My Platinum-Blonde Childhood Friend is Too Pretty - Chapter 82

WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ My Platinum-Blonde Childhood Friend Is Too Pretty ◈

Chapter 82: 32. Our Cozy and Breathless Time, Elli and I

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"That I could act so shamefully... that I... that I...!"

"These things happen sometimes..."

"They don't!"

-Grip!

I'd tried to say something comforting and the hand she had fisted in my collar only clenched tighter. Her eyes were glistening with tears, as if she'd hit the absolute limit of embarrassment and shame.

The sight was unbearably cute. I wanted to give her a little kiss, but I had a feeling that would earn me a scolding from my girlfriend on only the second day of living alone together, so I held back.

A moment later, Elli took a long, steadying breath and murmured.

"...I'm never drinking again."

"...Sure. Alcohol isn't great for you anyway."

"Ugh, this is mortifying..."

I'd been about to say that I actually wanted to see her drunk sometimes, so there was no real need to swear off it entirely, but I swallowed that one down too.

After that Elli stayed curled in on herself for a while longer, shuddering with self-loathing, then finally climbed off the bed and headed for the door.

Keeping her face turned away from me the whole time.

Except for the one moment she glared at me, she refused to meet my eyes.

Maybe she was embarrassed about how she looked, fresh out of bed.

To me she just looked pretty, but still.

-Click

Elli went out first and I followed.

The living room opened up before us, still unfamiliar, not all that big, but just right for the two of us to have our own cozy little world.

Our parents, who had talked last night like they might stay over, were nowhere to be seen. They must have slipped out to give us our space.

"Looks like they headed home in the early morning."

"It's close. Less than fifteen minutes on foot."

"True."

We stood in the bedroom doorway for a moment, staring out at the living room, at our home.

The place where we'd be living together from now on. Still unfamiliar, still modest, but it already felt like somewhere we belonged.

Then.

I quietly moved up behind Elli.

I wrapped my arms around her waist and started to pull her in.

"Stop."

"...Hm?"

"I'm going to shower. Wait."

Rejected.

She immediately gathered her hair from behind and flipped it over to the front, and I could tell she was thinking about how I always buried my face in it to smell it. Understandable. I took a small step back.

But the fluttery anticipation buzzing in my chest right then was making me say things like.

"Want to shower together? I'll help."

A high-level statement. Ten percent joke, ninety percent sincere.

"......"

Elli flinched at that, and actually seemed to think about it.

But then.

"...Not yet. Next time."

Dang.

"Alright. Should I make coffee while you're in there?"

"No. My stomach's off, don't bother."

"Okay. I'll just wait, then."

"Fine."

With that she hurried into the bathroom, as if she couldn't stand showing me any more of herself before she'd had a chance to wash up.

-Shhhhh...

The moment the door closed, the sound of the shower came on.

Hearing it, I'll be honest, I got a little excited. My girlfriend was in there with nothing on, and my mind went there on its own, no help needed.

I tried my best not to dwell on it and wandered slowly around the apartment.

The kitchen that would be Elli's domain. The living room where we'd laughed and drunk with family just yesterday. A sofa just the right size for the two of us to curl up on together.

The bedroom Elli had tidied so neatly, every drawer packed with both our clothes. The big bed, her vanity, my computer, all of it sharing the same space.

Walking through the apartment at my own pace, already catching traces of Elli's scent in every corner, happiness crept over me all over again.

In the summer, with Uncle Mark not around, she'll probably walk around in dolphin shorts all day, huh? Something to look forward to.

The thought of sharing each other's everyday lives around the clock from now on, of getting to see my childhood friend in all her relaxed, unguarded moments, put a silly grin on my face.

Then I started pulling open drawers one by one to find a change of underwear.

I still didn't know exactly where my things were. Elli had handled all the unpacking herself yesterday.

So naturally.

"......"

I ended up opening a drawer that turned out to be entirely Elli's underwear.

All different colors. Some styles I recognized, some I'd never seen. Packed in there.

I found myself staring into that drawer, at the faint scent drifting out of it, before slowly sliding it shut.

No real temptation to linger.

It means more when Elli's actually wearing it.

Of course, being a young man, the fact that it was my girlfriend's underwear was enough to set my heart racing, but I was going to see her in it soon enough anyway. No reason to get sidetracked here.

The drawer right below turned out to have my underwear in it, and I grabbed what I needed, including an undershirt, and stood up.

Right then.

-Click

The bathroom door opened, timing perfect.

I got up and stepped out of the room. The sooner I was clean, the sooner I could get a bisou from Elli and spend some properly sweet time with her.

With that thought I headed for the bathroom, practically bouncing.

And.

Even though the door had opened, Elli hadn't come out yet, and she stepped out a beat later.

Wearing nothing but.

"...Oh."

One long towel wrapped around her body.

The sight of her, completely unexpected, made me suck in a breath.

Damp hair. No makeup, but the kind of face that doesn't need any, her skin luminous and pale. A slender white neck and shoulders, bare arms. Her collarbone and upper chest exposed above the towel, and long legs starting from mid-thigh downward.

The towel was wrapped once around the middle of her body, so technically less skin was showing than a swimsuit would leave bare. Somehow it hit harder than any swimsuit.

I stood frozen in front of her, unable to move.

Elli, her face flushed from the shower, or maybe for another reason, said quietly.

"Hurry up and wash. I'm going to give you a bisou."

"...Okay."

"...Hmph. Look at that face. It's not even that much."

That flush on her cheeks, paired with every bit of haughtiness she could muster, and she added one more thing as she padded past me.

"You're going to be seeing more than this."

"......"

"Wash up properly and come out."

"...Yes."

The warmth radiating off her freshly showered skin, the scent of her body wash drifting as she brushed past me, completely unraveled what little composure I had left.

I went in to shower, and honestly, I was in there for a while. Couldn't come out sooner than I did.

Partly because I scrubbed more thoroughly than usual.

Partly for other reasons.

For one thing, Elli's shower products were already mixed in with mine on the shelf, which gave me a strange feeling all on its own.

And then.

"...She really only left one in here."

One single shower towel hanging there.

The same one Elli had just used, still dripping.

It was just... indecently suggestive.

So my shower ended up running long too.

Couldn't be helped.

* * *

When I finally came out after the long shower, Elli was waiting for me with her makeup done.

Her outfit was a jeans-and-knit combination, the kind of thing you'd wear to step outside, and I half-wondered if she was thinking of going for a walk together. But the clothes she'd set out in front of the bathroom for me were just a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants.

The roughest kind of stay-at-home look.

I put them on without complaint and went to her, and Elli smiled, the corners of her mouth lifting in approval.

I completely understood wanting to see the person you loved dressed comfortably at home. I just kind of wished she'd dressed down too, but maybe she still wanted to show me her put-together side for a while longer.

Back at her parents' place she used to wander into my room in a tracksuit all the time.

Anyway. The two of us settled side by side onto the living room sofa.

"......"

A few days into the new year.

Bright morning light poured through the glass.

A modest living room, barely anything unnecessary in it.

Just the two of us.

No family about to walk in. No need to keep one eye on the clock wondering when anyone might come back.

Our own space.

"......"

"...Did you submit your application okay?"

"Oh, yeah. The teacher helped me out so it was easy."

"You're definitely getting in, right?"

"Probably? It's not like I aimed for medicine or anything."

"Good. Well done."

"Yeah."

"......"

The silence stretched, and when words finally came they were the same things we'd already talked about a couple days ago. We went through them again, and a slightly awkward air settled between us.

Elli, who had always acted like she might devour me the moment we were alone, was hesitating a little now that the day had actually arrived.

Probably because neither of us had made the first move yet.

It had been the same when we first kissed, when we first had our first bisou. She'd been almost shy at the start, and then day by day Elli's advances had gotten bolder and bolder.

The truth was, our first time had been quietly understood between the two of us to be tonight.

The first night here was promised to drinking with our families, so that was obviously off the table, and pushing it any later than this was something neither of us could manage. That much was certain.

So I'd kept my schedule completely clear from early to mid-January. Elli had done the same.

Right.

Given all that, as I sat thinking about how to spend the hours with Elli until tonight, a thought struck me.

Is there any reason it has to be tonight?

Sure, darkness felt more romantic, more atmospheric.

But.

Once we start, I don't think we'll be stopping for a few days. Morning, noon, or night.

It was a certainty, not just a guess.

If that was the case, did it really matter when we started?

That's all that had been running through my head, and I had a feeling Elli wasn't thinking much differently.

So.

...Let's do it.

I decided. Time to take that step, like a man.

I leaned in close to Elli.

"...What."

The sudden approach made her words come out blunt. But she was only blunt in words, with no apparent intention of pulling away, so.

Like always, I pressed my lips to hers, gently.

"Smooch..."

"...Mmm... yeah..."

Elli, as if she'd been waiting for exactly this, responded to my kiss and slowly let her eyes fall shut.

The first kiss of the day, the first bisou.

I took in my girlfriend's small face, her long lashes.

Caught her lip softly between mine. Kissed her again, deeper.

And moved my hand.

"Mm... mwah..."

-Slowly...

As the kiss deepened and our tongues began to move together, I ran my fingers lightly over the back of her hand, then moved to her thigh over her jeans.

Then slowly upward, resting my hand at her waist for a moment.

Slowly.

A little higher.

And then.

Still over her clothes, but there all the same, the soft, full shape I'd been sneaking glances at since we were both barely into our teens.

I rested my hand on my girlfriend's chest.

"...!"

Elli's eyes flew open.

But she didn't push my hand away.

"......"

Her body went a little rigid, and her expression was startled.

But what I saw moving through that expression wasn't refusal. It was something closer to excitement.