“Why?”
That was the first thing that came out of Ji-hye’s mouth.
In front of her were people.
Those who were supposed to protect the citizens.
Of course, everything couldn’t be perfect.
There’s not a single country where public order is flawlessly maintained with a crime rate of zero.
But still.
Still, it shouldn’t have been that way.
“Why did you do that?”
She asked without specifying whom she was addressing.
A few police officers around Ji-hye reached out their hands to help her up, but Ji-hye just looked at their hands and said,
“You saved me, didn’t you? And you fought the rampaging monster. You did what you couldn’t do, so why?”
Breaking the law?
She thought that might be possible.
But, no matter what, was it necessary?
Did she really think Jieun caused all those things?
“Student. You seem to be very shocked right now―”
“Why did you do that?”
Ji-hye shouted at a middle-aged man who approached as if to help her.
“You helped you! You absolutely had to do that!?”
She repeated the words she had said several times again.
She suddenly stood up and grabbed the man’s clothes.
The man was wearing bulletproof armor.
The clothes he was wearing inside were black.
Was Jieun going to shoot a gun or something?
Is that why she was wearing such clothes?
Police around seemed to approach to separate Ji-hye, but the man raised one hand to stop them and said,
“Wait a moment.”
Then, calmly looking at Ji-hye, he said,
“The opponent was not an ordinary person, student. They were armed, and were fighting just a moment ago―”
“You fought for me!”
Ji-hye shouted.
“They fought for me! Getting beaten like that and falling down!”
Her gaze was directed at the person in front of her.
Naturally, the direction of her voice was too.
But the content of her words seemed to be directed specifically at herself.
“It’s a righteous act! So do you guys point guns at the magical girl too!? Throwing nets over her head!?”
“The attire is similar, but we can’t say that girl is a magical girl―”
“May I speak for you?”
The police, trying to calm Ji-hye in some way, slightly raised both hands and continued speaking calmly, but upon seeing the magical girl addressing them, they closed their mouths.
And rather, as if it went well, they lowered their hands.
Ji-hye also let go of the man.
Her empty eyes were directed at Blossom.
“Ji-hye.”
“Do you know each other?”
“Yes.
……
“Ah.”
“She’s Jieun’s friend.”
At that explanation, the man’s expression became somewhat ambiguous.
To the police present here, the name ‘Jung Jieun’ was not just a stranger’s name.
It was a name they had heard so much over the past month that it was ingrained in their ears.
Some would grind their teeth just upon hearing the name.
The friend’s face had appeared on the news, but usually, it was mosaicked and not clearly visible.
It seems they had called and listened to her circumstances, but the special unit rarely heard such explanations separately.
They usually only knew the adversaries they had to suppress.
From the start, they didn’t look for jobs themselves but had to respond when situations arose, so information about people around the perpetrator was something they learned at that time.
They took a step back because they knew that no matter what they said in the current situation, they couldn’t persuade Ji-hye.
Ji-hye was about to say something to Hayoon but closed her mouth.
“You, how could you do that?”
“……”
Upon hearing that, Hayoon’s mind went blank for a moment.
Objectively speaking, Hayoon had not attacked Jieun today.
Rather, they fought together, and thus they were able to win.
If they blamed arriving late, it wouldn’t be unreasonable, but—
Probably, they weren’t saying that.
Rather,
“Ji, Jieun, like that…”
Her eyes were trembling.
It was clear that what Ji-hye was saying wasn’t coming from a rational situation.
She was probably just in a state of panic, wanting to shift the blame to others.
“Until now, Jieun……”
Ji-hye’s legs gave out as she spoke like that.
Hayoon quickly grabbed Ji-hye.
She wondered if she should lift her up, but Ji-hye was not in a state to do that at all.
Looking again, there were severe bruises below her neck.
Realizing it wasn’t just a simple mental shock, Hayoon quickly squatted in front of Ji-hye.
“OLF, OFLF…….”
Ji-hye held her head with both hands.
“I didn’t want this. Why did it turn out like this?”
Tears were falling from those two eyes.
Hayoon’s heart sank.
Because Hayoon was also thinking that.
Why?
How?
Even if they hadn’t fired the gun, they could have ended it well.
Because Hayoon was there.
The police likely knew about that relationship.
Isn’t it a story that has been featured in the news several times?
As the terrorist who deceived the magical girl and kept being beside her.
She bit her lips, holding back tears.
Even now, it seemed like Jieun’s voice was lingering in her ears.
The image of her rampaging and trampling cars several times was vivid in her eyes.
She probably wanted to do that much earlier.
And she didn’t want to end it with that.
She probably wanted to beat up the person who shot her.
She must have also thought of wanting to end it all.
It was a voice she had never heard before.
Not only Jieun, but among everyone she had ever encountered, she had never heard anyone make such a sound.
She didn’t know.
No, she would have known.
Even if she knew, she would have pretended not to.
Lost in self-pity, only worrying about herself, she had just been pretending not to know.
Everything.
“Ji-hye, first of all, first of all… let’s calm down, okay?”
“Jieun, what should we do? What should we do? Can’t we go back now?”
But with Ji-hye’s continuing questions, Hayoon eventually couldn’t hold back any longer.
Ji-hye tightly grabbed Hayoon’s arm and looked up at her.
And desperately asked,
“How should we, what should we do? If we get caught, do we have to go to prison? Why? Did Jieun really do that? No, right?”
No.
It definitely wasn’t.
But right now, she couldn’t say such things.
If the magical girl said that without proper evidence, it would cause significant trouble for the higher-ups.
Disgusting.
Someone inside her whispered softly.
Still, you’re just making those noises.
The person whispering was Hayoon.
Deep within her, Hayoon’s own self that she had repeatedly ignored.
Always making excuses like that, just lying on the desk and crying, that’s no good.
There was nothing she could say.
So? Then, Jieun should go to prison too?
Should she just be treated as a terrorist for something she didn’t commit?
…No.
She never thought that.
Even if she hadn’t thought it, it was no different from thinking it.
Your saying that you’re going to follow the rules is no different from saying you’re going to do that to Jieun.
In the end, Hayoon couldn’t calm Ji-hye.
Holding onto Hayoon tightly, Ji-hye continued to ask questions several times, and only after her colleagues came running and pulled her away could that one-sided conversation end.
However, once that thought had sprouted within Hayoon, it didn’t go away easily.
News about the new magical girl showed no signs of cooling down.
In some ways, it was natural.
The very existence of a ‘magical girl’ was rare in South Korea, only a handful existed.
Even if a new member was added, it would be big news, but the ‘magical girl’ currently circulating in the public was not that kind of magical girl.
A magical girl who opposes other magical girls.
People were saying that.
When she was first known as a ‘terrorist’, the testimonies from her classmates all said,
“I knew it would be like this.”
She had a normal, common appearance you could see everywhere.
People didn’t expect it.
She was diligent and kind—there weren’t even those clichéd testimonies.
But now, whenever reporters approached to request testimonies, the students’ reactions were somewhat different.
They didn’t say she became good.
They didn’t say she was ordinary.
They just refused to testify.
Kids who were so excited and talkative at first suddenly fell silent in an instant.
And the reason for that change was clear.
Fear.