Chapter 45 – Episode 45. Smile Face Ruined Me (2)
Episode 45 Smile Face Ruined Me (2)
Yena Joo was a famous person at her academy, and everyone would know her name just by hearing her name, but she didn’t mean it to be.
In fact, she was a timid and introverted person who liked to be alone sometimes, but perhaps because of the harmonious family environment in which she grew up, she could not tolerate discomfort.
Whether it is a group or gathering she belongs to.
Especially when someone is hostile towards her, she becomes uncomfortable to the point where she wishes they would kill her.
So, you will be forced to become an insider.
When Joo Yena greets you with her signature bright smile, both men and women usually break down their defenses.
So, Jang Hye-ri’s decision to ignore Joo Yena’s words and pass by coldly was quite an unfamiliar scene, to the point where everyone who saw her got angry.
“Hey, Hyeri-“
“…”
Just as it was a national rule for children to go to the library during lunch time, Jang Hye-ri stayed at the library.
Even back then, what she read in the library was the history of the founding of UNAA and B.H., And research books on the Paramas Empire, and it was the same whether she was a magical girl or not.
Yena Joo went to visit her on purpose.
I know that Hye-ri Jang prefers being stuck in the library than playing with her friends.
Normally, she would have been hanging out in the club room with her dance club friends, Ahn Hyo-jin, Bang Yun-ji, and Kang Sarang, but she didn’t feel very comfortable right now.
But her return was ignored.
Jang Hye-ri completely ignored the anxious gaze of her master Yena, and with her upright posture, only focused her eyes on her book.
“Hyeri, shall we talk?”
“… No.”
“…”
Joo Yena did not come to the library alone.
Why go to the library on a sunny day?
If she were her usual self, this would never be a place she would choose.
Her close friends followed her here with her characteristic curiosity and generosity to see what Yena Joo was up to, so she witnessed the whole scene together.
Jang Hye-ri was still cold.
It looked like he was really angry at Joo Yena.
Contrary to Joo Yena’s intention to lighten Jang Hye-ri’s mood, Jang Hye-ri only left a bad impression.
Not long ago, her friends criticized Jang Hye-ri because she grabbed her arm and tried to force her to “Talk” About Joo Yena.
She said things went well for her after that, but it turned out that Jang Hye-ri, who seemed quiet and calm on the outside, was more reckless than she thought when she revealed her personality.
In that situation, because Jang Hye-ri appeared to ignore Joo Yena, her image became even worse.
Joo Yena felt guilty.
Her ambiguous approach, which stemmed from her sense of duty, was also a problem, but Jang Hye-ri also did not know how to hide her feelings, and it was her fault for treating Joo Yena the way she felt.
“Are you two close?”
Bang Hyo-jin asked as Joo Yena looked down at her face and walked down the hallway back to her class.
“… We’re close.”
Joo Yena paused a bit and spoke.
In fact, if she had asked anyone, not just Jang Hye-ri, she would have said ‘we are close’.
She was afraid of saying that she was unfamiliar with someone or that she was not on good terms with them, and in fact, she had a very low bar for being ‘close’, so she defined that anyone who said hello while walking down the street was a close friend.
That friendliness was also her charm.
Even so, Jang Hye-ri is different.
She is not only her classmate, but also her co-worker, with whom she has one big thing in common: being a magical girl.
Ironically, Jang Hye-ri and Joo Yena did not really have similar personalities, and to put it bluntly, they did not pretend to know each other at the academy.
It’s the same with Mayuri.
Previous magical girls were not encouraged by B.H to reveal their friendships outside of the academy.
When the identity of a magical girl is discovered, those who are close to her become the next targets, and there is a high possibility that her identity will be revealed due to her string of connections.
So Bang Hyo-jin’s reaction was understandable.
Yena Joo approached her because she felt sorry for her friend and colleague who was kicked out of B.H. Because of her smiley face.
She doesn’t understand why she bows her head and approaches Jang Hye-ri, whom she normally has no contact with.
‘It’s hard to put into words.’
After Zhou Yena thought about this, she felt guilty.
Although she may have background reasons for not being able to get along closely at the academy, Joo Yena is naturally open and lively, and she did not think she would have become closer to Jang Hye-ri than her current friends.
Because Jang Hye-ri is overly blunt and sensitive.
I recognize her sense of justice, but there are times when I feel burdened by her excessive fighting spirit and her strict ethics.
Especially after the appearance of Smile Face, she seemed to have only him in her mind.
At first, she thought it was her antipathy towards the brutal killer who singled out the recovering people and killed them.
As both Mayuri and Juyena acknowledged, she had the strongest sense of justice among the magical girls.
So much so that he goes to headquarters even on holidays.
Leisure time, personal time, which was so precious to Yena Joo, seemed meaningless to her.
But now I think differently.
‘I may have been brainwashed.’
Ga-Hyeon Kang’s words came to mind.
Kang Ga-hyeon was a doctor who controlled B.H., And Joo Yena almost trusted her words.
Because she is a smart person and wise.
Ga-Hyeon Kang said that.
‘Among the magical girls, Jang Hye-ri is the only one who is overly aggressive and obsessed with her smiley face. Spe knew your names. Maybe she was being secretly observed. Then she was approached while she was a civilian and may have been brainwashed.’
Be careful, you too, she said.
Jang Hye-ri was not there.
She had already been treated as brainwashed by Smile Face and had been stripped of her transformation tools.
If Jang Hye-ri has been brainwashed, it is natural that all of her inside information will flow to Spe.
Joo Yena looked at Jang Hye Ri sadly.
She even ate alone.
From Joo Yena’s point of view, this is absolutely incomprehensible.
‘Do you eat alone?’
For Joo Yena, who thought she came to the academy to meet her friends, social relationships with her friends were more important than her classes, and conversations with them were necessary.
Considering the school schedule that is jam-packed with classes, it seems like we’re wasting lunch time, the best time to exchange emotions and thoughts.
Joo Yena couldn’t bear it anymore and approached Jang Hye-ri.
“Hyeri, do you want to eat together?”
“…”
“Why are you eating alone? “I will eat with you-“
“I said I don’t need it!”
Jang Hye-ri suddenly got angry.
“…”
“Joo Yena, do you pity me now? I usually ate alone. You went out with your friends, and I used to live like this, but now why are you suddenly treating me like a pitiful person? “Don’t do anything that doesn’t suit you!”
“…”
Hye-ri Jang took her tray and left.
The surroundings were quiet.
Yena Joo’s face burned as she felt people’s eyes turn to her as she stood there, and at the same time, she felt sorry.
Certainly, the two people at the academy, no, the magical girls did not get along closely with each other.
***
“He’s naturally like that.”
B.H.’S Dr. Ga-Hyeon Kang said indifferently.
She didn’t look at Joo Yena, as if trying to erase her guilt about Jang Hye-ri, whom she had almost kicked out.
She busily touched things around her, then crossed the center of the half-empty integrated control room and headed to the conference room for dinner.
Joo Yena followed behind him.
“It certainly might be. Maybe I wasn’t too interested in Hyeri. But wouldn’t it be so lonely to go to the academy without any friends?”
“That’s just my personality.”
“Where is such a person? “Doctor!”
“…”
After closing the conference room door, Yena Joo said.
“I saw what Hyeri was doing before I got off work.”
“Why are you looking at me like that? “Darkly.”
Kang Ga-hyun said jokingly.
But Joo Yena did not laugh.
“Are you really not going to invite me to B.H? Even if you’re on probation, you can still let him stay here. She worked as a magical girl throughout middle school and high school, but now that she’s advanced to the academy, you can’t just tell her to go to college. “With Hye-ri’s grades, it would be possible for her to be selected for public recruitment even with her studies… But we decided to select her for special recruitment.”
Joo Yena was uncertain whether she would continue to work at B.H. After her retirement, but Jang Hye-ri was firm in her intention.
She wanted to stay here for the rest of her life.
She felt a sense of belonging here.
Removing her magical girl qualifications would deprive her of the opportunity to be selected as a special recruit to B.H. It would ruin the path she has followed from the age of 14 until now as an adult.
“I didn’t say I would make you quit. “It’s on hold.”
“Hyeri is almost certain now. She was disqualified from being a magical girl. So she is in despair.”
“Then she must be well aware of her mistakes.”
“…”
Yena Zhou bit her lip.
She blocked Kang Ga-hyun’s path.
“I was watching Smile Face’s videos and community while I was working. I didn’t apply for Yaja to study. “What if I do something?”
“I can’t transform anyway. No matter how fiery her personality is, Hyeri doesn’t go to Smile Face without her transformation tool. “If the two are in contact, it’s because Hyeri is taking orders from Smile Face.”
“Doctor!”
Joo Yena was astonished.
Of course, she also thought that Jang Hye-ri was strangely absorbed in her smiley face recently.
He was punished for activating Uriel’s mirror skill or arbitrarily writing the Star Oath.
This impulse was clearly stimulated by something.
But Kang Ga-hyun was too cold-hearted.
To the point where Joo Yena feels sad for no reason.
However, she was not very eloquent, and she could not beat the doctor in logic.
Joo Yena herself knew that her words only relied on emotion and that she was not persuasive.
Jang Hye-ri, who may have been infected with parasites due to her personal feelings, cannot be allowed inside.
“…”
After Zhou Yena said her greetings, she came out.
As she returned to her happy and loving home, she somehow managed to vent her feelings.
However, as I lay on her bed, the image of Jang Hye-ri eating alone came to mind again and I became depressed.
“… There must be some way.”
She soon fell asleep.
“…”
When she arrived at the Academy the next day, there was nothing she could do for Hye-ri Jang, but as the days passed, small changes occurred around Hye-ri Jang.
Was he at least stimulated by Joo Yena’s words?
Suddenly, Hye-ri Jang’s friends gathered around her and started exchanging personal accounts and numbers with her.
Jang Hye-ri seemed a little confused, but maybe she wasn’t expecting it, and she exchanged this and that with them.
It was a good change for her.
When she worked as a magical girl, she always had a serious face, as if she carried the world’s suffering alone.
However, seeing her smile and hang out with her friends like that made me think that she was also a student at the academy.
Joo Yena was in good spirits, and she kept it in mind all day, and as soon as she returned home, she immediately called her friend.
Originally, I knew about Jang Hye-ri’s account.
Although she was only using it for her eye contact and not for any real activities on her part.
The reason we didn’t become friends a long time ago was because of the unspoken rule between magical girls, that is, not to show off their friendship, but it didn’t matter now.
“Hyeri, you posted a picture.”
A photo of Jang Hye-ri’s awkwardly smiling face.
It was the first photo posted on the feed.
Joo Yena looked at it happily.
“Let’s get closer. “Hye-ri.”
… However, there was no response from Jang Hye-ri.
Several days passed by.
“…Why don’t you accept me? I hate you, Hyeri!”
Zhou Yena kicked the blanket with her feet.
***
“… I can become popular too.”
At first it was wrong.
On the day she began her civilian life after being stripped of her B.H. Pass and her (albeit fake) transformation tool, Jang Hye-ri woke up feeling almost suicidal.
She originally attended her academy alone, but the thought that this repetitive life was now her entire daily life made her heartbroken and helpless.
Meanwhile, Yena Joo kept talking to her, attracting her people’s attention.
It may be a good thing, but of course…
It was not the same as Jang Hye-ri’s method when she was depressed and wanted to be alone with her thoughts.
To begin with, the two people weren’t really that close, but the attention from a super popular person was a burden.
Hye-ri Jang felt empty as she entered her first weekend unable to go to work at B.H. Headquarters.
But as she lay in bed all day, mechanically looking at the recently unblocked Scarlet Fox channel and community, she thought she couldn’t continue like this.
Smile Face.
She is the worst villain who gave her her hell, but since she is not a magical girl, there is nothing she can do about it.
Let’s look at reality.
If, by chance, she is stripped of her magical girl status, it might be better for her to find a life as a civilian.
Of course, she would break his neck if she got the chance, but that was quite a long shot.
Coincidentally, she also had a job with Joo Yena, and she thought for a long time about what she could do as an ‘ordinary academy student.’
So there were several things that came out, but most of them assumed that Jang Hye-ri had a friend.
The contact list was two digits long.
The tens place was ‘2’.
Even if she dies alone in this ridiculously spacious mansion, no one will know.
Those two-digit numbers were also mostly people related to B.H., So it was not an impossible scenario.
Eventually, she decided to start her own SNS.
This is because I saw Juye Nana Mayuri communicate with her friends through her SNS and reveal her presence.
She mustered up her courage and created her own feed, invoking some of her friends from her academy.
[Jang Hye-ri? Do you use SNS?]
The response was better than expected.
No, it was like a deterioration.
She doesn’t know, but looking at it objectively, when her exquisitely beautiful classmate walked up to Qinchu first, whether it was a man or a woman, the reaction was quite good.
Joo Yena sympathized with Jang Hye-ri, but from the perspective of most of her students, Jang Hye-ri seemed like a thoughtful, beautiful girl who voluntarily separated herself from the world.
The relationship with friends that started through SNS continued at the academy the next day, and the day after that.
Somehow, she made friends with children who were not in her class and started talking to them.
And.
“… Ugh, I made an appointment.”
Unfamiliar, Jang Hye-ri, surrounded by friends all day, collapsed on her bed after taking a shower.
She even made plans with her new friends to have dinner and hang out after school next week.
She rubbed her own lower abdomen, feeling some excitement, annoyance, guilt, and discomfort.
“… Smile face.”
Hyeri Jang shook her head.
She is no longer a magical girl.
She doesn’t need to think more about him.
No, even if she goes back someday, she may definitely need to clear her head like the doctor said right now.
She doesn’t really think soberly that the guy brainwashed her, but in some way this star oath may have an influence on her.
Until I find a way to get rid of this…
She fell asleep just like that.
