My Platinum-Blond Childhood Friend Is So Pretty

157 – 68. Turning the page to another happy memory

Amelia finally didn’t put the spinach and piman in her mouth.

Only at the very last moment, right before finishing her meal, did she sneak a glance at Ellie’s expression.

“Munch.”

She put a tiny piman, barely the size of an ant, into her mouth.

The piman was so small it was almost pitiful, but her face scrunched up as if it was really difficult.

“Ugh… it’s not tasty…”

It was as if the taste was so bad that tears welled up in the corners of her eyes.

But soon after.

“Hehe… Amelia, you ate piman well!”

She let out a small sigh, as if relieved from a difficult struggle, and beamed with pride.

How could anyone scold this adorable kid seriously?

She was a terrifying daughter who instinctively knew how to receive affection.

Thanks to her, Ellie and I…

“Now that I see it, Amy can eat piman too? Good job. Let’s try something a little bigger next time.”

“Hehe, amazing. As a reward, mom will make you a slushy.”

“Woah!”

We couldn’t help but praise her with pride.

Our lovely little princess, indeed.

***

After dinner, they had a snack and even sang a song called “Baby Whale Tururu” together.

Before they knew it, it was 3 pm.

Jung-woo hyung and Bini noona came to pick up Chae-rin.

“…….”

“Wow, look at that puffed-up face. Chae-rin, are you saying you don’t want to leave Amy because you’re going to get angry with your mom and dad? You came too early, didn’t you?”

“Heh-heh, Mom is too sad… Can I stay here with you, Mom and Dad? I’ll sleep for a hundred nights and come back~”

“……No way.”

“Pfft… Can’t do that?”

“Amy’s got princess syndrome. She does whatever she wants.”

“Oh, hyung, you’re saying Amy has princess syndrome? Our Amy is a real princess, isn’t she?”

“Can I talk to our princess like that?”

“Hah… What am I supposed to say here? Anyway, thanks for taking care of her, and have a good summer vacation, Chae-rin. Bye.”

“…Seo-yun-ah, bye-bye… Take care…”

Chae-rin bid farewell with a voice filled with longing and regret, waving her hand.

“Yes! Bye-bye! See you later, Samsoon and Auntie too!”

On the other hand, Amelia responded with an extremely bright voice.

She had a princess-like mindset, not stopping those who came and not holding back those who left. She was very cool.

While she was quite close to me, Eli, and our grandparents, she seemed like this to others.

It seemed that, to Amelia, Chae-rin wasn’t someone she liked as much as family.

Chae-rin would have to try harder from now on.

“Yes. Bye-bye, Princess.”

“Bye-bye, Amy~ See you next time~”

With that farewell, Jung-woo hyung’s family left.

After sending them off, the house, which had been a bit more lively than usual because of Chae-rin, became quiet.

“Hmm…!”

I stretched my arms and legs to relieve my tired body and headed towards the sofa.

The living room still had traces of Chae-rin and Amelia’s playtime. As I looked at it, I thought, “I’ll just rest for a bit and clean up later…” and sat down on the soft sofa.

“Pappa!”

“Oh, our princess.”

“This is Amelia’s spot!”

“That’s right. Dad’s lap is Amelia’s exclusive seat.”

She had played a lot and now wanted to act cute, so Amelia climbed onto my lap.

“Heh-heh…”

She didn’t ask me to do anything in particular, nor did she create a ruckus from above.

She just buried her face in my chest, smiling cutely and clinging to me tightly.

As I felt her warm body temperature and weight, I gently stroked her flowing silver hair.

“Daddy.”

“Why?”

“Pat, pat.”

“Do you want to get patted by Dad? You want to take a nap, don’t you?”

“I’m not going to sleep!”

“Really?”

Well, even if I talk like this, if I pat her rhythmically, her eyes will soon droop shut. But since Princess wants to get patted by me, I used the hand that was stroking my hair to pat Amelia’s small back.

-Pat, pat

“Hehe… Yeah…”

As I listened to Amelia’s pleasant voice, I gazed at the living room.

Was it because of the quiet atmosphere in the house?

Or was it because of the remnants of our childhood friends, Aga, scattered around the messy living room?

Somehow, a little.

A sentimental heart began to arise.

It was around this time, at this age.

It was when I met Eli and became childhood friends.

If I think about it carefully, Amelia is a few months older than Eli, but there’s not much of a difference.

I played with Eli, who was this small.

“Back then, Eli was like a hedgehog… Amelia has a very innocent personality, but they’re similar in being stubborn.”

As I faintly recalled that day’s plump Eli, a natural smile emerged.

I also remembered the time when we first drew pictures together, and Eli pushed me away, saying “Go over there.”

Of course, I was deeply attracted to Eli at first sight, but I approached her enthusiastically regardless.

In the end, Eli opened up to me due to my persistence, and we drew pictures together… How many times did we do that? Most of the time, we played outside, anyway.

“It’s nostalgic…”

As I held Amelia, who resembled Eli, and was now immersed in memories from over 20 years ago, tears almost flowed.

“Husband.”

“……”

“Husband.”

“……”

“I-do-yun.”

“Oh, ah, yeah. You called me?”

With a sentimental heart, I was patting Amelia absent-mindedly, and responded late to Eli’s call.

It was only later that I was startled and turned my head, and Eli was sitting next to me, looking dissatisfied with her mouth pouted.

-Tight

As if inserting herself between my chest and arm, she hugged me tightly.

With her face pressed against my cheek, she whispered in a small voice that Amelia couldn’t hear.

“Are you ignoring your wife’s call because you’re too busy with your daughter?”

“I’m sorry…”

“Do you want to die? Do you want to try risking your life for the first time in a while?”

“………Hehe, haha, hahaha!”

As I apologized to my joking wife, I tried to give her a kiss.

After Eli’s words continued.

Since Amelia was born, I’ve been very careful with language purification, so I couldn’t hear it from somewhere.

Eli’s trademark threat was like a trademark, and I couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

“What’s going on? Why are you laughing all of a sudden?”

“Hahaha… Ah, no… Cough… Hehehe…”

“Dad, why are you laughing?”

Eli was taken aback, and Amelia, who was slowly closing her eyes, looked up and asked why I was laughing.

But I couldn’t easily stop laughing.

How did Eli happen to say something that reminded me of the past at this moment?

At this moment, I was immersed in nostalgia, drunk on it.

The happy coincidence made me laugh, and I felt extremely carefree, filling me with happiness once again.

I laughed so hard that tears welled up in my eyes, and I laughed alone for a while.

“Heh… Heh… Haha. Sorry. Just… nostalgic.”

I barely calmed down.

And I was staring at the same platinum hair.

Blue eyes.

Face.

Seeing my wife and daughter, I couldn’t help but smile at their loveliness.

“Eimi, do you know that?”

“Amelia knows everything because she’s a princess!”

“Is that so? Then you know that Mom was just like you when she was young, right?”

“Mom and Amelia are still the same now. Grandpa said so!”

She told me a surprising yet unsurprising fact.

Well, as Amelia said, we’re still the same now… but I think you need to see the photos to understand.

“Eli, shall we take a look at the album for the first time in a while?”

“What’s the sudden request? I’m okay with it… Wait a minute. I’ll get it.”

Eli seemed taken aback by my sudden request, but she thought it was fun and ran to the living room.

A moment later.

She brought out small-sized photo albums.

Although we mostly store photos digitally these days, we print out our favorite pictures and put them in albums every few months.

So, those photo albums contain everything from our beginnings to the present.

It was our history book itself.

In fact, I had shown it to Amelia once before. But that was when she was one or two years old, and she was still crawling, so she probably doesn’t remember it.

“Here. This is the first one.”

“Thank you. Where…”

“Dad, hurry up!”

“Just a minute.”

I received the first album from Eli. And I placed it on Amelia’s knee so she could see it well, slowly flipping through the cover.

Then, the first photo that appeared was…

“Ah! Amelia is here!”

It was a picture of me and Elly playing with sand at a kindergarten playground.

A photo taken by our teacher, from when Elly and I started playing together not long ago.

From then on, the mothers began to socialize with each other, and we started appearing together in the same photo.

As I gazed at the long-forgotten memory, I was momentarily speechless, while Elly sat beside me, laughing and teasing Amelia.

“Hehe, Amy. Take a good look. Is that really Amy?”

“Uh-uh… it’s Amelia… but why are you not smiling prettily? You’re not Amelia, are you?”

“That’s right. Who could be so mischievous? Amy. Then, who’s the one sitting next to her?”

“I don’t know! It’s the first time!”

“Really? That can’t be true?”

As I looked at the girl who resembled me, with a puzzled expression, and the boy sitting next to her, laughing and having fun, Amelia tilted her head in thought.

Elly, who had been watching for a while, soon gave the answer.

“What’s the world coming to? Who could be exactly like our Amy?”

“Mom… Ah! It’s Mom! This is Mom!”

“That’s correct! Then, who’s the one sitting next to her?”

“Oh… Ah! It’s Dad! Dad’s here!”

“……That’s right. We have Mom and Dad.”

“She’s small… so cute! Mom! Dad’s small and cute too!”

“Our daughter has the same taste as us, Mom. Dad was cute back then, but he’s still cute now.”

“Is Dad four years old?”

“Five… Ah, since it’s before his birthday, is he four? We didn’t count his age back then.”

As I listened to the two girls chatting, I gently swept my hand over the photo.

How could they be so cute and lovely?

Really, there was no separate princess like her.

“Mom is the princess! Amelia and I are exactly alike!”

“That’s right. Mom was a princess back then too.”

“Now she’s the queen!”

“Hehe, that’s right. Now she’s the queen. The princess is our Amy, and that’s it?”

“Yes! Amelia is the princess!”

Princess, indeed.

As Amelia shouted, I reflexively turned my head to look at Elly.

At that moment, Elly’s gaze also turned towards me, and she gave me a sweet smile.

Indeed, it was too beautiful and charming, but in reality, most princesses in the Disney animations I loved were like this.

It’s rare to see a completely childish princess.

In that sense…

“Even Mom is a princess, right? To Dad, she’s still a princess.”

“Huh?”

“Even Mom is a princess… then we can do it together! Mom can be a princess just like Amelia!”

My childhood friend, now my wife, was still a princess to me. From some point on, I started calling Elly the queen, but looking at the photo, I realized it anew.

Elly was still my own princess.

After that brief debate about the princess, we refocused on the album.

Passing by Amelia’s 5-year-old photos.

Childhood pictures taken at kindergarten graduation.

Elementary school entrance ceremony photos.

Pictures taken during family trips to the mountains or the sea.

Photos of the two of us playing in Elly’s room or my room.

And so, we graduated from elementary school.

“Mommy is kissing Daddy!”

“That’s right, Amy. Mommy said, didn’t she? Kissing is only for family.”

“Only for family!”

“That’s right. Remember that. Kissing isn’t something you do casually with just anyone.”

“Yes!”

As we entered middle school, photos of Elly and me kissing also started to appear.

Adorable photos of us kissing each other’s cheeks, taken by Elly herself.

And.

By the time we entered high school, our kisses had changed from cheeks to lips.

It was a bit embarrassing to see, but our young selves were just too cute.

There were countless photos of us kissing, literally sticking our lips together.

There was even a photo of Elly kissing me when we went to model together, unable to resist.

“Woong…”

“Why are you like that, our princess?”

“I want to kiss Amelia too, Daddy!”

“There are too many photos of Mommy and Daddy kissing, right? Daddy, look… this way.”

“This way… hehe! Mommy too!”

“Right. Here…”

-Kiss!

As we flipped through the album, we would steal a kiss every now and then.

Every time we turned the page, we’d see beautifully decorated photos, and memories would come flooding back.

Just the two of us.

Or with our family.

Or with friends.

Or with acquaintances like Jungwoo and Bini.

We had countless stories, and they were all preserved here in these photos.

We were indirectly passing on these memories to our young daughter.

“But isn’t this a complete life spoiler? It’s like Amy’s entire future is already laid out…”

“Cook… what are you saying? Our Amy will grow up even more beautifully than Mommy, so it’s okay. Right?”

“Yes!”

“As a dad, I agree, but as a husband…”

“Heh. Why are you saying something so obvious? As a husband, I’m obviously the best.”

As we shared trivial conversations, memories that had been passed down began to resurface, exceeding our wedding ceremony.

Beyond the stories of the princess and my childhood friend…

Our family of three was woven into those tales.

“Amelia, jokjo mai…”

“Hehe, you were so small, but now you’ve grown so much. You’ll be as tall as Mom soon, right?”

“You’ll be as beautiful as Mom. You’ll grow taller and taller… as tall as Dad!”

“You have big ambitions, don’t you? To achieve that, you need to eat your vegetables well from now on, okay? That’s how Mom and Dad grew tall.”

“I eat my vegetables well, Amelia! I ate some today too!”

“That’s great. You’re so adorable today.”

“Hehe…”

As the photos got closer to the present, I felt a hollow, empty heart, as if a hole had been pierced in my chest.

Was it because those days were too happy?

The past days, the memories, felt so nostalgic.

But if I were asked to go back to those days… I wouldn’t.

My childhood friend, the princess, had become my beautiful wife, smiling beside me.

And our daughter, born between us, was now sitting on my lap, showing me the cutest smile in the world.

I had truly enjoyed every single day without exception, and I was happy.

And definitely, today too.

Tomorrow too.

The day after tomorrow too.

Even after a year, even after 10 years.

I would still savor the same happiness, or perhaps even greater happiness.

“Honey, take Amy out for a bit. I want to take a photo with her at the four-shot studio.”

“Are you sure? But is Amy okay? She was just sleeping…”

“Amelia isn’t sleepy! I want to play with Mom and Dad!”

“It looks like she woke up. I’ll tidy up the living room while you’re out. Get ready.”

“Okay. Amy, let’s wash our hands and change our clothes one more time.”

“I want to wear the princess dress!”

“Of course, you have to wear a dress as a princess. Let’s see, what should we wear today.”

You’ll be by my side forever.

Together with my loving family.