My Japanese Childhood Friend Is Too Flirty

22. After School with Childhood Friend (2)

The setting is still outside.

After getting off the bus, I was talking non-stop to cheer up the adorably sulking Aki.

Aki likes to tease me, so he often plays subtle pranks on me, and I usually fall for them. But perhaps because of that, he’s very vulnerable to being teased himself. If I counterattack even a little, he often appeals to me with a “I’m angry~” expression.

“Aki, I’m sorry. Are you very angry?”

“…Hmph.”

Well, even if he’s sulking, he just crosses his arms and turns his head away, pretending not to hear me. He just exhales heavily, which makes him look more cute than scary.

If I tease him more because he’s cute, he really gets sulky. Aki’s sulking has stages, you know. Like the famous five stages of anger in the community. From minimal anger to extreme anger.

If I were to explain Aki’s current psychological state using those five stages, he would be at the minimal anger (小怒) stage.

No, it’s not anger, it’s sulking, so minimal sulking would be more accurate.

“I’m sorry, Aki, okay?”

“…Hmph!”

Anyway, I apologized to Aki, who was in a minimal sulking state, but he still exhaled heavily and huffed, showing no intention of accepting my apology.

To be honest, his sulking face is so cute that I want to keep looking at it, but then I’d be the one at a loss.

Actually, today is the day Aki is supposed to come to my house and cook for me.

If he goes home like this, I don’t know what kind of revenge he might take on the recipe to get back at me. Besides, today I’m the one who’s supposed to be treated. So, I should probably just give in.

“I was wrong, I won’t do it again, so please forgive me.”

“…”

“Um, what was it that you liked? The thing you eat on a skewer. The name is…”

“…Tanghulu.”

Pretending not to know, I asked, and Aki took the bait.

“Oh, right. Tanghulu, it was called Tanghulu.”

As expected of a girl who likes sweet snacks, as soon as I mentioned Tanghulu, Aki perked up her ears and started glancing at me.

Judging by the reaction, it seemed like she wanted to eat it but was hesitant to ask first, so I quickly caught on and said,

“I’ll buy you a tanghulu, so can you please stop being mad? Please, Aki.”

“…Two.”

“Huh? What did you say?”

“Buy me two.”

“…”

To think she would demand two tanghulus in this situation.

As expected, Aki is a girl who can’t be underestimated.

Well, if I can appease a sulking Aki with two tanghulus, it’s a cheap price to pay. I nodded without hesitation.

“Alright, I’ll buy you two. So, are we making up now?”

“…Yeah.”

Only then did Aki look at me.

‘See, girls really do love food…’

The life tip I learned at ten years old still holds true at seventeen.

I smiled and extended my hand.

“Shall we hold hands as a sign of reconciliation?”

“…Whatever, I guess.”

Aki grumbled but gently took my hand.

I softly held Aki’s hand, and since we had made up, I matched my pace with hers and slowly brought up the main topic.

“Aki, do you remember that you promised to come over to my house and cook dinner today?”

“Mm, I remember.”

“Really? That’s good. Can I ask what you’re making for dinner?”

“Um… First, I think we need to check what you have at home, Uju~chan… Ah, never mind. There’s probably nothing. Let’s go to the market first, Uju~chan.”

“Mm, there’s nothing at home. But Aki, why don’t you just call me Uju?”

Just a moment ago, he called me Uju without the chan (ちゃん), but as soon as we made up, he reverted to the original honorific, so I asked him right away.

Aki hesitated for a moment at my words.

“Ah, it’s still… a bit too soon…”

He mumbled in a barely audible voice.

“It was just a mistake. Just think of it as a mistake…!”

“A mistake? Then, can’t you keep making that mistake?”

“No, I can’t! I’ll call you by your name only when our relationship gets a bit deeper… I’ve decided that…”

“What does a deeper relationship have to do with this?”

“…I don’t know. Anyway, it’s still too soon to call you by your name only! Let’s pretend you didn’t hear that, Uju~chan!”

When he called me by my name only, and then went back to using the honorific.

It was a disappointing declaration for me, who had been eagerly waiting for Aki to call me by my name only, but this wasn’t something that could be demanded.

From what I roughly understand, the Japanese yobisute (honorific) culture is a strictly personal domain. Forcing Aki to call me by my name only when he doesn’t want to could be a great offense.

Of course, yobisute also varies case by case, but at least the basic principle is like that.

‘It can’t be helped…’

For today, I have no choice but to take a step back.

I swallowed my disappointment inwardly, or rather, I couldn’t completely swallow it and nodded with a bit of lingering regret.

“Alright. But in return, make sure tonight’s dinner is something really delicious, okay?”

“…Mm! Just trust me, Woojoo~chan!”

* * *

In front of the house, a large supermarket.

Aki and I walked hand in hand for about one station, and then we stopped by the supermarket in front of the house to buy ingredients for dinner. Given the time of day, the inside was quite empty.

“Woojoo~chan, is there any dish you want to eat?”

“Me? I’m fine with anything…”

In the past, you had to insert a coin, but now I took out a shopping cart that was freely available.

As I pushed it forward, Aki walked beside me, tapping her lips with her index finger.

“Not just anything, is there something you really want?”

“Well, let’s see… How about we look around first? We might find something we want to eat while browsing.”

“That’s not a very good habit… But alright. Let’s go look around.”

“Yeah, let’s do that. But why is it not a good habit?”

“Woojoo~chan, have you heard of impulse buying? If you don’t decide what to buy in advance, you’re more likely to buy unnecessary things. You’ll end up wasting money on things you don’t need.”

“Aha.”

Well, everything in sight looks useful, so I guess that makes sense.

It sounded reasonable, so I thought it was plausible and looked around. Fruits, vegetables, meat. The first floor is full of fresh produce, which is why it’s called the ‘Fresh Corner.’

‘Meaty vegetables…’

When you combine the two, one thing comes to mind.

Men’s favorite, stir-fried pork.

If you mix sweet and salty pork on top of firm rice, you have a meal ready in no time.

Just imagining it makes my mouth water, so I glanced at Aki and started the conversation.

“Aki, how about some pork stir-fry?”

“Pork stir-fry? Oh, you mean the one with pork?”

“Yeah, the one made with vegetables and pork. How about it, isn’t it good?”

“Well, it’s simple and easy to clean up after, so it’s fine… But, Uju~chan, did you know? ‘Vegetables’ is a Japanese expression. In Korea, it’s not ‘vegetables’ but ‘chae-so’, ‘chae-so’ is the correct term.”

“Oh, really?”

What is this, Aki is half Japanese and half French, yet speaks Korean better than me, a native Korean…

As I wandered around the vegetable section, purely admiring, people’s gazes were fixed on us as we walked side by side, pushing the cart. The reason was simple.

Aki, who was sticking close to me, was clearly not Korean, yet was wearing a Korean school uniform, and on top of that, had a very handsome appearance.

Just the fact that he had blue eyes, a characteristic of a ‘sekmokin’ (colored-eyed person), drew people’s attention… He was so pretty that people couldn’t help but look back at him as they passed by.

“Let’s see. To make pork stir-fry, we need meat, cabbage, green onions…”

However, Aki didn’t seem to care about people’s gazes. Or maybe he was too used to it to notice, as he fiddled with his lips, seriously contemplating.

“Uju~chan, how should we season it? Soy sauce or gochujang?”

“Since it’s dinner, should we go with soy sauce?”

“Okay, got it. Then we need soy sauce too. Uju~chan, let’s go get the meat first.”

“Okay.”

The command from today’s chef, Aki, was given. The target is pork, the destination is the meat section.

I pushed the cart forward.

One step, two steps. Three steps again. As I was walking forward, I suddenly noticed the product promotion phrase hanging on the upper opposite side.

[Sweet, Sweet Gift Corner for the Upcoming White Day!]

‘……Ah, come to think of it.’

Next week is White Day.

I’ve been so preoccupied with other things lately that I completely forgot, but March 14th is the day when men give gifts to women.

Since Aki gave me handmade chocolates on Valentine’s Day, it’s only right that I reciprocate, right?

Actually, even today, I’m supposed to get a meal from her, and she always takes care of me in various ways. Now that we’re both high school students, I want to give her a nice gift to commemorate it….

‘……The problem is the cost.’

As always, money, the money involved is the problem.

Due to my mother’s educational policy (You need to know the value of money by not having it, if you’re given plenty from a young age, you’ll develop bad spending habits-), I never received a generous allowance, so spending money has always been burdensome.

When I was receiving an allowance, it was manageable. If I didn’t have enough, I could just cut back on expenses.

But, since I started living alone this month, that’s not possible. The living expenses my mother sends are fixed, and I have to manage all the expenses by myself.

“Hmm….”

If there was a way to get some extra money, I could give a gift without any burden, but since I don’t have a part-time job or anything, there’s no extra money left from my living expenses.

And I can’t buy a gift for Aki with my dad’s card either.

‘It’s a dilemma….’

Isn’t there a good way?

A way to solve my money problem all at once. Such a good way…….

As I was walking forward, seriously contemplating, Aki tapped me on the shoulder.

“Uju~chan, that’s the wrong way.”

“……Ah, sorry. I was lost in thought for a moment.”

“Daydreaming…?”

Aki stopped in her tracks.

“Woo-joo~chan. You weren’t, like, thinking about another girl, were you~?”

“Eyy, Aki, how could I be when I’m with you? Of course not.”

“Hmph, is that so…?”

Ziiiii-.

Aki, looking me up and down, like she’s scanning me.

“Hey, Woo-joo~chan, I heard a pretty interesting story today…?”

“An interesting story? What is it?”

“About 3 days ago, or so, Woo-joo~chan went to a coin karaoke place with another girl, behind my back…. Or, that’s the story.”

“……No, who’s making up such ridiculous lies?”

“Jaehyun-san said he went with you, is that not true?”

“…….”

Nam Jaehyun.

I swear I’ll get my revenge on you.

Backstabbing me like this…?

“Woo-joo~chan, why aren’t you answering?”

“…….”

“……Woo-joo~chan?”

“…….”

“……Hehe. Uju-chan, it’s no use exercising your right to remain silent. If you don’t speak, I’ll have to-.”

“──Are you newlyweds?”

Just as Aki grabbed my arm and was about to interrogate me, someone suddenly spoke to us from behind the meat counter.

When I turned around without thinking, there stood a woman with a warm impression. She looked to be in her fifties or sixties, and if I exaggerated a bit, she could be around my grandmother’s age.

“Oh, are you talking to us?”

“Yes, that’s right. The two of you who were having such a friendly conversation.”

“……N-newlyweds?!”

Aki’s face turned red as she muttered something softly.

I stared blankly at Aki, who was unusually embarrassed, and then fiddled with the cart handle as I answered.

“Ah, we’re… still students.”

“Oh, I see. I’m sorry, I must have been mistaken.”

“No, it’s fine…”

I’ve often been mistaken for being in a relationship, but this is the first time we’ve been mistaken for newlyweds.

Even though both Aki and I look quite mature, I didn’t think we’d be seen that way since we’re wearing school uniforms. But it seems that’s not the case for older people.

“Are you here to buy meat?”

“Ah, yes. For stir-fried pork.”

“If it’s for stir-fried pork, you’ll need front leg meat. Are the two of you going to eat it? How much should I give you?”

“Yes, it’s for the two of us. Aki, how much should we get?”

“……N-newlyweds, newlyweds.”

Aki, who seemed to have lost her mind, kept muttering “newlyweds, newlyweds…” like a broken robot.

I asked, but there was no answer, and the situation continued like this, so I had no choice but to speak up.

“Just give me a reasonable amount. Enough for two people to eat one meal.”

“Okay. I’ll pack one geun for you. Just give me five thousand won. Since there was a misunderstanding, I’ll give it to you cheap.”

“Oh, thank you. Here is five thousand won.”

The staff behind the counter skillfully packed the meat.

I paid and received the meat, and during this whole process, I tapped Aki’s back, who still hadn’t come to his senses.

“Aki, let’s go buy some vegetables now.”

“Oh, okay…”

Aki followed me with a dazed, absent-minded look.

‘…Did he like the idea of being called newlyweds that much?’

I quietly watched Aki like that, and suddenly, a small mischievous thought came to mind.

“Aki.”

“Yes…?”

“When should we set our wedding date?”

“…W-What?!”

Aki’s face turned bright red.