WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ My Platinum-Blonde Childhood Friend Is Too Pretty ◈

Chapter 121: 46. Small Jealousies, Envy, Happiness -2

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The first night of the Seoyeon University Economics Department's pojangmacha tent bar was a smashing success.

Not just a success, either. It was an outright blowout. They burned through ingredients pulled forward from the next day's supply and still ran out completely. Sales had hit an all-time high.

The whole department had to mobilize the following morning to go track down a fresh stock of ingredients.

And everyone knew that the biggest share of the credit for that blowout belonged to Lee Do-yoon.

Since the freshman orientation camp, Do-yoon had already made a name for himself with his good looks and his easygoing, genuinely warm personality. Thanks to that, the moment the rumor spread,

- First-year Economics student Lee Do-yoon will be serving in a waiter uniform.

every girl from every corner of the department came drifting over to the tent bar. Where girls gathered, guys naturally followed, and so from opening to close there wasn't an empty table to be found.

As for Do-yoon's photos circulating in every group chat at Seoyeon University, that was hardly a secret anymore.

His photos had been making the rounds before any of this, and the waiter uniform had simply given them a fresh burst of momentum.

"Whoever took these shots should just walk up to Lee Do-yoon and tell him they want to be his fan photographer. That would do the most good for the greatest number of people."

"Seriously. These are genuinely incredible. That smiling face, god..."

The photos were composed so carefully, like someone shooting an idol, which was exactly why people were talking like that.

Anyway, given all of that.

The second day of the festival.

"Who runs an opening-time rush for a university bar stall? Are they insane?"

Outside the tent bar, a rare and unusual sight played out: customers lined up waiting for the doors to open.

* * *

Day two. With guests pouring in even more steadily than the day before, the Economics Department tent bar was slammed.

Because of that, Kim Sung-jun spent the whole time at the cooking station while his classmate Do-yoon ran back and forth serving tables without a moment to breathe.

Sung-jun, who had basically mastered je-yuk (genuinely few people could actually make it right), and Do-yoon, the main reason the tent bar had done so well, had no chance to stop and rest.

So around eight o'clock, the upperclassmen finally cut them loose entirely.

"Sung-jun, Do-yoon, you two are done for the night. You worked so hard these past two days. But Do-yoon, could you maybe, just, sit here at the tent bar with your girlfriend for a bit? We won't charge you for the food."

"Of course. I'll stay until closing and help clean up too. We've got the after-party tonight anyway, right? I have to be there for that."

"Oh, right, the after-party! Thank you so much!"

Do-yoon's girlfriend had come by again today, so the upperclassmen asked him to please just sit there and be present. He said yes without hesitation. It was obviously a request to be a draw for the crowd, but whether he was making up for skipping out during the May festival, he accepted without complaint.

And so Do-yoon and his girlfriend settled at a corner table inside the tent bar.

That was where it started.

The scene that was going to leave Kim Sung-jun aching with envy.

Not just him, either. The other customers around them, the upperclassmen working the floor, all of them felt something hollow in their chests watching it.

Even though he'd been freed from the kitchen, Sung-jun couldn't make himself leave. He stood there staring blankly at his classmate.

"...Jealous."

He really, genuinely was. Fresh all over again.

Do-yoon's face had been stirring that feeling in him from the very first time they met, but what made Sung-jun even more envious than the looks was this, right here.

"How's the takoyaki?"

"Hff... what, it's hot..."

"Is it really hot? Did you burn your mouth?"

"Fwah... not quite that bad. Yeah. It's good though."

"Pretty decent, right? Give me one too. Ahh."

"We're not little kids... hold on. Let me cool it down for you... huu......... here, ahh."

"Ahh... nom..."

"How is it?"

"Mm... not hot at all. Thank you. It's so much better when you feed it to me."

"Obviously... do you want more?"

"Let me feed you this time."

"Stay still. You've been working all day, you must be starving. Just open your mouth like a good girl."

His beautiful girlfriend with her silky platinum-blonde hair, gazing at him with eyes full of warmth and acting just a little coy.

The two of them being so openly lovey-dovey like that, he envied it from the bottom of his heart.

Just having a girlfriend at all would have been more than enough to make a guy like him, who had never dated, feel jealous. But.

"...She's insanely pretty."

The fact that the girlfriend was that pretty drove the feeling like a knife through Sung-jun's chest.

The first time he'd seen Alisha was at the department dinner. The second time was when Do-yoon had invited him over and they'd talked briefly. Yesterday had been the third, and today the fourth.

"She's got the figure and then that face... she doesn't seem human."

No matter how many times he saw her, all he could do was marvel.

Sung-jun had overheard Do-yoon call his girlfriend a princess a few times.

He couldn't agree with that. The way he saw it, the platinum-blonde girlfriend wasn't a princess. She was a queen.

Those slightly sharp eyes, the way her lips stayed pressed firmly together unless she was talking to her boyfriend, the kind of figure you could only pull off with Western genes, none of that brought a soft, delicate princess to mind.

And the way she was with her boyfriend Do-yoon.

"You keep getting oil on your mouth and I told you to stop. Do you want to get in trouble?"

"Go ahead and punish me."

"...You know I said no acting cute in public... put your mouth out. I'll wipe it."

"You know you've got some on you too, right?"

"I know, so what. Hurry up and lick it off... tch, wipe it with a tissue for me."

"Such a shame. Isn't it?"

"Not a shame at all... here."

"Mmp... thanks. By the way, it's a shame Bini-noona had to leave on a business trip and couldn't make it. I kind of wanted all four of us to catch up."

"It's fine. She'd only want to drink anyway. Let's just stay home..."

"Drink just the two of us at home? That's better, right? After the after-party tonight let's go back and have a few more. We can sleep in tomorrow anyway."

"...Hm. Fine, whatever."

When the corners of her eyes curved up with that smile, she was nothing short of a nine-tailed fox.

Those blue eyes narrowing into that gaze, any man would be utterly helpless.

And the way she wasn't the one being fussed over but the one doing the fussing, honestly, she was about as far from a princess as you could get.

"God... I want a girlfriend too..."

Not that it actually mattered whether she was a princess or a queen.

It was the easy, natural back-and-forth between that couple that was doing something to Sung-jun's insides.

Two people living together under one roof, so happily talking about tomorrow. That was exactly the kind of life with a girlfriend Sung-jun had always dreamed of.

So he felt genuinely sick with envy, and yet he couldn't tear his eyes away.

He kept watching the two of them, quietly hoping that someday he'd find someone to spend warm, cozy moments like those with.

"Damn..."

The upperclassman next to him muttering a curse under his breath was definitely feeling the same thing. The customers sneaking glances at Do-yoon's table while pretending to talk among themselves were no different.

Their envy didn't stop there, either.

About thirty minutes later.

Two more people arrived at the table where the couple was sitting.

"We're here! Elli, it's been a while, hasn't it? You never come out of the house!"

"You've got your boyfriend locked up at home and you're just happily nesting in there all day?"

"Hmph, what are you talking about. I came yesterday too."

"We asked you to wait a little and you just left! So mean!"

Lee So-yeon and Joo Hye-ryeong joined them, both of them well known for looks that could rival Do-yoon's.

It wasn't that surprising that they'd come to see their close friend, but with all four of them gathered at one table, the collective attention in the room cranked up another notch.

"......"

"......"

Now there weren't even words left for how envious Sung-jun felt. He couldn't even form the thought.

If it had been Sung-jun himself sitting there as the only guy surrounded by those three beautiful women, he'd honestly have felt crushed under the pressure.

But Do-yoon looked completely at ease, exactly the same as always, laughing and talking with them like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Do you want anything to eat? I'll get it."

"Really? Thank you! I'll take you up on that, Do-yoon!"

"No, don't. You already treated us to that hotel buffet last time. This one's on us."

"He's offering to pay and you're saying we should pay? Joo Hye-ryeong, are you doing it again with Do-yoon..."

"W-what did I do! I've barely even texted him lately..."

"Both of you calm down... actually, the upperclassmen said they'd give me the food for free. So order whatever you want."

"Seriously?! Then I'll have pajeon and makgeolli!"

"Since it's free... same for me."

"Okay. I'll go grab the makgeolli from next door. Elli, one glass is fine, right?"

"One bottle between the four of us. Just that. Or you two can keep drinking on your own."

Lee So-yeon, famous for being cute and outgoing. Joo Hye-ryeong, famous for her clean, delicate looks and her following as a TikTok and Shorts influencer.

Both of them had turned away countless confessions without a second thought. But even as they acted casual, there was something unmistakably there, a warmth aimed specifically at Do-yoon. Not just as a friend, but as a woman.

Sung-jun had never dated anyone, but he could feel it somehow, that particular quality in the air.

- drip

Watching all of it, a single tear rolled down Sung-jun's cheek.

He was so jealous.

- drip

Lee Byeong-jin, the upperclassman standing next to him, was crying too.

Do-yoon was living a life on a different plane from theirs entirely.

"Just... give me one..."

Sung-jun envied it so deeply it hurt.

* * *

The first night of the festival, Elli had kept me pinned to the bed and I couldn't get out.

The second night, I'd had drinks with So-yeon and Hye-ryeong, then joined the Economics Department after-party with Elli and had a little more there. When we got home I had a few more glasses, and then this time it was me who grabbed Elli and wouldn't let her out of bed.

Elli had gotten a little drunk and was being adorably clingy, babbling "do it more..." in that soft voice, and on top of that she'd deliberately put on a little string bikini bottom. What could I do.

The fact that she'd gone out wearing that outside, the audacity of it, I had to punish her for that too.

Then the next morning.

The last day of the festival, when the department tent bar wasn't open.

"Get up. We should start getting ready to go out."

"Elli."

"What."

"Let's rest a little longer before we go. We can't get a good spot even if we leave now."

"......"

"Come here."

"Animal."

"Better because I'm an animal, right?"

"...Hmph."

We woke up and spent another heated stretch of time together, then only headed out as evening was coming on.

We didn't get to see any of the festival at all in the end. We went purely because Elli wanted to see her favorite idol perform.

It was a big-name group, so the crowd was already packed thick and the spot we ended up with wasn't great, but we stood far back and watched the performance hand in hand.

Honestly, I'd never been that interested in idols, so the stage didn't grab me much. Instead of watching the performance, I watched Elli.

My girlfriend, eyes shining, fixed on that distant stage.

"......"

Even with good eyesight she couldn't have made out much from that far back, but Elli didn't seem to care at all. She was staring so hard she'd forgotten to breathe.

It was so pretty and so cute that I stood there with a soft, dopey smile, watching her profile.

Then at some point a tiny flicker of jealousy crept in. Was she looking at the idol a little too intently?

Even if it was a girl group, it just, well.

When she didn't pay attention to me, I guess I got a little sulky.

"...Heh."

A laugh slipped out before I could stop it.

The whole festival, Elli had been letting little sparks of jealousy show because of the other girls coming to the tent bar, and now here I was getting jealous of an idol.

We liked each other so much that feelings like these were bound to come up, and as long as they weren't too intense, I thought that was a perfectly natural and healthy thing. But still.

Still, I did want her to look at me.

- peck!

I bent down and kissed Elli's pale cheek.

Her concentration broken, she furrowed her brow and turned to look at me, and I grinned and said, "Stop only looking at the idol and look at me too. I'm jealous."

"......"

No softening it, no playing it off, just saying exactly what I was feeling. Elli's eyes went wide.

"...You."

At the same time her face flushed, she bit her lip, and stared at me with an expression like she was barely holding something in.

"......"

She opened her mouth like she was about to say something, then closed it again. Opened it, closed it, a few more times.

Then.

"...Let's go."

She grabbed my hand and started walking.

"Where to?"

"Home."

"Already? The performance isn't even close to done."

"Be quiet. Just follow me."

Her voice had gone a little rough.

Her steps matched.

The sound of my girlfriend barely keeping her excitement in check, and secretly I'd been hoping for exactly this, so I followed right on her heels.

It was already mid-September of our twentieth year.

But our daily life hadn't changed at all.

Whether we were on a trip somewhere or out for some event, in the end we always spent the time less focused on whatever it was and more just wrapped up in each other.

Like the Busan trip. Like right now.

Always, without fail, the same.

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