At Six Years Old: How We Became Childhood Friends (5)
Our friendship, which began by chance, grew even closer after both sets of parents officially acknowledged it. It took exactly four weeks to go from seeing each other only on specially arranged days to meeting on weekdays and even spending weekends playing together. In that neither-short-nor-long span of four weeks, we became inseparable friends—so much so that it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say we felt empty without each other.
"Mom, when are we going to see Aki today?"
"Hmm, in two hours. We agreed to meet at the kids' café after lunch yesterday, remember?"
"I want to see her sooner. Can't we leave early?"
"Wooju, we promised to meet at one o'clock. Are you the kind of bad boy who breaks promises so lightly?"
"No. I'm sorry…"
"……Heh, how cute. Wooju, want to play with Legos with Mom until one?"
"No, I'll just wait by myself."
"W-what? The same Wooju who always clung to Mom is rejecting me……?!"
"Pfft…! Wooju, you've grown up, haven't you?"
"……You're laughing right now? Our Wooju says he doesn't want to play with Mom-!"
It became routine for me to pester my parents because I wanted to see Aki as soon as possible.
"Papa, is it still a long time until one?"
"Hmm, let's see. It's twelve now. We have one hour left until the meeting time."
"Okay, I see……"
"My daughter, time passes on its own anyway. It'll be one o'clock before you know it, so just wait a little—"
"Papa, what time is it now? Is it one yet?"
"……Not even ten seconds have passed?"
Aki was no different, constantly pestering her father because she wanted to see me sooner.
"Wooju, Aki. Shall we head home now~?"
"Mom, can't we play a little longer? There's still so much I haven't done with Aki…!"
"A little longer, a little longer—and it's already been three hours. The sun's starting to set. We should go have dinner, don't you think?"
"Huh? When did time pass like that…"
"Wooju~sang, do we have to say goodbye……?"
"Yeah, I guess so. It's a shame, but for today…"
"Hng…. I don't want to say goodbye. Aki wants to stay with Wooju~sang longer……"
"……Aki, don't worry. It's not like we're saying goodbye forever. We'll see each other at kindergarten tomorrow, right?"
"Oh, that's right. We can see each other at kindergarten tomorrow…!"
"Yeah, so go home safely today and let's meet tomorrow morning. Got it, Aki?"
"Mm-hmm, got it. Go home safely, Wooju~sang!"
Whenever it was time to part after playing until evening, we would hold hands tightly, promise to meet the next day, and reluctantly head to our respective homes. Back then, I truly hated parting with Aki so much that I would sigh heavily in the car on the way home.
Yet my parents, watching us, seemed to feel differently.
"Eunhye, doesn't it get more amazing the more you watch?"
"Huh? What does?"
"Wooju and Aki. They can see each other again after just one night, but every time they say goodbye, they hold hands and act out a melodrama. It's not like they're Romeo and Juliet."
"Why? It's cute and nice to watch. Besides, isn't that how it is at the beginning of any relationship? You keep thinking about them even when you're apart, and you want to see them again right after meeting."
"Really? I wasn't like that. Were you like that when we were dating, Eunhye?"
"……Hey, Siwon Ju. Do you want to die?"
"Ah, wait. Eunhye, I'm driving right now…!"
They compared my genuine feelings to watching "Romeo and Juliet." Well, strictly speaking, it wasn't entirely wrong. After all, Korea-Japan relations weren't exactly great, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which handled our country's diplomacy, was somewhat like Japan's external loudspeaker. Meanwhile, Aki was the granddaughter of the Japanese ambassador to Korea, and I was the son of diplomat parents. Even if we weren't quite Romeo and Juliet, as my parents said, we might have been something like "Romeo's servant and Juliet." Of course, that would require the premise that Aki and I were in a romantic relationship.
Ding-.
"Huh? A text from Aki."
"Let me see, what did she say?"
"Hey, Siwon Ju, are you changing the subject? You didn't act like this during the honeymoon phase, but now that we're comfortable, you keep saying weird things, huh?"
"Eunhye, I'm driving right now, okay? And Wooju got a text. Aren't you going to read it to him?"
"No, it's fine. I can read Japanese."
"……Huh? You can read Japanese?"
While driving, Dad looked at me through the rearview mirror, and Mom, sitting in the passenger seat, turned her head directly to stare at me.
"Wooju, you haven't learned Japanese before. But you can read it all?"
"Yes. Not everything, but simple things, I can read."
The reason I started self-studying Japanese was, of course, because of Aki. When we met in person, we could use a translator, but for messaging, we couldn't. Of course, phones had built-in foreign language translation features, but back then, being young, I didn't really know how to use text translation. So every time I wanted to talk to Aki, I needed my parents' help, and as a child, I hated that. No, I hated showing my parents the conversations Aki and I shared. It was embarrassing.
"Eunhye, just in case, check it once. Wooju might have learned it wrong."
"Ah, should I? Wooju, want to read what Aki sent? Mom will check and tell you if the translation is accurate."
"Yes, just a moment. Um, it says, 'Wooju~sang, what should we play at kindergarten tomorrow?'"
"Really? Let me see……. Huh?"
"Why, is it wrong?"
"No, it's correct. It seems Wooju can actually read Japanese."
"What, really? Then our Wooju can speak three languages now?"
"Wooju, where did you learn Japanese? Did they teach you at kindergarten?"
At the time, the text from Aki was written in very simple Japanese—something anyone could understand with just a bit of study. But Mom's eyes widened in surprise at the fact that a six-year-old had translated it.
"I just learned by watching YouTube and stuff."
"……Wow, really? Our Wooju is smarter than I thought? Honey, is our Wooju a genius?"
"Nah, he's not a genius. YouTube is just really good these days, right? There are things like 'Complete a foreign language in six weeks.' Kids these days are good with phones, so he probably learned by watching those."
"Oh, come on. This is why T-types are like this."
"Wait, why is T coming up here?"
"……"
Though I didn't tell my parents back then, the real reason I, still young, was able to learn Japanese so quickly was thanks to Aki's level-appropriate teaching. No, more precisely, it was an exchange where I taught Aki Korean and she taught me Japanese. Either way, it didn't really matter. In any case, whenever we met, we taught each other our native languages, and when we got tired of studying, we'd go out and play together.
"Ju Wooju. Why do you only play with Aki every day? Are you two dating?"
"What's dating?"
"It's when you hold hands and kiss."
"Hmm, then I guess we are dating?"
"Huh? Really…?"
"……!!"
Seeing us always playing only with each other, our kindergarten friends started harboring misunderstandings—ones that weren't really misunderstandings.
"W-Wooju~sang! You can't say things like that to other people. It'll cause weird misunderstandings…!"
"Huh? What kind of misunderstanding?"
"I mean, the misunderstanding that Wooju~sang and I are dating…!"
"You don't want to date me, Aki?"
"Th-that's……. Ah, no, it's not……"
"Then, isn't it fine to say we're dating?"
"Ah, no…. Th-that's not the issue…. Ugh, ugh……"
With my unintentionally innocent words and actions, I even managed to embarrass Aki, who was a bit more mature than me.
"Ah, anyway…! W-Wooju~sang! You can't talk about things like that with friends, okay…?"
"Why not?"
"……It's embarrassing. Aki doesn't like being embarrassed."
"Really? Got it. So I just shouldn't tell the other kids, right?"
"Ah, yeah! That would be good. Thanks, Wooju~sang!"
──Wooju, Ju Wooju~!
"Huh? Jaehyun is calling me. I'll be right back, Aki."
"Mm-hmm, go ahead!"
──Wooju, be honest. You're dating Aki, right? Aren't you?
──Huh? Ah, yeah! Aki and I are dating!
"……W-Wooju~sang? Didn't Aki just say you shouldn't do that…?!"
Again, I ended up saying something I was told not to say to my friends, embarrassing Aki.
"Wooju~sang! Really, really, you can't say that you and Wooju~sang are dating! Aki is embarrassed…!"
"Okay. I really won't."
"Really, I can trust you, right…?"
"Don't worry, Aki. Just trust me!"
"Somehow, I feel a little uneasy…."
──Wooju, can you come over to the teacher for a moment?
"Yes! Aki, wait here for a bit?"
"Mm-hmm…."
──Wooju, do you like Aki?
──Yes, I do.
"……Ah."
──Yeah, Teacher knows too. But Wooju, even though I know you like Aki, you shouldn't only play with her. If you two keep sticking together saying you like each other and are dating, the other friends won't like it. You're smart, so you understand what Teacher means, right?
──I understand! I'll play with the other kids too so Aki can make lots of friends!
──Good, as expected, Wooju is smart! Now, give Teacher a kiss…… *chu*. So, can I count on you?
──Yes!
"……"
"Aki, I'm back!"
"……Wooju~sang, don't kiss other girls from now on."
"Huh? Why?"
"No, just don't go anywhere and stay by Aki's side…!"
"But the teacher said to play with the other kids too?"
"Ugh…."
I think it was around then that it happened.
'……This won't do.'
"Wooju~sang, let's go play house…!"
"House? We already did that an hour ago—"
"……Wooju~sang?"
"Ah, sorry…."
Even as Aki kept hearing the teasing question "Are you two dating?" every day, she strangely started sticking right by my side.