To Be the Perfect Childhood Friend - Chapter 73

Anita could guess what had happened to Rutger. The gang of boys from the neighborhood, who were still immersed in the war games they used to play when they were younger (which Anita thought was stupid), was nothing more than barbaric behavior of tearing each other apart.

“Sure. War is barbaric, too. It’s for grown men, not children.”

“What?”

Wiping the sweat off his neck with his sleeve, Rutger muttered. Anita shook her head. Thinking of a group of boys running to stake a shoddy flag in their respective territories and Rutger mixed in there made her feel both pitiful and amused.

“Do you need medical attention?”

“It’s nothing.”

“…….”

“Are you going to lecture me again?”

Rutger’s eyes narrowed. It was clear he still remembered informing the neighbor about his illness when he was young. Anita raised both hands innocently. Despite her innocent expression, Rutger couldn’t shake off his suspicions, lingering outside the house instead of going in.

“So why are you here again today?”

Leaning against the fence separating the two houses, Anita asked, chin resting on it.

“That brat…”

As he thought of Trey, Rutger seemed to get angry again, spitting out harsh words. Seeing Anita’s reaction, he changed his tone.

“That kid keeps bothering me.”

Rutger ruffled his hair with his hand. It was his habit when he didn’t want to mention a certain topic. Knowing that well, Anita gave up on probing. If even Anita’s parents showed signs of annoyance when she bombarded them with endless questions, how would Rutger, who wasn’t even family, react?

“Okay. Goodnight.”

Leaving Rutger, who vented his frustration only on his tangled hair on the ground, Anita went inside the house. It would be better not to cling to Rutger, who was more than a friend, even if he found her annoying.

It’s a sad situation, but Anita maintained a distance from Rutger, closer than friends but not quite best friends.

I never knew making friends could be so difficult. It was harder to keep the position of a friend than becoming one.

How do other people do this every day?

As time passed, Anita’s feelings for Rutger grew, but he seemed to have no intention of crossing the line between them. To maintain even a friendship with him, she had to try this hard.

So they entered high school with a distant relationship. Anita enrolled in Rosetta Hall, a girls’ school, while Rutger attended Penon Hall, a boys’ school. They shared the same foundation’s sponsorship and were located right next to each other in the campus, but it didn’t matter much to Anita.

Living next door and still not running into each other much, what would change just because they attended the same school?

Sitting at her desk, absentmindedly scribbling on paper, Anita paused her pen for a moment at the sound that suddenly caught her attention.

Thud.

It sounded like a branch being blown against the window by the wind. After determining the source of the sound, Anita resumed scribbling on the paper.

Thud.

The repetitive sound started to bother her. Lately, Anita hadn’t been fond of the trees in the garden. The tree planted right in front of her room would cast eerie shadows on moonless nights and make her startle, and on windy days, it would create this annoying noise.

Exhaling a long sigh, Anita approached the window. As she reached out to close it, her eyes met Rutger’s from across the window.

“Anita. Don’t close the window, just wait.”

What? Anita froze for a moment. She knew well that it was Rutger’s room across, but it always felt like a room inhabited by ghosts with the curtains always tightly drawn. It was the first time it was open like this.

“…….”

“Wait.”

Urging Anita not to close the window stupidly, Rutger disappeared quickly. Staring blankly at the empty window again, Anita heard the noisy sound from his room across.

After a while, Rutger returned to her sight. Holding a ladder…

“What, what are you doing?”

“Can I come over?”

“What, come over?”

Ignoring Anita’s dumbfounded question, Rutger pushed one end of the ladder he held out of the window. Seeing the long ladder, resembling a railroad track, gradually approaching, Anita stepped back.

“Sorry, but could you hold that for a moment?”

As more than half of the ladder moved into the air, one end began to tilt toward the ground. Rutger now had half of his body extended out of the window. Anxious that he might fall, Anita grabbed the end of the ladder shaking in midair. Still unable to accept reality, Anita leaned the ladder against her window.

“…Are you not planning to come over here?”

“…….”

Instead of answering, Rutger grasped the window frame and placed one foot on the ladder. The metal ladder creaked uneasily.

“Wait! Don’t move! Just stay there. I’ll come down right away.”

Even though she said so, Anita didn’t let go of the ladder she was holding. If the ladder were to fall, it would be a big problem.

The gap between the two rooms was wide enough for a grown man to lie down comfortably. Anita’s room was on the second floor.

“It’s only the second floor. I won’t die if I fall.”

“Yeah! Probably won’t die. But at least you’ll break your leg or get a concussion! If you injure your spine…”

Seeing Anita pouring out words as if she might wake up the sleeping family, Rutger’s face turned pale. He didn’t hide the fact that he heard her words as he placed one foot on the ladder’s rung.

Anita tried to push the ladder end away from the window to stop Rutger, but he was already halfway across.

“Can’t you come down now?”

“…….”

“Will you only stop if I get down on my knees?”

Anita retorted with a face turned white as if she might faint at any moment. Rutger walked precariously, stepping on each rung like a tightrope walker. He staggered for a moment in the sudden gust of wind.

“Oh god…”

Anita wanted to go home. Even though this was her home. She closed her eyelids, not wanting to see Rutger falling. She could sense where he was passing by the sensation of the ladder she held tightly. It was like a spider sensing its prey with its web, a useless thought crossed her mind.

“You can open your eyes now.”

At the faint voice in her ear, Anita slowly lifted her eyelids. Rutger, leaning low and gripping her window frame, was now looking down at her. It was like a thief sneaking into the house.

Taking in his mischievous smile, Anita held her breath for a moment.