or anything, just joyfully dancing and leaping around on this day of ours might indeed be regarded as the most beautiful time when we look back on it in the future.

A day that would remain in our memories as the sparkling light of multicolored stars.

Pausing for a moment, I looked at our disappearing star amidst the stars, thinking.

I wish we could live this way for as long as possible.

I want to keep living like this with everyone here and continue to know and be with them.

A life that dances freely. A life that goes where our feet lead us.

“……”

When the light faded, I saw the other kids looking up at the sky just like me. Everyone was glowing from head to toe.

Seeing that, I smiled slightly.

Somehow, I felt like a wish was about to come true.

*

And after playing for about two more days, we returned to Seoul.

Before we parted ways, this is what I talked about with my seniors.

“What will you do now?”

“Hmm, I’ll have to study until the end of the year. But I can’t just do nothing until the second semester, right?”

“… Aren’t you escaping reality while it’s actually kind of dangerous?”

“Oh dear.”

Seo-hee raised her finger at my words and said.

“Let’s refrain from such terrifying talks in front of exam takers.”

“Well, since Chae-yeon’s here, I feel like everything will somehow be okay.”

“Hey, I study well too!”

“Right. You do. But not better than me.”

“… I do need your help.”

Seeing Yeon-woo and Chae-yeon chime in, Seo-hee let out a sigh of disbelief, once, twice.

But it seems like she couldn’t refute it, so it must be true.

“Just wait until next year. You might end up having fun while seeming like you’re stressing over studying, you know?”

“There’s still plenty of time before we become 3rd years. I’m planning to enjoy Christmas.”

“Hey, by then we’ll have already finished our college entrance exams, you know?”

That’s really true, I thought with a smile.

“Then… okay. Let’s meet at school next time.”

“……”

At my words, the seniors exchanged glances between me, Ha-yoon, Ji-hye, Jua, and Pang-pang.

“……Okay.”

Seo-hee said with a smile.

“Let’s make the most of these last few months.”

And waving her hand at me, the three left.

Their backs didn’t look too lonely.

Even as they walked away, playfully pushing each other, it was, quite literally,青春.

Thus— the last summer of the seniors came to an end.

 

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