Chapter 6.1

“I’ve always wanted to try the parfaits here!”

Suzu got a parfait ahead of time at the cafe they agreed to meet at. She smiled happily, her grin reaching her eyes.

Just yesterday, he felt like meeting Suzu would be difficult but when he saw her carefree face, he couldn’t help thinking that she was cute.

“The thing is…” Suzu leaned forward like she was about to disclose her biggest secret. “I was looking forward to meeting you here so much, Masui-kun, that I got cafe-themed nails.”

She showed off her hands and various cafe items were displayed on each nail.

“Woah, amazing! Parfait, bubble tea, soft serve… Ah, is the thumb cream soda?”

“Correct.”

“The cherries are so cute.”

“I know right? Hehehe.”

It was totally contradictory to his thoughts last night but he really wanted Endo to take care of this adorable woman.

He wanted Endo to properly compliment her cute nails, appreciate her hard work, and support her sick father. And then to love her…. to love…

Kodai unconsciously rubbed his temples at the thought of them being in love.

No, I should stop thinking of unnecessary things.

“Masui-kun? What’s wrong?”

“Ah, don’t worry, it’s nothing.”

He moved his hands quickly and put on a smile.

Suzu tilted her head in confusion and suddenly moved her face forward.

“Your eyes are kinda red, everything alright?”

“I knew I had today off so I stayed up all night playing games last night.”

He couldn’t have said that he stayed up because of the pain of his broken heart.

“Games, huh? I thought you might have stayed up video calling your girlfriend or something.”

I see, I should’ve said that instead, he thought, pouring milk into his coffee.

Suzu seemed in a good mood today and was quite talkative. He responded brightly while also considering the fact that he wouldn’t be able to meet with her like this any more.

After finishing her parfait as she talked happily, Suzu eventually let out a breath.

“Umm, so about today, I have something I want to tell you in earnest.”

“Uh-huh.”

Kodai straightened his back and arranged his arms on the table. 

It was okay. He had already guessed and prepared himself; this time he wouldn’t be shocked at all.

“Actually, I’ve been thinking of going independent from my current nail salon at some point…”

It was going how he expected. Kodai nodded.

“My parents also have been thinking of shrinking the cafe and turning half of it into a salon for me…”

The shrinkage of the cafe was probably also because Suzu’s father’s health wasn’t looking good.

“Shrink Kinmokusei…?”

“Yeah. It would be a cosy salon but should be enough for two people, right?”

“True.” He had thought without a doubt that Suzu would work at Citron. Kodai thought it was a waste to ignore the store which had only just been renovated a year ago. 

Suzu stared at him with upturned eyes. “Can you work there with me?”

“Of cour- Huh?!?”

Kodai, who had thought this whole conversation was about Suzu and Endo, startled and jumped out of his chair.

His loud voice attracted stares from the people around them.

“Ah, sorry….”

Kodai hurriedly sat back down.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine. I’m just a little surprised.”

“You’re too surprised. In fact, I thought that you had caught on to what I was going to say.”

“Well, I knew that it would be something about your private life but I completely expected you to say you were going to open a shop with En-chan.”

“Shin-chan? Why?” she asked puzzledly, making Kodai falter.

“I mean, you said it had to do with En-chan, didn’t you?”

“I’m talking about taking you away from Shin-chan’s shop so there’s a big connection, right?”

It was so unexpected, Kodai was utterly flustered.

“Wait. I mean, you too are childhood friends and get along well—not to mention, I thought you too would get married and work together…”

Suzu waved her hand in front of his face.

“No, no! Definitely not happening!”

“Really?”

“Really, really. I could never have a boyfriend like Shin-chan.”

Kodai was shocked by Suzu’s unimaginable statement.

“I think you too would make an attractive couple though. Plus, you too are childhood friends and you’re the only one who could treat Endo the way you do. I think it’s a match made in heaven.”

“Masui-kun, you read too much shoujo manga. Childhood friends know each other’s cringy phases and don’t prosper. I could never marry someone as apathetic as him.”

Kodai had thought that they had a special connection, so he was surprised by Suzu’s matter-of-fact response.

“Is that how it is?”

“It is. Rather, I like guys like you who understand women’s feelings more.”

Kodai stumbled after realising his large misunderstanding.

“Umm, uh…”

“Wait!” Suzu reached out her hand and interrupted Kodai as he tried to think of what to say. “I don’t need an answer right now so I want you to think about it more.”

He couldn’t reply to Suzu’s feelings. But, in his heart, he had his answer.

“I know you have a girlfriend. I know it, but I’ll wait until you get tired of long-distance.”

“That’s a little…”

“I know it’s probably a lost cause. But, nothing would happen if I didn’t say anything so I’m trying to be brave.”

When she said that, Kodai felt like it overlapped with his own feelings so he was at a loss for words.

“If you decline me now, that means it will never happen, even in my wildest dreams. That’s why, at the very least, I want you to sleep on it.”

He looked at her serious face and meekly nodded. “Okay. I’ll reply to you once I’ve thought about it.”

“Thank you. Then, I’ll talk to you later. Ah, remember to charge your phone.”

“Huh?”

“I tried texting you to confirm our meeting, but you didn’t read it so I tried calling and it told me your phone had run out of battery.”

“Ah, sorry.
He thought back to how he threw his dead phone on the floor in his disarray last night.

After being dropped off by Suzu at the station, he travelled home in even more confusion than he had last night.

I couldn’t be…

It was all him getting ahead of himself.

He went ahead and got surprised, hurt and dumped his feelings onto Endo and even kissed him. Because he thought he had no choice but to leave him. 

It was all a misunderstanding… 

What should I do? Tomorrow, at work, what sort of face should I meet Endo with? Kodai wondered helplessly as he started climbing the stairs of his apartment.

Endo was sitting in front of his door. Endo looked up languidly from his phone and slowly stood up, casually brushing off the back of his jeans.

“Wha- What are you doing?”

“Rather, where did you go?”

“Uh, well… I can go wherever I like on holidays, can’t I?”

After he flusteredly defended himself, Endo suddenly kicked him in the shin.

“Ow!”

Kodai grabbed his leg and hopped on one foot.

“I couldn’t reach you yesterday so I was wondering what was up with you.”

He couldn’t tell whether Endo was angry or fed up, but it seemed that he was worried and came to check up on him.

“…. Sorry.”

Endo went to say something but instead, let out a big sneeze. How long had he been waiting in such a cold place?

“Anyway, just come in.” Kodai hurriedly opened the door and invited Endo inside.

As soon as the door closed, he regretted it. He should’ve taken them to a family restaurant or something, just anywhere except here. It would be too awkward for the two of them to be alone in such a small space.

He turned on the aircon, television, and kettle to fill the room with noise.

“Which would you like, coffee or black tea?”

“I don’t need either.”

“Don’t say that. Aren’t you cold?”

“I’m fine, just sit down.”

He reluctantly sat in front of Endo as instructed. The room only had a two-seater sofa, which Endo was sitting on, so he knelt on the rug between the sofa and the television.

“Why do I feel like I’m about to be lectured?” He couldn’t help but to throw in a joke, causing Endo to snicker.

“I came to give you one.”

Kodai couldn’t look into his eyes so he dropped his gaze to the rug.

He had ended up in a predicament and kissed Endo. It was such an act that Kodai wouldn’t even have any objections to him calling the police.

“I’m… I’m sorry.”

“Where did you hear that I was going to marry Suzu?”

“Ah, eh?”

He naturally thought that he was angry because of the kiss, so to find out that he was concerned about that point was slightly anti-climatic. 

“Sorry, that was my misunderstanding. I came to that conclusion on my own.”

“Thank goodness. I feel relieved.”

“Thank you.”

“As if I’d feel relieved.”

He wasn’t used to Endo being sarcastic so he cowered in fear. “S- Sorry.”

Endo looked down at Kodai with a straight face. Having such a handsome face staring him down made Kodai nervous. 

“Do you like me?”

Even more, he cut straight to the chase, making his entire body sweat. 

“Ah….”

“So, you thought that Suzu and I were going to get married, and panicked because you thought you were going to lose your job?”

It felt like all the water content in his body had turned to sweat. Endo was already approaching the floor as Kodai opened and closed his mouth, trying to respond.

“How did you interpret Suzu’s and my relationship?”

“Sorry, it was all my own delusion…”

“Of course it was. In fact, if Suzu wanted to marry someone, it would be you, not me.”

“Eh, you knew?” Kodai lifted his head in shock while Endo stared at him with an exasperated expression.

“By that face, I’m guessing you were confessed to?”

“Ah… Um…”

Endo’s face became dangerous.

“You rejected her, right?”

“I told her I’ll give her a response later,” he said restlessly, earning him a knock on the head. “Ow.”

“Why didn’t you reject her immediately?”

“Well, she told me she wanted me to think about it and I kind of fell into chaos just yesterday so…”

“Reject her right now. You’re going to work in my shop for the rest of your life.”

“… That’s a little irrational.”

“What about it is irrational?”

“Working together after that happened…” Kodai unconsciously let his gaze slip to Endo’s lips and then quickly looked away.

“Stop blushing,” Endo told him irritatedly and Kodai didn’t know what to do.

“It- It’s not like I’m blushing because I want to!”

When he thought about how weird he probably looked to Endo right now, he wanted to disappear.

“If you have the courage to kiss me out of the blue, why are you turning red just by looking at me?” Endo said coolly, making his face flush even more.

“I told you, I’m sorry.”

“This can’t be solved with an apology.” That was true. “How long have you liked me?”

–

T/N

not to reveal tooo much but things are about to happen 🙂