I meet up with Koki, Takeru, and Reiya at Shibuya Station and follow them down Dogenzaka Street and into a yakiniku restaurant.

“Hey!” Reiya exclaims soon after we’re seated. “I just realized this is the first time we’re all meeting up off campus!”

“That’s true,” Koki says thoughtfully.

“Who cares about that!” Takeru shuts him down. “Did you see the staff? She’s so hot!”

We all look back down the aisle in the direction of the girl who showed us to our table.

“She is?” I’ve already forgotten her face.

“You think any girl is hot,” Koki laughs as he spreads the menu out in front of us. “So what do you want to eat?”

After calling the server over again, I observe her circular face and heavy-lidded eyes while she pulls out a tablet to take our order. I’m trying to figure out what part of her Takeru finds attractive.

Takeru clears his throat and adjusts his posture when he speaks.

“Could we get an order of belly meat, beef tongue, Galbi, four bowls of rice, and…” He sets the menu down and peers up at her with a painfully corny grin. “Your heart?”

She looks back at him with a straight face. Koki hits him on the back of the head.

“Sorry,” Takeru apologizes, laughing and bobbing his head at her.

The server looks back down at her device and repeats the order back to us before walking away as if Takeru didn’t say anything stupid. He twists around in his seat to watch her go.

“Look at that poker face,” he says wistfully, rubbing the stubble on his chin.

“She’s not interested,” Koki assures him.

“How do you know?” Takeru retorts.

“Maybe she’s shy,” Reiya offers.

“No, that’s what you call playing hard to get!” Takeru says with a smug grin.

“No, it’s not.” Koki shakes his head.

“Or she’s shy.” Reiya tries again.

“Nope.” Koki doesn’t budge.

“Maybe try a pickup line that doesn’t make people cringe,” I suggest.

“Or maybe try hitting up the gym.” Koki smirks.

We poke fun at Takeru until our food arrives and our table is filled with the sound of sizzling meat over the grill.

“Man, why don’t the four of us get together more often?” Reiya says as we begin eating.

“Because of Makoto’s work,” Takeru answers while he pokes at a piece of meat with a pair of tongs.

“Sorry,” I apologize. “My workplace is understaffed during Golden Week.”

“Why don’t they hire more people?” Takeru asks.

“Well, there is one new girl,” I say, recalling Yuki.

“What’s with that smile?” Koki observes with a teasing tone.

“Am I smiling?” I press my cheeks down with my thumb and index finger.

“Oh? You like her?” Takeru sends me a sly smile from across the table.

“I wouldn’t say I like her.”

“He likes her,” Koki states.

“What’s she like?” Reiya asks.

“Picture?” Takeru intervenes.

“Whoa, hold up, guys!” I wave my hands in front of me. “I only just met her. I don’t even know if she has a boyfriend.”

“Who cares if she has a boyfriend!” Takeru scoffs. “She’ll dump him for you anyway.”

“Uh, sure.” I give up.

“Did you get her LIME yet?” Koki asks.

“Not yet.” I shake my head.

“Well, you can start there,” he proposes.

I nod and reach for some meat.

“That’s all?” Takeru objects. “What’s the plan?”

“The plan is to talk to get to know her before trying to get into her pants,” Koki retorts. “What’s your plan with Poker Face over there?”

Takeru gives a defeated smile as he leans back in his seat.

I don’t have the best of luck with my shifts during Golden Week. I always end up either having a dinner shift when Yuki has lunch or the other way around. It’s not until Saturday, the second to last day of vacation, that I finally have a closing shift with her. When I enter the building, she gives me the smile I’d been looking forward to seeing again and points out that we haven’t had a shift together in a while. Nodding and grinning like an idiot, I head for the staff room to get changed. Recalling Koki’s suggestion to get her LIME, I tell myself today’s my chance.

Six hours later, after all the customers and other staff head out, Yuki and I are left alone to clean up. She begins by counting the cash register money, appearing to have gotten used to the job since our last shift together.

“How are you spending Golden Week?” she asks while she drops coins back into the till. “You sure seem to be working a lot.”

“I worked every day except Wednesday,” I admit. “But I didn’t plan to go anywhere anyway.”

“Me either,” she says. “I originally had plans, but they went down the drain, so I got a job instead.”

“What happened to your plans?”

“Well, I was supposed to go to Kyoto with my boyfriend.” Her voice gets quieter as she smiles apprehensively. “But things didn’t work out.”

“Oh, you have a boyfriend?” I try not to show my disappointment.

“I mean, they didn’t work out as in we broke up,” she clarifies.

The light inside me instantly clicks back on. “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”

“No, it’s okay. I was the one to break things off, anyway,” she says with her usual smile.

“I see.” I try not to look too happy while I skim the inventory list.

“What about you? Do you have a girlfriend?” she asks.

I perk up, excited that she’s interested.

“I don’t,” I answer.

“Really? You seem like you would have one.”

“I do?”

She giggles before walking to the staff room with an envelope of cash.

After we have changed out of our uniforms and are locking the doors, Yuki turns to me and says, “By the way, remember that guy who came in the other day and talked to you like he knows you?”

“Uh, yeah,” I reply warily, afraid of what she’s going to say next.

“He came in again during my shift the other day. The first time I saw him I thought he was rude, but this time he was super polite. It was kind of weird,” she observes.

“Hm, that is weird,” I agree half-heartedly.

“And he was drawing again. I wonder what it is he’s always drawing.” She pauses and then giggles. “I’m kind of curious about him.”

“I see.” I’m not.

Out of all the things we could talk about and all the things she could be interested in, why does it have to be Shun?

As we walk away from Yumeya, I change the subject by asking about her hobbies. She says she likes movies and tells me how she sometimes even goes to see them alone. I want to try to relate to her but can’t remember the last time I went to a theater.

We walk slowly toward the intersection where we parted ways last time. Yuki tells me about a funny customer she had during one of her shifts. Half listening to her story, I’m conscious of the crosswalk sign about to turn green. This is my last chance to ask her for her LIME.

“Hey, Yuki,” I start tentatively.

“Hm?” She looks up at me with bright eyes.

“Want to exchange LIMEs?” I offer in the most casual tone I can manage while I hold up my phone.

“Oh, sure,” she responds agreeably and pulls her own phone out to scan my QR code.

“I’m so happy to have a coworker the same age as me,” she says after tucking her phone back into her purse. “I’d probably be really nervous if I was the youngest one there.”

“I was nervous too before you joined,” I admit.

“I made you more comfortable?” She lights up, her grin growing wider. I wonder if her cheek muscles ever get sore from all the smiling.

“Yeah,” I nod, receiving her contagious grin.

The crosswalk signal begins to chirp and Yuki tells me she’ll see me later. I watch her skip over to the road and turn around to wave at me before leaving.

Still smiling to myself, I pull my phone back out of my pocket and head home. Yuki’s profile photo shows a fluffy gray rabbit. Maybe a pet? A message notification pops up at the top of my screen. I tap on it to find Koki has sent a photo to our group chat. It’s of an ugly female comedian called Yanchako making an angry face.

Koki
Hey guys doesnt this look like poker face from
the other day?

Takeru
How does she look anything like that?!

Makoto
I can totally see the resemblance lol

Takeru
U guys r bastards
Think of how hurt she would be if she knew
the things ur saying about her 😢

Koki
Were picking on u for ur taste in women, not
her

Takeru
Whats wrong with my taste in women?!
Im still waiting for a photo of Makotos girl

Koki
Right
How r things going with her Makoto? 🤔

Makoto
I literally just got her LIME 2 min ago!
Haha

Takeru
Nice going!!!
Invite us to the wedding

Koki
Ill give u 500 yen as a wedding present

Reiya
Makotos getting married?! 😮

Grinning, I look up the closest theater. Looking through the list of movies currently showing, I realize I haven’t even heard of most of them. There is one sci-fi film, however, that I remember seeing a trailer for. I wonder if Yuki’s seen it yet.