My Japanese Childhood Friend Is Too Flirty

26. An unexpected ambush from my childhood friend…! (1)

Lunchtime, the place is the cafeteria.

“Dude, next time we play basketball, we gotta split up Joo-joo and Kim Seung-woo for sure. If they’re on the same team, the game’s a lost cause.”

“I second that, let’s keep those two apart. They’re too good together, just straight-up smacking us around.”

At the table where the Class 2 basketball members are gathered, Jaehyun and Sungmin’s frustrated voices burst out.

Hearing them talk, it seems like they’re pretty pissed about me and Kim Seung-woo being on the same team and creating such an overwhelming score gap. But it’s funny, and a little bit sorry-making, considering that before the game, they were all talking about twisting my ankle or killing me.

“You guys were all saying to be on the same team, but why are you all like this now that it’s over?”

“We didn’t know, we didn’t know Kim Seung-woo was this good! Would we have said that if we knew?!”

“We knew Joo-joo was good at basketball, but Seung-woo, you can ball too?”

It was Jihoon, the most serious one among us, who spoke.

At his question-like-but-not-quite question, Kim Seung-woo, a little awkward, scratched his cheek and opened his mouth.

“Ah, yeah. I used to play a lot in middle school.”

“Really? Then why didn’t you ask to play with us before?”

If Kim Seung-woo had shown interest first, it would have been much easier for me to talk to him.

I suddenly got curious about why he hadn’t asked to play for a whole week despite being good at basketball, so I looked at Kim Seung-woo and asked. The answer that came back was a little unexpected.

“It felt kinda awkward to jump in when you guys were getting the right numbers, and you all seemed close so I didn’t really want to butt in, you know….”

“Ah…. What, that was it?”

I thought there was some special reason or something.

‘Is he more shy than he looks?’

He looks like he wouldn’t be shy at all. I guess a person’s looks and their actual personality are unrelated.

“Hey, who cares about that kind of thing between guys? If we’re doing it, we’re just doing it.”

“Yeah, anyway, Kwon Byung-jae’s basketball skills are trash. If the dead weight leaves and an ace comes in, it’s a win-win.”

“……Pfft.”

The curse words spilling out like water were so funny, I couldn’t help but chuckle, and Kim Seung-woo next to me laughed along.

In that slightly warm (?) atmosphere, Jae-hyun stopped eating his rice and scanned me up and down.

“Hey, Joo Woo-joo, where the hell did you sell your dress shirt?”

As Jae-hyun pointed out, I was only wearing a black short-sleeved t-shirt.

The reason I was like this even though gym class was over, well, it’s not that I was too lazy to change into my uniform… well, not exactly.

“Oh, this? Aki asked to borrow my dress shirt.”

Right after gym class ended, Aki had come to our class and borrowed my school uniform shirt.

“Why?”

“He said he spilled water on his gym uniform and it wasn’t drying, so it felt gross to wear. So I lent it to him, I guess.”

“Huh? If he spilled it on his gym uniform, his dress shirt should be fine, right? Then why borrow your shirt?”

“Well, he said he was wearing his dress shirt underneath, so they both got wet…”

The reason my answer was a question is because I wasn’t sure myself. Aki said so, so I just went with it and lent it, it’s not like I saw with my own eyes whether Aki’s clothes were wet or not.

“Uhm, okay?”

It was an ambiguous response, but he didn’t seem like he wanted to dig deeper, Jae-hyun just nodded and took a bite of his rice.

I was getting hungry myself, so I took a spoonful too.

Lunch menu was rice, kimchi, some unidentified green vegetable, pork cutlet, and udon.

A simple but delicious side dish that almost everyone liked. I grabbed a piece of pork cutlet with my chopsticks.

‘Tonkatsu…’

This is something Aki really loves.

“……”

I wonder what Aki’s doing right now?

It’s lunchtime, so she’s probably eating with her classmates, but when I looked around the cafeteria while finding a seat, I didn’t see her.

Which means she didn’t get here before me.

‘She should be here soon…’

“––Ah, Uju~chan, I found you!”

…The instant I thought that, coincidentally, a very familiar way of speaking reached my ears.

A cute high-pitched voice calling me with a unique nickname, “Uju~chan” — there’s only one person in the world who does that.

I was secretly glad, but pretending not to be, I turned around with an indifferent look.

And, as expected, I saw Aki.

“Uju~chan, Uju~chan!”

Wearing a man’s shirt that looked way too big, my childhood friend, Fujiwara Aki, was gently waving her hand in my direction.

Even though she looked a little clumsy in the loose-fitting clothes, her inherent cuteness didn’t fade at all.

No, it was like her clumsiness only made her cuteness stand out more.

‘Our Aki is cute no matter what she wears…’

While I was having silly thoughts like that, Aki’s lips moved slightly.

‘I’ll come see you after lunch, for a bit!’

“Wow, boyfriend’s shirt fit is insane…”

“Hey, isn’t that Juwoo-joo’s girlfriend?”

Aki’s words, just formed with his lips, were about to be met with my response when someone dropped a line too loud to ignore.

And at that, the eyes of all the friends at the table landed on me.

“Life, fuck…”

“Ah, suddenly my mood is totally shot.”

“Ptooey, spit!”

“……”

I pretended not to hear their words, thick with malice, and just chewed on my piece of pork cutlet, *munch, munch*.

“Hey, Juwoo-joo.”

“……Huh? What.”

“You doing anything this Saturday? If you’re free, wanna come hang with us?”

“Hang out…? Uh, where to?”

“To the Incheon sea, we’re gonna put you on a deep sea fishing boat and send you to the middle of the Pacific.”

“……”

“Just kidding, let’s go to an escape room. They say the place we always go to got a new theme.”

The way he said that didn’t sound like a joke at all… Huh, must just be my mood?

I shook my head.

“Sorry. I have plans on Saturday.”

“Huh? What, you know the deep sea fishing boat thing was a joke, right?”

“I know that. But I seriously do have plans, I made them a week ago so I can’t cancel.”

“Who the hell did you make plans with that you’ve been booked solid for a week… Oh, no way…?”

The look was asking if what I’m thinking is actually true.

A silent pressure, as if saying, ‘This b*stard, could it be…?’ and I quietly nodded.

That ‘no way’ was a yes, and Jaehyun, who suggested the escape room in the first place, took his chopsticks and stabbed his tonkatsu like it was my face, *thwack!*

“Aish, fine, go on. Go, ditch your friends and spend the rest of your life staring at your girlfriend’s face.”

“Hey, screw Joo Woo Joo, let’s go without him.”

“Don’t even think about coming downtown for a date, the second I see your face, I’m doing a back tackle and twisting your ankle.”

“What are you planning on doing with your girlfriend?”

Normal Kim Seungwoo’s question mixed in amidst the pure condemnation.

I looked at Kim Seungwoo and answered.

“Just, you know…. lunch, then a movie, and then we’re going to a baseball game for dinner.”

“Baseball? Your girlfriend likes baseball?”

“Yeah, she likes baseball and going to the stadium. She loves everything related to baseball.”

“Really? Sounds fun. Have a good time.”

“Yeah, thanks….”

Talking about my girlfriend, no, Aki, usually gets me cursed out, so I don’t know the last time I got normal encouragement like this.

A little moved, I upgraded my evaluation of Kim Seungwoo in my head.

From ‘scary looking but maybe a good guy’ to ‘scary looking but actually a good guy’.

“But, do they still do that kiss cam at baseball games?”

“There are plenty of people who go on dates at baseball games just to get on it. Of course, they do.”

“Hey, Joo Woo-joo. What’ll you do if you get caught in the Kiss Cam?”

“Huh? What do you mean, what’ll I do.”

“You gonna do it? You’d do it, right?”

“Well, I’ve never thought about it so, I’m not sure…”

I answered nonchalantly, but it was a lie, actually.

From the moment I planned this baseball date, I’d simulated ‘What if I get caught in the Kiss Cam with Aki?’ countless times.

Out of 100 attempts, 98 were successful, only 2 failed.

For the record, the failed scenarios involved trying to touch her in places I shouldn’t during the kiss, and then thinking, ‘Nah, this is a bit much…?’

“Why are you even asking that? You’d do it, no question. Even people in the same class are doing it, so why wouldn’t we at a baseball game?”

“Yeah, that’s true. Joo Woo-joo, knowing his personality, he’d definitely do it. Might even go for a deep kiss, right?”

“Ah, what? How could I kiss in front of everyone…”

“Oh? Look at this guy smiling, you little shit. You’re just saying that, aren’t you?”

“Hey, if you get on the Kiss Cam, you gotta tell us. So we can watch the video on YouTube.”

“They upload the Kiss Cam moments on YouTube these days?”

“Yeah, if you search in Shorts, they’re all there. Like, ‘Kiss Cam Legend from This Date and That Date.'”

“Joo Woo-joo, if you see a Short of you kissing your girlfriend, wouldn’t you wanna just kill them, or is that just me?”

“No, I’m telling you, I wouldn’t do it if we got caught…”

Of course, that’s a lie.

Kiss Cam at the ballpark.

Please, just once, that’s all I ask.

I hope she’ll get caught……!

* * *

About 5 minutes left until lunch break ends.

The 5th period is about to start, but I’m on the overpass, having been called out by Aki.

The overpass is a connecting passage between the main building and the new annex of the school, and a place with a pretty decent view outside the windows.

The only downside is that it’s a place where people occasionally pass through, but even that wasn’t an issue since it’s that time of day—there’s nobody here but us.

Meaning, it’s the perfect place to have a cozy chat just the two of us.

I was worked up from just having been bantering with my friends about ‘kiss times’, so I started by asking her.

“Aki, did you have a good lunch?”

“Mhm, *atashi* (I) had a good lunch. What about Woo-joo~chan?”

Aki answered cutely, still in my dress shirt.

It’s so loose it’s the definition of oversized, but I don’t know why it just looks so cute to my eyes. Is this that love-is-blind thing or whatever?

Nah, no it’s not that. It’s just that Aki is cute, that’s why it feels that way. I was sure of it in my head, though I had no basis for it, and I smiled, replying.

“Yeah, I ate well too.”

“Hehe, I see. That’s good.”

‘…Ah, so cute.’

Why does my heart flutter like this just from hearing those simple words?

“You know, Woo-joo~chan.”

“Yeah, what is it?”

“There’s something *atashi* is curious about….”

Hesitantly, hesitantly.

Aki fidgets, cutely hesitant.

She seems like she wants to ask something, glancing around, so I meet her gaze, letting her know she can ask me anything comfortably.

Then, Aki pushes something out.

A sleek, black, cylindrical pillar.

Just a regular tumbler.

“What’s this?”

“Barley tea. I was going to give it to you earlier but the timing wasn’t right, so I brought it now.”

“Oh, really? Thanks, I’ll drink it well.”

She didn’t have to bring anything, but she went out of her way to prepare this. I really do have to give props to Aki’s thoughtfulness, you know?

I was already in a good mood, but holding the tumbler filled with barley tea that Aki prepared herself makes me even more excited. I smile a genuine smile and open the lid.

“It smells good, can I drink it right away?”

“Yeah, drink it. Drink while you listen, Woo-joo~chan.”

I take a sip of the barley tea.

It has a toasty taste similar to scorched rice, a savory yet indescribably sweet flavor.

What should I say… It’s like honey water, but with so much water added that the sweetness is diluted…

“Woo-joo~chan, it’s not like I was trying to listen. It was by chance. I really heard it by chance…?”

It has a subtly addictive taste, so I take another sip.

“What’s the picture of you on Instagram, and what’s this about being a cosmetics model?”

“…………Cough.”

He spat it out just like that.