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She could not help but to fumble her phone around her hands. It was not that late at night - the sun was still setting. Yuri waited by the train station, anticipating her third date with a man.
Already the third date, yet she was nervous. Yuri even painted her nails for this date, a thing she would never consider doing, until today. It was her friend’s idea. She checked her phone routinely. The man did not respond to her text that she arrived at the meeting spot.
Where did he go?
Why would he make a girl wait for him at the station on a Friday evening?
Was he serious about wanting to meet her again?
Various thoughts plagued Yuri’s mind. Maybe he did not like her, but she did nothing wrong the first two times.
He smiled at her a lot too! But then, perhaps, he was simply late.
The sun began to set. It was getting dark outside, so Yuri stood at a spot where the light shined. She saw a couple walking past her. They looked so sweet, holding hands and such. She never got to hold his hand. She was too shy to ask about it, and he never said anything about it either…
Maybe she should ask him about it tonight.
Time went by quickly when Yuri stood at her spot, being on her phone. She could feel the cold winter breeze blowing. It was a terrible day to wear a dress shirt, as she was cold, even with a jacket on. If it was not for her friend telling her to wear jeans, her legs would be freezing too.
“Yuri!”
A voice called out to the girl, who had waited for almost half an hour. From a distance, Yuri could see Juri running towards her.
At least he ran.
“I can’t wait for you that long every time,” Yuri whined, leaving no grounds for him to make up an excuse.
“Sorry,” Juri said, “should we keep going?”
“Okay!”
Yuri was not angry in any way, or form. It was surprising, considering that she sounded irritated when he finally got to meet her after being late, but she quickly reverted back to her usual self.
The two sat in a small restaurant for dinner. It was date night, and Juri expected Yuri to be all smiley and optimistic, as she always was. This night was no different. Yuri was happy, chatty and enjoyed her food a lot.
“I started a new hobby,” Yuri said.
“Ooh, what is it?”
“Leather crafts.”
Juri was taken off by this answer. Crafting with leather? The last time he met Yuri, she was into baking. On her first date, she mentioned that she made her own pickled radish. She never failed to surprise Juri with how many things she was able to do.
This is exactly why Juri wanted to meet her more.
“What did you make?” Juri asked. He could not believe that he was genuinely interested in things like this.
“A small wallet.” Yuri reached out to her bag, and took out a small wallet - just enough to fit some coins in. It was a simple wallet, made out of black leather with a snap button. It felt very different when she held it, compared to the light pink nail polish she had on.
To say that he was impressed would be a slight understatement.
“This reminds me, I also got into making crafts,” Juri said, taking out his own wallet.
Yuri snickered. “This is from a famous brand.”
“I don’t want you to feel left out, Yuri,” Juri teased. Yuri was not having it, but she did not look angry at all. Instead, she still had a smile on her face. Maybe his joke was funny enough for her.
“This reminded me, how's your pickled radish?” Juri switched to another subject.
He could not believe he was asking Yuri about her sometimes eccentric hobbies.
“I only finished half a jar,” Yuri said, “I mostly snack on them, though it’s supposed to be a side dish of some sorts for regular meals.”
“This is the first time I heard someone saying that they snack on pickled vegetables.”
“If you’re asking just to laugh at me, then don’t do it.”
Yuri’s gaze struck right through him. For a dainty girl like her, she sure does have an intimidating gaze. Or glare. Juri did not know. He only knew that his heart probably skipped a beat and he led out an embarrassing laugh.
“No more of this, I promise,” Juri shrugged.
Yuri only nodded and continued eating.
After dinner, the two decided to stroll around and see what shops were still open. It was still rather early, so they made trips around clothes stores, gift stores, even a random toy store Yuri got oddly interested in.
“Do you have awareness?” Juri asked.
“Yes, why are you asking?” Yuri replied while trying to grab a plushie from the upper columns of the display shelf. She was on her tiptoes, struggling to get it.
“You do realise,” Juri continued, “we’re two adults, on a date, in a toy store.”
“But this plushie is cute and I have my eyes set on it for a while.”
Juri reached his arm up and grabbed the plushie for the girl.
“I never knew you like plushies.”
Yuri held the plushie Juri handed to her.
“Now you know.”
Yuri tried to wink at him, but she couldn’t do it, and only blinked at Juri instead.
Juri found that funny and winked back in retaliation.
Don’t think you’re so amazing that you can wink.
Yuri’s glare gave Juri that impression. He did not dare to say another word. All he could do was to watch Yuri pay for the plushie she wanted. He offered to pay for her, but he was rejected at least three times. Juri gave up.
He could never win against Yuri. She was simply too different from the other girls he had ever dated. A girl with different hobbies and can make so many things. A girl who insists that she pays for her own things. But she made it up for being super cute. Juri knew he was shallow, but never to this extent.
The way she held this plushie and the fact that she had nail polish on tonight makes her extra cute tonight.
“Yuri.”
“What now?”
“Sound less like a yankee, would you?”
Yuri cleared her throat. “What do you want to talk about?”
Juri, suddenly, found himself speechless. She was too cute, looking at him like that. Her voice was sweet, like usual, even when she spoke roughly. He forgot what he was going to say. Out of all times, he had to forget at this instance. Back at the toy store, he still remembered what he wanted to tell Yuri.
“You’re really different.” That was all Juri could say.
“Maybe it’s not because I’m different. It’s because all the girls you dated before were the same type,” Yuri snickered.
“How do you know that I dated girls before?” Juri asked.
Yuri gave him a grin. “I just know.”
Juri sighed. He still could not recall what he wanted to tell this girl.
Yuri found it weird that Juri did not look that confident. She recalled that the first two dates were Juri blatantly flirting with her and Yuri, herself, dodging every bullet. He looked charismatic, and very confident. Juri always wanted to look best in front of girls.
Not tonight. He was clearly confused. He did not even flirt with her the past few hours, since the beginning of their date. The wink could be one, but she slammed him with her glare. Although Yuri hated people flirting with her, she did not feel at ease that Juri did not act in his usual ways.
“On your first date, you said that things will work out eventually, after a meal, right?” Yuri asked.
“Yes, but I don’t know if it’s with you.”
Was this a confirmation that Juri did not like her?
“Because I don’t swoon for you like other girls?” Yuri asked another question.
“No, it’s because I like you too much.”
Those words simply slipped out of his mouth. A realisation struck - he was planning to confess his true feelings to Yuri tonight! How could he forget? Juri felt so embarrassed that he covered his face with his hands. He could not even look straight into Yuri’s glistening eyes.
As for Yuri, she was surprised by the sudden confession, but she could tell. Juri asked her out on a third date. For someone with a personality like him, that was highly unlikely. He must have felt something.
But for her?
“You’re embarrassing,” Yuri laughed. She slapped Juri lightly on the shoulder.
“Come on! I was planning to do this! And I forgot about it.”
“I heard you loud and clear. I like you too.”
How straightforward. Much like how she would reject his sweet words.
Juri put his hands back down. “Really? I don’t believe you.”
Juri could feel a hand grabbing his left hand. Looking down, it was Yuri’s. She held his hand.
“I’m taking that back then,” Yuri teased.
She could see Juri began to freak out. “No, no! I mean it!”
Yuri gave him a bright smile. Her smile was warm, like the sun, although it was night time. Her hands, however, were cold. Thankfully, his hands were good enough to warm up hers. She never thought that holding Juri’s hand would be that easy, but it was probably because their feelings are mutual.
With their hands intertwined, the two made their way around the streets for a walk at night.
Hand-holding never feels so nice.
So is the feeling of being in love with someone.