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After dealing with one alien, the room felt a bit humid.

Well, even though it was humid, it wasn’t unpleasant to that extent. Wasn’t it still too early for everything to be dry? In fact, I thought maybe a little humidity could be somewhat beneficial.

I checked where the humidity was coming from and found it was seeping in from the kitchen, which was currently out of use. The door didn’t seem to close properly, so I figured the steam from boiling water was leaking in little by little.

As I tilted my head and walked over there—

“Ji-eun!”

Pang-pang waved her hand as she spoke.

There was a big red basin in the room.

Rather than for personal use… it looked more like one of those large basins Grandma used for kimchi-making back in the day. I wondered where Pang-pang had found it; it seemed she somehow dragged it all the way here.

Even James had gone with me to deal with the aliens. That basin probably wasn’t light at all.

Lately, we had been feeling a bit weak. Sadly, there wasn’t much we could do with just the two of us. Although we were managing to ration the food, the situation wasn’t the worst, but the imbalanced nutrition we were getting was not great for two teenagers like us.

But, it’s going to change soon.

The plan would be in action shortly. We had made our weapons, and our fight style had etched itself into people’s minds.

Above all, Ha-yoon and the Magical Girls were fully focused on me.

Well, whether that was good or bad, to be honest, I didn’t care anymore.

… I shouldn’t care.

“Let’s soak in some warm water for the first time in a while and rejuvenate ourselves.”

It seemed Pang-pang had been preparing this all while I was out. With our bodies not fully charged, she searched empty houses by herself, gathering anything useful, fetching water for washing…

Then, she even scrubbed out a cauldron before putting water in it and boiling it.

Honestly, at this point, I wasn’t even mad about why she was going to such lengths. It felt like I had come too far to feel thankful, and all I felt was guilt.

“… Ah, but the water isn’t much. The truth is, I got a bit tired halfway through moving it around…”

Not really, it must have been hard work.

I raised my hand and scratched my head.

“… So, can we wash together?”

Pang-pang asked quietly.

With such a question in this situation and with that expression.

I couldn’t possibly answer no.

Feeling incredibly embarrassed, I shrugged my shoulders.

*

This is somewhat of a conscience declaration.

Having been around Pang-pang, I had seen her body just a tiny bit. It was unavoidable.

Maybe because I’m a girl too, but Pang-pang didn’t hesitate to change clothes in front of me. After working hard and coming home drenched in sweat, it was only natural to change or wash up, and Pang-pang stripped off her clothes as soon as she entered the house.

I hadn’t seen her front in great detail.

But I had caught a glimpse of her back. Just like the working Pang-pang, her body had areas that were muscular. It seemed she took care of herself to some degree.

And today, I happened to see a little of that again.

It hadn’t been long since we went outside together, but it seemed like she had lost a bit of weight. Of course, I hadn’t seen her properly back then or today, so I couldn’t be sure.

Was it just my imagination?

I hoped it was.

Pang-pang and I stepped into the bathtub together.

No matter how easygoing Pang-pang was, she seemed a bit shy about sharing a bathtub with me, so she sat with her back to me. I turned away from Pang-pang too and just stared blankly ahead.

“…”

The nighttime mountains weren’t as quiet as I thought they would be. The trees rustled whenever the wind blew, and the whispering wind between them was quite eerie as well.

But right now, there was no time to be scared of that.

“… Huh.”

I let out a small sigh.

Maybe it was because I hadn’t soaked in hot water for a while. I felt a warmth spreading from deep within my body, relaxing me.

Without realizing it, I half-closed my eyes and sat there absentmindedly.

“… Pang-pang.”

I called out her name.

“Yeah.”

Pang-pang replied.

When I shifted slightly, I heard the water splashing.

“… Why are you doing this for me?”

“Doing this, you say?”

Pang-pang seemed to think for a moment before speaking again.

“Haven’t we had this kind of conversation before?”

Have we? My mind was a bit foggy. After all, I had just come back from a huge fight, and now that I was in this hot water, my brain felt like it was melting.

“… Still, the situation now is very different from when we had that conversation.”

“…”

At my words, Pang-pang seemed to hesitate for a rare moment.

“Just saying it’s because we’re friends wouldn’t be enough, right?”

Because we’re friends.

Would it be enough? I wasn’t sure about that anymore.

I used to think there was someone I could risk my life for in my previous life.

Well, back in those naïve days. I thought there could be a friend like the ones you’d find in boys’ manga.

But as I slowly grew older, things felt different.

In the end, the most important thing was my family and me. The same went for friends. No matter how much of a joy it was to meet someone again, time passed, and once work started, it became harder to meet those “friends.”

When distance grows, hearts grow distant too. Though it was always nice to see each other when we met again, the kids who grew up became less likely to risk their lives for one another.

Did those kinds of friends help me this much?

Or was it just because Pang-pang was this age?

I thought about Ha-yoon. I thought about Ji-hye.

I still hadn’t met Ji-hye, and whenever Ha-yoon saw me, she had a look of distress on her face. So I honestly didn’t know how those two thought of me yet.

But at least, Pang-pang, who had been by my side since I took off running, was a little different.

Pang-pang had… I mean, she had continuously helped me from then until now.

Could that be possible because we’re friends?

Is it truly possible to follow me, even leaving behind everything she had built up until then, including the home she had made?

They say that even among friends, you shouldn’t act as a guarantor; yet Pang-pang had been through worse things because of me.

Maybe she truly despised me deep down but was just following me to survive—

—No, no matter how I thought about it, that seemed too far-fetched.

“…”

Pang-pang thought for a moment before speaking.

“To be honest, when I think about everything I’ve done up to now getting blown away, it’s a bit… sad.”

That made my heart sink.

No matter how much I steeled myself, hearing those words gave me a different feeling entirely.

“But when I weighed it on a scale and compared, I realized that just giving up would lead to one regret for sure.”

“…”

I quietly waited for her response.

“If I lose a toy, I can buy another. It’s the same with posters and computers. I’ve watched almost everything like music and movies through streaming, so as long as I have the account, I can revisit them whenever I’m settled again.”

The water where Pang-pang sat splashed about.

Maybe she was slightly turning towards me.

I wasn’t quite sure if it was because she was looking at me or if it was something else.

But for some reason, I felt a bit embarrassed, as if my innermost thoughts were exposed. Was it because I hadn’t gotten my foggy mind together?

“But… losing you as a friend feels like something I can’t replace.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

I felt embarrassed again and awkwardly asked, “Is it because I’m a Magical Girl?”

I knew well enough that was not what she meant, but I couldn’t help but ask.

Pang-pang chuckled softly.

“Oh, that’s definitely part of it.”

As if she had already read my mind, she answered cheerfully.

“But— that’s not all. I mentioned this before, but when things were tough and I was alone in this world, having you by my side gave me so much strength.”

I had said that before.

“… I might say I’m not addicted, but the reason I used to drink coffee almost every day is because of that. Yeah, no matter how I ran away, it was lonely. Not having a friend was just… so tough. I felt blocked in every direction. So I tried to forget about it.”

“… Isn’t that a typical excuse for an alcoholic? You sound just like one.”

“But you know, it felt good when I drank with a friend.”

I didn’t push back any further.

I didn’t want to ruin this atmosphere for no reason.

“And I even went as far as to help a drunk person home. So, um, yeah. Maybe I could relax like that next to you.”

“…”

“Therefore, this too is something precious I’ve gained since coming to your world. This relationship. I didn’t want to give that up.”

“Even if it meant taking this risk?”

“Even if it meant taking the risk. You could say this is another type of adventure, right?”

“…”

That last remark felt very Pang-pang-like.

 

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