My Japanese Childhood Friend Is Too Flirty

18. The Story Just Before Becoming a 17-Year-Old High School Student (2)

30 minutes later, the place was a coin karaoke.

Referring to the map Jaehyun sent, I arrived at the meeting place and found the largest room among the rooms divided into several sections.

Usually, coin karaoke rooms are small because they are meant for small groups, but since eight people, including myself, were gathering for the future Class 2 of the first year, they rented the largest room that operates on an hourly basis. I heard it only costs 10,000 won per hour.

Of course, the cost will be split equally among all attendees.

“……Is this the place?”

I stood in front of the door with a handle.

Other booths had glass doors that allowed you to see inside from the outside, but this room had an opaque door that didn’t let light through.

At a glance, this room is much larger than the other booths, and Jaehyun would definitely say, “This is it.” So, this must be the place.

‘But just in case…’

I slightly tilted my ear.

– “Run, Horse? What is this, who booked this?”

– “Me, me! Give me the mic! Hey, Kim Seungwoo! Get up, sing along!”

– “What kind of song is this, Ham Jieun, you really…”

– “Alright, skip the intro, skip the intro!”

– “Horse… Ja… Maaal…!”

It was so noisy outside that I couldn’t hear well, but it was extremely loud inside. It seemed like the kids who arrived before me were singing to liven up the atmosphere.

──Creak.

I cautiously opened the door and entered.

In the dark room without any lights, the first thing I saw was a male student holding a microphone, passionately singing an old song called “Run, Horse.”

Judging by his unfamiliar face, he seemed to be from another middle school, but upon closer inspection, he had a delinquent look that startled me for a moment.

‘What…’

Seeing him sing a song that’s over 20 years old, I wondered if he was actually a returning student…

I seriously doubted it and turned my gaze to the side.

Next to the male student, who looked like he could break through alcohol, was a female student holding a separate microphone and shouting “Run, Horse,” even though it wasn’t a duet song.

‘…?’

No, there was a girl.

Her face looked very young. She was barely around 150 cm tall.

Now, if I said I was a high school freshman, no one would believe me. Honestly, even if I said I was an elementary school student, people might believe it. It’s not a joke; for a moment, I even thought, ‘Did someone bring their little sister?’

“Maaal~ Dalliii~ Jaaa~!”

“Maaall~~ Dalliii~~ Jaaack~~~!!”

“…….”

Is it just my imagination, or does it feel like they’re screaming rather than singing?

There are plenty of songs that could lighten the mood, but they chose a song that’s nearly 30 years old. Watching them scream their lungs out in the karaoke room made me feel a bit dizzy.

“Jooju, you’re here?”

“……What’s this?”

“That’s Seungwoo, and that’s Jieun. They both came from Seoul Middle School.”

I wasn’t asking for their names; I was asking how this situation came to be. But I nodded vaguely and sat next to Jaehyun.

“Where are the others?”

“They’re still on their way. For now, it’s just the four of us.”

“Ah.”

So, excluding me, there are only three of us.

‘……What the heck.’

So, the ruckus I heard outside the room was caused by just those two, Jieun and Seungwoo?

It was so loud that I thought everyone was already here, but this twist was unexpected.

I glanced at the two of them belting out the chorus of the song and then quietly spoke to Jaehyun.

“Are those two close?”

“Yeah, I asked before you came. They’ve been in the same class for all three years of middle school. They even went to the same elementary school.”

“Ah, really? Then you’re practically childhood friends?”

“Not practically, we are childhood friends. We’ve been friends for nine years.”

“Hmm.”

Well, that’s true.

It made sense when I thought about it, and just then, their song ended.

The karaoke machine gave them a score of 99. Despite all the screaming, they got a good score, so the rumor that you have to scream to get a good score on the karaoke machine must be true.

“Ah, my throat hurts. Hey, Kim Seung-woo, get me some water.”

“What are your hands for? Get it yourself.”

“Kim Seung-woo, you’re so annoying. Can’t you just get it for me since it’s right in front of you?”

“……”

Her tone strangely resembled my mom’s.

I unconsciously stared at the girl, and at that moment, our eyes met.

“……Huh?”

“Ah, hi. I am….”

“You. You’re that person from Instagram, right?!”

I was about to greet her since it felt awkward to just stand there, but then she said something unexpected.

Instagram? I didn’t understand what she meant, so I just stood there as she put down the microphone and approached me.

“I’ve never seen you in person before! Are you also in Class 2, Year 1 at Seoul High?”

“Uh? Yeah, I am, but….”

“Oh my gosh, really? Then we’re in the same class from now on. Wow, wow-!”

Instead of just being surprised with words, she smacks the boy next to her on the shoulder.

The boy, who was suddenly hit, got angry and said, “Ah, why are you hitting me?!”, but the girl, regardless, fluttered like a startled pigeon meeting someone, her eyes sparkling.

“Wow, but you’re really handsome. I thought the photos that were uploaded were too good to be true, so I assumed they were edited? But now that I see you, that’s not the case. You’re really, really handsome…!”

“……Hey, you know.”

This girl named Ji-eun, whom I met for the first time in my life, was acting like an old friend, making a fuss, leaving me dumbfounded.

But that’s that, and this is this.

Cutting off her words, I rubbed the back of my neck and looked at the girl.

“You just said you saw me on Instagram. I don’t use Instagram or anything like that, so which account did you see me on?”

The reason I don’t use Instagram or any other social media is because Aki told me not to.

I don’t know the exact reason, but whenever I showed interest in social media, Aki would pout and say, ‘Uju~chan, Uju~chan shouldn’t do that!’, so while everyone else was using social media with DM functions, I was the only one using just messaging apps.

So, as the girl said, it should be impossible to see me on Instagram, so where did she see me?

Curious, I asked, and the girl tilted her head as if wondering why I was asking such a thing.

“Nam Jae-hyun, a friend from your school, always uploads your photos…. Don’t you know?”

“……Nam Jae-hyun?”

There’s only one Nam Jae-hyun I know.

I turned my head to the side.

Asking with just my gaze if the Nam Jae-hyun she was talking about was him, Jae-hyun, feeling guilty, avoided my eyes and looked elsewhere.

“Hey.”

“……”

“Hey, Nam Jae-hyun.”

I grabbed Jaehyun’s shoulder firmly.

“Was it you?”

“…Huh? What?”

“The one who secretly took pictures of my face, was it you?”

“…What are you talking about? Secretly took pictures? I posted a photo we took together, why is that a secret photo?”

Since he didn’t deny it, it seems Jaehyun is the one who posted the photo.

I was dumbfounded and stared at Jaehyun as I asked.

“Fine, how many did you post?”

“Well, about twenty or so…”

“Twenty? Why did you post so many?”

Why would anyone post twenty photos of a guy’s face?

Slightly taken aback by the unexpected number, Jaehyun stammered as he spoke.

“Well, when I post photos with you, a lot of girls comment. They say things like ‘Please post more, you’re handsome~’. …So I ended up posting one or two at a time, and before I knew it, I had posted that many.”

“……”

What a straightforward explanation…

“Hey, Jaehyun.”

“…Huh?”

Jaehyun looked very apologetic, as if he knew he had done something wrong when I called him.

I was about to say something, but seeing his expression, I thought,

‘…Oh, forget it.’

I just kept my mouth shut.

There wasn’t any other reason, he just liked getting comments from girls, so he posted a picture of us together…

Honestly, if you think about it, it’s a picture that clearly shows his face too, and it’s not like he used it for anything inappropriate, so it’s a bit awkward to make a big deal out of it. Unless he sold the picture for money, that would be a different story.

“I don’t mind you posting it… but from now on, post it moderately. Moderately, because if Aki finds out, I’ll be the one getting scolded.”

“…Oh, really? Then is it okay if I post one picture every day?”

“Didn’t you hear me say to do it moderately…?”

“Aki? Who’s Aki?”

A girl who had been silent suddenly interrupted.

When I looked at her unintentionally, she quickly added, as if misunderstanding the meaning of my gaze.

“Oh, come to think of it, we haven’t introduced ourselves yet, have we? Nice to meet you, I’m Ham Ji-eun. This guy who looks like an old man here is Kim Seung-woo.”

“…What are you talking about, who looks like an old man?”

“Who else? It’s you, Kim Seung-woo! Is there anyone else here who looks like they’re in their 40s and could probably buy alcohol and cigarettes?”

“Ham Ji-eun, are you insulting my parents right now? By insulting me, their son, you’re indirectly insulting my parents, right?”

“Oh, there you go again! Go ahead and tell your mom later, ‘Ham Ji-eun insulted my mom~’. Do you know how much I had to sweat to explain myself back then?!”

“……”

It was the first time I met Ham Ji-eun and Kim Seung-woo today, but I had a sudden intuition.

If I become friends with these two, there will never be a quiet day for my ears.

“Um… can I call you Ji-eun and Seung-woo?”

“Oh, yeah! Feel free to call us that, we’ll be classmates in three days anyway, right?”

“Yeah, nice to meet you. Ji-eun, I’m Joo Woo-joo. I look forward to getting along with you.”

With a friendly smile, he slightly extended his right hand.

It was meant as a gesture for a handshake, but Ji-eun Ham flinched and her face turned slightly red.

“Ah… um. Nice to meet you…?”

“…What?”

Seung-woo Kim looked at Ji-eun Ham as if he couldn’t believe it, then frowned deeply and asked.

“Ji-eun Ham, what’s wrong? Why did your face suddenly turn red? Did you perhaps fall for him?”

“Wha- wha-wha-what…?! Wha- what are you talking about? It’s not like that…?!”

“…”

Stammering and denying something that could have been simply said as ‘no’ made her look suspicious.

It seemed I wasn’t the only one who thought so, as Jae-hyun, who was next to me, placed his hand on my shoulder and said.

“Ji-eun, don’t like him. He has a girlfriend.”

“What? Really?”

“She’s called Miss Fujiwara, they’ve been dating for almost ten years now.”

“T-ten years? We’re only seventeen now…?”

“He’s been dating Miss Fujiwara since they were six, so it’s been about that long. Right, Joo-woo?”

“…Yeah, it’s been roughly that long.”

“Oh, what? When I asked if you were dating, you denied it, but now you’re just admitting it?”

“No, it’s not that I’m admitting it…”

Jae-hyun winked at me while looking at me.

I sighed deeply and gently removed Jae-hyun’s arm.

“Alright. I should stop talking.”

“Yeah, doesn’t it look good when you admit it? Congratulations, Woojoo. Also, please pass on my congratulations to Fujiwara-san.”

“You could tell her yourself, why go through me?”

“Do you really not know? Your girlfriend is super scary…”

“…Is Fujiwara-san Woojoo’s girlfriend?”

I realized belatedly that Ham Ji-eun was asking me.

Actually, there are very few people around me who call me by just my first name. Because my first and last names are similar, people usually call me ‘Joo Woojoo’ with both names.

Anyway, since I already introduced her as my girlfriend, it would be awkward to deny it now. I nodded slightly.

“Yeah, Fujiwara Aki. I just call her Aki for short.”

“Oh, I see… Her name is quite unique, is she Japanese?”

“Technically, she’s half Japanese and half French, but it’s a bit awkward to talk about her when she’s not here. Since she goes to the same school as us, why don’t you talk to her directly when school starts? She’s really nice, so it should be easy to get along with her.”

“Fujiwara Aki… Got it, I’ll remember.”

“But you’ll be really surprised when you meet Fujiwara-san.”

Jaehyun said, putting his hand on my shoulder again.

“Why, why would I be surprised?”

“Because she’s really pretty. In the three years of middle school, I’ve never seen anyone prettier than her.”

“…Really?”

“Yeah, really. Right, Joo Woojoo?”

“You sure talk a lot in front of someone you just met… Hey, let’s stop and sing. What do you want to sing?”

“What, a duet? Then it has to be ‘Please Don’t Do This’.”

“Ah, damn it, why would you want to sing that kind of song as a duet? Do something else, something else!”

* * *

In the end, despite his strong objections and complaints, Ju Woo-joo was reluctantly singing “Don’t Do This, Please” as a duet with Nam Jae-hyun, his unique baritone voice surprisingly sweet.

From the sofa opposite, a female student, Ham Ji-eun, quietly opened her mouth.

“…Hey, Kim Seung-woo.”

“Why, Ham Ji-eun.”

“He’s handsome, isn’t he?”

Ham Ji-eun pointed at Ju Woo-joo with her finger.

Kim Seung-woo, who looked like he really didn’t want to sing but was forced to, glanced up and down at Ju Woo-joo, who was holding the microphone with a grimace.

“Yeah, he’s handsome.”

An immediate answer without hesitation.

Ham Ji-eun slowly nodded as if agreeing with that statement.

“As a guy, how does he look to you?”

“What do you mean, how does he look?”

“I mean, Ju Woo-joo, how does he look to you as a guy?”

“What do you mean? He’s so handsome it’s annoying just to look at him. For the sake of world peace, I hope he’s only three centimeters…”

“…Ah, come on! Not that kind of thing!”

Ham Ji-eun frowned deeply.

“Then what, what do you want to hear?”

Ham Ji-eun glared at Kim Seung-woo, who answered indifferently.

Ham Ji-eun glanced at Kim Seung-woo quietly, then sighed deeply as if giving up.

“Imagine if he became a model for men’s cosmetics. What do you think?”

“I don’t think much about it.”

“Don’t you feel like you want to buy what he uses, or something like that?”

“Well, maybe, maybe not…”

Kim Seung-woo trailed off, glancing at Ham Ji-eun.

She was contemplating.

“But why are you asking that all of a sudden?”

“It’s nothing, I was just thinking about asking him to be a model for men’s cosmetics.”

“A cosmetics model? Oh, is it that thing you asked me about before?”

“Yeah, that.”

“You said it was really important. Why are you asking someone you just met?”

“…Why do you think? Because you refused, and there’s no one else to ask!”

“Why are you getting angry all of a sudden…”

Feeling guilty, Kim Seung-woo averted his gaze.

Ham Ji-eun crossed her arms and glared at Kim Seung-woo, then turned her gaze back to Joo Woo-joo.

“…Hey! Don’t sing so close to me. Move away!”

“Don’t you know duets are supposed to be sung like this? Oh no, you’re missing the beat!”

“Seriously, if I come to karaoke with you again, I’m not human…!”

“….”

‘Your face is fine, your voice is fine, and when I saw you standing earlier, your physique was quite good too…’

I think you’d be perfect as the model for the advertisement we just got sponsored for. Can’t you do something about it…?

“…If I suddenly ask him to be a cosmetics ad model, he’ll think I’m weird, right?”

“Yeah, of course he would.”

“…”

Ham Ji-eun lightly tapped Kim Seung-woo’s shoulder.

“Hey, Kim Seung-woo.”

“What.”

“Can you ask him for me?”

“Huh? Ask him what?”

Ask him to be the cosmetics ad model for me. Since you’re both guys, there might be some kind of connection, right?”

“Why are you asking me to do it? You can ask him yourself.”

“If I ask him to be a cosmetics model when we just met today, he’ll think I’m hitting on him…!”

“What are you talking about? No one would misunderstand that. And even if a short girl like you tried to hit on him, he wouldn’t fall for it… Ah, ah!”

“…Ugh, come on. Come on!”