My Platinum-Blond Childhood Friend Is So Pretty

9 – 03. We Like Each Other But We Don’t Date, Our Fourteen-Year-Old Selves – 2

If a stranger who knows nothing saw it, he would have appeared to be a delinquent boy around high school age, coming to cause trouble.

But as for me,

“Jungwoo hyung!”

Though he looked scary, he surprisingly friendly, so I cheerfully called out to my neighbor’s older brother.

Upon hearing my spirited voice, Jungwoo hyung raised the corners of his mouth and smiled.

“It’s not even Valentine’s Day yet, but I see you walking around with chocolates. You’re gonna be blamed by her again.”

“Eli will understand.”

“What’s there to understand? The other day you were glaring at her sister who lives in apartment 508 just because you talked to her.”

I teased my hyung playfully and stood there for a moment, chatting with him.

Jungwoo hyung. His name is Seo Jungwoo.

In this apartment building where there are fourteen floors, our house is 501, and Eli’s house is 502. And this hyung lives at 506, on the opposite side of the corridor from us, having moved in two years ago.

He is four years older than us, a second-year high school student this year.

If you ask how I became close with Jungwoo hyung… Well, to be honest, not only him but I’m on good terms with all the neighbors who live on the same floor.

For a few years now, Eli and I have been going to various places together, and as we walked around, we naturally started greeting each other whenever we bumped into someone.

By passing by like that and exchanging greetings with Jungwoo hyung a few times, he started treating me as if he knew me, even buying snacks for me occasionally.

Since he told me to just speak comfortably, we naturally started speaking in casual language.

“Did you see it?”

“I tried to walk past her, but I was afraid she would hit me, so I just went out and killed time. Your girlfriend is still fierce.”

“She’s not my girlfriend. And Eli is nice.”

“…Well, forget it. She’ll figure it out on her own.”

-Hmm

Jungwoo hyung let out a little chuckle at my response, then messed up my hair.

As he affectionately ruffled my hair and tried to walk past me, a faint scent of cigarettes drifted from him.

“Hyung, did you smoke again?”

“Can you smell it a lot?”

“A little.”

“Hey, I should go outside and get some fresh air.”

“Do you like smoking? You keep smoking even though our older sister scolds you all the time.”

“No, I don’t. Not tasty at all. Don’t think about it, will you?”

“I won’t. Elly said she’ll kill anyone who touches it.”

“Yeah, you better listen to your girlfriend.”

“She’s not my girlfriend, jeez.”

“Whatever, man.”

As they chatted, Hyung called the elevator.

And while waiting, he suddenly looked at me as if something came to mind and spoke.

“Are you going to middle school this year?”

“Yeah. I’ll be a middle school student this year.”

“Hmm… It’s a bit early, but if you ever want to start a band, let me know. I’ll join you.”

“A band? But I don’t know how to do anything.”

“As a vocalist. I heard you sang with Alicia and Kono last month, and you were good.”

“Huh? How did you know?”

“I passed by and saw you guys going in, so I listened for a bit in the next room. Anyways, let me know if you’re interested. It’s quite fun. It’s also okay to learn an instrument.”

“An instrument… But I’ll be in grade 7, is that okay?”

“What does that matter? I bought a cheap electric guitar and practiced since grade 7. And it’s just for fun, so it’s okay. Not many people continue doing it, so we lack members too.”

As he spoke, I looked at Hyung who was excitedly holding a guitar case on his back.

Seeing the cool appearance of Jung Woo Hyung, I couldn’t help but be interested.

Elly sometimes plays with girls, so maybe I should try it too? Although I don’t have much time for drawing…

Speaking of which, I heard there are clubs in middle school.

“Should I ask Elly? About Hyung and the band…”

“No, hey! Don’t tell her I said that! Why is this guy trying to assassinate someone… No, maybe I’m the only one who can say such things to you.”

After a moment of contemplation, as if thinking deeply, Hyung shook his head and spoke with resignation.

“Ah, whatever. Do as you please. If you want, tell her to learn the bass. Then I’m off.”

“Yeah. See you next time!”

“Do that.”

As I waved goodbye to Jung Woo Hyung getting on the elevator, I turned my body to go back home.

“Ah.”

I remembered what I had forgotten while engrossed in the conversation with the girls and Jungwoo hyung.

Ellie’s voice echoed in my mind, her voice was already annoyingly sharp in the morning.

“Do you want to die?”

Ellie’s expressionless face flashed through my mind, and I hurriedly ran home.

I had already been in a bad mood since morning, and I couldn’t imagine how much worse it would be now that I was even later than I thought.

I quickly opened the door and went inside, throwing the chocolates that my mom had given me in the kitchen as if tossing them.

“Mom! Look at this!”

“Our handsome son already received chocolates? Let’s see, which mischievous foxes tried to seduce our son~ Taehui? Jieuni? Or Soyeon?”

“All of them! I’m going to play with Ellie!”

“…Is it only because Ellie is there? Is it fortunate, instead?”

Although my mom muttered with a complex expression, I didn’t have time to pay attention to her and rushed out of the house and ran straight to the next door.

– Beep, beep, beep… Ddara-rang!

Without having to ring the bell, I naturally entered the password and went in.

The auntie sitting on the sofa in the living room with a strange smile caught my attention first, and Ellie was slowly approaching in front of her.

“Sorry for being late!”

I immediately apologized to Ellie. I broke my promise of coming quickly, and I should have at least sent a text if I was going to be late, but I forgot because I was too caught up in conversation.

When our eyes met like that, I handed her the apology.

“…It’s okay.”

She trembled the corners of her mouth, trying her best to make a smile.

It was a bit eerie, but even that eeriness was cute from 14-year-old Ellie.

***

Something was off.

Until this morning when I received the girls’ texts and left, Ellie was annoyed, saying, “Reject them quickly and come back. If you’re late, you’ll lose your life.”

But now that I came back, she was very obedient.

Her distinctively sharp face remained, but everything else seemed different from the morning. No, even the sharpness in her face had significantly lessened.

I was certain that she would scold me for giving chocolates to those girls and ask if I would eat them deliciously one by one.

“Oh? You changed your clothes too?”

Now that I looked closely, her outfit was different from the morning. In the morning, she was wearing a Nike tracksuit set, but now she had on light-colored jeans and a white knit sweater.

It felt more like we were strolling around Hongdae, not a playground or a park… Oh!

“Are you going out? Shall we play outside?”

As soon as the thought reached there, Ellie felt like she had dressed up to go play outside and got out of bed.

To let off steam and get rid of the annoying feeling from not being able to play.

However.

-Kkwak

Ellie grabbed my arm and made me sit back on the bed.

“Don’t go out.”

“Stay and play at home? But why did you change your clothes?”

“…Just because. Hey, Yido-yoon.”

“What?”

“……”

“Why?”

“…Do you want to draw? Or, we can watch a cartoon or anime that you want to see… Like we talked about doing together last time.”

“……??”

Although I had spent a long time with Ellie, it was difficult to understand the ever-changing emotions of her today.

I either had to diligently stick to her to soothe her, or I had to listen to her grumbling for a few hours to relieve the frustration.

What had happened in the meantime?

I thought it was strange, but that thought was just for a moment. The simple joy overpowered the strangeness.

Ellie directly suggested that we watch animations I liked together, not from outside but inside.

Since it was rare for Ellie to be this generous, I unconsciously thought, “Is it my birthday in December?” and started counting the dates. Of course, it wasn’t my birthday.

“Really?”

“Really.”

“For real?”

“If you ask again, I’ll just go play outside.”

“Oh, no! Let’s go! We’re going to watch it at our place?”

“Yeah.”

She answered without meeting my gaze in a rather odd way. Her cheeks were slightly red as well. It felt endearing, as if something was tickling.

Anyway, I got up from my seat, excited about something unexpected.

And just as I was about to leave, Ellie, who was sitting on the bed, extended her hand to me without saying a word.

“……”

Since the end of last year, except when there were only the two of us, we had stopped holding hands or hugging each other.

I was fine, but Ellie had started feeling embarrassed about showing that to other people or family members.

So, during our walk, at a time when it was certain that someone like Grandma or our mom would see, Ellie rarely did such things lately.

But I was still too young to figure out why Ellie was holding out her hand now, and to analyze and worry about it one by one.

Furthermore, I really liked Ellie.

– Kkok

So, without saying anything, I held Ellie’s hand, and Ellie naturally held mine back.

With our hands connected like that, we came out of the room together.

“Hmm? Are you going to play outside?”

“We’re going to play at our house.”

“Oh, really? Have fun playing, then. By the way, can you tell your mom to come here?”

“Yes, I will.”

The lady who saw us holding hands smiled as if amused and said.

And as soon as we arrived at our house, while the lady glanced at us, our mom looked at us with wandering eyes.

“Mom, the lady asked us to come over.”

“Hmm! I see. Since mom is going there to play, you two play together. And have some chocolate snacks that our son brought for us!”

The sight of our mom grumbling as if she didn’t like it, like Ellie, was not an uncommon scene.

My mom, who loved me a lot, sometimes got jealous of other girls or Ellie.

So, without paying much attention, as I was about to go into the room as it was.

– Kwaahh…!

“Ah-…!”

“Hey.”

“Why, why?”

“Chocolate. How many did you bring?”

“…Five.”

Her grip on my hand seemed strong enough to break it, her gaze turned cold, her voice froze.

In Ellie’s anger, which had now become familiar to me, I wondered if she was trying to scold me belatedly.

But Ellie didn’t get angry.

“…Huh. Fine. Let’s go.”

“…What’s wrong?”

“What is it?”

“Oh, nothing. It’s nothing at all.”

“Aren’t you going? You said let’s draw.”

“Yeah… Let’s go.”

Taking a deep breath, we entered the room together. On the desk, there were various art supplies and instructional books scattered around, and the bookshelf was filled with comic books in my room.

What on earth is going on?

As I entered the room with her, I began to wonder if the girl in front of me was really Ellie.

Ellie, who was trying to hold back her emotions in front of me just a moment ago, was really, really rare.

Despite my growing doubts, I quickly forgot and played with Ellie.

Just like before, watching animations together, browsing through YouTube, or drawing. Doing such peaceful indoor activities.

Having a pleasant day, like naturally giving up when I saw Ellie in the morning.

And when it was time to go back.

Today, for some reason, Ellie, who usually couldn’t stay calm, told me before going home.

“Wait here tomorrow afternoon at one o’clock.”

“One o’clock? Isn’t it in the morning?”

“Just stay here and don’t go anywhere. If you’re not here, I’ll die.”

“Got it.”

If Ellie tells me to wait, of course I’ll wait obediently.

Blushing slightly, she insisted several times.

***

The next day.

Valentine’s Day.

I was sure I would play with Ellie, and I quietly waited in the room with a slightly excited heart, even though it was ordinary but still Valentine’s Day.

And when the promised time of one o’clock came.

“Ellie! You, you! Why did you make yourself so pretty! Seriously, look at your hair! You even went to the salon with Yerin!”

“I’m going to play with Doyoon.”

“How could I not know? Your mom told me everything yesterday! I won’t allow it! Just beads, just beads!”

“I don’t want to!”

“No way! Just try me! I’ll ask Doyoon about it soon!”

-Thump

After hearing the lively chatter between my mom and Ellie, the door opened.

Of course, the one who came in was Ellie.

“Wow…”

“……What?”

“No…”

Ellie was Ellie, but there was something different about her today.

Just as my mom had mentioned earlier.

“Well…um…”

Her normally long hair was neatly styled, giving off a slightly more elegant feel. She also had a slightly nicer fragrance and had dressed up a bit more than usual.

I used to think of Ellie as cute and pretty whenever I described her.

But today, the term “cute” didn’t come to mind.

Yes.

She was just beautiful.

She looked at me with a slightly shy and chubby face.

My beautiful childhood friend with platinum blonde hair was just too pretty.