My Platinum-Blond Childhood Friend Is So Pretty

24 – 08. Playing Around with Elli during the Study Session – 2

“What were you two doing to get scolded just now?”

On the way to the bus stop after the study session.

When Lee So-yeon, who had witnessed us getting scolded from the seat next to Elli, asked about the reason, Elli immediately glared at me.

“It’s because of her.”

That statement felt a bit unfair. I only tried to make her happy, following Ellie’s lead.

“Why. You were having fun too.”

“…Hmm.”

Despite that, there was nothing to say about the fact that it had been enjoyable. With a snicker, I turned my head, unable to come up with any words.

Seeing us like that, Yiso Yeon started to interrogate us with a face that clearly said she was dying of curiosity.

“Oh, come on! What were you two doing so obsessively alone? Let me join in too!”

“Tell you?”

“Tell me!”

“Give me your hand.”

“Hand? Here.”

Yiso Yeon’s small hand reached out in front of me.

Of course, I didn’t intend to hold her hand the same way I did with Ellie and explain by writing on her palm. I simply planned to write a few words on her palm.

But.

-Crackle

In that moment, Ellie grabbed me by the collar. Eyes wide open.

“What are you doing in front of me?”

“Just wanted to write some words…”

“Do you want to die in front of me?”

“Sorry.”

Not even with my close friend Yeon, could I have this level of contact.

“Words?”

Ellie’s blue eyes sparkled like goblin fires, her face turning fierce, while Yiso Yeon giggled. There was no choice; I had to roughly explain it verbally.

“Writing words on Ellie’s palm and guessing what I wrote…”

“Oh, that’s… tempting to say, but Ellie would have liked that, huh? Holding hands and playing with Doyoon during breaktime~”

“Keep it down.”

Embarrassed, Ellie, who had released my collar, blushed.

Their appearance was so adorable that neither I nor Yiso Yeon could stop laughing.

“I’ll go ahead! See you tomorrow!”

And so, teasing Ellie, Yiso Yeon boarded the bus that arrived first and headed back home.

“Today, I want to walk.”

“Should we?”

We started walking down the dark night streets.

It wasn’t too far to walk; just two stops on the bus from home. That’s why sometimes we chose to walk like this.

Ordinary.

-Swish

It was when we wanted to hold hands, just the two of us.

Without a word, I held Ellie’s outstretched hand and walked at a leisurely pace.

Whenever we engaged in physical contact, we chose alleyways to avoid catching too much attention, especially for Ellie, who disliked being stared at by people.

-Tap

And then, naturally, Ellie walked beside me, her shoulder almost touching mine.

“Ellie.”

“What?”

“Would you want to do it again tomorrow? The game we played today.”

“…….”

In response to my proposal, Ellie stayed silent for a moment before replying in a small voice.

“Let’s start from 30 minutes. Until then, I’ll study.”

“Then, should we focus strictly until 9:30 every day? From then, take about 20 minutes to rest or play.”

“…That’s fine too.”

It occurred to me just now, but it didn’t seem like a bad idea. Considering Ellie’s issues with concentration, if she could focus diligently until then, taking a break for the last 20 minutes wouldn’t pose a significant problem.

I should be more careful, though, not to get caught by the teacher like today.

“Come to think of it, it’s already Wednesday. How about going for the shoot this weekend? Nervous?”

“Not really. It’ll be over after taking a few shots as they instruct.”

“I really want to see it too. Too bad.”

“Next time. Anyway, you’re going to help Sunminjae noona there too, right?”

“True, but…”

Chatting as we walked.

Entering a very narrow alley where there seemed to be no trace of anyone’s footsteps, except for a single flickering streetlight in the middle, felt a bit eerie.

Of course, it was the path we often took when walking home, and it wasn’t particularly scary when we were together.

That was how it was, just casually walking without much thought.

Elli stopped walking.

Under the flickering streetlamp.

“Why are you like this?”

And looking at Elli piercingly, I wondered if my shoelaces were untied. But when I looked at her shoes, the laces were perfectly fine.

So I turned around to see what was behind me and felt Elli fidgeting with her fingers.

A ticklish touch on my palm.

-Zap, swoosh…

That’s when I realized I was playing the same game as before.

So I focused on the sensation in my hand and immediately knew what Elli’s slowly moving fingers were drawing.

At the same time, I let go of Elli’s hand.

Elli also let go of my hand without objecting, and I embraced Elli’s body with my free arm.

After that, as if it were natural.

-Smack

Our lips overlapped.

-Smack

Elli did the same.

And then, as if nothing had happened, we held hands again and walked down the street.

“Are you going to sleep well when you get home?”

“No.”

“But why did you do it just now?”

“I’ll do it again later.”

“I see.”

I nodded in understanding.

In reality, there was no need to be bound by one kiss in the morning and one in the evening anymore. Now we just kissed and embraced whenever we felt like it.

As I thought, once on the way with Elli.

Once in front of the house.

And three more times before bed.

Today, I tied my hair up and came to my room, and Elli’s nape looked really lovely.

Should I give a kiss on her nape again when I tie my hair up later?

The next day.

The palm reading time came around again.

We concentrated on our studies like we talked about yesterday until 9:30.

And as soon as it hit 30 minutes, we both looked up to check the teacher’s position before facing each other.

“….”

In Ellie’s eyes, I could sense a strange desire filled with mischief, wanting to play another joke today.

So this time, I handed my hand to Ellie instead and let her solve the problem.

Let’s see.

What could the first one be?

-Stroke…

Hmmm. Well.

Trying to suppress a strange tickling sensation, Ellie’s fingers wrote the letters as if drawing a picture. It was easy.

[Me: Likes]

Ellie’s mouth curled up. She got the answer right.

Continuing on, she wrote the next letters.

Hmm…

[Me: Likes]

It was a duplication. Ellie checked our chat and this time drew a curve with her eyes.

The third question began.

This time, Ellie’s fingers followed a similar path as before.

But instead of answering through chat, I said the answer with my mouth while looking into Ellie’s eyes.

“I like you.”

I smiled softly as I said it.

-Ah…

Ellie’s face turned red. It seemed like it felt a bit different to hear “I like you” in a place where there were other friends.

“….”

With her bright red face, Ellie suddenly started looking around cautiously.

Then, she leaned in towards me.

I was a little surprised by her gesture. I didn’t expect Ellie to go this far in a place like this.

Of course, I immediately leaned towards Ellie.

With a slightly furrowed brow, a nostalgic expression, and pursed lips, she approached me to give me a kiss.

How could I ignore this?

That’s how we…

“Side…”

Very lightly, as if brushing by.

Our lips touched so softly that there was almost no sound.

But then, behind the leaning Ellie…

“……”

Lee Soyeon appeared.

Staring at Ellie and me with a surprised (ㅇㅁㅇ) face.

As startled as Ellie, her face turned as red as mine, covering her mouth with her hand.

Our close friend.

She immediately demonstrated the motion of zipping her own mouth shut, then turned her head with a twinkle in her eye.

It was a moment.

As soon as Ellie’s lips touched mine, she quickly straightened up and, with her ears turning red, didn’t show me her face until the end of the night shift.

During that time, I exchanged texts with Lee Soyeon.

[ Lee Soyeon: ㅁㅇㅁㅇ!! ]

[ Lee Soyeon: What are you guys doing in a place like that? ]

[ Lee Soyeon: My heart is pounding too much! It’s so exciting! What do I do :＞!!! ]

[ Lee Soyeon: Kyaa! You kissed, right? ]

[ Me: Let’s keep it a secret from Ellie ]

[ Me: If she finds out from you, we’ll never do it here again ]

[ Lee Soyeon: ㅎㅎㅎㅎㅎㅎㅎㅎㅎㅎ ]

[ Lee Soyeon: Instead, do it again later! Send me a signal when you want to! ]

[ Me: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ ]

[ Lee Soyeon: Definitely!! ]

I thought it might be a bit uncomfortable from Soyeon’s perspective, but she genuinely seemed to want to see it again.

Well, for me, honestly, overlapping lips with Ellie in the study room was thrilling and fun, so who could blame me?

Hmm.

I wanted to do it again.

Whether anyone saw or not.

***

And the next day, also the last day of this week.

Friday.

Today, without doing anything else, I kept holding hands with Elli.

Even after returning home after the night shift, she occupied my bed until late.

“Come here.”

She summoned me to her side, and we spent time with our shoulders close.

Perhaps it was because of the tension about the fitting model job she would do tomorrow.

In addition, she needed to stay away from me for a little longer. In fact, it was less than a day, but Elli and I rarely spent even that much time apart.

And right now, Elli is recharging herself for that short separation.

When I see her like this, her girlish side becomes prominent and incredibly cute…

“Yi Doyoon.”

“Yeah.”

“Go and work tomorrow and come back.”

“Huh?”

“If you fool around, I’ll kill you.”

“…”

“Answer.”

“I’ll just draw and come back right away.”

“Hmph.”

Her warning about me was also not forgotten.

Adorable. Very much.

***

Saturday morning.

While the uncle and aunt next door were busily preparing for Elli’s ‘first fitting model shoot,’ which seemed a bit bustling.

Elli sneaked into our house.

And.

– Page…

As usual, we embraced and shared a kiss before she rested her forehead against mine.

“I’ll check in whenever I have time, so keep sending updates on what you’re up to.”

“I’ll report like a spy. If you have any photos to send, do it. I’m really curious.”

“If they’re well taken. I’ll see.”

With that request, Eli, looking incredibly joyful as if going on a picnic, left with Eli’s parents for a fitting model gig.

I waved goodbye.

Eli, well, she might be a bit nervous, but she’ll do fine, I thought.

And a few hours later.

Drawing at Minjae’s house, I realized.

That I was more of a problem than Eli.

“I miss Eli.”

It’s only been a few hours.

The beautiful platinum blonde of a childhood friend, the white face, the blue eyes looking at me.

Already, I missed her so much.