My Platinum-Blond Childhood Friend Is So Pretty

78 – 30. Preparing for Co-living -2

I couldn’t help but feel excited.

I did well on my college entrance exam, and my daily life with Eli was still going well. Now, I could finally live with Eli alone─

It was natural for my thoughts to be filled with pink every day.

That’s why I started thinking seriously now.

“Bed… it should be big and… um, sturdy, right?”

The answer to the question of what’s most important when living with a girlfriend was “bed,” which I knew was a weak s*x joke from my mom, the neighbor’s mom, and my girlfriend.

But I didn’t think about that part too much.

I knew that when girls get together, they can be like that since I was young.

However, when we arrived at the furniture store…

“This is so comfortable~ but isn’t it too soft?”

“It should be moderate. Something with moderate elasticity. That way, it’ll be better for sleeping and other things.”

“That kind of thing would be quite expensive, wouldn’t it?”

My mom and Eli’s mom were worrying together about our nighttime lives, which was… not just a little but extremely embarrassing.

It would have been better if they had just joked about it like before, but since they were thinking seriously, it was even more difficult.

As a result, my face was getting hotter and hotter, but that was just me.

“Let’s get the expensive one. The good one. If Idoyeon’s sleeping isn’t good, I’ll get scolded.”

“Our son has a bit of that tendency… how did Eli know that?”

“I’ve seen him sleep a lot. We’ve even seen him take naps during family outings.”

“…That’s just like it. I’ve also seen Do-yun take naps…”

“Now, we’ll see it every day.”

“…….”

“…….”

“It looks like you’re already getting along well with my future mother-in-law, Mom’s getting jealous~”

Eli was having a subtle yet awkward conversation with her future mother-in-law.

My mom, who was gazing at us with her gold-rimmed glasses, began to examine various beds with different price tags, her serious expression unchanged.

She touched, sat, and lay down on them.

Then, she called out to me.

“…Is it a bit stiff? Ido-yun, come sit next to me.”

“Okay.”

-Flop

“What do you think? Be honest.”

“Yes, as you said, it feels a bit stiff. I wish it were a bit softer.”

She asked for my opinion while sitting next to me.

Although it was a bit embarrassing to openly discuss which bed to buy with my girlfriend, I felt proud to have such a beautiful girlfriend by my side.

Thanks to that, my lips curled up unknowingly, and I gazed at Eli sitting next to me.

“…….”

Coincidentally, Eli also looked at me, our eyes meeting.

It wasn’t the first time we’d sat on the same bed, but the feeling now was completely different.

Sitting on ‘my bed’ or ‘Eli’s bed’ versus sitting on ‘our bed’…

It was bound to feel different.

So, my heart fluttered, and my smile deepened, while Eli’s cheeks gradually turned red.

Like this…

As I gazed into Eli’s blue eyes, I wanted to kiss her red lips…

“Up to there.”

But Mom’s warning stopped me.

“What are you doing, trying to seduce my son in front of me? Can’t you choose a bed?”

“……Tsk.”

Even if she hadn’t stopped me, I wouldn’t have kissed her in this open space.

I felt a bit disappointed.

Even though we kissed countless times every day, I couldn’t do it just this once.

It was really disappointing.

Anyway, we continued to look for beds after that.

As a result, we tentatively decided on a bed.

“Let’s go with Semons. I liked that one earlier.”

It was a famous brand’s bed that Eli had liked the most, with a modern wood feel and a comfortable yet not-too-soft texture that would match the house we saw today.

I also felt comfortable sitting or lying on it, and Mom and Aunt seemed to think it was okay too.

The only problem was…

“It’s a bit pricey, but… since our daughter wants it, I’ll try my best, Mom~”

The price was a bit of a drawback, around 200 million won, even if it wasn’t a high-end model.

I thought, “Am I being too spoiled by my parents?” – and I started to worry inwardly.

And it seemed Eli was the same, as she said after hearing her mother’s words.

“This is mine to buy. I’ll pay for it with my own money.”

She was determined to buy it herself.

“No way~ What money do you have to buy this? If you’ve saved up, put it in your piggy bank~”

“Our son’s bed, will you buy it for him? Let go of your pride.”

Immediately, her mother and aunt’s scolding followed.

At the very least, Eli didn’t usually argue with her parents, so when she heard this kind of talk, she would usually back down.

But today was different.

“I’ll buy it.”

She stubbornly insisted.

“Everything else, we can get help with, but I’ll buy this one thing. Since I haven’t spent much this year, I’ve saved a lot too…”

Her face turned slightly red as she said this.

“…Just this, the blanket, and the pillow.”

“…….”

“…….”

Eli, who was stubbornly insisting, and her mother and aunt, who were looking at her.

I silently watched this confrontation.

Since we had promised not to touch the money we earned for ourselves and our family, and I also wanted to reduce our parents’ burden a little, I felt the same way.

From her mother’s and aunt’s perspective, they might think, “What’s with these kids?” but they couldn’t help but feel that way.

Because we’re family.

But her mother’s brow furrowed.

I thought maybe she was angry, but that wasn’t it.

“Is it just that our Doyun’s underwear is all bought by us too?”

“Eli is like Mark, with a strong desire for exclusivity and ownership~ You understand, right?”

“I’m tired… It’s obvious. If we buy something, that fox will just replace it with something she bought herself, one by one.”

“Hehe, isn’t that cute?”

“It’s cute… Okay, fine.”

The two of them had a strange conversation.

“…….”

Eli’s face turned even redder after hearing this.

I didn’t fully understand the context of this conversation, but I knew that Eli had made a cute comment, and her mother had accepted it.

Anyway, since it was resolved well, I just smiled and watched.

-Whoosh!

Eli suddenly turned her head and started staring at me.

Her bright red face, with her eyebrows raised, looked adorable, like a white tiger.

Eli, who was said to resemble a white tiger at the zoo, was now even more beautiful, lovely, and had a better figure than before.

That’s how I felt.

But.

Her gaze, which was staring at me, gradually grew intense.

“…….”

Hmm.

It seems like a beast, too…?

***

I saw my house and bed for a while, but nothing was 100% certain. Maybe around 80%?

Only the plans I had made were slowly becoming a reality, and with a fluttering heart, I returned to my daily routine.

“Enjoy your meal.”

“Ugh, how can we thank our daughter-in-law enough? Today’s food is too delicious, right?”

“The neighbors are crying.”

“Should we invite Mark to eat with us?”

“I sent half of the food I made to their house.”

“Really? But why is Mark crying?”

“He only took the food and left his daughter here.”

“Ah~ That can’t be helped. She’s our daughter-in-law.”

“It’s not just our son who’s been captivated, but my husband as well… Still, today’s jjigae turned out great.”

Eli prepared breakfast more meticulously than before, trying to score points with our parents.

It wasn’t like Eli’s personality to be overly affectionate, but at least with our dad, she seemed like the perfect daughter-in-law, with a sweet smile.

Before we headed to school together, in my room…

“Hmmph… *kiss*”

Eli covered my lips with hers, and we shared a deep kiss, embracing each other.

“Ah… Wait for me in the classroom after school. If you go anywhere, I’ll kill you.”

“I won’t go anywhere. I’ll wait quietly.”

Since becoming a third-year student, we had hardly kept our promise to meet after school, but now we had made a firm plan.

In reality, it was no longer like being high school students, but rather like walking hand-in-hand with a mature, adult-like girlfriend to class.

“Is that the limit of my score?”

“Try pushing it. Anyway, the third option is 100%.”

“It’s really… Ah, it’s so difficult.”

After the college entrance exam, our friends were chatting about university.

Most of them were discussing which university they would attend, but in cases where the outline of the university was already set.

“Eli, Do-yoon! Hi! You guys sent us a photo of the place, right?”

They were also seriously searching for a studio apartment.

“We’re looking too, but if the house is nice, it’s too expensive, and if it’s cheap, the house is bad.”

“That’s really true! And it’s not like we want to commute from home. It’s too far.”

“I’d take about three hours commuting back and forth. I absolutely hate it.”

I So-yeon and Joo Hye-ryeong both seemed to have a lot of concerns. They would likely attend the same university as me, and the distance would make it almost impossible not to live in a studio apartment.

Coincidentally, Eli had come to our class to discuss this very topic, and she started gossiping right away.

“We found a place too. The house is okay, but the deposit is expensive, and the rent is high. But since we’re sharing the burden, it’s manageable.”

“Ah~ That’s true? If we split the rent in half, it’s… really doable.”

“Is that good? Because we have boyfriends, we can split it in half?”

“Is that good? It’s a shame we don’t have boyfriends, so we have to pay alone.”

“…….”

“…….”

“Heol.”

“Heol.”

“Look at these two again… What? Just for a moment, just for a moment… Hye-ryeong?”

“Why?”

As if something had occurred to her, Lee So-yeon let out a sigh and called out to Joo Hye-ryeong in a bright tone.

“You don’t have a boyfriend, and Do-yoon is out of the question anyway.”

“……Yeah. You’re on his side too, aren’t you? You want to fight with me?”

“No, that’s not it. Want to be roommates with me?”

“Roommates?”

“Can’t we just be roommates, you and me, and split the rent?”

“…….”

“It’s a burden on the family, and expensive places are tough, but I don’t want to live in a cramped space either. You feel the same, right? So, what about us two…?”

“It’s not bad.”

“If it’s not as good as the place Eli sent pictures of, but at least comparable, wouldn’t that be perfect?”

“Yeah… Okay. We can discuss it at home.”

“Really, really?”

And so, the two of them suddenly became roommates.

It’s not like living together as friends wouldn’t be a problem, but there are many aspects where they could both win.

I was laughing, thinking it was a good thing, but Eli’s face turned sour.

It seemed like she didn’t like being left out.

“Eli.”

“…What.”

“We can have fun living together, just the two of us. Don’t be too hard on yourself.”

“…….”

“I’ll work harder for you than those two. Okay?”

“…You have to. If you don’t, you’ll lose your life.”

It was a matter of course.

Since Eli and I were living together in that house, I didn’t have time to worry about anything else except Eli.