It felt weird.
I’d only helped Yoshinon out of simple goodwill, and I never imagined Yoshino would repay me with a kiss like that.
Younghee, who had been watching, said she was jealous and shouted, “Me too! Me too!” at Yoshino, but apparently that was too much to ask. Yoshino was hiding her face in her hood, looking embarrassed as she bowed her head.
“………I’m really glad I can’t seal spiritual power.”
I muttered so quietly no one could hear, breaking out in a cold sweat. I’d watched the anime, so I knew very well what happened after a Spirit’s spiritual power got sealed.
There were a lot of people passing by here right now. And no matter how you looked at it, Yoshino looked like she was only about elementary school age. Compared to that, I was a sturdy second-year high school boy. If you thought about the combination of a little girl and a high school boy…….
“This is seriously a relief! A huge relief!”
I’d be socially ruined for sure! It wouldn’t be strange if the cops came running over and hauled me away right this second! Even if I somehow used teleportation to flee home, I’d definitely be hearing “FBI! Open Up!” before a day was out!
“『Why are you suddenly saying nothing? Don’t tell me… that kiss felt so good you can’t even think straight!?』”
“………No. I just. I just thought it was a relief.”
I answered Yoshinon, who was making a fuss, and let out a sigh of relief.
“I’m jealous~ Getting a kiss from such a cute girl…… But where did you even learn ventriloquism? Teach me too!”
“Cheolsu. If I’m not being rude, can I report you to the police right now?”
“That’s rude enough, so don’t!”
I yelped at Cheolsu’s words as he took out his phone.
“Well, I’m kidding. Anyway, I’m glad we found that rabbit doll.”
“If you said it was a joke, could you put that phone away? I can clearly see you’ve got 112 typed in there from here.”
“Tch!”
“You punk?”
I gave a dry laugh as he clicked his tongue and put the phone away.
“Anyway, thanks. If it weren’t for you guys, I wouldn’t have found it so easily.”
“We just got lucky, that’s all. But Haneul, why don’t you come watch the circus with us? Me and Younghee came here to have some fun too. We called Jomsoon over to hang out with us too, but I don’t see her anywhere.”
“I’d like to, but…….”
I trailed off and looked down at Yoshino. When I asked, “Want to come watch the circus with us?” Yoshino shook her head and said it would be too much, while Yoshinon was saying something completely different like, “Are you asking me out on a date? Eeeek!”
I’m glad Cheolsu and Younghee don’t know Japanese. If they could understand what Yoshinon was saying, they’d definitely think Yoshino had at most a split personality.
“Well~ anyway, thanks for helping! Should I call you Haneul-kun?”
“Drop the honorific. Just Haneul is fine.”
“Then Haneul! I hope we get to see each other again if we have the chance! Bye-bye~!”
Yoshinon waved her tiny hand, and Yoshino also gave one last thank-you before turning around and trotting away.
Cheolsu and Younghee looked startled as Yoshino suddenly left.
“Hey, Haneul. Where’s she going all of a sudden?”
“Aren’t you going to stop her?”
“………Her relative is nearby right now. She got called over, so she’s in a hurry.”
Once again, I made up some random excuse and brushed off their questions.
“Is it okay to let her go alone? If some weirdo follows her, that’d be bad.”
“There are a lot of people around, though? I wonder if she can even find her way by herself.”
“Uh…… It’s fine. Even if she doesn’t look it, she’s a really mature kid. And that rabbit doll has a security alarm on it too, so it’s okay.”
Anyway, even if some weirdo did follow her, it was nearly impossible for an ordinary civilian to lay a hand on Yoshino, a Spirit. If anything, they’d be lucky if they didn’t get taken out themselves. She was very gentle, sure, but she was still a Spirit. Even if you brought the army, you couldn’t leave a scratch on a Spirit, so how could an ordinary civilian do anything to Yoshino?
On top of that, Yoshinon was with her now, so the chance of someone sweet-talking her into trouble was basically zero.
“Ah, she just met up with her relative. I got a message from them.”
After I took out my phone and pretended to check a message, Cheolsu and Younghee, who had looked pretty uneasy, finally reacted with, “Oh, then that’s a relief.”
“If they met up just now, then I guess they were nearby.”
“She was super cute. I hope we get to see her again sometime~”
“Hey, Haneul. Let’s go watch the circus together. I just got a KakaoTalk message, and Jomsoon’s waiting out front too.”
Cheolsu said that while looking at his phone and grabbed my arm, and Younghee chimed in from the side with, “Let’s go! Let’s go!” I said okay and quickened my pace.
“...............”
Following behind Cheolsu and Younghee as they led the way, I briefly turned my head toward the direction Yoshino had disappeared and stared blankly that way.
By now, not even Yoshino was visible anymore, let alone the green hood with rabbit ears. All I could see there was people, people, people.
‘With Yoshinon with her…… she should be fine, right?’
I knew very well that Yoshino was a Spirit, but I couldn’t help worrying about her anyway.
That was what I thought as I listened to Younghee loudly declare that the rain had stopped.
○○○
“Wow~ That was insanely fun!”
“I was shocked seeing how flexible those performers were. How can a person bend that far at the waist?”
“Hey, Jomsoon. Could you do that balancing stuff like those guys?”
“Do I look like I could?”
We were chatting away as the three of us left after enjoying the circus. It was my first time seeing a circus performance, so it was really fascinating. More fascinating than a Spirit, even. How could people do tricks like that?
Still feeling the afterglow, I kept muttering about how amazing it was.
“But that person never showed up in the end.”
“Huh? Who?”
I asked at Younghee’s mutter.
“The person who took a photo with me and Cheolsu. The one who found that rabbit doll.”
“Ah~ that person?”
“Yeah. I was really looking forward to seeing the swing transfer act, but I didn’t even get to see their face, let alone the swing.”
“Maybe they couldn’t come because they were sick?”
“Who knows……?”
At Cheolsu’s words, Younghee tilted her head and suddenly took her phone out of her pocket.
“Should I ask one of the staff over there?”
“Hey, don’t.”
“I’m going to ask just once! I’ll be right back!”
“Ah, don’t—…… she’s already gone.”
Watching Younghee turn words she’d just said into action in an instant, Cheolsu stopped trying to hold her back and let out a sigh. Younghee called out to a person in a clown costume and showed them her phone, and soon we could see her talking to them about something.
And a little while later, leaving the startled-looking clown behind, Younghee walked back toward us with an unreadable expression.
“Did you get scolded?”
“What’d they say?”
“Well…….”
As Younghee dragged it out, the three of us asked what she’d heard.
“………This person here. They said he was someone who got kicked out a long time ago.”
“Huh?”
“They said they hadn’t been able to contact him for five years and thought he was dead, but when I showed them the photo, they were shocked and asked when I’d met him.”
“.................”
At Younghee’s words, we frowned and fell silent. What the hell was that. Creepy. Jomsoon asked if maybe it was a lie, but Younghee shook her head and said it was true.
“Ugh, what the heck. That’s weirdly creepy.”
“Then was that person just here to visit?”
“Maybe?”
“Hmm……….”
At that story, all of us fell into silence.
But only for a moment.
At Cheolsu’s suggestion that we go get some chicken, we completely dropped the subject and quickly changed the conversation to something new.
“Oh right, Jomsoon. Didn’t Haneul kiss a girl?”
“Hey!”
And of all things, that was the new topic.
Damn it.
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