downstairs | watanabe haruto

04

dialogue guide (only in jaemi's pov)
japanese
korean

jaemi was on her way out to buy some instant noodles for herself and jaeyoung as a way to thank him for the coffee he bought them earlier in the day. she entered the store and found the food she was looking for. she also bought two more bowls for her parents and went in line to pay for her items. she fell in line behind a boy who seemed to be around her age, and noticed he was struggling slightly at communicating with the cashier. she saw him take his phone out and saw him open a japanese-to-korean translating app and decided to step in and help him.

"he's asking if you wanted to eat in the store or not," she slowly said in japanese. jaemi had taken japanese as an elective during the first half of her summer to get ahead and was continuing it in the academic year, still as an elective, but a higher level than what she studied in the summer. watching anime and reading manga was a big help for her as well.

the boy in front of her turned around and looked at her. "i-i'm not... i'm eating at home..." he said.

"he said he won't eat here," she told the cashier.

jaemi communicated with the cashier to help the boy and translated japanese to korean and korean to japanese. soon enough, the boy was done paying and getting ready to leave with the food he bought. "thank you for your help," he said and bowed.

"no problem. your korean is good, by the way," she replied and bowed back.

"thank you. how did you know i'm japanese?" haruto asked.

"i may or may not have seen you open a translator app from japanese to korean..." jaemi said bashfully, holding her arm. "i didn't mean to look, and decided to just speak up when i realized you needed help. i'm sorry for looking at your phone screen."

jaemi noticed the boy was processing what she had just told him in his mind and was thinking of the right words to say when she translated what she said in japanese.

"it's okay... you helped me at the right time, so thank you," he said.

"you're welcome," she said and smiled.

"i'll go ahead now," he said and smiled at her before leaving the store.

jaemi watched him leave and paid for her own food. she soon left the store and walked back home. she went back inside her apartment and took her shoes off before walking to the dining table and setting the bag of food down.

"what time are eomma and appa coming home?" jaemi asked her brother as she washed her hands.

"they'll be home late tonight. they're out on a date," jaeyoung said, his eyes not leaving the television screen in front of him. a haikyuu! episode played on the screen, his and jaemi's favourite anime.

"that's cute," jaemi said. she got herself a snack and sat down beside her brother. "there was a japanese boy at the convenience store, he reminded me of the new student and ms. watanabe's nephew... i was able to help him communicate with the cashier earlier..." she said.

"that's nice of you, jae," jaeyoung smiled, and without missing a beat, added, "you're still thinking about ms. watanabe's nephew and the new japanese student doyoung gave a tour to today? seems like someone already has a crush on this mystery boy," he teased.

"i'm starting to regret having bought you those instant noodles," jaemi said and playfully hit her brother with the nearest throw pillow she could get her hands on without making a mess with her snack. jaeyoung was quick to protect himself and continued watching the karasuno vs. shiratorizawa match on the tv.