Chapter 7

When Kodai woke up, the room was filled with light from the sun that was already well into the day.

For a moment, he didn’t know what time it was or where he was. When he turned his head, he realised he was in his own bed.

He had an amazing dream. It was lewd and raw as if his desires had solidified and materialised.

He crawled out of the futon into the heating room which was bordering on scorching. Surprisingly, he was completely naked.

What’s more, there were purple marks all over his body.

“Oh…what…wait……” He jumped out of bed in a hurry but felt the blood rush to his head, so he flopped back down onto the floor.

“No way…was it real?”

Stunned, he pulled out his underwear from the closet and put it on. He went to the living room and saw his clothes from yesterday roughly gathered together in the corner.

He dug into his jeans pocket, pulled out his phone, and was surprised when he checked the time. It was already ten o’clock in the morning.

“Seriously!?!”

Even more, a Line message from Endo appeared on the screen.

[I’ll be deducting today’s pay, got it?]

 

[Why didn’t you wake me up!!]

He sniped back and tried to remember when Endo had left. He could faintly remember unusually gentle hands wiping his body down. The thought of it made him red in the face. Did that mean that Endo had carried him to bed? How stupid that he didn’t remember. Even though he may never experience being princess-carried by Endo again.

After being carried away by his imagination, Kodai suddenly came to his senses. He shouldn’t be just standing around like this in such a situation.

He ran back to the closet again, took out the first thing he touched, stuck his head in, and guzzled water down his parched throat.

It usually took five minutes to run to the store, but his lower body felt weak and his legs were wobbling.

When he rushed to the store, both Endo and the customer he was finishing up with turned back and looked at him. “Oh, Masui-kun. I heard that you were absent today because you weren’t feeling well. Are you okay?”

“I’m sorry for making you worry! I’m okay,” he answered with a smile. He turned his attention to Endo. But as soon as their eyes met, his whole body suddenly felt so hot that he couldn’t keep calm, so he rushed to the back room, pretending to prepare something, to compose himself. As he was catching my breath in the small room filled with supplies, Endo came in. His breathing which he was trying so hard to gain control of became erratic again.

“I left you a message saying you can rest, didn’t I?” Endo said irritatedly.

“Huh? No, no, how could I have understood it in that way?” He sniped back as usual, allowing him to regain his composure.

Endo has what looks like a slight smile on his lips.

“You look fine, don’t you?”

“Oh, yes. I’m full of energy.”

“Then, work to your heart’s content.”

“I’ll do that.” He felt fidgety like he was going to run out of oxygen. When he tried to go back to work, Endo caught his sweater hem.

“This looks familiar.”

“Huh?…Ah.”

It was Endo’s sweater that Koudai had blown his nose into. He received it because Endo said he didn’t need it, but he didn’t have the courage to wear it in front of Endo, so he secretly wore it in private. He was in such a hurry this morning, he didn’t think twice and put it on.

“Are you pretending to be my lover?”

Hearing this sarcastic question, Kodai blushed and shot back, “…Is that bad?”

“I’m not saying it’s bad.”

Endo passed Kodai and was about to leave when he suddenly stopped and looked back.

When he looked up to see what was going on, he saw Endo’s face approach and quickly peck him on the lips.

Endo quickly went out onto the floor, leaving a stunned Kodai behind.

Kodai sat down on the spot. The place where he had been pried open yesterday was aching suspiciously, and he let out, confused, “What is this…?”

He felt like he had wandered into a different dimension than yesterday, and he had a hard time getting back up.

He was no longer able to think straight, but somehow he managed to remain sane and go out on the floor. Endo had already contacted the customers he was in charge of this morning to change their reservations. He had never expected something like this.

While mentally apologising to the customers who had been moved, he made plans for the afternoon with a random customer.

In the evening, he received several calls for new reservations, but Endo turned down all unscheduled customers, and unusually, at 7 p.m., the shop was closed. “Is it okay for you to close this early when we’re so busy at the end of the year?”

“Because you’re staggering, aren’t you?”

He couldn’t tell if he was being taken care of or mocked, but his face felt hot after being told such many things.

He was embarrassed, so he answered it bluntly,”…And who’s fault was that?”

“But, you kept begging for more.”

“I-I didn’t.” He raised his voice in response. “Well, if we’re finishing so early, I think I’ll stop by Kinmokusei.”

“Other stores are open at this time too, you know?”

“Well, now that this has happened, I have to reply to Suzu-chan as soon as possible…” Kodai looked at Endo. “Um, can I tell Suzu-chan? Um…”

When Kodai hesitated, Endo replied with a somewhat triumphant look on his face, “How we fucked last night?”

“Don’t say fuck!” Kodai shook his hand in front of his own red face. “I meant, about our relationship.”

“Has it changed?”

“It’s not the same! I’m being serious so listen to me. I don’t have any family, and it’s not like I know anyone here, so I don’t care how people see me but that’s not the case for you. This is your hometown so if you don’t want to tell anyone, I can keep it a secret- Ow!”

Kodai winced as he was hit on the head with a brush handle in the middle of his sentence.

“Don’t talk about people like they’re hopeless idiots.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“I’ll tell Suzu.”

“Eh?”

“That we fucked last nigh….- Ow.”

Kodai hit Endo’s butt with a scissor cover.

“I’m telling you to stop! I’ll tell Suzu-chan.”

“Make sure you tell her you’ll marry me.”

Hearing this, a strange sweat started to form on the back of his neck.

“…I’ll seriously tell her.”

“Ok”

“Then, can I leave closing to you today?”

“Don’t wanna.”

“Why??”

“I’m going too.”

“I’m telling you, it’s fine.”

“I’m going to eat. Plus, there is no way you could walk there because of your baby-deer-ass waist.” Kodai yelped as Endo rubbed his ass with a rare soft touch. “Come quickly.”

Endo grabbed the car keys and went out first.

Kinmokusei was lively, unlike the late hours they usually went.

They didn’t see Suzu, but just as they were finishing their meal, they spotted her swapping places with a girl working part-time.

She came out and brought coffee to Kodai’s table.

“You guys are early today, aren’t you?”

“I’ll drink over there.” Endo took the coffee and walked away to the counter where Suzu’s dad was stationed.

Suzu looked back and forth between Endo and Kodai and smiled bitterly. “Perhaps Shin-chan was unusually attentive to me.”

Then, she stared at Koudai as if examining him.

“Did you come here to give your answer from yesterday?”

That was the plan. Koudai looked around the store, reflecting on his carelessness. Because of what happened with Endo, he felt that the least he could do was to reply as soon as possible, but he realised that the restaurant wasn’t the best place to talk about that.

“If you have time after work, we could talk. If not, we can talk another day.”

“It’s okay. Just wait a moment.”

Suzu went around several tables, took orders, chatted with patrons, brought food, and then, whilst still wearing her apron, she slipped into the seat across from Kodai.

“Sorry for the wait.”

“Is this alright?”

“It’s already past peak hours so it’s fine. Plus, they’re mostly regulars.”

“Sorry for disturbing you at work.”

“It’s fine.”

Suzu smiled mischievously and leaned forward.

“I said all that yesterday, but waiting for a reply is so unsettling. After all, I should have listened to the answer right then and there. I’m glad you came today.”

Seeing Suzu’s smiling face, Kodai felt so bad about the thundercloud that clouded the conversation.

Suzu saw Kodai’s expression and said, “The answer is no, isn’t it?”

“…I’m sorry. I think Suzu-chan is a really wonderful person.” Kodai crossed his fingers tightly on the table. “But there’s someone I like.”

Suzu laughed in a small voice.

“I know. It’s my fault for falling in love with someone who has a girlfriend, so don’t look so troubled.”

“That’s not true… Actually, she’s fake.”

“Fake?”

“I didn’t want the person I liked to know about my feelings, so I just pretended to have a girlfriend…” 

Suzu frowned and blinked. “I’m sorry, I don’t really understand what you’re saying, but who is it that you like?”

Kodai was at a loss for words to explain, and glanced at Endou’s back, who was playing chess with the master at the counter.

Suzu followed his gaze and then slowly returned her gaze to Kodai’s face. 

She stood up. “Eh!?” she said in a loud voice that could be heard across the restaurant.

The chatter stopped for a moment.

Suzu looked around, covered her mouth with her hand, and sat back down.

“Huh? Really? Seriously?”

“……Yeah”

“What the hell?”

“Eh?”

Suzu raised her eyebrows as if she couldn’t imagine the person she liked was gay. “What the hell. If it’s Shin-chan, that’s just as good as a long-distance girlfriend.”

Kodai tried to discern her meaning. Did she mean, in other words, if the person he was in love with was a girl, it was fine, but if it was a guy, it was no longer possible?

Reading the puzzled expression on Kodai’s face, Suzu laughed. “I mean, Shin-chan likes you, doesn’t he?”

“Eh?”

“It’s obvious. The other day, when you decided to walk home from here and Shin-chan saw you leave without saying a word, he hurriedly ran after you.”

“That’s because I forgot to pay…”

Suzu stared at Koudai with a mischievous expression.

“That’s not right.  Shin-chan has a bad mouth, but he takes care of you.”

“That’s…”

“And if you also like Shin-chan, then there’s not even a millimetre-long crevice I could enter between you two.”

“Um, uh…”

Kodai pressed his temples in confusion. In the end, she was right, but it was surprising that Suzu felt that way about Endo.

“En-chan isn’t like that…”

“Did you confess?”

“Ah…Yeah, somehow.”

“What did Shin-chan say?”

“Um…well, he said okay.”

“See, I told you.” 

Kodai didn’t get any hints from Endo, but could he just be that oblivious?

“…Did you think that En-chan is the type who can handle being with a man?”

“I didn’t know that, but I knew that you were special, transcending being a man or a woman. After all, he brought you to this place.”

“I forced myself to follow him.”

Suzu pouted her lips. “Does he speak fondly of his exes?”

“No, he doesn’t…”

“I think Shin-chan would have turned down the offer if he didn’t feel like it, right? He says clearly when he doesn’t like something.”

That was certainly true, but when it came down to it, Kodai couldn’t quite apply it to himself. But, he could think about it by himself later.

He bowed his head to Suzu. “I am really sorry.”

“That’s enough. I was also very calculating.”

Suzu put her cutely decorated nails on the table and leaned towards Koudai as if she were going to tell him a secret.

“It’s true that I had feelings for you. But rather than romantic feelings, it was more of a feeling of liking you in the sense that we would be the perfect partners in crime. I’ve always thought that there was no one else so smiley, amiable and customer-focused like you.”

“No, no, not at all.”

“Even more, your long-distance girlfriend spiced up the story. I wonder if I have the makings of a bad girl. When it’s someone else’s property, I get a little excited ” 

“What do you mean?”

A deep voice came from above, and Kodai and Suzu both looked up.

Before I knew it, Endo came back and sat down next to Kodai. “She means that when you think about how it’s someone else’s thing, you just want it,” Endo said quietly. Kodai’s face suddenly became hot.

“What?”

Suzu teased Endo, while Kodai was freaking out. “If you have that kind of possessiveness, you should have shown it to the fullest up until now. Did you also believe in the existence of a fake girlfriend?”

Endo kept staring at Kodai.

“There’s no way I’d believe such a contrived lie.”

“What, you knew?”

“It was obvious.”

“What the hell? If you’d told me, I wouldn’t have had to worry so much.”

“You were already in my hands anyway, so I was waiting for you to decide on your feelings. I didn’t want to be forceful.”

Suddenly feeling embarrassed, Kodai retorted regrettably. “You were forceful last night.” 

“If your wish has finally come true, you have to be forceful,” Endo retorted, and blood suddenly rushed to Kodai’s face.

“No more, I’m done with these people!” Suzu burst out laughing and got up from her seat. “Anyway, if I knew that was the case, I would have quietly stepped back. I wish you all the best.”

“No need to be told.”

“En-chan…” Kodai suddenly got upset and poked Endo.

“Wow, they’re flirting, the last thing I want to see.” Suzu laughed and left her seat.

Endo turned toward Kodai. “Looks like you said it right.”

“Well, somehow.”

“What did Suzu say?”

“…. She said that she liked me more as a work partner than romantically so not to worry about it.”

“That’s good.”

“I wonder if it’s okay to easily take it seriously like that…”

“What? So, you’re not sure if she said it just not to make a scene?”

“Well, maybe, something like that.”

“You’re so vain.”

“Hey! I mean, I think Suzu-chan wanted to become independent as soon as possible to reassure her father.”

“What are you talking about”

“Yesterday, she said she was going to close the shop and go to the hospital.” 

“I think his regular blood pressure medication was running out, so they went to get it.”

“Eh?” Kodai was shocked to hear that. Everything seemed to be a product of his imagination.

As he felt ashamed about his misunderstanding, Endo said to him mockingly. “If you’re going to go through the trouble, why don’t you try to be more conceited in a different way?” 

“In what way?”

“For example, the fact that I want to have sex again today after yesterday should make you feel loved.”

Kodai felt his face become hot all at once, and he opened and closed his mouth like a fish, unsure of what to say.

Endo gave him a suspicious look. “I’m going crazy, so just reply like you always do.”

“Eh, ah, s-sorry.”

Because he wasn’t used to Endo’s dere, he couldn’t retaliate well even if it was a joke, and he got distracted.

“No, uh, if En-chan really thinks that way, then I don’t mind getting my ass broken…”

Endo let out a rare chuckle.

“How about we leave it for today? It would be bothersome if you were bedridden during our busiest time of year.”

“Huh? That’s what you’re worried about? My body?”

Although he managed to regain his usual self on the surface, the restless feeling in his chest didn’t subside.

 

–

 

T/N thank you all for waiting so patiently. sorry for the delay.

this is the second last chapter!! that being said, chapter 8 is fairly long so there are still a few parts to go…