Reconciliation at the Rooftop Garden
After school, Chae Yujin immediately gave me a tour of the school. “This is the library. If you keep going down this hallway, you’ll find the art room and music room right away.” I had completely forgotten most of it myself, so I was grateful that our princess still remembered everything.
“Hehe. This is the rooftop garden our school is so proud of!” After showing me around various places, we headed up to the roof. Normally the rooftop was off-limits, but this school had specially opened it up and turned it into a garden. Of course, a thick, high fence had been installed for safety…
“It’s pretty. You can see the whole school from here.”
“Ahem!” Sunlight poured straight down from above. Even though it was early March, the rays, filled with the blue sky, felt pleasantly warm. Maybe that was why the sounds from below carried so clearly on the spring breeze.
“Hey, pass it here!!”
“Steal it!! No, I can’t see in front of me!!”
Voices from the playground. “Let’s go eat tteokbokki together after we’re done.” “Hey! We had it yesterday too~.” Whispers from behind the classroom. All these little sounds floated up, vivid and alive.
Being able to look down on the school grounds from above really was charming. No wonder Chae Yujin had introduced it so confidently.
“I’m the one growing these. What do you think?” She took my hand and led me to the center of the garden. In the flower beds, various plants were growing alongside a small nameplate with Chae Yujin’s name on it.
“This one’s cherry tomatoes, this is marigold! And this is rosemary!”
“You’re growing a lot of different things.”
“Yeah! So it’s really pretty, right?”
…Well, it was March, so there wasn’t much to see yet. Still, there was no point in saying that outright.
“Yeah. It’ll get even prettier once more time passes. I’m looking forward to it.”
“Ahem!” Chae Yujin nodded with a satisfied expression.
“Grow big and strong~!” She gently stroked the new sprouts of her plants, communing with them. There was something distinctly elementary-school-like in that pure gesture.
“I’ll eat you all up deliciously!”
Hmm. Pure, all right.
“Yujin, here.”
“Huh?”
Since her mood seemed to have lifted, I pulled a piece of chocolate out of my bag.
“Chocolate?”
Her expression was the very picture of “huh?” She stared at it for a long moment, then slowly raised her eyes to meet mine. Grin.
“Sorry, but I don’t give that kind of thing out until we’re a little closer~?”
Look at her acting all grown-up. There was no other way to describe it except that she had a lot of nerve.
“…I don’t know why you jumped to that conclusion, but this is an apology gift.”
“Huh? You’re not giving it because I’m pretty?”
“……?”
“……Huh?”
We stared at each other, completely lost. I understood our princess’s usual quirks, but she clearly didn’t understand me yet. It was faster for me to explain.
“You haven’t talked to me for the past few days.”
“…Mmm, that’s true?”
“You weren’t sulking at me, were you?”
“…Sulking?”
One of Chae Yujin’s eyebrows twitched. Her gaze sharpened as she studied me…
“Hah…?!”
She took several quick steps backward, as if a command had been input. It was only a few steps, but her expression was so dramatic that I couldn’t help laughing. Still, she was awfully slow to catch on.
“I wasn’t sulking!”
“Then why didn’t you talk to me? You avoided me the whole time.”
“I didn’t avoid you…!”
“You didn’t?”
“…Did I…?”
The sharpness in her expression gradually faded. The more she thought about it, the more she seemed to remember what she’d done.
“…Because.”
“Yeah?”
“It’s weird to act close after showing someone that kind of face…!”
Chae Yujin mumbled, half-covering her face. Not that it helped much in such an open space. More importantly…
“I’m sorry.”
“…Huh?”
“No matter the reason, I shouldn’t have lied. If I hadn’t, you wouldn’t have felt this awkward.”
My lovely Bang & Olufsen. To get that child back, I had to make up with her today.
“That’s right! So why did you lie in the first place! That was mean!”
Fortunately, her reaction came right away. Chae Yujin widened her eyes and planted both hands on her hips.
“You admit you were wrong?”
“Of course.”
Otherwise we couldn’t make up.
“So you won’t lie anymore from now on?”
“I won’t.”
Not if it meant keeping Bang & Olufsen.
“…Your eyes look suspicious.”
“…Me?”
“Something’s fishy. I can’t tell if it’s this or that, it’s all shifty.”
“What does ‘shifty’ even mean?”
“It means even if you look at the cooking and the seasoning, it still looks suspicious.”
Chae Yujin’s large eyes slowly narrowed. Her gaze was so piercing I almost stepped back without thinking. I’d thought she was just a little kid, but she was surprisingly sharp.
“Still, I’ll let it slide! Pretty people are supposed to have pretty hearts too!”
But that only lasted a moment. She giggled and flicked her hair with a prim little motion.
“In that case, buy me a slushie today! You didn’t forget you promised, right?”
Back to being a little kid in an instant. The prim expression was just for show; watching her pretend to be an adult was adorable. I could almost understand why some people were completely weak for their nieces.
“Of course I’ll buy you one. I’ll buy you as many as you want next time too.”
“Really?!”
“Really. I was planning to buy you twenty, just like I promised.”
“Waaah!”
Chae Yujin’s eyes sparkled as she scooted right up to me. Then she suddenly rummaged inside her cardigan…
“Here! Let’s redo what we said earlier!”
A smartphone was suddenly thrust in front of me. Even I froze for a second.
“…What’s this for?”
“To capture our precious memories.”
“But why am I the only one being filmed?”
“…And to prevent lying.”
Who even comes up with something this cute?
“……”
“…You did lie, after all.”
She mumbled, looking embarrassed as she turned her head slightly. If I teased her any more, the recording would probably fall apart instantly…
Click.
“Huh…?”
“Hold it steady. If we do it properly now, we won’t have to do it twice.”
Just like the cute princess said, this whole situation had started because of a lie. If recording a video or two could help rebuild trust and make up, I could do as many as she wanted.
“So what should I say first? Should I start by admitting what I did wrong?”
“Uh… yeah…”
“Last Monday, I lied during rock-paper-scissors in order to win against you. This was a serious mistake that showed a lack of sportsmanship and destroyed mutual trust. As a result, I caused you great worry and emotional harm. No matter the reason, it was an act that cannot be justified. I offer my sincere apologies once again.”
“Whoa, you sound so grown-up… Hah?! D-don’t bow your head! I didn’t ask for that much!”
Chae Yujin waved her hand frantically. I had been planning to talk about how we would rebuild trust going forward, but if I went that far she’d probably get angry instead.
“I’m sorry. I won’t lie again.”
So I kept it short and childlike.
“…Promise?”
After a beat, Chae Yujin answered gruffly. At the same time, she held out her pinky finger. I looked at her small, delicate finger and smiled faintly.
“Yeah. Promise.”
“Stamp it too.”
“Do I not need to do a signature and copy as well?”
“Huh? What’s that?”
I hooked our fingers together and shook them lightly. As someone who had lived before, I passed on that knowledge along with the promise of twenty slushies.
“What happens if you lie again?”
“…The moment the contract condition is triggered, Party B’s physical rights and authority will be transferred to Party A for twenty-four hours.”
“Don’t use difficult words! It just means I have to listen to whatever you say for a whole day!”
She even added an unfair clause on top of everything. Not that it mattered—the video would be deleted in a few days anyway, and what kind of lie would a ten-year-old kid even tell?
“Done?”
“Yeah.”
Chae Yujin put her phone away and nodded brightly. Then she grinned and reached out her hand.
“I know a place that makes really good tteokbokki. Their slushies are amazing too!”
She was trying to hold my hand without any hesitation.
‘I guess they don’t tease about that these days?’ Back in Hawaii, holding hands meant you were dating and everyone made a fuss. I doubted Korea was any different…
‘Cute.’
Well, she was clearly a kid who got lots of love from her parents. Physical affection with others probably came naturally to her. So—
“Want to eat tteokbokki together too?”
“Sure! You’re actually a really nice person!”
“It’s Yujin, after all.”
“Right! All Yujins are kind and good people!”
Holding the princess’s hand, we left the garden together.
“What?! What?!”
“Why are you two suddenly holding hands?!”
“Kids!! Yujin is dating!”
“With who?!”
“With Yujin!”
“Agh! Stop joking around!!”
Just as expected, the moment we came down from the building our classmates spotted us and started shouting all sorts of things, but neither I nor the princess paid it any mind.
“It’s a sign we made up. We decided to get along from now on.”
I stated my opinion plainly.
“Tteokbokki~. Slushie~.”
Chae Yujin, on the other hand, was beaming at the thought of delicious food.
. . .
“Really?! I live on the twenty-third floor?!”
“…Uh, can we talk after we finish eating? You can have the rest too.”
“Okay…! I’ll be surprised after I eat…!”
“Chew it properly.”
“Yeah! I’ll chew it properly!”
Nom nom.
“I finished! That’s so amazing! It really is 104-dong, 2102-ho?!”
“I told you. Anyway, I was hoping you could come visit our place this weekend if possible…”
“Today!”
“……Huh?”
“Then I’ll greet your parents today!”
“Is today okay?”
“Yeah! Dad said it’s the way of the martial world to greet adults who buy you delicious food! I want to greet them today!”
“…Uh, sure?”
I didn’t really follow the princess’s train of thought, but…
“I, Chae Yujin, am a girl who knows the way of the martial world!”
Mission complete.
* * *
And so, we stood in front of my apartment door.
“……”
I reached for the door lock, then casually turned my head.
“Hm hm hm~.”
Chae Yujin was in high spirits, probably because her stomach was full. She’d been holding my hand ever since we left the tteokbokki place, saying we had to go in holding hands. Her energy level was something I could never match.
Beep beep beep.
“Mom, I’m home.”
I opened the door and let Chae Yujin go in first. The apartment had the same layout, but the interior seemed quite different. She looked around curiously as we entered.
“It smells delicious!”
“…Aren’t you full?”
“We didn’t have dessert!”
“…What about the slushie?”
“That was a drink!”
“…And the Coolpis?”
“That was a drink too!”
“……?”
Just as we finished neatly arranging our shoes and stepped inside—
“Did my son come home?”
Mom’s voice came from the kitchen. Her usual languid tone sounded strangely bright today. I’d already called ahead to explain the situation, so it made sense.
“Oh my, hello?”
The moment our eyes met, Mom gave Chae Yujin a slight bow.
Squeeze.
“…Huh?”
Chae Yujin suddenly grabbed my hand tightly and thrust it forward proudly.
“Hello, pretty big sister!”
“……?”
Then she swung our arms back at a perfect ninety-degree angle, forcing me to bow along with her.
…Pretty big sister? She does know that’s my mom, right?
“I’m Chae Yujin, Seol Yujin’s classmate! I came to greet you today because I wanted to say hello! Big sister, is your mom busy?”
She spoke so brightly that I could only stare, dumbfounded. I couldn’t tell if she was being clever or genuinely innocent.
“How cute…”
Mom’s eyes were practically dripping honey—something she rarely showed her own son. Whatever the case, the eye contact had definitely been made.
“Thank you! You’re super pretty too, big sister!”
“Oh my my. What am I supposed to do?”
As expected of the Chae family’s young lady. Her approach was truly something else.