My Japanese Childhood Friend Is Too Flirty

53. July, Just the Two of Us Childhood Friends at the Water Park! (2)

“Uju~chan, ah~”

“…Ah.”

“Hehe, how is it? Delicious?”

“Mmh, it’s good. Did you buy it on the way?”

“Nope, I made it myself!”

The place was still the train. About an hour had passed since we left, and I was preoccupied with enjoying the kimbap that Aki had packed herself. To tell the truth, I hadn’t eaten anything before leaving early in the morning, so I was quite hungry.

Hunger is the best sauce, but even setting that aside, the kimbap Aki made was pretty delicious. Kimbap isn’t all the same, you see. Aki really is amazing when it comes to cooking.

“Can I have more?”

“Mmhmm, have more. I packed it for *you*, Uju~chan.”

“Ah, thanks. Then….”

I should just take the lunchbox filled with kimbap and eat it with my own hands. Resolving to do that, I reached out my arm.

But, Aki quickly pulled her hand away, preventing me.

“Ah~”

“I can eat it myself….”

“Uh-uh. Ah~!”

“……”

Was she telling me not to even think about feeding myself?

Unable to hand over the lunchbox, was she intending to feed me each gimbap roll by hand? With no other choice, I opened my mouth. I had to eat, after all.

Seemingly satisfied with my sudden docility, Aki gave me her signature adorable smile and slipped a gimbap into my mouth.

‘……Looks like she isn’t planning anything right away.’

Truthfully, I’d been secretly tense, since she’d suggested we do something even better than usual.

You never knew what bold thing Aki might try next.

“Ah~”

“……Mmm.”

“Delicious, right? Delicious, right?”

But for the moment, Aki seemed to have no plans other than diligently feeding me gimbap.

I wordlessly accepted the gimbap she offered, thinking to myself,

‘If I eat too much, my tummy will show when I put on my swimsuit later…’

I couldn’t show my childhood friend my worst side, so I’d better pace myself.

“Hehe, if you want to eat something else after the gimbap is gone, just tell me. I packed sandwiches too!”

“……Really?”

“Yeah, really. Should I get them out?”

And so, after the gimbap, I happily gobbled down the sandwiches too.

* * *

Eating on the train, before I knew it, we’d arrived at Busan Station.

The journey took about three hours, just as expected. We’d left at 9 AM, and it was currently around 12 noon, so we arrived right on schedule.

Aki and I each grabbed our suitcases, got off the train, and took a taxi to a hotel in Busan, then headed to the lobby to check in.

Of course, we’d booked two rooms. Aki and I would be in separate rooms. After all, Korean law restricts unmarried minors from staying in the same room……!

Even if we brought consent forms from our parents, that would only allow us to stay alone……!

“Hello. We’d like to check in.”

“Ah, welcome to Busan Ho-….Oh? You’re Korean?”

“No, she’s foreign, only I’m Korean.”

“Ah, I see….”

The hotel clerk seemed startled, but only for a moment, by Aki’s fluent Korean, as she was an obvious foreigner based on her looks, or rather, just was a foreigner. She quickly busied herself, checking our reservation on the computer.

“Your consent forms have been verified, here are your key cards. The instructions are in the manuals in each room, so please refer to those. Also, if you lose the key cards, there will be an extra charge, so please, absolutely do not lose them!”

“Yes, thank you.”

I received two hotel key cards, giving one to Aki and tucking the other into my wallet. Then, guided by a staff member, we boarded the hotel elevator.

“Woo-joo~chan, what number is your room?”

“1101. What about you, Aki?”

“Mine’s 1106…. Huh, it’s closer than I thought? Right across from you.”

“I guess so, maybe it’s because we reserved the two rooms at the same time…?”

“Hehe, I guess. …Ah, but that’s a little disappointing.”

“Huh? What is?”

“That I can’t share a room with Woo-joo~chan, we have to sleep separately at night, right? It’s a waste of money, paying double.”

“Well, it can’t be helped…. Still, we can hang out together until bedtime, right?”

“Mmm, true. We can hang out together until bedtime. Until bedtime….”

“…….”

I almost asked, ‘You’re not just disappointed that we can’t sleep together, are you…?’ but I stopped myself.

I didn’t think I could handle the aftermath, no matter which of the two answers came out.

“Let’s drop off our suitcases first, then pack what we need for the water park and meet outside. Okay?”

“Mmm, got it. See you later, Woo-joo~chan!”

She lightly waved her right hand, as if saying good travels, then turned and headed towards room 1106.

‘Hmm, I’m a little uneasy about letting Aki go alone, but…….’

It’s a large hotel with a tremendous amount of people watching, and there are security systems installed in each room, so there shouldn’t be any problems.

I watched Aki disappear into her room for a moment before heading to 1101. The room door was an electronic type, opened with the key card, and the lights turned on when you inserted the card into the slot next to the entrance.

The interior scenery… Well, it was exactly the kind of scenery you’d expect from a hotel room.

A large bed smack-dab in the middle of the room, a table and chairs for two where you could sit and relax. An outdoor terrace that didn’t seem very spacious. And a compact bathroom.

A room of a decent size, quite spacious for one person, but just right for two.

I shoved my suitcase into a corner and pulled out a smaller bag from inside. This contained my swimsuit to wear at the water park, a waterproof pouch, and my wallet with Dad’s card, just in case.

“Let’s see. I can change into my swimsuit at the water park….”

Is there anything else I forgot?

In modern society, you can do almost everything with just a cell phone, so really, you only need to bring your cell phone, but I checked two or three times just in case.

──Bzzzz.

But then my cell phone vibrated.

It vibrated briefly and then stopped, so it was a text, and wondering who it was at this hour, I checked it, and the sender was Aki.

The message reads: [Emergency, Uju~chan!]

“Emergency…?”

What could possibly be an emergency all of a sudden?

“……..”

Uh, wait a second.

Could something have happened?

It’s impossible.

Really impossible, but… could someone have seen her going into her hotel room alone and followed Aki inside…?

That thought sent me bolting out of my room. My destination, of course, was room 1106, the room Aki had been assigned.

─Knock, knock, knock!

“Aki, are you alright?”

I knocked a couple of times, feeling anxious.

Just in case, I pressed my ear against the door, trying to listen for sounds inside.

Then, I heard the sound of someone walking inside, followed by a click. The door slid open.

It was Aki who opened the door.

Considering she’d sent a text saying it was an emergency, she looked remarkably calm, but I instinctively asked,

“Aki, what is it? What happened?”

“Uhm, something did…”

“What? Tell me.”

“Can we, uh, go inside for a sec…”

Aki gently tugged at my sleeve.

I didn’t really understand what was going on, but since she said something had happened, I entered Aki’s room, feeling a little tense.

The interior layout was similar to my room but subtly different. Though the only real difference was that the view was slightly better.

Anyway, Aki pulled me by the sleeve all the way to the bed.

“Sit down, Uju~chan.”

I did as she said and sat down.

Then Aki followed, sitting down beside me.

“Hey, Uju~chan. We’re going to the water park later, right?”

“Yeah, so?”

“If we go to the water park, the sun will be really strong, right? We’ll get sunburned.”

“Hmm… I suppose so?”

It’s summer, after all.

“What do you think I should do to keep my skin from burning?”

“Well, put on sunscreen or something…?”

I answer the question, but something feels off.

I rushed over because it was an emergency, but what is this? This pointless riddle…

“Yeah, you should put on sunscreen, right? …So, about that.”

*Click.*

Aki takes something out of her handbag and holds it out to me.

It’s a tube of sunscreen with a nozzle.

“Could you put some sunscreen on my back? I can’t reach it myself.”

“……”

Could it be?

She didn’t call me over in an ’emergency’ just for this, did she…?

I ask with my eyes alone, and Aki giggles, sticking her tongue out slightly.

That’s her way of saying I’m right.

“You could have just asked me to put it on, why did you lie?”

I was worried something had happened.

“Mmm, it wasn’t really a lie? Not being able to reach my back is an emergency, isn’t it?”

“……Yeah, I guess.”

Not being able to reach her back *is* technically an emergency.

Accepting it, I shake the sunscreen tube and tap Aki’s back gently.

“Turn around and sit down, I’ll put it on for you.”

“Ujoo~chan, wouldn’t it be easier for both of us if I lay down?”

“Hmm, is that so? Then lie down.”

Aki does as I say, lying on the bed and then wriggling to start taking off her dress.

“Wait a minute, why are you taking your clothes off…?”

“If I don’t, it’ll get all over my dress, won’t it?”

“……”

Ah, that’s true.

Applying sunscreen with clothes on just means getting it all over your clothes, doesn’t it?

A belated realization of the obvious. I sheepishly withdrew my hand. Aki, with a wriggle, then slid her sundress down.

“…You had your swimsuit on underneath?”

“Yup, didn’t wanna bother changing, so I wore it instead of underwear.”

Not underwear, but a swimsuit.

Not the revealing kind she’d shown me before, but a more demure design.

She’d wanted to wear *that* one to the waterpark, but I’d put my foot down and made her buy another. Because there was no way I was letting other guys see her in such a scandalous swimsuit.

‘She said she’d save the revealing one for later, when it’s just us…’

Aki doesn’t joke around, so that day will come, eventually.

“Woojoo~chan, aren’t you going to put it on for me?”

“…Hold on, I’m getting started.”

Let’s just concentrate on applying sunscreen for now.

With Aki’s pale back before me, I squirted out a generous dollop of sunscreen.

More than you’d use on your face, enough to spread all over her back. My palm was slick, coated in the slippery cream.

‘Okay, from the top…’

She could probably reach her shoulders herself, so below that, I placed my palm just beneath her shoulder blades and carefully stroked downwards towards her spine.

A soft pressure, a slick slide.

Soft flesh met palm, and I felt the delicate texture of Aki’s skin against my fingertips, and then…

“Ah, unh….”

A strange, ticklish sound escaped Aki’s lips.

I flinched, momentarily halting my hand, and, calming my racing heart, spoke.

“Aki, could you not make those weird noises?”

“Uhhh, I’m not doing it on purpose…?”

“Try to hold it in then….”

Seriously, it’s messing with my head.

“Ah, ah…”

“I haven’t even touched you yet…?”

“Hehe, busted…”

I told her not to make noise, and now she’s doing it on purpose…

Such playful teasing made me want to stop, but I couldn’t just quit halfway through.

It mattered not whether Aki purred with a coquettish voice; I had my own duty to see through.

I steeled myself, renewing the motion of my hands.

Against Aki’s pearly skin, the slapping sound echoed from my palms.

“Uhn, uhn…”

“……”

“Uhn, ah…”

“……”

“Hnng, uhn… …Haaah♡”

“……”

Internally, I belted out the national anthem.

Diligent, with the utmost care, I spread the sunblock across Aki’s back.

And, after a brief span, when no patch of Aki’s exposed, vulnerable flesh remained untouched by my hand.

“…Finished.”

I could finally tap Aki’s shoulder, signaling the task complete.

“Uhn, finished…?”

“Yeah.”

“…Heuuh, such a pity.”

I couldn’t quite fathom what she found so regrettable.

Truly, I did not, but Aki, whose face seemed subtly flushed, slowly raised her torso.

“Uju~chan, won’t you apply some to the front, too…?”

“……Absolutely not.”

If applying it to the back was a precariously PG-13 affair, the front would be an explicit NC-17 transgression.

I shook my head, signifying that that, at least, was beyond the pale for me, and Aki, perhaps not entirely serious to begin with, chuckled softly.

“Heuh, understood. I’ll do the front myself.”

Aki accepted the sunblock tube, squeezing a generous dollop into her palm. Thighs, calves, insteps. Arms and shoulders, and even lifting one arm in a victorious pose, she smeared the lotion liberally over her pale underarm.

I watched this strangely suggestive—

No, simply suggestive, there was no denying it—scene unfold, wondering why it stirred me so.

Until Aki’s hand reached for the chasm between her br*easts, the deeply shadowed cleavage, and I swiftly averted my gaze.

‘Show a little consideration; there’s someone right in front of you…’

“Uhm, all done.”

My heart is hammering, but Aki, as if she doesn’t even notice, just mumbles in her usual voice, which only heightens this feeling of wrongness…

“Uju~chan, come over here.”

“…Why?”

“Why else? Uju~chan needs sunscreen too, right? I’ll put it on for you.”

“No, I can do it myself…”

“Uju~chan, you can’t reach your back because of your lats, can you? Just come here, I’ll put it on for you…!”

I don’t know why she’s wiggling her fingers while saying that…

‘…Well, it’s true I can’t reach my back.’

One way or another, I’ll have to get Aki’s help. I reluctantly turned my back to Aki.

“Then, I’ll leave it to you.”

“Don’t sit, lie down, Uju~chan.”

“Can’t you put it on while I’m sitting…?”

“Yeah, but I don’t want to.”

“……”

Her expression of opinion is awfully clear.

Is it because she’s a foreigner…?

“……Okay.”

I had no choice but to take off my top and lie face down in the spot where Aki had been lying.

Then Aki slowly, slowly came on top of me.

“Upsy-daisy…”

She climbed on top of me as if to sit on my butt, pressing down on my back with both palms.

“……Hngh.”

“……”

The position is quite peculiar.

“Shall we begin, Uju~chan…?”

“……Gently, please.”