Chapter 3 : When we became Childhood Friends at the Age of 6 (3)

The same day evening.

So, the day when I, who was 6 years old, asked my mom, ‘Mom, why do you make strange noises every night?’.

After dinner, I was sitting on the living room sofa, facing my mom.

“Hey, Woo-ju.”

“Yes, Mom.”

“Where did you hear such strange… no, such sounds?”

“Did you by any chance see and imitate what adults say on YouTube?”

Mom still hadn’t cooled down.

Her face was red, and she was fanning herself with her hand as she looked down at me.

“No, I didn’t see it there.”

“Th-Then?”

“Woo-ju, are you saying you really heard Mom making painful noises?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“……huh?”

At my innocent answer, Mom’s expression stiffened.

Even when I said all sorts of nonsense, Mom always had a benevolent smile and answered me kindly, stroking my head.

But this time she seemed very nervous, her lips mumbling.

“St-Strange.”

“There’s no way.”

“I made sure the soundproofing was good.”

“There’s no way, there’s no way……”

“Mom.”

“Uh, yeah?”

“Why, our son?”

“So why do you make noises like you’re in pain every night?”

“Are you sick somewhere?”

“……I’ll tell you when you will be a little older.”

“How much older do I have to be?”

“Hmm, about 10 years…?”

“Huh?”

“10 years won’t do, Mom.”

“Can’t it be sooner?”

“Why?”

“Is there a reason you need to hear it sooner?”

“Well, my friend’s mom also makes noises like she’s in pain at night.”

“I told her that my mom does that too every night.”

“Then my friend asked if moms are usually in a lot of pain, so I promised to ask my mom for her and tell her the answer!”

Mom’s mouth shut tight, almost like an independence fighter who had lost their country.

Then she closed her eyes tightly, then opened them wide.

And as if nothing had happened, she gently stroked my head.

“Those parents must be having a hard time too…………….”

“Huh?”

“What, Mom?”

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

“But Woo-ju, what’s the name of that friend?”

“Did you meet them at English kindergarten?”

My ability to discern was a bit lacking, but my young mind, which had a bit of sense, started to spin quickly.

The friend Mom asked about was Fujiwara Aki.

But Aki wasn’t a friend I met at English kindergarten, but at the Japanese Embassy.

And if I said that, it would lead to more questions.

I might get caught for sneaking out to play.

Honestly, it wouldn’t matter if Mom found out.

But at the time, I was young and had this ridiculous idea that all adults know each other.

So if my mom finds out, the story will spread, and Aki will get in trouble with her grandfather!’

“I just met them near our house.”

“I don’t know their name.”

In the end, I lied blatantly to my mom.

“…..my son.”

But there’s no way that Mom, an adult who has been through everything, wouldn’t see through a 6-year-old’s lie.

“Did Mom say it’s okay to lie, or not?”

Mom stopped stroking my head, and in a stricter voice than usual, she scolded me.

“It’s not a lie?”

“I really don’t know them well….”

“Joo Woo-ju.”

Mom usually doesn’t get angry.

But when I lie or try to do something bad, she calls me by my full name like this.

Even though I was young, I knew that the moment my full name came out of Mom’s mouth was right before she got angry.

“I-I’m sorry.”

“I know.”

I quickly apologized before Mom got really angry.

Because the person who usually doesn’t get angry is the scariest when they do.

“Our son, what kind of child did Mom say a child who lies is?”

“A bad child….”

“And what did I say happens to bad children?”

“You said they can’t go outside and play…………….”

“Is our son a bad child or a good child?”

“A-a good child!”

“A good child doesn’t lie, can our son not lie from now on?”

“Yes, I won’t..!”

“That’s right, good job.”

“Then can you explain to Mom what kind of friend that is?”

“What’s their name, where did you meet, and how did you end up talking about that, you know everything, right?”

“Yeah, okay.”

“So.”

Having received early character education from Mom since I was young, I explained everything.

I met a girl with pink hair at the Japanese Embassy where I went with my parents, her name is Aki, we became friends, played house, kissed, and promised to play together in Japan later.

Then we discovered that our moms both make strange noises at night, and I promised to ask my mom about the reason for that.

I told her everything.

“So, that’s what happened.”

Mom’s reaction to my explanation was strange.

When I mentioned meeting a girl with pink hair, she muttered, ‘It was a girl?’

‘Not a boy?’ and tilted her head.

When I mentioned kissing, she was surprised, ‘What, our Woo-ju kissed a girl other than Mom?!’

“……”

Finally, when I mentioned that we discovered our moms both make strange noises at night and I promised to ask about the reason, she pondered something deeply.

“That girl, her name is Aki?”

“Was she a foreigner?”

“Yeah, she said she’s half Japanese.”

“Her mom is French, and her dad is Japanese.”

“I see.”

“Aki, last name?”

“Uh, what was it?”

“Fu, something….”

“Fu?…… Could it be Fujiwara?”

Clatter-.

“Eunhye, are you done with the dishes?”

“Oh, perfect timing.”

“Honey, come here for a second.”

“Why?”

“Do you have something to say?”

“Honey, do you remember taking Woo-ju to the Japanese Embassy this morning?”

“Of course I remember.”

“I drove him there myself.”

“But why?”

“Woo-ju met a girl at the Japanese Embassy, and get this, he kissed her..!”

“Huh?”

“Really?”

“Wow, our son is quite capable.”

“He’s popular with girls because he’s handsome like his dad.”

“What are you talking about?”

“He’s more like me. Anyway, that’s not the point, the girl Woo-ju kissed is a foreigner whose name starts with Fu.”

“Could she be Fujiwara Genichiro’s daughter, Aki?”

“That Japanese ambassador to South Korea?”

“Fujiwara Genichiro?”

“He’s in his 60s.”

“If the girl was Woo-ju’s age, she’d be at most five or six years old, isn’t he way past the age to have a late child?”

“Oh, really?”

“Then it’s not her?”

“Probably not.”

“Maybe it was someone with a similar name?”

“Or maybe it’s a completely different person and Woo-ju misheard, he’s just a kid, so he might not know.”

“Yeah, that could be it………….”

Glancing, Mom trailed off and looked down at me.

On the opposite side of Mom, sitting next to me, Dad looked at me with a proud face and gently stroked my head.

“Woo-ju.”

“About that girl named Aki.”

“Was she pretty?”

“Yeah, she was very pretty.”

“I want to play with her again!”

“Really?”

“Not because you want to kiss her again?”

“N-No!”

“I don’t like ki, kissing…….”

Our son is completely smitten by that sly girl.

Although she didn’t say it, Mom looked at me with that kind of expression.

“Son, should Dad contact that girl’s parents for you?”

“Tell them our son misses her a lot and wants to play together.”

“Ah, no!”

“You don’t have to.”

“I have Aki’s phone number.”

“……What?”

“You exchanged numbers in one day?”

“Is this the pace of kids these days?”

Mom muttered, ‘Hmm, sly.’

‘Sly….’ and Dad was frozen in shock, then quickly brought me my cell phone from the table next to the sofa.

“Woo-ju, then should we contact that girl now?”

“N-Now?”

“Aki…?”

“Yeah, you said you wanted to play with Aki?”

“Then we should set a date to play together, right?”

“Well, um, b-but….”

“Why, are you shy to contact her first?”

“I’m not, shy…….”

“……Hmph, cute.”

When I squirmed, Mom laughed.

She had a very satisfied smile, like, ‘He’s mature for his age, but a 6-year-old is still a 6-year-old.’

“Okay, Dad will give you the lines.”

“Woo-ju, type what Dad says.”

“‘Aki, hi.”

“Did you have dinner?'”

“Um, we’re contacting her to play together, why are you asking about dinner…?”

“Ahem, son.”

“When you talk to a girl, you shouldn’t start with the main point right away.”

“First small talk, then the main point.”

“It’s important to create a light atmosphere first.”

“Got it?”

“Yeah, got it……Huh?”

“She replied right away.”

“Where, what did she say?”

“It’s written in Japanese, so I don’t know!”

“Really?”

“Wait, Dad knows Japanese, so I’ll read it for you.”

“Let’s see…. Ah, [Yeah.”

“I ate delicious food with my dad.”

“Woo-ju-sang?] it says.”

“Oh, but how did she know Korean to reply?”

“Woo-ju, did you by any chance talk to her in Korean?”

“No, I used the translator Mom told me about.”

“I said one thing, and she said one thing.”

“Oh, really?”

“Our son, you used your head?”

“As expected, Woo-ju is smart like me.”

Patting my head as if proud, Dad was next to me, tapping on my cell phone to send a message.

The content was [Yeah, I also ate delicious food with Mom.]

“Dad, she replied!”

“Yeah, let’s see.”

“What it says is..”

“Wait a minute!”

“Wait, I want to see too.”

“Where∙∙∙∙ Ah, [Woo-ju-sang is lucky, I want to eat with my mom too!] it says, Woo-ju.”

Aki must have said that because she missed her mom who was in Tokyo, but I was too young to think about that at the time.

So I went through this thought process: ‘Aki wants to eat with her mom -> I have my mom next to me -> Then shouldn’t my mom and Aki eat together?’ and I reached a strange conclusion, and I sent it in a text message.

Then.

“Mom, what did Aki say?”

“[Yeah, I want to eat with Woo-ju-sang’s mom!”

“But Woo-ju-sang, our dad also wants to eat together, is that okay?] it says. …………Woo-ju, what on earth did you send?”

“Aki said she wanted to eat with her mom.”

“So I asked if she wanted to eat with my mom!”

“……?”

Ring ring!

“Huh?”

“Aki is calling!”

“Papago, how do I turn on Papago?”

“Woo-ju, calm down and answer the phone first.”

“If you put it on speakerphone, Mom will translate.”

“Ah, yes!”

“Hello, Aki?”

[Hello.]

I took a deep breath and answered the phone, and at that moment, a deep voice came through.

It wasn’t Aki’s clear voice that I heard during the day, but a man’s rough voice.

I instinctively flinched and looked at Mom.

“Uh, Mom…?”

“Give it to me… Hello, I’ve taken the phone.”

“Excuse me, but who is this?”

[Excuse me. I’m Aki’s father…]

I couldn’t understand the conversation because it was in Japanese, not Korean.

But I could tell that my mother’s face, who had answered the phone, was quite serious.

I stayed close to Mom and waited for the call to end.

And, after about 3 minutes.

Mom hung up the phone and handed my cell phone back to me.

“Mom, who was that on the phone just now?”

“Not Aki, right?”

“Yeah, it wasn’t Aki, it was Aki’s dad.”

“Aki’s dad?”

“What did he say?”

“He didn’t say much, just asked if we could meet this weekend?”

“So I said yes.”

“Huh, really?”

“Then can Aki and I play this weekend?”

“Yeah, right?”

“Wow!”

“Mom, thank you…!”

Six-year-old me hugged my mom.

Mom gently stroked my head.

“Eunhye, are you going alone with Woo-ju?”

“Is that okay?”

“No, what are you talking about?”

“Of course you have to come too.”

“Huh?”

“Me too?”

“Yeah, I’m curious about how they educated their child to ask such embarrassing questions, so I have to go and see for myself.”

“So please drive.”

“I was just planning to rest at home this weekend…?”

“Then you want just the two of us to go?”

“You know I’m a beginner driver.”

“What if I get into an accident with Woo-ju?”

“Can you live alone without me and Woo-ju?”

“Ah, okay.”

“I’ll go with you, why are you getting angry….”

I had made a firm resolution, but I was just happy that I could meet and play with Aki again.

“Yay, I can play with Aki again…!”

I hugged my mom and looked forward to three days later.

And, three days later at the promised place.

“Ah, Woo-ju-sang, hi!”

“Hi!”

“Aki, how have you been?”

“Yeah, I’ve been well.”

“Have you been well, Woo-ju-sang?”

Aki and I greeted each other happily in the playroom, leaving our parents behind.

[Nice to meet you. I’m Fujiwara Sumimoto.]

“Ah, nice to meet you.”

“I’m Woo-ju’s mom.”

“This is his dad. Um, but if you don’t mind me asking.”

“What’s your relationship with Fujiwara Geni…?”

[He is the person you are talking about.]

[He is Aki’s grandfather, and my father.]

And my mom and dad were shocked by the unexpected encounter.


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