Chapter Text
The concept of encountering attractive strangers out and about is far from foreign to Yushi given he spends most of his day amongst people - on the platform waiting for his train, being in the actual cart, walking through the streets of a busy city and the campus of his uni all find him always surrounded by others and he's only ever nothing if not on the lookout. Sometimes someone catches his eye, some passing figure he'll never see again briefly appearing just to occupy his mind for a day or two, except.. that's the thing about routine, isn't it? The constant of meeting people in the same place at the same time over and over again inevitably forging an unspoken bond of sorts, a familiarity to an otherwise unorganized setting that doesn't actually exist. He muses about those stranger-not-strangers when they deviate from their routine, wonders if they do the same for him when Yushi does but fears they don't and prefers not to dwell on it. Oh well.
One morning finds him stepping into his usual train cart (yes, they're all the same, but he likes this kind of purposeful consistency, a planner by heart) to find a familiarly-unfamiliar old lady he thought he could trust taken his usual seat but whatever, an inadvertent reminder that he's definitely sparing others more thought than they do him but shelves the thought in favor of scanning for elsewhere to sit. There's enough options but he likes the corners, about as private of a spot as one can get in public transit, walking up to an entire free row though it's unfortunately facing another one so pauses to check who's sitting across before deciding for good.
Someone new looks up in the exact same second Yushi stops walking and only spares him brief notice, a bored, cursory glance that's just enough to acknowledge without actually really noticing and just as quick turns back to his phone, wholly unruffled. Yushi turns around to go back and sit with his newfound arch nemesis old lady despite himself.
So, attractive strangers he thinks about sometimes, relevant again. The new guy with his white beanie and the sharp, disinterested look in his eyes all become summarized in the very straightforward nickname of hot train guy™ for that day, just for storytelling purposes as Yushi recounts the whole thing to his dearest friend and uni coursemate Sion who in turn calls him a disaster gay and with that wraps up the topic entirely until later. Later, as it is, finds Yushi’s memory jogged upon returning to the train where he passes the guy's former seat to take his own elsewhere while sparing an idle thought (or two or three) for what the other’s day-to-day looks like, wonders if this was a deviation in his routine or the beginning of a new one, recalling the fact he was already gone by the time Yushi stepped off and considering the possibility he might perhaps be returning though the chances of running into one another are close to null, and yet, maybe not. Exactly a single stop later as though heard the thought, hot train guy™ in the flesh steps on the same train and cart, holy shit, and sits somewhere further away with exact precision that the student can see nothing but a sliver of his face through the gaps between seats. Que a descent into madness.
Over the course of something like a month (not that he's counting, but he is, it's exactly that) Yushi spares hot train guy™ (he would've picked another nickname if he knew this would be a long-term thing) more thought than someone sane would, he thinks, inadvertently aided by the fact he sees him almost every day - if not in the morning then at night or the other way around, sometimes catches sight of him out the window even if the stranger picks a different cart that time and by now clocked way too many things - the fact he’s always wearing white wired earphones, always takes one out when the conductor comes to check his ticket even if no words are exchanged, always fiddles with the wire when bored, sighs whenever he slumps into his seat, has a habit touching his ear and the piercing at it (he's got two on one side and three on the other but only really adjusts the former), almost always dresses tiptoeing the line between casual and to impress, not flashy but not boring, either, effortlessly cool leaning towards darker colors but not always, has a bear keychain on h- fuck, he looks Yushi's way and the student debates jumping out of the window, seriously trying to estimate how badly injured he'd get doing so.
Another observation, he's definitely caught Yushi staring on more than a handful of occasions but either doesn't care or finds it too uncomfortable to confront him, though judging by the fact he still frequents the same cart as him more often than not implies it's the former. Yushi could move to a different one himself, he's aware, but he's been sitting here since day one and it's hot train guy™ who's intruding in his space, if anything, except actually if the other walked up and told him to get lost he totally would. But for now, he stays and struggles not to stare and tries to mentally will his commute crush into getting a haircut as those are famous for disputing infatuation and should set him free. He hopes.
And then, it happens. No, not the haircut thing, that’d be too easy, but instead one morning leaves Yushi practically no choice but to sit opposite his infamous commute crush (something he's done a great job of avoiding thus far) unless he wants to stand or risk almost being roped into an arranged marriage again , so, after as hard of a mental debate as the few seconds it takes to step on and take in the scene will allow, he gives in. Playing it totally cool and calm and not weird at all, Yushi sits down and promptly downloads Subway Surfers and forces his eyes to stay glued to it the entire time, totally engrossed. Totally . And not at all thinking about the other's shoes tapping along to the beat of whatever he's listening to in his peripherals. Of course not.
A metaphorical weight over the student's shoulders finally lifts upon reaching the other's stop, a sigh of relief finally let out only to catch in his throat when Yushi realises that while the other's gone, his seat's not empty, no, because he forgot. His bag. No. Nonononononono what is he supposed to d-
"Please steer clear, the doors are closing."
Yushi's stupid, he's so, so incredibly stupid, both for not adhering to the warning of avoiding closing doors and for getting out a stop early holding a (hot, but still) stranger's bag with the intent of playing local superhero but without that second bit just looks like a really idiotic thief, barely made it out in time and immediately lost stranger guy in the dense crowd. The train leaves, Yushi's gonna be late to class and now he just has this, no matter how he looks at it, a completely random stranger's bag. Shucks.
He tries to reason that there's only so far the other could've gotten within the half a minute or so he's been gone and rushes through the influx of people as best as he can towards the station's exit, some half-formed idea of getting there first meaning hot train guy™ will notice Yushi and the extra bag and walk up or something..? He's not really sure, but it doesn't really matter because despite making it out and dumbly standing amongst a crowd trying to move forward like some freethinking asswipe for the better part of five minutes the density of people decreases, and with it his hope. There's absolutely no way the guy from his train could be walking this slow, he's gone. He's gone and Yushi's an idiot. God.
Sighing and with no other choice unless he's committing to the being stupid thing in which case just standing around all day could eventually work, Yushi finds an empty nearby bench and plops down, uncomfortable to be sat in the middle of still relatively heavy foot traffic but digresses. He's not planning to idle, anyway, Yushi'll make it quick. The plan is simple: totally not weirdly, with poise and without being too intrusive, he'll.. look through the additional bag in search of contact information and never ever use anything he finds for any reason besides this, he swears. As easy as stumbling across something personal to help strike up conversation could be.
Doing a once-over of his surroundings one last time just in case hot train guy™ decides to pop out from somewhere now and confirming this to not be the case, Yushi pulls back the zipper while pointedly ignoring the bear keychain dangling from it and looks inside with out-of-place nerves gnawing at his morale.
The first thing that stands out is a flash of bright orange that upon closer look turns out to be a can of Fanta , the special limited edition version with Jenna Ortega ’s face plastered on it. Yushi's not sure what to make of that so just doesn't and moves on, finding a loose piece of paper that appears a bit crumpled from the whole being in a bag thing and takes it out, reading.
INVENTORY CHECKLIST
Okay, nevermind.. Yushi ignores what appears to be a wallet with the thought that stumbling across an ID card and or memberships to various shops would only give him useless personal information he swore to stay away from seconds before and probably wouldn't offer any help in finding its owner because not like knowing the other's exact height or birthday or favorite grocery store will help track him down, anyway, eyes landing on a notebook he picks up like it’s contaminated and warily opens the first page, scanning doodles in dark ink and trying not to dwell on the fact one too many of them are of cats.
Bingo.
IF LOST PLEASE RETURN TO: MAEDA RIKU
E-MAIL: /EMAIL/
CALL: /NUMBER/
Oh, he has to- he has to call him . Can he send an e-mail? No, that's actually weird, what normal person does that on a business unrelated case when they can call? And in a time-sensitive instance like this.. okay, he can do a call... fuck, fuck , Yushi hates phone calls, moreso ones with hot guys from the train he's never spoken to before and who've definitely caught him staring and he's gonna look so weird and creepy for this, maybe he should start taking a different train and leave the other alone after this, yeah, okay, he'll look into th-
"Hello?"
Shit, he picked up, Yushi almost chucks his phone into the nearest bin. "Hi! Um-” The (not!) thief eyes the written name in front of him as though it would've changed in the few seconds since he last read it. “is this Riku?”
It's a stupid question, but Yushi's stupid so he asks this kind of thing. “Yes?”
“Uh, is it possible you may, um, have.. forgotten.. your bag.. on the train..?”
A gasp. “You have it?!”
“Yeah, um, I’m still at the station, so um..-’’ Yushi looks around in search of something noteworthy to describe his location and finds just that - a slab of copper in the shape of a personified pig standing on its hindlegs, one wearing an apron and chef's hat and holding a cake in one hand- hoove? Yushi's not sure, more concerned with what a baking pig has to do with trains and why he's only noticing the thing now when it's easily human-sized. “there's a statue of a pig nearby?”
“Pig.. oh, of course, the baker, got it, um- anything, um, is there perhaps anything you're wearing that I could look for, as well? Since there's a crowd..”
“Uh..” Yushi looks down at himself clad in boring monochrome, dark enough to explain as though he's got a funeral to attend immediately after school and didn't feel like changing. “just.. all black.. I guess I have a bit of a plaid shirt that stands out a bit, but.. sorry. I saw you before, though, so..”
A pause so terribly jarring due to the fact hot train guy's™ been speaking without missing any beats up until this point sounds out (in fact the opposite), the silence of the call heavy (maybe only on Yushi's end but still) despite the bustling of people all around elsewhere, this is bad. “Oh- okay, um- can- can I have your name?”
To make reporting him to the police easier?!!!! "Yushi."
"Yushi.." The other echoes, the Yushi in question’s so embarrassed he’s no idea how to survive their impending meeting. "I'll.. be there in just a second, okay? Please wait for me~”
"Yep." The (not!) creepy guy who just successfully introduced himself to his crush albeit in the weirdest context possible presses end call, tense. Does Riku know it's him? Probably not, he'd have no way to tell by his voice since they've never spoken before and Yushi's struggling to hold back the urge to bash his head into the nearest wall at hot train guy’s™ voice being.. whatever it is. He hadn't really thought of what it'd sound like much, well, maybe a bit in vague fantasies of speaking to him, but the real thing knocks anything he could've come up with out of the park (especially that last thing Riku said which sounded almost.. cutesy? Maybe Yushi's losing it) and now he gets the fun task of sitting around waiting for the other to show up while mulling this over and trying not to die. Great. Not that Yushi's in a rush, anyway, the lecture he's already resigned himself to being late to is in something like half an hour but the anxiety of somehow being in this situation where Riku, who's name he somehow knows now and who also knows his and even said it, is also the same guy likely rushing over to see him- well, not Yushi as a person, exactly, but delusion knows no bounds, more kills than helps him, nerves alight. Yushi needs to get out, he thinks, wondering: Can he just throw Riku's bag in some bush and text him a picture of where it is and leave? Then again, no, he already kind of implied he'd sit around and wait, s-
Oh god, he's here, Yushi almost does a backwards roll off and away from the bench at the sight of a beauty to bring down heavens rushing towards the statue nearby, yet to notice the guy clutching his pearls (bag) but gaze intently searching, scanning, he'll notice him any second now, shit, shit, shit, sh-
He does and the world doesn't explode, but it was definitely close. The concentrated frown on Riku's face eases, gait promptly fixed to a more relaxed one and the barest hint of a smile ticking the corners of his lips upwards, approach cool. Like him. Yushi's still debating running off. “Hi,” Too late now, he settles for holding Riku's bag out towards him instead and hopes for the best, “ oh- thank you, Yushi.” unsure of where to look when the stranger cradles it to his chest like one would a beloved stuffed toy and not, you know, a bag, grin sunny and fox-like. He's too handsome for Yushi's well-being. “You’ve just saved my life, to be honest, I, um..” Hesitance? Riku does not look like a guy who gets nervous talking to strangers. Does he? “are you.. busy?”
Yushi wonders if the pinch to his own leg he then does to check if this is real is as subtle as he tries to make it, gulping. What. “Uh, no?”
“I just- I work in a bakery not far from here and I thought, uh-” The bear keychain’s become a fidget toy and the floor almost as interesting as the person Riku's talking to, apparently, struggling to keep his attention on either one. “you could come in and pick anything you want for free? As a thank you.”
This can't be real, he's shy. He's shy and Yushi's getting rewarded with free food for being an idiot, a bad thing that'll encourage further stupid behavior. And yet. “Okay.”
“Cool.” It's not cool, Yushi's dying and Riku just bit his lip in an attempt to not smile and he saw it and knows Riku saw him see it, a murder attempt in broad daylight. “Just this way.”
.
It becomes very apparent very quickly that Riku is, in fact, shy like Yushi himself, though unlike the student he's at least got genuine attempts at conversation up his sleeve, clearly more apt than the absolute dork travesty currently cosplaying a brick wall or worse and wishing he could just not. Undeterred, however, Riku takes the dry replies and makes it work. Somehow. He tells the student about the bakery he works at, Panda's Bread House, jokes about the free food being a ploy to convert him into a customer and dutifully advertises on their behalf though it sounds genuine. Maybe he's just that good at customer service, Yushi muses, ever so slightly more at ease at his crush carrying the conversation only for Riku to stop right as he has that thought. Shit.
The last thing either of them said was yet another one of Yushi's amazing witty replies in the form of a “that makes sense” at the prompt of Riku mentioning their customers agreeing with him about the quality of pastries his place of work offers with the conclusion they probably wouldn't frequent the bakery otherwise and now he's looking at him, expectant. Like waiting for something.. more. Yushi understands, he does, that his first impression is always that of some socially inept dork/potential narcissist with no interest in other people but he's literally. Just. Struggling. He wants to ask Riku things, to get to know him, but considering their already weird dynamic of hot guy and Mr. infatuated and the fact leading conversation means potentially tapping into something upsetting because even though, sure, staying on the topic of Riku’s work is probably safe, he hesitates because what if. It's those what ifs that get him, really, Yushi tries his best to keep the peace in whatever conversation he's involved in and asking stuff is one of the easiest ways to do the opposite. It's not that bad when he's closer with someone, like Sion, who thinks he's hot shit and honestly only benefits from jabs, but Yushi can only do those because he knows what's comfortable and what's not. With strangers, though, he doesn't. Hence awkward silence.
It's been way too long to be socially acceptable but hot train guy™ seems perfectly content letting the silence hang to a point in which Yushi’s starting to doubt it being prompt and instead considers if maybe Riku just actually wants to walk quietly meaning disrupting that peace would be a bad thing, actually, but then thinks back on the word dork and speaks lest it becomes too relevant. “Um.. so.. what's your favorite thing you guys sell?” Nevermind the fact it could turn out Riku's deathly allergic to gluten or some crap and about to sadly declare this and Yushi's just ruined everything.
“Wanna guess?”
Heavens. What. “Um..” Maybe it'd be easier to think if Riku wasn't- maybe Yushi's imagining it but swears the other's batting his eyelashes at him. Just who is this guy?! “maybe.. macarons?” He doesn't know if they sell that kind of thing and instantly regrets assuming, hindered in an already difficult task of talking to the other by the incessant burning of his ears, a walking, (barely) talking travesty.
“Is that what you like?”
Ah. He's sharp. Great. “Yes.”
“Then you'll be happy to know we sell six different flavors, but lemon’s the most amazing thing on planet Earth, you have to try it, it's like eating pure joy.” Riku grins as if happy at the mere thought, Yushi keeps noting the foxy way in which his eyes crinkle when he does. “But for me, I've been into donuts lately, bread in general. My boss is, like, obsessed with bread and once threatened to fire one of my coworkers for cutting it out of his diet because Saku thinks it'll interfere with our love for the place or something.” He laughs to himself, a light-hearted chuckle Yushi can't watch because he'll smile too and then it'll be weird. “Anyway, we're almost here, look.” Riku points up ahead at an upcoming shop with a pastel-pink sign and the supposed panda mascot next to it, a cartoony chibi version with the black parts of its fur exchanged to a hot pink and an animated tongue sticking out as though licking the remnants of some food it'd had away from its face. It's cute, a bit childish, but most of all considering Riku's mostly more edgy than childish (keychain aside) get-up, a place Yushi never expected him to step foot in let alone work at. Then again, he also didn't expect him to be shy nor playfully flirt just enough to keep Yushi on his toes but not too much that it's unsettling, to lead him into a false sense of security by seemingly taking the opportunity to speak about himself the entire time only to then abruptly stop and prompt Yushi to engage, too, to be.. completely different from what he expected and yet no less enticing. Gosh.
Just steps short of their destination Yushi's attempting to gauge the indoors through the window when Riku walks up first to hold the door open for him and the student thinks he'll never recover from this interaction, flustered. Then again, he’s been in a constant state of that since he stepped out of his train a stop early ten minutes ago. "I know it looks dead at the moment," He's right, the place is practically deserted save for the cashier and some girl on her laptop in the corner. "but we're pretty busy during lunch." Yushi's led to the display of pastries and by extension the cash register where Riku turns away from him to the guy curiously looking at them instead. "Hi, Jaehee, this is Yushi who saved my life today." Cashier guy - Jaehee, blinks at the stranger, surprised. "Put anything he wants on my tab, be back."
Yushi can only watch in horror as the only person he kind of knows disappears behind some doorway, now left with an even less familiar one politely smiling in wait, "Hi,” a charming dimple poked into his cheek and kind eyes, spitting image of the term friendly-looking. “welcome to Panda's Bread House . Would you like a recommendation?"
Yushi nods.
"I'm personally quite taken to our butter cookies, they're wonderful with a hot drink of choice this time of year as the impending colder season approaches, though Riku'd probably recommend our selection of donuts, particularly sugar glazed. Would you like both?”
Getting one thing is perfectly acceptable, two is already a little greedy though not morally wrong, three (factoring in the macarons Riku swore up and down Yushi had to try) is just too much no matter how he looks at it. Not in a filling sense, Yushi's famously in a constant state of munching and could probably bankrupt this place in a few days time with ease but morals. He saved one bag, he can't have three pastries for it. But what should he do? Yushi already asked this guy for a recommendation, he can't just ignore it now, can he?! “Um..” Maybe he can just get the two to go and disappear before Riku comes back and then he'll never know? Sure, worth a try. “Yes, thank you.”
“Would you like a drink with that? Chamomile tea is a customer favorite.”
Yushi's more of a coffee guy. “Sure.”
“And would that be for here or to-go?” It's just then that Riku reappears from the back in an apron matching Jaehee's and in yet another moment of poor decision-making Yushi immediately folds when the other turns to him upon hearing that, expectant.
"..Here." Shit.
"Wonderful! Please sit, your order will be ready shortly."
Yushi disposes of himself in a corner, a table as far out of sight of the workers (mainly Riku because it's embarrassing) as possible and looks out the window in thought, observes passerbys in wait. He thinks back to the class he's running late for and checks the time, grimacing. No way he's making his next train meaning it'll be over an hour's worth of delay at least and by the time he shows up Sion might've already put up missing person posters all over the campus and called the police. Or he's overslept and won't even notice, who knows.
The bakery’s cute, a bit too pink for Yushi's personal taste but he can appreciate avant garde when he sees it in an otherwise modern, monotone world, the hot pink contrasting with lighter shades of it and ochre as the only other color seemingly allowed within the space is surely.. new. Even further baffling is the fact the store sign out front appeared to be using Kristen ITC as its font which is, in Yushi's humble opinion, only a breath less scandalous than Comic Sans MS though may be objectively fuglier. Still, that and the, not jazz because that'd be too predictable, some experimental techno EDM or something of the sort quietly blasting through the speakers all combined make for a certain kind of vibe he can't exactly put his finger on but oddly doesn't despise. Perhaps it's the cute guys working there (even in Yushi's state of constant struggle he can acknowledge the cashier’s cheerfully disarming vibe contrasting the imposing height is rather charming as well and Riku.. does he even need to explain?) or the anticipation of free food, perhaps the sudden twist of events in an otherwise consistent routine he hadn't noticed turning too dull, or, maybe, just maybe, the train doors actually got him on the way out and squeezed Yushi's head so hard he bled out and now his brain’s granted him one last favor in the form of some happily hyperrealistic pre-death dream. Well, not that realistic, he suppos-
Footsteps halt the thought, Yushi turns to the source only to be met with Riku walking up, cutesy in his pink apron and a tray in hand. “Are you hiding?” He jokes, stopped by the table and began placing things down one by one. “From me?” A glazed donut, “Here I thought-” one, two, three, four butter cookies, “-you enjoyed our-” a cup of tea, “-earlier chat.” and- and a fourth thing. Six macarons. Yushi meets his eye as the other casually goes to sit across, pouty as though offended. “Did I misread?”
Yushi shakes his head, flustered at the unexpected company and food and everything, “No, that's not it, I just..” well-aware he's an absolute disaster of man pretending to be distracted by stirring sugar into his tea and wishing it could melt his struggle along with it, but no such luck, unfortunately. At least Riku appears more humored than put-off. "Thank you, you're really kind for.. this."
The other waves him off. "Didn't you get out of the train early just to bring me my backpack?"
Yushi nearly chokes on his tea (thank god he's slow and didn't take a sip yet), abandoning the idea of drinking and slowly places the cup down instead. Get. It. Together. "I.. maybe.." His voice is so quiet he’s straight-up discovering new, negative decibels and honestly not even sure Riku heard the reply, usually believing to be at least a little less of a social travesty than this but proven wrong, apparently.
"Where do you usually go, anyway?" Riku picks up one of the macarons he'd brought, "I know it's not here." but it's pink and based on what Yushi knows of colors not the lemon one. Huh.
"Um, uni. It's the next stop." The other pauses at hearing this and seems to mull it over as if having something to say but thinks better of it, munching away one bite at a time instead though Yushi can't fathom why considering the macaron’s easily bite-sized in of itself but digresses. This means Yushi has to keep talking and he's doing a really shit job right now because it's already been like ten seconds and so awkward and- just- "So, um," Too far in to back out now, he just has to finish that sentence. Somehow. "do you.. like working here?”
“Yeah, it's nice. What do you study?”
“Surveying.” Riku's eyebrows knit ever so slightly and Yushi supposes that's as clear of a prompt for elaborate as it gets, hands folded in his lap because he doesn't know what the fuck to do with himself in this one-on-one conversation with Riku across him and not beside like before where he could at least look out on the road and not him. “Um, it's, like, taking exact dimensions of.. land.. buildings.. other immovable objects,that kind of thing.” He's still confused and Yushi's famously terrible at explaining things, worried he'll sound pretentious and scrambling to make it make sense because, honestly, even to him it doesn't and it's his major . “Uh, just.. for example, think, like.. if someone has property they'd like to split or multiple they'd want to combine, surveyors would go there and putz around for a bit wearing hi-vis so it complies with the law.”
Riku giggles, hiding behind his hand. “I see.. I.. I've honestly never heard of this profession, sorry.”
“It's not very popular, so.. easy to get a scholarship.” Yushi supplies, taking no offense. That's kind of the appeal.
“Right.” Riku considers for a moment, thoughtful. “Can I ask.. um, do you not usually care for sweets?"
Huh? "No, I.. like them."
"But not now?"
Ah. "That's not- um, I just.." Yushi goes to pick the closest thing to him that happens to be the macaron plate, hand paused above the famous lemon but he goes past it to another pink one instead. Just in case Riku wants it. "got.. distracted.."
His crush nods in thought, hands clasped together in front of him. "Then should I leave you to it?"
Yes, but also, no? Yushi's life is so hard , food in his mouth deterring speech though he's not doing himself any favors by talking, anyhow, resigning to the fact he’s already gotten this far and just shakes his head despite doing nothing but embarrassing himself in the other's company. Oh well.
Riku smiles. Again. "Thoughts?"
Mostly about the fact he’s got a dimple on one side Yushi only now noticed, "Um.." taking his first successful sip of tea so far as a distraction and grimacing. Too much sugar, his own fault, Riku looks away when caught laughing. Dang. "It's nice."
"But the tea not so much?"
"I.. overdid the sugar.."
"I can get you a new cup, if you'd like."
"It's okay.." Yushi takes another sip to drive his point, suffers instant regret and looks up at barely contained giggles from across him, thinks he'd probably down the whole thing for Riku's entertainment if the other so asked, then takes this thought and puts it in reverse until it drives off the edge of a cliff, hoping it’ll die. Ugh.
He's still laughing. “Are you sure you don't want something else to drink?”
Yushi’s mouth may taste like cavities forming in real time but for all that it feels bad making Riku run around would be worse. “No..” He hopes eating more will work as a distraction and picks up another macaron, one in white. “Are you having more?”
“No, no, all yours, don't worry.” That's not-! “Though in hindsight it's.. d’you want a box for leftovers?”
There's an implication there that Riku assumes Yushi couldn't eat all of this on his own which is funny because Sion could attest from first-hand experience that he could and would, the type of person to proclaim he's so full he can never eat again only to start snacking again minutes later. But. “No, it's okay, you.. you should eat, too..” Riku's batting his eyelashes at him again, a pretty good method of attack but also just pretty, period. “if you want.” Yushi’s so brave, he is.
“If you insist..” The other jokes, or maybe it's not a joke, Yushi's not really sure about anything anymore besides the fact Riku's giving him the time of day when he's hot (and cute, too, apparently) train guy™ and Yushi's.. Yushi. “So,” He reaches for a butter cookie this time and Yushi follows, less pressured since they're all the same. “surveying.. is that, like, your passion, or..”
Yes, he loves standing outside in extreme temperatures either fighting heat exhaustion or freezing his balls off while looking stupid and making passerbys think he's filming them all while tasked with ensuring the safety of devices worth more than his life just to put some dots on a map. Passionate, even! “Not.. not really, I mean, it's kinda just.. work.. so..” Admitting his true hobbies are eating and sleeping would probably sound too lame so Yushi keeps that to himself, inquiring instead: “What about you?”
.
Yushi feels he more skips than walks to his lecture but for all that the academic guilt of being late and disrespecting his prof kicks in as soon as Riku’s out of sight, the other’s still too prevalent of a happy thought at the forefront of his mind so it’s honestly hard to be discouraged. He couldn’t have dreamt this turnout up if he tried, and yet, it actually literally happened. Yushi still tastes sugar in his teeth when he finally turns up and Sion’s shooting lasers his way with an impending interrogation already prepared, he’s sure, walking to his designated non-designated seat and plopping down with a stupid, unbothered grin.
“Where were you?!” Sion scrunches his nose up, sniffing. “And why do you smell like Pinky Pie?”
“Like what?!”
“From My Little Pony, the one who lives/works in a bakery, I mean you smell like you fell in a pile of powdered sugar.”
Why (and how) on earth Sion knows the cast of My Little Pony is a relevant topic Yushi'd like to inquire about, and he will, but first, something else. “Do you remember hot train guy™ ?” He emphasizes the trademark, Sion nods. “This morning I somehow sat across him and obviously couldn't look so I only noticed that he left his bag behind after he was already out at his stop and-” It's still embarrassing even if it went well and Yushi knows Sion's not gonna let him live this down, but also, like, can't not tell him. “-I- I don't know, I just took it and tracked him down without thinking.”
His friend's eyebrows are knit, no doubt a quip about being irresponsible at the tip of his tongue but Yushi goes on before he can say it.
“He said he works at a bakery and wanted to give me free food for, as he put it, saving his life, so I said yes and- we talked for, like, half an hour, I did a bunch of really embarrassing shit but either he's way too nice or was into it, I don't-” He gulps, ears warming at a memory though it's long gone, yet still so fresh. “he said I had to try his favorite of the macarons they sold but I thought I'd just let him have it but then he misinterpreted and asked if I just didn't like them when I said I did but I clarified and he literally got so shy I almost died. Like, hung his head and started stuttering insisting he wanted me to have it.” Yushi grabs the other by the shoulders and stares at him dead-on, genuinely tweaking out. “His name is Riku and he graduated as a Chem major last year and started working as a server at the bakery because his boss scouted him on the street by saying he wanted handsome guys to work there and he's so nice and not actually a bad boy type like I thought? He bats his eyelashes at people- maybe that was just me, I don't know, and he walked me to the door, like, thanks for saving my life, and I was, like, it's no big deal, but he went: it is to me. ” Sion at least has the courtesy to try not laughing though Yushi can see he's struggling, no less desperate and infinitely more embarrassed at the reception. “I'm gonna die, I'm, like, permanently blushing around him, and you know ears are like right by your brain, right? What if my brain melts? What do I do then?” His friend’s struggle worsens, inadvertently taunting and Yushi gives up, slumping back in his chair with crossed arms and a sigh. “You suck.”
Sion keeps most of his laughter to himself, at least, “Yushi,” arm slung over the latecomer’s shoulder in an attempt to make up for what he lacks in empathy with physical affection. “I was just keeping track of whether or not that's the longest you've ever talked non-stop.” Yushi hates the fact this might actually be it. “But, hey, your dream came true, right? So now what?”
“He said see you later, so- I don't know. Does this mean he wants to talk more on the way back or just literally see each other later like usual?”
“Probably talk, save him a seat when you get on.”
“But what do I say? I already used up all my dialogue options, even- ugh, he does this thing where, like, he talks, and I get to happily sit and listen, then I reply something, bam. Dead silence and he looks at me and just waits. What if he's making fun of me?”
“Did he laugh when he did it?”
No, but.. “It's just so awkward..”
“That's kind of your appeal, to be honest.”
“Thanks.”
Yushi’s pulling a more concerned face than he realises, apparently, because after a brief staring contest the former loses because Sion’s got that unnerving look blue-eyed people do despite his eyes being a poopy brown, really, how he does it is beyond him, his friend/foe offers this: “I can go with you if you let me crash at yours tonight.”
Of course, so he can mog the fuck out of Yushi who'll then have no choice but to watch as Riku falls for his best friend instead? He'd rather eat rocks. “No, you're too handsome to be meeting people I like.”
“Wh- come on.”
“I have to.. do this on my own. I just don't know how.”
“Didn't you already manage thirty minutes or something? It'll be less than that this time.”
Still. “Whatever,” He's got, like, eight hours to think of something, Yushi's sure he'll manage. Well. More like hopes. “what's with you and My Little Pony?”
.
Not like Yushi's counting, but it only takes two hundred and twelve seconds to get from his stop to Riku's and another thirty two for the train to start moving again after that. Riku steps in within the first seven, spots Yushi at eleven, walks over and sits beside him with a muted “hi” at exactly twenty.
“Hi,” Yushi overrides his default settings that try to immediately clam up and continues, makes initiative, as Sion advised him to. “how was work?” Nevermind the fact he had to practice the entire day and has no idea how to go from here, the rest of his friend's advice long gone down the drain the second Riku looked at him.
“Oh, um, it was okay, the usual.” He's clearly taken aback but doesn't mention it, a bit awkward. Again. “what about you? Did you get to school?”
“Yeah, got to stand outside and look stupid the entire day. The usual.” It's a bit easier sitting side-by-side than facing one another on one hand, but on the other their shoulders are close enough to feel the proximity even if not directly touching, and- “I, um, I noticed the bakery smells like powdered sugar, is that.. like..” He trails off, unsure of where the fuck that question was supposed to go. It's just because of Sion's first comment upon Yushi's arrival that he recalled it, really, not so much for noting the fact himself.
Is that a weird thing to ask? Whatever, Riku doesn’t bring it up. “Uh, yeah, on purpose. It kinda sticks, though,” He picks his shirt by the collar and lifts it to his nose, sniffing. “I think. I can't actually tell since I was there the whole day.”
"My friend asked about it when we met later, so..”
“Really?” Riku turns to him, intrigued. “What'd you say?”
“Uh..” So much for not having to look at one another. “just.. that I went to a bakery..”
“Aw, you didn't mention the handsome guy whose life you saved?” Yushi hangs his head and Riku giggles. “Kidding. Are you going home now?”
“Yeah. Are you?”
“Yep, I live in a two-bedroom with my roommate a few stops down from Card Hall.”
Card Hall. Yushi's stop. Does Riku- no, shut up. Unless? “Oh, that's.. cool. I.. used to room with a guy in the dorms, but..” He was a dirty, filthy cretin. “um.. moved out. On my own.”
“Doesn't it get a bit lonely to live alone?”
Not really, that’s the whole appeal. “I kind of have a cat.”
“Wh- really? I love cats- d’you have any pictures?” Yushi nods, already picking his phone out to search and grateful to have a clear task to busy himself with while Riku goes on. “I’ve always wanted one but it's like life doesn't want me to, first I have an allergy, then my landlord doesn't allow it and I worry I'd be too busy to care for it, just.. ugh. Sucks.”
The student pauses, turning to him. “Allergy?”
“It's fairly mild, I think, I only realised I had it during a sleepover at a friend's house who had a very friendly fluffball after hanging out with whom I teared up. I thought I was just happy but when other symptoms showed up I thought, oh. Devastating.”
Yushi chuckles despite himself, something about the image of tearing up out of an allergy and Riku misinterpreting it as joy striking his funny bone for some reason. Maybe the fact he has a terrible crush on the other more than anything. “Um, here.” Finally picked out one of five billion photos that’s not blurry or tilted like most, he timidly shows his screen and may or may not stop breathing when Riku leans ever so slightly closer to see most likely without conscious thought but Yushi's consciously thinking about it. Alot. “Her name is Tich.”
Riku's smiling at the photo with a hand clutched over his heart like he wants to reach through the screen, the face of a man deprived of a cat when he really should be allowed one. “Tich?” He turns to Yushi.
“Because the black coat with orange spots is a bit like cheetahs but inverted so my neighbor wanted to reverse it but it sounded lame so she shortened it to Tich.”
The other quirks an eyebrow in question. “You.. asked your neighbor to name your cat?”
“N-no, just-” Yushi's too into him to survive this kind of expression, hot in all the wrong places. “it's not my cat, I said kinda because it climbs over to my balcony often and we hang out sometimes so I asked my neighbor about it.”
“Oh.” Riku ends the intrusion of Yushi's space (for the better but still unfortunate) by straightening back into his seat, pouted in thought. “Maybe I should've gotten a place with a balcony, too..”
A very stupid part of Yushi wants to invite him over to meet said cat, but he won't because that'd be insane. But, like- no, no, he's done enough stupid shit for one day. Or a month. Or lifetime.
.
The first thing Yushi does upon returning home and getting inside is ditch his usual routine of 1 - place down bag, 2 - if wearing a jacket remove it, 3 - put keys on designated hook and 4 - take off shoes in favor of leaning against the door to sigh, head full of thought. Mostly of Riku, of the things he says, the way he talks, the way he doesn’t talk when listening, his voice, his hair, the glint of his piercings peeking out amidst the dark strands, his habit of running a hand through his bangs that's even more fatal to witness up-close, his cat allergy, his degree in Chemistry, his roommate he didn't elaborate on, his-
Too much. Yushi completes the rest of the steps and goes on with his evening as intended.