words : 1935

published : 2022年12月6日

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You had enough of his ego.

King this and that, you're sick of it, honestly. Sometimes— no, every night you regret your foolish decision of confessing your feelings to the male.

On your so-called dates, you constantly seem to trail behind him when he wants to get there. He expects you to comply with all of his demands. He has never once inquired as to your whereabouts or interests.

Alas, him accepting your confession was a mystery until today.

If only you had seen the real him sooner, you wouldn't be staring at the ceiling of your room in the middle of the night, awake. For example, right now.

It had been two years since the two of you started dating, and you were planning to spill everything that had been running through your mind until a letter came to his house.

Maybe you should have paid more attention to what he said about the contents rather than trying to figure out the best way to phrase your sentences because the next day, he was gone.

No messages.

No calls.

Nothing.

There was one time you thought he joined the project just to run away from you.

Well, you thought as you rolled over to the empty spot of the bed, eyes fluttered close, and clutched the blanket close to your figure, it was expected.

You were about to doze off when your ringtones suddenly rang along with the light from your phone illuminating the room. A scream stuck in your throat upon seeing the name of a person you didn't expect.

Rather than saving his name as 'my boyfriend' as a couple should do, a 'clean freak' was displayed instead.

"Why now...?"You muttered in anxiety. You took a long time to answer, which turned into a missed call. However, before you could put your phone away, it flashed again, much to your horror.

It continues for 5 minutes when you eventually give in to his persistence.

You take a deep breath and straighten yourself, pushing your finger to slide the green button on the screen, "What is it?"

"...hey, "he greeted."it has been a while."

His voice was hoarse, you noticed. Was he sleeping? Did he have a nightmare? Is he sick? Or homesick?

"Yeah."You cleared your throat to stop yourself from worrying about him and softened your tone."What's wrong?"

"Let's meet up tomorrow."

Beep.

"Wha—Hey! Wait!"

This bastard—!!

You tossed your phone across the bed and collapsed onto your pillow before you could contact him back. Your eyes shut as soon as the door to your room swung open.

Your mother's eyes pierced the back of your skull till she finally closed the door softly. When you no longer hear her steps, you can start breathing normally again. You would be greeting the death door if she found out you were still awake at 3 in the morning even though it was weekend.

A soft sigh slipped from your lips as you snuggled further into your blanket after making sure you put your phone in mute.

You will regret your action tomorrow morning.

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"y/n! are you awake?!"

You were jolted awake by the loud voice of your mother coming from downstairs; the aroma of miso soup filled your nose as if telling you she was cooking the breakfast, and you had to wash yourself up before it got devoured by your brothers.

You slowly sat up, rubbing your eyes to wash away the sleepiness, "Yeah! I'll be going down in a second!"

"You better hurry up! Barō-kun is already waiting for you!"

"Mhm, who?"You paused until realization dawned upon you. Eyes still shut close in order to dig through your name for the name.

When you did, the [ color ] hue snapped open. "Wait, Barō?"

You look around your bed in search of your phone, and when you find it, boy, your stomach practically drops at a large amount of missed calls from him.

I guess today is the day I die, was your first thought after seeing 47 missed calls displayed on the screen.

"You're very punctual, Barō."You nervously spoke first when you found him standing in front of your gate, hands in the pockets of his dark blue colored jacket. What a coincidence, you are wearing a dark blue dress.

Sitting down, you try to tie the loose shoelaces of your [ color ] sneakers, although the way he looks at you has been bugging you. He looks too... calm for someone like him.

"It's my fault for not telling you when we should meet."

He... admitted that as his mistake?

You halted your action and looked at him in surprise when he crouched down, taking the shoelaces from your hands to do it for you.

"There we go."He huffed in satisfaction, knowing you won't get yourself tripped stepping on the twine when he is not around. Palms resting on his knees to push himself standing before holding out for you to pull yourself up. A simple gesture from him had you look at him puzzled.

Should you call the police? Someone might be disguised as him to kidnap you.

"C'mon, we don't have all day."

"Who the hell are you?"It suddenly came from your lips instead.

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After knocking some sense into your head by flicking your forehead, you were convinced he is still himself. He always walks in front of you but never lets go of the hold of your hand.

You peer around him. There is no sight of his usual bowling bag in his other hand, so you have no clue where he will bring you. The question was left unsaid when you decided to follow the flow.

With all the surprises you received today, you might have a heart attack. He brought you to a cafe, out of place, like a typical date when all the place he had brought you before was his so-called sanctuary. Never once has he released your hand; for someone who is a clean freak like him, that is quite shocking — and leave your side unless you want to go to the restroom.

Again, he waited patiently for you outside, readied with wet tissues and a bottle of sanitizer in his palms to wipe off the germs from your hands.

He bought you sweets that you laid your eyes upon for 3 seconds, for example, right now. He told you to wait for him next to a toy store as he went to buy crepes for you two.

"You've changed."You mumbled to yourself while gazing at him from afar, offering a wave with a smile when he turned his head to check on you. Though, he quickly looked away, which made your heart slightly throbbed.

"Okay, maybe not really changed."

But you love him anyway; you finally accept the fact and stop lying to yourself. You unconsciously jump gleefully when you find out he asked for extra strawberries for you.

"I enjoy today's date."You truthfully said as you two waited for his bus together. It's pretty calm despite the fact that it is now a golden hour, but who are you to complain?

He looks like he wants to say something but can't bring himself to until his bus arrives. He only sighed, but when he took two steps to get into the vehicle, you grabbed his rough hand with yours.

It's once in full moon you could see him again, so you have to say it. No matter how embarrassed you are, you have to.

"I miss you. y'know."You whispers, head hung low before looking at him in the eyes. And you smiled, "I'm glad that you are the one who I fell in love with."

His eyes widened, but the door was closed before he could say anything again. He watched you turn your heels and dash off.

Not from hiding your tears or embarrassment— actually, you do hope the ground swallows you right there and then but rather than that,  you immediately rushed to the previous toy store before its closing time.

You check the currency in your purse as soon as you arrive and groans when you're short of ¥1500 for the limited rilakkuma bear.

"I should have brought more money."You sulked, admiring the bear from outside. Fingertips tracing the glass; the only thing that separated you and the soft toy.

"There you are, "You heard someone say in a soft, relieved tone from behind and jolted you out of your little pipe dream.

"Over here, pipsqueak."The voice spoke again as you turned around to look at the owner.

"Barō?"You shot him a confused smile, to which he returned with a gentle one, looking at you with adoration in his irises, exactly like when he first saw you a few years ago. Since kindergarten, to be exact.

"It was nice to see you again."He took this as a chance to tell you what has been lingering in his mind and chuckles, walking closer to where you are standing.

"I miss you too, much more than usual if I have to be honest."

You tilted your head in perplexity, the smile still prolonged on your lips at the sight of him and after hearing his confession. "I thought you already left?"

"I ran all the way here from the next station. Having good stamina is pretty handy at a time like this."He shrugged. You couldn't deny his statement when he's not even breaking a sweat despite it.

"You have been staring at it for a while."He said, not facing you as he spoke while motioning to the brown bear. "And... sorry that I couldn't wish you a happy birthday last week. My phone got confiscated."

So he remembered.

"Nah, I understand..."You trails off when you notice the color of his ear. It was barely visible but you still could make out the pink hue. Your eyes darted to the glass pane, showing you his reflection on how red his face was.

That's when everything clicked.

He doesn't want you to see this cute side of him. He doesn't want you to know how you could easily get him flustered. He always put up a cold facade whenever he wanted to talk with you, burying his face into his palms after you walked inside your house.

And, he doesn't want to tell you how he crazily scored 10 points, so that he could meet you.

It was safe to say you were pretty blind for not noticing this sooner. The real side of him that only you could see.

"Man, I fell in love with you all over again."

"I'll get it for you."

"What about your curfew?"

"That thing can go to damn. I ain't letting that Blue Lock shit stop me from seeing you."He sneered and paused, lifting his gaze to look at you in the eyes, examining every details of your feature. He exhaled underneath his breath, unconsciously cupping your face with his hands.

"You matters more to me."

For the first time in a while, your heart skipped a beat.

He immediately pulled away his hands to hide his embarrassment due to his bold action, not knowing what kind of God gave him a sudden boost of confidence."Do you want it or not?"

"It's a present from you so of course, I do."You chimes. He quickly turned his face around, scoffing a 'hmph' though you had already caught the glimpse of his red face.