My Japanese Childhood Friend Is Too Flirty

2. When We Became Childhood Friends at Six (2)

“U-Uju~san…! Where are we going? If I go out without permission, Grandpa will scold me…!”

“It’s okay, if we come back quickly, Grandpa won’t know!”

“But, still, Grandpa is scary…”

“If we get scolded, I’ll take the blame for you, so just trust me. And Aki, don’t you feel suffocated staying inside all the time?”

“Ah, yes…”

Aki only called him grandfather, so I didn’t know at the time, but later I found out that Aki’s grandfather was ‘Fujiwara Kenichiro,’ the Japanese ambassador to Korea. And being the Japanese ambassador to Korea was a shortcut to a high-ranking position in Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is equivalent to our Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In simple terms, Aki’s grandfather was going to be a very important person, and I boldly said that I would take the scolding on his behalf.

When I was six, I didn’t know that, so it was a good thing. If I had known, I wouldn’t have been able to take Aki out, and we wouldn’t have become close so easily.

No, actually, even if I had known, I would have thought, ‘Japanese ambassador to Korea? What’s that?’ So the result would have been the same. Anyway, at that time, I didn’t know such complicated circumstances, and I just liked going out to play with a pretty girl, so I secretly took Aki’s hand and sneaked out of the Japanese embassy building in Korea.

Our destination was a nearby amusement park.

When I was young, I loved going out to play with my friends. Thanks to that, I knew the area around my house very well, and I also knew that there was a playground not far from the Japanese embassy in Korea where people didn’t come often.

The reason I chose a playground where people didn’t come often was a bit selfish, driven by the honest desire to play alone with a pretty girl.

Of course, if I told Aki that now, she would definitely tease me, saying something like, ‘Did you like me since then~?’ So I would never say it.

“Here we are!”

Anyway, six-year-old me stood at the entrance of the park, puffed out my chest, and said to Aki.

“Uju~san, what is this place…?”

“Huh? It’s a playground. Don’t you have playgrounds in Japan?”

“Oh, it’s a playground…! Yes, we have playgrounds in Japan. But I didn’t realize it was a playground because there were no people.”

“Really? Aren’t there usually not many people at playgrounds?”

“No, when I was in Japan, there were a lot of people at the playground. From here to the end over there, it was full of kids who came out to play.”

“Wow, really? I’m so jealous. My friends don’t come out much because they’re busy with their phones. I want to live in Japan too.”

“Uju~san, do you want to come to Japan later? I’ll take you to a playground with lots of friends!”

“Really? Promise? You can’t say it was a lie later, okay?”

“Yes, I won’t lie. Uju~san is my close, friend…”

Aki mumbled shyly, her cute face slightly blushing.

“Aki, you promised. Don’t forget that you agreed to play with me at the playground later, okay? Ah, no. Just saying it isn’t enough. Aki, do you have a cell phone by any chance?”

“Cell phone? Yeah, I have one, but not right now. Why?”

“Really? Then give me your cell phone number. I’ll contact you when I go to Japan later!”

“Ah, wait a minute. My number is…”

“…Got it, saved. Now let’s go play!”

“Mm-hmm, but what are we going to play…?”

“Aki, is there something you want to do? Like swinging, or seesawing?”

“Me? I… um…”

Aki looked around the playground, which seemed perfect for wandering around since there were no people, and stared intently at a chair that looked just right for two little kids to sit on.

“Aki, do you want to sit? Are your legs tired?”

“My legs aren’t tired… but… I want to sit over there and play house.”

“Play house? Isn’t that something girls do?”

“Mm-hmm, but I think it would be nice to do it with you, Uju~san. …Is that okay?”

“…”

Not just me, but all boys my age can’t refuse a request from a girl our age with sparkling eyes.

“…Really? Okay. Then let’s play house together.”

“Ah, really? Uju~san, thank you…!”

So, without much thought, I answered immediately, and after receiving Aki’s thanks, I felt secretly proud and let out a deep breath.

“Then I’ll be the mama, so Uju~san, you be the papa!”

“Yeah, but what do I need to do to play the role of Papa? I’ve never played house before.”

“Uju~san, you just need to stay still, Aki will take care of everything. …Ahem!”

Aki cleared her throat, uncharacteristically for a child.

She must have learned it from watching dramas, as she skillfully adjusted her voice, closing and opening her eyelids once.

“…Hey, darling?”

She patted the seat next to her with a slightly serious atmosphere.

“Come here and sit down.”

“Huh?”

“I have something to tell you.”

“Oh, okay.”

As I carefully sat down next to her as instructed, Aki puffed out her cheeks with a sullen expression.

It wasn’t the kind of sentiment one would expect in such an atmosphere, but at that moment, I found even Aki’s sullen expression to be simply adorable and was momentarily lost in thought.

Looking back now, I think it was the first time my heart fluttered while looking at Aki.

“Darling, you came home late again after drinking, didn’t you?”

“…Huh?”

The fluttering feeling vanished completely because of Aki’s next words.

“Didn’t I tell you to drink in moderation?”

“Uh, Aki, you’re speaking too fast…”

“You said you would drink moderately. We even made a promise, but how many times are you going to break it?”

“Aki is watching too, isn’t she? Aren’t you embarrassed as an adult?”

“I’m not saying you shouldn’t drink at all. I’m saying you should moderate it. It’s not okay for the head of the household to come home drunk and unconscious every time.”

‘…Is this how they play house in Japan?’

The house-playing I know involves the husband and wife feeding each other and kissing, but something feels off.

Even though it felt extremely strange, since Aki is Japanese, she must be playing house the Japanese way, not the Korean way.

At that time, I genuinely thought so, and for some reason, I bowed my head deeply in response to Aki’s performance, which seemed to be based on her own experiences.

“Okay, I’ll moderate from now on. I’m sorry, honey.”

“Is that just lip service?”

“Huh? What did you say?”

“You promised me. If you did something wrong, you would apologize with a kiss.”

What Aki said to me, in Korean, was ‘You promised me, if you did something wrong, you would apologize with a kiss.’

In other words, Aki was telling me to kiss her, and at first, I naturally thought it was a joke.

“What are you doing? Are you not going to keep your promise to me again?”

But then, Aki urged me in Japanese, turning her face and offering one cheek.

Even when I hesitated, she closed her eyes and waited for me, as if she wouldn’t speak any further unless I kissed her.

“Um, Aki? Isn’t this enough…?”

“I won’t talk to you until you kiss me.”

‘Do I really have to do it…?’

“……”

Ah, whatever.

That’s what I thought then, and I moved just my upper body slightly to kiss Aki’s right cheek.

-Smack.

“Th-there, okay?”

Actually, it wasn’t really a kiss, more like a peck, really just lip and cheek contact, literally. But it was the first time in my life that I had physical contact with a girl who wasn’t my mom, and because of that my heart was pounding like crazy.

“Wow, Universe~ssang!”

“Uh, yeah?”

“The way you hesitated a ton before doing it, and how you’re completely whipped by mama, even the way you carefully gave a peck, you were exactly like our Papa!”

But, Aki, who received the kiss I’d mustered the courage to give, wasn’t affected at all, her big eyes sparkling as she admired my not-acting acting. So, for a moment I was a little annoyed that I seemed to be the only one this worked up.

Not competitiveness, and it’s not exactly jealousy either, it was a really ambiguous emotion… In fact, even now I’m not really sure what that feeling was.

“R-really?”

“Yeah, yeah! Our papa always gets like that when he drinks and comes home late. But the very end was a little different!”

“What was different about the very end?”

“After Papa kisses Mama, they always hug each other tightly, and then Papa suddenly picks Mama up and takes her to the master bedroom. And then, after a bit, Mama sounds like she’s really in pain!”

“What do you mean by pain? Is Aki’s mom not feeling well?”

“No, she’s super healthy! So Aki doesn’t really know why those noises happen either.”

“Really? What kind of noises specifically?”

“I don’t really know but it’s really weird. Like this, ah, ah~ kind of sound, like she’s breathing really hard?”

“Oh, really? My mom does that sometimes too!”

Looking back, I shouldn’t have said those words, but as a 6-year-old, I had no sense of such things, and in the end, we made a promise we shouldn’t have.

“Eh, Woojoo~san, does Mama also hurt every night?”

“Sometimes when I wake up at night and go to the living room to drink water, I hear sounds from Dad and Mom’s room. The sound like you said, like they can’t breathe!”

“Woojoo~san, are Mamas always in a lot of pain?”

“Well, I don’t really know. Should I ask my mom later?”

“Oh, can you do that? Thank you, Woojoo~san!”

“Yeah, trust me. Aki!”

* * *

…And that evening, knowing nothing, I asked my mom an innocent question, determined to keep the promise I made with Aki.

“Mom, why do you make sounds like you’re in pain every night?”

“…?!”

My mom, flustered, turned bright red and urgently told me, “Woojoo, you must never say such things anywhere. Got it?!”