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The live performance in Shanghai was a massive success. In several minutes, it became the number one trending topic being talked about on the internet, according to Natsumi. Everyone was enjoying the performance, but most of all, Keke finally got to talk to her parents about what she really wants to do with her future. A happy ending indeed, the girl gets to conquer her hesitations and let herself pursue what she likes and cherish.
If only Sumire was laying on her hotel bed right now, tonight will be an absolutely perfect night, but no. Instead, she is currently sitting, sipping her warm tea in a certain cafe in Shanghai, right in front of the reason why she came to this place in the very first place. The said girl also sips her tea while looking away at the busy road next to their cafe seat. A comfortable silence occurs between them, they just knew they didn’t need to force a topic to not be awkward with each other, simply because they're comfortable together. At least it’s what Sumire wants to believe.
It all started when Keke dragged her to the corner, right after they finished changing post-performance. The girl makes sure none of their friends saw them together alone and whispers to the taller member.
“Do you need to go somewhere after this?”
“No? Just planning to take a long nice shower after all of that” Sumire shrugged, mentioning the performance. “And why would you need to know that? and why are we whisp-”
“Shut up. After your shower, meet me at this cafe” Keke took out her phone and sent Sumire the location. “Just you… Alone.” She emphasized, looking straight towards the blonde.
“G-got it…” Sumire stutters, this is something so sudden, and bold, coming from Keke. She doesn’t dare to raise another question, predicting she would just be answered with another ‘shut up’s.
What should have been a relaxing shower for Sumire, was not. Her head is full of questions, what could be so important, that Keke wants to talk to her in the middle of the night? No, no, no, that’s not the main problem. The main problem is that she’s going to meet Keke, in a cafe, and most importantly alone, just the two of them. Is it natural for Sumire to be this nervous? Well, Sumire has been falling for Keke for ages now, something about that girl always makes Sumire’s heart skip a beat, so it is no surprises that she’s a little bit, just a tiny bit, excited for this outing.
She dries her hair, makes sure she smells good, and dresses casual, which is really important. Of course she does not want to make the other girl think that she’s really looking forward to this ‘casual’ meeting, yup it is just a casual meeting and a simple navy shirt paired with a black jeans will do the job just fine. With only her phone and wallet, she quietly leaves the hotel so that the other Liella members would not throw questions at her. She shrugs off the cold night wind hitting her skin.
And that’s how she ends up here, with her crush, alone, in a quiet cafe beside a busy street. The warm street lamp illuminates Keke so nicely that it makes Sumire’s heart races like crazy.
Deciding to breaks the silence, Keke speaks up,
“You know…I came to this cafe a couple days ago…with Kanon”
Yup, She should have expected this in the very first place. Sumire knew very well Keke’s head over heels for their group leader. The way Keke talks, admires, and smiles at Kanon answers it all. But really, Keke wasn’t the one to blame here, who doesn’t like Kanon right? Kanon is kindhearted, a gentle girl with all the charisma the world could give to an individual, a ‘Mary Sue’ indeed. In contrast to herself…
“Yeah? What did you two talk about?” She asked, she swallowed down her tea with all of her jealousy.
“About my decision…for my future” She smiles and continues, “at that time I was persistent to go to the university at Beijing”
Sumire sits there silent, she stares at Keke, waiting for her to continue the story.
“I told her that I need to return the favor to my parents after allowing me to stay in Japan for that long…”
“You’re really hard on yourself huh?”
“You’re one to say…” Keke frowns
Another silence, Sumire doesn’t see the purpose of this talk at all. Keke wasn’t the type to have this type of conversation after all, especially with her.
“Glad Kanon helped you overcome all of that, you should properly thank her, you know?”
Keke notices the slight change in Sumire's tone, she grabs her cup with both hands and stares at it.
“Do you like the tea? It’s one of my favourites…ah! Kanon also said she likes it”
Sumire exhales, she straightens up and finishes her rest of hot tea in one go. Not her style to enjoy a well-made tea, but she needed the burning sensation to drown the voices in her head. Honestly, she knew Keke noticed how her tone changed, but who cares? Now the more she thinks about it, she kinda regrets agreeing nor feels excited to come here.
“Oh really? Thought she was more of a coffee person” She reaches for a tissue to wipe her lips, while forcing herself to act all curious.
Keke chuckles, “Now that you mentioned it, should I invite her to this old cafe that serves really good quality coffee as a thank you?”
“I don’t know, should you?” She nonchalantly answered while tapping her phone’s screen to check the time.
10.25 p.m…huh… Sumire really wants this conversation to end. She had a long day today, a very tiring one… and hearing her crush talk about planning to go on a ‘date’ with someone else was not something she would choose to do today, not on every other day tho.
Sumire was about to reach her cup until she remembered she just finished her tea a while ago. Another regret, that was a good tea. Does this night was really made for Sumire to feel all types of regret a human being could possibly feel?
“That’s what you get from being too greedy” Keke mischievously grinned while showing off her cup of tea.
Sumire mouths a silent ‘shut up’ to Keke and stares at the crowded streets. Her eyes landed on the people there. There’s friend groups taking selfies and sharing snacks, there’s grown-ups walking while busy on their phones, and several other people talking with a language she’s foreign of. People watching wasn’t something Sumire would do for a hobby, but sometimes it does feel nice, especially if she needs something to distract herself.
“Do you mean it, Sumire?”
Sumire was caught off guard, she turned her head towards Keke while still putting her hand on the table to support her chin. “Pardon?”
“When you said that you want to see me continue to perform on stage…do you really mean it?”
“…..Why would I lie about something like that?” Sumire averts her gaze from Keke, slowly feeling heat creeping up to her cheeks…she’s just not used to being honest towards Keke.
“Promise?” Keke whispers, yet loud enough for Sumire to hear it.
“Promise me you will always be there to see me on stage?”
This was not on Sumire’s bingo card. The way Keke spoke gently to her while staring straight at Sumire, searching for certainty. Sumire’s heart is beating fast, really fast. She prays to God above to let the cold night breeze calm her head and the noises from the street to cover her noisy heartbeat.
“A-as long as I get the front seat to your p-performances”.
‘Fuck. That was not cool Sumire Heanna’ She thought to herself.
It’s over for her, the stutters? the way her face is now as red as a tomato? It will be a miracle to have Keke not tease her about what just happened.
“Even at times when you’re gonna be very busy?”
“I’ll make time…”
“For me?” Keke tilts her head a little and stares upward at Sumire, a breeze hits her hair making it uneven, and the combination of the street lamp with the moonlight on her face was something Sumire could never get enough of.
Sumire’s fighting for dear life here, fighting the urge of wanting to hold the girl in front of her, the urge to tuck her hair behind her ear and caress her cheeks, finally to top all of it is the urge to ki- wait what? No, focus Sumire, you’re in the middle of a conversation.
“For you…”
Keke laughs, leaving Sumire stares at her in disbelief, ‘really? in moments like this?’. She swallowed all of her pride for this? Well it’s not like it is unexpected or what…, she was hoping Keke could read the room a little bit more tho…
“Oh c’mon, why so tense, isopod?” Keke snorts while reaching her cup.
“You-“ Just as Sumire wants to continue the banter, Keke turns the side of the cup she had been drinking at to face towards Sumire. She slowly lifts her cup and presses it against the blushing girl’s lips.
Sumire freezes, as hard as a rock, not knowing what to do with this situation other than instinctively opening her mouth a little. Seeing this, Keke tilted the cup a little so that the content could easily be passed to Sumire’s mouth.
Sumire was expecting the taste of the tea she was craving a while ago, but no, it was different.
It was a familiar favorite taste for her. It was green tea.
After making sure Sumire tasted the tea in her cup, Keke slowly pulled down the cup and smiled. Her condition is no better than Sumire, she is also a blushing mess. Fidgeting with her fingers, she opens her mouth,
“D-do you like the tea?”
Sumire feels like floating and suffocating at the same time. That was a sly move…especially for Keke standards. Ah… this is bad, Sumire had taken a shower yet she’s sweating this much again. Sumire swallows her saliva that still has the remnants taste of the tea, she puts her hand over her mouth, trying her best to cover her red-painted face.
“Y-yeah…”