My Platinum-Blond Childhood Friend Is So Pretty

10 – 03. We’re Both Fond of Each Other But Don’t Date: Our Fourteen-Year-Old Selves – 3

The platinum waves I saw every day felt different than usual. Her outfit was also the same.

Similar to what she wore yesterday but with different light blue jeans, a black long sleeve shirt tucked in at the front, and a beige long cardigan over it.

Like me, Ellie’s tall stature and slender arms and legs always made her stand out, even when she dressed slightly more maturely. But there was no discomfort in it. Instead, it made Ellie shine.

As I often went clothes shopping with my moms and Ellie, I was somewhat savvy in these matters.

Thanks to that, I admired Ellie’s well-fitting and pretty outfits and would often stumble while walking right next to her.

“Wow, she’s so pretty.”

“She’s crazy, wow…”

As someone casually passed by and muttered those words, I nodded in agreement without thinking.

That’s how beautiful Ellie looked right now. She looked like a model or an actress that anyone would believe.

Her always admired fair skin, blue eyes, and lips that sparkled with a plum color seemed to glimmer even more, as if she applied light makeup.

So, as I stared persistently, Ellie eventually turned her head with a slight grimace.

“Why are you looking at me like that? You see me every day.”

Even though she said it bluntly, the slightly reddened cheeks indicated that it wasn’t dislike.

And in response to her question, I remembered what Ellie’s mother had once told me, that her appearance was one of my biggest advantages.

“You look really beautiful today.”

He said to Ellie, full of sincerity.

Of course, such things as Ellie’s cuteness… no, beauty couldn’t hold a candle to her.

“…Ha, well. W-When did that happen? For no reason…”

After hearing my reply, Ellie turned her head back with a blush spreading across her cheeks.

-Kkwak

She grabbed my wrist, not my hand.

Walking a half-step ahead, hiding her own awkwardness, Ellie led me while I obediently followed as always.

“Where are we going?”

“Seonangnekes.”

“It’s a must-visit.”

“It’s a must.”

The places we could go to as young children were more limited than expected, and among them, Seonangnekes, where we could take sticker photos together, was a must among musts.

I had occasionally heard about it before and had taken numerous photos, but today, I had a stronger desire to go.

I wanted to have a photo of Ellie and me together.

So we arrived at the Seonangnekes store.

“……”

“……”

Whenever I was with Ellie, I always faced this, both outside and especially when entering places like this, the intensified gazes of others.

We tried to shrug it off and enter, as if accustomed to it.

“…Ah, damn.”

In the bustling atmosphere, but the moment everyone quieted down when they saw us, Ellie’s brow became even narrower.

“It’s Valentine’s Day, so there are a lot of people. Should we wait?”

“No. Let’s just go.”

“Okay.”

Ellie quickly gave up, and anticipating that, I immediately followed her.

If we were to wait here, it would probably take more than an hour or two. Ellie couldn’t endure such a boring wait.

Once again outside, we stood in front of the store, pondering where to go.

I didn’t ponder, but Ellie did.

“This is irritating.”

With her pursed lips, she finally realized that wherever she went, it wasn’t much different from here, and she bit her pretty lips.

I asked her in somewhat vague Swedish, pretending to joke.

Now, Elise had become completely familiar with Korea and Korean, but she still wasn’t interested in studying at school. However, she was still consistently studying Swedish, and since I was always with Elise, I naturally started learning it too.

Thanks to that, even though my pronunciation wasn’t perfect, I was able to speak a little bit.

And when I spoke clumsy Swedish, Elise would…

“Heh…”

She would let out a small laugh like that.

Fortunately, her mood seemed to lighten a little, and Elise moved her steps again and said.

“Låt oss gå till lekplatsen.”

“Yeah.”

Unlike me, who couldn’t understand at all, I nodded vigorously at her fluent Swedish and followed her.

By the way, I didn’t get any of it.

Elise has such good pronunciation.

***

The place Elise was heading to was the playground in our neighborhood that we often went to.

Unlike the bustling Hongdae neighborhood, which was crowded from the streets to various shops, fortunately, this place was very quiet except for a few kids and their guardians.

And we sat on a bench in one corner.

-Click!

“Ah, the picture should have been taken there… This one is not good.”

“That’s what I’m saying. Today was perfect.”

“I know! So annoying!”

“Let’s wear the same clothes and come back another day. You looked really beautiful today, it’s a shame.”

“…Hmph. Well, whatever.”

-Click!

Leaning against each other, our faces were close.

We were so close.

To the point where nobody at school would dare make fun of us, it seemed like we were dating to anyone who saw, but we weren’t actually dating.

From the street where we’ve been together since we were 5 years old, we took a selfie.

Ellie’s hair tickling my cheeks made my heart tickle too.

-Click! Click!

“Get closer.”

“Like this?”

“More!”

“This much?”

“…That’s enough.”

-Click!

Our ears touched, and our slightly chubby cheeks brushed against each other as another memory was captured.

Because of the atmosphere of Valentine’s Day, it made my heart flutter a bit more, but in reality, the photo itself wasn’t much different from the ones we usually took.

Although we both wanted to take a photo that was a little different from the usual, we didn’t express it to each other.

“I’m annoyed.”

“Why are you annoyed again?”

“I’m annoyed that I’m still 14.”

“Then how old would you like to be?”

“About 17.”

“If you were 17…a high school student? What would you want to do then?”

As Ellie suddenly expressed her annoyance again, I asked her what she would want if she were 17.

Ellie’s gaze turned towards me.

As if she desired something, as if she wanted to be greedy.

“…Various things, everything.”

“Various things?”

“There are things like that. You should just follow me.”

“Like right now?”

“Like right now.”

However, she soon averted her gaze and started texting on her phone.

I obediently waited by her side like a well-behaved puppy, and after a while, Ellie put her phone in her pocket and said,

“Let’s go.”

“Where to?”

“Home.”

“Already?”

“There’s nowhere else to go. Looks like it’s crowded everywhere.”

“That’s true. Still, a bit disappointing…”

“And I didn’t even bring the chocolate with me.”

“Oh, the one you made yourself? Let’s go! I really want to eat it!”

“…I just melted and hardened it, though.”

“Still, you made it yourself.”

“True, true.”

“Let’s go. There’s something to do there.”

“Yeah!”

Even for someone like me who prefers indoor activities, the time spent outside, considering how rarely I venture out, was remarkably short.

The first homemade chocolate that Eli made for me created such anticipation that it made me forget about any disappointment in an instant.

***

Returning to the apartment, we entered Eli’s house without stopping by ours.

Normally, it was the time when Eli’s mom would be around, but whether she came to visit us or went grocery shopping, she wasn’t here now.

After washing my hands and taking off my cardigan, I waited in the living room for Eli’s call.

Until two years ago, I used to come and go without much conversation, but since last year, I couldn’t enter Eli’s room without permission.

Of course, Eli could enter my room freely.

“Come in.”

After a moment, permission was granted. As I entered the room, the familiar lime-green wallpaper welcomed me.

Dolls we had won together from the claw machine were scattered around, and stickers from photos we took at the photo booth were stuck on the desk.

Other than that, a few manga that I brought from my room… the rest was mostly clothes.

Since last year, Eli had developed an interest in fashion, and as a result, her room now had a variety of clothes.

I scanned the room with my eyes while sitting on the soft bed.

“Wait here.”

After confirming that I had sat down, Eli closed the door, blocking the view outside.

A moment later.

-Thunk

Ellie entered carrying a square box.

She eagerly gazed at the small box, likely containing homemade chocolates, with a heart pounding in her chest. I was immensely pleased that Ellie, who dislikes inconvenience, had gone to such trouble for me.

Seemingly pleased with my greedy gaze directed at the chocolates, Ellie smiled slightly. At the same time, she approached me, hesitating somewhere in her demeanor.

“Hey.”

“Yeah.”

“I worked really hard on this, so if you leave any, you might die.”

“I won’t leave any. I’ll eat it all now.”

“I’ll inspect it.”

With those words, Ellie handed me a cute chocolate box with a pink and red ribbon attached.

“Thanks. I’m really happy.”

I accepted it gratefully and gently opened the box. Inside, various shapes of chocolates were neatly arranged—a Valentine’s Day gift made by my favorite childhood friend that made laughter inevitable upon sight.

Although I wanted to taste it right away, I cautiously closed the lid again because Ellie seemed to have something else to say.

As I sat there and raised my head, Ellie’s cheek was gradually turning pink.

“…Yi Doyoon.”

Her red lips, which I had thought were beautiful all day, opened slightly as she called my name.

“Yeah.”

Answering her while looking at Ellie, as if vowing not to miss a single word.

Twirling her side hair with her finger, Ellie hesitated in her gestures and began to speak.

“Do you… know what kram between us means?”

“Yeah. It’s a greeting in Sweden, a hug.”

“Uh, not that. Is there another way to greet each other originally… Do you happen to know?”

“Huh? No. Was there something like that? What is it?”

It was a very shy look from Ellie, but more than that, I asked her with pure curiosity.

Before, I felt comfort in the exchange of warm body temperatures, but now, aware of Ellie as a woman, it made my heart flutter.

It was a kram that always made me happy. However, I didn’t know there were other greetings besides that.

Curious about what it could be, I looked at Ellie with eyes full of curiosity. Somehow, Ellie opened her mouth, seemingly unable to meet my gaze properly.

“Well… stand up for a moment.”

“Okay.”

As if wanting to show me firsthand what it was, I quickly got up from the bed.

Eli opened her arms towards me.

“…kram.”

-Tightly

As soon as the word “kram” came out of her mouth, I instinctively pulled Eli into an embrace.

Though our heights were not significantly different, her slender body fit snugly into my arms, and I wrapped my arms around her thin waist. Eli’s arms naturally pulled me close, embracing my back.

It never got old, the pleasant scent and the soft feel of Eli each time I hugged her.

Originally, I intended for the hug to be a brief greeting, but it lingered.

“W-what is this… it’s called a ‘kram’…”

Eli’s slightly trembling voice continued.

“A ‘kram’?”

I chuckled at the unfamiliar name; it must be a word not found in the limited Swedish I had learned.

I waited for Eli to explain, enjoying the embrace and thinking that this was indeed the best Valentine’s Day.

“…it’s what we’re doing in this state. Giving each other… affection.”

Slowly, her explanation continued.

“Yeah.”

“I’ll do it first, so… just follow along. Got it?”

“Got it.”

How would one go about it in this position? Perhaps a pat on the back?

Trying to imagine what a “kram” could be with my feeble imagination, I waited for Eli’s guidance.

I felt Eli move her head.

Soon.

Onto my cheek.

Something soft… no, a word like ‘soft’ couldn’t fully express it, but something indescribable.

“…there.”

Just for a moment.

It touched and then withdrew.

“…….”

It was a fleeting moment, but the sensation, the lingering touch, would surely stay with me for a lifetime.

My body stiffened simultaneously. Although I hadn’t seen it with my eyes, I could sense what had touched my cheek.

It was Eli’s lips, which I had gazed at countless times today, as if trying to see through them.

And I instantly realized what gesture Viju was making.

However, I couldn’t utter a word.

The embrace with Eli, which had been warm, now felt so hot that sweat could drip from it.

My head turned blank, unable to think in the dizziness.

In my ears, Eli’s lovely voice, melting like earwax, pierced.

“Hey. What are you doing? I told you to follow. Don’t want to? Want to die?”

“…Uh, no… I’ll do it…”

Upon hearing those words, I moved. It wasn’t a deliberate action based on thought; my body simply responded reflexively to Eli’s words.

With a head too dizzy to connect thoughts, I slightly lowered my face and looked at Eli’s cheek.

Her once pale cheek now appeared as red as an apple.

Her cheek looked so soft, like it might fall off if touched with lips.

Staring intensely, following the princess’s command.

“Peck.”

As Eli did, I briefly touched my lips, feeling the delicate cheek giving way under the light pressure, despite being extremely cautious.

I pulled away my lips.

Although I did it, I had no idea what I had done; we were still embracing, thoughtless.

As Eli, who had shivered slightly when I kissed her, offered Viju from my side.

With a voice mixed with a pleasant laugh, she whispered again.

“This… Viju. We’ll do it like this from now on.”

“….”

“Not answering? Want to lose your life?”

“Oh, okay. Yeah. I’ll do it. Definitely… I’ll do it.”

“Alright then.”

Only then did we release our bodies, and Eli, who had shown only a stern face 90% of the day, drew a curved line with her eyes, the corners of her mouth rising delicately. With a smile that bloomed like a flower, she added one more thing.

“If you forget and skip a day, you really know you’ll die at my hands.”

After that day,

Bisou became our basic greeting.

Just like a ritual, it happened every single day.

We kissed each other’s cheeks countless times.

Until we learned the next level of greetings.

Every day.