Euforia

04. Obake

"Don't you look more like a pervert?" Suddenly, I heard a girl's voice not far from me.

I tried to find the origin of the voice until I felt my foot being stepped on by something. The pain radiated, and I was surprised to find a young girl standing in front of me with a sharp gaze.

Not understanding the girl's intentions, I just tried to avoid her. She's just a strange girl who likes to stir up trouble, I guess.

"Are you ignoring me?" "Perverts always act like they don't know their manners!" she cursed.

Hearing her curse made my ears burn. It was obvious that she was the one looking for trouble. I wondered in my heart if it was true that this girl was drunk.

"Are you drunk? Wait a minute; you even still look like a minor. How can you possibly drink liquor?" I gave the girl a sharp look.

The girl clucked in annoyance. She kicked my leg, but I quickly dodged her. I didn't understand her violent behavior.

"You threatened me with that?" She didn't seem scared at all and challenged him back.

I furrowed my brow. "Isn't that the way it is?" I honestly, really wanted to leave him right now. Dealing with crazy people never ends well.

"Crazy," she muttered.

Well, maybe it's about time I leave this girl right now. My body quickly turned around, trying to leave this madman. Until... my hand was caught by her.

"What do you need from me?" I asked while holding back my emotions.

"I need you, Mr. Pervert," he replied with a pleading face.

Now I didn't understand what she wanted. I hate that my unkind thoughts are starting to surface.

***

"Do you know this mysterious man?" The girl threw a photo sheet at me.

I took the photo and looked at it. It looks like the person in this photo is the strange man who offered me a crazy job. Wait, it seems like I... damn, how could I not realize it from the start? The girl who was bothering me earlier is my target. How could I not have realized it?

The girl smiled mockingly. "You won't answer. You must know and deal with her. I'm guessing you have a relationship with this freak."

"I can explain if you give me a chance," I pleaded.

He laughed sarcastically. "Although it's a classic, I'll listen to you before slapping your face."

I was completely caught off guard now. "I didn't mean to follow you; I mean, I did. But I had a good reason for doing so," I explained nervously.

The girl was still calm and didn't seem to show any signs of going berserk. "Continue; I still want to hear your explanation," she said.

I swallowed my saliva. "I did it because the man in the photo promised me a sizable sum of money. I thought that as long as the job didn't hurt or anything like that, I would accept it willingly. To be honest, I also wanted to quit because I didn't think I could do it." I admitted it all.

"From your explanation, it looks like you're an idiot. You know that stalking other people is a crime. I could report you," the girl said with a flat face.

I swallowed my saliva again. But, as she said, I was a thoughtless fool. I deserved to be punished. "Alright, if you mind, you can report me." Resigned and also feeling guilty, I should accept the punishment.

"I won't report you. I deliberately made you confess in front of me because I wanted to see your honesty. Even though you're stupid, you seem to have the edge to be righteous," he quipped.

I'm sure those words were intentionally directed at me.

"Then do you need anything from me?" I wondered what this strange girl wanted.

She grinned and looked exactly like Chesire Cat. Despite having a beautiful face, this girl had a horrible facial expression.

"Tomorrow you must accompany me to meet that mysterious man. I'll let you know later. Give me your smartphone; I'll put in my number." The girl thrust her hand towards me, clearly asking for my smartphone.

I, who didn't understand the current situation, just immediately said yes. Somehow this girl seemed to have the allure to command people. Is it just my feelings?

"What's your name?" the girl asked suddenly.

"Choi Saeran."

The girl smiled wryly. "You won't ask my name either," she said in a mocking voice. "Are you so shy that you won't introduce yourself?"

Geez, it looks like this girl does have a bad attitude. "You could have asked in a more polite way instead of asking as casually as you did just now," I commented. It felt like saying polite words were useless in front of this girl.

"Oh my, that mouth of yours is soft." "What did you just say?"

Well, it feels like her words are getting worse. Not the type of person to be with who has the patience of a tissue.

Not wanting to argue further, I said yes to his request. "What's your name, Miss Pretty?" The wide smile that I forced spread ugly across my face. I'm the worst when it comes to smiling.

The girl was surprised. "Are you the reincarnation of Kasa Obake (Umbrella Ghost)?" You look a lot like him."

Damn, my self-esteem fell in front of this crazy girl. But I was strangely amused by her joke. It felt like there was a slight tickle coming on.

"Don't equate me with a ghost! Just answer my question, even though you asked it yourself before!" I snapped.

"I'm just stating the truth. That smiley face of yours just now was indeed rather ghastly and resembled Kasa Obake." The girl looked at me for a while and then took a deep breath. "My name is Nakamori Shizuka. I ask you to call me Shizuka-san only. We're not close; just use my family name as my nickname," the girl pleaded.

My eyebrows rose slightly. When she asked me to only call her by her family name, it made me feel uncomfortable. I don't know where this thought came from, but I wanted to call her something else.

"Kamo-chan... I think I prefer calling you like that. Whatever you don't like about it, I still call you by that name. I feel comfortable with that nickname." I don't care if she doesn't like it. To me, the name Kamo-chan that just popped into my head feels like it fits this girl perfectly. There was no particular reason other than the comfort of calling her Kamo-chan.

"It's just as easy to give people nicknames. What a strange name! How annoying! Did you know that Kamo means wild duck in Japanese? I guess you're comfortable calling me that because you want to make fun of me," she accused disapprovingly.

I raised my hand to indicate that I didn't want to argue. "Kamo-chan is your nickname from me. I don't care whether you like it or not," I broke off unilaterally.