My Platinum-Blond Childhood Friend Is So Pretty

7 – 02. Alongside My Childhood Friend, the Ten-Year-Old Platinum -3

As Ellie continued to stare at me without blinking once.

The friends who had been ignoring it for a while and only saying what they wanted finally noticed the unusual atmosphere from her.

“Jeong Ji-hwan, did you do the math homework?”

“I did it yesterday~ I already did it~”

“Ah, I didn’t do it! Show me!”

And naturally, everyone started dispersing while chatting away. Eli had seen this tantrum more than once from Ban’s kids, so everyone knew it was best to steer clear when it happened.

Alone and unable to escape like a frog in front of a snake, I nervously wriggled my fingers.

The squirming thing in my hand felt grotesque, and the gaze of my childhood friend directed at me was too intense.

What made it even scarier was that she didn’t say a word.

If it were the usual Eli, she would have asked what was in my hand long ago. She used to inquire about it immediately. That’s how it was just yesterday.

“What should I do… If Eli throws a fit, I won’t be able to draw today either…”

Actually, that was the most important thing to me.

Unable to look at Eli’s face, I rolled my eyes here and there.

Then, I noticed Soyeon, who was pretending to erase the whiteboard behind the teacher’s desk, glancing at us.

-Chuckle, chuckle.

She was smiling slightly with a mischievous expression, looking at Eli and me.

Isoyeon, who had handed me the squirming thing earlier, caught my eye. She seemed to find our situation amusing, smiling with her slightly flushed face.

‘Why is she laughing?’

I thought.

At that moment, I couldn’t have imagined.

That the girl who always showed kindness to me, out of a desire to see the ‘jealous Eli’ and ‘awkward Lee Doyoon,’ had performed such a malicious act.

That she possessed the qualities of a troublemaker.

No, she even thought I liked her every time I smiled at her. Later, I found out that wasn’t entirely untrue.

Anyway, it was a time when I didn’t understand why she did that, and for a moment, forgetting even Eli’s anger, I looked in her direction.

“Lee Doyoon.”

“…Yes?”

“What did I say this morning?”

“….”

“What did I say?”

Eli’s voice, now even more annoyed, sharply pierced my ears.

“Don’t accept food from others…”

“What’s in your hand?”

“This… um… an eraser?”

“Unfold it.”

“……”

In that moment, I pondered for about three seconds.

Should I obediently show it and face Ellie’s anger head-on, or should I put it in my mouth and play dumb?

The probability of option 1 was about 60%, and option 2 seemed to be about 95%.

“Open it. Let me see if it’s an eraser.”

“Well, actually…”

As I thought about it repeatedly until the very end, I was about to honestly say that I had no choice.

-Drrring!

“Hey everyone~ Class president… isn’t here? Who wants to help me move the math tools for first period!”

“Me, teacher!”

“Do-yoon? Thanks~ Then, will you come with me?”

“Yes!”

-Snap!

Without even realizing it, I ended up choosing the worst option, option 3, in response to the teacher’s voice asking for someone to help.

***

Thanks to my foolish choice, today’s class time was like hell.

First period.

-You’re really dead.

-Sorry, I really didn’t know earlier.

-But why did you run away?

-I’m sorry.

-We’ll talk after it’s over.

I was half-heartedly doing math problems, and in my notebook, Ellie’s constant threats of killing me continued.

During break time after class…

“You got another twisted-y stare? You said you didn’t like it yesterday.”

“…….”

“Tell me. Why do you keep getting it?”

“Just… it was in my hand, so I showed it.”

“Do you want to die? Why did you show it?”

Well, it was the same.

Living with Ellie in front of me, we shared repetitive stories.

And then began the second period.

Art class.

“Eat.”

“….”

A lump of crumpled clay lay in front of me.

Today’s lesson was to create a mold with clay while looking at the face of the friend in front. The result was a lump of clay in front of me, kneaded with fists.

Even Ellie’s suggestion to eat it created a situation where not only I but also other friends sitting together were glancing around.

“Kikik…”

Lee So-yeon, sitting at the far end, continued to smile as if she was still enjoying herself, looking at us.

“What’s going on? Anything happened? We don’t have much time, so everyone work hard! You have to hurry to make it~”

Fortunately, with the teacher’s intervention who sensed the strange atmosphere, we were able to focus on the art class, and I put all my effort into making Ellie’s face beautiful.

Pouring even more sincerity into the promise to bake it later in the kiln. Laden with the meaning of atonement.

And when it was completed.

“Wow, Lee Doyoon is really good at this!”

“How do you do it? Ah, mine keeps breaking…”

“Doyoon did a great job~ It looks just like Alicia.”

Friends and even teachers praised Ellie’s clay face, proudly swelling our chests.

-Peck, peck…!

Ellie, without saying a word, only tapped the roughly finished clay face of mine with her fist.

Her gaze remained on me.

In response, I tightened my swelled chest and quietly took my seat.

It was frightening.

***

The classes up to the fourth period, which felt like an icy field, ended, and it was time to go home after eating lunch.

Originally, we would have gathered with friends to play cops and robbers or play ice tag, as planned.

But today, Ellie and I were absent from there.

With determined steps, Ellie walked ahead, expressing through her strides that she was more dissatisfied than yesterday.

I sighed softly, following her, and then quickly caught up behind her, just like yesterday.

-Splish.

I grabbed her wrist.

Though she was angrier than yesterday, she still didn’t shake off my hand.

-Whoosh!

Platinum blonde hair fluttered vigorously, and the sharp gaze of Eli, who had turned her double eyelids, was directed at me.

“What!”

In her sharp voice, I apologized to her again, filled with regret.

“I won’t accept it anymore. I really didn’t know today.”

“How can you receive something without knowing!”

“I don’t know. I was surprised too when you suddenly gave it to me while the kids were gathering in the morning.”

Actually, it should have been like this from the beginning, but I ended up like this unnecessarily because Eli’s face was scary at that time.

But I shouldn’t be thinking about this situation.

Eli, who was getting angry, was also cute and pretty. To the extent that the thought of wanting to draw this scene as a picture naturally came to mind.

Thanks to that, I almost laughed in the moment, but still, she listened to everything I said, even though she was upset.

I smiled brightly at my childhood friend.

“You know, let’s go buy some twisted bread together and play at the playground. Actually, I wanted to play with just the two of us today.”

“….”

“Oh right, you said you wanted to eat a lottery, right? Let’s eat that first. And while talking at the playground… do you want to go ride the seesaw with the money left over?”

I tried my best to persuade her. I told her a story that would make Eli feel good, but also a sincere story, and planned something that Eli would like, even if it wasn’t a big deal.

And as we practiced the proverb we learned in Korean class today, “You can’t spit on a smiling face,” I was smiling as brightly as possible.

“…Hey, Lee Doyoon.”

Finally, Eli’s tone became calm.

“Yeah.”

“I’ve told you many times that I don’t like it when you receive things from other kids, right?”

“Many times. I’m sorry.”

“You won’t accept them from now on? Really, for real?”

“I won’t accept them for real. I’ll definitely keep that promise. I’ll only accept what you give me.”

“This is the last time. If you break the promise again…”

-Thud

Elli takes a step closer. Our breaths mingle, our foreheads almost touching.

Platinum strands of hair cascade down beside her forehead, tickling my face, and only then do I see nothing but her azure eyes as our faces come so close.

She spoke.

“I know you won’t draw with me again.”

“…”

Faced with the most terrifying threat to me, I nodded vigorously.

It might seem trivial, but it was a threat more effective than anything else to me.

To the point where I silently vowed to somehow refuse in the future.

I knew she wouldn’t say things like not playing together anymore; it was unnecessary, given that Ellie liked me as much as I liked her.

Ellie often got sulky, always did as she pleased, and was stubborn.

But she never shook me with such words.

“Let’s go eat bungeoppang.”

“Yeah.”

With a still slightly displeased expression, she subtly extended her hand as if urging me to grab it.

– Firmly.

I took her hand, and we walked.

We went to the dalgona man near the playground, bought dalgona and one each of the bungeoppang, and entered.

And we…

Like the day we secretly hid under the structure parents couldn’t see when we were five, wanting to play more.

Under the slide, beneath the structure where we could hide our bodies.

Sitting side by side, bodies close, we shared stories.

“After we eat, let’s watch your favorite show and then draw.”

“Are you going to become an artist later? Why do you like drawing so much?”

“I won’t become an artist… I just find it fun.”

“You always loved it. Drawing something like Arangga.”

“Princess Arang? I still like her. I draw her every day.”

“You say you draw me every day!”

“You have to draw me too.”

“…Hmph.”

“There wasn’t any particular important or secretive reason for us to come inside.

We just really enjoyed these moments. Playing with the kids from school was fun, sure, but I, and Ellie too, enjoyed our time alone the most.

Anything I did with Ellie was enjoyable, and for Ellie… maybe because the friends at school weren’t yet ‘real friends’ to her.

We could play together for as long as we wanted, but for Ellie, the definition of ‘friend’ was quite strict.

I was the only one inside that ‘fence,’ even though, truth be told, I wasn’t entirely within it. Up until then, young Ellie and I hadn’t quite defined our feelings for each other.

We liked each other, but just to that extent.

“Idoyoon.”

“Yeah?”

“Should I model for you later?”

“Model?”

“Yeah, so later you can be my model for drawing… just something like that.”

“Model… wow, it suits you so well!”

“Suits me? Why? Because I’m pretty?”

“Yeah. You’re pretty and princess-like.”

“You always call me a princess. Stop watching animations.”

“But they’re fun… and what can I do if I really think that?”

“……”

“……”

A moment of silence ensued, both of them sitting there in a daze.

Even these quiet times without conversation didn’t feel uncomfortable. To deem this uncomfortable, we had spent too much time together.

– Swish, swoosh…

Just observing Ellie, who had begun tracing the sand with her fingers.

– Swoosh

I, too, beside her, started brushing the sand with my fingers.

– Gently

Without a word, we naturally held hands. Feeling the smoothness of each other’s palms.

And then, another moment of silence.

– Fiddling

“…Tickles, hey, it tickles.”

When I lightly tickled her hand with my fingers, Ellie let out a small laugh.

After that, Ellie tickled my hand too, playing around for a bit before she stood up.

“Let’s go home.”

“Aren’t you going to ride the swing?”

“No, let’s go to your house and draw.”

“Really? Now?”

“Hmph. I’ll model for you, so draw well. If it’s not pretty, I won’t let you draw next time.”

“I’ll draw well!”

We walked back home that way. As soon as we returned, we washed our hands, changed clothes.

I drew Ellie sitting on the bed in my room, drawing together with Ellie, and watched my favorite animation with her.

At night, we lay side by side and fell asleep.

And so, another day passed.

A page of memories turned.

***

And from the next day.

As I had promised, I steadfastly refused gifts, especially the questionable ones from my friends, mostly the girls.

Although at times, Lee Soo-yeon seemed more disappointed than anyone else with my firm attitude, I didn’t feel anything particularly strange at that time.

However, occasionally, I would still accept a little, and in doing so, I would comfort the sulking Ellie. Nevertheless, Ellie seemed somewhat satisfied with the decreased frequency.

In this way, day after day passed.

Our ordinary childhood flew by in the blink of an eye.

Time flew by swiftly, spending 3rd and 4th grades without a clear awareness of romantic relationships.

Entering November of 5th grade, when friends gradually began to clearly distinguish each other as ‘boys and girls.’

On Pepero Day at that time, there was no significant issue, as it was a trend for friends to share Pepero with each other rather than giving it to someone they liked.

And in the following year, 6th grade.

At the point when children began to truly realize the feeling of ‘liking someone.’

“They’re dating.”

People started saying the same thing, and although Ellie and I weren’t officially dating, there was a significant decrease in the thoughtless giving of things to us, which was not much different from dating.

Still, on Pepero Day, pretending to exchange with friends, both Ellie and I received various things.

Anyway, the sixth grade passed uneventfully.

And then, the time when transitioning from sixth grade to the first year of middle school.

Fortunately, Ellie was assigned to the same middle school and eagerly awaited the entrance ceremony, the spring vacation of the year she turned 14.

Just before Valentine’s Day in February.

Ellie said,

“I’m annoyed with Ido Yoon.”

“Why is Ellie annoyed with Doyoon again? We even made chocolates together with him and Mom yesterday.”

“I don’t know. He’s just really annoying.”

Pursing her lips like a duck, Ellie vented her dissatisfaction with her childhood friend to her mom, Jung Yerin.