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I’m starting to think I’m way more awkward than I expected.

Well, I mean, I wasn’t exactly the most sociable person either.

Basically, I tend to wait for others to talk to me first. When I was very young, like back when I was an elementary schooler in my past life, it wasn’t like this, but as I grew older, my personality slowly changed, and by the time I became a college student, I was like this.

I really don’t want to blame anyone for it. There are probably many mixed reasons. Above all, I have grown to not want to get tangled up with others.

The reason I got close to Ji-hye in this world was because she talked to me first.

Even when I was being a huge pain and making all kinds of fuss, Ji-hye treated me with her unique innocence. In the end, she broke down my walls and approached me.

Looking back, I guess I was just a bad person.

I might not particularly like kids, but that doesn’t mean I should be annoyed first.

Despite being lacking in many ways, Ji-hye truly treated me like family. To be honest, I still don’t know why.

I just want to repay her for how much she likes me.

“……”

However, apart from those thoughts, it’s awkward.

Come to think of it, it’s been a really long time since it was just the two of us in the same room. I thought I wouldn’t feel awkward going back to how it used to be, but here I am.

Wanting to ease the awkwardness a bit, I looked at the CD case on the desk.

I checked it last time too, and sure enough, it was broken all over. There were many scratches on the CDs inside. Most of them probably wouldn’t have major issues playing, though.

Ji-hye had tidied up our room, which had been a complete mess, back to its original state. And she was waiting for me to return.

“Um… the desk is quite cluttered.”

I just said that for no real reason.

Besides the broken turntable, there were various pieces of equipment piled on the desk. It seemed like the former chairman of Noir Corporation didn’t feel the need to take this back.

“Should we clean it up?”

Ji-hye asked.

I shook my head.

“No, if they need it, they’ll come and take it themselves.”

I’m not sure if I would need it, but for now, I guess I’ll leave it as is.

Scratching my head, I reached for the CD player.

Click.

“Huh?”

Ji-hye, who had somehow gotten right next to me, let out a surprised sound.

The CD player was working fine. It was extending the CD tray like a tongue, waiting for me to insert a CD.

“It was broken.”

According to Ji-hye, it had been damaged when the orphanage was attacked. I remembered that too. The CDs and the player were all lying on the floor, and I didn’t think they would work again.

“……Oh, really?”

“Yeah?”

“I guess James or Cherry must have fixed it.”

They both left before the magical girls did. Cherry got a request to come back quickly from the Federation, and James… well, I’m not sure where he vanished to, he just left a note saying he was going.

I scratched my head and picked up one of the CDs. The case was just a regular plastic one. The album jacket was quite vintage, with a drawing that looked like it was scrawled with a pen.

It wasn’t technically a secondhand item, and it hadn’t been out for too long, but since it had been rolling around the ground, there was a big crack on the front.

Fortunately, the CD itself was intact.

As I took it out and inserted it into the player, it started reading the CD, and the music automatically began to play.

The flowing music was a lively jazz tune. It sounded more like a live recording than a studio one, with sounds of people moving mixed in.

I didn’t know the title or the artist. Honestly, I wasn’t sure how famous this album was either. It was probably a pretty recent album, but the jacket made it seem older.

But still, the music was good.

I leaned against the desk. Ji-hye leaned beside me.

For a moment, we pretended to be cool, nodding our heads along with the music.

“……This situation.”

After listening to the upbeat music for a while, Ji-hye opened her mouth first.

“Doesn’t it feel a bit like a movie?”

“Really?”

Well, thinking about it, it could be a bit like that. I’m not quite sure. I didn’t really watch movies that often in this world. Besides, my taste leaned more towards Hollywood action movies that demolish things than music-themed films.

But still, I think I understand what Ji-hye means by “movie-like” in this situation.

“Then, how about we make it a little more movie-like?”

“Huh?”

I stood up and spun around to the music.

I don’t usually dance or anything like that. My personality isn’t really the cheerful type.

But, who cares.

The one who knows me best and my “not-so-normal side” is right next to me.

I moved around, not knowing how to dance, and bent toward Ji-hye.

And I reached out my hand.

Ji-hye laughed as if she couldn’t believe it and took my hand.

I pulled her hand, and she gladly came closer to me.

So, we held hands and swayed around the room.

I don’t even know why I suddenly acted like this; honestly, I’m not sure.

However—

Isn’t it true that people who usually don’t do these kinds of things can turn into a completely different person when they go to karaoke?

Even the most reserved people need to let loose and blow off some steam occasionally.

Spinning around felt liberating.

It was a feeling of release, like I could finally get away from all that complicated stuff.

Ji-hye was laughing. I smiled while looking at her.

Finally, finally, we had returned.

To the everyday life I had been hoping for.

I know that not everything is completely over yet. I also understand that the everyday life I envisioned has probably changed forever.

But for now, this alone is wonderful. Yeah, I thought it was worth celebrating with a dance.

I can guarantee that, just as I don’t know how to dance, Ji-hye is surely clueless about it too.

So there’s no reason to be embarrassed.

*

We twirled around comically until almost the end of the album, and then we plopped onto the floor.

The CD player stopped the music. There was a lingering sound of the CD spinning for a while before it finally fell silent.

We lay on the floor in a sprawling position, panting for a bit.

“Yeah, that was a bit movie-like.”

Ji-hye mumbled, sounding somewhat incredulous.

“……”

I was silently catching my breath while staring at the ceiling.

Ji-hye was quiet for a moment, then suddenly turned her head to me and asked, “You were thinking about Ha-yoon, right?”

“What? No way.”

I immediately denied it.

Ji-hye completely turned to face me. And she slowly inched closer.

I turned my body toward Ji-hye but didn’t get too close, slipping back a bit instead.

“Why are you running away? You hugged me so tightly last time.”

“No, that was—”

“Now you don’t need to anymore, huh? Got it.”

“I swear that’s not what I thought.”

“When we were with the little kids, you were all cuddly and slept just fine.”

“That was because there was no space…”

“Hmph.”

As I stumbled over my words, Ji-hye squinted and made a snorting sound.

“So, you have no intention of cuddling with me unless there’s no space?”

“That’s not at all what I meant.”

“Then there’s no need to run away, right?”

Swoosh.

As I started to back away, I bumped into the wall, and Ji-hye kept approaching.

Ji-hye was shorter than me. She probably was about Ha-yoon’s height, so when we faced each other, she could definitely look up at me.

But that height difference became irrelevant when we lay down like this, able to make eye contact.

Ji-hye confidently pulled my left arm toward her.

And she lay down, using my arm as a pillow.

As a result, my slightly strained gaze lowered a bit, but her eyes were still gleaming brightly.

“Remember? I kissed you.”

“……How could I forget?”

“And normally, people don’t kiss those they don’t like.”

“……If it’s CPR, that might be an exception.”

“You skipped the process. These days, they just pump the chest, right?”

Is that so?

No, but it feels like that’s a bit different from what she’s implying.

The reason I brought up CPR was that the situation felt that dire… well, something like that.

…….

In the end, I’m just dodging again.

“So, in that case…”

“Exactly.”

Ji-hye looked up at me from within my arms and said firmly.

“If I didn’t like you, I wouldn’t have kissed you.”

I seriously pondered whether I should respond to that.

“Ah, so you can’t answer right away.”

Ji-hye muttered while still looking up at me.

“Sorry—”

Before I could even say sorry, my mouth was blocked by Ji-hye’s lips.

I was in a situation where I had just opened my mouth to talk, so I was especially vulnerable to that kind of attack.

Nevertheless, this time, I managed to hold back any embarrassing sounds like “Ugh!?”

Moreover, from the middle of it—

“Mmm!?”

Ji-hye let out a sound like that.

Last time I was caught by surprise without having the chance to react, but this time it was different. I pulled Ji-hye in tighter and firmly held the back of her head.

Ji-hye didn’t pull away; instead, she hugged me even tighter.

Just like Ha-yoon did to me, our bodies pressed against each other—

Phew, without anyone needing to say it first, we slightly fell back from each other. Only moments before, we had been happily dancing, but now we were panting heavily.

Ji-hye gazed up at me silently for a while. Reflected in her emerald eyes was my face.

Her eyes were always perfectly clear.

Her cheeks were a bit flushed, and her skin was damp with sweat.

“……When did you learn how to do that?”

When I stupidly asked, she snorted and replied, “You’re the weird one. Kids our age usually watch all kinds of wild videos.”

Does it work like that?

No, more importantly, you really watched those kinds of videos? Seriously? I hadn’t picked up on that vibe at all.

If anything, I was being very… careful. After all, I vividly remember my past life, so there’s no way I wouldn’t be cautious.

Somehow, it felt strangely unfair.

“Well, I’ll make sure not to invade your space while you sleep, just because I’m thinking you’re so innocent.”

Honestly, that comment stung a bit.

Of course, I had never dated anyone in my past life… and it’s not like we’re living in the Joseon Dynasty; it’s not weird for a girl to be proactive in this world, but still, it hit a nerve.

However, leaping right in to kiss was something I was reluctant to do.

It’s not that I disliked Ji-hye, nor did I have any aversion to those kinds of acts. I mean, what’s not to like?

But still—

“You are so indecisive.”

Ji-hye criticized me like that.

But her body showed no signs of wanting to separate.

“Well, being indecisive like this… I feel like I don’t really have a place to speak either. After all, I ended up dragging this on and on.”

Ji-hye kept looking up at me.

“But, don’t apologize for that sort of thing. It just makes me feel a bit off.”

“Oh, I see.”

I nodded.

Sure enough, saying sorry in that context only carried the meaning of rejection.

“……Is it about Ha-yoon?”

There are a few reasons, sure. Ji-hye likely knows them too. It’s just that, in this situation, it feels a bit awkward to bring up another reason.

Thinking that way makes me feel like a really bad person.

No, it’s not like this is what I wanted… but saying that I didn’t want it at all feels a bit strange. Doesn’t it? I mean, who doesn’t have those kinds of thoughts sometimes?

Ji-hye buried her face in my chest.

Then, after a while, she slowly released her arms from me.

“Ah.”

Maybe due to disappointment or worry, a sound slipped out from my mouth, but it seemed Ji-hye didn’t seem to care too much.

It almost felt like she hadn’t even thought about the concept of “giving up.”

“……Alright.”

Ji-hye nodded and spoke.

“Then let’s go together.”

“Go where?”

“To Ha-yoon’s place. Are you not worried about her?”

“……”

“I don’t know what her home situation is like, but they’re probably much stricter than us.”

While saying things that sounded like a joke, Ji-hye opened the window wide.

“Hey, wait a second, that way?”

When I said that incredulously, Ji-hye shrugged.

“We’re magical girls, right? We share dreams and hope… More than anything, to be honest, I just like flying. Maybe it’s because I haven’t been a magical girl for long? Besides, you’re the one who made me a magical girl.”

Ji-hye pointed at the circuit board she had picked up somewhere.

“This is definitely a way back to love, right? I think I have enough energy, how about you?”

“……”

After a brief pause, I finally decided I couldn’t lose and got up from my spot.

Well, I was worried.

If it were Ha-yoon, she would definitely be sulking after getting scolded by her parents.

It would be problematic if the magical girl who saved the world was acting all sulky.

“Alright, let’s go.”

I said that while picking up the circuit board that had been on the desk.

And I strapped it onto my wrist.

Seeing it shine brightly, it didn’t seem like I would run low on energy.

 

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