My Platinum-Blonde Childhood Friend is Too Pretty - Chapter 118

WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

◈ My Platinum-Blonde Childhood Friend Is Too Pretty ◈

Chapter 118: 45. Autumn, the University Festival

──────

Taking Hyun-ho hyung up on his suggestion, we kept going to the gym steadily.

He'd offered to help even without a personal training contract, but that felt way too presumptuous, so we bought a few more sessions instead.

We hadn't been at it long enough to actually feel muscles forming, but what I could feel was how the workouts that had wrecked me in the beginning were slowly becoming second nature day by day.

"Princess carry?"

"Go for it."

"Okay, uh... let me try. Hnngh...!"

-Swoop!

"Phew... not bad?"

"Not heavy?"

"Not at all. Super light. Have you not been eating much lately?"

"I told you not to lie to me. Be honest."

"...I'm serious. You're light."

"Hmph."

-Slide.

"Feels like there's a bit more muscle here..."

"Phew... I've... gotten firmer, right...?"

"Meh... sort of. Did you do a full-body workout yesterday too?"

"In the beginning... they say that's good... hnngh... phew... to get the form... down first..."

"Put me down now. What are you doing standing there with your arms shaking."

"Fuhhh..."

"Are you that tired?"

"...What? I could honestly go another hour. I put you down because you asked me to."

"Sure you could."

On top of all that, it was good that Elli had started asking for things she'd never asked of me before, things like this princess carry. My strength hadn't shot up dramatically yet, but the fact that she now trusted me enough to ask, that meant something.

The only problem was that Elli was tall, and with her chest and hips she carried some weight, so holding the princess carry for long wasn't exactly easy.

Lifting a person is naturally harder than lifting the same weight on a machine, after all.

Still, becoming the kind of boyfriend who made Elli feel secure, the kind she could lean on, gave me this rush of dopamine that made working out genuinely fun.

And Elli, even past the one-month mark, was still only running on the treadmill.

You could call it "just" that, but she was going at high intensity for over an hour, so as cardio it was plenty.

Of course she wasn't only doing that. Every evening at home she kept up her Pilates and squats too.

"Elli, I think your hips are dropping too low?"

"No they're not."

"They really are. Let me hold you."

-Squeeze.

"Are you going to keep interrupting my workout?"

"I'm just holding you."

"Holding, sure... ugh..."

-Squeeze, squeeze.

"...You're dead."

"Want to shower now?"

"What shower. Get to the bed. I'm going on top tonight, so just lie down and be good."

We did end up switching to a different kind of exercise more often than not whenever I got playful during her squats.

That was how working out became one of our hobbies.

I was glad to have something I could share with Elli, and Elli was genuinely loving how things had been lately.

I'd heard her reasons for that one Friday night when she'd gotten tipsy and turned adorable.

"I said I liiiike it... so work harder."

"Is it touching the muscles I'm building?"

"That too... but at night it's really good."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah... do it again for me... I want it..."

"Want me to carry you princess-style?"

"Princess carry is the besssst..."

Apparently since I'd started working out, I'd been getting more... vigor at night, and she was into it. Working hard at the gym had been building my own confidence, and I guess that showed on the outside somehow.

Anyway.

It really was a full summer.

Elli and I drove all over the place together, went on trips with friends and family, and whenever there was a gap I drew a lot.

On top of that, singing and recording with Jeong-woo hyung, studying English and other certifications, and starting the gym around August.

Even though it looked like all I was doing was flirting with Elli every single day, I was surprisingly keeping myself busy.

If I'd been alone, I probably couldn't have managed even half of it.

But Elli was by my side, and almost everything I did, I did with her.

So everything was fun.

It had always been that way, even back when Elli and I were kids playing in the dirt. Even things I had no particular interest in were fun if Elli was there.

And now Elli was actively supporting me, fitting study time around everything else. None of it felt like a burden.

Still, there wasn't time for much beyond all that, so things ran along like a wheel in a groove, similar day after day.

Yet with Elli there, each day felt fresh and fun all the same.

That was how we welcomed September.

* * *

A cool breeze, an autumn day.

Early September, right after the new semester started.

The university had just begun gearing up for the festival. As a first-year in the Economics Department, I got pulled in to help with the department's pojangmacha tent bar.

"Lee Do-yoon. You remember how you skipped out on the whole festival back in May, claiming you were sick?"

In truth, just like the senior said, I had helped with setup for the May festival, but when the actual day came I hadn't shown up.

Well, hadn't shown up is more accurate.

Of all times, the car had come through right then, and Elli and I had been too busy taking drives and going on dates to miss out. So I'd helped with prep and then skipped the day itself with a fake body ache excuse.

Driving around with her had been too much fun, and Elli had been pretty unhappy about all the flirting that tends to happen at university festival tent bars, so that factored in too.

Plus, with the festival in full swing, the popular date spots around Seoul were practically empty. The conditions for a drive date had been absolutely perfect.

I had helped with everything leading up to it, and I did come back to help clean up when it was over, but the fact that I'd lied to skip the main day was still true.

So I felt bad about it, and this time I was determined to be there.

"Yes, I'm sorry."

"No, I'm not trying to scold you for being sick..."

That's why I'd apologized.

The female seniors who'd come along to relay the message erupted at him instead.

"Hey! He was sick, why are you giving him a hard time!"

"The kid was ill and the senior's standing there scolding him~ Byeongjin is really something, huh?"

"He even came to help clean up. That alone is impressive."

"Is there some kind of Do-yoon protection squad in this department? I know all that! Anyway, you admit you couldn't pitch in when we were running the tent bar. Right?"

"I admit it."

"Okay. Like I said before, I'm putting you in for the full shift. Please don't get sick this time. You won't, right?"

"Of course not. I even started going to the gym to keep my body in shape."

"...Could you maybe just not do that? If you start hitting the gym too, what are the rest of us guys supposed to do? Depressing."

"Ha ha..."

"Anyway, our tent bar's numbers depend on you. Without you we're finished. I need you to understand that and take it seriously."

"I'm not sure about all that, but... I'll definitely be there this time."

"Please, I'm begging you..."

Apparently the sales in May hadn't been great. Sounded like they barely scraped together enough for the after-party.

The seniors gave me a few more firm reminders before heading off, and then Seong-jun pulled out a chair and sat down next to me.

"They'll probably just have you on serving duty, but can you do it full-time?"

"I guess. I've got to work that much harder since I skipped last time. Besides, doesn't our school not get that many visitors during the festival?"

"True, but there were still quite a few. Honestly more fun than I expected. Not on the level of places like Yonsei or Korea University, but it wasn't as bad as people make it sound."

"Good to hear. Our school's got Yujins coming on the last day, right?"

"You heard too? We absolutely have to stay for that."

"I'm definitely staying."

"Look at you being all fired up over a girl group when you've got a girlfriend. Is your girlfriend coming?"

"Yeah. Elli's a Yujins fan. We're watching together."

This festival, same as before, wasn't exactly something Elli was thrilled about, but skipping two in a row would look bad. Elli didn't seem like she was going to push that hard to stop me either.

Plus, with an idol she actually liked performing at the closing show, she was quietly looking forward to it this time.

"They start prep tomorrow, you coming?"

"I'll be there. I helped with all the prep last time too."

"Oh, right. Well, good luck then. I'm heading out first."

"Already?"

"I've got a blind date tonight, need to get ready."

"A blind date? Today?"

"Last chance. I want a girlfriend to enjoy the university festival with too."

"Ah..."

"Later."

"Good luck!"

I watched Seong-jun leave with the gravity of a man on a mission, then packed up my own bag.

I went straight home without any detours. Starting tomorrow I'd be coming back late because of festival prep, so I figured I'd make up for that today.

On the way from school to home.

I stopped at the supermarket to grab the milk and eggs Elli had asked for, then walked the rest of the way at an easy, strolling pace.

After more than half a year, the place really did feel unmistakably like "our home" now. I unlocked the door to our place and stepped inside.

"You're back?"

Elli came out to the entryway wearing an apron.

She must have been making dinner.

That look, so much like a housewife, like my wife, made my heart lift.

"I'm home."

-Peck!

* * *

"You'll be coming back late starting tomorrow, then."

"Looks like it. Sorry."

"It's fine. You lied and skipped last time, so go do it properly."

"That's the plan."

-Peck.

Elli was sitting in my lap, trading kisses in between sentences as we talked.

Since the semester started, we were apart for a pretty long stretch every day, so whenever I got home we'd always spend about thirty minutes like this.

I'd tell her about whatever happened at school that day too.

Even if nothing important had happened, every little thing, all of it.

"What's Bini-noona doing?"

"She's coming with oppa. She said she can probably make one of the days."

"Not the first day, right? You've got a shoot then, so we can't go together."

"Probably not. Probably the second day."

"So the three of us would all come on the second day? Let's do it that way, and then on the last day since there's nothing going on, let's just go on a date."

"Hmm... well, I guess if we browse around and then head to the concert it'll work out perfectly."

"Right? Though I wonder if we'd need to go a bit early to get a decent spot."

"We won't get a good spot. There'll be people waiting there from the morning."

"That much?"

"That much."

-Peck.

"Lee Do-yoon."

"Yeah."

"You know you need to watch yourself around girls at the festival, right? Don't, or you'll die."

"Hmm..."

"Not answering properly? Want to lose your life?"

"Serving customers politely while I'm working, that's unavoidable, you know that, right?"