episode_0007

“Happy birthday~. Happy birthday~ Happy birthday~. Dear Jaehyun, happy birthday~!”

A children’s song that every Korean must have heard of. Immediately after the song ‘Happy Birthday’ came out of the children’s mouths, my classmates and I clapped in unison and congratulated Jaehyun on his birthday.

“Jaehyun, happy birthday!”

“Congratulations, Nam Jaehyun~!”

“Now, take it, Jaehyun.”

“Yes, thank you! But universe, what is this?”

“If you’re curious, take a look. Because I prepared something you might like.”

“Oh, really? As expected, the main universe~”

“… … .”

However, among them, there were some who seemed to have no interest in Jaehyun’s birthday.

“What, what is it? I’m curious, take a look!”

“Looking like a New Year’s gift envelope, isn’t it money?”

“Wait a minute… … . uh? Isn’t this it? That Google gift card!”

“That’s right. Worth 30,000 won. Jaehyun said you want this?”

“Wow, I couldn’t buy this because my mom said she would never buy it for me! Wooju, thank you so much… !”

“… … .”

Who that person is is Aki, who is only looking at me regardless of what others are saying.

Aki looked at me with his cheeks puffed out, like a squirrel preparing for hibernation, and said something without making a sound because his lips were soft.

[This is a pork cutlet shop, Uju~chan… … ?]

‘… … ‘There is pork cutlet among the foods that Jaehyun’s mother prepared.’

If I said that, Aki would get really angry.

Although I was still young, I had a little sense, so I pursed my lips and spoke to Aki.

[Aki, can we please adjust the mood now?]

[…] … .]

[…] … Aki?]

“──Watashi (me), I’m going to go to the bathroom.”

“Jaehyun, where is the bathroom?”

“There is one on the 2nd floor and one on the 1st floor, but you cannot use the one on the 2nd floor. If you go down to the first floor, you will see it right away, right?”

“Yes. Did you hear, Aki? They say you have to go to the first floor to use the bathroom.”

[Wooju~chan, follow me.]

[uh? why?]

“… … .”

“… … Jaehyun, I go to the bathroom too.”

“Huh? Okay, come back~”

Aki’s expression was unusual, so he woke up unexpectedly.

──Squeak.

“Hey, Aki?”

“… … .”

As soon as I closed the door where Jaehyun and his friends were, I tried to talk to them, but they remained silent.

Aki, who pretended not to have heard what I said, walked straight down to the first floor and walked straight to the front door without even looking towards the bathroom.

As I was following Aki, I wondered if he had mistaken the location.

“Where are my shoes… … .”

After hearing Aki muttering to himself inaudibly, my thoughts changed completely.

‘Uh, are you trying to go home? ?!’

“Wait a minute! Aki, where are you going?”

I quickly reached out and grabbed Aki’s wrist as he looked around the floor for his shoes.

“Let go, I’m going home.”

“You’re leaving now? Jaehyun’s birthday party isn’t over yet?”

“I don’t know, I’ll just go.”

Aki doesn’t just stop at words, he tries to shake off my hand.

I don’t know if it was my imagination, but my strength to shake it off was quite weak, but I reflexively held on tight and spoke urgently.

“Is it because I brought you to Jaehyun’s house without saying anything? So are you angry?”

“… … .”

Stand tall.

Aki’s movements stopped for a moment.

I thought Aki had stopped because I had hit the nail on the head.

“… … It’s not like that.”

“Then? Why do you suddenly want to go home?”

“I really don’t know, Uju~chan… ?”

“Yes, I’m not sure why. Can’t you tell me?”

However, after listening to Aki’s next words, I realized that wasn’t the case.

“Aki… … .”

“Uh, what about Aki?”

“Uju~chan is angry because you lied to Watashi… !”

Aki opened his eyes wide and looked up at me.

Aki’s blue eyes are slightly wet and shaking, and the emotion contained within them is one of deep regret.

At that moment, an uneasy premonition bloomed in my heart, ‘If I leave it like this, won’t Aki start to hate me?’

My heart sank, and I quickly took a step towards Aki.

“I didn’t mean to deceive you. I just… .”

“I already cheated. Uju~chan is a liar.”

“… … .”

liar.

It may not have been a big deal to some, but it was quite a shock to me at the time.

That’s right, Aki was a girl who never said anything bad to me from the time she first saw me until this moment, four years later.

Aki is the girl who always smiles when she sees me, plays with me happily, teaches each other Korean and Japanese, plays with me on the playground, plays house, and kisses, and I have been closer to her than any other friend I know.

When Aki looked at me with resentment and called me a ‘liar,’ I was so shocked that I even stuttered.

“Oh, no. Aki. That’s not it… … .”

“Aki hates liars.”

“… … !”

“… … Sayonara (Goodbye), Uju~chan.”

Aki turned his back on me.

And he tried to shake off my arm, but this time too, my strength to shake it off was very weak, but I didn’t notice anything strange at the time. No, it would be correct to say that I didn’t feel anything. It was my first time seeing Aki like this, so I was extremely embarrassed.

I just thought, ‘I’m glad Aki is weaker than me…’ and quickly grabbed her wrist tightly.

“Wait a minute, Aki! Listen to me… !”

“… … What are you saying?”

“First of all… … . I’m sorry I fooled you. I’m really, really sorry. But I didn’t trick Aki to get into trouble. I’m just for you, so… . I just wanted to make Aki more friends. Really.”

“Friend… ?”

“Yes, friend.”

“… … .”

Aki began to look up at my eyes, which were shaking slightly in embarrassment, perhaps trying to figure out whether the words were sincere.

Aki seemed to be quietly observing my expression for about 5 seconds with an expression that I couldn’t tell what was going on.

“You know, Uju~chan… ?”

“Uh, huh?”

“It’s okay for Aki to not have any friends. … … All you need is Uju~chan.”

He said something incredible that I didn’t expect.

‘… … Chi, you don’t need friends? why not?’

Because of that, I stayed still, feeling as if I had been hit on the head with a hammer… … . I managed to turn my head and think about it.

Why Aki says he doesn’t need friends.

Then, one assumption was quickly drawn.

‘Ah, perhaps Aki is timid. ‘Is it hard to make friends because it’s hard to approach kids first?’

“Aki, is it because you have difficulty making friends? If that’s the case, tell me. I tell the kids first… .”

“It’s not like that. I just hate it.”

“Huh? … … Why?”

“Wooju~chan. Think about it. What will happen if Aki makes a friend?”

“I’m not sure. What happens?”

“If Aki makes friends, they will also become friends with Uju~chan, right? Because Uju~chan and Watashi (me) are close. A friend’s friend is a friend.”

“Yeah, right?”

“… … Aki hates that.”

“Huh? What do you hate?”

“I don’t want my friends to become friends with Wooju~chan. … … Because Uju~chan is handsome, I think my friends will also like Uju~chan.”

“… … .”

I was speechless for a moment.

I was the reason Aki didn’t make proper friends.

I felt quite dizzy, thinking that it must be because of my own complex, the environment around me, or both.

‘… … ‘Is it because he doesn’t want his friends to be friends with me?’

Eliminating potential competitors may seem like the right choice, but still… … .

It was a reason I couldn’t even dream of, so I kept opening and closing my lips like an idiot before finally opening my mouth.

“Akiya, isn’t that going too far? I’m not very handsome… … .”

“No, Uju~chan is handsome. Just yesterday, someone left food in Uju~chan’s desk drawer?”

“Really? when? I didn’t see it.”

“Of course, Uju~chan didn’t see it. Because Aki quickly put it away as soon as he saw it.”

“Huh? Why did Aki clean that up?”

“… … Huh?”

Aki’s shoulders trembled.

He hesitates with an expression that suggests he made a mistake, and continues to stutter as if he has come up with an excuse in a hurry.

“Ah, it was Aki’s favorite. Uju~chan, you know that, right? Why, English chocolate with English written on the shell… !”

“English Chocolate? Oh, by any chance is that black one wrapped in plastic?”

“Ugh! Aki liked it so much that she ate it. … … Trigram, are you okay?”

“Of course it’s okay! Aki, you can eat as much as you want from what I got. I don’t like chocolate anyway. If I get it again later, would you please bring it to me?”

Giving someone else a gift that was given to them is a etiquette thing, but at that time, I was willing to go to any lengths to appease Aki’s anger. Even if I had made more requests than just asking them to bring me something to eat, they would have complied with everything.

“No, from now on, if I get food as a gift, should I bring it all? Aki, you like sweets.”

“… … huh. All you have to do is let Aki check first and only give him what he thinks is okay.”

“Okay, so that’s what you’re doing?

I smiled brightly and let go of Aki’s wrist.

Aki looked up at me blankly, and belatedly cleared her throat and touched her wrists as if to hide her slightly flushed cheeks.

“Ugh… ! … … Well, by the way, Uju~chan. I’m not over my anger yet?”

“Oh, I’m sorry… . Aki, what should I do to relieve my anger?”

“… … I promise you Aki.”

“Promise, what kind of promise?”

Aki stretched his right hand forward and slightly stuck out his little finger.

“Wooju~chan, are you going to lie to Aki again?”

“Huh? No, I never will!”

“Uhm, so promise. I will never lie to Aki again-.”

“Okay. I will never lie to Aki again!”

I quickly intertwined my pinky with Aki’s. And the moment I moved my wrist and tried to touch my thumbs together.

“… … wait for a sec! There’s still one more left.”

“What is it?”

“Later… . If Uju~chan and Watashi are a little bigger.”

“Yeah, if it’s a little bigger?”

“Unconditionally, unconditionally~Ogun~! Well, you’re getting married… ! Uju~chan and Watashi… … .”

“… … .”

I quietly looked down at Aki.

Aki blushed slightly and avoided eye contact, as if she felt burdened by my gaze.

‘… … ‘Marry Aki?’

As I said before, at this time, I was planning to listen to any request Aki had in order to relieve him of his anger.

“Okay! let’s get married. Me and Aki.”

“Oh, really… ?”

“Yes, really. But instead, Aki, please promise me one thing. I’m going to make a lot of friends in the future, okay?”

I added a little clue, quickly intertwined my fingers, made a promise, and even stamped my thumbs together.

“Now, you stamped it? Now we made a promise to each other.”

“… … Ah.”

“You promised, so now you can let go of your anger, right?”

“Ugh, it’s all resolved… .”

“Then, let’s go up to the second floor. The kids will be waiting.”

Afterwards, I felt proud when I heard that his anger had subsided, and I smiled and held Aki’s hand.

Then, Aki, who recognized my sincerity, smiled brightly and followed me.

As I went up to the second floor while holding Aki’s hand, a question suddenly crossed my mind.

‘But, if you wanted to go home, you could have just gone secretly, so why did you come down to the first floor with me?’

“You know, Aki.”

“Yes, Uju~chan. Why?”

‘no. ‘If I talk about the ending again, you’ll get angry, right?’

“It’s nothing. Let’s go!”

… … I didn’t know at the time.

This promise at this time.

No, it was Aki who brought me to the first floor while ‘pretending to be angry.’

“… … Wow.”

That was her big picture, for much later… … .