17 – Childhood Friend Unni
017
“Great! Today, my treat! What do you want to eat? Meat? Meat? Meat?”
“The coach gave us meat for lunch. Anything else? I like noodles.”
“Ah~ What’s with the sports team and noodles? Let’s eat meat, meat.”
Even with Cho Jae-shin expressing his reluctance, Joo Ji-tae nodded at Ye-jin, who was still shouting for meat.
That ‘My Pace’ attitude hasn’t changed even now.
“But, unni, are you sure? Jitae and I eat a lot of meat. It’s a lot different from middle school, don’t you think?”
“It’s okay, it’s okay. Don’t you trust your unni?”
“I can’t believe it. How many times has he promised to treat and then disappeared?”
Well, that’s true.
No matter how many times he’s taken someone out, claiming he’ll treat, he always slyly vanishes.
It’s not really mooching off others.
After disappearing like that, he would hide outside, calculating, and then reappear, chuckling. Of course, he paid back more than just the meal.
“Why is a guy so petty about these things? You haven’t been keeping track of how many times you’ve fallen for this, have you? Come on~ Surely not. Is our Jaesin really that gullible?”
“…”
Watching the teasing, Jo Jaesin shudders.
For me, it’s already been 20 years, just memories, but for Jo Jaesin, it’s not that long ago.
Back in middle school, if the kids had money, they’d flaunt it. And he, of all things, would choose expensive restaurants, playing pranks. At the time, it was a truly heart-stopping nightmare.
“Ah, it’s been a while since it was fun. Hey, guys, I’m an adult now. Don’t play such pranks anymore. And does Noona have a lot of money?”
Finally catching up reluctantly, Jo Yeosin, who had been trailing behind for a while, pouts as she joins.
“Tsk. We’re rich too.”
“Ohoho~ Is that so? Noona is a rich goddess, you know. So cute.”
“Oh, stop it!”
“But, goddess. Since today Noona is paying, let Noona show off a bit. Is that okay?”
“…”
“Is it okay?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Good. Good girl.”
Although her face is chubby, nodding her head…
‘Hmm. Even she’s cheeky, but I guess it doesn’t work on Noona.’
Is this the difference in lunchboxes?
Surely Jo Yeosin won’t turn out like that when she grows up?
While Ju Jitae shivers at the ominous imagination, the mischievous Jo Yeosin, unlike before, walks ahead without a care.
Curious, Jo Jaesin asks abruptly, “Huh? Why are you so sulky all of a sudden?”
“I don’t know! Just don’t bother me because I’m annoyed.”
“Why the sudden mood? Is it adolescence?”
“Ugh, seriously.”
Ah, that stubborn guy. Tsk tsk.
As he shook his head at the involuntary sigh escaping him,
“Oh~ Our Jitae is wagging his tongue behind us. You’ve grown quite mature~”
“It’s not that I’ve grown mature, I am mature.”
“Ah, jeez! This, this!”
Chae Yeojin laughed, poking his cheek.
Although Chae Yeojin was tall in various aspects, even she couldn’t compare to Joo Jitae, who stood at an impressive 184 cm.
When poking the cheek of a much taller opponent, the body naturally leans.
Feeling the soft touch on his forearm, Joo Jitae grinned.
‘Even Chae Yeojin, the best in the world, had no sense of distance back then.’
After a few years, she would become aware of it and strictly maintain boundaries. And after a few more years, those boundaries would crumble.
Joo Jitae pondered for a moment.
If it were his first encounter, he would have pretended to be annoyed and pulled away. But he wasn’t really annoyed, and there was no need for that.
The issue was whether he had reduced the distance now or whether he would maintain it.
Unlike the first encounter, now being the second, he could choose to remain as close siblings or…
“Hey, hey. You’ve become a real man~ Nuna is hurt.”
“I’ve decided.”
“Huh? What… Kyaa! You, you—!?”
Joo Jitae reached out and squeezed her chest, feeling a familiar yet subtly different sensation.
Hmm. It’s indeed a familiar sensation. Perhaps it’s more elastic because of the childhood memories.
“Nuna?”
“Unni?”
Before the scream could escape, the two who had been walking turned around. It was after Joo Jitae had withdrawn his hand.
Chae Yeojin only stood frozen in her surprised posture, stepping back.
“Did you step on a bug or something? Be careful.”
Chae Yeojin was dumbfounded by Joo Jitae’s actions, supporting her while detaching herself.
Even if it was just a joke, who openly touches someone like this?
It’s not a coincidence or subtly intentional. It’s an unmistakable, intentional act. No coincidence in the world squeezes the heart and flirts like this.
“Oh, right. Sorry, I stepped on a bug and got startled.”
However, Chae Yeojin decided to let it go for now.
Not a stranger, perhaps a younger sibling I’ve known since childhood.
“I guess I went too far.”
Being in the second year of high school, at an age when passions run high, it could have been an instinctive move.
The constant contact with the beautiful sister’s chest may have led to a momentary lapse, unable to resist the impulses of adolescence.
A mistake… yes, a mistake.
…Was it really a mistake? What kind of mistake is so blatantly mumbled about?
“Isn’t it better to openly touch than pretend not to see or subtly avoid it?”
Because it’s not something grotesque or repulsive.
Ironically, she had conveniently forgotten that she herself had engaged in such actions under the guise of a joke.
“Could it be that I’m too sensitive? Perhaps I was just surprised because it was the first time a guy touched me, and in reality, it was just an accidental touch?”
“Hey? Was Nuna afraid of bugs? Were you?”
Caught in the midst of distorting reality, Chaeyeon finally snapped out of it.
“Why, well, can’t I be afraid of bugs?”
“Sure. Yeojin, Nuna is also a girl.”
Supporting words from Jutaek, along with the touch of his arm around her, subtly emphasizing femininity, made Chaeyeon’s heart race.
The touch of his fingers lingering on her biceps as he supported her, and the subtle emphasis on her being a girl – was it really a misconception?
Is he flirting with her? Teasing her?
“No. Calm down, Chaeyeon. Jutaek isn’t that kind of guy. It’s just a momentary confusion because it’s the first time a guy has acted like this. That’s right. Chaeyeon, you foolish girl. Why haven’t you snagged a guy with this face and body until now… Ha!”
The distorted reality led to a miraculous conclusion, transitioning into self-blame.
* * *
Jutaek looked up at the sign.
It felt oddly familiar.
“A place I used to frequent before going abroad.”
“I’ll smoke a cigarette before going in.”
“And then you won’t just run away again, right, Nuna?”
“What nonsense. I’m hungry too. Just order something quickly.”
“Okay. I trust Nuna and will drink without holding back! Let’s go!”
“Hmph! We better order something expensive.”
Watching the Joo siblings rush in, Chaeyeon leaned against the wall in the corner and pulled out a cigarette.
Jutaek stood beside her, leaning casually.
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“Huh? Aren’t you coming in?”
‘His acting skills are not great this time.’
Ju Ji-tae felt the fact that he had truly regressed.
Was the change more pronounced because of the aura he had been observing until just before regression? Or was it because the relationship between the present and the future was so different?
The parents and Cho Jae-shin, whom he had consistently met until the regression, were the same. The only difference was that his parents and Cho Jae-shin had the same relationship now and in the future. His parents were still his parents now and in the future, and Cho Jae-shin was still an irreplaceable friend now and in the future.
But Cha Yeon-jin was different.
“You have something to say to me.”
Cha Yeon-jin, who exhaled smoke with a casual question, straightened her body against the wall as if pleased with herself.
“Yeah, well said. Hey, Ju Ji-tae. Where did you learn such a bad habit? How dare you touch your sister’s chest without permission.”
“It wasn’t without permission.”
“…What?”
“I just touched it. Like this.”
His casually outstretched hand grabbed the well-shaped chest.
While Cha Yeon-jin stood dumbfounded for a moment, leaning against the wall, she finally recoiled in surprise.
“Are you crazy? What are you doing right now! This is really cute, calling it cute—”
“Pfft!”
“…Are you laughing?”
“Since when did you start seeing me as cute? You knew it. Me and Jae-shin stealing your panties.”
Cha Yeon-jin’s body trembled for a moment.
“No wonder they kept disappearing…”
“Stop pretending. You knew.”
“Ha! Fine. I knew. How long have I endured this? But now, I’m very confident?”
“Sis, you’re intentionally like that, right? Asking us to steal them.”
The cigarette butt, which was about to go out, couldn’t withstand the weight and fell to the floor.
“What nonsense!”
“We’re stealing your panties, and you, a pervert, use them for that, right?”
“Oh, no.”
At Cha Yeon-jin’s bluish disgust, Ju Ji-tae blinked.
“What’s so surprising about that? I used to steal panties and do that all the time. I was in my prime, I could do that. What’s wrong with having such things. I bet your panties are still in my room.”
—
“Are you crazy… calling that talk right now?”
“I’m saying not to be too embarrassed about it. Oh, sometimes there’s a smell other than the new ones, intentionally like that too, right?”
Chae-yeon, standing there in disbelief, startled at the cigarette butt that burned to the end and then lit a new cigarette.
“Phew… You knew everything?”
“That’s right. Oh, intentionally showing your underwear too.”
“Unbelievable.”
Heh heh.
Chae-yeon, feeling beyond embarrassed and now oddly composed, laughed in resignation.
“Hey, you sly fox. So, you’ve been deceiving Noona as if you didn’t know anything all this time? How on earth did you know?”
Well, because you told me directly, that’s how I knew.
In about… 10 years? 11 years? I’ll be yelling to myself then, “Oh, that was how it was!”
In bed. After the relationship ended, lying side by side.
Yes.
It’s been a year since the regression, yet the reason I feel it freshly today is because of Chae-yeon.
Stable relationships like parents or unchanging friends are only unfamiliar at first, then swiftly become familiar.
Just passing people are not of interest.
But someone like Chae-yeon, whose present and future relationships are vastly different, makes me keenly feel the regression.
The special, intimate relationship with the first love, the girl next door, is so different.
It would have been different if it was a lover or an ex-lover.
But the future Ju Ji-tae and Chae-yeon had a peculiar relationship.
Having frequent physical relations without involvement in each other’s romantic affairs, sharing intimate and personal aspects yet maintaining a distance… it was too close to be just partners, too free to be lovers.
Caught in contemplation, a plume of smoke escaped Ju Ji-tae’s face.
“Stop it, don’t ask. What’s the point of asking what’s already been revealed? Ugh… seriously… so damn embarrassing. You knew I left my panties on purpose… Wait. Then maybe Jae-shin too?”
As if that’s possible.
If it wasn’t for my first-hand memory, I wouldn’t have known. How would Jae-shin know?
He won’t know now and won’t know in the future either.
Chae-yeon had quite a few men with whom she had physical relationships, but the only one that consistently endured was herself.
Future Chae-yeon, unlike now, maintained a strict distance from men.
It was natural for men she had public friendships with, even those with personal connections. However, even in her personal circle, aside from Ju Ji-tae and Jae-shin, there was no one she was close to, not even privately.
Just once.
When that sense of distance crumbled, it happened to be Ju Ji-tae who was nearby, forming such a relationship.
“Phew. Really fortunate. Almost lost my trust in humanity.”
Smoke curled skillfully from Chae Yeojin’s lips as she exhaled, flicking her cigarette with precision.
“Anyway, keep this a secret, okay? Only you should know. Try spreading it elsewhere, and I’ll show you the spicy punch of a big sister.”
Younger or older.
Learn this, little sister. What it means for a secret to form between a man and a woman.
It probably won’t work.
Being so innocent, you might end up being deceived by a guy later on.
Ju Ji-tae, a just warrior who couldn’t stand seeing a close sister being deceived by a man, said, “Sit next to me when we go inside.”
“Suddenly? Why? …Feels uneasy for some reason.”
Why?
Because he probably wants to reveal his hidden preferences that she still doesn’t know about.
