My Platinum-Blond Childhood Friend Is So Pretty - Chapter 155



155 – 67. Amelia’s First Friend, Chaerin

It was after that day when Eli and Amelia crashed the company dinner.

At the company, there was no end to the talk about Amelia. Even people from other departments who weren’t there would bring her up in small talk.

There wasn’t any bad gossip, and most people just thought Amelia was cute, so it didn’t matter.

It’s not like it’s a secret that our daughter is cute; the whole world knows it.

The only problem was…

“Manager Lee. You need to have a lot of conversations with your daughter from now on. Do you know what I mean?”

“Yes, I do. I’ll keep trying.”

“Yes, and…”

From that company dinner on, the director’s childcare advice increased threefold. He was already doing it quite frequently before, but the frequency and length of his advice became much longer.

If someone who didn’t know him heard it, they would think he was like Amelia’s uncle or something, he was so passionate about it.

But except for that, there were no problems with my company life, and I even benefited from the director’s attention, so it was all good.

And…

Mid-August.

With the start of summer vacation, some familiar faces came to visit.

“Ah, why is the weather so hot?”

“Hi, both of you! Amy, hi too?”

Jungwoo and Vinnie.

And…

“……Annyeonghaseyo.”

Including Seo Chae-rin, the two people’s daughter.

***

“I tried to match the vacation, but it’s not easy. Our summer break completely overlapped.”

“What a shame. It would’ve been great if we went together.”

Although Jung-woo hyung was very passionate about band activities, he didn’t debut as a singer and instead got a job.

However, it wasn’t completely unrelated, and he entered a solid mid-sized company in the music industry through connections.

Since our kids have grown up a lot, we planned to take a vacation together after a long time, but unfortunately, it didn’t work out.

What a shame.

“I could’ve adjusted it, but our kid said no, so I just matched it with this side~”

“You did well. Let’s play a lot with Chae-rin and Oppa this time.”

“I will. Does Chae-rin like our mom more than me these days? I’m really sad about it…”

“You’re always leaving her with Grandma and going to work, so that’s why.”

“Isn’t that what working moms do by default? Ha… I really want to quit~ I can switch to remote work, but the income would decrease, making it hard to decide.”

Vini noona was still working at the company she had been with for a long time.

To be honest, I thought she would quit or get fired soon because of her dark circles and daily drinking, but surprisingly, she was doing very well.

The only problem was that, as a typical working mom, she couldn’t spend much time with her daughter, Chae-rin. Although she took a year off for childcare leave after giving birth, it was hard for her to find time for Chae-rin after that.

That’s why she was considering quitting her job, which was the current situation.

And then there was their daughter, Seo Chae-rin.

“Yayong has… made new friends… Hehe, Chae-rin! Yayong is cute, right?”

“…Cute.”

Chae-rin, who was sitting next to Amelia, gazing at her with an affectionate and slightly sorrowful expression, flipping through a picture book, one page at a time.

Amelia was four years old, the same age as Chae-rin.

Since we got married a bit early, we got married before my older brother, but we had kids around the same time. There’s a two-month age difference between Amelia and Chae-rin.

Ah, Chae-rin hasn’t had her birthday yet, so should I say she’s three years old? Anyway.

She had a unique and charming atmosphere that was very attractive.

“……”

Her thick black hair and face, which still had baby fat, resembled Jung-woo hyung’s, and her slightly downturned eyes, which resembled Vini noona’s, already showed a hint of charm.

And the tear ducts beside her eyes were beautifully positioned, which would surely make her very popular with boys in the future.

However, she was very shy.

She was also awkward with me and Eli, whom she saw often. As far as I knew, she was like that with everyone except her parents, Jung-woo hyung and Vini noona, and her grandparents.

But when she was with her same-age friend, Amelia, she was different.

“Yayong doesn’t worry about going to kindergarten anymore.”

“Haa… Heu…”

What should I say?

Hearts were visible in her eyes.

She just really, really liked our Amelia.

It wasn’t that she was extremely outgoing or loud, but whenever they met, she wouldn’t leave Amelia’s side.

We’re looking at a children’s book together, but it doesn’t seem like Amelia is very interested in it. Whenever she points at something and laughs, I react, but otherwise, I’m just staring at her face.

Honestly…

“Hmm…”

While chatting with my older brother about our recent lives, I was gazing at the lovely black and white twins, when suddenly, I felt uneasy seeing Chae-rin’s face, which seemed to have a “hah, hah…” sound effect.

My older brother, Jung-woo, who was slumped on the sofa, asked me a question.

“Why’s that?”

“What? Ah, it’s… every time I see Chae-rin’s eyes, they seem kind of dangerous.”

“What’s wrong with that? Are you dissing Chae-rin right now?”

“No, it’s not dissing. How do I explain this? Um… Ah, that thing. If I express it in a somewhat otaku way…”

“Express it in a somewhat otaku way?”

From noble mtl dot com

“…it’s a yandere vibe, right?”

“What? You’re saying that about Chae-rin’s pure eyes? Get out.”

“Conscience-wise, purity is… but do you know what yandere means?”

“Why don’t you know, you otaku? You recommended that one manga with a female protagonist who was a yandere, didn’t you? You got really passionate about it back then.”

“Ah~ Ah! When we sang in our practice room? Wow, that’s a real memory.”

“Memory, schmemory. Get out.”

As Jung-woo told me to get out, he didn’t seem to have any intention of getting up himself. He looked exhausted, as if the fatigue had seeped into his bones. Maybe it was because of the upcoming break.

Meanwhile, as Jung-woo kicked me with his foot and threatened me with his words, Eli and Binna’s gazes turned to the two kids.

“Chae-rin often asks to go see Amy… but she doesn’t get along well with the kids in the neighborhood… Uh… her eyes… yandere… what do we do? I find it hard to deny it… She’s kind of obsessive…”

“What am I obsessed with? When did I do that…”

“You were obsessed with Do-yun…”

“M, what, what?! Ah, no, that’s just her voice!”

“Pfft, you’re stuttering because you have nothing to say~”

“What… I’m just at a loss for words. My goodness.”

Even Binna, who wasn’t an otaku like me, knew what yandere meant, having read quite a few girls’ manga.

Objectively, she acknowledged that her daughter had that kind of vibe.

“What’s the problem? If you like someone a lot, you might act like that. Yandere is what?”

Eli, who knew about otaku terminology because of me, denied it instead.

From Eli’s perspective, it seemed like something that could happen between close friends.

But to us…

“…It’s a bit worrying to see her defend him like that.”

Eli’s denial made the problem seem more serious. Jung-woo straightened up and stiffened his face.

For some reason, Chae-rin and young Eli seemed to overlap.

Honestly, Eli didn’t give off that kind of feeling…

As the three of us gazed at the two kids with worried eyes, Eli chuckled and got up.

“Heh. The kids are just cute, and you’re talking nonsense… Okay, Amy? Chae-rin? Do you guys want to have a snack?”

“I want a snack! Cheese!”

“Me too… same as Seo-yun…”

“Does Chae-rin want to eat cheese too? Okay. You two can hold hands and come over.”

“Yes!”

“…Hmph.”

The only person who calls Amelia “Seoyun” among all our acquaintances, Chaerin, holds Amelia’s hand and goes to Eli.

Just looking at their backs, they’re an extremely cute and close pair of girls.

“…I’ll be back soon. I’ll come as early as possible tomorrow.”

My yandere-like remarks seem to have caused some unease, as my brother looks at me with a slightly apologetic expression.

In reality, the reason my brother and sister-in-law visited today is to leave Chaerin at our house for a day.

Something came up, and they had to leave Chaerin with us for one night, but all the nearby relatives on both sides were busy today and tomorrow.

Thanks to that, there’s nowhere else they can leave Chaerin, so they asked us to take care of her.

We also agreed without hesitation, thinking that Chaerin, who likes Amelia so much, wouldn’t be a problem.

“It’s okay. Take your time. Eli said so, and Amelia likes you a lot, so it’s fine.”

“Yeah. I also thought that 15 years ago when I saw you and your wife.”

“…….”

“It’s okay, so why are you like that? Chaerin is obedient, so it’s easy to take care of her. Good luck.”

“By the way, Chaerin doesn’t have any food allergies, right? Amy has a bit of a short temper… Anyway, we trust you.”

What’s the big deal?

***

“Chaerin, listen to what your uncle and aunt say and be good, okay?”

“If you miss your dad, ask your uncle to call him.”

“Okay… Bye-bye.”

My brother and sister-in-law leave, and only Chaerin remains at our house.

And Chaerin is just like my sister-in-law said… or rather, she’s been extremely obedient since she was a kid, and that hasn’t changed.

She just follows Amelia’s lead, doing everything Amelia wants to do together.

It doesn’t seem like she’s interested in fairy tales or cooking classes like Bibi’s, but she finds meaning in doing things with Amelia.

The play itself isn’t fun; it’s enjoyable because Amelia is with her.

And luckily…

“Chaerin, do you want to take a bath with your aunt and Amy, and then wear the same pajamas as Amy?”

“…Yes.”

“Hehe, is that good? Chaerin is smiling as beautifully as Amy?”

“Chaerin is cute! Mommy! Is Amelia cute too?”

“Both of them are too cute. Shall we go take a bath?”

“Yes!”

“Yes!”

Eli’s actions, which seemed to counter my yandere-like remarks, have completely opened up Chaerin’s heart today.

She still hides her face from me, though.

In fact, since she looks almost identical to Amelia, she’s been less shy around Eli than around me from the start.

Even so, she seemed a bit awkward as an adult, but that’s completely gone today.

Thanks to that, I feel a bit left out, but seeing Amelia play happily with her friend makes me happy.

I’m a homebody, so I don’t go out to playgrounds often, but it’s fortunate that Chaerin came to play.

“Yeah, yandere… it’s a similar feeling, right? Next year, both of them will go to kindergarten and make more friends, and it’ll naturally get better.”

I have high expectations for Chaerin in many ways.

Amelia’s Korean was incredibly fluent, but due to her appearance, she might have had a hard time making friends in kindergarten, just like Ellie in the past.

However, thanks to Chaerin, I didn’t have to worry about Amelia not having any friends to play with. Fortunately, they even got the same kindergarten waiting number.

So, I thought it was great that Chaerin liked Amelia a lot – there was nothing to dislike about it.

But.

That night.

“Restroom, restroom…”

When I woke up in the middle of the night wanting to go to the restroom, I heard a strange laughter.

“……Hehe…”

“??”

I checked if the kids were sleeping well and headed to the restroom in the living room, not the one in the bedroom. As I moved quietly, I heard a strange laughter.

The room right next to the restroom was Amelia’s room, with the door open.

I peeked inside, and what I saw was…

“……Hehehe…”

“…….”

Chaerin was sleeping next to Amelia, laughing quietly while looking at Amelia’s profile.

Hmm.

It was scary.