Chapter 6
Eight years old.
The age when you graduate from daycare, then kindergarten, and finally start elementary school.
…Though, since it was still February, this was one of the few times I could enjoy true freedom, without going to daycare or elementary school.
Usually, when I got this kind of free time, I’d spend it one of two ways: reading novels at home or quietly sleeping and enjoying some time to myself.
For one thing, I didn’t have any friends to go play with outside. And for another, I had no idea what people even did when they went out.
Mom had even taken me to the park to play outside, but when all I did there was swing on the swings, she must’ve had a bit of a reality check, because she stopped saying anything.
“Aaaah!”
“Eek?!”
…That’s how it should’ve been.
What on earth was the protagonist doing in front of me right now?
He’d just gotten a phone, which were only now becoming commonplace, and shoved a scary picture in my face. When I screamed at how grotesque it was, he burst out laughing—and I was genuinely itching to punch him.
At least when he was five, his face was cute. Now, he looked so smug I couldn’t see anything but a face that made me want to smack him.
Still, it wasn’t like I could avoid seeing him completely…
“Han Seojin! I told you not to do that to Siyeon! Apologize, right now!”
“Eh… Sorry?”
“…It’s fine, idiot.”
At some point, my parents and the protagonist’s parents had become such good friends that I couldn’t help seeing him at family gatherings like this…!
As his mother gave the protagonist a thorough scolding, I slipped behind my mom and hid.
I puffed my cheeks out as a little show of protest, looking like I’d never forgive him. Maybe he finally realized he was in the wrong, because he kept saying things like, “I’m sorry~” Watching him, I snorted to myself.
‘You think I’m just going to forgive you?’
First he showed me a horror picture to brag about having a phone, and after everything else he’s put me through…
I couldn’t stop thinking how nice it would’ve been if he hadn’t found out just how much I hated horror stuff—enough to regret ever going to the amusement park on that daycare field trip…!
I’d decided I’d never forgive him for everything he’d done…
“Want some chocolate?”
“…You.”
…What was I supposed to do?
Unlike my mind, which was that of a full-grown adult, my body was still that of an eight-year-old kid. At the mention of chocolate, my eyes started following the hand he’d slipped into his pocket…
“Here!”
“D-do you think I’m the kind of person who can be won over just by giving me chocolate?!”
I suddenly felt so embarrassed by my own behavior that my face burned, but I did my best to ignore it and blurted it out.
Seeing the protagonist look so shocked afterward, I worried that I might’ve gone too far, but what was I supposed to do? I’d already said it.
He was the one who’d put me in this situation in the first place…!
“…Siyeon?”
“Y-yes…?”
“What are you doing to your friend?”
I was trying to convince myself I was right when I felt my body jolt at my mom’s voice coming from above me.
M-Mom usually wasn’t like this, but her voice got really scary when it dropped…
“Well, I can accept some chocolate.”
“Really?! Here!”
“…Ugh.”
Why did Mom and the idiot in front of me both bounce back so quickly?!
Just when I thought I’d gotten used to how abruptly the mood could change, I still couldn’t get used to it when it actually happened.
…Still, I’d gotten chocolate, so maybe it wasn’t so bad.
I was just about to pop it into my mouth—
“Uh, Mom…?”
“Chocolate is for after you’ve finished eating!”
And just like that, Mom snatched it away from me.
I stared at her in dismay, and she told me to eat it after I’d finished my meal while patting my head.
I liked having my head patted, but I was just as sad that the chocolate had disappeared from my hands, so I could only sit there, unable to decide how I felt, while she patted me.
==========
“…Why are you sitting next to me?”
“Huh? Just because!”
I looked at the protagonist in dismay as he sat beside me in the restaurant and smiled brightly as if he had no idea what the problem was.
…I mean, now that we’re eight, couldn’t we keep a little distance between boys and girls?
Nothing had happened so far, but I still thought of myself as a guy, and there was absolutely no way I wanted to get romantically involved with the protagonist.
‘Sigh…’
I sighed, then neatly set out the spoons and chopsticks for the parents, myself, and the protagonist.
When the protagonist’s mother said something like, “Siyeon’s so grown-up. When will our son grow up like that…?” I struggled to keep the corners of my mouth from rising.
…I mean, it felt nice to get praised over something as small as setting out spoons and chopsticks.
It was such a little thing that I figured anyone could do it, but still, it felt nice to be praised.
Up until now, if you’d asked whether I enjoyed these gatherings, the answer would’ve been no. But then again, people are social animals, so I sometimes thought it was probably right to go to the occasional gathering.
‘…Is he okay?’
I wondered if the idiot beside me was feeling down because he’d been compared to me, so I snuck a glance at the protagonist’s face.
…He doesn’t seem bothered.
No, not only did he seem completely fine, he looked so excited it was as if he hadn’t even heard what had just been said. Somehow, that made me feel a little aggrieved.
I’d actually been worried about him.
‘I’m not worrying about him anymore…!’
“…?”
Annoyed for some reason, I quickly turned my head away. The protagonist tilted his head and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Seriously, he didn’t even know why I was acting like this.
“I don’t know, idiot.”
“??”
“…You really don’t know?”
I grumbled a little, but when he looked genuinely confused, my frustration only grew. I glared at him, then turned away completely with a huff.
…Sure, I hadn’t actually said anything, but couldn’t he at least tell from the mood that it was something like, ‘Oh, she’s upset about that’?
Seriously, he was so oblivious and selfish. I could already see whoever ended up with him having a rough time.
“Food!”
Whether I cared or not, he was now completely distracted by the food that had just arrived. It felt like I’d lost to the food, which made me even more aggrieved.
‘…It does look delicious, though.’
We’d come to an ordinary barbecue restaurant.
I figured they wouldn’t serve much besides raw meat, rice, and soybean paste stew, but the pork belly was such a tempting shade of pink that I swallowed at the sight, hungry enough to want to eat it raw.
“Just wait a little~”
My dad—the father of Kim Siyeon, the character I was inhabiting—wasn’t here because he’d gone overseas on a business trip.
The protagonist Han Seojin’s father watched our reactions with a small smile and told us to wait a little as he picked up the tongs and started putting meat on the grill.
With a sizzling sound, smoke rose from the grill, and the delicious smell of cooking meat spread all around us.
After a little while, he said, “Eat up,” and put a few pieces of meat on my plate. I immediately picked up a little ssamjang, put it on the meat, and popped it into my mouth. Along with an indescribable happiness, I let out—
“…Hehe.”
Some kind of feeble little sound.
I belatedly realized I’d made that noise and ducked my head in embarrassment, but it must’ve looked cute, because I heard the parents laugh.
“Oh, right. Seojin, Siyeon.”
“Yes…?”
“Yeah?”
“You’re both starting elementary school soon, so shouldn’t you have a present to celebrate?”
…?
Mom suddenly struck a serious pose. It didn’t really suit her, but I kept quiet to play along.
“Ta-da~!”
“…!”
Mom placed a bag in front of each of us and smiled bashfully, saying, “It’s a present to celebrate your first day of school!”
It had a pretty design, and the pink wasn’t bad, so I did like it, but…
“Uh, Mom?”
“Hmm? What is it, Siyeon?”
“D-doesn’t his have the same design as mine?”
“Yep! I got you matching ones!”
If it weren’t for the fact that it had the same design as the protagonist’s, I’d have been completely satisfied.
They were exactly the same, except one was blue and the other pink…
‘C-couple bags…!’
Anyone would easily mistake them for couple bags…!
Of course, we were only eight-year-old kids, so maybe no one would think that. But the possibility made me more and more anxious.
“What’s wrong, Siyeon? Do you not like it…?”
“N-no, that’s not it…”
Still, I couldn’t complain. Mom had prepared it as a present, so what could I possibly say about it?
And when I saw Mom looking so dejected, I hurriedly tried to comfort her, flustered and sweating buckets.
“Ah—”
“…?”
After reassuring Mom several times that I really loved it, I tilted my head as Han Seojin suddenly held out a ssam he’d made for me.
“People usually eat it like this. Don’t you want some?”
“…!! N-no, I don’t!”
The moment I realized he was trying to feed me the ssam, my face flared red and I refused outright.
Where had he even seen someone do that?!
“Mom watches dramas where they do this.”
“……”
…I mean, aren’t those people and us in completely different situations?
I was about to argue, but the protagonist looked like he’d be so dejected if I didn’t eat it. I had no choice but to open my mouth with an “Ah~.” When he smiled brightly as the ssam filled my mouth, I just looked at him, thinking that if he was happy, that was enough.
“…Hehe.”
I only let out that slightly silly laugh after swallowing the ssam because the meat was delicious. Yeah, yeah.刃каправке.
I only let out that slightly silly laugh after swallowing the ssam because the meat was delicious. Yeah, yeah.