My Japanese Childhood Friend Is Too Flirty

10. 14 years old, gradually realizing our feelings for each other (1)

14 years old.

The time of being purely young and innocent elementary school students had passed.

Now, Aki and I, who had become a bit more mature and shed our childishness, were no longer as openly friendly as we were when we were younger──.

“Uju~chan, ah~”

“Huh? Here…?”

“Hurry, my arm hurts~”

“Oh, okay….”

──We didn’t become distant.

The only changes were that our school clothes had switched from casual wear to uniforms, and we started taking the bus to school instead of walking.

For four years, the relationship between Aki and me hadn’t deteriorated at all. In fact, we had become even closer than when we were younger, so it didn’t make sense to say we had grown distant.

Our parents, seeing us play together, would often say, ‘Don’t they look like a married couple?’ ‘Indeed, sometimes they seem even closer than my spouse and I.’

“How is it? Uju~chan, is it good?”

“Yeah, it’s good. Thanks, Aki.”

However, the environment surrounding Aki and me has changed a bit.

For example, the relationship between our parents.

More specifically, the relationship between my mom and dad and Aki’s mother. Until four years ago, our parents and Aki’s mother only knew of each other’s existence, but they quickly became close when Aki’s mother came to our house to express her gratitude.

The reasons for this were, first of all, that their children were close, and secondly, that our parents were capable of speaking more than six languages, so there was no communication barrier. But aside from that, they just genuinely liked each other.

My mom and dad were originally quite sociable, and Aki’s mother, being French by birth, had an extraordinary level of sociability.

When a friendly and pretty person who likes to get close to others meets a couple who likes to get involved in other people’s affairs and they start talking about their children…

Honestly, how could they not become close? It would be stranger if they didn’t.

Anyway, our parents and Aki’s mother gradually became closer every time they met, and now, four years later, they are comfortable enough to speak informally with each other.

“What, so you don’t have to go to Japan anymore? Are you going to live in Korea for good?”

“Yes, I’ve earned enough money, and my husband has to keep helping his father, so I’m just going to stay in Korea and support him.”

“Oh, really? That’s great. Aki must be so happy.”

“Yeah, when I told him yesterday, he was so happy. What did he say? Oh, ‘Really? Really really? Mom, I love you~!’ That’s what he said. I thought he was all grown up, but I guess he’s still a kid.”

“Your daughter expresses her affection so well. I’m jealous. When Woojoo was little, he used to say he loved me all the time, but now that he’s older, he doesn’t say it because he’s embarrassed. He doesn’t hug me much either. Is it because he’s a teenager?”

“Right? Now that Woojoo and Aki are fourteen, they’re starting to get sensitive. And boys are generally less expressive, especially compared to girls.”

“That’s why I should have had a daughter too. I should have tried harder to have another one when I had Woojoo…”

As our parents became closer, I also felt more comfortable visiting Aki’s house, which I had been reluctant to visit because only his father was there.

If the frequency of visits before I was ten was about once every two months, after Aki started living with his mother, it gradually increased to once a month, once every two weeks, once a week, and eventually once every three or four days, as if it were my own home.

I went so often that Aki’s mother jokingly asked, “Woojoo, do you want to be our son?” That says it all about the frequency.

“But Eunhye, is Woojoo really that handsome?”

“Huh? Why, what happened?”

“I had some errands to run near the school where Aki and Woo-joo go a while ago. I thought it would take about an hour, but it ended up taking three hours. When I checked the time, it was 2:30 PM, which is usually when middle school ends, right? So, I thought, since it turned out this way, I might as well wait a little longer and go home with Aki…”

“Oh, and then?”

“In the distance, I saw a boy who looked like Woo-joo coming out with a girl. I wasn’t sure, so I got a little closer, and it was really Woo-joo. So, of course, I thought the girl next to him was Aki, but oh my. It wasn’t Aki, it was another girl.”

“…?!”

At Aki’s mother’s words, Aki’s eyes widened.

Her already big eyes opened even wider, as if asking if what she heard was true, staring at me intently.

‘…No, when did she see that?’

I couldn’t bring myself to say no, so I was at a loss for words.

“Another girl? Who, who was it?”

“She had a pretty face, and her hair reached down to her waist, but I don’t know her name. But she seemed really close to Woo-joo. They were walking so close together that anyone who didn’t know would think they were dating.”

“Oh my, oh my…!”

“……”

“……”

“Could Woo-joo be cheating?”

“No way, right? But still, that can’t be. Everyone knows how much Woo-joo likes our Aki… Oh my, were you two there?”

“Woo-joo~chan.”

“Huh?”

“…Come with me for a moment.”

“Oh, okay…”

After school, after the final homeroom session.

All the classmates gathered in small groups and headed to their respective destinations. Today, Jaehyun and I, who were in charge of cleaning the classroom─we got caught chatting during class─stayed behind to mop the wooden floor.

“Hey Joo Woojoo, let’s go to the coin karaoke after we finish cleaning.”

“Sorry, I can’t today. I have to get tutoring with Aki later.”

“Again? Why do you always hang out with Aki?”

“It’s not just Aki, I hang out with you and other friends too. And it’s not hanging out, it’s tutoring.”

“It’s not tutoring, you’re going on a date, you two are dating.”

It’s neither dating nor going on a date, it’s really just tutoring, but there’s no point in explaining it at length, so I kept my mouth shut.

Jaehyun has been watching the relationship between Aki and me for eight years, so no matter how much I say we’re not dating, he doesn’t believe it.

It’s like a persistent bond, whether by chance or fate, Jaehyun and I ended up in the same class when we entered middle school, but Aki was in a different class.

Jaehyun and I are in Class 2 of the first year, Aki is in Class 3 of the first year.

It’s just a short distance to see each other’s faces, but as everyone can relate, the difference of one class is huge. To exaggerate a bit, you might not see the face of a student in the next class for an entire semester.

Of course, Aki and I met consistently outside of school, so that never happened. The point is, there’s that much distance between students in different classes.

“So when are you going, can’t you go for a bit?”

“Private tutoring starts in an hour, so I have to finish cleaning quickly, wait for the final homeroom session in the next class to end, and then take her right away.”

“Sigh, you’re ditching your friend to go on a date with your girlfriend. Fine, go. Go.”

Jaehyun waved his hand dismissively, then suddenly stopped as if he remembered something.

“Right, Woojoo. Did something happen with Aki… I mean, Fujihara-san?”

“When it’s just the two of us, you can call her Aki.”

“No, it’s fine. Your girlfriend is too scary…”

Jaehyun shivered as if he was genuinely scared, not just saying it.

I tilted my head as I watched him.

‘…What’s so scary?’

No matter how I looked at it, it was just cute.

“Really? Then there’s nothing we can do. But why all of a sudden?”

“The kid who always comes to our class during break didn’t come even once today. I saw him during the moving class earlier, so he wasn’t absent. Naturally, wouldn’t you think something happened between you two?”

“…Ah.”

That made sense. Since Aki and I always either found each other or he came to find me, it was a reasonable assumption.

“Be honest, something happened, right? Did you two fight?”

“No, we didn’t fight…”

“You can’t say it, so you must have fought. You fought, didn’t you?”

“I’m telling you, we didn’t fight. It’s just, well…”

“So you didn’t fight, but something did happen?”

“…”

I stopped mopping, feeling like he had hit the nail on the head.

Seeing my reaction, Jaehyun seemed to catch on to something and approached me with a slightly sly smile.

“What is it? What happened?”

“Um…”

Should I say it or not?

As Jaehyun said, something did happen, but it wasn’t the kind of thing you could proudly talk about in front of others, so I hesitated for a moment.

Jaehyun taps me on the shoulder.

“I won’t tell the others, so just spill it. You know I’m a master at listening to love stories, right?”

“Master of love stories? You’ve never even had a girlfriend…”

“Hey, when did I ever say I was a master of love? I said I’m a master at listening to love stories.”

“I don’t believe you… If I tell you, you won’t go around blabbing, right?”

“Joo Woojoo, have you ever seen me gossip about other people’s stories?”

“Well, no…”

“See, I never talk behind people’s backs. And besides, you wanted to talk about it anyway. The fact that you’re hesitating is proof.”

“Umm…”

I can’t argue with that. He’s right on every point.

I know better than anyone that Jaehyun is surprisingly tight-lipped, having known him for the past eight years. And it’s true that I wanted to confide my worries to someone.

I hesitated for a moment, then resumed mopping slowly as I began to speak.

“Jaehyun, you really can’t tell anyone else about this. You know that, right?”

“Yeah, I won’t say a word. What is it?”

“Well, here’s what happened…”

I explained the whole situation to Jaehyun.

To summarize, about a week ago, I saw the class president carrying a heavy load down the hallway, so I helped. The class president wanted to repay me and suggested we hang out after school, but I declined, saying Aki was waiting for me. Despite my refusal, the class president kept insisting, saying, ‘I’ll feel uncomfortable if you don’t.’ So, I reluctantly agreed to have tteokbokki with them. But Aki found out about all of this by chance.

“That’s what happened.”

“Hmm.”

Jaehyun nodded as he listened to my story, then summed it up in one word.

“What? Are you the trash? You left your girlfriend and hung out with another girl?”

“No, I didn’t hang out with her. We just had tteokbokki and went our separate ways. Really.”

“Did you tell her that too?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Wow… This guy is serious.”

Jaehyun rests his chin on the mop handle.

“Hey, Joo Woojoo. If Fujiwara-san promised to hang out with you, but before meeting you, she met another guy and ate something with him.”

“What? Who’s that guy? Is it you?”

I looked at Jaehyun with a serious face without realizing it.

“What are you talking about? I said ‘if’. I didn’t say it actually happened. How would you feel if it did?”

“First, I’d find out who that guy is and warn him never to think about doing anything with Aki again. Then-“

“…I thought only Fujiwara was weird, but you’re a bit strange too.”

“Huh? What did you say?”

“Nothing, forget it. But how did you get caught?”

“To be precise, I wasn’t caught by her. Aki’s mother saw me going to eat tteokbokki with the class president. She mentioned it when I was at Aki’s house the other day.”

“Wow, you got caught by her mother? Then you can’t even lie to your girlfriend and say she saw wrong.”

“Yeah, right? But even if I could lie, I probably wouldn’t have. I promised never to lie to Aki.”

“Oh, really? Then why did a loving guy like you go eat tteokbokki with another girl?”

“…Well, that’s because.”

I have nothing to say because it’s my fault.

“It’s a joke, anyway, from what I hear, the answer is clear. Just go and apologize first. Say you were wrong, and that you’ll never eat with another girl again.”

“I did apologize. But she didn’t accept it easily. What did she say again? ‘Uju~chan, I trusted you! Uragirimonono (traitor)!’ Was that it…?”

“Hey, you got caught cheating, and you think one apology is enough? That’s a saint. Isn’t it obvious that you should keep apologizing until she accepts it? Think about it from her perspective. If Aki got caught playing with another guy and apologized, could you forgive her right away?”

Aki got caught playing with another guy and apologized to me.

I swear I’ve never imagined such a thing, but if that unthinkable thing actually happened.

If it happened…

“……”

“How about it, you can’t, right?”

Jaehyun looks at me with a smirk, as if he knew it.

For some reason, I didn’t like that smile, so I pouted my lips and moved my hand.

“What are you talking about? Aki would never do that.”

“Why would she never do that? You never know with people.”

“No, she wouldn’t. She wouldn’t.”

“Why not? Do you know for sure? Aki might actually want to play with another guy. But you’re always clinging to her, so even if it’s annoying, she has no choice but to-.”

“……Hey!”

I raised my voice without realizing it.

“No, Aki said she would marry me──!”

“……”

“……”

And right after that, I realized my voice was too loud.

“Oh, sorry. I got a bit excited for a moment… Really sorry.”

I quickly apologized, but Jaehyun just stared at me without saying a word.

I wondered if he was angry because I had shouted, so I awkwardly took a step closer.

“…Jaehyun?”

Jaehyun gestured with his eyes.

More precisely, he was pointing over my shoulder, towards the back door of the classroom where I was standing with my back turned.

I instinctively turned around.

And there, in that place.

“…Huh?”

Standing half-hidden behind the slightly open back door.

“…Ah.”

Aki was there…!