At Fourteen, We Slowly Begin to Realize Our Feelings (4)
After polishing off the pizza that had been delivered late for dinner, I checked the time and saw it was already eight in the evening. Normally, Aki would start saying her goodbyes around now and head home, but for some reason today she followed me all the way up to the second floor where my room was. …What’s going on? Is she not leaving?
Usually after we ate, it was my routine to walk her all the way to her front door, so I’d been getting ready to do that. I was curious about what was happening, but first I opened the door for her, let her sit on the bed, and pulled the chair from my desk over. Scrape.
“It’s already eight. Aren’t you going home?” I asked, glancing at the darkened window outside. Aki nodded immediately.
“Nope. Not going.”
“Huh? Why?”
“Mama and Papa said they’re going on a date and will be back late, so they told me to sleep over at Wooju~chan’s house tonight.”
“I didn’t hear anything about that…”
“I only got the text a little while ago too. Want to see, Wooju~chan?”
Aki pulled her phone out of her skirt pocket, tapped something on the screen, and held it out to me. Curious, I leaned in for a closer look. It was a message from Aki’s mother to her. To summarize, it basically said: [Looks like we’ll be out late, so go crash at Wooju’s place~]
[Looks like we'll be out late, so go crash at Wooju's place~]
— Aki's Mom
“See? It’s true, right?”
“Yeah… I guess so.”
Aki’s parents really got along as well as my own mom and dad. I had to admit it.
“Alright. Hang on, I’ll call my parents real quick.”
It wouldn’t matter if Mom and Dad were home, but they weren’t right now. No matter how close we were as childhood friends, I couldn’t just let a girl sleep over without permission. I figured I should at least explain the situation and get their okay.
At that moment, Aki gently grabbed my sleeve.
“You don’t need to call, Wooju~chan. I already got permission.”
“…Huh?”
“Here.”
She slid the screen sideways to show me another set of messages. It was the conversation between Aki and my mom.
[Sorry for texting so late, ma'am. If it's not too much trouble, would it be okay if I stayed the night at your house?]
[Of course it's fine! Our Aki can sleep over anytime~]
[Thank you so much, ma'am! Have a lovely evening with Dad~!]
[You too, Aki. Have a lovely evening with Wooju~ (dog winking emoji)]
“……”
After reading the exchange between Aki and my mom, I was completely speechless. Wait, I’m the one who’d be sharing a house with her—why didn’t they ask for my opinion on the most important part? It was ridiculous that my feelings had been completely ignored. But what really got me was that Mom had used emojis—ones she never used with me—while chatting with Aki.
It wasn’t that I was upset over something so childish at my age, but… how should I put it? It felt like I was being pushed to the sidelines. Just the fact that they’d only told Aki they were going out proved it. They never used to do that when I was younger. Lately, though, I couldn’t shake the feeling that they were doting on Aki more than me…
“…Why do they text her more than me?”
“More than who? Wooju~chan! Are we strangers now?!”
“What? No, that’s not what I meant…”
I tried to explain but ended up shutting my mouth. Adding any more details would just make my head hurt even worse.
“Where are you going, Wooju~chan?”
“To brush my teeth. Gotta get ready for bed.”
“Ohh, I see. What time do you usually go to sleep, Wooju~chan?”
“Usually ten. Eleven if I’m up late… What about you, Aki?”
“I go to bed at nine thirty. No later than ten, no matter what.”
We’d been texting each other goodnight around nine every evening, but this was the first time we’d actually learned each other’s exact bedtime. My other friends often stayed up until eleven or even one in the morning, so yeah—Aki’s schedule seemed pretty early to me.
“You go to bed really early, Aki. Do you actually get sleepy by then?”
“Yeah. It’s a habit now. Once it hits nine, I start feeling drowsy. Sometimes I force myself to sleep even if I’m not tired.”
“Really? Why force it?”
I picked up the tumbler on my desk, took a sip of water, and asked. Aki placed her right hand over her chest.
“Mama told me that girls who go to bed early and get lots of sleep will develop bigger breasts.”
“……”
I nearly spat out my water. I thought I misheard her… I quickly set the tumbler down and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. Whether she noticed how flustered I was or not, Aki kept talking with her hand still resting on her chest.
“She said growth hormones start being released around ten o’clock, which makes you taller and more developed like Mama. That’s why I’ve had a strict ten o’clock bedtime since I was little.”
“I-I see…?”
“Yep! So you should go to bed as early as possible too, Wooju~chan!”
“Uh, sure…”
This topic was getting way too awkward to keep discussing. I gave a vague reply and slipped into the second-floor bathroom.
——Creak.
Splash, shaaaa—
I turned on the faucet, squeezed toothpaste onto my brush, and started brushing while my mind wandered. …Breasts, huh.
I’d heard that sleeping early helps you grow taller, but this was the first time I’d ever heard it made your chest bigger. I always thought growth hormones only affected height. Did they work differently for girls…? Maybe I’d look it up later out of curiosity.
With that idle thought in mind, I rinsed my mouth with water from the cup and spat it out. Then, to look a little more presentable, I washed my face with soap and let my imagination run wild.
Aki was still only fourteen. If she kept going to bed early like she did today and grew up to be as beautiful as her mom…
Well, she’s already really cute right now…
Anyway, if she grew up looking just like her mother, I wondered what she’d look like in the future.
“……”
There was no doubt she’d be incredibly pretty. She already got confessions from boys in other classes sometimes. In a few years, she’d probably become the kind of beautiful girl that could captivate anyone. I had no real basis for it, but somehow I felt certain.
“Hmm…”
She shouldn’t get too pretty, though. If she became even more popular, she might forget all about the times she used to hang out with me.
——Wooju~chan, are you still in there~~?
“Ah, sorry! I’ll be right out!”
I snapped out of my daze when I heard Aki’s voice. I hurriedly rinsed off the soap, dried my face with a towel, and even checked myself in the mirror just in case before heading back to my room.
“I’m back, Aki.”
“Come here and sit down, Wooju~chan.”
As I walked over like she asked, I noticed she’d changed clothes. She’d been wearing her school uniform when I left, but now she was in pink pajamas that matched the color of her hair.
“Huh? Aki, when did you change?”
“While you were washing up, I went downstairs, took a shower, and changed too. By the way, Wooju~chan… did you fall over or something while you were in there?”
“What? No, why?”
“You were in there for almost twenty minutes, so I thought maybe you had an accident. Never mind then!”
“……”
I’d only brushed my teeth and washed my face, yet twenty minutes had passed. Had I really been spacing out that long?
“Sorry. I guess I was being too thorough and lost track of time.”
“Hmmm, is that so…?”
Suddenly Aki started staring at me with a meaningful look. The intensity of her gaze made me feel awkward, so I asked sheepishly.
“What is it, Aki?”
“Nothing. You said you were being really thorough… so I got curious.”
“You’re curious if I actually washed up properly?”
“Nooo, I’m curious why you were being so thorough~?”
She drew out her words and leaned her upper body slightly toward me.
“Is it because… you’re nervous about sleeping in the same bed as me…?”
“…What are you talking about? I’m sleeping on the floor with my own blanket.”
“Eh?! Why?!”
When I pulled back a little and answered plainly, Aki’s eyes widened in genuine shock. I stood up, pulled a spare blanket out of the closet, and replied in a tone that said it should’ve been obvious.
“We’re both fourteen now. We should sleep separately. We’re not kindergarteners anymore—we can’t keep sharing a bed forever, right?”
…Though honestly, it’s because I’m way too aware of you now.
Back when we were innocent, I could share a bed with Aki without any impure thoughts. But after hitting puberty, I knew too much to treat her with that same pure mindset. In short, sleeping next to her made me hyper-aware of everything.
Especially since Aki had started developing slight curves lately. Sharing a bed with her now felt like it would lead to weird feelings. Actually… I was already halfway there.
“Anyway, the bed’s too small. Starting tonight, we sleep separately.”
“…But there’s plenty of room for Wooju~chan and me!”
“Plenty? It’s a super single. We’d be practically glued together. It’d be super uncomfortable.”
“Does sleeping with me make you uncomfortable, Wooju~chan? Is that it?”
“Aki, are you really going to act like a little kid right now?”
“Yes. I’m still a child. Fourteen is still a kid, right?”
“In the old days, that was old enough to get married. Fourteen means you’re basically grown up.”
“…Ugh.”
After hearing me, Aki puffed out her cheeks and stared at me like she was deeply displeased. I immediately sensed what that meant. If I put her to bed like this, she’d definitely be sulking by tomorrow morning.
…I only just got her out of her sulk earlier.
I couldn’t let her stay mad over something as trivial as sleeping arrangements. I set my blanket down on the floor and thought it over—some way to soothe her without giving in on sleeping separately.
“……”
“……”
Hmm. Was there even a way…?
“…Wooju~chan you idiot, sea cucumber, sea anemone.”
“……”
“You said you’d marry me. You said we’d get married. And now you’re changing your mind after just one day, you liar.”
“Idiot idiot, total idiot, Wooju~chan hentai.”
“…Ah.”
Right. There was a way. After listening to Aki’s adorable insults, a single brilliant idea flashed through my mind.
It was simple: I’d become a pervert.
…The wording sounds a little off, but whatever.
Obviously I wouldn’t actually become one. I’d just pretend.
“Hey, Aki.”
Having made up my mind, I looked straight down at her and spoke.
“If I sleep with you, I’m going to do weird stuff.”
“…Weird stuff?”
Aki, who had been in the middle of scolding me, stopped talking. I met her eyes and deliberately spoke slowly, dragging out each word.
“Like touching you. Groping you. Blowing in your ear. Stuff like that. …Even if you tell me to stop, I won’t.”
“E-ehh…?!”
Just as I expected, Aki’s face turned bright red in an instant. Seeing my chance, I slowly stepped closer to drive the point home.
“So? Still want to sleep with me, Aki?”
“……”
She just stared at me with that flushed face, saying nothing. …This should be far enough. I could tell her it was a joke now. If I pushed any harder, she might actually get angry.
With that thought, I stopped where I was and opened my mouth.
“So from now on, Aki…”
“…I-I’d be okay with it!”
But Aki spoke first.
“If it’s with Wooju~chan… just a little bit… would be…”
Her face still burning red, she glanced at me shyly, fidgeting with her fingers in the cutest way possible.
“…fine?”
“……”
…Wait, what?