361 – EP.12.5 Each World: Kim Seong-ah
***
Late autumn. Night. Rooftop. Cold wind.
Two women look at each other on a gray meadow.
“Tell me.”
A woman with an elegant impression urged me.
The question was directed at the woman sitting on the floor, whose heavy breathing indirectly indicated that there had been a fierce fight just moments ago.
Yimina bowed down to the young-faced woman with the star decoration.
“How come you know the face of the Heavenly Horse?”
“If it’s Cheonma… ah… that old man, the master.”
As Kim Seong-ah muttered while sorting out her jumbled memories, the shadow behind Im-ina stirred.
“mister?”
Yimina leaned down further and looked into Kim Seong-ah’s eyes.
Mysterious purple eyes that seemed to hold stars. Bright and cheerful energy was felt from those eyes full of life.
Kim Seong-ah looked up at Im Na. She didn’t avoid the gaze that was piercing into her.
She felt as if she had entered the deep sea. Her whole body trembled under the pressure that was squeezing her.
“I guess you’re talking about Inho.”
As Imina, who had been asking herself questions, straightened up, the energy that had been squeezing Kim Seong-ah disappeared all at once.
Kim Seong-ah caught her breath and stood up, using her cane to support herself on the ground.
“…Did she dimensionally shift first? No, dimension shifting without a Kkumul-ssi is impossible.”
Yimina thought, pressing her prickly hair.
“hey.”
Kim Seong-ah approached Im Na, who was mumbling.
“Or did you create someone else who can travel through dimensions besides me? No, this kid belongs here….”
“hey.”
“…?”
When the magical girl carefully tapped her shoulder, Yimina flinched and took a step back.
It seems like he was lost in his own world.
“…Who are you, sister?”
Even though her strength was gone, she was the one who made that witch disappear in an instant.
A being that wields heterogeneous powers and exudes a threatening aura, but no evil aura is felt.
‘I’ve never heard of such a person from you, sir.’
Kim Seong-ah felt dizzy.
“I am….”
The woman in black paused for a moment and looked at Kim Seong-ah.
“Wait a minute… you didn’t answer my question.”
“What was the question?”
“That face from earlier. How did you know that?”
“Uh… um….”
Kim Seong-ah rolled her eyes. After weighing the pros and cons, she closed and opened her eyes as if she had made a decision.
“I knew it was magic. I’m a magical girl.”
“okay.”
“Uh… aren’t you surprised?”
“What?”
“I told you I’m a magical girl?”
She spins around, appearing to be wearing a star decoration.
Yimina just stared at the sight indifferently.
“So?”
“Yes? …I just thought you wouldn’t be surprised.”
“…Well, it’s not that impressive.”
I had just seen a woman who could breathe black flames from her hands and blow away all the moisture in the air, and a woman who had her head blown off and her arm torn off but still recovered and wielded a greatsword.
And what about himself? He moves through dimensions and leads shadows.
God, power, dimensions… Magical girls didn’t make much of an impression on Imina, who was completely immersed in the abnormal.
“What, what did you say!”
Kim Seong-ah, who did not know the reason for the lukewarm reaction, interpreted the meaning differently.
Kim Seong-ah raised her voice at Im Na, who was looking herself up and down and then speaking indifferently.
“Shh. Be quiet. My head is ringing.”
Regardless, Yimina put her index finger to her lips and asked him to keep his voice down.
‘What is this lady?’
Kim Seong-ah, who had suddenly changed her title to “ajumma,” was furious inside.
Do you think I’ll be scared if you walk around wrapped in black clothes? Of course, I’m a little scared…
“Anyway, what is your name, ma’am?”
“auntie…?”
Imina’s eyes, which had been pressing her temples, rolled back.
“…Sister.”
When Kim Seong-ah, who had figured out the mood, corrected her title, Im-ina frowned due to her persistent headache and said her name.
“My name is Imina.”
“Ah… Already. …Huh?”
“Do you know me?”
“…I know the name.”
“You don’t know my name? How?”
“You don’t know my name?”
When I looked at her with the feeling of “How do you know?”, Kim Seong-ah shrugged her shoulders.
“My uncle told me.”
“That’s what Inho said.”
“Yes, sir.”
Even though Yimina corrected her title, Kim Seong-ah did not back down.
Each of them called Kang In-ho by his own title. A subtle war of nerves unfolded between the two women.
The curious one loses, so Yimina stopped the meaningless war of nerves and waited for Kim Seong-ah to speak next.
“The old man told me that I am cursed by God, and every time I die, I am possessed by a different being in a different world.”
“…Inho told you that?”
Kim Seong-ah felt a strange sense of triumph as ripples appeared on her face like a calm lake, a face that seemed to say it was in disbelief.
Kim Seong-ah instinctively knew that the same person was in her heart and the woman in front of her. The other person must have guessed that too.
A slender and cool-headed beauty, like a city career woman.
She was secretly intimidated by Imina, who had better proportions and an adult charm compared to her.
But he was the one who knew Kang In-ho’s secret.
Kang In-ho had told that important secret only to himself.
Although I felt like I was going crazy, I kept my composure on the outside.
“Yes, that’s right. The old man told me everything. Specially to me.”
He decides to keep the information he obtained by threatening him with a cane a secret.
“Why… why….”
Imina pressed her temples hard, trying to calm her unpleasant feelings.
But deep and rough emotions boiled up inside my chest.
“I see? I, I guess he might have seen me as prettier, right?”
Feeling superior, Kim Seong-ah went teabagging.
“Huh… So what did you say?”
“yes?”
“Did you tell everyone about the people you met while traveling through dimensions?”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“Then let’s hear. What did Inho say about me?”
“Why, why should I say that?”
“If you don’t want to do it, it’s okay if you don’t. But, it will be better for you to say it.”
The shadow behind Yimina began to move slowly.
Kim Seong-ah opened her mouth, thinking about the witch’s final moments as she was torn to pieces.
“Oh, okay. Ma, I’ll tell you. So, put that away.”
The woman in front of her was soon to be her lover. Kim Seong-ah had no intention of conveying Kang In-ho’s words straight.
[He was a good person.] “He said his personality wasn’t bad.”
[He is passionate about his work.] “He said he only knows how to do work.”
[He also had a sense of responsibility.] “He said he was persistent in everything he did.”
[With me? We ate together and watched movies.] “We did a few things together.”
[If we had met a little longer, wouldn’t we have dated?] “I told you we weren’t lovers.”
The wind blew on the roof.
The wind in late autumn was quite chilly.
“That… has to be true.”
Yimina, who had been silent, said.
“Yeah, yeah. That’s true.”
“I’ll check with you.”
“yes?”
“Don’t you understand the situation? How did I get here?”
A shadow spread out behind Yimina’s back.
As the shadow grabbed hold of something in the air and pulled with force, space began to twist and crack.
“I can travel across dimensions.”
“Okay, just a minute….”
“There’s one thing I need to confirm when I meet Inho. Did he really say that about me? Why did he tell his secret to someone else and not me?”
The pupils of the eyes that contain the deep sea become even darker.
“Sister… If… I go with you….”
Where had the proud look from before gone? Kim Seong-ah was timidly approaching Im Na.
“You cannot pass through this passage. Only the chosen ones are allowed to pass through.”
Yimina extends her hand to block his approach.
A heterogeneous landscape is visible beyond the crack.
A barren land appears, either a desert or a wasteland.
“Well then, take care. ‘Magical Girl’. I will give your regards to Mr. Kang Gongja.”
“yes?”
Kim Seong-ah tilted her head at the sudden change in title.
“I forgot to mention it. I’ll go to Dad….”
Imina corrected her words, pressing her temples.
“dad?”
Kim Seong-ah tilts her head in response.
Yimina’s eyes are shaking.
……
……
……
“What did I just call Inho?”
Yimina muttered blankly.
The headache started getting worse.