The Annoying Childhood Friend
I made one firm vow in this second life of mine.
Never to date or marry a woman. Sure, my parents would weep blood if they heard that, but after the massive betrayal in my first life, there was no room for compromise.
So I, Kim Cheolsu, swore that until the day I entered my grave, I would never form any romantic entanglements with women.
Having resolved that time and again, there was no way I could agree to become the boyfriend of some snot-nosed brat whose hobby was throwing money around.
“What’s with that lame reaction! It’s me, Mary Christine, offering to take you as my boyfriend!”
But Mary, the chaebol heiress, acted oblivious to my feelings, coming at me with her usual prickly attitude. Her over-the-top reaction suggested she was pretty pissed that I wasn’t dancing to her tune, but I wasn’t some money-obsessed pushover who’d play along.
“Do you even know what it means to have a boyfriend in the first place?”
“Of course I do! A boyfriend is like a servant who grants a girl’s every wish, right? That’s how it always was in the dramas I watched.”
Oh boy, learning about the world from chick flicks already. Her parents must not have given her a proper education.
I figured there was nothing more to see and quietly turned to leave.
“Sorry, but I’m not interested in being your boyfriend. If you need a slave, find someone else. Plenty of boys around you seemed eager to fawn over you.”
“What! Even after I went this far, you’re refusing to listen!?”
“I’m not a genie from a magic lamp. Why should I obey your every word?”
“Because I’m the proud heir to Mary & Chris...”
“No, that’s your parents who are impressive, not you. The gifts you handed out to the kids came from your parents’ wallet anyway.”
“Th-that’s...”
“It’s good to have pride, but rein in the extravagance. If your sense of money gets warped this early, you’ll suffer for it later.”
It wasn’t exactly pleasing to say, but as someone with an adult mind, it was sincere advice. Still, the chaebol brat showed no sign of heeding it—her face crumpled in an instant.
“D-don’t lecture me! How dare a commoner like you try to teach me!?”
“Oh please, if I’m a commoner, does that make you nobility? In this democratic country where class systems were abolished over a century ago, in about fifteen years, we’ll all have just one vote each.”
“Don’t use big words!!”
Fair enough—politics was too complex for a five-year-old. Though looking at her now, she probably wouldn’t change much even as an adult.
“What’s your deal! All the other kids happily take my gifts and obey me! Why do you always have to argue back!?”
“Nothing weird about it. Your attitude rubs me the wrong way, so I’m keeping my distance.”
“It’s weird that you don’t like it! I’m Mary! Mary Christine, heir to Mary & Chris!!”
Was it because her parents spoiled her rotten? Or because even the adults around her catered to her every whim? To her, it seemed natural that people gathered in her orbit and bent to her will.
If she grew up like this, she’d turn into a nasty woman who’d make plenty of people cry. Just like that woman who took everything from me and tossed me aside like a used rag...
No, begging with toys like this actually reminded me more of myself back then.
“O-okay! You want something too, right? Name it. I’ll buy you anything you want to eat or have... Here, a toy! Don’t you like these? It’s a state-of-the-art, futuristic high-tech robot with triple transformation modes!”
“Wow, rattling off ‘state-of-the-art futuristic high-tech’ without tripping over your tongue—impressive vocabulary.”
“Don’t praise me, just take it! Take it and do what I say!”
Her irritation peaking, the brat hurled the toy at me. I dodged by turning my head, and the high-tech transformer smashed into the ground, breaking into three limp parts.
“Aw, what a waste.”
“Don’t dodge!”
“If I don’t, it hits me.”
“Hit me! I want it to hit you!”
Not stopping there, she started grabbing pebbles from the yard and chucking them wildly. But I wasn’t soft enough to let a kid’s stones pelt me.
“Why won’t it hit you! Hit! I said hit!”
“But I dodged it easily like this.”
“Uwaaaaaah!”
Frustrated by my constant evasion, she finally screamed and collapsed to the ground, pounding the dirt with resentful fists as she sobbed.
“D-damn it. A commoner like you, with a name like Cheolsu...”
“What’s wrong with Cheolsu?”
Even at an age with barely any bad words in their vocabulary, mocking someone’s name was off-limits.
“Hic...”
Whatever the case, to this girl, I was her first real trial. Having failed to bend me to her will, she plopped down and sobbed pitifully.
“Why... why won’t you listen to me? I’m the heir, and everyone obeys after I give them gifts. Why won’t you...”
...Sigh. I had to adapt to this second life too, and burning bridges with peers wouldn’t do.
“You don’t need toys to win me over.”
More than that, as an adult at heart, I didn’t want to see a kid start down the wrong path. Approaching the slumped girl, I decided to teach her something she’d never learned.
“We’re just classmates by chance. We can be friends without bribes like money.”
“F-friends?”
“Yeah, friends. Not boyfriend—just friends.”
I’d sworn off romance, but I wasn’t against simple friendships. For a smooth life ahead, maintaining good relationships was essential, right?
“Why, don’t you like it?”
Having a chaebol friend might even bring some perks to this second life. Balancing that hope with emotional distance, I made the offer.
The brat turned to me, her face flushing late as she yelled.
“O-of course I hate it! You’re a commoner!”
“...I put some thought into that, and now I feel hurt too.”
“What do I care about that! F-first off, there’s no way I’d be friends with a nobody like you. I’m a chaebol, you’re a commoner... Ah, so that’s it—you’re trying to act equal with ‘friends,’ huh? You arrogant commoner! Not knowing your place and treating me like I’m beneath you!”
Good grief. How narrow and rotten must her worldview be to twist even this into malice?
“If you see it that way, I can’t get close to you either.”
“I don’t wanna get close to you anyway!?”
Yelling back with regret in her voice, she huffed off, throwing a declaration of war over her shoulder.
“Kim Cheolsu! Just you wait—I’ll make sure you end up under me someday!”
Like some third-rate villain, the chaebol brat stormed away. In the silence that followed, I picked up the broken robot she left behind and chuckled.
“If only she’d fix that attitude, she’d actually be kinda cute.”
Eh, it was just a one-time thing anyway. After kindergarten graduation, we’d be strangers.
...Yeah, I never imagined back then. That the “brief” bad connection would drag on to this day.
“Hey, Kim Cheolsu! Why no answer!? Can’t you hear me!?”
On the way to the entrance exam for my dream high school, a familiar voice snapped me from my reminiscing. Turning, I faced the usual suspect greeting me.
A half-blood middle school girl—soon-to-be high schooler?—with blonde hair in twintails, just like ten years ago.
“Mary, how long have you been here?”
“How long? I’ve been calling you forever—you were the one spacing out. The roads are icy since the snow hasn’t melted, and you’re gonna get hit by a car like that?”
The chaebol heiress scolded me in her usual sharp tone. Feeling how her edge had honed with age, I couldn’t help a bittersweet pang—as someone who’d watched her grow.
“Your nagging’s getting worse lately. You used to be so cute.”
“C-cute? You saying that to me!?”
“Who knows~ Maybe someone else.”
“Ugh, teasing me again...”
She bristled but didn’t swing her trembling fist at me. She’s learned a thing or two, I thought with relief, chuckling as she joined me toward the exam hall.
“Seriously, you’re something else. Applying to the same school just to one-up me.”
“I-it’s not because of you! It’s perfect for an elite like me from high society.”
“Right, sure. Impressive how you can attend a top high school on family legacy without scholarships.”
“Don’t mock me!”
Tough request. She reacted to every poke—it was too fun.
“Anyway, you haven’t changed since way back. Here, take this.”
Not thrilled with me but still thrusting a paper bag at me. Peeking inside, golden loaves gleamed invitingly.
I knew exactly what they were—rare treats I’d savored only a handful of times in this second life.
“Aren’t these the ones from that famous bakery by the station, first-come-first-served?”
“I-it’s not like I got them for you! I bought extra for myself, and figured you skipped breakfast again, so... whatever.”
Sheesh, how’d she know I skipped breakfast? She often gave valuable “gifts,” but today it felt different.
“So you stood in line at dawn yourself—instead of sending someone—to get these limited breads?”
The same blonde twintail tyrant who once saw everyone beneath her?
“S-so what? I’m mature now. It’s not weird if I do things myself.”
Words I’d never expect from that arrogant girl ten years ago. Impressed inwardly, I watched her blush and avert her eyes, whispering shyly.
“And... well, we’re childhood friends, after all.”
Childhood friends. A phrase I’d never heard her use.
Her condescension had lessened over time, but I figured her grudge against me lingered.
“Were we friends?”
“Wh-what!?”
“Back in kindergarten, you hated being grouped as equals. Remember?”
“Stop bringing up the past! Idiot! Moron! Kim Cheolsu!”
“That last one’s not an insult.”
“It is, you idiot! Get over here and take a hit!”
“But I dodged it easily.”
“Don’t dodge!”
Ducking her wild swings, she fumed again. Judging further attacks pointless, she marched ahead, pointing accusingly with her familiar proclamation.
“Just you wait, Kim Cheolsu. Someday I’ll pay you back for everything!”
Words so overplayed they’d calloused my ears. Watching her hurry to the exam hall ahead, I chuckled and followed.
A kid connection I thought would end there, stretching to high school. This annoying bond looked set to last a while longer.