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Kantaro is, for the lack of a better word, fucked.
He doesn’t know what compelled him to bring the plush he spent so much time working on to make, only to drop it like an idiot. Theoretically, he could just remake the thing (and do it better this time), but he has gotten attached to it and doesn’t want to forget about it all willy-nilly.
However, Amprule just finished performing, and everyone in Visty wants to drop by and at least say hi before they leave. So, Kantaro has agreed to search the place from top the bottom after they say their praises with the help of his friends (instead of frantically searching through the entire venue like his life depends on it). Nonetheless, this won’t stop him from looking around all the way to their green room.
(Though his attempt is unsuccessful.)
(He silently hopes that no one finds it before he does and throws it out.)
Shogo knocks on their door, and Chungsung opens it. Her face breaks into a smile when she sees them.
“Hello, everyone!”
“Who is it?” They hear Dongha call out from inside.
“Visty has decided to grace us with their presence.”
“Sure, let them in.”
Chungsung opens the door, bows. “Welcome, everyone.”
Kantaro hears Aoi squeal next to him as they enter. They’ve always been rather fond of Amprule’s aesthetic, likening them to a ‘prince and his loyal knight’. Kantaro thinks they’re being generous with their compliments.
“We wanted to congratulate you on your performance!” Shogo starts.
“You guys were su~per cool out there!” and Toma continues.
“Amprule will win this round for sure!”
Aoi nods along to their words. “You both looked like royalty out there!”
“Both?” Chungsung parrots, baffled.
“Because I am royalty,” Dongha says back. Looking at him now, he has changed out of his stage outfit into something more ‘casual’, but even then, he is wearing something obviously luxurious.
“Ah! I didn’t mean to-”
“Bocchama, I think Aoi-sama is just trying to say that they were deeply moved by your performance.”
Dongha only Hmphs in response before Toma starts to say something to change the topic.
What a brat , Kantaro thinks, who does he think he is, being bitchy about a nice thing Aoi was saying? He clearly has it better than all four of them combined, just seeing all the designer items sitting around the room, why is he being a huge asshole on top of it all?
Then all of Kantaro’s pettiness disappears, and an involuntary yelp comes out of his mouth when he notices a certain plushie sticking out like a sore thumb amongst their stuff.
“You found it?!” He says (more like screams with how relieved and happy he is) as he rushes to it.
“Ah, I spotted it before the performance,” Chungsung explains. “I was going to drop it off at the lost and found on our way out since I was short on time.”
Kantaro picks it up and holds it close. “Thank you for finding and holding onto it!”
“It was no problem. May I ask where you acquired the little one? Or perhaps you were the one who crafted it?”
“... I did.” She sounded like she knew what the answer was while asking. Kantaro doesn’t need to be insulted by the butler of a rich brat about his sewing skills. “It’s my first time making one.”
“In that case, it is well done. I believe your skills will only get better from here on, Kantaro-sama,” She sounds like she actually means it. More importantly, she sounds kind. Huh , he thinks to himself, maybe she isn’t a total meanie like her master .
“I got it!” Speaking of her master, Dongha suddenly speaks up. “It’s from his phantom!”
Chungsung looks at the plushie in his arms, face tilted, trying to connect the dots on what Dongha was saying. “Oh, you're right! So that’s why it looked so familiar!”
“You two recognized it?”
“Bocchama did; he is rather fond of your phantom! He likes plushi-” Her sentence is interrupted by Dongha jamming her in the stomach with his cane, face flushed red in embarrassment.
“Stop saying unnecessary things!”
“My apologies,” Chungsung manages, doubled over from the impact. (Kantaro could swear he sees a smile on her face.)
“Ahem, I just think a life-sized plushie you could maybe use as a bed could be… amusing. Not that I am interested in childish things like that.”
“Aren’t you younger than me?” he says without thinking. Shit .
Chungsung’s eyes widen, and she purses her lips as Dongha's face manages to get redder and contorts into anger.
“You think you can mock me ?” He growls, and Kantaro sees his grip on his cane tighten.
Oh, good, are you going to throw a tantrum now? He almost retorts, but decides that keeping his mouth shut is the smarter choice here.
“Bocchama,” Chungsung says to divert Dongha’s attention away from Kantaro and onto herself. And it works as Dongha turns to look at his butler (Kantaro swears the anger on his face dissipates a little.) “Should we head back home before it gets too late?”
There’s a pause where Dongha takes a deep breath. “Let’s go,” He concludes, and doesn’t waste a moment to leave the room.
“We thank you all for your kind words,” Chungsung says as she grabs their stuff. Her smile almost apologetic. “I wish you all a nice day.” Then promptly shuts the door, leaving them inside.
“… The fuck was that?”