112. These and Other Things Happen When You Live Together (3)

In the end, I couldn’t decide which one to ask her to show me first, and came to school.

Well, of course, it’s not like Aki obediently follows me even if I decide. But I can at least have the happy dilemma of making a choice, right? Maybe Aki will do whatever I ask her to do.

A sailor uniform with a short skirt, pure white lingerie. Both are racy, cute, and s*xy outfits, so Aki would definitely look great in them. That’s why I’m even more conflicted. If one of them felt less fitting, I would have decided easily.

“Ugh….”

Lingerie, or a sailor suit.

Not a joke, really. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it the most serious worry I’d had lately. So, I couldn’t decide easily, and I half-listened to the morning lecture that followed, caught in a conflict between the two choices.

To make me think of her all day with just a few words. Aki is really a woman with a bewitching charm, after all…

“…Eh.”

Anyway, I’ll think about that later. It’s lunchtime now, so I should eat first.

I got up from my chair in the lecture hall and went to the very back. Then, I nudged the shoulder of a guy with a bowl cut.

“Minwoo-yah. Let’s go eat.”

“Uh, uh? Me?”

“Yeah. You.”

I looked at Minwoo with eyes that said, ‘Is there another Minwoo here besides you?’ Then, Cho Minwoo, my friend I made at the welcoming party, hurriedly got up from his seat.

“Ah, uh-huh. Okay.”

The screen was a mess, showing whatever he’d been doing on his laptop. I helped Minwoo quickly pack up his things, and casually asked.

“What were you doing that you didn’t even realize the lecture was over?”

Not that I was one to talk, considering I was agonizing over what to dress Aki in. But Minwoo wouldn’t know what was on my mind, so I guess it’s okay.

Minwoo stopped as he was putting his laptop into his bag, then spoke with a slightly embarrassed tone.

“Ah. I had some personal things to do for a bit….”

“Personal things? What is it?”

“It’s a little hard to say now… I’ll tell you later. Later…”

“Why? Is it something embarrassing to talk about?”

“It’s not that, um. Uh…”

“Alright. I won’t ask. Let’s go. Let’s go eat.”

“Ah, okay.”

“What do you want to eat? The cafeteria, or outside?”

“Um… I’m okay with anything. You can pick, Woojoo.”

“I’ve been eating whatever I wanted for a week. You can eat what you want, you know?”

“Ah, no. I’m really okay. I like anything…”

“Really? Then whatever.”

The cafeteria’s safe choice again today. I turned my steps toward the student dining hall. Minwoo started following me, and we met several people we knew along the way, greeting them happily.

The first people we ran into were Noa and his friends, whom I became friends with at the after-party for the entrance ceremony. They’re all first-year classmates.

“Oh, Noa. Where are you going?”

“Us? Going to grab lunch. You?”

“Me too. Headed to the cafeteria.”

“Ah, the cafeteria? The one right out front? Heard the menu’s really good today, bulgogi or something?”

“Bulgogi sounds good. But why aren’t you eating at the cafeteria?”

“Meeting some friends around here for pizza. Wanna join?”

“I’d be all about that, but maybe later. Already promised Minwoo I’d eat with him today.”

“Oh, right? Gotcha. Enjoy your lunch~”

“Yeah, you too~”

After parting ways with Noah, I ran into a second-year *sunbae* whose face I recognized from the freshman welcome party. Lee Soyoung was her name. Soyoung *noona*, as I comfortably called her, with her hair pulled back in a perky ponytail.

Soyoung *noona* was also on her way somewhere with friends.

“Woo-joo, hey~!”

“Hello, Soyoung *noona*. Where are you headed?”

“*Noona’s* going to eat with my club buddies. What about you, Woo-joo?”

“I’m heading to eat too.”

“Ah~ is that so? With a friend from another department?”

“Huh? Oh, no. He’s in the Physical Education Department too, actually?”

“Oh my, really…? What’s his name?”

“Minwoo. Jo Minwoo.”

“Hello….”

“Aha, Jo Minwoo~? Reminds me. Didn’t we see each other at our freshman welcome party, right?”

“Yes? Ah, um….”

“*Noona*. He didn’t come to the welcome party. Only the orientation gathering. You must be mistaken.”

“Aah, was that it? Sorry, *noona’s* not very good at remembering faces~”

“Ah, haha….”

Soyoung *noona* smiled warmly, and Minwoo gave a stiff, awkward smile.

I exchanged a few more words appropriately, then parted ways with Soyoung *noona*. And as I continued on my way, I ran into Aki and Aki’s friends this time. The same girls I’d seen at the drinking party before.

“Oh? It’s Aki’s dear husband!”

“Aki, your dear husband is walking past over there!”

“Ah, where, where? ……Oh, dear husband~!”

“Dear husband…?”

Minwoo, he seemed a bit fl*stered, tilting his head. Probably because it was a title he’d never heard in his life. Before I could explain, Aki and her friends were already approaching. All of them wore playful expressions.

“Hello~ Dear Aki’s Husband~!”

“Are you going to eat? We’re going to eat too.”

“If you haven’t eaten yet, want to join us~?”

“Hehehe. Hello~”

“Ah, yes. Hello…”

I greeted them back, trying to match their energy. Already a bit dizzy, as expected of Aki’s hyper friends.

“Husband, what were you doing here~?”

“Ah. I was going to the cafeteria for lunch. What about you, Aki?”

“Me too, lunch. I was going to eat pizza with my friends. A new pizza place opened up over there!”

“Oh. Really? I didn’t know. How is it? Is it good?”

“The ones who’ve been say it’s delicious. I haven’t gone myself, so I don’t really know. Want to come with us, Husband?”

“Hmm. I…”

I glanced over at Minwoo beside me.

I was checking if Minwoo seemed interested, thinking of taking him along. But Minwoo’s face looked almost like he’d lost his soul. It seems his energy was already being drained by so many girls swarming him at once.

I chuckled inwardly and put my arm around Minwoo’s shoulder.

“Sorry. I promised to eat with him today. Let’s go next time.”

“Ah, is that so…? Then there’s no helping it. Ah, hello~”

Aki flashed a bright eye-smile at Minwoo, greeting him.

Minwoo, clearly not expecting to be addressed, just stared blankly for a moment before bowing stiffly. He looked thoroughly fl*stered.

“U-uh, um… Heh, hello?”

“Minwoo-ya. Aki knows how to speak Korean. You can greet her in Korean.”

“Ah, ah…. Really…? Hello……”

“Hehe. Yes, it’s nice to meet you! Please be good friends with our Husband~!”

“Ah-ah, yes…. Understood. Thank you…”

“Minwoo-ya, what are you thanking her for?”

“Huh? No, just…. For greeting someone like me…?”

Minwoo, stammering as he spoke, was clearly quite nervous.

Aki and her friends seemed to find his reaction amusing, giggling.

“Ah. We’ll be late for our reservation. Husband, we’ll be going now. See you at home later!”

“Okay, see ya later~”

“Goodbye! Aki-seobang-nim! And your friend too!”

“See you both next time~!”

Aki and his friends waved goodbye, growing smaller in the distance.

Minwoo and I watched them go, and as they disappeared completely from sight, I chuckled softly.

“Well? Aren’t they a riot?”

“Mhm. They are funny, but…”

“But?”

“Uh, shouldn’t you be going to eat with your friends?”

“Huh? What are you talking about. You’re my friend, Minwoo.”

“……”

“What, were you maybe thinking I’m the only one who thinks we’re friends? We are friends, aren’t we?”

“Ah, no. It’s not that… That’s not what I meant…”

“If not, then it’s settled. Let’s go eat.”

“Huh? Ah…”

I grabbed Minwoo’s shoulder before he could say anything else and steered us forward. Our destination: the company cafeteria right ahead. We had been greeting people along the way, so we arrived quickly.

I bought a meal ticket at the kiosk.

“You buy one too. Minwoo.”

“Ah, mhm.”

Minwoo followed suit, buying a meal ticket. We found a table and waited for our food. The menu was bulgogi set meal, just like Noah had said.

“Oh. Looks good. Well, I’ll dig in~”

I took a spoonful.

Delicious…!

“Wow… So good. Minwoo, aren’t you going to eat?”

“…Hey. Wooju.”

“Yeah?”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Mhm. What is it? …Munch.”

“Why do you hang out with me…?”

“Huh? What’s that supposed to mean. Mmph…”

“You know, when you think about it, it’s like… You have so many friends, so many girls you know. And you have a girlfriend. Why would you bother hanging out with a guy like me…”

“Do you not… want to be friends with me?”

“Huh…? Ah, no! It’s not that. It’s not….”

“Then why ask?”

“It’s just, it doesn’t seem like you, Woojoo, have any reason to be friends with me…”

“Minwoo-ya.”

“Uh, uh…?”

“Do you need a reason to be friends? I don’t think so.”

“……”

Minwoo snapped his mouth shut.

What to say. It’s hard to describe Minwoo’s expression with words. It was like he was a little touched, maybe a little fl*stered. Or maybe he was just taking my words seriously.

Couldn’t tell which of the three. Anyhow, I went back to eating my meal, waiting for Minwoo to speak.

Minwoo barely touched his spoon, just fiddling with it, lost in thought. Then, finally finished sorting things out, he lifted his head slightly.

“Th… Thank you….”

“If you’re grateful, buy me food.”

“Uh? Should I…?”

“No, just kidding. Just kidding…”

He really started to pull out his wallet, so I quickly stopped him.

“Ah, but…”

“If you say something weird again, I’m seriously gonna make you buy me food, got it?”

“Ah. No. This time it’s not that. It’s something else I’m curious about.”

“Really? What is it?”

“That… That girl we ran into earlier… The one who looked like a foreigner.”

“Foreigner? Are you talking about Aki?”

“Ah. So her name is Aki?”

“Yeah. Aki. Fujiwara Aki.”

“Ah-ha. I see… She’s your girlfriend, then?”

“That’s right. But why ask?”

“Well… Actually, I’ve been learning how to draw, you see? And your girlfriend’s face is just so… three-dimensional. Ah, not in a weird way, I really mean it purely. Uh…”

“Ah, so you want to draw her as a model, or something like that?”

“Oh. Right. How did you know…?”

How did I know indeed. See, I just *knew*. I pulled out my phone from my pocket.

“Alright. I’ll ask her.”

“Huh? Really? Are you sure it’s alright…?”

“Yeah. As long as she’s okay with it, what’s the harm?”

[Akiya]

[Eating yet??]

*Ding-*!

A reply came in less than ten seconds.

[Ah, not yet!! Just ordered and waiting!]

[Why? Already miss Atashi~?]

[ㅋㅋㅋ Yeah. I miss you. But that’s not why I’m messaging]

[You know that friend of mine you bumped into earlier? He wants to draw you as a model]

[Is that alright with you?]

[Huk, really?]

[Atashi is fine with it!!!!]

[But what kind of art style is it? Realistic? Cartoon? Japanese *deformed*??]

“She said it’s alright. She’s asking what kind of art style it is?”

“Ah. I’m more of a realistic style. But I can draw in a manga style too.”

“Manga style? Um, like a webtoon or something?”

“Uhm… it’s a little different from that…. No, never mind. I’ll just show you.”

Minwoo pulled out his phone and displayed something for me to see. There were four pretty ill*strations of a girl, and several portrait-style drawings too.

“I drew all of these myself, you see? I can draw your girlfriend in whichever style she prefers.”

“Oh, really? Both are so pretty. Could you send them to me via chat?”

“Yeah. Just a sec….”

*Ding-*.

The pictures Minwoo sent were transferred to my phone. I immediately forwarded them to Aki.

[These are the drawings my friend made]

[He said he can draw in whichever style you want]

[Hulhulhulhul!!!!!!]

[They’re both so pretty!!!!!!!]

[It’s hard to choose, I bet I can’t get both???]

“She’s asking if she can’t get both?”

“Hmm, both…?”

[Seeing their faces, I think it’s difficult?]

[Ah. Really? ㅠㅠㅠㅠ]

[If you draw both, wouldn’t you introduce my friend to me, even if I didn’t ask???]

[Introduce a friend?]

[Yeah, yeah. My friend said earlier. Your man’s friend is cute, she said. What did she say? She said he has a bit of a dorky charm, or something??]

[Ah.]

“Min-woo.”

“Huh?”

“My girlfriend says, if you draw both, she’ll introduce you to her friend.”

“…Really?”

“Yeah, really. Probably from the girls we saw earlier…”

“Heh. I’ll do it! Absolutely…!”

Min-woo shot up from his seat.

[He got one ㅋㅋ]

[Ah. Really? Yay~~!]

[Let’s decide on the date later, please treat her well~♡]

[Okay~]

“Yeah. My girlfriend said okay too. We just need to decide on the date later.”

“…Woo-joo.”

“Huh?”

*Thump.*

Min-woo grabbed my hand.

“Thanks.”

Out of all the faces I’d seen these past weeks, this was his most eager.

I smiled and clasped Min-woo’s hand in return.

“What are you thanking me for?”

“Really. Thank you. Thank you…!”

…It felt like we’d finally become true friends.