My Japanese Childhood Friend Is Too Flirty

51. When Childhood Friends Sulk (3)

“Wow, how long are those two gonna keep running?”

“Juju and Seungwoo are both crazy b*stards, for real.”

“131, 132, 133….”

“Just passed 134, 135, 136…. Oh? Seungwoo didn’t make it in.”

“Hey, Juju! You’re the only one left!”

‘……I’m the only one left?’

Lost in a trance of endless running, I glanced at Seungwoo, who was running not too far from my line.

“Ah, I’m gonna die….”

Seungwoo was slumped on the ground.

With most of Class 2’s boys already out, and only Seungwoo and I remaining, it seemed I was indeed the last one standing, just as I’d heard from afar.

The realization hit me, and suddenly all the strength drained out of me.

“Juju, let’s just do 150 and then rest!”

‘……150, my foot.’

Up until a moment ago, I was in a state of hyper-alertness, but knowing I was the last one, all the strength just seeped out of my body.

Honestly, I felt like I *could* keep running if I wanted to, but it didn’t seem to matter much, so as soon as I entered the opposite line, I stopped and threw my hand up.

“Enough, whew, I’m done!”

──Tweet!

The gym teacher’s whistle cut through the air. The shuttle run, the back-and-forth endurance test, was finally over.

I collapsed almost completely, exhaling with a groan.

“……Whew.”

Tried so hard to get first place, I thought I was gonna die.

As I was breathing hard, inhaling and exhaling repeatedly, a shadow suddenly fell over me.

I looked up to see Seungwoo standing there, looking none too hale himself.

“Good job.”

“……Yeah, you too.”

He held out a hand as if to help me up, and I gratefully took it.

My legs wobbled a bit as I stood, but I tried to act like nothing was wrong and took a deep breath.

Standing side-by-side, Seungwoo and I looked at each other for a moment, then spoke at the same time.

“Uju, why were you running so hard?”

“Why were *you* running so hard…?”

“Huh?”

“……Huh?”

Our words tangled, and for a moment, we both froze.

But only for a moment. Kim Seungwoo shrugged it off, muttering.

“Me? Well, I just ran with you because you kept running, Uju.”

“You ran with me because I kept running…?”

“Yeah, what about you?”

“…….”

Well, if I got first place, Aki said she’d give me a prize.

I almost said it, but the thought of him knowing that was the reason I ran so hard made me feel a little ashamed.

So, just.

“I ran with you, too. Didn’t think about it, just ran, you know….”

“Oh, really?”

“Mhm, really.”

“…….”

“……Pfft.”

We looked at each other and laughed.

After such a silly exchange, after those soft bursts of laughter, Kim Seungwoo and I lightly bumped each other’s shoulders and returned to where our friends were gathered.

“Hey, Ju Uju’s back?”

“Look at how red his face is, he’s practically a tomato, eh?”

“Ah, I’m exhausted…. Don’t talk to me. How many times did I run?”

“138. The teacher said you’re first place overall for the first years.”

“Huh? But only classes 1 and 2 ran… how am I first overall?”

“Dunno, guess the other classes finished already.”

“Ah….”

I see. I don’t quite understand the ins and outs, but overall first place, huh? It does feel good.

I roughly wiped the sweat trickling down my neck with my gym uniform sleeve. But the amount of sweat was too much, there were limits to what the sleeve could do.

“Hey, anyone got a towel or something?”

“Alright, here.”

Someone tapped me lightly on the back.

“Ah, thanks…. Huh?”

Turning around reflexively, well, what do you know.

The person offering me a towel was none other than my childhood friend, Aki.

*He’s supposed to be with his Class 1 buddies, why is he here…?* The thought barely flickered through my mind. First, I took the towel and wiped away the sweat. Truth be told, I’d been running so much that I was a mess.

“I have a cold towel too, wanna borrow it?”

“I wouldn’t mind. But shouldn’t you be over with your group?”

“Nah, Class 1 finished their recording anyway. The rest of the time is free.”

“Ah, I see.”

I replied vaguely, glancing around.

Kim Seungwoo and the rest of my friends – the basketball crew – were staring at Aki and me with a look I couldn’t quite describe.

How should I put it? Like they wanted to say something to me, but were holding back, suppressing their emotions because Aki was standing there… something like that.

“You gotta run the shuttle run 140 times to get a girlfriend to wipe your sweat for you, huh?”

“Jealous. No, I wanna kill him.”

“He’s got the stamina, the looks, the girlfriend… what *doesn’t* our Woojoo have?”

“He’s kinda lacking in tact, just a *little*.”

“……”

Judging by how mild the insults were, they were definitely holding back because Aki was there.

Feeling a bit awkward, I gathered up the towel and glanced at Aki, subtly indicating we should talk somewhere other than in front of my friends.

“…Oh, excuse me. You’re Woojoo~chan’s friends, right? Could I borrow Woojoo~chan for a little while?”

Aki played along.

“Yeah, of course. Borrow him. You can borrow him forever, for all I care.”

“Don’t come back, Joo Woojoo.”

“Rest well and see you later, Woojoo.”

Everyone except Kim Seungwoo was giving me a hostile look, their eyes practically burning with resentment.

Aki seemed amused, a small smile playing on his lips as he gently tugged on my sleeve.

“Let’s go, Woojoo~chan.”

“Yeah, but where are we going?”

“Let’s go sit over there on that bench.”

There’s truly no place quite like a bench when one craves a moment’s respite.

I exhaled slowly, evenly, following Aki toward the promised bench.

But then.

Aki, who had so earnestly led the way to the bench, bypassed it altogether, pulling me instead beneath the skybridge that connected the main building to the new annex.

Naturally, this spot was perpetually shrouded in shadow, and rarely frequented by students.

In other words, the perfect locale for something best done out of sight.

The realization dawned on me vaguely, and I felt the air thicken with a certain unspoken quality.

“Uju-chan~”

Aki released my sleeve.

Leaving me, in effect, a free agent.

“I saw you, earlier… you came in first in the shuttle run, didn’t you?”

“Uh-huh, I won first place.”

“So… you should receive the promised reward, right…?”

“……”

Aki’s words rooted my feet to the spot.

A reward, you say.

Did I truly agree to such a bargain…?

As I recalled it, the pledge wasn’t for a reward at all, but rather, a promise of a k*ss later at home, or something akin to that…

“Close your eyes, Uju-chan.”

‘……Good enough is good enough, I suppose.’

What did it matter, reward or k*ss?

What truly mattered was that Aki had brought me here for the sole purpose of giving me something, not for some needless, useless formality.

I obeyed, closing my eyes.

And then.

“……Mm.”

Aki placed her hands on my gym uniform top, and then, carefully, began to caress it.

To be perfectly frank, having anticipated a k*ss, I was taken aback by the gesture.

Not my hands, not my face, but a sudden touch on my stomach.

What meaning could possibly be gleaned from this touch?

“……Aki?”

“Just a moment, stay like that….”

Aki’s hand creeps upward, bit by bit.

Her fingers, which had been stroking my stomach through the fabric of my shirt, brush against my chest, then my collarbone, and finally, my Adam’s apple, stroking the skin gently.

The way she’s rewarding me feels a touch erotic… is that just my imagination?

“……Sniff.”

Aki makes a soft sniffing sound.

My eyes are closed so it’s hard to see, but given the circumstances, she seems to be pressing her nose against my neck, taking in my scent.

“Aki, what are you….”

“……Uh-uh.”

I flinch almost unconsciously, and Aki catches my wrist, her grip firm.

It’s a girl’s strength, so if I really wanted to, I could break free.

But Aki’s voice, as she breathes in the scent of my skin, feels somehow… strangely.

“……Sniff.”

“…….”

Erotic.

So I don’t resist, not on purpose.

“……Uju~chan.”

“……Hmm?”

“Did you… perhaps put on some cologne…?”

“Cologne? No, I didn’t wear any….”

“Oh, I see….”

Immediately after hearing Aki’s voice, which is a little more suggestive than usual.

Aki releases my wrist, and then slips her arms beneath my armpits, pulling me into a tight hug.

And, sniff sniff.

This time, she buries her face directly into my chest, beginning to inhale my scent a little more overtly.

“……Wait, then it’s just sweat.”

“It’s okay….”

It’ll be sweat, I was about to say, but I stopped myself.

Because Aki, her face still buried against my chest, is making a small, blissful sound, a sigh that borders on a moan, ‘Hnnng, haaa….’

“…….”

What’s this.

What in the world is happening…?

I was brimming with anticipation, they said they’d give me a prize, but then, out of nowhere, Aki latches onto me, sniffing away. Even though I just finished sprinting, so I’m practically reeking of sweat.

‘…What’s gotten into her?’

She never does this sort of thing, but suddenly she’s acting like this.

She was sniffing me so intently, it was starting to make me a little uncomfortable, I was about to ask what was up.

“Uh, unh…”

But she was so focused on my scent, her soft somethings brushing against me everywhere, making me feel a little… happy.

I couldn’t dare bring myself to ask something like that.

“…”

I wish time could just stop right here.

No joke, I really do.

“…Unh, okay, done.”

Done with what…? I was about to ask,

But Aki, sounding satisfied, peeled herself away from me.

As the soft something that had been pressed against my chest disappeared, I felt a pang of regret and without realizing it, opened my mouth.

“Is that the prize?”

“Nope, not a prize.”

“…Huh?”

“This is, Atashi getting angry at Uju~chan…”

“Getting angry…?”

“Unh, ’cause Atashi decided to get angry today.”

“…Ah.”

I see.

But, then when am I getting the prize they promised?

I just looked at her questioningly, and Aki gave a bright grin.

“The prize is later.”

“Later? When?”

“Hmm, when Uju~chan takes Atashi to the water park?”

“…You mean after exams are over?”

“Yeah, isn’t that right?”

“No… there wasn’t any talk of that before.”

“……Heh.”

Aki sticks out her tongue, just a little.

The realization hit me, instant. I’d been had.

‘No, if I knew it was going to be like this, I wouldn’t have just let her touch me…!’

I’d stayed still because she said she’d give me a reward, but if I knew it would turn out like this, I would’ve touched Aki too.

Feeling utterly wronged, I stared down at Aki.

Aki, looking almost pitying, smiled and opened her mouth.

“Heh heh, okay, fine. Then… I’ll let you k*ss me, once.”

“……Once?”

“Yeah, just once. No more than that. Today’s the day I get to be mad, so…”

“……”

Just once.

The moment the limit was placed, a thought bloomed in my head.

I had to use this one chance without any regrets.

“……Ah.”

I grabbed Aki in a tight embrace.

So tight that the soft parts pressed against my body, molding together.

And tilting my head slightly, I k*ssed those tempting lips that had granted me only a single k*ss.

“……Heh.”

Aki lifted herself up on her tiptoes just a bit.

I wrapped my hands around Aki’s slender waist, holding her even tighter, and Aki wiggled her arms out from above and cautiously stroked my stomach.

“Mmm…”

“……”

“……Chup.”

“……”

“Chup, smack…”

“……”

“……Mmm. …Huuuhng.”

She pulled back, a sigh sweet upon my lips.

Our faces drifted apart, gazes locked in a slow, melting gaze.

“Satisfied…?”

“Hmm… I don’t know.”

“…Not yet?”

I couldn’t answer.

This time, Aki leaned in for the k*ss first.

Our brief respite over, we met lips again, embracing deeply.

Aki’s hands rested upon my abs, my chest.

My arms circled the small of her back.

A tangle of hands and feet, Aki and I, we forgot for a moment we were in the middle of school, lost in a fervent k*ss.

“…Smooch.”

“…….”

“Slurp….”

“…….”

Pressing together, and pressing again.

“Uhn…”

“…….”

“Ha, uhn…”

“…….”

“Hng, *puff*…”

“……Hoo.”

Only when our breath ran short, just before we were forced to break apart.

Barely, barely satisfied, I caught my breath – now ragged for a different reason – and held Aki close.

“Now, is that… enough?”

“…Yeah.”

“Heeh…”

Aki must have been satisfied with the long, long k*ss too, because she let out a deep sigh and rested her head against me.

I gently patted Aki, and she poked at my abs with her fingers before, as if suddenly remembering something, she looked up at me and said,

“Uju~chan, when are we going to the water park?”

“I booked it after the exams, sometime around early May….”

“…One night, two days?”

“Yeah, one night, two days. Even if we go on the weekend, that’s all we can manage.”

“Then… should we not go in May?”

“Not go in May…?”

Does she mean she wants to go sooner?

But even then, during the semester, one night, two days is the limit, right? Of course, if we include a holiday, we could do two nights, three days, but then the room rates skyrocket.

“Instead of May, if we go during summer vacation… both of us could easily spend three nights, four days playing around…?”

“…And we could go somewhere besides the water park, too?”

“Mhm, that’s right…”

“……”

A three-night, four-day trip with Aki, huh.

It’s nice, though.

Actually, it’s incredibly, overwhelmingly nice.

The problem is, I doubt my reason could hold out.

Even in a nerve-wracking place where I could get caught any moment, it’s this hard to suppress my impulses.

If Aki and I were alone, in a place with no interruptions.

Could I maintain my reason then?

I probably couldn’t, could I……

“…What do you think, Uju-chan?”

“Well…”

“Are you… going to go with Atashi?”

“……”