My Platinum-Blond Childhood Friend Is So Pretty

77 – 30. Preparing for Co-living

It was a bold statement from Eli, asking for support to live with her boyfriend, but our families didn’t seem surprised.

Mark’s expression turned a bit gloomy, and my mom looked at me with a somewhat sentimental gaze.

However, there was no sign of opposition.

Even though Eli and I had been close since we were young, our parents knew how much we had endured to fulfill their wishes.

“Yeah, it’s important to live together before getting married~”

Our aunt, who had always fervently supported Eli and my love, smiled brightly and said so, and my dad nodded in agreement.

“There’s just one condition.”

“What’s the condition?”

“We’ll look for a place around here. Since Doyun did well on the CSAT, he’ll probably get into a nearby university.”

“Nearby… sounds good.”

It was a trivial condition.

It seemed like Eli didn’t care much about it, but his gaze slightly shifted towards our mom.

Was he thinking that he was the one who had the most influence on this condition? Of course, his gaze wasn’t filled with discontent.

In reality, we weren’t even using our own money to rent a place, and if we went to a nearby university, it would be best to just commute from home and save a lot of money.

But even knowing that, they were still helping us out, so all we could do was gratefully follow their lead.

“It’s okay to live alone, but… Doyoon is worried about it…”

“Now that we’re back home, we can’t even see Eli… It’s sad…”

Although mom and Mark ajusshi showed their reluctance, our decision to live alone was finally confirmed.

And.

“Then let’s go take a look. Once the grades come out, there will be more people looking for a place to rent, so we should hurry.”

“Will we find a good place?”

“This is a matter of luck~ We’ll find a good place if we keep looking.”

Everyone got up at my dad’s words.

It seemed like our parents had expected this to happen, as they had already prepared for our outing.

Thanks to that, Eli and I followed them with nervous hearts, our faces revealing our excitement.

The two families soon headed to a nearby real estate agency.

“Ah… Um, yes. What kind of room are you looking for?”

“A two-room apartment near the Lean Apartment building.”

“It has to be clean. I don’t want to see Doyoon living in a dirty place with bugs.”

“Eli likes cooking, so it would be great if the kitchen is well-equipped.”

“And it would be good to have a place with a good security system, Dohyun.”

Mark ajusshi, who was like a foreigner, and Eli’s family, who were pouring out all sorts of conditions, overwhelmed the real estate agent.

Even the agent looked a bit flustered, as if they had never seen parents searching for a rental place with their children before.

We were able to look at various rooms.

“Let’s take a look at this place first…”

“This one won’t do. The alleyway is too narrow, and it’s too isolated, so it’s dangerous.”

“That’s right. You might worry about your child. Let’s go see the next place.”

Since we had already limited our search to apartments near the university, we didn’t even need to drive around.

As a result, the real estate agent simply showed us a list of available two-room apartments in the area.

“This one…”

“Oh my, look at that mold! They’re trying to cover it up with wallpaper?”

“Absolutely not.”

“What if our son gets sick from living in a place like this?”

“Then… Wait a minute. Why is it your son? He’s my son!”

“Oh, come on~ I have a stake in this too~ I’ve been taking care of Doyoon and feeding him a lot since he was young~”

“No way! My stake in Doyoon is 100%!”

“You have a stake in this too. You promised to take turns.”

“You have 10%!”

“…Hmph. I have 90%…”

“What? What did you just say?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Give me just 5%~”

“…Let’s go see the next one.”

Finding a room wasn’t an easy task, after all.

From my perspective, it didn’t seem like a bad place, but satisfying our parents’ expectations was no easy feat.

“This place is really good. The deposit is reasonable, and the building’s condition is great too…”

“The water pressure is a bit lacking, and there’s no window in the bathroom.”

“The room is small too. We’re going to have to share it with the kids.”

“Shall we go see the next one?”

It seemed like our parents were being overly picky, making me feel like they were keeping a close eye on me.

Well, what can you do?

Since we’re going to be living here for at least a year or two, it’s only right to be thorough in our search.

We’ll be spending a lot of money, so we should aim for a place that’s as satisfactory as possible.

“That place we just saw wasn’t great either. The kitchen was too small, and the setup didn’t appeal to me.”

On top of that, Eli was scrutinizing every nook and cranny with a keen eye.

As I followed the adults, gazing lovingly at my girlfriend, I whispered to her while secretly holding her hand.

“Let’s find a place that you like. A place where we can have fun living together.”

“…Yeah.”

Eli blushed and gave a brief nod of agreement, and we walked hand in hand.

Everyone was working hard to find a good place, but it was a bit of a struggle.

To be honest, even if it was a semi-basement studio, I would be happy as long as Eli was by my side.

Of course, that kind of place would be difficult for Eli, and I wouldn’t like it either, but that’s how I felt emotionally.

We spent the whole Saturday looking at places, but unfortunately, we couldn’t find one that we liked.

But.

The next day, Sunday.

We started looking at places again from lunchtime.

“Hmm… how about this place? Ji-eun, what do you think?”

“It’s good. Among the places we’ve seen so far, this is the most satisfactory.”

“The house is really great~”

“It’s okay. It’s a place for Eli to live in, so it has to be at least this good.”

We finally found a brand-new two-room villa that met everyone’s expectations.

The floor was made of wood, and the walls were white, giving it a clean and pretty appearance. The room size was just right, and the kitchen even had an oven, making it well-equipped in many ways.

Although it was a bit far from the station, it wasn’t a big issue, and the security system was quite good, which was a plus.

The only drawbacks were that it was a new building, so there was a risk of unexpected defects, and the deposit was a bit high.

From our parents’ perspective, the distance from the station and our home was a bit of a concern.

Still.

“At this point, what’s the big deal? As long as there are no visible issues, we can just fix any problems that arise later…”

“And think about it, the deposit is low compared to the rent, and we’re lucky to be splitting the burden between two households?”

“That’s right.”

“Dohyun, is it okay?”

“It’s okay for now. But lately, there have been a lot of problems, so… Let’s take a look at the registration certificate.”

“Haha. This place isn’t overpriced compared to the surrounding area, and I’d say it’s a great deal. I just got a call saying I can show you the remaining rooms, so I came right away.”

“Hmm.”

“I’ll contact the real estate agent, and you can check the registration certificate, okay? I’ll guide you through the rest here.”

“Sounds good. Please do that. I’ll go with Mark to the real estate agent, and we’ll take a look around.”

“If there’s a problem, let me know right away!”

“Got it.”

Dad and the uncle went to the real estate agent to check the details of the house, while I and Elly looked around the house with our moms.

“The sunlight comes in well through the window… If there are no problems, we can move in here.”

“It’s a full option, so there’s not much to bring in, making it convenient. And look, a tower-type washer and dryer! I was worried about whether to get one or not.”

“Why don’t we save up and buy one together? We can just buy the dryer and share it.”

“That sounds great!”

“There’s an oven too… Yeah, we should try making bread.”

Everyone was already in a good mood, so only nice words were coming out.

It seemed like the real estate agent could sense our excitement, as they smiled and watched us.

Then, we went back to the room that would be used as the bedroom, and started talking about what to buy for the house.

“If we buy too much, it’ll be a hassle when we move, so let’s just get the basics and add more as needed.”

“That’s right… Elly?”

“What?”

“Will you have a lot of friends over?”

“Sometimes. We won’t have people over often.”

“I thought so. We can just get the essentials for now.”

I found it hard to join in on this conversation. Since Mom and Elly always took care of my clothes and necessities, I didn’t know what was needed in the house.

I was just happy to be living in this clean and nice house, so I smiled and looked around.

As I was quietly observing, Ye-rin auntie asked me with a sly smile.

“Hey, Doyun, what do you think is the most important thing to get for our new home?”

“Uh… What’s the most important thing… Um… Hmm… I don’t know?”

“Hehehe, that won’t do! Since you’re starting to live on your own, you should know what’s important. You can’t just move in with your girlfriend and expect everything to be okay, right, Elly?”

“I didn’t expect that.”

“It’s okay. Our son is right. No matter how much we, as women, try to help, our son needs to know what’s important.”

The three women were teasing me, but I couldn’t grasp what they meant.

Was it about living with my girlfriend? Or maybe…

What was it?

-Zzzt!

“Yes? Husband?”

I was still confused, and Mom answered Dad’s call.

“Yes? Is it okay? Okay… Got it. I’ll ask them later.”

-뚝

“Is it okay?”

“It seems so. But it’s not 100%, so let’s find out a bit more.”

“Yeah, yeah. It’s better to be cautious.”

As I listened to their conversation, it seemed like it was already half-decided. They wouldn’t sign a contract right away, but it felt like I was the top candidate.

“Wow, it’s really fortunate that we found it so quickly~ isn’t it, Ji-eun?”

After lunch, Ye-rin’s mom stretched her arms and said to my mom, “Shall we stop for today and go see that thing?”

“It’s okay.”

“What’s that?”

“Auntie said it earlier~ it’s the most important thing.”

What’s the most important thing?

Eli, who was still unclear to me, poked my side with her elbow and told me.

“…the bed.”

“The bed?”

“We’re going to go see the bed.”

“……ah.”

Ah.

That’s important.

Yeah, it is.