episode_0023

After many twists and turns, the shopping is over.

It’s already afternoon, and it’s almost time for dinner.

I bought plenty of ingredients, various snacks, and ssam vegetables to make stir-fried pork with Aki and came to my house.

Since my mother and father are moving to the United States, the house is naturally empty.

Aki, who came to our house for the first time in a few days, seemed to feel a little awkward, so he looked around the living room and carefully put down the plastic bag.

“Wooju~chan, your mother and father really went to America… . I should at least say hello before I go.”

“You are leaving suddenly. How should I say hello? You don’t have to worry, Aki.”

The two of you are very friendly and speak English well, so you won’t have any problems if you go. Rather, the problem lies with me, who remains in Korea.

I was brave enough to say I would stay here, but after three days of living alone, I’m starting to regret it.

It’s not that I’m not, but I’m painfully realizing that doing all the housework in this large house by myself is not an easy task.

Cleaning, laundry, cooking, tidying up… . It may be difficult for me to do what my mother would normally do for me, but it’s not the least bit bothersome.

If Aki hadn’t decided to come, I probably would have just pretended to clean up today.

‘This is why your room gets dirty when you sleep alone…’ .’

“Ugh, I can’t help it. Then, Uju~chan, shall we start cooking right away?”

“Then. I was starting to get hungry too.”

If you start cooking while a little hungry, it won’t be finished until you’re completely hungry. I nodded and untied the plastic bag containing the cold food.

“I can serve the rice from now on, and Aki will make the stir-fried pork himself, right?”

“Yes, I’m thinking of making soy sauce stir-fried pork like Woowoo-chan said earlier. Is that okay?”

Aki gathers her hair into a ponytail while asking me a question.

I looked at him blankly and thought, ‘As expected, Aki is cute no matter what hairstyle she has…’ .’I nodded, thinking the same thing.

“Of course it’s okay. Just make it delicious.”

“Hmph, okay. I’ll make it so much that Atashi (me) will fall in love with it, so Uju~chan, you can go and rest.”

“Huh? Go and rest? I don’t have to help you?”

“Yes, making stir-fried pork is not that difficult. It takes a little bit of preparation, but the cooking itself can be done in 15 minutes, right?”

“Still, it’s a bit difficult for me to just sit there. Is there anything I can help you with, even if it’s something simple?”

“Hmm, something simple… .”

Aki brought out a cute pink apron that resembled the color of her hair and stretched out her words as she put it on.

‘Oh, isn’t that something you tie in a knot behind your back?’

I know this because it is an apron that was in our house. I quickly walked over and stretched out my hand behind Aki’s back.

“Look here, I’ll tie you up.”

“Oh, that doesn’t work… .”

“Uh-huh, just come. Our chef can’t use his hands like this, right?”

The chef said he would make stir-fried pork so delicious that you would fall in love with it all over again.

When I spoke jokingly, Aki smiled slightly as if there was nothing he could do, then turned slightly and gave me his back.

“Okay. then… . Please, Uju~chan… .”

“Uh, just trust me.”

Since the wearer was cute and the apron was cute, I started tying the laces in a butterfly-shaped knot like tying shoe laces to make it look cute.

Cross the two ends of the string, grab one end and bend it, then bend the other side in the same way and pass the end of the string through the hole made to complete the preparation. Now, grab it and pull on both sides of the bent part to tighten and balance it to create a butterfly-shaped knot.

Like this, tying a knot is actually not that difficult. Rather, as it was easy to untie, tying it was also simple, so it was completed quickly.

… … Yeah, it ended quickly.

Out of the corner of my eye as I fiddled with the knot, I saw the nape of Aki’s neck, slightly exposed as her hair was tied in a ponytail.

The white nape of the neck is as white and soft as the skin on the outside and feels soft when touched.

To some, it may be an insignificant part of the body, but… .

For some reason, I couldn’t take my eyes off Aki’s white neck.

I was so focused that I forgot to breathe for a moment.

“… … .”

Thoughts of arrogance pop into my head.

‘If you touch it, it will be very soft, right? I want to touch it once. I think it’ll be okay if you touch it slightly, but if Aki gets surprised, you can just call it a mistake. No, isn’t this a bit much? Still, it’s Aki’s body so I can’t touch it as I want. It’s not some kind of perversion. Ah, I still want to touch it just a little. No, I’m not touching it, in fact, it’s okay if it’s just a little bit, so I put my lips on the back of Aki’s neck… … .’

“… … Uju~chan, is it all over?”

If Aki hadn’t called me, I probably would have continued to have strange imaginations.

“Huh? Ah, hmm. done… .”

I came to my senses late and secretly swallowed the saliva that had accumulated around my mouth.

And, with a shake of my head, I erased all the strange thoughts that were blooming in my head.

‘… … I shouldn’t be like this.’

Aki trusted me forever and came to my house to cook for me. But it’s not okay to harbor impure feelings toward Aki like that. I am not some kind of animal that cannot control itself.

Let’s not get excited, universe… … .

“Now, check it out.”

“I can’t see it clearly because it’s behind me… ? Ugh, anyway, Merci, Uju~chan.”

Aki expressed her gratitude in French because she thought she was mixed race.

I said, ‘Good thoughts, good thoughts…’ ‘, he repeated, taking a step back.

“ Speaking of Mercy, it reminds me of the chocolates Aki brought to my parents on Valentine’s Day this year.”

Aki brought ready-made chocolate to my parents and homemade chocolate to me.

What he says when he gives it is, ‘This is simple loyalty. I haven’t expressed my true feelings yet. It was probably ‘Uju~chan!’

If homemade chocolate is more delicious than most ready-made products and is not sincere, then I am not sure how delicious chocolate can be made if you are sincere.

‘If possible, I’d like to receive Aki’s sincere chocolate as soon as possible… .’

“At that time, what Aki gave to my parents was Mercy chocolate, right?”

“Oh, that’s right. Did you remember that, Uju~chan?”

“Yes, it was so delicious that I couldn’t help but remember it. But Aki, seriously, when are you going to give me chocolate?”

“That’s… . Atashi said that before, right? It’s still too early.”

So, I’m curious when that ‘time’ will be. I asked this a few times before, but since you never gave me an answer, this is it.

Well, he would probably have let it be known, but looking at him hiding it like this, it seems like Aki has his own thoughts.

I gave up asking further questions and quickly changed the topic of conversation.

“Aki, do you have any time for White Day?”

“White Day? Oh, you mean March 14th? It’s Saturday that day.”

“Yes, March 14th. Do you have any plans? If not, let’s go play with me.”

“Ah… . Uju~chan, are you asking Atashi out on a date? Yeah, yeah~?”

Aki asks in a soft voice, instead of busy playing with his hands, whether he thinks he has caught the number.

It was a question that was clearly intended to make fun of me, so I smiled and answered back.

“Dating request is correct. So do you have time?”

“… … Ah, what. It’ll be okay, maybe… ?”

Okay, I got your consent.

“Well, but… . Uju~chan, what are you going to do on White Day… ?”

“Aki, do you like baseball? I’m thinking of watching a movie, eating, and going to watch baseball in the evening. Coincidentally, the team that Aki supports is playing in Seoul on the 14th… … .”

The moment I was about to slowly recite the date plan I had prepared and take a look, I heard ‘Baseball…’ Aki muttered, “?!” and his eyes lit up.

“… … I want to go!”

Before I could finish speaking, he grabbed my hand.

Moreover, it does not stop with just that, ‘Baseball, baseball…’ He even showed a smile that couldn’t hide his excitement, saying “!”

“Want to go, Atashi, I want to go watch baseball with Uju~chan!”

“Uh, uh… .”

I heard that Japanese people generally like baseball, but is it okay for them to like it this much just because they said to go watch baseball together? ?

Although I like playing basketball, I have no interest in professional games, so I didn’t really understand Aki’s reaction, but I was glad that he liked it anyway.

“Then, let’s meet around lunchtime on March 14th. The meeting place is in front of the house as usual… .”

“… … Oh, wait! Meet in front of the station where the movie theater is, not in front of your house!”

“Huh? why? Wouldn’t it be easier to just meet each other?”

“That’s true, but… . Anyway, not that day. Atashi and Uju~chan decided to come out separately and meet from afar… !”

“… … okay? okay. Then then.”

I’m not sure why you have to do that, but if Aki wants it, it’s only right to do it.

I nodded without thinking.

* * *

… … A few hours later.

Late evening, the place is Aki’s house.

The moment the main universe took a bite,’ Wow, Aki… ! Aki made a stir-fried pork so delicious that I was truly impressed by asking, ‘What is this? How did you make it?’ And while he was making it, he made one more serving to eat until tomorrow morning, and then returned home.

“… … Mama, mama!”

As soon as I put my bag down, I started looking for my mother.

The reason is simple.

Joo Woo-joo, her Korean childhood friend and a boy she cares about very much, has requested a ‘white day date’. It was to get advice about it from his mother.

“Oh my, Akiya. Are you here already… ? … … I heard you can sleep there.”

Aki’s mother, Iroha Fujiwara, who was engrossed in something in the master bedroom, came out to the living room, straightening up her disheveled clothes.

Aki grabbed his mother’s wrist, who was in a strange mood, and said, ‘Hurry, hurry! Something very urgent has come up… !’ he muttered and pulled him to sit on the sofa.

“What’s wrong, what’s going on… ?”

“Mama, don’t be surprised when you hear it? Uju~chan to me… . Let’s date on White Day.”

“Why is that? You two do this every year.”

“Ah… ! That’s not it. Not a typical date, but a date at the ballpark! It’s a date at the baseball stadium, which Uju~chan hates so much… !”

“Oh my, really… ? Did the universe tell you to do it first?”

“Yes, really! I didn’t even show it, but Uju~chan did it first.”

“It looks like our universe has made a big decision… … ?”

“… … ! Right, Mama thinks so too, right? It’s okay to call me on White Day, and it’s also okay to ask me to do something I like!”

Fuuk-.

Aki let out a snort filled with excitement.

Her mother, Fujiwara Iroha, smiled softly because Aki, who was so excited about this, looked cute and innocent.

My daughter, who is still a fresh-faced high school student, secretly loves me from behind.

“Daughter, then… . I need to be well prepared, right?”

No, I decided to help out loud.

It’s obvious that they like each other, but they haven’t confessed it yet… … .

No, even for my cute future son-in-law.

“What date did you say it was? March 14th?”

It’s not that it’s not, Iroha Fujiwara is a former model.

Although she has now quit working to be faithful to her family, when she was young, standing in front of others was her life and career.

She is skilled at changing the gaze of an unspecified number of people to their favor, so it wasn’t that difficult for her to figure out a way to capture the attention of Hana, a fledgling high school student.

‘If you decorate it so that you can’t leave it without confessing, and place it right in front of the universe… … .’

It is a foregone conclusion that the love of my daughter, who has not even been kissed yet, will come true.

Rather, it was right to worry about what happened after that.

“Yes, yes. It’s March 14th.”

“… … OK got it. Mom will help you.”

When Wooju saw our daughter, Fujiwara Aki, who had become so pretty, his eyes rolled back.

I hope you don’t commit speeding violations.

“Oh, really… ?”

“Ugh, my Aki only trusts his mom.”

‘You have to get married when you’re at least 20 years old… .’

“… … Mom, I’ll take care of everything.”

Fujiwara Iroha gently held Aki’s hand.