On the last day of Golden Week, I spend my afternoon fooling around in Shibuya with Koki, Takeru, and Reiya. Our pointless conversations and jokes are just what I needed after two weeks of non-stop shifts at Yumeya.

We decide to call it a day when Koki has to head to his part-time job. After parting with the guys at Takadanobaba Station, I reach into my pocket for the phone I had been neglecting all day. My LIME shows two chats with new messages. I’m happy to see one of them is from my favorite gray rabbit, but the guy holding a parfait below it is what really snatches my attention.

Shun
Have you ever watched this guys channel before? 👀
https://metu.be/XXXXXXXXXXX/
His ukulele lessons are super easy to understand ✨

I sit, blinking at the screen. The only other message on it is the one I sent him over two weeks ago. Since when does he send messages? And with emoticons? I almost want to believe his account got hacked.

While I’m still contemplating whether to reply or not, my train stop is announced and I tuck my phone away as if I hadn’t seen anything.

Once in my room, I rip into a package of convenience store bread and devour it while logging onto my computer. I’m halfway into KanZi’s new video when I hear a knock on my door. I hit pause and look up as if to make sure I'm not hearing things. The knocking repeats and I get up to answer it.

I’m surprised to see Shun standing in front of me with his ukulele, an out-of-character smile on his face.

“Hey!” he greets me.

“H-hey.” I’m even more confused than I was when I saw his LIME message.

“Sorry to bother you. I just wanted to show you something,” he says timidly.

“Okay.” I can’t keep the uneasiness out of my voice.

He lifts the ukulele to his chest and watches his hands as he plays Happy Birthday on the chords C, G7, and F. Pink forms in his white cheeks while he sings with the same shy smile I saw on him yesterday. His vocals are a little off-key and he ends the song off partially laughing. The scene leaves a weird feeling in my chest. I want to keep watching, but at the same time, I wish he would stop.

“What do you think?” he asks, looking up at me with a widening smile.

“It’s not my birthday,” I say flatly.

“I figured.” He nods.

I have to admit I’m impressed he learned to play the three chords smoothly in such little time, but there is a different emotion overshadowing my surprise. I don’t know exactly what it is but it’s making me uncomfortable.

“Did you stay home and practice all day?” I ask in response to the expectant look on his face.

“Yeah,” he admits, the ukulele slowly lowering from his chest.

“Wow. You must have been bored.”

His smile weakens. “I-I guess so.”

He looks down at the instrument and I wonder if he’s going to play again, but he doesn’t. I want to close my door already.

“I want to see you play guitar,” he says, running his fingers up and down the strings.

“I left my guitar back home,” I state. “Besides, I’m not that good at it. It was just a hobby.”

“Oh really?” I can hear the disappointment in his voice.

“Yeah. Sorry.”

He awkwardly picks at the ukulele strings, showing no sign of leaving my doorway anytime soon.

“Is that all?” I ask.

“Um!” he exclaims as if he just realized he’s still standing in front of me. “I was wondering if,” he trails off.

“If?” I repeat.

“If I can make dinner for you tonight.” He pauses. “To repay you for yesterday.” His eyes are pointed away from me, his voice shaking subtly.

What has suddenly gotten into him? Is this the same person who put a cockroach in my rice less than a month ago? What is it he’s trying to do? Whatever it is, he needs to stop and get out of my doorway right now.

“Sorry,” I apologize. “I’m not feeling well today.”

“Oh.” He looks back up at me, frowning. “Are you sick?”

“I think so,” I say indifferently.

“Is it a cold?”

“Maybe.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.” I grip the handle of my door, hoping he’ll get the point.

“Okay. Well, don’t overdo it,” he advises.

“Yeah.” I try to sound cold.

He backs up as I close the door. I return to my bed and try to ignore the unpleasant feeling sitting in my chest.

I’m almost relieved to be back in class after the holidays, maybe because it feels like things have gone back to normal. After school, I practically frolic to work, knowing Yuki will be there today. When I arrive, she’s already in the staff room, clad in her uniform. Her face lights up when she sees me. Something between us feels different after messaging her the past few days. “Different,” as in I have a feeling things are going in my favor.

While getting changed, I can hear my phone vibrating from my pants where they lay on the floor. Reaching over to grab it, the message I find leaves me both surprised and annoyed.

Are you feeling any better today?

Why is he checking up on me? He doesn't need to check up on me! He doesn't need to message me at all, for that matter. He's supposed to be minding his own business so I can mind mine too.

Sorry cant talk. At work.

That ought to get rid of him.

Work isn’t too busy, which gives me plenty of chances to talk to Yuki. Manami passes by us at one point, mentioning how close we look all of a sudden. Yuki’s dimples are showing again as she slightly backs away from me after Manami’s comment. Is she shy? It’s adorable.

I have just finished sending an order in when the door chimes. Looking up, I’m a little peeved to find Shun standing at the entrance holding a white plastic bag. Our eyes meet and he waves, but I can't event force my lips to curve upward. I had forgotten about his ability to suddenly show up at my workplace.

“Hello,” I greet him manually as I grab a menu and approach him. Let’s get this over with quickly.

“Hi,” he replies with the same smile that’s been creeping me out lately.

“Table for one?” I ask, lifting my finger.

He nods. Before I can tell him to follow me, he lifts the bag.

“I brought this.”

I peer down at it. “What is it?”

He reaches in and pulls out a small glass bottle.

“They’re vitamin drinks,” he says. “To help you get over your cold.”

I stare at the bottle, forgetting what I was about to say.

“Here.” He holds the bag out to me.

I slowly lift a hand to accept it. “Thanks.”

“Feel better soon,” he says.

I continue to stare at the bag in my hand. There’s a heavy, muddy feeling forming inside me. I want to kick myself. It takes me a moment to snap out of it and remember to show him to a table.

After taking Shun’s order, I hide the vitamin drinks away in my locker. When I exit the staff room, Yuki is at the front counter entering in an order. We resume our previous conversation about future travel dreams. Every time one of us gets called over to a table, we go and take care of it and then come straight back to continue where we left off. I can’t help but smile every time I see her come wandering back to me.

It’s not until after I bring Shun his food that I realize he’s not drawing today. I don’t bother to ask why and quickly tell him to enjoy his meal before helping Yuki clear a table. She beams when I begin stacking water glasses. After loading two trays with dishes, she accidentally bumps into me, causing several chopsticks to slide off the plates and onto the ground. We laugh at our clumsiness as we pick them up together.

Shun, who usually stays for at least an hour, finishes eating in less than 30 minutes and comes to the cash register while I’m standing behind it with Yuki. When she notices him, she stops mid-sentence to smile at him. I’m nervous when he stops in front of me, afraid he’ll say something unnecessary again.

However, he doesn’t say anything at all. He hands me his receipt and keeps his eyes down as if he’s avoiding looking at me. The smile he had on earlier is gone. At first, I think I might be imagining it, but when I tell him the price, he just nods and hands me cash. I watch him carefully while passing him his change, waiting to see when he’ll look at me. He doesn’t. He just bows his head and turns for the door.

“Thank you! Have a nice day!” Yuki calls after him.

I watch him walk out, the heavy feeling returning.

“Weird,” Yuki comments.

“What’s weird?” I ask.

“That guy. The way he acts around you is weird. He’s not like that on days you’re not here,” she ponders. “He’s more… normal.”

“Oh, that is weird." I force a laugh.

Shun must have behaved that way because of what happened last time he tried to talk to me in front of Yuki. He probably caught on that he should pretend not to know me. Yeah, that must be it.

Yuki and I finish work at the same time. I open my locker and my heart sinks when I see the bag of vitamin drinks sitting atop my backpack. Guilt tells me to take one. I twist the cap open.

Yuki and I head for our usual route. Knowing it’s my last few minutes to talk to her, I try to make the most out of it.

“So, have you seen any good movies lately?” I ask.

“Hmm.” She pokes her cheek in thought. “I did see one during the break, but I wouldn’t say it was good.” She laughs.

“Which one was that?” I ask.

“It was the movie that came out after the Ishizuka Days drama. The drama was good, but the movie, not so much.”

“Was it boring?” I ask.

“Not boring. Just too cheesy.”

“I see,” I nod, making a mental note that she doesn’t like cheesy movies. Thankfully the one I have in mind is probably far from that.

“What about Virtual Memory? Have you seen it?” I ask.

“Oh, that one just came out, right? I haven’t. Have you?”

“Not yet,” I say as we approach the intersection.

“Are you interested in seeing it?” She looks up at me.

“Yeah.” I smile down at her glittering eyes.

“Me too.”

“Then maybe we could—” I start.

I’m interrupted when she exclaims, “Oh!” and pulls out a phone with its screen lit up. “My mom is calling.”

“Oh,” I mumble, deflated.

“I should probably answer this,” she says with an uneasy expression. “So I guess I’ll see you later.”

“S-see you.”

She crosses the street, smiling back at me while she holds her phone up to her ear. I guess I’ll have to try again another time.

In the morning, I walk into the kitchen and put together a ham sandwich while whistling a tune stuck in my head. Soon after I sit down, Shun walks in. Without a word, he goes straight to the fridge. I recall the way he left Yumeya last night and guilt washes over me again. Something tells me I shouldn’t just sit here and say nothing.

“Hey, Shun,” I call out.

“What?” He keeps his back turned to me.

“Thank you for the drinks yesterday,” I say cautiously.

He shows no reaction and continues to rummage through the fridge shelves. After a drawn-out moment of silence, I turn back to my sandwich and take my first bite.

“That new girl at Yumeya,” he finally says in a low voice. “Do you like her?”

“Huh?” I look up, but he still has his back to me.

I’m thrown off by his sudden question. Could Shun have been watching me with Yuki yesterday? He wasn’t drawing, after all. It wouldn’t be weird if he noticed us talking. I stutter as I try to come up with a reply. I don’t know why I can’t seem to find the proper answer.

Shun swings the fridge door shut and turns around to face me with a sneer on his face.

“I knew it,” he scoffs. “You're so obvious. Good luck trying to woo her.”

He takes off down the hallway, leaving me alone in the kitchen again. I stare at the sandwich in my hands.

Why do I feel bad? Why did I hesitate to tell Shun I like Yuki? It’s not a secret and it's not like he has anything to do with it, either. Why do I feel like I'm doing something wrong? I'm not. I have no reason to worry about what my stupid roommate thinks.

I take another bite of my food and reach for my phone to respond to Yuki.

Saturday morning rolls around and I already know it’s going to be a good day when I wake up to a “Good morning” message from Yuki. However, as I lay in bed, pondering what to do before work, I begin to feel something is missing. That’s when it hits me.

I haven't seen Shun at all for two days straight.

Maybe he’s mad. Should I apologize? For what, though? I have nothing to feel sorry about, and he has no reason to be mad. I re-read my last message to him.

Makoto
Sorry cant talk. At work.

It makes sense he wouldn't want to message me again after that. I guess it's probably better that he doesn't talk to me, anyway. I mean, that’s what I wanted, right?

As I’m about to set my phone down, I notice a notification from Yuki pop up, filling me in on what she did last night. I tap on Shun's photo again and skim through our very scarce chat history. I set my phone down on the bed before picking it back up again.

I have no reason to feel bad or apologize, but I can still talk to him, right? I don't need to act cold.

I type out a message and hit send before I can second-guess myself.

Makoto
Hey r u free this weekend?
Can u take me to the shop u mentioned
before?

Instantly after hitting send, I toss my phone onto a jumbled-up blanket and walk around the room, trying to remember what I was planning to do next. I know it was something that had nothing to do with Shun. Hopefully, he doesn’t reply or at least says he’s busy.