Chapter 7
Chapter 7
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: Strawberry Scent
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Squish-
Before I could even register the thought of small and soft, I grabbed Han Seo-ah's hand as she tried to sit up from the bed, holding her down so she couldn't.
"Eek... Move, Jun-woo...! I just want to see what you were watching all night that was so fun...!"
"Hey...! No way. Not that, absolutely not...!"
This tiny hand—where does all that strength come from? As Han Seo-ah struggled to get up and I fought to keep her down, we both grunted in effort.
"Argh!"
Suddenly, Han Seo-ah went limp, and my hand, with nowhere to go, flailed through the air. In the end, my body pitched forward.
My left hand luckily landed softly on the bed,
but my right hand landed on something soft—
—Whoa, shit.
Big and soft—
"...Hah!"
"Gahhh!!!"
What was that just now it was insanely soft no no why did she suddenly go limp but it's this big disaster struck Han Seo-ah gonna slap me but still kinda worth it no first apologize strawberry scent on my hand or something—
Startled by the sudden lucky sukebe—no, accident—I jolted upright and immediately dropped into a dogeza bow in front of the bed.
"I'm sorry!!!!"
One second, three seconds, ten seconds.
Even after time dragged on enough to make my arms tremble in the suffocating silence, there was no response.
Thinking I was done for, I peeked up, and there was Han Seo-ah, her face and ears strawberry-red.
But not angry... more like embarrassed, shooting me a sharp glance.
"...How was it?"
"Wha... what?"
Ugh—
Still maintaining the dogeza and sweating bullets, I barely caught Han Seo-ah mumbling something softly.
"...How was it?"
"Hey, I'm really sorry, but you said it too quiet, I couldn't hear..."
"How... was it...!"
What?
"...What about?"
"Argh...! Just stop that and sit down properly...!"
Thought I was gonna die.
I released the dogeza and sat on the bedroom floor, rolling my stiff arms and neck. Han Seo-ah watched me with a dissatisfied, sulky expression.
"...Why?"
"Why are you sitting there?"
"...? Should I sit in the computer chair?"
I'd figured I'd have to sit on the floor like a criminal, but she wasn't as mad as I thought—my heart was lightening up—when
Smack smack—
Han Seo-ah slapped the bed beside her and said,
"You can just sit here."
"...That feels kinda...?"
Trouble.
A lot of it.
"Don't you know 'seven years old, boys and girls sit apart'?"
"Sit down already."
"My bed is comfy, though."
Couldn't argue anymore, so I quietly sat beside Han Seo-ah.
And then,
Try as I might not to be aware of it.
Try as I might not to look.
—I just grabbed that.
Slap! Slap!
"Kyaa! Wh-what? Why all of a sudden?!"
"Nothing. Just zoned out for a sec."
The sharp slaps to my cheeks snapped me back to reality.
And in that moment, catching a whiff of strawberry scent proved it wasn't a dream—so I slapped the other cheek with my left hand, finally clearing the haze from my mind.
Ow, that hurts...!
"...So, what were you gonna say?"
Having chased out the brain gremlins with pain, I turned my head, and there she was.
So close that a slight dip would bring our lips together—a face I'd known for thirteen years but never gotten used to—my childhood friend looking at me bashfully.
—Trouble.
"How was it...?"
As she gripped the hem of my shirt lightly, as if telling me not to run away from the question I pretended not to hear.
It wasn't a tight grip, for sure.
But it felt like even all my strength couldn't break free from her.
"...What's the point of saying it. I'm crazy."
"Pfft."
I surrendered and spat out the honest truth with an eh, whatever shrug, and seeing Han Seo-ah laugh out loud at my state made something itch deep in my chest.
"Crazy?"
"Yeah. Crazy. Can't describe it any other way."
As I muttered that it was more than just nice, she beamed happily, clearly pleased, and I couldn't help but smile too.
"Good. Yeah, that's fine."
"Good how? Wait, more importantly, you're not mad?"
"...? Why would I be mad?"
Like a thief with guilty feet, I brought it up first, and Han Seo-ah tilted her head, looking at me like I'd said something random.
What? Was it a dream after all?
I sniffed my right hand again, wondering, and sure enough, a faint strawberry scent lingered.
"...What're you doing?"
"...It's important."
"You thought I'd get mad?"
She asked with genuine curiosity, making me want to ask the same.
"It's... your precious... you know. And I went and... grabbed it. You're really not mad?"
I lumped it vaguely, too chicken to name the body part or spell out the situation.
"Why would I be mad? It's gonna happen someday anyway..."
"...Someday?"
I blinked in confusion, and Han Seo-ah giggled softly, pressing a slender finger to my lips.
"...Secret. You can look forward to it."
—Ah. Rising.
Behind my smiling childhood friend,
I swear I saw nine tails swishing gently.
#32 "Jun-woo. So, about the porn?"
Oh crap.
That's what started this mess.
I'd forgotten after that super-effective shock therapy.
"...Didn't you give up on that?"
I cautiously resisted, thinking that at least that was non-negotiable.
"Hmm... So after saying all that to me, you still can't quit porn? Got it."
Han Seo-ah looked up at me with icy eyes like a snow woman, so different from the seductive fox spirit moments ago that I wondered if it was the same girl.
"Hey, Han Seo-ah—no, Seo-ah. You wouldn't get it, but it's not something you can just delete willy-nilly? It's not like a computer virus you zap away~ it's art, each one carefully curated...!"
"Jun-woo."
I got heated trying to persuade her, my voice rising, but she cut me off sharply, making me flinch—yet I didn't back down.
It was worth standing firm for.
My ideal paradise that I had to protect.
"Look, even if you were my girlfriend, why would you—!"
"If I'm your girlfriend, is that okay?"
"Huh?"
"If I'm your girlfriend. Would that work, Jun-woo?"
Something.
Something felt off, but I ignored the feeling.
Right now, protecting the girls who'd been with me all this time was priority.
"If my future girlfriend hates it or whatever, then yeah, no choice...!"
I couldn't bring myself to say the cruel word delete.
Then,
"Hmm. Jun-woo. You said it. You have to keep that promise, right?"
Her eyes sparkled like gotcha, and for some reason, cold sweat poured down my body.
"Y-yeah."
#33 Somehow, I managed to protect them? And then.
After my parents got home from work and we ate dinner together, I finally sent Han Seo-ah home.
My parents, having known her since she was little, adored her completely.
Heck, sometimes it felt like they liked her more than me?
Even setting aside that she'd been my childhood friend forever, there was no reason to dislike Han Seo-ah.
Pretty, polite to elders, great personality, good at studies...
The more I thought of her virtues, the more I wanted to look away from them.
Staring straight would make it hard to hide these feelings.
—Cowardly bastard.
I didn't feel inadequate or lacking.
I'd gotten confessions myself—not on her level, but objectively, I was pretty decent.
Just...
Childhood friend.
This long, precious relationship we had as childhood friends.
Like shackles cursed with an unbreakable spell, binding me tight.
I couldn't escape.
I hated imagining someone else beside you,
but couldn't picture myself without you either.
A coward without the guts to break the curse for a happy ending just runs and keeps running.
"Ha... shit."
Just earlier, I'd been perfectly happy and having fun.
But that tiny spark had ballooned, filling my head, and putting out the fire was tough.
Times like this call for—
"Porn."
Han Seo-ah? Who's that.
I'm invincible. Porn is god.
I sat in the chair, booted up the PC, and opened the folder where my girls waited.
[Straightforward]
Old-school enough that someone might say who hides folders like that these days,
but that's why I liked it.
Classics work forever because they're classics.
Heart pounding, I dove in, ready for some American adventures today,
when my eyes caught my longer-time childhood friend, (R)ight Hand.
I cautiously lifted it and sniffed—faint, but... no, maybe it was gone already.
But strawberry scent seemed to linger.
Ah, what a futile act.
Bid farewell to the unknown girl on screen, shut down the computer, and lay in bed.
Then, a sweet scent wafted as if patting me for a job well done, letting me close my eyes peacefully and drift off.
That night, Han Seo-ah appeared in my dreams.