81. Preparing for Entrance Exams, and Akihya and I Becoming Increasingly… Real (2)*

“If you need anything, tell Ujoo, or rather, tell me anytime. Akihya, you’re practically our daughter, understand?”

“Yes. We’ll try to handle things ourselves as much as possible, and if we really can’t manage, we’ll ask for your help!”

“Oh my, how can you speak so prettily? Ah, really, I should’ve had at least one more daughter~!”

“Hehe, don’t worry. Now that you’ve returned to Korea, I’ll be sure to visit often.”

“Yes, I’ll make delicious food, so come visit whenever. You two work hard and hurry up and bring me a granddaughter. Ujoo was so cute when she was little, but she’s gotten so big as she’s aged that she’s a little off-putting these days…”

“Ah, Mother…!”

Even if you’ve known each other’s faces for a long time, what are you saying in front of a girl who isn’t even twenty yet?

I felt a strange sort of secondhand embarrassment, and quickly moved to intervene. Mom, while grumbling, “Why? She can talk, can’t she~,” did manage to restrain herself.

“Ah, I understand…”

Aki didn’t seem to dislike Mom’s meddling.

No, more like she enjoyed it; she looked a bit shy, tilting her head with a bashful nod.

“But, if you two live together, where will you find a place? Will you see which schools you get into and find something near there?”

“If we both get into the same school, we’ll look for a studio apartment nearby. If we get into different schools, we’ll probably find something halfway between, or maybe near a subway station. That way it’ll be convenient for both me and Woo-joo~chan.”

“That’s a good idea. No matter what, it’s best if it’s easy to get around. Easy to get to school, easy to hang out together, easy to do anything, right?”

“Heheh, that’s right. That’s the way to go~”

“……”

My opinion is completely sidelined, it seems.

I’m the one who’ll be living with Aki, and yet Aki and Mom were suddenly in perfect harmony, discussing what’s important when looking at houses, making sure to check the options carefully, and above all else, finding a place with good soundproofing—exchanging jokes like a real mother and daughter.

“Wouldn’t a two-room apartment be better than a one-room?”

Dad chimed in out of the blue.

“Living together, a studio apartment might be a bit cramped, don’t you think?”

“Ah, I did consider a two-room, but the rent is high near the schools or train stations. So I thought even if it’s a bit small…”

“Since it’s a place you’ll be living while going to school, you’ll be there for at least a year, and if it’s cramped, it’ll be inconvenient in many ways. If the rent is high, try looking for a *jeonse* place instead. The *jeonse* deposit…”

A quick glance.

Dad glanced over at me.

“I’ll help out through Woo-joo, so don’t worry too much.”

“……Eh, really?”

“Would I lie to my son? Of course it’s real.”

“Ah, thank you. Dad…”

“No need to thank me. It’s not just giving it to you, Woo-joo, you’ll have to pay it all back when you start earning money.”

Dad, speaking in jest, let out a series of chuckles.

Just then, the food we ordered arrived, and Mom placed a piece of well-grilled eel on Dad’s plate, saying a word.

“Here, since you acted like a proper Dad for once, I’ll give you a piece.”

“If I didn’t act like a Dad, you wouldn’t give me any?”

“Of course. Why would I give you something if you didn’t? What’s there to be fond of?”

“Wow, that’s too much. Eun-hye, you know how much I from America…”

“Ah~”

“Ah.”

“How is it, delicious?”

“Delicious, I wouldn’t know about, but it feels like it’ll make me healthy.”

“What? I spent all this money to feed you grilled eel…”

“……Heheh. Woo-joo~chan!”

I averted my gaze from Mom feeding Dad grilled eel.

Aki, with chopsticks, picked up a piece of grilled eel and gently extended it towards me.

“Here, ah~”

“……Here?”

“Yup, ah~!”

“…….”

If it were just the two of us, it’d be one thing, but in front of Mom and Dad… wasn’t it a little much?

I hesitated, feeling my face flush unnecessarily, and Mom, seeing me, said,

“Woo-joo, eat up quickly! Aki says she’s going to take care of her darling husband.”

“No, it’s not that I don’t want to eat it…”

“Eung, Woo-joo~chan. Quickly!”

“……Ah, understood.”

Just gotta eat it, right? Just gotta.

I leaned my upper body forward and took the grilled eel Aki offered.

Maybe it was because it was seasonal eel prepared in a high-end Korean restaurant, but it was delicious. Seriously delicious.

“You like it? Do you feel like you’re getting all, you know, energized?”

“I do feel a little… heated up.”

Mostly my face, that is…….

* * *

After finishing our meal and leaving the Korean restaurant,

Mom, after saying ‘We’ll go rest now, so you two play a little longer~’ hailed a taxi and went home with Dad first. I remained with Aki, deciding to take a stroll on a nearby walking path to help with digestion.

Well, the walking path was actually a small park, not even a kilometer long. But the weather was so nice that those minor details didn’t matter.

I was simply healing just by strolling, walking along the verdant, lushly lined path with Aki.

“Woo-joo~chan.”

“Huh?”

“Summer’s practically here, and then it’s college application season. Time really flies, doesn’t it?”

“Ah, uh-huh. It does.”

I nodded.

Just as Aki said, it felt like no time at all since we became sophomores, and already we were juniors. And it felt like no time since becoming juniors, yet already the second semester of junior year was practically upon us.

And soon, the last summer vacation of high school would pass, and then in August, applications would start. Two months after that, November would bring the university entrance exam.

All of this was less than half a year away. Just like it’s always been, the things that are left to do will surely pass by in the blink of an eye.

‘Seriously, I’m almost twenty…’

Thinking that made me feel a little… strange. It’s not that I hate it, but what should I say? Maybe just that it feels a little unreal?

“……”

“……Heh.”

I suddenly got gloomy and shut my mouth, and Aki saw me like that and smiled softly.

“Woo-joo~chan, why does your face look so serious?”

“Huh? …Oh.”

I was about to say it felt weird thinking that I’m becoming twenty soon, or something like that.

*Thuk.*

Aki gently took my hand.

“Maybe, are you worried because you don’t think you’ll do well on the practical exam?”

“Well, there’s that too….”

There were other things too.

For example, um, the cohabitation problem, or something….

“Don’t worry. Woo-joo~chan, you practiced really hard, right? Your standing long jump is really good now, so you’ll probably pass without any problems.”

“Um, you think so?”

“Yup, definitely. Just trust *atashi*.”

“Thanks. Aki, I….”

“Even if you mess up the practical exam and fail, *atashi* will support Woo-joo~chan.”

“……Ah.”

So that’s what she meant by trusting her.

She’ll support me even if I don’t get into college. It’s reassuring to hear, but. It wasn’t exactly the words I wanted to hear from my just-barely-nineteen-year-old, foreign girlfriend.

You could even say it’s patriarchal, but I’m a man, after all. I just couldn’t picture Aki supporting me.

If it were the opposite, maybe.

“…Aki’s very family-oriented, and she’s a good cook too.”

If we had a child between us, she’d probably be a good mother.

There wasn’t any real basis for it, but somehow, I had a strange conviction.

“……”

And then, immediately, the thought, ‘What in the world am I imagining…?’ crossed my mind.

The university entrance exam isn’t even over yet. We haven’t even started living together.

What’s with Aki being a good mother, and me saying I’d provide for her?

The entrance exam stress must be making me crazy. Woojoo….

“Oh? Woojoo~chan, your face is all red.”

“……What, what are you talking about?”

“Ah, you’re embarrassed now, aren’t you? Atashi knows everything~”

Aki smiled prettily, raising the corners of her mouth as if she could see right through my thoughts.

It’s true that I’m embarrassed, but the reason is different from what Aki’s imagining. I cleared my throat awkwardly and changed the subject.

“We should go looking for a place to live after the university entrance exams are all done, right?”

“Yeah, it’s best to see which universities we both get into first. If we sign a lease beforehand and it’s too far, it’ll be tough, right?”

“That’s right. Then, sometime in… January, or February at the latest, we’ll go look?”

“If Atashi and Woojoo~chan both get accepted through early admission, we can go look even in December.”

“That would be nice. Just meet the minimum requirements and then go out and have fun.”

Both physically and mentally, getting accepted through early admission is the best.

Early admission is competing against other high school seniors, but regular admission is competing against repeat students and n-year students, so it’s much tougher.

“Heh, I really wish that would happen. I wouldn’t go to school and just hang out with Woojoo~chan.”

“Huh? No, you still have to go to school even if you get accepted through early admission, right?”

“…Tch, Atashi knows. I was just saying it like that. I wish that would happen.”

Aki scoffed softly, puffing out her cheeks slightly.

I playfully touched Aki’s cheeks, which had lost all their baby fat, pressing my index finger lightly to make air come out of Aki’s mouth.

“Aki, your body feels like it’s getting softer lately?”

“……Wait a minute. That doesn’t sound like a compliment, does it? Are you saying I’ve gained weight in a roundabout way?”

“Huh? What am I saying in a roundabout way? That’s not it. I’m just saying it feels like you’ve really gotten softer.”

“Hmph, really…?”

Zzzzz.

Aki narrows her eyes slightly, staring intently at me.

A pang of guilt pricks at me, and I slowly avert my gaze. Instantly, Aki smacks me lightly on the chest with the palm of her hand.

“Uju~chan, why are you avoiding my eyes?”

“…Because you’re too pretty, it’s hard to keep looking?”

“Liar. You didn’t look even a little fl*stered…!”

Suddenly, Aki links her arm through mine, wedging it into the small space between her br*easts and clutching it tightly.

“You were dodging me. Right? You think I’ve gotten fat, and you’re dodging me because I need to lose weight, right?”

“No, that’s not it…”

“No it isn’t, my foot! It is, isn’t it…?!”

To be perfectly honest.

It’s true that Aki has gained a little weight recently, focusing on her university entrance exams.

But, I actually prefer Aki as she is now, with a little extra weight, than when she was too thin.

Because, the softness of her body when I hold her, the lines of her figure, and especially the part that’s currently pressing firmly against my body – it all feels noticeably bigger.

If I had my way, Aki would never lose weight and stay exactly as she is now, with this ideal figure. All for my physical and visual pleasure, of course.

…But, if I said that, she’d get mad. She’d say I was dodging her because I thought she was fat.

I look at Aki and clear my throat.

“You know, Aki?”

And I say,

“I would have liked you no matter what you looked like. So, even if you’ve gained a little weight, I wouldn’t tease you about it. Never.”

“…….”

Aki snaps her mouth shut.

I cautiously watch Aki’s reaction.

Aki looks up at me, muttering to herself for a long moment.

“…………So you *are* saying I got fat. You idiot!”

“……Ah.”

She slaps me on the chest.