My Japanese Childhood Friend Is Too Flirty

1. Until We Became Childhood Friends at Age 6 (1)

Back then, I was really young too.

Fujiwara Aki was still only six years old and a foreigner who didn’t know much about our country’s situation, so it was natural for her to ask, “Did you come from North Korea or South Korea?” And there I was, with my baby teeth not fully grown, earnestly explaining the difference between North and South Korea with my unclear pronunciation.

“North Korea is North Korea, and South Korea is South Korea. But since this is South Korea, where do you think I came from?”

Well, even if I explained it, it was just the words of a six-year-old child, so it was no different from a clumsy, makeshift explanation.

“Hmm, North Korea…?”

My stubbornness didn’t get through the language barrier between a Japanese and a Korean.

The truth is, I am Korean, and Fujiwara Aki is Japanese.

If it weren’t for her grandparents, who were the Japanese ambassadors to Korea, insisting that she learn a bit of Korean, we wouldn’t have even been able to exchange our first greetings.

But at that time, I had no way of knowing such circumstances and was just frustrated that Fujiwara Aki couldn’t understand my explanation.

“No, it’s not North Korea. This is South Korea. South, the southern part. It’s called South Korea. Got it?”

“…?”

“…”

As soon as I encountered a slightly complicated issue, I couldn’t give a coherent explanation due to my lack of foreign language skills, and for the first time, I thought,

Ah, I’m still such an inadequate person.

Just because I got a perfect score on a test in kindergarten doesn’t mean I can be arrogant. There are still so many things in the world that I don’t know.

Because of this memory, I devoted myself to studying afterward and was able to consistently get good grades… But, well, this story doesn’t really matter, does it?

“Oh, right! There’s that thing. You know, can you wait a moment?”

At that time, I was still young and lacking in many ways, but I seemed to have an excellent ability to adapt to situations.

“Here, take this!”

“……What is this?”

In fact, it was just a tip passed down from my diplomat parents, ‘If you ever go abroad, make sure to use this~.’ Although it was just a timely recollection and use of that tip, I can proudly say that it was a stroke of genius even now.

“Transla…tor…?”

“Wait. I’ll show you directly. ……こんにちは (Hello)?”

“……You know Japanese?!”

“Yeah? Oh, wait a minute. If you have something you want to say, can you say it here?”

Anyway, although we couldn’t understand each other’s native languages well, Aki and I had the universal language of body language.

I conveyed through gestures and eye contact that she should speak into my mobile phone, and Fujihara Aki, who somehow understood, cautiously said a word.

“……こんにちは (Hello).”

“Hello. What’s your name?”

“I am……. Fujihara, Fujihara Aki.”

“Aha, Fujihara Aki. My name is Joo Woojoo. My surname is Joo, and my name is Woojoo. It’s easy to remember because it’s the same forwards and backwards, right?”

“Joo Woojoo……. Yeah, I remember. Joo~san.”

“Joo~san? Oh, no no. It’s not Joo~san, it’s Woojoo. Joo is the surname, not the name.”

“Yeah, so Joo. Joo~san (さん).”

In Korea, it’s common and natural for friends to call each other by their first names, but in Japan, unless you’re really close, you don’t just call someone by their first name, and doing so when you’re not close is considered a big mistake, right?

When you’re not close, it’s natural to call someone by their surname + san (さん), and as you get closer, you drop the surname and call them by their first name + san (さん), and even closer, you call them by their first name + chan (ちゃん). I didn’t know this at the time.

Later, I found out that this unique Japanese naming culture is called ‘Yobisute,’ but this isn’t very important, so let’s move on.

“No, my name is Uju, not Ju~sang. Come on, repeat after me. Uju!”

“……Uju~sang?”

“Not Uju~sang, it’s Uju, Uju!”

“Ujuu~sang……?”

“Don’t stretch it out, keep it short, Uju!”

“Uju~sang……”

“Can’t you drop the ‘sang’ at the end?”

“……”

“……Well, that’s good enough. Yes, you’re doing well. From now on, you can call me Uju~sang. I’ll call you Aki. Got it?”

“Eh…?”

“Why? Is there a problem?”

“Ah, um….”

Fujiwara Aki, no, Aki, seemed like he wanted to say something but closed his mouth tightly.

It seemed like he had something to say, but he thought I wouldn’t understand, so he just gave up explaining.

“Alright, let’s go back to the beginning. South Korea is Namhan and North Korea is Bukhan. This is South Korea, right? So where do you think I came from?”

“Sa, South Korea?”

“That’s right! Correct answer, you’re really smart, aren’t you?”

“Yes, Aki is smart. My mom also said Aki is smart.”

“Oh, you came with your mom? Aki, you’re Japanese, right? Why did you come to Korea?”

“Uju~sang, what does the word you just said mean?”

“Oh, I see. I’m Japanese. More precisely, my dad is Japanese and my mom is half French. The reason I came to Korea is because I followed my grandpa and papa. Aki doesn’t know the details, but grandpa and papa have a super important job that requires them to be in Korea.”

“If you followed your grandpa and dad, does that mean your mom is in Japan?”

“Yes, in Tokyo. Mama is a very famous model, so she couldn’t come to Korea with us. She’s very busy.”

“Wow, really? Aki’s mom is a model. My mom is a diplomat.”

“Is Uju’s mama working at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs?”

“Ministry of Foreign Affairs? Do you mean the Foreign Ministry? Yes, that’s right. Both my mom and dad are diplomats. What does Aki’s dad do?”

“Oh, our papa is also a diplomat, and so is grandpa!”

“Oh, so both our dads are diplomats? What a coincidence, right?”

Considering that Aki and I met at the Japanese Embassy in Korea, it wasn’t such a surprising coincidence, but as I mentioned earlier, six-year-old children couldn’t possibly understand such causal relationships.

Aki and I were simply amazed to find that our fathers shared the same profession, and naturally, we started talking about our fathers.

“Yeah, right! It’s super, super amazing, Uju! …Oh.”

Aki’s cute face turned red, perhaps embarrassed by the loud noise he made.

He looked very exotic, but his reactions were surprisingly big, which made me think he was quite cute, and I chuckled.

“U-Uju, what about your papa? Is he scary? Strict?”

“Well, no. My dad isn’t very scary. He always gives me toys as gifts, and sometimes he takes me and mom out to eat delicious food.”

“I’m jealous, Uju. Our papa is very scary. If I make a mistake, his face always scrunches up like this, and he turns into a goblin…”

“I see. So, do you dislike your dad?”

“No, I don’t. Papa is scary, but I like him. The one I really dislike is grandpa.”

“Why do you dislike grandpa?”

“Aki said she wouldn’t go to Korea, that she had many friends in Japan and would stay with Mama in Japan, but they forced me to come. So I hate it.”

“Ah…”

When I was young, I moved frequently with my parents.

So from a young age, I often changed kindergartens and daycare centers. Just when I started to get close to the kids, we would move to a different area, and I experienced this several times, so I could understand Aki’s feelings.

Of course, I can’t claim to understand a hundred percent since I never went abroad like Aki. But I do know how lonely it is to be forced to leave friends and be placed in a place full of strangers.

“So, when will you go back to Japan, Aki?”

“I don’t know. It could be a year, it could be two years. Going back is entirely up to Grandpa.”

“…I see.”

So, I thought to myself.

Is there anything I can do for Aki, my slightly timid Japanese friend who suddenly found herself in a foreign place and feeling lonely?

“Hey, Aki.”

As I pondered for a moment, a good idea came to mind.

“Do you want to go outside with me?”

“Huh? Outside?”

“Yeah, it would be lonely to be here alone for a year, right? So I’ll show you lots of fun things. How about it?”

“Ah, um…”

“Why? You don’t want to?”

“No, it’s not that I don’t want to… But, we’re not friends yet.”

“…Huh? We’re not friends yet? Aki, do you dislike me?”

When I asked what seemed like a very natural question to me, Aki was startled as if she didn’t expect such a question and rolled her eyes around.

“Ah, no! It’s not that I don’t like it, but we just met today, so we’re not close friends yet…”

“Then, we can become friends and get closer from now on, right?”

“Ah, th-that…”

Six-year-old Aki was very shy.

“Th-that, maybe…”

But unable to hide the happy expression, Aki nodded.

“Yeah. Let’s do that. Shall we be friends from now on?”

“Yes, friends…”

“…Then, it’s okay to play together now, right? Because we’re friends.”

“Y-yes? …Ah?!”

At that time, when the concept of distance didn’t exist, I boldly grabbed Aki’s hand.

“Let’s go, Aki!”

“O-oh…?!”

And so, we clumsily became friends, holding hands and heading outside together.