After School with My Childhood Friend (0)

The place Ham Jieun had brought me to was the school store just outside the main building. It was still the very start of the semester, so aside from the lunch lady there wasn't another soul in sight. Everyone else was probably too busy trying to make friends to come here anyway, so just like Ham Jieun had said, it really was the perfect spot for the two of us to talk alone.

But what exactly is she planning to talk about that she dragged me all the way out here?

If it was nothing important she could have just said it somewhere nearby. I sat on the bench, spacing out while thinking along those lines, when the slap of slippers against the floor echoed from behind me. Speak of the devil—Ham Jieun, who had told me to wait here a moment, had returned.

I glanced back and saw her holding two beverage cans, one in each hand.

"It's quiet right now since no one's around, right?"

"Yeah... it is pretty quiet."

"It's always like this on days like today. Everyone's busy chatting and getting to know each other in their classrooms, so no one comes to the store. Once people settle in a bit more it'll get packed, though. The quiet only lasts for this exact moment."

"You sound awfully used to this."

She was a first-year just like me.

"Hehe... Here, have one."

Ham Jieun held out one of the cans. The aluminum surface carried a printed slogan:

It was a polarizing menthol drink with a strong minty taste and scent. I didn't take it right away and simply stared. Misreading my gaze, Ham Jieun tilted her head and shook the can.

"What? Not thirsty? Or do you not like snacks?"

"Yeah, I'm not really into snacks."

"Really? You look like you'd love food."

"What part of me looks like that...?"

"You're tall, broad-chested, and your shoulders are huge. In my experience, big strong guys like you always light up when you give them something to eat."

Big and strong?

People had called me model-like before, but this was the first time I'd heard big and strong. I almost shot back with Maybe you just think that because you're so short, but saying something like that to a girl I'd barely met felt way too rude.

"Anyway, does that mean you won't drink it?"

"......"

It was a kind gesture. Refusing felt wrong. I hid my reluctance as best I could, accepted the can with a neutral expression, and took a sip.

"How is it? Good, right?"

"Yeah... it's good."

"Hehe, see? This is my all-time favorite drink. I drink it on stream all the time."

"You drink this every day?"

"Yeah, it's delicious. But people always complain, asking why I only drink this. They say it smells like bathroom air freshener and can't understand what's good about it."

"Well... everyone has different tastes, I guess?"

I gave a vague answer because I had no idea what else to say. Ham Jieun burst out laughing anyway, covering her mouth even though it wasn't that funny. Her sense of humor is pretty unique... Not wanting to just sit there, I pretended to take another sip and laughed along.

Ham Jieun kept grinning as she gulped hers down. In less than a minute she'd already drained half the can.

"Ah, so good. I don't get why people hate this flavor~"

"......"

I glanced around for a trash can, still holding my own can that was less than a third empty. Ham Jieun tapped my shoulder.

"Whoa, you're done already? Want me to buy you another?"

"No, I'm good. The thought is enough."

No matter how free it was, drinking a second can of this stuff was a bit much. If I kept the conversation going she'd probably buy me another, so I quickly changed the subject.

"By the way, is this how you normally act?"

"Huh? What do you mean, how I normally act?"

"You were really talkative in front of the class, but you got all shy around me. Now you're back ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to being chatty again."

Her attitude toward me wasn't exactly consistent. It didn't seem intentional, but the way her personality kept swinging from one extreme to the other made me curious.

"Is there some special reason?"

"Um, well..."

Ham Jieun pulled her shoulders in at my question. She fiddled with the can in her hands, then glanced at my face and mumbled.

"The truth is... I get a little shy around really good-looking guys."

"......"

If that counted as being shy, exactly how friendly did someone have to be before you could call them outgoing? Her answer left me momentarily speechless, but if she said so herself I couldn't really argue. Besides, responding was awkward either way. Agreeing would mean admitting out loud that I was good-looking. Denying it would be lying.

"Earlier it looked like the girls in class were really interested in you."

I chose to change the subject again. I kept my tone light as I looked at her.

"Is it okay to be here talking with me instead of with them?"

"Oh, yeah. I can talk to the girls later."

"You can talk to them later, but isn't this the only real chance to get close? That's usually how it works after self-introductions—everyone pairs off during the first break."

"It's fine. I'm confident I can get close to anyone whenever I want."

"Wow, look at that confidence..."

The casual tone I usually only used with my friends slipped out. Ham Jieun didn't seem to mind. She kept sipping her drink with a little smirk.

"Where did you go to middle school?"

"Central Middle School. What about you? Oh, you said Seoul Middle, right?"

"Yeah, it's right next door... Oh, did you know? Seoul Middle and Seoul High share the same store. So during lunch this place will be packed with kids."

"Kids?"

"Yeah, kids. The middle-schoolers."

"Ah, middle-schoolers. But why call them kids?"

"We're high-schoolers now, so middle-schoolers are basically kids, right?"

"......"

Unless we were talking about the gap between a seventh-grader and a senior, middle-schoolers and high-schoolers seemed pretty similar to me. Ham Jieun clearly didn't see it that way. She puffed out her chest proudly as she spoke.

She looks like she'd still get mistaken for a middle-schooler herself...

Saying that out loud would be too rude, especially since we weren't close yet and this was only our second meeting. I kept the thought to myself and finally brought up the main topic. I glanced at the time—class would start in eight minutes. I'd wasted too much time on random chatter.

"So, why did you want to talk to me alone like this?"

"Ah, the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠reason...?"

Ham Jieun's face turned slightly red. She took a short breath, hesitated for a moment, then spoke.

"Remember what I said earlier? About doing broadcasts?"

"I remember. What about it?"

"Well, lately I've been doing live streams on Insta too. The content is mostly introducing cosmetics or promoting sponsored products. Like, 'I like this these days' or 'This is what I'm using right now.' ...But this time I got an offer for a men's cosmetics ad. The thing is, I'm a girl. I can't exactly use men's products, right? I mean, I could, but it wouldn't have that authentic guy vibe."

"True..."

"So... I need a male model who can actually use the products. But among all the guy friends I know, there's not a single one who would do it. Not one."

"What about Kim Seungwoo? Aren't you two childhood friends for nine years?"

"...He would never. He hates the idea of his face being shown."

"Ah."

"Anyway, back to the point... I needed a good-looking guy to model men's cosmetics and was stressing about it... and then I ran into you, Ju Wooju."

Ham Jieun stared at me with the flat tone of someone reading from a textbook. After hearing the full story, I finally understood why she'd dragged me to such a secluded place. To summarize her long explanation, she was basically asking, Can you be the model for this men's cosmetics line?

"Of course I'm not asking you to do it for free. There's a base rate for ads, plus incentives based on views and actual purchases afterward. If you model for me, I'll give you ten percent of everything."

"Ten percent?"

I had no idea how much that would actually be since I knew nothing about this industry. I asked on reflex. Ham Jieun held up three fingers on her right hand.

"Oh, thirty thousand won?"

Thirty thousand won for one modeling gig sounded like decent part-time work. The moment I thought that, Ham Jieun shook her head vigorously.

"No, three hundred thousand won."

"Oh, not thirty but three hundred thousand. ...Wait, three hundred thousand?"

"Yep, three hundred. I'll pay you three hundred thousand won right after the modeling, and I'll calculate your share of the incentives later too. At the very least you'd get five hundred thousand, maybe even a million if it does well."

"......"

Five hundred thousand won. Or even a million...?

What is this, organ trafficking?

The offer was so tempting it actually made me suspicious for a second. After all, all I had to do was appear in one personal broadcast as a cosmetics model and I could earn three hundred thousand won—or possibly more. Only an idiot would turn this down.

"This isn't going to involve anything weird, right?"

"Huh? No, no. You just appear on stream with me and model the cosmetics. Nothing else."

"Really? You're sure? The conditions are so good it actually makes me more suspicious..."

"I swear on my YouTube channel, I'm not lying. And this is an official contract with paperwork and everything, so there's no need to worry. If anything goes wrong you can even take me ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to court."

"...Really?"

Hearing there would be an actual contract eased my doubts a little. Still, the offer was so sweet that a faint sense of unease remained. If we'd known each other longer or if the money wasn't so good, I probably would've agreed without overthinking it. But this was only our second meeting, and the pay was suspiciously high.

I took another sip while watching her.

"D-do you not want to...?"

Ham Jieun, tiny as she was, fidgeted with her empty can and kept glancing at me nervously. I held my half-finished can and finally said,

"Answering right now is a bit much. Can I think about it and get back to you?"

I put it on hold. Accepting immediately felt suspicious, but refusing felt stupid when the money was this big. Three hundred thousand won plus extras was more than two months of my usual allowance. When I gave the vague answer, Ham Jieun's face brightened instantly.

"Oh, you'll think about it? Okay, okay. Just let me know once you've decided!"

"Yeah, I will. So I should probably..."

"Ah, wait!"

As I started to stand, Ham Jieun jumped up first.

"Talking about this where other people can hear is kind of awkward, so... could you reply through Insta DM?"

"I don't have Instagram."

"Ah, right... That explains why I couldn't find your account no matter how hard I looked..."

Muttering to herself, Ham Jieun pulled something from her pocket. It was her phone inside a cute silicone case.

"Then... could you reply through KakaoTalk? I'll add you if you put your number in..."

"Sure. Hand it over, I'll type it in."

Exchanging numbers was common among classmates, and she had the modeling offer as an excuse, so there was no reason to refuse. I entered my number into her phone and handed it back.

"There. That's my number."

"Thanks..."

What is she thanking me for...?

Maybe she was grateful that I was even considering the job her childhood friend had turned down. I didn't quite get it, but I smiled and nodded anyway. Considering the offer was one thing, but Ham Jieun was still my classmate. Making a good impression now couldn't hurt.

"Yeah, thank you too. I'll think about the offer seriously and give you a proper answer."

"O-okay! I'll be waiting!"

"Hey, Ju Wooju."

"Yeah? What?"

"What did you and Ham Jieun talk about when you left earlier?"

It was lunchtime after fourth period. Nam Jaehyun, my ten-year friend who'd come up with me from middle school to high school, sat in the empty seat in front of me and asked casually. I was about to answer when I remembered what Ham Jieun had said: Nothing's decided yet, so let's keep it secret from the others until it's official, okay? I decided to brush it off.

"Nothing much... We didn't really talk about anything. Why?"

"It didn't look like nothing."

"...Why do you think that?"

"Isn't it obvious? She's been staring at you the entire time. All through fourth period."

"......"

Was she really? Jaehyun said so, but I had no way of knowing. Our class hadn't done any seat changes yet, and according to attendance number I sat much closer to the front than Ham Jieun. Unless I turned my head a full one-hundred-eighty degrees, I wouldn't notice anyone looking at me.

"Hey, you didn't..."

"Didn't what?"

"You didn't do anything with her, did you?"

"What would we have done? How long were we even gone? Less than ten minutes."

"Ten minutes is plenty. You know what they say about love at first sight."

"...What are you even talking about? Stop saying weird stuff and let's go eat."

"Whoa, look at Ju Wooju dodging the question. That just makes it more suspicious."

I ignored Jaehyun as he pressed with Be honest, something happened, right? It did, didn't it? and stood up. At that exact moment—slide—the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠back door of our classroom opened. The girl who appeared was someone I hadn't seen all day except during morning attendance.

"—Ah, Wooju~chan!"

Her name was Aki Fujiwara. My childhood friend, whose light pink hair suited her perfectly.

"Dude, who is that? Was there a girl like that in Class 2?"

"What did she just say?"

"Sounded like Wooju-chan or something..."

"Why is her hair that color? Is she a foreigner?"

"Oh, isn't that the mixed girl from Class 1? Aki Fujiwara!"

"Wait, Aki Fujiwara? That's her name?"

Aki Fujiwara drew every student's eyes the moment she appeared. Without sparing a glance anywhere else, she walked straight toward the seat where I was. I hadn't said anything, but I was genuinely happy to see her. I stood up quickly, waited until she reached me, and smiled.

"Wooju~chan, Wooju~chan! Did you have a good weekend~?"

"Yeah, I did. But didn't we already talk about this in the morning?"

"Ah, did we? I was just so happy to see Wooju~chan that I forgot!"

"Oh, really? That makes sense."

If Aki said so, then it was probably true. I played along with a smile and she beamed back at me.

"By the way, Aki, how were your classes?"

"They were great. All the teachers are really fun. Oh, and the kids in my class are nice too. Everyone's kind and interesting. What about you, Wooju-chan? Did you get bored without atashi around? Hmm? Hmm~?"

"Nah, not at all. It was the same for me. The kids are all nice, fun, and easy to talk to. So it was pretty—"

The moment I tried to finish, Aki's gaze fixed on someone behind my shoulder. That someone was none other than Ham Jieun. She stood at an awkward distance—not quite approaching, not quite staying away—and locked eyes with Aki.

"......"

"......"

The two girls stared at each other for about three seconds. A strange tension filled the classroom.

"......"

"......"

How could I describe it? It was like...

"...Wooju~chan?"

Aki took one step closer to me. Then—

"—chu."

She suddenly kissed my right cheek.

"...Huh?"

"Whaaaaat? What was that?"

"Wait, did I just see that right?"

"Was that a kiss?"

"What happened? Who kissed who?"

I froze in shock. The rest of the class erupted in disbelief.

"...?!"

And Ham Jieun, standing a short distance away, looked utterly stunned.

"...Hehe."

Aki, the one who had caused this entire situation, simply wore a mysterious smile. No—it was a smile that clearly said I win.

"A-Aki...?"

I wanted to ask what the hell she was doing, but I was so flustered the words wouldn't come out properly. Taking advantage of my confusion, Aki raised her voice so everyone could hear.

"Wooju~chan, I have to go eat lunch with my friends, so I'll head out now. We'll finish the rest after school! Okay?"

"......"

Finish what after school? What exactly had we even started?

"Wait, Aki! You—"

"See you later, Wooju~chan!"

There was no time to argue. After those words, Aki stuck her tongue out cutely, then dashed out through the open back door.

"...Hey, Ju Wooju."

Someone grabbed my shoulder hard. I turned without thinking and found my friends staring at me with eyes that said, Ju Wooju, today I will kill you.

"Explain what I just saw."

"...No, this is—"

"Dude, I thought you weren't dating her."

"......"

"Grab his arms and legs—!"

"...Ah."

Aki. We'll settle this later...