Chapter 18: Extra Chapter (Serena) The Type of Person Who Gains Weight When They Get a Girlfriend

“Did you gain weight?”

The first thing she said made me reflexively reach out.

I slapped her on the shoulder with a soft thud. Despite this, she hunched her back, laughing quietly, and I gave her a chop to the head.

“How rude.”

“Well, you’ve gained weight, haven’t you?”

I wanted to invoke my right to remain silent, but she probably saw right through me.

Reluctantly, I nodded, almost in resignation.

“Congratulations.”

“On what?”

She clapped her hands cheerfully, and I tilted my head in confusion.

“Your girlfriend, right? You always gain weight when you get a girlfriend.”

“I didn’t know that. Is that true?”

“Yep!”

The girl in front of me, laughing merrily, is my childhood friend.

By the way, she’s an absolute man-lover, and not my type at all, so our relationship is a pure friendship. After returning to my hometown, I met her at a café, and this is how it went.

Childhood friends are scary. Maybe she just has an unusually sharp observational ability.

“So, who’s the lucky person?”

“Someone I met at my part-time job.”

“Same age?”

“I think they’re five years older than me.”

“Ah, so they’re working already. Must be experienced.”

“Not really. They were straight.”

My childhood friend’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Wait, you? After what happened in high school, you swore you’d never go for a guy again!”

“Well, yeah, I thought that back then.”

I chuckled awkwardly, trying to brush it off.

Back then, I was convinced of it, and I probably even swore off men. But then, I met her, and things changed.

“You still tease me like I’m a little kid.”

“Yeah, you like playing pranks. You’ve got that youngest-child mentality.”

“Kind of. But when I was at university, no one ever teased me. They all just gave awkward smiles and tried to cover for me. I didn’t like that.”

“Well, I guess no one can really say anything to you after you randomly got signed up for a beauty pageant and ended up winning without even showing up.”

“That kind of thing is discriminatory.”

“Everyone’s scared of you, with that face of yours.”

My childhood friend grinned as she looked at me.

I pouted and sipped my fruit juice in front of me.

“That’s cruel, calling it my face.”

“Well, well, that’s a pretty luxurious complaint, isn’t it?”

“It’s not about luxury, it’s just not fair.”

I scratched my head.

Honestly, I think I’ve been lucky in terms of appearance, and I know I’ve benefited from it.

But that doesn’t mean it will last forever.

“When I get old and my looks fade, those people will probably start drifting away, right?”

“Yeah, probably.”

“Does that make them real friends?”

“Maybe not.”

“But my girlfriend wouldn’t leave.”

“Oh? What’s your reasoning?”

“Because she’s serious.”

My childhood friend tilted her head in confusion.

She probably didn’t understand with just that, so I continued explaining.

“It’s natural for me to get older and not be as pretty. For her, that’s just a part of life. Even when I get older and less attractive, she’ll probably still act the same way around me.”

“You think so? You think I’d do that too?”

“Yeah, you would.”

We both laughed, and drank our juice.

After chatting for a while, it tasted especially good.

“So, how did you manage to win her over? I mean, it doesn’t seem like you’re one of those looks-obsessed types.”

“Maybe not. But in the end, I used my looks to reel her in.”

“Wow, that’s bold.”

“Before thinking about whether we should date or not, you just have to reel them in. Start with the physical side.”

“Whoa, that sounds like something an expert would say.”

Thinking about everything with her made me pause for a moment.

It would be a lie to say I hadn’t calculated things. Love isn’t something that works out just because of pure impulse. It’s not that easy.

“I’m kind of calculating, you know? Is that okay?”

“About what?”

“My girlfriend seems so serious and pure. What if she finds out I’m actually a schemer? Won’t she be disgusted?”

“Well, I think you’ll be fine. That’s what love is. All of it, including calculation and strategy. What if your girlfriend was secretly trying to win you over with calculated actions? How would you feel about that?”

“I’d probably notice.”

“Wow, so you’re a real expert after all.”

The sky outside the window was already a deep crimson.

I remembered that I had plans to meet her afterward and checked the time. If I didn’t leave soon, I might not make it.

I turned to face my childhood friend to say I needed to go.

She was stirring her grapefruit juice, making a little clinking noise.

“Well, there’s no point worrying about it, right? After all, you love her.”

“Yeah. I love her a lot.”

A smile spread across my face, one of those natural, content smiles.

And just as I smiled, I felt a sharp, skeptical stare.

“Explode already.”

My childhood friend muttered, slumping forward onto the table.

“… Did you break up?”

“Ugh, I hate those happy couples!”

She slammed the table in frustration.

I sighed, then sent a message to my girlfriend to let her know I wouldn’t make it in time.