My Japanese Childhood Friend Is Too Flirty

29. Date, Date, Date! (2)

“Excuse me, which way do I go to get to Theater 11?”

“Uh, Theater 11 is…. Uh, that’s…”

“Ah! You can speak in Korean. I can speak Korean.”

“……Oh my, you’re Korean?”

Aki, speaking with fluent pronunciation, laughs, making the theater employee surprised.

This is just a minor, everyday event that often happens when you hang out with Aki, who looks like a foreigner, no, *is* a foreigner.

Actually, I’m not really interested in that kind of thing, and in my head, only thoughts like ‘Aki and a romance movie, Aki and a romance movie…’ are swirling around.

“No, I’m half Japanese, half French.”

“Oh, really? Your pronunciation is so good I actually thought you were Korean. So you’re a foreign mix…. Sorry for the misunderstanding.”

“Heh, it’s okay. I get that kind of misunderstanding often, I’m used to it.”

The movie genre is romance, and for some reason, my heart is strangely pounding.

I guess it’s partly because we’ve only watched movies we can both enjoy, like action, thrillers, and blockbusters. But it can’t just be that that makes my heart pound like this.

When it comes to romance movies, it’s usually a genre watched by couples, or people in a similar relationship. The plots are mostly 90% about the conflict, resolution, and confirmation of love between the male and female leads.

Which means, from now on, I’m going to watch a scene of a foreign couple doing *that* kind of thing with Aki.

Just the two of us.

…I heard that when you watch a romance movie together, skinship tends to happen naturally.

“……”

What did I eat this morning?

I did brush my teeth, but just in case, I secretly covered my mouth with my hand and checked for any bad breath.

Thankfully, no bad breath. Actually, it smells good. If it ends up going *that* way, I guess Aki wouldn’t hate it.

“Theater 11 is at the end of the hallway. Enjoy the movie!”

“Ah, thank you~”

‘…Usually they say “Have a good movie”, don’t they?’

Tap, tap.

Aki tapped the back of my hand, which was just hanging there.

“Woo-joo~chan, they said Theater 11 is that way.”

“Huh? Oh, yeah.”

Only then did I finally snap out of it.

Ugh, this isn’t the time for me to be doing *this*….

I pressed down my slightly impure thoughts and followed Aki.

Aki, who was a half step ahead of me, adjusted her pace to match mine, and we ended up walking side-by-side down the hallway, chatting about this and that.

“Woo-joo~chan, do you know ‘If Only’?”

“Nah, I don’t really know. What kind of movie is it?”

“Well, to put it simply. The male lead experiences a time loop by accident, and in that repeating time, he realizes what true love is, something like that…?”

“Ah, I see…”

“Yeah, yeah, I can’t go into detail because it’s a spoiler, but the ending is incredibly moving. I (atashi) cried like crazy when I first saw it…!”

Just hearing about it, I can’t even begin to imagine what it’s about. The only thing I can guess at is, from Aki’s words about a movie where he ‘realizes what true love is in a time loop,’ maybe the ending is a happy one?

Like most romance movies, the male and female leads probably swear their undying love for each other, and that’s it. Aki’s super emotional, so that’s probably why she cried.

“Aki hyping it up like that makes me even more curious.”

“Heh, curious, curious, aren’t you? If you’re curious, you should just see it yourself. Let’s go, Woo-joo~chan~!”

I was walking, thinking about all sorts of possibilities, when Aki gently grabbed my wrist. And then she pulled me forward. Even though it was a girl’s strength and I could have resisted if I’d wanted to, I pretended to be dragged along, throwing in a “Slow down, you’ll get hurt if you run.”

Of course, Aki, not even pretending to listen, just said, “Let’s get there quick and lie down, my legs hurt~” and dragged me along. …Well, whatever.

‘Wait…didn’t she just say ‘lie down’?’

Movie theater seats are just that, *seats*, you can’t lie down in them.

Oh, maybe she meant leaning back and tilting on the seat? If that’s it, then it makes sense.

“That looks like Theater 11 over there, we’re in Theater 11, right?”

“Ah, yeah. Theater 11’s right…”

Aki’s voice faded, and at the same time, her pace slowed down.

As Aki started to dawdle, I naturally ended up a step ahead of her.

“Let’s see, Theater 11…yup, it’s here. This entrance is kinda weird, huh?”

Usually you go into a straight passage that opens up, but Theater 11 has these little steps going up, and above the door, there’s something written in English on a sign.

Curious, I looked closer, and it was the name of that Danish company, famous for mattresses and pillows.

“Huh? There’s a drinks bar here too.”

“Whoa, they say we can pick one each and then go in. Ujuuu~chan….”

“Oh, really? Then I’ll take a cider. What about you, Aki?”

“Atashi is… just, water….”

I grabbed a cider for myself and a bottle of water for Aki and shut the fridge door. If I’d known they gave drinks for free, I wouldn’t have bought any.

‘But, they didn’t have this stuff last year, did they?’

I think the last time I came to this theater was about a year ago, and the basic services here have gotten a lot better since then. There’s even an air purifier in the corner, and the floor in the hallway leading up here also feels strangely softer than outside.

“Let’s see, is it this way?”

Past the drinks bar, there’s a door firmly shut.

Without thinking too much, I opened it.

And then.

A space much smaller than any movie theater I’ve ever been in.

Instead of seats for people to sit in, there were large beds placed at regular intervals.

“……Huh?”

For a moment, my thoughts seemed to freeze.

That’s because, instead of the seats that should be there, there were just huge beds.

And what’s more, beds that were stuck right next to each other, as if telling you to lie down together, cozy and close…

‘……Did I come in the wrong way?’

Anyone could see this was a special room where couples could enjoy a romantic date and watch a movie.

I definitely think I’ve gone the wrong way.

“Hey, Aki. I think we might’ve gotten into the wrong viewing room…”

“……Row A.”

“Huh? What’d you say?”

“Row A, seat 3. ……Me and Space~chan, bed.”

“……”

Without realizing it, I just stared at Aki.

Aki seemed to feel my gaze, her cheeks slowly flushing pink.

“……L-Let’s go to our seats. …Space~chan.”

She gently tugged on the wrist she was still holding, slowly pulling me towards the front row.

‘…Huh.’

What the hell is this situation?

We didn’t get into the wrong viewing room……?

Still not quite grasping what was happening, I walked forward, completely out of it.

Row A, seat 3 that Aki mentioned was at the far right end of the front row.

Instead of seats, there were soft mattresses, two pillows, two blankets. Two clothes hangers, and two remote controls to adjust the head of the beds.

In other words, a space designed for two people from the start.

“……”

Well, it could just be a design with no real meaning…

But, maybe because of the atmosphere, I felt my lips getting dry, and I hesitated instead of sitting down right away.

Then, Aki, who’d let go of my wrist, awkwardly approached the bed.

“Movie starts in five minutes, so… …hang your coat here, then you can lie down. …Woo-joo~chan.”

“……”

I kinda figured it would be a lie-down situation when I saw the bed, and yeah, that’s exactly what it is.

I’ve never been to a movie theater like this in my life, so I’m nervous and kinda flustered too.

‘But still, I’m the guy here, so I should take the lead, right…?’

I’m a guy, after all, and I don’t want to look unmanly in front of Aki.

I tried to act as casual as possible and took off my coat first.

Then, I hung it on the wall-mounted hanger and went over to Aki to talk to her.

“Give me your coat, I’ll hang it up for you.”

“……Ah, um, …thank you.”

Normally, Aki would’ve said she could do it herself and refused, but judging by her slightly nervous expression, she doesn’t decline and hands me her coat.

After hanging up Aki’s coat too, I went to take my shoes off before getting on the bed, but I hesitated.

Seeing that there was something padded at the base of the bed, it doesn’t look like a take-your-shoes-off-and-get-on kind of setup. Like I said, this is my first time in a theater room like this, so I don’t really know.

Is it okay to take off my shoes, or not…?

If there were other people around, I could watch them and follow their lead, but wouldn’t you know it, we were the first ones to come in, so there’s no one to copy.

‘Ugh, what do I do…?’

I turned my gaze forward.

And there she was.

My eyes met Aki’s.

“……”

“……”

We both stand there, awkwardly, hands hovering over our shoes.

……Seems like Aki was a first-timer too.

“Umm….”

“……Hehe.”

Aki, caught in the act of trying to put her shoes back on, seems embarrassed and looks at me, starting to grin shyly.

Her cheeks, already flushed a light crimson, grow even redder, and I, finding it incredibly cute, can’t help but chuckle.

“……Should we just take them off and go up?”

“Y-yeah, let’s…it’s more comfortable going up barefoot…”

Clumsily, clumsily.

Aki takes off her shoes and climbs onto the bed.

“……”

It’s probably just my imagination, but Aki’s words, “It’s more comfortable going up barefoot,” sound kind of suggestive… right?

Maybe it’s the tension. Lost in useless thoughts, I follow Aki, taking off my shoes and climbing onto the bed.

I’d already half-exposed, no, actually completely exposed, that I’m not used to bed-style seating because of the shoes. Even so, I wasn’t about to give up pretending to be used to it, so I switched my phone to silent and placed it on the wireless charger.

Then, Aki glances at me, observing me cautiously, before mirroring my actions exactly.

I think that maybe the reason Aki and I made eye contact before was because she was trying to copy what I was doing…

“Aki, want to use a blanket?”

“Yeah, you’ll use one too, right, Woo-joo~chan?”

The heater’s on, so it’s warm, but still, better to stay covered. I nodded, meaning yeah, I would.

Me and Aki, each of us pulled our blankets over ourselves.

“…Should we lie down?”

“Ah, yeah…”

We slid down into the spots.

“……”

“……”

It’s not the first time Aki and I have laid together on a bed, but.

For some reason, today feels strangely more tense.

‘…Is it because we’re outside?’

How the hell do other people just casually lie down together in front of others?

I was about to really dig into that question, when…

“…Hey, Uju~chan,”

Aki glanced at me and started talking.

“Huh? …What is it?”

“Well, before I came here… I did a little studying up on the etiquette of these kinds of movie theaters…”

“Movie theater etiquette?”

“Yeah, yeah, movie theater etiquette. Like, for movie theaters where you lie on beds.”

“Ah…”

“…I looked it up, and there were lots of must-follow etiquette rules for places like this. And the most important one is…”

‘No skinship, is that…?’

“When a guy and a girl come to see a movie together, the guy has to hug the girl by the end of the film….”

“……”

“……So.”

Aki looked at me with a shy face.

Her cheeks were bright red.

“……Ah, hug me.”