Work Text:
It was Yosuke's fault for leaving his phone here in the first place. Chie was just casually hanging out with him (she talked him into buying her food), and then he just left her there. Without the food. Though he was apologizing frantically, she couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. Oh, well. She supposed he had it rough too, being the manager's son and all.
Her eyes then slid down to look at the forgotten cellphone.
God, he's so forgetful sometimes.
With a small, playful smirk, she grabbed it. She'll leave a little something behind- Quickly turning on the phone, she opened up the camera. She snapped a few photos of herself, smiling at the idea of Yosuke finding out like a week later and freaking out about it.
Really, that was all she wanted to do. Just to tease him a little bit for forgetting such an important item out in the open.
She then opened up the gallery to check if she didn't look ugly in the photos. That's where everything started to go wrong, though.
Instead of her few selfies, her attention went to the other photos. Photos of a certain silver-haired boy they all knew so well.
There were so many of them. Like, the majority.
She stared blankly at the phone, not really sure what was happening. She blinked, quickly getting back into reality.
What is this..?
Some of the pictures show Souji doing a little pose or smiling at the camera. Some of the pictures look like Souji didn't even know about the camera at all. Some of the pictures are selfies taken by Souji himself.
"Well, isn't that cute," Chie muttered to herself. Yosuke clearly favored their leader quite a bit. Not that surprising, considering how he calls him his partner all the time. She clicked on a random photo.
It showed Souji laughing lightheartedly, the bright sky in the background. They were probably hanging out somewhere outside at that time. She swiped on the next one.
Souji was kneeling on the ground, petting some cat on the street. His expression was the sweetest—like he was touching the most precious being on earth. The next photo looked like it was taken immediately after that one. This time, Souji looked embarrassed, noticing the camera he hadn't before. His cheeks were the lightest shade of red, and his hand was pulled back, no longer petting the cat.
The next photo showed both Yosuke and Souji making weird faces for the camera. It was just them two, messing around. They'd probably looked at the picture afterwards and laughed.
Chie smiled but quickly stopped.
This is very personal. She shouldn't look through these. Even if the photos didn't show anything bad, it was Yosuke's privacy.
..She couldn't bring herself to stop. She was still surprised by how many pictures of the boy were there.
She swiped and swiped, and every time, it was just Souji doing various things, his expressions varying too. One photo made her immediately pause, though.
Souji's tilted head was in the center. A hand was cupping his cheek, and with closed eyes, he was melting into the touch. A light blush dusted his cheeks, and he was smiling.
Chie stared at the photo, gears shifting and turning inside her head.
That must have been Yosuke's hand. But why would they even do something like this? And why would Yosuke keep a picture of a moment like this?
..Upon the next swipe, she came across a video. Hesitantly, she clicked play.
"Yosuke~" a voice from behind the camera said.
Souji was recording. Chie was surprised to hear him speak in such a teasing manner, but what she saw next surprised her even more.
At first, the focus was on a futon, which Souji was lying in. Then, however, the frame panned a little to the side, revealing a boy cuddled up to his side.
She could recognize that brunet head of hair everywhere.
"..What?" He mumbled. It sounded like he was still half asleep.
"Time to wake up. Rise and shine," Souji said softly with a light chuckle. At that, the other boy mumbled something inaudible again.
"What was that?"
Yosuke took a deep breath and brought his hands up to his face to rub the sleep out of his eyes.
"I said I wanted to stay like this."
Souji chuckled again. "Didn't you have enough cuddling yesterday?"
"No."
It took a moment before Yosuke looked up at him and saw that he was recording.
"H-Hey! Are you-"
He reached for the phone, and Souji tried to dodge.
"Ah, wait-" Souji laughed, not finishing his sentence. Yosuke tried to take it again, and as a result, it fell somewhere into the blanket. All Chie could see now was a black screen.
Yosuke then started laughing too, way too sweetly, Chie noted, and then only the sounds of shifting could be heard.
Then there was silence, only an occasional soft sound breaking it. She couldn't really tell what was happening. She was about to exit from the video, but then..
"Damn. Maybe we should have brushed our teeth first," she heard Souji say.
"What are you implying, you jerk? You were the one who kissed me," Yosuke chuckled.
What.
She couldn't believe what she was seeing. Or, well, hearing.
Despite her shock, the recording went on.
"Mm. Forgive me."
Yosuke just chuckled again. Then it was quiet again, and after some more shifting sounds, the phone was picked up.
She caught the sight only briefly, but she was positive she saw Yosuke's blushing cheeks. That was, until the video suddenly stopped, the boy ending the recording.
Chie was screaming on the inside.
They are dating? But how..! It doesn't make any..
Well. It does kind of make sense. But still! How did she not know? How did nobody notice? She has to give it to them. They've concealed it perfectly.
It's not like she has any problem with it, but.. she's just really surprised. She always thought Yosuke was the super, super, super straight type of guy, judging by how he's acting sometimes.
Well. Guess you can't judge a book by its cover, huh?
Still a little mind-blown, she swipes to see some more pictures. Just out of curiosity, you know? It's not often that she has an opportunity like this.
However, when the next picture is a photo of Souji shirtless, his thumb pulling down on the waistband of his pants, she quickly regrets it. She swiped past that as fast as she could, her cheeks reddening slightly.
She felt guilty. It clearly wasn't meant for her to see, but.. there was nothing she could really do about it now.
After a few more random pictures of him, she stumbled upon another video. It seemed like Yosuke was recording it this time.
It began with a zoom into Souji's face. He was reading a book.
"Taking another pic?" He asked, turning a page in the book.
"Something like that."
Souji smiled, not saying anything. For a while, it was quiet, but then Yosuke spoke up again.
"Does it bother you? I can stop if you want."
Their eyes met, and for a bit, Chie wasn't sure what he was going to say. She wondered how Souji felt about it.
"Not really. If it makes you happy, I have no problem with it."
Yosuke put the phone down so that the camera was facing the floor, but didn't stop the recording just yet.
"You know.. It's going to be lonely when you leave Inaba. That's why I want to keep as many photos to remind me of you."
Chie felt so stupid. Of course this was the reason for all the photos. Out of all of them, Yosuke was probably going to miss him the most.
She felt a weird feeling pooling in her stomach. With a bittersweet smile, she exited from the video, not waiting for Souji's reply or how it ended. She already saw way too much of what she shouldn't have today.
She also deleted the few selfies she took today on his phone. It felt like they didn't deserve to be there, even if it was just meant to be a small joke.
She then put the phone into her pocket, safely keeping it there until she could give it back to the boy.
...
She only got around to giving it back the next day. She tried to find him in Junes before, but she just didn't have the luck.
"Oh my God. Oh my fucking God," Yosuke breathed out, distraught. "Thank you so much for getting it. I was so scared I lost it somewhere."
Chie just chuckled as she handed him the precious item.
"I'll buy you that food I promised you yesterday, okay? This is.. Ah, man. Seriously, thank you."
If Chie didn't know any better, she would've thought Yosuke was just glad he didn't have to spend his money on a new phone. It was so much more than just the phone, though.
"Hey, it's okay." She smiled. "Don't worry about it."