WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ My Platinum-Blonde Childhood Friend Is Too Pretty ◈

Chapter 123: 48. The Secret Behind My Girlfriend Going Out More Often...

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My girlfriend, who used to have eyes for no one but me, suddenly started going out all the time.

Anyone overhearing that out of context might jump to conclusions, but I obviously didn't have any suspicions like that.

There were moments when she'd drift off alone in thought, or sit quietly just staring at me.

Even so, she still stuck to me like glue whenever she was home, kept up with the housework without slacking.

And at night especially, she'd fix me with this deep, smoldering gaze and then.

"smooch... chu... haa... chuup..."

"...Are you going to keep kissing me? We should start slow-"

"Still kissing you... smooch... hold still... chu... stay..."

She'd blanket every inch of my body in kisses. Not just my face, literally everywhere.

After all that thick, sticky affection wound down, we'd always fall into something deeper. That was just how things went.

With love like that coming straight at me, there was no room for suspicion.

So I was just purely, genuinely curious.

We'd spent a month after vacation going on that regional road trip together. Now that it was over, I'd figured we'd spend what was left before my enlistment stuck to each other at home, all cozy and close. That had been the plan.

"Why is Elli doing this, I wonder."

Elli, who more than anyone would have wanted exactly that, was leaving me behind to go meet other people. It was... how to put it.

Not hurtful. Just strange. Curious.

First it was Lee So-yeon. Then Joo Hye-ryeong. Third was Bini-noona. Then Lee So-yeon again.

What was the reason Elli kept making her rounds to see her friends?

It wasn't like she was gone all day either. Every time she came back after three or four hours.

She always made it home before dinner.

"Have fun out there?"

"kram."

"Oh, yes."

She'd sink into my arms like she was recharging a drained battery.

"smooch... chu..."

Press her lips together for a kiss.

And when her body started to warm up.

-knead, knead

She'd start working her hands over my backside.

"I filled the bath again. Want to go straight in?"

"Mhm... let's do it in the bath."

"Sex?"

"Sex. Three hours without kissing you and I've got a backlog."

So we'd wash together and get tangled up together.

Then cook and eat dinner side by side.

And when it was time to sleep, like I said, an Elli who'd gotten oddly sentimental would bury me in kisses before we ended up going all the way, and only then did we actually fall asleep.

That had been the routine lately.

So while I was curious, I didn't feel like getting too involved.

Elli clearly had something on her mind, and it seemed like she was going around talking it over with the people she knew.

You might say if something's bothering her she should talk to her boyfriend about it, and that's fair.

But honestly.

I had a pretty solid guess as to what was on her mind.

It's because of my enlistment.

Even I felt a low pressure building in my chest whenever I was home alone, thinking about how little time was left. My thoughts kept piling up.

There was no way a girlfriend who loved me this much, who had even steeled herself to get pregnant because of my army service, was sitting around with nothing on her mind.

I'd actually been avoiding bringing that topic up lately, fully aware of that.

Still, coming back around to where I started.

I found myself curious again.

"I'll be going."

"Who are you meeting today?"

"Bini-unni."

"Again? Didn't you just go see her a few days ago?"

"Yeah, I just have some things I want to talk about."

"You'll be back before dinner, right? Should I fill the bath again today?"

"Mhm. Please."

"Alright. Have a good time."

Day seven of Elli's outings.

What on earth could there possibly be to talk about with people for this long, all over my military service?

The enlistment application was done. The date was set. All that was left was waiting.

The terrifying plan to get pregnant and keep me on active reserve had already been dropped.

We barely had enough time as it was just staying glued to each other before I headed to the training center.

Or maybe.

Could it be.

Against all odds...

"......"

She wasn't actually pregnant, was she?

* * *

Three weeks until enlistment.

The seventh day of Elli going out to see her friends. Midday.

I sat down in front of the computer with the most serious face I'd put on in a while and started searching.

[ Probability of getting pregnant from sex while using a condom ]

Common sense said zero percent. I searched anyway just in case, and sure enough, it came out basically zero.

The answer was that it couldn't happen unless the condom broke or got punctured during.

As for the kind of thing you'd see in an adult rom-com manga, someone poking holes in a condom, there was no way Elli would have-

"...Right. She wouldn't."

She wouldn't. I was certain of that.

No matter how much our Elli wanted a baby, no matter how much she didn't want to send me off to the army, that plan had already been shelved once.

Even when she was deep in the middle of that idea, she hadn't secretly gone that far, and in the end she'd let it go because of the trouble it would cause the family.

I trusted Elli.

"Wait, she had her period this month too."

Thinking back, she had. Right on schedule.

So that ruled out pregnancy.

Then what was it?

"What could it be..."

I paced in circles around the sofa, trying to think of what could possibly have her going around talking to people this earnestly over my army service.

"......"

Nothing came to mind.

Still nothing.

But.

I kept turning it over anyway.

Normally I'd have been drawing something to pass the time alone, but I wouldn't let my brain rest. I kept pulling the thread.

Sitting still, even for me, was hard right now.

The fact that the army was less than a month away. The fact that I'd have to spend nearly two months at the training center, cut off from the outside world.

The fact that during those months, I'd barely be able to hear Elli's voice.

It pressed down on my chest.

So I couldn't sit still. I didn't usually let myself think like this, but the last few days with Elli gone for three or four hours every single day, these thoughts kept creeping back up every time.

When Elli sat beside me and touched me, when I got to hear her pretty voice and just talk with her, it disappeared again quickly enough.

But right now Elli wasn't here.

"...Maybe I'll call someone."

Once thoughts of the army started filling my head and chest, I reached for my phone.

And instead of calling Elli, I called Lee So-yeon.

-trring... beep!

"Hello?"

- Do-yoon! What's up?

"Well... um. So..."

It felt a bit like I was snooping on my girlfriend, so I hesitated a moment, but there was nothing scheming about it, I really was just curious, so I went on.

"Lately Elli's been out every day meeting you and other people. I was wondering what's going on."

- Ahh, hehe, you were curious about that?

"She's never gone off on her own like this every single day leaving me behind, so it was sudden."

- So you're lonely? With Elli not being there for you?

"That's part of it. And I'm curious."

- Did you ask Elli? What did she say?

"She said it's nothing."

- Nothing?

"Yeah. Every time she just says she has things to talk about. I didn't push further than that."

- Pfhehehehe-hehehe...

"That laugh is a little much?"

- Ahem, ahem... was that too unrefined?

"You sounded exactly like when you were stirring up trouble in elementary school."

- Hehe, anyway... I wonder if I can say this much? The reason Elli's been going around lately, she's trying to get some advice on a few things. And ask for help.

"Advice? Help?"

- Yeah. About you.

"Is it because of my enlistment?"

- The army... is part of it? Anyway, yeah.

The army is part of it?

That's vague.

"Any chance of a hint?"

- That's it! Not giving one!

"Darn. Thanks for telling me that much."

- Don't mention it! Don't worry too much. Well, you already know, but... Elli loves you so much, that's all this is.

"I'm not worried about that. I just... yeah. With the army coming up soon I've been feeling a little restless, so I called to have someone to talk to. Thanks. I'll hang up-"

- Oh, wait! Do-yoon, can I ask you one thing?

"What is it?"

Just as I was about to hang up, Lee So-yeon called out urgently.

I put the phone back to my ear and she threw out a question I hadn't expected.

- You're going to marry Elli someday, right.

"Absolutely."

- Any idea when you're planning on it?

"Marriage... hmm. Honestly I'd love to do it as soon as possible, but even so I'd want to graduate first... and get a job, so maybe six or seven years from now? Even that feels a little early, but around then I'd push myself to make it happen."

- Until then you'll just keep living together like now?

"That's probably how it'll go."

- Got it. Okay! Thanks for answering!

"You'll come, right?"

- Of course I'm coming! I'm your best friend! I'll bring a fat envelope of congratulatory money too so don't worry! Hye-ryeong makes good money so she can cover my share too!

"Ha, I'll count on that. Before I leave let's all grab a meal together. The four of us including Joo Hye-ryeong."

- It's a promise! Rest up!

"You too."

I hung up.

What I got from the conversation with Lee So-yeon was that Elli was going around asking the people she knew for some kind of advice about me.

But beyond pregnancy, I still couldn't think of anything she'd give up her time with me to go consult people about.

* * *

After So-yeon I called a few more people. The acquaintances Elli had been going out to see.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, Elli didn't have many friends to begin with, so the list was short.

First, Joo Hye-ryeong.

- You already called So-yeon, right? She sent me a laughing message saying you reached out. Then I don't think I've got much more to add. Yeah. Honestly I'm just annoyed.

"Annoyed?"

- She knows I used to like you, and she still comes to me for advice like that? Do-yoon. Is it okay if I pick a little fight with your girlfriend?

"I'll apologize on her behalf. Bear with it. I'll buy you dinner one more time before I leave."

- Always smoothing things over with food... and you apologizing for her is annoying too.

"I'm sorry. Thanks for always being a good friend to Elli."

- I'm seriously so annoyed.

Joo Hye-ryeong was the same as ever. The type to laugh and scold at the same time whenever she watched Elli and me being lovey-dovey.

Next was Bini-noona.

"...So that's why I'm calling. Wait, is Elli there with you right now?"

- Yeah! She's busy searching stuff on my laptop right now.

"Searching something."

- Do-yoon!

"Yeah yeah?"

- Do you know how grateful noona is that the two of you exist?

"What's this all of a sudden?"

- Hehe... watching you two, even when I'm tired it makes my romantic energy just surge and surge, you know what I mean... this time around it wasn't just romantic energy though.

"Hmm... you're not going to tell me, are you."

- Elli's working hard at it! It's a little much for noona to spell it out herself. I've been learning from watching, honestly. I have a feeling Jeong-woo would feel the same way...

"Jeong-woo hyung? About what?"

- That sort of thing! Noona's little sweetheart, you know you have to come see noona's face before you head to the army, right?

"I know. I'll reach out before I go."

- Our babies, fighting!

Noona's words, always hovering just on the edge of making sense. That's when I started getting a faint feeling.

And last, Jeong-woo hyung.

"Hyung. Have you seen Elli lately?"

- Hey. Good timing.

"Hm?"

- You doing anything this weekend?

"The weekend? Nothing set with Elli yet. We'll probably go work out but that's just an hour."

- Then before you head off, let's sing one last time together. You're going to the army soon and I'm starting a job, so it's going to be hard to find time after.

"Singing? Fine by me... alright. I'll talk to Elli and see if I can carve out the time."

- Do that. Take care.

"Oh, hyung! Actually, about Elli-"

- I only saw her chatting away with Bini. I'm busy so I'm hanging up.

-click

It definitely sounded like Elli had talked with Jeong-woo hyung too. Coming up with a plausible reason to set up plans out of nowhere like that.

But still.

Jeong-woo hyung and Bini-noona. Lee So-yeon and Joo Hye-ryeong.

None of them were trying very hard to hide it, so an outline was starting to form.

"This... looks like she's planning some kind of surprise event."

The more I looked at it, that's exactly what it seemed like.

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