“So……”
Si-woo glared at the girl sitting next to him and spat out. At his gaze, she lowered her head and fidgeted with her fingers. She looked as if she had been scolded, but Si-woo paid no attention. No matter how much he thought about it, he felt he had no fault in the current situation.
“Why did you scream?”
“S-s-s-sorry.”
At the girl's apology, Si-woo let out a deep sigh. His empty stomach rumbled, demanding something to eat. But there was nothing to put in. He had only intended to have a light meal, but because that girl screamed, he was kicked out of the store.
It was really fucking unfair. He had stepped forward to help for no reason, and look what happened. Well, he could eat somewhere else, so it wasn't a big problem, but unfair is unfair. And it's because of that student in front of him.
‘……No. Let's not blame others.’
Yes, I should understand. It's normal to be scared if a strange man suddenly talks to you. Her reaction was excessive, but at the same time, it was an appropriate response. Si-woo nodded and asked her.
“Is your arm okay?”
“A-arm?”
“Did you use the kiosk for a long time because your arm is uncomfortable?”
“N-no…… It's just…… there were many unfamiliar menus…… so I was thinking……”
“……Then what about that bandage and band-aid……”
“A delinquent nearby picked a fight……”
“Ah.”
Si-woo let out a short sigh and leaned back against the backrest. In the end, it all happened because of his meddling.
I should have just waited quietly, instead of meddling.
He let out a deep sigh and stuck his hand into his pocket. The girl glanced at him sideways and shook her legs. She looked like a dog suffering from separation anxiety. Should I say she looked anxious? It seemed like she wanted to get away from the seat as soon as possible.
‘There's no particular reason to be together.’
Thinking that, Si-woo stood up from his seat. At the same time, the girl also rose from the bench. But due to her hunched posture, their eye levels didn't match. Even if that weren't the case, they probably wouldn't have made eye contact.
She seemed to be trying, but in less than a second, she lowered her gaze to the ground, so there was nothing to be done.
A different kind of loser from Seia. Seia has communication problems, but she doesn't have difficulty dealing with people. On the other hand, this one…… seems to have serious flaws in both. And her self-esteem seems low.
‘Well, it's not something to worry about.’
Si-woo smiled faintly and slightly bowed his head towards her.
“It was nice to meet you. If fate allows, let's meet again.”
“Ah, yes. It was nice to meet you tooㅡ”
As the girl was continuing her words, a rumbling sound echoed from her stomach. It was loud enough for Si-woo to hear, but he didn't particularly mind. He just thought, 'She must be hungry.'
But she was different.
In front of someone she's meeting for the first time.
A person's.
And a man's at that.
In front of.
Not only did she scream.
Shameful.
Even the sound.
She made it heard.
“Ah…… Ah……!”
Her face turned pale. The expression that seemed shy gradually distorted into a fierce one. Saliva stuck to the teeth visible between her parted lips, and her pupils contracted. A face similar to the one he saw in the store. Si-woo furrowed his brow and whispered softly.
“Ah, fuck.”
“Keeeeeeek!! Kwoooooo!!! Gekgekgekgekgek!!!!”
She's really crazy.
Her bizarre behavior only ended after continuing for several tens of minutes. She randomly punched the air, then suddenly came to her senses. But the sight of the air bursting every time she swung her fist was quite spectacular. I thought only Mika could do something like that, but the world is indeed wide.
“Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry.”
After returning to normal, she immediately bowed towards Si-woo. It was because he barely managed to stop her from banging her head and doing a somersault. Already, he could feel eyes from the surroundings; if she had committed such an atrocity there, posts would have been made on community sites or SNS.
Perhaps they already have.
“I will somehow compensate you for this incident. So please forgive me……”
“I haven't suffered any particular loss, so what compensation? It's fine.”
“B-but……”
“If you're really sorry, buy me a meal sometime. That's enough.”
Si-woo smiled faintly and delivered a typical Korean farewell.
Let's eat a meal sometime. Literally translated, it means let's not meet again. It's an extreme translation, but it's not exactly wrong. Si-woo also meant something similar. But unfortunately, there were no Koreans in Kivotos.
“Th-then now!”
“……Yes?”
“Since you couldn't eat because of me, I'll buy it for you now!”
“No, there's no need for that……”
“W-was I a nuisance after all? I-I-I'm really sorry, sorry, sorry.”
No, you crazy bitch. I was going to eat separately.
Such words came up to his throat, but he forcibly swallowed them. To spit that out, the two shotguns attached to her hips were too scary. With the best means of conversation right in front of him, Si-woo wasn't crazy enough to be bold.
“Th-then let's go.”
“……! Ah, understood! I-I'll guide you to a place I often go to!”
“Haha. Yes, please take care of me.”
“Kihit, kihihihihit!!”
She stuck out her tongue and laughed. She had a face as if she had buried someone.
Whether that is her original face, or the shy expression I saw until now is her original face, I don't know, but anyway, it was scary. It seemed like she might suddenly scream and fire the shotgun repeatedly.
‘No, let's not think badly. Seia's first impression wasn't great either.’
If you want to get along, who can't you get along with? I'm the one who gets along with Seia, who's a loser and an outsider. At most, what's so great about a girl who's a bit crazy? Thinking that, Si-woo asked her.
“Now that I think about it, we don't know each other's names. I'm Park Si-woo.”
“Ah, aah! I-I am Kenzaki Tsurugi…… I'm in third year of middle school……”
“Same as me. Shall we speak casually?”
“S-shall we…… Kuhehe.”
Tsurugi laughed awkwardly. Of course, that was only by her standards. Si-woo tried not to be conscious of her raised pupils and twisted the corner of his mouth upward.
“Haha……”
“Kihihihihihihihit!”
“…….”
“Kyaha, gyagyagyagyagyagyagyak!”
……Can we get along?
I couldn't be sure at all.
*
The restaurant Tsurugi guided him to was a solo ramen shop. It had a structure where each seat had a partition, so you could only eat alone. She said she was guiding him to a place she often goes to, but I never dreamed it would be a shop specialized for eating alone.
‘Considering her personality, it's natural, I guess.’
Si-woo glanced at Tsurugi sitting in her seat with familiar gestures and thought.
Certainly, recalling the way she has been so far, it's understandable that she has no one to eat with. So she must have gotten used to such restaurants. Since she seems to care a lot about what others think, she probably couldn't even think of eating alone in a normal restaurant.
Poor thing. Si-woo wiped away tears that weren't even flowing and sat in the seat next to Tsurugi. Even though it's the next seat, because of the partition, they couldn't see each other's faces.
“W-w-what will you eat……?”
“Soy sauce ramen.”
“Th-then I'll have the same……”
There was something like a kiosk installed at the seat, so there was no need to order directly from the owner. It was a quite convenient system.
“I-I'll order two.”
“To buy for me?”
“Th-that's why I came……”
Tsurugi trailed off her words and operated the machine. Since it was a restaurant with familiar menus, the order didn't take long like at a hamburger shop. She finished the order by writing a request to send one ramen to herself and the other to the next seat.
“Did it……”
“Okay, I'll enjoy it.”
“Ah, no. It was my fault, so it's natural.”
“But grateful is grateful.”
“I-is that so…… Kihihi.”
Tsurugi laughed softly and fidgeted with her fingers.
Her saying she would buy Si-woo a meal immediately wasn't an action with great meaning. She just wanted to compensate quickly since she made a mistake. After all, it's better to handle such things immediately rather than postpone them.
But I never dreamed we would exchange small talk like this. I thought we would just eat and part ways, but we even exchanged names like friends.
It was a peculiar feeling. Usually, everyone is busy running away just by looking at her expression, but he didn't. Instead, he tried to have a conversation, and didn't get scared even when she screamed. Even though she stammers because she's very shy, he didn't complain that it was frustrating.
‘Is, is this what friends are like?’
I couldn't know. It was natural since I've never met anyone I could call a friend in my life. But combining what I read in books and heard from around, he was certainly enough to be called a friend. The problem is…… whether he also thinks of me as a friend.
‘What if I'm getting ahead of myself? Will I die? Or…… will I kill?! No, no! I mustn't do that!’
While Tsurugi's pupils were spinning around, the food was completed. As per her request, one went to her and the other to Si-woo's seat. Si-woo expressed thanks to Tsurugi and began to fill his hungry stomach. The ramen was quite edible.
After finishing the meal, Si-woo and Tsurugi left the store. The time was 4:30 PM. There was still time until middle school ended.
“But Tsurugi, why were you outside school when it's not even dismissal time?”
“I-I left early…… they forced me to leave early because I fought with a delinquent……”
“Aha.”
My curiosity was satisfied. Si-woo nodded and looked back at Tsurugi.
“Then shall we part now? It seems we've both finished our business.”
“W-wait a moment……!”
Tsurugi took out her smartphone from her pocket with a hurried expression. Then she held it out to Si-woo.
“Y-your number……”
What I thought while eating ramen. If he considers me a friend, there's no reason not to give his number. Knowing a friend's phone number is natural. So, based on his reaction here, I can confirm whether I can be friends with him or not.
Tsurugi thought that and made a tense expression.
Of course, it was only a tense expression to her. From Si-woo's perspective, her face was no different from a demon. If I refuse even here, it seemed like a big hole would appear in my stomach. Even if I run away, a bullet hole would be made in my back, with a 'Kieeeek!' scream.
Cornered.
Si-woo reluctantly took her smartphone and gave his number. Just in case, he even made a call to confirm. Only then did Tsurugi's face brighten up. This was also by her standards. Si-woo clenched his teeth and ignored the long tongue that crawled out between her parted lips and spoke.
“Th-then I'll go now. There's someone waiting for me.”
“Y-yes. Take care.”
Si-woo waved his hand and quickly disappeared. Tsurugi waved both hands until his back disappeared, and after he was gone, she checked her smartphone. In the call history that had no records except for recent loan calls, Si-woo's number was prominently there.
“Kuhehehe- Kuhahahahahahahat-!!”
Tsurugi laughed loudly and saved Si-woo's number.
[Si-woo – First Friend in Life]
It was a good day.
Comments (0)
Please log in to leave a comment. Login or Register