To Be the Perfect Childhood Friend - Chapter 1

“You’re going to the station at this early hour?”

“Yes. I’m going to catch the first train.”

“And Rutger? Are you going with him?”

Anita bit her lip and tried to think of a way out of her predicament.

‘I’m going all the way to Aberdeen College to avoid Rutger, If it wasn’t for him, why would I have to go that far in the first place?’

Of course, if I told this to mom, she’d immediately demand to know what was going on with me and Rutger, so Anita rolled her eyes and then answered appropriately.

“I don’t know.”

Mrs Rodel sighed and patted Anita’s on the back. As if calming an immature child.

“Of course, Anita. I believe in you, I trust you, but if you go with Rutger….”

“I know, don’t worry, I’ll meet him at the station.”

It’s a lie, of course. Given Rutger’s lazy tendencies, Anita had a plan. Rutger, who usually overslept, would have bought a train ticket around 12:30, and by then Anita would already be at the Waldher station.

Smiling rather sinisterly at Mrs Rodel from an unseen angle, Anita left the house with her heavy suitcase. 

There were tears as Laura asked how she could send our young lady away to the big city, but Anita hurried out of the garden with the excuse that the train time was approaching.

When she passed a place that could be seen in Rutger’s bedroom window, she made a shield of her hand and moved as carefully as if she were an imperial spy, but she quickly stopped because she felt distressed for herself for being so conscious of Rutger. She wasn’t a criminal, she had no reason to hide, and it would be delusional to think he’d be interested enough in her to see her and follow her.

The clock had just flipped from six to seven when she hailed a carriage from the boulevard and arrived at the station. whimpering and carrying her bag, Anita sat down on a bench in front of the tracks, lined up for waiting passengers, and leaned her back against the wall, breathing heavily.

She set her bag in the corner, just out of the way, and pulled out the book she’d brought with her to read until the train came.

“Anita.”

“……!”

Anita, frozen in place with the book, cursed in a low voice. 

What the hell is he doing here at this hour? There was only one reason to be at the train station, but Anita tried to deny it.

“I’ve been looking for you for a while, go to the side a little bit.”

The early-morning train station was deserted, save for the conductor and a few passengers. Anita, who had taken up an entire bench, was forced to move aside at Rutger’s insistence. There were plenty of other seats available but look at him squeezing in to bother her.

He shamelessly sat down and pulled a newspaper out of nowhere and opened it with a look on his face that made it clear he didn’t realize Anita was staring at him, or maybe he did, but he was pretending not to.

“Do you read newspapers?”

“Uh, no. I thought I’d start reading one today, but… what are you reading?”

Anita, who had just opened her book, slid away from him and replied.

“Nothing.”

“If it’s nothing, why are you moving away?”

“…Don’t come near me.”

As Anita moved away, Rutger moved closer, and after repeating the sequence for a while, Anita found herself at the end of the bench. She couldn’t go sideways anymore, and now Rutger was standing shoulder to shoulder with her, leaning his head into her.

“Why are you moving away, do you think I will stab you or something?”

“No. More than that, why are you here?”

When Anita replied bluntly, trying not to show her nervousness, Rutger shrugged his shoulders and spoke in a serious tone.

“Your mother told me you left first. You’re so heartless. How could you leave me and go away like that?”

…Mom, what are you doing to me?

‘I thought I knew Rutger, but I was wrong.’

He was a man who would stop at nothing to bother Anita.

To hide her consciousness of him, Anita put on a nonchalant face and began to read. After a while, she felt Rutger’s green gaze boring into her as he sat there pretending to read the newspaper.

“…Why?”

“Why is there no cover on your book?”

At his quizzical look, Anita timidly lifted the book to cover her face. She had to cover the title with her fingers in front of him because Rutger had been arguing with her about the title of the book she was looking at every day, which had become quite annoying. 

Anita, who thought about it for days, finally ripped the cover off the book. All Rutger could see now was the brown, dull interior.

“What are you doing? Do you see something dirty?”

“No!”

Anita exclaimed, embarrassed. 

Cringing under the cold stares of those sitting in the station, she lowered her tone and excused herself.

“This is the early work of Ruels, the unfortunate genius who came out during the days of Elton III era! Although Ruels was not recognized because he was born in the wrong era, he is now in the spotlight as his posterity. This book is a biography of the great hero Oliver Nielsen. Oliver Nielsen was born into a low class, but that is just one of many factors that did not influence his heroic life. In particular, Oliver Nielsen’s words to the emperor while meeting the emperor alone are still counted as the famous lines in this book, and he said, ‘Being born in a lowly position can’t be a wall that blocks me. It’s just one of many trials I’ve overcome.’ How much is this famous line…”

The fierce Anita paused at the sight of Rutger’s face. 

He wore a mocking expression, one corner of his mouth raised. She’d seen it enough times to be sick of it. 

The obvious sneer.

Combined with his uncharacteristically cold expression, Anita’s confidence crumbled like a wall of sand before a tidal wave. Rutger was a man who believed that reading books was a waste of life. He was a man who would rather do something than read it a hundred times. 

He used to call himself a realist, but to Anita, he just seemed like an ignoramus who hated reading.

A damned realist. Whenever Anita was reading a book, he would laugh at her and tell her to get out of it because it wasn’t real, and Rutger’s face would look just like now.

“Then why did you tear the cover off?”

“Does it matter?”

Anita was about to snap, ‘It’s your fault,’ but then she shut her mouth, because that would make it sound like she was conscious of him. Naturally, she didn’t want to let him know that she cared about Rutger, and she dreaded to think what kind of criticism she’d get for it.

“What?”

Anita’s breath caught in her throat as the sculpted face loomed over her. She felt like if she took a wrong breath here, she’d be in trouble. 

Rutger smirked as he watched Anita hold her breath like she was diving underwater. Another one of those lopsided smirks.

A beep.

The high, ear-splitting horn sounded like an angel’s trumpet to Anita at that moment. Throwing her head back in fear of making contact with Rutger, Anita stood to her feet, twisting her body like a supple midget. Carrying her heavy bag with a grunt, she strode toward the station attendant.

“You didn’t even say goodbye.”

“…….”

“Anita.”

“It’s probably the same train anyway….”

Anita hesitated, forced the corners of her lips up into an awkward smile, pretended not to notice him, and walked away. As usual, everything felt awkward in Rutger’s presence. It was hard to breathe, and even tidying up a stray strand of hair was cautious.

She couldn’t even tell whether this tension was what I felt in front of a strict school principal or interviewer, or in front of a guy I liked.

Either way, it was clear that Rutger was the most uncomfortable person she had ever met in her short life.

In order not to see eye to eye, Anita got on the train without looking back. She wished she was somewhere far away. While begging, Anita found her assigned seat.