WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS
Translator/Editor: Ryuu
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ My Platinum-Blonde Childhood Friend is Too Pretty
Chapter 3: Becoming Best Friends with the Aloof Princess of Platinum Blonde (3)
Over the weekend,
As usual, I watched my favorite animations in the morning and enjoyed the cereal that was a special weekend treat.
"Don't we go to daycare?"
"We don't go to daycare on weekends, Do-yoon. What days are weekends?"
"Saturday and Sunday!"
"Exactly! My son is the smartest in the world! Here's a kiss from Mom as a reward! Mwah!"
"Ugh… Yeah… But I can't meet Elli… I wanted to draw pictures with her today…"
Realizing we don't attend daycare on weekends, I held my new sketchbook with a gloomy expression.
After five days of close observation, Elli's distinctive fragrance, her fair skin, and her beautiful hair were vivid in my mind.
"I want to draw Elli."
Since Monday, when we started going to daycare, 99% of my sketchbook had been filled with drawings of the beautiful princess with platinum hair. I started drawing her again.
As I used the yellow crayon, I wondered if it was right, then switched to a white crayon, only to find it didn't show up on the paper no matter how many lines I drew.
Frustrated that I couldn't capture Elli's image as I envisioned her in my mind,
Longing to see her,
I remembered the warmth of Elli's embrace from yesterday, her soft hands, and her voice whispering in my ear.
I drew in the living room of our new, still somewhat unfamiliar apartment.
Beside me, Mom watched with a look of disappointment.
"Do-yoon, drawing Elli again?"
"Yeah! Elli is really pretty! She's like a princess!"
"Aren't you going to draw Mom anymore? You used to draw me a lot."
"I want to draw Elli! Ah, and Elli's mom too! She was like a queen! So pretty!"
"You said that yesterday too… And you spent all day drawing only Elli and her mom!"
"Yeah! Two princesses!"
"Is that so? Elli and her mom are princesses. What about Mom? Am I not a princess? Even though I dressed up in that princess costume you like so much?"
"No!"
"…Ha, haha. Oh well…"
Though it's too late for excuses, and I felt sorry for Mom… At five, I was incredibly naive and honest.
Objectively, my mom was quite beautiful too.
It's just that, based on the princesses I'd seen in animations, she didn't quite match up.
Her short hair and hearty personality didn't quite fit the slender model figure I associated with princesses.
But I loved my mom dearly.
She always watched me draw, praised my work, and bought me plenty of supplies to encourage my passion.
She was the parent who showered me with more love than I could ever ask for.
Yet, to Mom, Song Ji-eun, watching her son completely smitten with other girls,
‘These thieving cats…!’
Her heart stung with the cute yet cutting remarks from her adorable son, and she couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy.
My prince-like son, who looked just like his parents, was pretty, well-behaved, and a talented artist.
But ever since starting daycare close to Monday, all he talked about were Alicia, or "Elli," as he now called her, and the platinum blonde girl.
It wasn't like this on the first day.
The photos of 'Alicia,' who even she admitted was doll-like in her beauty, and my son, sent by the daycare teacher, had also ignited something in her and her husband.
"Do-yoon, who's this? A friend you made today?"
"Alicia! We drew pictures together, and look, she looks just like Princess Aru!"
"Heh, my son really knows how to pick the pretty ones, just like his dad. That's why you love me so much, right?"
"Ha, ha."
"What's with that laugh?"
"No… you're right. Our Do-yoon has high standards, just like me."
"Right? Do-yoon, what did you and Alicia play?"
It was a truly harmonious and happy atmosphere. We even set the adorable photos of the kids as our phone wallpapers, indulging in a bit of silliness.
But then it continued for a day, then two.
And on the third and fourth days, all the way to yesterday.
All Do-yoon talked about was that girl, and his sketchbook, once filled with animations and drawings of Mom and Dad, was now filled with Elli.
Even drawings of Elli's mom from yesterday!
Song Ji-eun couldn't accept this reality.
She couldn't just watch as her beloved son favored his girlfriend(?) and her mom over his own family.
Her precious son, whom she adored so much, seemed to be taken away from her.
So, she resolved to confront the mother-daughter pair on Monday.
"Hmph, just you wait!"
Of course, she had no intention of forcibly preventing them from playing together or telling Do-yoon not to play with Elli.
But like a mother-in-law scrutinizing her daughter-in-law, she planned to conduct a strict yet 'unfair' evaluation to see if they were worthy of her son's affection.
With that in mind, she approached her son, who was diligently drawing Elli in his sketchbook.
"Do-yoon~ Draw Mom too. Please? I think Mom would be really happy if you drew her~"
"Uh… okay. After I draw Elli."
"There's no one like our son! So cute!"
-Click-
"Yawn… Ji-eun. I'm hungry…"
"Fend for yourself! I have to model for Do-yoon!"
"That's harsh."
While I couldn't meet Elli and was somewhat enjoying the weekend by drawing her,
Elli, or Alicia, was idly watching NewTube videos on her mom's tablet, laid across the bed.
Up until last week, she was fiercely determined to improve her Korean.
But now,
"...It's not fun."
She was just killing time over the weekend, unable to meet her friend.
Not wearing her usual daycare clothes but often donned at home, she lay on the bed in a white dress.
If Do-yoon saw her, he would have made a fuss about how princess-like and pretty she looked in that cute dress.
"I want to play…"
To Alicia, Do-yoon's presence was a salvation.
It might sound grandiose to say that just being a playmate was such a big deal, but even Alicia herself didn't realize how much she valued him.
Not being able to communicate properly, lacking someone other than her parents for emotional interaction, and having no one to communicate with during the long hours at daycare,
For young Alicia, it was almost like hell.
At first, she thought making friends would get easier as she improved her Korean, but now that she had finally made a friend in this unfamiliar land, it was impossible to feel that way again.
If Do-yoon were to disappear from her life now, she might stop going to daycare altogether.
Such was the enormity of Do-yoon's presence in her life after just five days of playing together.
He was even granted the hugs she had only shared with two friends back in Sweden.
"I want to go to the playground with Do-yoon."
Alicia really liked Do-yoon.
He might have seemed a bit silly with his constant smiling, but he was cute in appearance.
She liked that he loved drawing yet always went out to play when she asked.
She appreciated that he looked her in the eyes when talking, unlike other kids.
And she loved being called a "princess" by him.
Even as a tomboy, Alicia had no reason to dislike being called a princess.
And the warmth, comfort, and happiness she felt from their hug, the reassurance that welled up from deep within,
Kept coming back to her mind, making her want to hug him again.
Thinking she should greet him with a hug as soon as they met at daycare on Monday, she whined to her mom.
"Mamma."
"What is it?"
"Monday. Want to go?"
"Do you want to meet Do-yoon that badly?"
"Yeah."
"Oh dear, what to do… It's only Saturday, so you have to sleep two more nights. Do you want to go to the park with Mom?"
"...Okay."
"Haha, I guess I'll have to talk to Do-yoon's mom on Monday. Elli likes him so much…"
Seeing her daughter, who used to love going to the park with her, now treating it as a mere substitute for meeting her friend,
Jung Ye-rin, Alicia's mom, felt a sense of relief inside.
Despite being of mixed heritage, with her strong father's genes giving her perfect platinum blonde hair and jewel-like eyes, her daughter struggled to fit in with other kids because of her appearance.
She received long, apologetic messages from the daycare teacher every day.
Ye-rin, who had watched her daughter struggle for days, hadn't immediately transferred her to a daycare with more international kids or considered homeschooling because of that dedicated teacher.
She thought moving around too much might make adaptation harder and believed her daughter needed to overcome this challenge to continue living in this country.
But as Alicia became increasingly downcast with the move and starting at a new daycare, Ye-rin thought it might be time to make a decision, whether to move or homeschool, when finally,
A friend appeared for Alicia.
Upon hearing from the daycare teacher that a new boy seemed very interested in Alicia, Ye-rin rushed to pick her up as soon as daycare ended.
"......"
Though silent, she could tell Alicia's face was brighter than usual.
But not knowing what the future held, she didn't overreact and waited for Alicia to talk about her friend herself.
And on the third day,
"I played with Do-yoon on the swing. And the slide too."
"Did you have fun playing with your friend?"
"We played. He's not good at seesaws."
"Do-yoon can't seesaw well? Then you should teach him~"
"Yes. I'll show him. And…"
Hearing Alicia chatter excitedly in Korean, just like when she played with her friends back in Sweden, was a huge relief to Ye-rin.
She was immensely grateful to this Do-yoon, whom she hadn't even met yet.
After receiving photos from the teacher of Alicia and the cute boy on the swing, she wanted to buy him all sorts of treats, but she didn't want to embarrass her daughter, who had finally made a friend.
She simply looked forward to the day they would naturally meet, and yesterday, she finally saw the boy who greeted them so energetically.
And then.
"This is kram. Like this."
Seeing Alicia give Do-yoon the hug greeting she had only given to her Swedish friends Mel and Chris after a long time, Ye-rin thought,
"Isn't he too cute to be a son-in-law? Hehe…"
She couldn't help but feel excited.
Even now, over the weekend, seeing her daughter mope about missing her friend, Alicia seemed much better than last week when she preferred being at home to daycare.
"I'll have to speak to Do-yoon's mom early on Monday."
For her daughter's sake, she resolved to allow her to play with her best friend even on weekends, starting next week.
As she was about to get ready to go out with her daughter,
"Ye-rin, remember?"
Her husband's voice came from behind, just having finished his meal. He had become as fluent in Korean as she was, having dated and married her.
"What?"
"Remember the story I told you about my grandfather catching a bear in the woods?"
At his sudden mention, she turned around, puzzled.
"I remember. But why bring that up now?"
"You said he bravely fought for my mother in the car, holding a shotgun, right?"
"......"
"I think it's time for me. I need to go to Sweden for a while, for our daughter."
"Wait, you mean..."
"I need to prepare in advance for kram with Elli. Brave little guy. Maybe even braver than my grandfather..."
-Crunch-
"Ye-rin, I don't think it's Korean etiquette to grab your husband's collar like that…"
"Shut up."
"Ah…"
Over the weekend, both families had their share of events.
And finally, on Monday, when the mothers arrived at daycare early, each with their own thoughts,
Arriving around the same time and meeting at the entrance, the two children, Do-yoon and Elli,
"Do-yoon! Hi!"
"Hello."
"Look! Today, let's draw with me..."
"Kram."
"What?"
"Kram."
"Kram... Oh! I get it! But why?"
"...Do-yoon. Dummy?"
"I'm not a dummy... Huh?"
-Tightly...
We hugged, greeting each other. Elli's soft arms and cheeks overlapped with mine.
She reminded me again,
"Kram. This."
"Ah, okay... See you..."
Realizing more firmly at that moment that when she says kram, it means we should hug, I blankly embraced her.
Behind me,
Watching her son being hugged by the cunningly adorable platinum blonde 'thief cat,' Song Ji-eun couldn't close her gaping mouth.
"......"
She was even cuter than expected, cuter than in the photos.
And so,
"Yes, she's pretty... And... them hugging is just too cute...!"
Thinking the same, Jung Ye-rin approached with a smile.
"Do-yoon's mom~ Hello~"
"Ah, yes! Elli's mom…? Hello."
"Good timing. I wanted to talk to you about something..."
And from that point on, a long conversation between the two mothers ensued, but none of it reached my ears.
"Just... After this, let's go on the seesaw."
"Yeah..."
Realizing that my heart, which I thought had been sufficiently soothed by drawing pictures, wasn't fully content,
And understanding that the best way to experience a princess isn't through a screen or a drawing but by meeting her in person,
I relished the warmth of Elli's body.
And so we became…
Officially recognized by our families as best friends and childhood companions.
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