My Japanese Childhood Friend Is Too Flirty

11. At 14, we slowly begin to realize our feelings for each other (2)

“…Huh?”

No way, why is he here?

They say that when you’re too surprised, you can’t even make a sound, and that was exactly right.

When I discovered Aki through the slightly open back door, I was so shocked that I felt like I couldn’t breathe for a moment, and my whole body flinched.

“…Ah.”

As soon as Aki met my eyes, he blushed slightly and took a step back.

That action, which even felt shy, filled my mind with countless thoughts in an instant.

‘What the… Why is Aki in front of our classroom? Did he hear everything? Did he listen to the entire conversation between Jaehyun and me? No way, that can’t be. He couldn’t have heard everything since the other class was having their homeroom session too. Yeah, that must be it. But still, he might have heard from the middle. Then, could it be that he heard me shouting about marrying Aki…’

──Step.

Aki took a step back.

The sound of slippers echoed through the unusually quiet hallway, snapping me back to reality. Holding a mop, I approached Aki.

“Aki, when did you get here…?”

“Wa, wait a minute…!”

Aki quickly raised his right hand, palm out, as if to tell me not to come any closer.

“Um, Woojoo~chan…?”

“Uh, yeah?”

“It’s true that you and I, Woojoo~chan, are supposed to get married… But, um, shouting it out loud in front of everyone is a bit, I don’t know, inappropriate…”

“……”

He heard everything.

I felt my limbs stiffen as I stood there.

Aki glanced at me, standing awkwardly like a statue, and mumbled one more thing.

“When it’s just the two of us, it’s fine to say things like that… But when others are around, could you, um, be a bit more reserved…”

“……No.”

What is he talking about?

If you say it like that, Aki, people will think I confess my love to you all the time when we’re alone.

“Wow…”

As if my premonition was spot on, Jaehyun, who was standing between us, looked at me with a lukewarm gaze.

“Wait a minute, Jaehyun, I think you’re misunderstanding something right now…”

“Oh, well…”

Jaehyun awkwardly scratched his cheek.

“Yeah, have a beautiful love…?”

“…No, that’s not it!”

──Tap!

The moment I shouted at Jaehyun, who was making a strange misunderstanding, Aki quickly backed away and started running somewhere.

I don’t know why, but I immediately thought I had to catch Aki, so I hastily threw down the mop and shouted.

“Jaehyun! I’m really sorry, but I have to go catch Aki!”

“Hey, wait-!”

Just as I was about to go out the back door to follow Aki, Jaehyun grabbed my backpack from my seat and threw it to me.

I quickly caught the backpack, and Jaehyun waved his hand as if telling me to hurry up.

“Just take your bag. I’ll finish the cleaning.”

“Huh? No…”

“Never mind, just go. But this makes us even for today. Okay?”

“Oh, yeah! Got it!”

I wasn’t sure what he meant by making us even, but I didn’t have time to worry about it.

I gave Jaehyun a quick nod and ran out into the hallway, spotting Aki’s figure not too far away.

I immediately sprinted and caught up with Aki in no time.

“…Aki!”

“Ah….”

Aki’s running speed was faster than I thought, making it seem difficult to catch him, but surprisingly, it was easy.

But that’s not important right now. I took a deep breath and led Aki to a corner of the hallway.

“Whew… Aki, why were you there? No, before that, why did you run away?”

Thanks to that unnecessary exercise, I’m out of breath.

Aki, cornered, looked at me panting heavily, then fidgeted with his fingers and mumbled.

“I-I felt like I had to run away…?”

“…Huh?”

“Well, Uju-chan’s face was so red. So I thought you were mad at Aki…?”

“Oh, really…?”

Since there’s no mirror, I can’t check the state of my face, but seeing Aki say this, it seems my face was red enough to be mistaken for being angry.

‘Well, that’s understandable…’

It’s like boldly stating a common childhood promise in front of the person involved…

“I’m not mad, Aki.”

“Okay, as long as you’re not… By the way, I came to check because Uju-chan was taking too long to come. I wondered if something happened.”

“No, nothing happened. I was just cleaning the classroom, so I was late….”

“Oh, I see….”

“……”

“……”

The misunderstanding that had built up with just a few words was resolved, but as the excitement subsided, a deep embarrassment came over me.

Even if I chased after Aki, who suddenly ran away, and caught him, the words that came out of my mouth wouldn’t be taken back.

‘…I want to turn back time.’

I want to go back about 5 minutes and stop myself from saying those words.

No, I want to forcibly shut my mouth, even if I have to hit myself.

If God said to me, ‘If you give up 10 years of your life, I’ll turn back time by 5 minutes,’ I would nod my head and agree immediately.

But, in the reality I live in, such a miracle would never happen.

“But… Uju-chan…?”

“…Yes, why?”

“You said you didn’t remember even if I asked, but you actually remembered that promise, didn’t you…?”

“Huh? What promise?”

“The promise that when we grow up, Uju-chan and I will get married…”

Aki said the words I least wanted to hear at this moment.

“…Hmph.”

I closed my mouth.

I couldn’t think of anything to say back to Aki, who was grinning.

In fact, no matter what I said, it wouldn’t have worked…

“You know, Uju-chan, do you want to marry me when we grow up…?”

“…”

A laugh that was clearly meant to tease me.

My fist clenched tightly on its own.

I felt like hitting myself for saying such a thing.

“Uh? Woojoo~chan, tell me. Do you want to marry me? Hm, hm?”

“…Stop it, Aki.”

“Why? I’m curious. Woojoo~chan wants to marry Aki, right? Hm? Tell me, do you want to get married? And kiss, too, hm? Hm~?”

“Stop…! Please, stop it…!”

* * *

“…That’s what happened, Yoona-sensei.”

Smooch, smooch.

Aki sipped on her orange juice and lightly licked the corner of her lips.

“Hmm, I see…”

Aki and Woojoo’s tutor, college student Kim Yoona, who had heard everything that happened a little while ago—which would probably become a hundred percent of Woojoo’s dark history—nodded while eating the cookies laid out as snacks.

“Woojoo seems to like Aki a lot?”

“…Right? Woojoo~chan does like me a lot.”

Aki pretended not to be pleased, clearing her throat with a humph.

Even if she didn’t realize it herself, it was obvious to a third party, and Kim Yoona chuckled as she watched Aki.

‘…Cute.’

Maybe because she’s still 14 years old, it was very cute how she boasted as soon as Woojoo left to run an errand for her mom.

“Then what about Aki?”

“Huh, what?”

“Woojoo likes Aki, but doesn’t Aki like Woojoo?”

Aki’s movement to reach for the orange juice came to an abrupt halt.

“…Ah, what.”

Aki stood still with a face that clearly showed embarrassment, then soon moved like a creaky machine to pick up the glass of orange juice.

“Well, if you divide it into like or dislike, of course, I like it, right?”

“Not like that, I mean rationally. Not like, but love. Ah, no. Since Aki is half Japanese and half French… Hmm, is it あい (love) or Amour (love)?”

“Yuna-sensei, both words you mentioned mean love…”

“Ah, really? Sorry~”

Kim Yuna laughed good-naturedly.

‘Ah, it doesn’t work.’

“But you roughly understood the nuance, right? I won’t tell Woojoo. Which side are you on, Aki?”

“…love.”

“Oh my…!”

“Closer to like, like…?”

“…Huh? What does that mean? If it’s like, it’s like, and if it’s love, it’s love.”

“I, I don’t know. Me too, well…”

Aki’s face turned slightly red as he avoided Kim Yuna’s gaze.

Kim Yuna looked at Aki, who was subtly avoiding answering, and suddenly felt playful.

“…Oh, really?”

Kim Yuna placed her arms on the low table, interlaced her fingers, and rested her chin on them.

“Sensei loves Woojoo~?”

“……?!”

Aki’s eyes snapped open.

“What, what did you say? Yuna-sensei likes Woojoo~chan…? Why, why…?!”

“Why? Woojoo is handsome, isn’t he? He’s polite, cute, diligent, and good at studying. He’s the perfect husband material.”

“N-no…! But, still. Yuna-sensei is a college student. There’s a seven-year age difference…!”

“Yeah, so I’m not planning to do anything right now.”

“R-right?! Woojoo~chan is too young for Yuna-sensei. And Yuna-sensei can meet other boyfriends-.”

“But, wouldn’t it be okay in about six years? In six years, Woojoo will be twenty and I’ll be twenty-seven. Then there won’t be any problem, right?”

“…No, no way!”

Aki unconsciously raised her voice.

Kim Yuna, feeling that her provocation had worked well, smiled inwardly while tilting her head as if she didn’t understand.

“Huh? What did you say?”

“I said, no. Woo, Woojoo~chan is not the kind of boy you think he is!”

“What do you mean, not the kind of boy I think he is?”

“Woojoo~chan is… well, first of all, he’s not as polite as he looks! He’s not that cute either! And he’s not diligent, so I have to wake him up every weekend, and, and…!”

As Aki, who had fallen for the shallow provocation, was racking her brain to continue badmouthing Woojoo, who wasn’t present.

Kim Yuna looked at Aki with satisfaction, then suddenly looked behind her and was startled.

“Oh my, Woojoo…?”

“…!”

In an instant, chills ran down the back of Aki’s neck.

‘Huh, I definitely said I was running an errand for mom……?!’

I said it would take at least 20 minutes since I had to go far, so I told her to relax until I got back, and that was just 5 minutes ago, but I’m already back.

Aki’s mind spun rapidly, trying to figure out a way to smooth over this situation. But in such a short time, there was no way a good excuse would come to mind.

‘L-let’s just apologize for now….’

Without any other excuse, she decided to start with an apology.

“U-uzu~chan! I’m sorry, I just──.”

So she quickly turned her head back.

“Huh…?”

What the, there was no one in the direction Kim Yuna was looking.

“Sorry, just kidding~”

“……Ah.”

What, it was a joke.

Realizing there was no Uzu behind her, Aki felt all her energy drain away and she plopped down without realizing it.

“What, you scared me. Yuna-sensei….”

“Sorry, sorry, but our Aki. You seem to care a lot about Uzu even though you pretend not to?”

“Of course I care!”

“Really? Why, why do you care?”

“Hmph, I don’t know. I’m not going to talk about this with you anymore…!”

“Really? Then is it okay if I date Uzu later?”

“T-that has nothing to do with this! And I told you. Uzu~chan is more unreliable than you think──.”

“……Huh?”

At that moment, Kim Yuna’s expression froze.

Aki thought Kim Yuna was joking again and was about to retort, “Do you think I’ll fall for it twice? Yuna-sensei, I’m not a fool!” but…

“Hey, Woojoo. Don’t misunderstand and listen to me. Aki didn’t mean it seriously, she just misunderstood what I told her to say. So don’t get mad…”

Seeing Kim Yuna looking genuinely flustered and babbling while glancing towards the door, Aki immediately sensed it.

This time, it wasn’t a joke.

“Woo, Woojoo~chan…!”

Aki felt a chill run down her spine and quickly turned around.

“……Huh?”

But again, there was no one there.

Aki instinctively looked at Kim Yuna.

Kim Yuna stuck out her tongue slightly.

“Sorry, just kidding♡”

“……Oh, come on, Yuna-sensei-!!”