The ‘Childhood Friend’ Pretending to be a Girlfriend
To get to school, I have to take the subway. I walk to the station first.
As I walk side-by-side with Lee Yurim, a wind that feels like it’s cutting through me with a blade blows every time a car passes by.
"Hey, Yang Dajun."
Lee Yurim grabs my shoulder and pulls me toward her.
"Get on the inside."
"Why?"
"It's dangerous."
She says this while hugging my shoulder and pushing me toward the inner side of the sidewalk. She switches places with me, taking the outer side, as if she’s protecting me.
My god, a woman escorting a man. I look around and see others doing the same, so I just walk silently as Lee Yurim tells me to.
But every time I try to look somewhere else, Lee Yurim gets in the way.
'I can't see...'
Is she actually blocking me from checking out other women? She’s stuck to my side, and because of our height difference, all I can see is Lee Yurim's chest.
'Heh, cute.'
But that doesn't hide what's in front of me. It’s a world dominated by women, so I’m busy enough just looking at the women I pass by. There are naturally many pretty people, and it’s fun to compare them to Lee Yurim.
Of course, Lee Yurim wins most of the time.
But perhaps she feels burdened by me constantly staring at her face, because she waves her hands and makes a fuss.
"Ah, why do you keep looking?"
"I wasn't looking?"
Naturally, I shrug my shoulders, pretending to be innocent with my eyebrows raised. At that, Lee Yurim mumbles with her lips and scratches her head.
"...I guess not."
She looks like a puppy tilting its head, fooled by a prank. A cute puppy at that.
Lee Yurim doesn't lose to anyone in terms of looks, but if I had to choose, she’s on the cute side. I glance at the adorable mole on the tip of her nose.
'Oh, right.'
Suddenly, I remember something I had forgotten. I couldn't find the answer on the internet this morning. I ask Lee Yurim instead.
"Yurim-ah, what do women like?"
"Huh?"
Lee Yurim’s eyes widen, and she waves her arms as if she’s bouncing.
"Why? W-women like... wait, is it... is it me..."
"I want to do something for my sister when she gets off work."
"Ah..."
Like a balloon popping, the air escapes from Lee Yurim’s cheeks. *Phew.* She gathers her eyebrows into a sad shape, so I pull on her sleeve with a desperate expression.
"You're the only person I can ask..."
"Heh, then I have no choice, I suppose."
She nods as if she never felt otherwise; her mood swings are easy to read. And honestly, there really is no one else but her.
'I can't ask Yang Dami.'
If I asked her, she’d definitely just berate me, calling her brother an idiot. Conversely, Lee Yurim chews on her lip and thinks it over for me.
"Hmm... doesn't Dahee unnie come home late?"
"Sometimes? If she works overtime, she comes home at night."
Lee Yurim is also close with Yang Dahee. She’s seen her since she was young, and because she’s known me for so long, Yang Dahee is fond of Lee Yurim as well.
"Well, just greet her when she gets home from work. Do the chores for her instead. Isn't that enough? Maybe make her something delicious."
Hmm, that’s an exemplary suggestion, but that won't work. I scratch my temple and smile awkwardly.
"I can't cook."
"Ah, right."
Lee Yurim covers her mouth and looks at me with pity.
'Yes, yes, I'm sorry I'm a hikikomori who just plays and eats...'
I can just do laundry or cleaning, but it would take an eternity to learn how to cook from scratch. It’s not about the sincerity of doing it.
"Then give her a massage."
"A massage?"
"Yeah. She must be tired after working."
My eyes light up.
"Lee Yurim, you're a genius."
"Heh..."
I should do it starting today. A massage from her younger brother, no less. If I knead her shoulders a bit, Yang Dahee will surely be happy.
'Should I do it for her too?'
I look at Lee Yurim.
"Do you want me to do it for you too?"
"N-n-no way!"
Lee Yurim tries to run away. What is it, why is she acting like that all of a sudden? Still, she comes back before long, as if she wants to stay by my side. It was a gap.
"D-don't do it...!"
Her voice is so loud that the people around us turn to look.
"Don't do it. Heh..."
"Ah, seriously..."
She really is fun to tease. Just bickering with each other makes me happy.
It’s noisy, so the people passing by look at us once. The women, in particular, glare at me with intense eyes, and at the same time, I feel a chill and shiver.
I’ve unintentionally provoked the jealousy of the men walking with their girlfriends.
"Noona, where are you looking?"
"What?"
"You just looked at another man."
"Ah, I didn't."
"I'm disappointed, hmph."
'Shit.'
That was fucked up...
Compared to that, I was cool. Lee Yurim doesn't even look at other men, but even if she did give a passing glance, I’d just shrug my shoulders.
'Is this the confidence that comes from my looks?'
I’ve become a very generous person.
"Ah."
Cancel that. I hide behind Lee Yurim.
"What's wrong?"
"That person... keeps staring at me."
It wasn't like that when an ugly woman looked at me.
'Let's say I'm only half-generous.'
Still, there was a gain from exchanging glances with people. The status window doesn't pop up just because I look at anyone. I understood that it only appears for heroine candidates or people with a deep connection to me.
'Well, if it popped up for everyone, that would be a problem too.'
It would lose its sense of reality if everything appeared as a number. And I don't want to be tied up with everyone like a string of dried fish anyway.
'I feel a bit relieved.'
I can look at beauties comfortably. If something pops up, there’s a possibility, and if not, I can just look and pass by.
However, Lee Yurim’s heart doesn't seem to be at ease. She’s been glaring at me for a while now, and she finally tries to divert my gaze.
"Dajun-ah."
"Yeah?"
"It’s nice to go together after so long. Isn't it?"
"I guess so."
I answer indifferently, and Lee Yurim grabs the hem of my sleeve.
"Hmm..."
Silence falls between us. Lee Yurim doesn't let go of my sleeve and keeps walking.
"We used to hold hands when we were young."
"That's true."
"Th-that, over there... um, ah..."
She fidgets with her hands and hesitates. She steals glances at me while unable to move her tiny lips.
'Should I hold her hand once?'
A beauty like Lee Yurim is reading my mood. I decide to accept it because it’s touching that she’s put in enough effort to come find me in the morning. I grab her hand.
"H-huh..."
She seems surprised, her eyes widening as she makes a strange sound. She didn't even expect it, and her face turns beet red, then she lets out a silly laugh.
"Heh..."
But I shouldn't give her the unnecessary misunderstanding that 'Maybe Yang Dajun has feelings for me too.'
'It's a bit too early for that.'
I shrug my shoulders and say.
"It's like lovers holding hands."
"Oh...?"
"But for us, it's friendship hand-holding."
"That's true..."
Her expression changes quickly. She was sad, but then she realizes something and is soon all smiles; she’s a positive kid.
*
'Wow, there are so many people.'
It’s inevitable that it’s crowded in the morning, but it’s still staggering. As soon as I get on the subway, hot air hits my face, and I open my eyes wide in surprise.
'It's almost all women?'
There are so many that the air is filled with the sweet and sour scent of women, and the more I breathe, the dizzier I get.
"Dajun-ah?"
"Yeah."
I almost lost my mind. They say the scent of women is similar to hawthorn. It smells like a mixture of warm, cozy skin scent that takes your breath away, and a sweet and sour apple scent.
'I almost fainted.'
No matter where I look, there are plenty of big-breasted women with their buttons bursting. It looks like warm steam would rise from their deep cleavage.
'Ugh, I shouldn't get an erection here.'
Since I have to stand for a while, I hurriedly close my legs and stare blankly toward Lee Yurim.
"Hmm."
Lee Yurim seems uncomfortable with the warm air; she shrugs her shoulders for a while and then fans herself with her hand.
"Heh, it's hot."
She exhales, *phew*, and takes off her coat, and her breasts bounce as she moves.
Truly, big breasts.
Just like they were soaked in a milk bottle, every time her large breasts bounced, a familiar scent filled my nose.
'Yurim's scent, I like it...'
My body feels languid from the cozy vanilla scent, and my eyes close little by little. I have a drowsy expression because all my tension has melted away, and Lee Yurim calls me.
"Dajun-ah."
"Yeah..."
"Stay by my side. There are so many people."
She tries to block me with one arm and protect me from bumping into others. But as expected of rush hour, people keep pouring in, and eventually, there isn't even a place to stand.
'Wow.'
I thought it was the end, but they keep flocking in.
As I’m pushed by the crowd, I end up stuck to Lee Yurim, and when I look up because I feel a breeze, she’s blushing slightly and breathing carefully.
'It's warm...'
The distance is so close that only a fist could fit between us. Because someone behind us is pushing, my face bumps into Lee Yurim’s breasts.
"Haa."
It’s soft, like burying my face in a cushion. Someone behind me is also pressing their breasts against me, so I’m squeezed tight from front and back.
'Is this happiness?'
Every time the train shakes, my face buried in Lee Yurim’s breasts moves wildly, and blood rushes to my lower body, making my pants bulge, rendering the corrective underwear I’m wearing useless.
Lee Yurim avoids my gaze, her voice trembling.
"I-it's a little cramped."
"Yeah, tell me about it."
Lee Yurim is extremely embarrassed, but this is unavoidable. I entrust my body to Lee Yurim’s big breasts and lose my mind...
Clatter, clatter-
Clatter, clatter-
Clatter-
After passing a few stations, many people get off, and only then can I breathe a sigh of relief.
"Haa."
A moan escapes me without me knowing, out of relief. Embarrassed by that, I lower my head with a flushed face and say.
"Ugh, I almost died."
"..."
But Lee Yurim is so quiet that I slowly raise my head.
'Is she angry because of her breasts?'
No, that wasn't it.
When I look up, Lee Yurim has a dangerous look in her eyes.
*
A little while ago, before getting on the subway.
Lee Yurim was happy to be walking with Yang Dajun. Standing next to him felt like being his girlfriend, so she walked with her shoulders back.
"Did you get a cramp?"
"It's not that. Heh."
She struggled to keep the corners of her mouth from going up. Even then, when the women passing by stared at Yang Dajun, she didn't hesitate to glare at them.
'Ugh, don't stare at our Dajun.'
Anyway, he knows he’s cute, so why are they trying to hit on someone else’s childhood friend? When she looked to the side, Yang Dajun was looking around like a puppy that had just come into the world.
'He's really cute.'
He was small and cute when he was young, but it’s a problem that he’s become even cuter now. Even his height, which fits perfectly into a woman’s arms, looks boyish, and just looking down at Yang Dajun keeps stimulating her possessiveness.
As if he knew that heart, Yang Dajun was looking around at people, then suddenly hid behind her in surprise.
"That person... keeps staring at me."
He pointed with a trembling voice, and she almost hugged him tight.
'But, will he be okay?'
She’s worried that such a fragile boy might be bullied when he goes to school.
'No, he’s trying his best for once.'
He was asking for advice because he wanted to help his sister, so she couldn't stop him as a friend.
Lee Yurim’s thoughts now reached Yang Dahee.
'Dahee unnie, she must have had a hard time alone all this time.'
They’ve known each other for quite a long time. They played together when they were young, and they became close because she visited her house every day.
'Still, I’m going to take responsibility for Dajun.'
Since he can’t rely on his family forever, she believed that Yang Dajun would eventually come to her.
'I can wait longer.'
Since she’s waited for so long, waiting a little longer isn't hard. But just now, it was slightly dangerous.
She stuttered, thinking he had read her mind. A guy she likes massaging her body is a suggestion hard for any woman to resist. She closed her eyes tight.
'Absolutely not. Even now, if Dajun touches me...'
Because today, her lower abdomen is ringing and tingling as if her spine is being scratched by fingernails.
She tried to run away to avoid showing an ugly side, but because Yang Dajun touched her hand, she almost fainted.
"D-don't do it...!"
A delicate voice. Her ears burned at the thought that she had made a sound unbefitting a woman.
'Ugh, I'm seriously embarrassed.'
If there had been a place to hide, she would have found it. It was fortunate that Yang Dajun didn't think it was strange.
"Heh."
Since he was just smiling foolishly, it tickled a corner of her heart, and she fidgeted with her hands without knowing it.
'I want to hold hands...'
Feeling sorry, she clenched and unclenched her hands and licked her lips, and while she was off guard, Yang Dajun grabbed her hand.
"H-huh..."
She made a strange sound again, but it didn't matter.
The small palm of the boy she always held hands with when she was young... as she held it, Yang Dajun’s body temperature was transmitted.
She perked up her ears in anticipation.
It was a rollercoaster feeling, even if it was just for a moment.
*
They arrived at school together.
Lee Yurim followed Yang Dajun all the way into the classroom where he was taking his exam.
"Do well, and make sure to contact me!"
Eyes from all around were drawn to them.