At Six Years Old: How We Became Childhood Friends (2)
"W-Wooju...! Where are we going? If I go outside without permission, Grandpa will scold me...!"
"It's fine. If we hurry there and back, Grandpa won't even notice!"
"B-but... Grandpa is really scary..."
"If you get in trouble, I'll take the scolding for you, so just trust me. Besides, Aki, staying cooped up inside all the time must feel stuffy, right?"
"Ah, y-yeah..."
At the time I didn't realize it when she kept saying "Grandpa," but I later learned that Aki's grandfather was Kenichiro Fujiwara, the Japanese Ambassador to Korea. The position was also a fast track to a high-ranking role in Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In simple terms, her grandfather was someone destined to become an incredibly important figure, and there I was, a six-year-old boldly declaring I'd take his scolding instead.
It's a good thing I was too young to understand any of that. If I'd known, I probably wouldn't have dragged her outside or gotten close to her so easily. Then again, even if I had known, I likely would've just thought, Japanese Ambassador to Korea? What's that? so the result might have been the same.
Anyway, the me back then had no clue about any of those complicated circumstances. I was simply thrilled at the idea of going out to play with a pretty girl, so I grabbed Aki's hand and snuck out of the Embassy of Japan in Korea.
Our destination was a nearby playground. As a little kid, I loved going outside and playing with friends. Thanks to that, I knew the layout of the neighborhood like the back of my hand, including the fact that a short walk from the embassy led to a playground most people didn't visit often.
The reason I specifically chose one that wasn't popular was pure selfishness—a honest desire to play alone with the pretty girl. Of course, if I told the current Aki that, she'd definitely tease me with something like "Wait, so you've liked me since back then~?" so I'll never admit it.
"Here we are!"
Anyway, the six-year-old me stood at the park entrance, puffing out my chest as I spoke to Aki.
"Wooju... what is this place...?"
"Huh? It's a playground. Don't they have playgrounds in Japan?"
"Oh, so it's a playground...! Yeah, we have them in Japan too. But there weren't any people, so I didn't realize it was one."
"Really? Don't playgrounds usually not have many people?"
"No, when I was in Japan, the playgrounds were always packed. From here all the way over there, it was full of kids playing."
"Whoa, seriously? I'm so jealous. My friends are always glued to their phones and don't come out. I want to live in Japan."
"Wooju, do you want to come visit Japan later? I'll take you to a playground full of my friends!"
"Really? You promise? No take-backs if you say you were lying later, okay?"
"Yeah, I won't lie. Because Wooju is my f-friend..."
Shyly, bashfully. Aki mumbled with her cute face slightly flushed. Her voice was so small that the translation app couldn't catch everything, but I clearly heard the "yeah" part and beamed as I gently tugged her hand.
"It's a promise, Aki. Don't forget that we're going to play at the playground together later, got it? Oh, wait. Just saying it isn't enough. Do you have a phone, Aki?"
"A phone? Yeah, I have one, but I don't have it with me right now. Why?"
"Then tell me your number. I'll contact you when I go to Japan later!"
"Ah, hold on. My number is..."
"...Done, saved it. Now let's go play!"
"Okay, but what should we play...?"
"Is there something you want to do, Aki? The swings, the seesaw?"
"Me? Well..."
Aki scanned the empty playground that looked perfect for wandering around, then stared intently at a bench that seemed just right for two small children to sit on together.
"Aki, do you want to sit? Are your legs tired?"
"My legs aren't tired, but... I want to sit over there and play house."
"Play house? Isn't that something girls play together?"
"Yeah, but... I think it'd be nice to play it with you, Wooju. ...Is that okay?"
"......"
Not just me, but probably every boy my age would find it impossible to refuse when a girl their age looked up with sparkling eyes and asked for something.
"...Really? Okay. Let's play house together."
"Ah, really? Thank you, Wooju...!"
So I answered without much thought, and after receiving Aki's grateful response, I felt oddly proud and puffed out a small breath through my nose where she couldn't see.
"Then I'll be the mama, so you have to be the papa, Wooju!"
"Okay, but what exactly does a papa do? I've never played house before."
"You just have to stay still, Wooju. I'll take care of everything. ...Ahem!"
Aki cleared her throat with a cough that seemed too mature for her age. She must have learned it from watching dramas. After skillfully composing herself, she closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them.
"Hey, you?"
She tapped the spot beside her with a more serious expression.
"Come over here and sit down."
"Huh?"
"I have something I want to say to you."
"Ah, okay."
When I carefully sat down next to her as instructed, Aki puffed out her cheeks with a sullen look. It wasn't the kind of impression one would normally have in that atmosphere, but the me back then found even that expression of hers simply beautiful and lost myself for a moment.
Thinking about it now, that was probably the first time my heart fluttered when I looked at Aki.
"You came home late after drinking again, didn't you?"
"...Yeah?"
The fluttering in my chest completely vanished at Aki's next words.
"Didn't I tell you to drink in moderation?"
"Um, Aki. You're talking too fast..."
"You said you'd drink moderately, didn't you? We made a promise, so why do you keep breaking it like this?"
"The translation app isn't catching..."
"Aki is watching too. Aren't you embarrassed as an adult?"
The app couldn't keep up with Aki's rapid speech and only translated about half, but from the tone and her expression, I could tell she was scolding me.
"I'm not saying you shouldn't drink at all. I'm saying you should control it. The head of the family can't come home drunk and unconscious every time, can he?"
...Is this how they play house in Japan?
The play house I knew involved the husband and wife feeding each other and kissing, but this felt completely off. It was extremely strange, but since Aki was Japanese, she must be doing it the Japanese way instead of the Korean way. The me at the time genuinely thought so, and for some reason, I hung my head low, playing along with Aki's acting that seemed heavily based on her own experiences.
"Yeah, I'll control it from now on. I'm sorry, honey."
"Is that just empty words?"
"Huh? What did you say?"
"We made a promise. If you do something wrong, you have to apologize with a kiss."
Whether by coincidence or fate, Aki's speaking pace gradually slowed, so the last part was fully translated by the Papago app. What Aki said to me meant, "We promised that if you do something wrong, you'd apologize with a kiss." In other words, she was telling me to kiss her. At first, I naturally thought she was joking.
"What are you doing? Are you going to break your promise with me again?"
But then Aki turned her face and offered one cheek, urging me in Japanese. When I kept hesitating, she even closed her eyes and waited, as if she wouldn't speak until I kissed her.
"Um, Aki? Maybe this is enough..."
"I won't talk to you until you kiss me."
D-do I really have to do it...?
"......"
Ah, whatever. That's what I thought at the time as I slightly leaned my upper body forward and kissed Aki's right cheek.
-Chu.
"Th-there, done?"
It was less of a kiss and more accurately a peck—literally just the contact between lips and cheek. But it was the first time in my life I'd had any skinship with a girl who wasn't my mom, so my heart was pounding like crazy.
"Wow, Wooju!"
"Y-yeah?"
"The way you hesitated so much before speaking, how you can't win against Mama, and even the careful way you gave the kiss—it was exactly like our papa!"
However, Aki, who had received the kiss I mustered up courage to give, seemed completely unfazed. Her big eyes sparkled as she marveled at my not-really-acting. For some reason, that made me feel a little upset that I seemed to be the only one whose heart was racing.
It wasn't quite a competitive spirit, nor exactly jealousy. It was a really vague feeling... Even now, I don't quite know what that emotion was back then.
"W-was it?"
"Yeah! Whenever our papa comes home late after drinking, it's always like that. But the ending was a little different!"
"How was it different?"
"After papa kisses mama, they hug each other tightly, then papa lifts mama up and carries her to the bedroom. And then, a little later, mama makes really painful sounds!"
"What do you mean by painful sounds? Is your mom sick?"
"No, she's really healthy! That's why I don't understand why those sounds happen."
"Really? What exactly do the sounds sound like?"
"I'm not sure, but it's really weird. Like this—ah, ah~—like she's breathing really hard."
"Oh, for real? My mom does that sometimes too!"
Looking back now, I really shouldn't have said that, but being six years old, I had no such tact. In the end, we ended up making a promise we definitely shouldn't have.
"Eh, does Wooju's mama get sick every night too?"
"Sometimes I wake up at night and go to the living room for water, and I hear it from Mom and Dad's room. The sound you mentioned, like they can't breathe!"
"Wooju, do mamas usually get really sick?"
"I don't know. Should I ask my mom about it later?"
"Ah, can you? Thank you, Wooju!"
"Yeah, just trust me. Aki!"
......And that evening, completely clueless, I threw an innocent question at my mom with the sole determination to keep my promise with Aki.
"Mom, why do you make those painful sounds every night?"
"...?!"
The story of how my shocked mom turned bright red and repeatedly begged me, "Wooju, you must never say that anywhere else. Understand?!" is another tale entirely.