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Translator/Editor: Ryuu
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◈ My Platinum-Blonde Childhood Friend is Too Pretty
Chapter 7: With My Platinum-Haired Childhood Friend at Ten (3)
Elli's unwavering gaze pierced through me without so much as a blink.
It took a while, but eventually, my friends, who had been engrossed in their own conversations, sensed the unusual tension in her demeanor.
"Jeong Ji-hwan, did you do your math homework?"
"I did it yesterday~ Already finished~"
"Damn, I didn't! Let me see it!"
Gradually, they dispersed into their own chatter. Having witnessed Elli's moods more than once, they knew well enough that sticking around would do them no good.
Left with no escape, I fidgeted helplessly like a frog under a snake's gaze.
The wriggler in my hand felt particularly treacherous, and the glare from my childhood friend was downright intimidating.
The silence was, by far, the scariest part.
Under normal circumstances, Elli would have immediately grilled me about what I was holding. Just yesterday, that's exactly what she did.
'What should I do… If Elli's upset, I won't get to draw today...'
Though that was my primary concern, I couldn't bring myself to meet Elli's gaze and instead darted my eyes around.
That's when I noticed Lee So-yeon, who had given me the wriggler earlier, making wiping gestures on the whiteboard behind the teacher's desk, all the while sneaking glances our way.
-Smirking, smirking
With a slightly flushed face, she smiled at Elli and me, as if amused by our predicament. Remembering how she often gifted me snacks, I wondered,
'Why is she laughing?'
At the time, I couldn't have imagined that someone who showed me such kindness harbored the desire to see 'a jealous Elli' and 'a troubled Lee Do-yoon.'
I wouldn't have pegged her as someone capable of such mischief.
I had even thought she liked me, given how she blushed whenever I smiled. Though, it turned out, that wasn't entirely off the mark.
Lost in these thoughts, I briefly forgot about Elli's wrath and turned my attention to Lee So-yeon.
"Lee Do-yoon."
"...Yeah?"
"What did I tell you this morning?"
"......"
"What did I say?"
Elli's voice, now laced with even more irritation, cut sharply through the air.
"Don't accept snacks from other kids..."
"And what's that in your hand?"
"This... uh... eraser?"
"Open your hand."
"......"
For about three seconds, I debated: should I just show her and face her anger head-on, or should I put it in my mouth and act dumb? Option one seemed to have a 60% chance of leading to an eat-clay video, while option two was about 95%.
"Open your hand. Let's see if it's an eraser."
"Well, actually..."
In the end, after much deliberation, I was about to honestly admit my helplessness when suddenly...
-Rumble!
"Hello, kids~ Is the class president not here? Who wants to help me carry some math tools to the first period with the teacher?"
"Me, teacher!"
"Do-yoon? Thanks~ Then, would you come with me?"
"Yes!"
-Bolting upright!
Caught off guard by the teacher's call for help, I inadvertently chose the worst possible option.
Due to my foolish decision, the school day was hellish.
First period.
─You're dead meat
─Sorry, but I really didn't know earlier
─Then why run?
─I'm sorry
─We'll see after class
Barely focusing on the math problems, my notebook was filled with Elli's relentless threats.
And during the break after class...
"Did you get another wriggler? I thought you didn't like them yesterday?"
"......"
"Tell me. Why did you take it?"
"It just... ended up in my hand."
"Want to die? Why take it!"
Well, it was more of the same.
Facing an infuriated Elli, we went through the same conversation again and again.
Then came the second period: art class.
"Eat this."
"......"
Before me lay a crumpled lump of clay.
Today's assignment was to mold the face of the person sitting across from us using clay. The end result was the misshapen lump of clay in front of me, squashed by a fist.
And now, Elli was telling me to eat it, creating an awkward situation not just for me but for the other classmates sharing our desk.
-Snicker
Lee So-yeon, sitting at the far end, watched us and laughed as if she was having the time of her life.
"What's going on? We don't have much time, everyone! Hurry up and get to work~"
Thankfully, the teacher, sensing the odd atmosphere, managed to redirect our focus to the art project. I poured all my effort into creating a beautiful rendition of Elli's face, thinking of it as a form of penance.
And when it was finished...
"Wow, Lee Do-yoon, you're really good!"
"How did you do that? Damn, mine keeps breaking..."
"Do-yoon did such a great job~ It looks just like Alicia."
Both classmates and teachers praised the relief of Elli's face I had sculpted, allowing me to puff out my chest with pride.
-Thunk, thunk...
But Elli, without a word, just kept punching the clay model of my face that she had haphazardly finished.
All the while, her gaze fixed on me.
I deflated and quietly sat back down.
I was scared.
After enduring the precarious lessons until the fourth period, it was time to go home after lunch.
Under normal circumstances, we would have joined our friends to play cops and robbers or freeze tag.
But today, Elli and I were absent from the group.
With vigorous steps, Elli made it clear through her gait that she was more upset than usual.
Sighing softly, I followed her and, just like yesterday, quickly caught up to her and...
-Grab
...seized her wrist.
Though she was more upset than the day before, she didn't shake off my hand.
-Swish!
Her platinum hair flew about as Elli turned to me with eyes blazing.
"What!"
At her sharp tone, I filled my words with apology and promised her once more.
"I won't take anything again. Today was truly unexpected."
"How can you take it if you didn't know!"
"I don't know. It was just suddenly given to me when the kids were gathered this morning."
I should have started like this from the beginning, but Elli's scary face at the time made things unnecessarily complicated.
Though it wasn't the time for such thoughts, I couldn't help finding even an angry Elli cute and pretty. I even wanted to capture this expression in a drawing.
Suppressing a smile that almost escaped, I faced my still-upset childhood friend, who was listening to everything I said, and smiled brightly at her.
"Hey, let's go buy some dalgona and play at the playground, just the two of us. I actually wanted to play with just you today."
"......"
"Right, you wanted to eat a lottery snack, right? Let's start with that. Then we can talk at the playground... and maybe ride the seesaw with the rest of my allowance?"
I did my best to persuade her, offering plans that would cheer her up, plans that were simple yet exactly what Elli liked, while also truly reflecting my own feelings.
And remembering the proverb we learned in Korean class today, "You can't spit in a smiling face," I kept my smile as bright as possible.
"...Hey. Lee Do-yoon."
Finally, Elli's tone softened.
"Yeah."
"How many times have I told you I hate it when you take things from other kids?"
"A lot. I'm sorry."
"You won't take them anymore? Really, truly?"
"Really, really won't."
"You're really promising. You won't accept anything from other kids, no matter what."
"Yeah, yeah. I'll definitely keep it this time. I'll only accept things from you."
"This is the last time. If you break your promise again..."
-Thud
Elli took a step closer, close enough for our breaths to mingle, almost touching foreheads.
Only when her platinum hair brushed against my face, and I could see nothing but her blue eyes, did she continue.
"You'll never draw with me again."
"......"
Faced with the most terrifying threat to me, I nodded emphatically.
It might seem trivial to some, but for me, it was an incredibly effective threat, making me internally vow to refuse any more such offers.
I knew she wouldn't say something like we'd never play together again.
I knew as much as I liked Elli, she liked me too, even if we didn't expressly say it.
Elli might often be sulky, always doing as she pleases, and stubborn, but she never manipulated me with such statements.
"Let's go eat some lottery snacks."
"Yeah."
Still slightly discontent, but offering her hand as if to say, "Take it," we...
-Squeeze
...walked together, hands clasped.
We went to the dalgona vendor near the playground, shared a dalgona and a lottery snack amicably, and then went inside.
And there, just like when we were five and hid from our parents wanting to play more, we...
...sneaked under the slide and into a structure big enough to hide in.
Sitting side by side, bodies touching, we shared stories.
"Let's eat and then watch your favorite show, and then draw after that."
"Are you going to be an artist when you grow up? Why do you like drawing so much?"
"I won't be an artist... but it's fun."
"You've always liked it. Are you still into drawing something about Aru?"
"Princess Aru? I still like it. I still draw it every day."
"You said you draw me every day!"
"I always include you too."
"Hmph."
It wasn't that we came here to share important or secret stories.
We just really enjoyed these moments. Playing with schoolmates was fun, of course, but both I and Elli preferred the time we spent just the two of us.
I was always happy to be with Elli, no matter what we did, and for Elli... perhaps it's because the schoolmates hadn't yet become 'real friends' to her.
Playing together was easy, but for Elli, the definition of 'friend' was quite strict.
So far, I was the only one inside that fence.
Truthfully, I wasn't quite inside 'that fence' either, but even then, Elli and I hadn't fully defined what we felt for each other.
We liked each other, but that was it.
"Lee Do-yoon."
"What?"
"Should I become a model later?"
"A model?"
"Yeah, do that and be your model for drawing... just things like that."
"Model... Wow, that would suit you so well!"
"Really? Why? Because I'm pretty?"
"Yeah. You're pretty and like a princess."
"You always say princess. Stop watching animations."
"But they're fun... And I really think so."
"......"
"......"
The conversation paused for a moment, and we just sat there in silence.
This quiet time, devoid of conversation, wasn't uncomfortable. We had been together for too long to be bothered by silence.
-Rustle, rustle...
Watching Elli fiddle with her fingers and play with the sand on the ground...
-Rustle
I joined her, running my fingers through the sand beside her, and then...
-Held hands without a word
We held hands, feeling the softness of each other's palms.
After a moment of silence...
-Wriggle
"...Heh, hey, that tickles."
When I playfully tickled her hand, Elli let out a small laugh.
She then tickled my hand back, and we playfully teased each other for a while.
Then she stood up.
"Let's go home."
"Are we not riding the seesaw?"
"No. I want to go to your house and draw."
"Really? Now?"
"-Hmph. I'll be your model, so make sure it's pretty. If it's not, I won't let you draw me again."
"I'll make it nice!"
We headed home straight away. After washing our hands and changing clothes, I drew Elli sitting on my bed, and we drew together.
We watched my favorite animation together.
And at night, we lay side by side and fell asleep.
And so, another day passed.
Another page of memories was turned.
From the next day onwards, as I had promised, I did my best to refuse gifts from friends, especially junk food from the girls.
My somewhat firmer stance seemed to disappoint Lee So-yeon the most, though I didn't think much of it at the time.
Still, occasionally, I would accept something, and then I'd have to soothe an upset Elli again. But she seemed reasonably satisfied with the decreased frequency of such incidents.
Days passed in this manner.
Our ordinary childhood flew by in the blink of an eye.
Time rushed by, and without a clear understanding of relationships in grades three and four, we moved on.
As we reached fifth grade in November, when classmates began to clearly differentiate each other as 'boys and girls,' there wasn't much trouble since exchanging Pepero sticks among friends became the trend, rather than giving them to crushes.
And then, in sixth grade, when children started to grasp the concept of 'liking someone romantically,'...
"They're dating, aren't they?"
...such comments were made about Elli and me, who weren't officially dating but might as well have been. This significantly reduced the instances of people casually giving us things.
Still, on Pepero Day, we both ended up receiving quite a bit, exchanging them among friends as if it were the norm.
And so, sixth grade passed without much incident.
Then, as we transitioned from sixth grade to our first year of middle school, luckily assigned to the same school and merely awaiting the entrance ceremony...
In the spring break of our fourteenth year, just before Valentine's Day in February, Elli...
"Do-yoon is so annoying."
"Why is our Elli annoyed with Do-yoon today? Didn't you make chocolates with mom yesterday to give to him?"
"I don't know. He's just really annoying."
With lips pouted like a duck, she vented her frustrations about her childhood friend to her mom, Jung Ye-rin.
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