My Japanese Childhood Friend Is Too Flirty

45. Love or Friendship. (1)

Fourth period was over, lunch time.

I’d eaten lunch with the guys from the basketball team and was now sitting quietly at my desk. The reason was simple.

Aki had told me she had something important to tell me and asked me to wait in the classroom for a bit.

‘Something important….’

What could it be?

For a second, I thought maybe she was going to ask to sleep over at my place again, but I quickly realized that didn’t make sense.

Sleeping over at my place wasn’t exactly something to brag about, and why would she do it in front of everyone? We could just do it when it’s just the two of us.

“Hmm.”

Yeah, no matter how I think about it, it’s not that kind of thing.

But, then what the hell is it…

“Joo-joo. Aren’t you going to play basketball?”

While I was pondering with my hand on my chin, someone came and tapped me on the shoulder.

I turned around, and it was Jaehyun. Beside Jaehyun were Sungmin and Dongho, and Dongho had a huge basketball wedged between his arm and torso.

All three of them looked like they wanted to go outside quickly, they must be itching to play since they haven’t been.

“Basketball? Now?”

“Yeah, now. Just need one more after you, Joo Woo-joo, then we’ve got a perfect 3-on-3.”

“Ah, really? But I can’t right now… I gotta wait for someone.”

“Wait? For who? Ah, is it maybe Fujiwara-san?”

“Fujiwara-san? What’s that?”

“What do you mean, what? It’s Joo Woo-joo’s girlfriend’s name.”

“Ah, so that half-blood kid’s name is Fujiwara-san? Last time it sounded like Aki or something.”

I’d been listening to Jaehyun, Dongho, and Sungmin’s banter, and I jumped in.

“Her last name’s Fujiwara, and her first name’s Aki. Put ’em together, it’s Fujiwara Aki.”

“Ah, so Nam Jaehyun calls her Fujiwara-san, and you call her Aki, huh?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“Really? But why does Nam Jaehyun call her by her last name? Usually foreigners call each other by their first names, right?”

“Hmm, that’s a little complicated to explain…”

The Japanese unique naming culture, yobist, wasn’t something you could just sum up in a word or two; it took a little time to lay it out.

The explanation was a bit long, but to give you the basic gist, it was something like: ‘In Japan, if you’re not close, you usually address each other by last name and with an honorific – that’s how the relationship is.’

My friends all reacted differently to my explanation.

“What, that’s so complicated. Can’t we just call everyone by their first names for ease?”

That was Dongho.

“Ah, so that’s why Fujiwara-san told him to call her that…”

That was Jaehyun.

“Hey, something’s been bugging me. You, Nam Jaehyun, and her, you all went to the same kindergarten, right? Then why does Nam Jaehyun still call your girlfriend by her last name?”

It was Sungmin.

I’d been listening quietly to the three of them talk, but only answered Sungmin’s last question.

“I’m not really sure either… I guess Aki has her reasons?”

It’s not like Jaehyun’s disliked, right? If that was the case, she wouldn’t even acknowledge him.

“Ah, maybe it’s like this? ‘I don’t want any guy other than my boyfriend calling me by my first name~’. Something like that?”

“Nah, no way…”

“Maybe it’s not ‘no way’? I could totally see myself doing something like that. There are a few girls in our class who hate it when people they’re not close to call them by their first name, you know.”

“Really? I’ve never experienced that…”

“Dude, what the hell? Where did that sudden flex come from?”

I let Dongho’s curse words go in one ear and out the other, lost in my own thoughts.

Come to think of it, I’ve never seen any other guy call Aki just by her first name.

‘So, could it be…?’

Could it really be that reason?

*Boyfriend*, we’re not there yet, but still…

She doesn’t want any other guy calling her by her first name, so she made Jaehyun, someone she’s known for over 10 years, call her Fujiwara-san…?

“Alright, whatever. So when’s your girlfriend gonna get here? Tell her to hurry up if she’s got something to do. We gotta get a game of basketball in before lunch ends.”

“…Hold on, she should be here soon.”

“Hey, Woojoo.”

No sooner had the words left my mouth than I heard someone’s voice.

For a moment I thought Aki had snuck up on me, but the voice was deep, definitely not a girl’s.

I spun around, surprised, or maybe not surprised anymore, to see who was standing there.

It was Kim Seungwoo, pretty much fully integrated into our basketball crew.

“Uh, what’s up?”

“Sorry to just drop this out of nowhere, but you know Ham Ji-eun, right? That girl in our class.”

“Um, yeah… I guess I know her?”

Not exactly close, though.

“Did she ask you to do something for her?”

“Ask? …Oh, right. She did.”

More accurately, it wasn’t a request, but a proposal. She’d asked me to be a makeup model on some Instagram live thing, offering a base pay of fifty and an extra bonus on top of that.

It was tempting enough to make a high schooler like me briefly consider it, so I hadn’t forgotten about it. But the problem was that I just hadn’t forgotten, that’s all. I remembered it, but I’d already turned it down since Aki told me not to do any modeling.

“A favor? What, what kind of favor?”

“Seungwoo, can I tell them?”

“Yeah, yeah, go ahead. It’s not like it’s some super important secret anyway.”

“What is it, what’s going on?”

“It’s nothing much, she just asked me to model for some men’s skincare products. Said she’d pay me a bit for it.”

“Modeling, doesn’t that pay a lot? How much were they offering?”

“Base fifty, and I think she said she’d add a little more…”

“Wait, what? Fifty thousand won? Am I hearing things?”

“Damn, that’s a lot. So why didn’t you do it?”

Staring at me, Sungmin and Dongho each react with expressions that clearly say they don’t understand.

‘Why else? Because Aki told me not to, that’s why…’

If that hadn’t been the case, I would’ve jumped at the chance. 500,000 won is a huge amount of money, for me and for any of the other guys.

“I have my reasons… ah, anyway. But why?”

“That thing, is there any chance you could say you’ll do it?”

“Huh? I already turned it down?”

“Yeah, I heard. But Jieun keeps saying she’s having a really hard time finding a model and can’t proceed with the ad, and if the contract gets canceled, she’ll have to pay a penalty.”

“Ah. I see…”

My words trailing off, I stared at Kim Seungwoo.

He was a bit shorter than me, but still nearly 180cm.

His looks are a little flashy, but he’s good-looking, and his personality is actually pretty decent when you get to know him.

Well, I guess personality isn’t really a factor for modeling work… anyway, when you look at the whole picture, he seems fine for something like a cosmetics model, right?

Plus, Ham Jieun and him are childhood friends.

“Speaking of that, Seungwoo, can’t you do it?”

“Nope, I can’t. I can’t show my face anywhere that’s not designated by my agency.”

“Agency?”

“It’s a bit much to explain the details… just think of it like, a confidentiality clause, or something like that.”

“Ah, I see…”

I don’t know what kind of company he means, or what kind of secrets he needs to keep, but there seems to be some sort of reason, anyway.

“Yeah, so that’s the thing. Would you mind helping Jieun just this once, Woojoo? I usually don’t ask for favors like this, but she said she’s in a really tough situation. From what I heard, the penalty they’d have to pay if the ad falls through is almost several million won, and the deadline is the day after tomorrow.”

“Woah, the day after tomorrow? That means the deadline’s practically here.”

“Hey, Ju-uju. Can’t you just do it, like, consider it saving a life?”

“Yeah, unless you’ve got a real reason not to, just do it. They’re gonna pay you a ton, right? It’s not free, they’re paying, seems worth it.”

“……Ugh.”

My heart wavered a little.

The penalty fee was no joke, and my friends were really pushing for it too.

But, honestly, something more important was at play: loyalty to Kim Seung-woo.

I mean, this is the dude who helped me and Aki kiss in the Jamsil Baseball Stadium.

The weight of this request was just on a whole different level compared to someone I barely know.

Aki told me not to, but I could even persuade Aki for this one, just to help him out.

“Okay, fine, I’ll do it.”

“……Huh? Seriously?”

Mom always said you had to repay kindness with kindness, and it wasn’t just any request, it was Kim Seung-woo’s. It just felt right.

I nodded firmly.

“Yeah, seriously.”

“Ah, thanks. Seriously, thank you…!”

“No need to thank me for this… Oh, but I already told her I wasn’t doing it, are you sure this is okay?”

“Of course it’s okay. I’ll tell Ji-eun myself later. The deadline’s the day after tomorrow, so she’ll probably want to meet you after school today.”

“After school? Got it. I’ll keep my schedule open.”

* * *

10 minutes later, classroom.

After my talk with Kim Seung-woo, Aki came to our class. The reason Aki came to find me was because of 5th period P.E. She’d washed her gym clothes but hadn’t brought them, so she needed to borrow mine.

So I gladly lent them to her.

Our first-year P.E. is only twice a week, and Monday’s is a joint class with two groups, but the other time is just our own class, so it’s possible to borrow gym clothes like this.

“Here you go.”

“Ah, thanks~! Woo-joo~chan, I’ll wear it well…!”

Aki held my gym clothes to her chest, smiling happily.

If we were in the same class, lending clothes like this would be unimaginable, so there are some advantages to being split up…

Well, even if there are advantages, they’re completely overshadowed by the huge disadvantage of not seeing her face during class every day…

“I’ll wash the clothes well and return them! …Ah, and Woo-joo~chan.”

“Yeah, what is it?”

“Are you free, after school…?”

Hesitantly.

Aki’s cheeks flushed a bit as she glanced at me.

“A-Atashi(I), I was going to buy something later… I, I was wondering if Woo-joo~chan would go with me….”

“Really? What are you buying?”

“…A, a swimsuit. The one I wore last year is too tight, it doesn’t fit anymore.”

“Ah.”

She’s buying a swimsuit.

Yeah, it’s cheaper to buy them around this time.

Summer vacation’s almost here, so swimsuits are gonna skyrocket in price.

‘Swimsuit…’

Come to think of it, I got water park tickets too.

I couldn’t help but imagine it.

Aki in a swimsuit, going to the water park with me, splashing around right in front of me.

“…….”

Woah.

Just imagining it is amazing…

“A-are you gonna… go with me? If you come, maybe I’ll show you a little bit, just for you, Woo-joo…”

“Yeah, of course I’ll go with you. When are we going?”

Missing this chance would be stupid.

I answered immediately, without hesitation.

Shame was long gone with that decision, and Aki seemed a little flustered, glancing at me sideways.

“……hhee, okay. We’re going after school today.”

“Okay, after school, then I’ll just wait in anticipation until then?”

“Uhm, but don’t get your hopes too high? I’ve gained a little weight, so the swimsuit fit might be a bit weird…”

“It’s okay, Aki, you look beautiful in anything.”

“……Ah, I, I gotta go!”

I was so blunt with my compliment, she got all flustered, face burning red, and she dashed out the back door.

I just watched that cute back of hers for a while.

A thought struck me like a sudden blow.

Just now, Aki had said she was going to buy a swimsuit after school today.

And yet, ten minutes ago, Kim Seungwoo had said, “I’ll tell Ji-eun directly later, I’ll probably ask her to meet me right after school today.”

Which meant.

The promise I made with Aki, and the promise I made with Kim Seungwoo…weren’t they happening on the same day?

“……Huh?”