WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ My Platinum-Blonde Childhood Friend Is Too Pretty ◈

Chapter 76: 29. What Has to Be Done After the CSAT -2

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"Hey, Lee Do-yoon! Good luck on the exam!"

"Thanks. Hope all your guesses come up right."

"Ha... if that happens, I'm looking at Seodae..."

I exchanged words of encouragement with a friend I ran into on the way in, someone assigned to the same testing site, then walked into the classroom.

The air was a little restless, faces tight with nerves.

Standing in the middle of it, I thought to myself.

'Hm. I'm not nervous at all.'

Not even a little. I observed myself, perfectly calm, no different from any ordinary day, and let my mind drift to Elli.

If anything, the moments when Elli called my name with that pouty face of hers were more nerve-racking than today's CSAT.

-pfft

That thought made a laugh slip out.

My platinum-blonde childhood friend, who had been taking care of me almost like a wife lately, had only been gone ten minutes since we kissed goodbye, and I already missed her.

The memory of this morning, of my girlfriend and my prospective mother-in-law both more worried about my condition than I was, filled my chest with a soft, warm feeling.

I held onto that encouragement, steadied myself, and rather than cramming during the short wait, I let my body relax.

My family and my girlfriend weren't the type to scold me even if I bombed the exam, but I wanted to repay the sincerity and love they had poured into supporting me all this time.

Then, a little while later.

The exam started.

And I felt it immediately.

'This is easy.'

The problems were clicking more than usual today.

I worked through them at a smooth, steady pace, and before I knew it, it was lunchtime. I ate the gimbap Elli had packed with such care.

Then the afternoon rounds of tests, one after another, until the absurdity of it hit me, that twelve years of studying all came down to this single stretch of hours, and then.

The exam was over.

I walked out of the school much the same way I had walked in, though with a wave of relief flooding through me now that the CSAT was done.

Outside the gate, more anxious than any of the examinees, families were hovering and pacing. Among them was Elli.

Just like everyone else, worry written across her face, biting down on her lip.

My girlfriend, waiting for me in the cool winter wind with her platinum-blonde hair blowing around her, ignoring the glances people kept shooting her way.

-step, step... tap, tap-tap-tap!

I watched her with a fond smile and started walking over at an easy pace, but the excitement building in my chest got the better of me and I broke into a run.

The moment she spotted me, Elli's pretty face lit up visibly, and I felt a rush of dazzling joy at the sight.

-thud!

We pulled each other into a hug.

"I'm back."

"...Welcome back."

The tail end of a cool autumn. The first edge of a winter growing colder by the day.

But holding Elli in that moment, it was as if spring had arrived, warmth spreading through my body and into my chest.

* * *

Elli and I walked home hand in hand, and the moment we were through the door, Mom and Auntie made a fuss welcoming me back.

"It was cold out there, wasn't it? I made a ton of good food, so go change and come eat. My goodness... when did our son grow up so fast..."

"Do-yoon~ You worked so hard all this time~"

No questions about how the exam went. Just words of praise for the effort I had put in. Their thoughtfulness in making sure I wouldn't feel weighed down by my score.

I smiled wide and pulled the answer sheet out of my bag.

"I'm going to rest a bit, so Mom, do you want to do the preliminary scoring for me? I'm totally confident."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah. It was easy. Feels like I got lucky and the questions happened to be ones I was comfortable with."

"Oh my goodness... oh my goodness, oh my goodness! Who raised such a wonderful kid! Vixen! Tell me, whose son is this handsome young man!"

"He's your son, ma'am. And my boyfriend."

"Of course, of course!"

"Oh, count me in too~ He's my son-in-law after all~"

Mom and Auntie Ye-rin's faces both brightened another level. They had probably been dying to ask, but held back out of worry that I might be crushed if I'd done poorly.

My confident manner had them happily taking the answer sheet from me.

"But can we even do a preliminary score check already?"

"Apparently it's all done before the last exam even finishes these days~ I hear the academies get it somehow?"

"Let me see, let me see..."

The two of them sat down at the computer in the living room and started scoring for me.

I watched Mom and my prospective mother-in-law, seated side by side and perfectly at ease with each other, and smiled. Then I looked over at Elli, who was standing quietly beside me with her arms folded, pressed close to my side.

Hearing that I thought the exam had gone well, Elli was smiling brightly, like she was proud of me, like she was impressed.

"Elli."

"Yeah."

"I wanted to get a reward from you and... no."

I had been about to say I worked hard because I wanted a reward from you. But I swapped it out for something truer.

"I worked even harder because I wanted to see you looking this happy. Did I do well?"

"......"

At that, Elli's pale face flushed red. She shot me a little glare, embarrassed, but the corners of her lips were still turned up.

Then she quietly tilted her head toward the living room.

"Oh my, oh my goodness! Did he get all of these right?"

"Pull up the next one quick!"

"Next is English... should we do math first? Do-yoon's English is fine anyway."

"Just open something, hurry!"

Elli realized that Mom and Auntie, wrapped up in gleeful chaos with my answer sheet, weren't paying the slightest attention to us.

"mwah..."

She slipped her pink tongue out from between her lips and pressed a kiss to the corner of my mouth.

Deliberate. Using her tongue to leave a trace of warmth, that faintly rough, wet sensation that sent a shiver through me more than anything else.

One kiss like that, and then she leaned up to my ear and whispered.

"Good job. Go ahead and pick your reward. You'll get it next year."

"Can I really pick anything?"

"I said whatever you want. Do you have to keep asking?"

It was true that seeing Elli this happy meant more to me than any reward.

But even so, I couldn't help looking forward to whatever reward she had in mind.

What would fit best, I wondered.

The reverse bunny suit, like we talked about the very first time?

That'd be good. The bunny girl outfit from before had, thanks to Elli's figure getting even better... or maybe because of it, I don't know, but either way I couldn't see it anymore. If Elli put on a reverse bunny suit instead... good. Very good.

Or maybe a sexy cat or puppy?

That was appealing too. I had no desire to treat Elli roughly, but if she were a puppy, playing around with a collar on her might actually be fun, and if she were a cat, Elli in that absurdly small scrap of fabric acting all cute and clingy toward me on her own... I'm losing it. That'd be incredible.

Or a maid outfit?

She'd definitely scrunch up her face in embarrassment, but she'd be bright red the whole time... and in that state, if Elli called me master...

"......"

Actually incredible.

"Your expression is sketchy. Pervert. What outfit were you putting me in just now. Want to die?"

My face must have slipped. Elli called me out on it. Though she clearly didn't mind me imagining things involving her, because she was still smiling.

"Elli."

"What, you pervert."

"I love you. The reward would be great and all, but we should start looking for a place for us to live together first."

I was a little embarrassed to lay out what was actually filling my head, so I steered the conversation. It was genuinely something to think about, too.

Elli and I had made a promise that our first time wouldn't be on January first, but in our own place, just the two of us.

It was important.

Of course, that would have been a different conversation if I'd had to retake the year.

"We don't even know what university yet..."

"I'd say it's more or less decided, wouldn't you?"

"How?"

"I told you I was confident in my score."

"...That much?"

"I half-doubted it myself, but it looks like it is that much."

I had known from the morning session's Korean language questions that retaking the year wasn't going to happen.

"What do we do, what do we do! Our son-in-law only got three wrong!"

"That's my son... that's our Do-yoon... No, I can't do it. I really can't give him to that vixen next door. He has to be my son forever... oh, I should tell his father!"

The sound of Mom and Auntie finishing the scoring and losing their minds over the answer sheet.

I could finally get a clear read on my exact score, and Elli's face showed pure shock, followed by a rush of joy even more exuberant than mine.

As if she were the one who had aced the exam.

"Elli."

"What?"

"Can I get my reward tonight? The usual kind you give me. Separate from the cosplay, I'd say I've earned it."

"...No."

"Oh, no?"

"No. Because I don't think I'd be able to hold back."

"Oh. I see... yeah. Nothing to be done about that, then. Can I at least get a lot of kisses instead?"

"That goes without saying. Want to die?"

"You're right. Sorry."

My girlfriend is genuinely so cute.

And after that.

Just to be safe, Elli and I did our own preliminary scoring check, and it was confirmed, three wrong across all subjects combined.

The best mock exam I had done all year was twelve wrong. I had broken past my own peak score on the actual CSAT.

And luckily, none of my close friends had bombed it either.

[ Lee So-yeon: Lee Do-yoon what the heck! How do you have a better score than me?! Traitor!! You stole my score!! ]

[ Joo Hye-ryeong: Do-yoon you worked hard ^^ I'm happy for you. Congratulations ♡ ]

[ Lee So-yeon: -_- ]

So-yeon and Joo Hye-ryeong, who had always been strong students, made it through this one without any major disasters either, ending up with scores close to mine.

And Minjae, the otaku friend who had provided me with so many past exam problems over the years, someone I was genuinely grateful to:

[ Minjae: Feels like I did a bit better than the mocks? ]

[ Minjae: Looks like Hankuk University of Foreign Studies might just barely be in reach ]

Like me, he had broken past his usual mark on the actual CSAT and could now aim higher than he had originally planned.

[ Chae-hwan: fml life sucks ]

[ Jin-woo: same ]

[ Chae-hwan: lee do-yoon that bastard already has the looks and now he peaks on the one day that matters ]

[ Chae-hwan: world is so damn unfair ]

[ Jin-woo: same ffs ]

[ Me: school tomorrow then League after? ]

[ Chae-hwan: in ]

[ Jin-woo: in ]

[ Jin-woo: but like is that actually happening ]

[ Chae-hwan: you bringing Alisha along? ]

[ Me: Elli says she wants me to go have fun tomorrow ]

[ Chae-hwan: let's gooooo ]

[ Jin-woo: let's goooooooooooo ]

Chae-hwan and Jin-woo hadn't outdone themselves this time, but they had matched their usual level, which was enough to land them scores for perfectly respectable universities.

And beyond them, there wasn't anyone in my circle who had truly bombed it, which was a relief.

Everyone had worked so hard for so long. If a single mistake here had cost someone another whole year, it would have been heartbreaking.

* * *

A few days later.

With my university placement effectively settled, barring any catastrophic marking errors.

My homeroom teacher was all smiles, only saying to think about which department I wanted to apply to.

The weekend.

Elli gathered both families together and said what was on her mind.

"We're going to start looking for a place to live together."

About the two of us moving in together, something that had already been quietly discussed with our families to some degree.

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