My Japanese Childhood Friend Is Too Flirty

3. When We Became Childhood Friends at 6 (3)

That same evening.

The very day 6-year-old me asked my mom, “Mom, why do you make strange sounds every night?”

After dinner, I was sitting on the living room sofa, facing my mom.

“Hey, Woojoo.”

“Yes, Mom.”

“Where on earth did you hear such strange… no, such things? You didn’t see adults saying that on YouTube, did you?”

My mom, still not cooled down, looked down at me with a bright red face, fanning herself with her hand.

“No, I didn’t see it there.”

“Then, Uju, are you saying you really heard mom making painful sounds?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“…Huh?”

At my innocent and straightforward answer, mom’s expression stiffened.

Even when I said all sorts of strange things, she always smiled kindly and answered gently, patting my head. But this time, she seemed very anxious, her lips quivering.

“That’s strange. That can’t be right. I checked that the soundproofing was good. That can’t be, that can’t be…”

“Mom.”

“Uh, yes? Why, my son?”

“So why do you make painful sounds every night? Are you sick somewhere?”

“…I’ll tell you when you’re a bit older.”

“How much older do I have to be?”

“Hmm, about ten years…?”

“What? Ten years is too long, mom. Can’t you tell me sooner?”

“Why? Do you have a reason to know quickly?”

“Well, my friend’s mom also makes painful sounds every night. I told him our mom does that too. Then he asked if moms are usually very sick, so I said I’d ask our mom and tell him!”

“…”

Mom closed her mouth tightly, almost like a freedom fighter who had lost her country.

Then she closed her eyes tightly, opened them wide as if nothing had happened, and gently stroked my head.

“Those parents must be having a hard time too…”

“What? What did you say, Mom?”

“Nothing, really. But Woojoo, what’s the name of that friend you mentioned? Is it someone you met at the English kindergarten?”

Though my ability to discern things was a bit lacking, my young mind, which had a bit of intuition, started to spin quickly.

The friend Mom was asking about was Fujiwara Aki.

But Aki wasn’t a friend from the English kindergarten, but someone I met at the Japanese Embassy in Korea. If I said that, it would lead to the revelation that I had sneaked out to play.

Actually, it wouldn’t have mattered if Mom found out.

At that time, I was young and had the ridiculous notion that ‘all adults know each other. So if my mom finds out, the story will get to Aki’s grandfather, and Aki will get scolded too!’

“Just a friend I met near the house. I don’t really know the name.”

In the end, I told a blatant lie in front of Mom.

“…Our son.”

But how could a lie from a mere six-year-old go unnoticed by a seasoned adult like Mom?

“Did Mom say it’s okay to lie or not?”

Mom, seeing through my clumsy lie, stopped patting my head and scolded me in a sterner voice than usual.

“It’s not a lie! I really don’t know the friend…”

“Woojoo.”

Mom usually didn’t get angry, but when I lied or tried to do something bad, she would call my full name like this.

Even though I was still young, I knew well that when Mom called my full name, it meant she was about to get really angry.

“S-sorry. Actually, I do know…”

I quickly apologized before Mom really got angry.

It’s always the scariest when someone who usually doesn’t get angry, gets angry.

“My son, what did mommy say about children who lie?”

“They are bad children…”

“And what happens to bad children?”

“They have to go outside and can’t play…”

“Is my son a bad child or a good child?”

“A g-good child!”

“Good children don’t lie. Can my son stop lying from now on?”

“Yes, I won’t lie…!”

“Good, well done. Now, can you explain to mommy who that friend is? What’s their name, where did you meet them, and why did you have that conversation? Can you tell me everything?”

“Yes, okay. So-.”

Thus, having received early character education from my mother since childhood, I explained everything in detail.

‘I met a girl with pink hair at the Japanese Embassy in Korea where I went with my parents. Her name is Aki, and we became friends, played house, and even kissed. We promised to play together in Japan later. Then, we discovered that both our moms make strange noises at night, so we decided to ask my mom why that is…’ I explained everything.

“So, that’s what happened.”

My mom, who had been quietly listening to my explanation, had a peculiar reaction.

When I mentioned meeting a girl with pink hair, she mumbled, ‘A girl? Not a boy?’ and tilted her head. When I mentioned kissing, she was shocked, ‘What, our Woojoo kissed another girl besides mommy…?!’

“……”

Finally, when I mentioned discovering that both our moms make strange noises at night and deciding to ask her why, she seemed to ponder deeply about something.

“That girl, her name is Aki? Was she a foreigner?”

“Yes, she said she was half-Japanese. Her mom is French, and her dad is Japanese.”

“I see. Aki, what’s her last name?”

“Uh, what was it? Hoo, what was it…”

“Hoo? …Could it be Fujiwara?”

Click-.

“Eunhye, did you finish the dishes?”

“Oh, perfect timing. Honey, come here for a moment.”

“Why? Do you have something to say?”

“Do you remember taking Woojoo to the Japanese embassy this morning?”

“Of course I remember. I drove him there myself. But why?”

“Woojoo met a girl at the Japanese embassy, and guess what, he kissed her…!”

“What? Really? Wow, our son is quite something. Maybe it’s because he looks like his dad, he’s really popular with the girls.”

“What are you talking about? He looks more like me. …But that’s not the point, the girl Woojoo kissed had a foreign surname starting with ‘Hoo’. Could she be the daughter of Fujiwara Kenichiro, the Japanese ambassador to Korea?”

“Fujiwara Kenichiro? That man is in his 60s. If the girl was around Woojoo’s age, she would be at most five or six years old. He’s way past the age to have a late child, isn’t he?”

“Oh, really? Then maybe not?”

“Probably not. Maybe it was just someone with a similar surname. Or Woojoo might have misheard. He’s just a kid, after all.”

“Hmm, now that you mention it, that could be…”

Glancing down at me, mom trails off.

Sitting across from mom, with me in between, dad looks at me with a proud expression and gently pats my head.

“Woojoo. That girl Akira, was she pretty?”

“Yes, she was really pretty. I want to play with her again!”

“Really? It’s not just because you want to kiss her again, is it?”

“Ah, no! I-I don’t like kisses….”

“…….”

My son, he’s completely enchanted by that sly girl.

Though she said nothing, my mother looked down at me with an expression that seemed to convey such thoughts.

“Son, should Dad contact that girl’s parents for you? Tell them our son misses her so much and wants to play together.”

“Oh, no! It’s okay. I have Aki’s phone number.”

“……What? You exchanged numbers in just one day? Is this how fast kids move these days?”

Mom muttered, “Hmm, sly. Sly….” while Dad, truly surprised, quickly fetched my phone from the table beside the sofa.

“Uju, shall we contact that girl now?”

“N-Now? Aki…?”

“Yes, Uju, you said you wanted to play with Aki, right? Then we need to set a date to play together, don’t we?”

“Um, well, still….”

“What, are you shy to contact her first?”

“It’s not that I’m shy….”

“……Heh, cute.”

As I squirmed, Mom burst into laughter.

With a very pleased smile, she looked at me as if to say, “Even though he’s more mature than kids his age, he’s still just six years old.”

“Alright, Dad will help you with the message. Uju, type what Dad says. ‘Aki, hi. Have you had dinner?'”

“Um, why ask about dinner when we’re contacting her to play…?”

“Oh, son. When talking to a girl, you can’t just jump straight to the point. First, small talk, then the main topic. It’s important to create a light atmosphere first. Got it?”

“Mm, got it. …Huh? The reply came right away.”

“Where, what does it say?”

“It’s written in Japanese, so I don’t really understand!”

“Really? Wait a minute, Dad knows Japanese, so I’ll read it for you. Let’s see… Ah, [Yeah, I had something delicious with Dad. How about you, Woojoo~san?] it says. Huh, but how did this kid know Korean and send a reply? Woojoo, did you talk to him in Korean by any chance?”

“Oh, really? My son, you used your head a bit, huh? As expected, Woojoo is smart like me.”

With Dad, who was stroking my head proudly, beside me, I tapped away on my phone and sent a message. The content was [Yeah, I had something delicious with Mom too.]

“Dad, a reply came!”

“Mm, let’s see. What does it say-.”

“Wait a minute! Hold on, I want to see it too. Where… Ah, [Woojoo~san, I’m jealous, I want to eat with Mom too!] it says, Woojoo.”

Aki must have said that because he missed his mom, who was in Tokyo, but at that time, I was too young to think about such things.

So, I went through the thought process of ‘Aki wants to eat with his mom -＞ My mom is next to me -＞ Then wouldn’t it be okay if Aki ate with my mom too?’ and reached a strange conclusion, and sent that as a message.

Then.

“Mom, what did Aki say?”

“[Yeah, Woojoo~san wants to eat with Mom! But Woojoo~san, our Papa wants to eat with us too, is that okay?] it says. …Woojoo, what on earth did you send?”

“Aki said he wanted to eat with his mom. So I asked if he could eat with our mom!”

“…Huh?”

Ding, ding-ding-!

“Huh? Aki is calling! How do I turn on Papago?”

“Ah, yes! Hello, Aki?”

──Hello. (Hello.)

I took a deep breath and answered the phone, and at that moment, a deep voice came through.

It wasn’t the jewel-like voice of Aki that I heard during the day, but rather the rough voice of an adult man. Instinctively, I shrank back and glanced at my mom.

“Uh, mom…?”

“Let me have it. …Hello, the phone has been handed over. Excuse me, but who is this?”

──Excuse me. I am Aki’s father…

Although the conversation was in Japanese, not Korean, and I couldn’t understand it, I could tell from my mother’s serious expression that something was up. I stayed close to her, waiting for the call to end.

And then, about three minutes later.

Mom hung up the phone and handed the cell phone back to me.

“Mom, who was that on the phone just now? It wasn’t Aki, right?”

“Yes, it wasn’t Aki, it was Aki’s father.”

“Aki’s father? What did he say?”

“He didn’t say much, just asked if we could meet this weekend. So I said yes.”

“Oh, really? So I can play with Aki this weekend?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Wow! Thanks, mom…!”

Six-year-old me hugged my mom tightly.

Mom gently stroked my hair.

“Eun-hye, are you going to take Woo-joo with you alone? Will you be okay?”

“No, what are you talking about? Of course, you have to come with us.”

“Huh? Me too?”

“Yes, I’m curious about how you educated the child to ask such an embarrassing question, so I have to go and see for myself. So, please drive.”

“I was just planning to rest at home this weekend…?”

“So, you want us to go alone? You know I’m a novice driver. What if I get into an accident while taking Woojoo? Can you live without me and Woojoo?”

“Alright, I’ll go with you. Why are you getting angry…?”

Although I had made a firm resolution, I was just happy to meet Aki and play again.

“Yay, I can play with Aki again…!”

I nestled in my mother’s arms, looking forward to the upcoming three days.

* * *

And then, three days later, at the promised place.

“Oh, Woojoo~san. Hello…!”

“Hello! Aki, how have you been?”

“Yes, yes, I’ve been well. Woojoo~san, have you been well too…?”

Aki and I greeted each other happily, leaving our parents behind in the playroom.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Sumimoto Fujiwara.”

“Oh, hello. I’m Woojoo’s mother. This is his father. …Um, if you don’t mind me asking, what is your relationship with Kenichiro Fujiwara?”

“To Aki, he is his grandfather, and to me, he is my father.”

“……”

“……”

And my mom and dad were shocked by the completely unexpected encounter.