Time Has Flown By
The day after returning from the amusement park.
Today was Children's Day, but since we had visited the amusement park yesterday, I decided to spend the day relaxing at home.
However, I stepped outside.
I had picked up the gift I was going to give to Sia.
I headed toward Sia's house, carrying a shopping bag filled with a handmade fox plush and a princess crown meant for her.
Ding.
“Here!”
After ringing the doorbell and waiting, the auntie opened the door.
“Oh, Siwoo! Come in. Isn't the outside a bit warm?”
“I'm fine, really!”
“Good, come on in. I'll peel some fruit for you.”
“Thank you.”
As I stepped inside the house, Sia came out from her room too.
“Ah, here’s the gift.”
“Ah… yeah, come on in.”
Sia gestured for me to enter her room.
I normally didn't play in her room much, but I didn't think too much about it and went inside.
Sia's room was neat and tidy.
Matching that cleanliness, her bed, desk, and closet were all white.
Even though I'd been to her room a few times before, I thought maybe it had changed a little… but there was no real difference.
The only minor change was that she'd added a simple vanity.
I sat quietly and looked around a bit.
“Want some fruit?”
The auntie brought over some fruit.
I accepted it and set it on the desk…
“……”
“……”
There… really wasn't anything to talk about.
Feeling awkward, I turned my gaze away, but then my eyes landed on the shopping bag I was carrying.
I figured I should show her the gift I'd brought, so I quickly pulled out the items from the bag.
“T-there… these are things I bought as a gift. Want to see?”
“…Yeah.”
Sia sat down beside me.
The room suddenly felt a little smaller, and I was a bit startled, but I didn't show it as I handed her the items one by one.
The first one was the fox plush.
“This is cute, right?”
“…Yeah.”
“I was actually going to get a cat, but there wasn't one… so I got a fox instead. What do you think?”
“I don't really like foxes…”
“Oh… really? I'm sorry, I didn't know. Well then…”
“But since you gave it to me, I like it. Thank you.”
“Ah… yeah… I'm glad.”
Sia hugged the plush tightly to her chest.
As she turned her head my way, I noticed her sweet smile.
My heart, which had been beating quietly, suddenly started racing like a roller coaster.
I ignored the pounding in my chest and handed her the princess crown.
“This one, how about it?”
“This is… a tiara?”
“A tiara? You call that a tiara?”
“Yeah… my mom called it that.”
“Oh… yeah, it's a tiara as a gift.”
“……”
“Oh… do you not like it?”
“Siwoo, put it on me.”
“…Me?”
“Yeah, put it on me, Siwoo.”
“Ah… yeah, okay.”
I carefully placed the tiara on Sia's head.
I was putting it on slowly.
But.
“Oh.”
Since it was the first time, I dropped it because I couldn't get it on properly.
“It's okay if you go slow, so put it on.”
“Ah… okay.”
Following Sia's words, I placed the tiara on her head slowly.
It was a bit big for her head, but it fit perfectly.
“It fits perfectly.”
“Really? How do I look?”
“…Like a princess.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Really? Ehehe… good.”
Sia smiled brightly and pulled the fox plush even closer to her.
I found Sia's appearance incredibly beautiful.
The sunlight coming in from the window reflected off the tiara on her head, sparkling like a scene from a fairy tale.
“Thank you, Siwoo.”
“It's nothing special.”
“Still… thank you. I'll cherish it.”
“Yeah.”
After that, Sia and I chatted happily in her room.
◇◇◇◇◇◇◇
Time flew by, and soon we were in sixth grade.
It was now late October, when the weather had started to turn a bit cool.
When this year ended, Sia and I would become middle school students.
I closed my eyes and thought back. Elementary school entrance ceremony felt like yesterday, yet I still couldn't believe how much time had passed.
While lost in those old memories and spinning the pencil…
Sia, who had been chatting with the girls, came over to me.
“What are you doing, Siwoo?”
“Just… solving some problems.”
“Oh~… what kind of problem?”
“Just… middle school ones?”
“Oh~…”
“It's nothing special. It's just first-year middle school problems.”
“Even so, solving middle school problems is impressive.”
“Thanks for saying that. But Sia, are you studying for middle school too?”
“……”
“Don't hold back, okay…”
“Kkuong… I'm trying, but I can't solve them well.”
“Then bring them to me, I'll teach you.”
“No way, I'm refusing. I don't feel like solving them right now…”
“Well… that's fine.”
I closed the workbook and said.
“But what's up?”
“Let's go play in the city together!”
“…It's currently school…”
“Hey! We're talking after school!”
We'd finished our midterms for the second semester recently.
Today was Friday, so we only had fifth period, and even our teacher had some work so we were in self-study.
Everyone was busy playing with their own groups, so they didn't pay much attention to us when we talked.
I glanced at the other kids and told Sia.
“Where are we going?”
“The city!”
“Where in the city?”
“Um… I just wanted to play with you…”
“…Yeah, let's go…”
Even though Sia said that, I knew she wasn't the type to make plans without thinking, so there must be something she wanted to do.
What worried me a little was the other kids.
Since we became sixth graders, the way other kids looked at Sia and me had been changing.
Well… the reason was obviously Sia.
There was nothing wrong with Sia… she just looked really pretty.
Of course, she'd been pretty since she was little, but as she grew older, her beauty only seemed to get more stunning.
Back when she had short hair, now it reached her shoulders, and her facial features had become sharper and clearer.
So she caught the eyes of kids from other classes too.
What if, during the sports festival, most kids' gazes turned to Sia…?
Because of that Sia, when we spent time together I ended up getting a lot of looks too.
Of course, they were the jealous kind.
I received the most from the boys in our class, but that was only early in the semester.
At the beginning of the semester, kids who didn't know about Sia and me would stare, but once they found out we'd been childhood friends since we were little, the stares faded.
Of course, they didn't disappear completely. The reason was because Sia only played with me.
So the stares from boys never really went away.
Without meaning to, I became the enemy of the boys, so I didn't get along well with them and instead became close with the girls around Sia.
It wasn't on purpose, but just being around Sia naturally led to chatting.
Now, though, instead of the boys' stares, Sia's stares felt really intense.
Like she was saying not to talk to anyone but her, making me feel nervous… but if she joined in, she wouldn't send those looks.
I thought living with Sia like this was really nice.
Well… of course there were both good and bad points now….
Still, I thought there were more good points, like how Sia would take good care of me on special days.
Valentine's Day, White Day… and soon Pepero Day.
Especially Sia seemed to take Pepero Day on November 11th the most seriously.
When I asked why, she said… it was just because Pepero snacks were tasty… she really was Sia.
Speaking of which… Pepero Day was coming up soon.
A day like this where people exchanged Pepero sticks as a gift.
Of course, it wasn't a real holiday, just made for marketing by companies, but people seemed to be enjoying it happily.
Sia and I had been exchanging Pepero since second grade.
In first grade, I didn't know about Pepero Day so I couldn't take care of her properly.
Plus, remembering this would be our last Pepero Day in elementary school, I thought I should make sure Sia remembered it as a special one.
Since Sia and I were going to the city to play together, I figured I'd look for a good idea while we were there.
After school, Sia and I stopped by her house for a bit.
Along with the purpose of leaving our backpacks.
“I'll change clothes! It's itchy from gym class.”
Because Sia went to change clothes saying she felt itchy.
I was fine since I had clothes to change into, but Sia said she wanted to shower…
I sat on Sia's house sofa for a bit and looked at my phone.
Sia had already prepared her change of clothes and towel and gone to the bathroom.
The auntie had gone out too, saying she had a meeting with the other aunties at the same time we came in.
The situation of just the two of us being a little awkward, so I was searching for ideas for Pepero Day on my phone.
I looked around, and one phrase caught my eye. It was right there.
“This year's Pepero Day gift, how about handmade Pepero?”
“Handmade… Pepero…”
I thought buying handmade Pepero as a gift for this year wouldn't be bad.