episode_0005

The friendship between Aki and I, which started by chance, became a little stronger after our parents recognized it.

It took just 4 weeks for our relationship to progress from being able to hang out for a day to being able to see each other on weekdays, to meeting and playing together on the weekends as well.

We became inseparable friends in just 4 weeks, which is neither too short nor too long, and it is no exaggeration to say that we now feel empty without each other.

“Mom, when are we going to see Aki today?”

“Ugh, two hours later. We were supposed to meet at the kids cafe after lunch yesterday, right?”

“I want to see you sooner, can’t we leave early?”

“Woojoo, we promised to see each other at 1 PM. Was our universe such a bad boy that it could so easily break its promises?”

“No. sorry… .”

“… … Hehe, it’s cute. Woojoo, shall we wait and play with Lego with mom until 1 o’clock?”

“No, I’ll just wait alone.”

“What, what? Woo Joo, who always looked for her mother, rejects her… … ?!”

“Puhhh… ! It’s space. You’re all grown up now, right?”

“… … Are you laughing now? They say our universe doesn’t want to play with mom-!”

Like this, it was common for me to pester my parents because I wanted to go see Aki as soon as possible.

“Papa, is it still 1 o’clock?”

“Umm, let’s see. It’s 12 o’clock now. There is one hour left until the appointment time.”

“Yes, I see… … .”

“My daughter, time passes by on its own anyway. It will be 1 o’clock in just a little while, so just be patient and wait -.”

“Papa, what about now? Isn’t it 1 o’clock yet?”

“… … Not even ten seconds have passed yet?”

Aki also wanted to see me as soon as possible, so he was always pestering my father.

“Uni, Akiya. Should I go home now?”

“Mom, can’t we play a little longer? There are still a lot of things I haven’t done with Aki… !”

“It’s already been 3 hours since I’ve been doing just a little more. The sun is setting soon, so should we go and have dinner soon?”

“Huh? When is time like this? .”

“Wooju~Sang, we have to break up… … ?”

“Hmm, I guess so. Unfortunately, today is now… .”

“Heeing… . I don’t want to break up. Aki wants to stay with Uju~san some more… … .”

“… … Aki, don’t worry. Because we’re not breaking up forever. I can see you at kindergarten tomorrow, right?”

“Oh, I see. I can see you at kindergarten tomorrow… !”

“Yes, so take care today and see you tomorrow morning. Okay, Aki?”

“Yes, okay, okay. Go home carefully, universe~san!”

We would meet up and play, and when the time came to part ways in the evening, we would hold each other’s hands tightly and make plans for the next day before reluctantly going to our respective homes.

At the time, I was so, so disappointed that I hated breaking up with Aki to the point where I sighed deeply on the way back in the car. I wonder if my parents’ feelings as they watched me like that were different.

“Eunhye, doesn’t it get more interesting the more you look at it?”

“Huh? What?”

“Uju and Aki. Anyway, we can see each other again after sleeping for a day, but every time we break up, they hold hands like that and film a new drama. It’s not like Romeo and Juliet.”

“Why? It’s cute and nice to look at, but… And isn’t that always the case in the early stages of a relationship? If I stay still, I keep thinking about it, and even though I just saw it, I want to see it again.”

“Really? I didn’t do that, Eunhye, did you do that when you were dating me?”

“… … Hey Joo Joo Won. Do you really want to die?”

“Oh, wait a minute. Eunhye, I’m driving now… !”

He commented on my sincerity that it was like watching ‘Romeo and Juliet’.

Well, actually, strictly speaking, it’s not entirely wrong. That’s because Korea-Japan relations are not good to begin with, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which serves as Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is an organization similar to the Japanese government’s external loudspeaker.

By the way, Aki is the granddaughter of the Japanese Ambassador to Korea, and I am the son of a mother and father who are civil servants at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

As my parents said, it may not be Romeo and Juliet, but wouldn’t it be at least ‘Romeo, the Maid and Juliet’? Of course, for that to be true, there must be the premise that Aki and I are in a romantic relationship.

Tiring-.

“Huh? I got a text message from Aki.”

“Where and what did you come from?”

“Hey Joo Joo-won, do you want to change your mind? You didn’t do that when you were newlyweds, but now that you’re comfortable with each other, you keep saying strange things, huh?”

“Eunhye, I’m driving right now? And I heard you got a text message from Woo Joo. Aren’t you going to read it?”

“No, it’s okay. I can read Japanese.”

“… … Yes? Can you read Japanese?”

My dad, who was driving, looked at me through the rearview mirror, and my mom, who was sitting in the passenger seat, turned her head and looked at me directly.

“Woojoo, you’ve never learned Japanese. But you can read everything?”

“Yes. Not everything, but I can read the simple things.”

The reason I started learning Japanese on my own was, of course, because of Aki.

If you meet in person and talk, you can get help from a translator, but you can’t use a translator when talking through messenger—of course, cell phones have a built-in foreign language translation function, but I was young at the time and didn’t know if texts could be translated—to talk to Aki I needed my parents’ help every time, and I hated that when I was young.

No, I didn’t want my parents to see the conversation I was having with Aki.

It’s embarrassing.

“Eunhye, just in case, please check. The universe may have learned wrong.”

“Oh, really? Wooju, would you like to read what Aki sent? Mom will check and let you know if I interpreted it correctly.”

“Okay, wait a minute. Um, ‘Wooju~san, what should we do at kindergarten tomorrow?’”

“Really? Let’s see… … . Huh?”

“Why, is it wrong?”

“No, that’s right. I think I can read space Japanese.”

“What, really? So our universe can now speak three languages?”

“Woojoo, where did you learn Japanese? Did they tell you about this in kindergarten?”

In fact, the text messages I received from Aki at that time were written in very simple Japanese that anyone could understand with a little study. My mom looked at me with wide eyes, probably surprised that it was me, a 6-year-old person, who interpreted that.

“I just learned it by watching things like YouTube.”

“… … Wow, really? Our universe is smarter than we think? Baby, is our universe a genius?”

“Oh, I’m not a genius. YouTube is doing well these days, right? Well, there are things like completing a foreign language in 6 weeks. Kids these days are good at using cell phones, so you must have learned something from that.”

“Oh really. This is why T.”

“No, why does T appear there?”

“… … .”

I didn’t tell my mom and dad at the time, but the real reason I was able to learn Japanese so quickly when I was still young was.

[We decided to teach each other Korean and Japanese, which we couldn’t finish today. Aki!]

[Oh right! Then shall we finish this, Uju~sang?]

It was thanks to Aki’s eye-level education.

No, more precisely, it was an exchange type of training where I taught Aki Korean, and Aki taught me Japanese. I guess this would be good, right?

Anyway, whenever Aki and I met like that, we taught each other the language of each country, and when we got a little tired of studying our native language, we would go out and play together.

“Major Universe. Why do you always hang out with Aki? Are you two dating?”

“What are you dating?”

“Holding hands and kissing?”

“Hmm, then I guess we’re dating?”

“Huh? really… ?”

“… … !!”

We were accumulating misunderstandings, not just misunderstandings, with our kindergarten friends who were grumpy when they saw us playing alone.

“Wow, space~! You shouldn’t say things like that to others, it’s a weird misunderstanding… !”

“Huh? What misunderstanding?”

“So. Woo Joo-sang and I are dating, it’s such a misunderstanding… !”

“Aki doesn’t want to date me?”

“Well, about that… … . Oh, no, to… … .”

“Then, wouldn’t it be okay to just say we’re dating?”

“Ah, no… . Well, that kind of problem… . Ugh… … .”

Even if I embarrass Aki, who was a bit more mature than me, with unintentional innocent words and actions.

“Ah, Ammut… ! Ooh, space! You shouldn’t say things like that to your friends, okay… ?”

“Why doesn’t it work?”

“… … Boo, that’s embarrassing. Aki doesn’t like being embarrassed.”

“Really? okay. You can just not tell your friends, right?”

“Ahh, yes! I think that would be good. Thank you, universe~san!”

──Space, universe~!

“Huh? Jaehyun calls. I’ll just go there for a moment, Aki?”

“Yes, come back!”

──Wooju, tell me honestly. You and Aki are dating, right? right?

──Huh? Oh, right! Aki and I are dating!

“… … Ooh, space? Aki just said you shouldn’t do that… ?!”

I also tried to embarrass Aki by saying things to my friends that I told them not to do.

“Space~Sang! Really, really, you can’t say that Aki and Woojoo are dating! Aki, I’m embarrassed… !”

“Okay. I really won’t do it.”

“Really, you can trust it, right… ?”

“Don’t worry, Aki. Just trust me!”

“For some reason, I feel a little uneasy… .”

──Woojoo, would you like to come see the teacher for a moment?”

“Yes! Aki, are you here for a moment?”

“Ugh… .”

──Woojoo, do you like Aki?

──Yes, I like it.

“… … Ah.”

──Yes, teacher knows too. But Woowoo, I know you like Aki, but you shouldn’t hang out with Aki too much. If you keep sticking around just because you like each other and are dating, other friends won’t like it. Because the universe is smart, you know what I mean?

──I understand! I will play with other kids so that Aki can make more friends!

──Yes, the universe is smart after all! Now, let’s kiss the teacher… … . Well, then, please take care of me?

──Yes!

“… … .”

“Aki, I’m here!”

“… … Uju~san, from now on, don’t kiss other women.”

“Huh? Why?”

“No, don’t go anywhere, just stay next to Aki… !”

“But, the teacher told me to play with other kids too?”

“Ugh… .”

I think it was probably from then on.

‘… … ‘It won’t work.’

“Wooju~Sang, go play house with me… !”

“Playing house? I already did that an hour ago-.”

“… … Outer space?”

“Oh, sorry… .”

Even though I heard Aki jokingly ask me, ‘Are you two dating?’ every day, strangely enough, he ended up sticking next to me.