Chapter Text
april 21, tuesday, 4:50 pm
it’s a breezy evening in Tokyo, the sun is about to set down, so it’s getting colder by the minute.
jo is waiting outside the designated meeting place with nicholas - “Meow Time” - “what a silly name” he thinks to himself, but still, there he is, after an endless day of working on a design project for his class, waiting for his dumb best friend and witnessing his attempt at matchmaking the-ever-lonely-jo-asakura.
silly, all of this is so silly, but jo is wearing his favourite flowery perfume, leather jacket, a cute outfit, even some make up, his silver hair brushed out neatly, but of course all of this is going to fail and he doesn’t have any faith in himself. not a single bit. kind of? maybe not?
4:56
nicholas finally arrives, great.
“hey there bro”
wang says smiling brightly, just like always, “im so glad you agreed, trust me, we’re not wasting time out here tonight”
jo is totally hopeless and absolutely not nervous, as he says to himself. maybe just a tiny bit? his hands are shaking a little, excitement or cold weather, either reason is fine, just a question of jo’s self awareness.
4:59
as they enter Meow Time jo is met with a smell of coffee, pink interior and a bunch of cute kittens. the place feels familiar in a way an old warm memory feels, something soft and fuzzy, probably what someone might call the feeling of love. this place was definitely made with love.
feels like a fitting place for a first date…
except your best friend usually doesn’t come with you to a first date. jo’s case is that complex, he just overlooks it.
“here it comes down the drain ugh”
5:02
they sit down at the table, choosing drinks from the menu, jo can’t help but notice the design of the place.
“someone did a great job at making the place feel comfortable enough both for humans and cats” - that was hard to achieve and a huge compliment in jo’s opinion. maybe for the next project jo should challenge himself and design a… puppy or a bunny cafe?
jo is pulled out of his thoughts when a barista approaches them. his rosy pink hair makes him look like a cartoon character, he talks with a huge smile on his face, showing off his fangs and jo is completely mesmerised by the boy’s cat-like appearance.
“the owners definitely know which staff to hire for a cats cafe”
just a thought.
as he takes the order, jo makes eye contact with the barista.
“he has pretty lips.” jo blushes as another fluttering thought passes in his mind. damn!
what does it say on the name tag? yuma?
“…yuma?”
“eh?”
oh no way i said that out loud.
“ah! i just wanted to ask um… which kitten can i pet here?”
“suuuuuureee, over here” pink haired boy murmured words and pointed his hand at a kitten castle on the other side of the room, giggling.
oh god that was so embarrassing. but yuma didn’t hate it, did he?
jo shyly stood up and followed yuma, tearing between looking at the cats or at the catlike acquaintance. shitshitshit.
yuma doesn’t waste time - as a good employee his job is to make sure that clients and his small friends are comfortable and entertained - he strikes up a conversation.
“sooo do you have cats? you look like it’s not your first time petting one” he says looking directly at jo
“um yeah! i have a cat at home, i can show you the picture…” jo pulls out his phone, his wallpaper is a picture of a fluffy cat in his arms.
“oooh my god, of course! what’s it’s name?”
“raichu like a poke..”
“yep like a pokemon, i know, oh it’s such a cutie! how old is it? did you adopt it or was it a kitten or another family pet or..”
jo’s mind is already mushy. it’s almost the end of the day and he still has to follow a small talk, this task is too exhausting for his mind, but it goes pretty well? at least for now?
not to mention, but small talks are the worst. jo is a firm believer that they just waste your time, energy, emotions and they make him nervous, extremely nervous. when’s the right time to stop? what if there’s awkward silence? does he need to fill it with some other questions? can you change the topic of the conversation? who’s the right person to have a small talk with? do you become friends or acquaintances or nothing at all after a small talk? why, just why can’t people leave him alone? he’d rather others perceived him through his work, his actions, not his words.
surprisingly, jo doesn’t fell stressed just like he always does. maybe it’s because the topic is cats or because he’s about to eat or maybe because this pink-haired boy is so sweet to him, that jo feels safe enough to continue talking. weird. jo likes it. weird as well.
this is definitely a new feeling.
jo is curious, but scared - willing to reach, but afraid to touch.
after petting a small greyish kitten, jo returned to their table, with nicholas waiting impatiently. oh he is so excited it’s dangerous.
“soooo i wanted to introduce you to a friend of mine who works here…”
“could it be yuma?” jo thinks to himself. they hit it off pretty quickly and nicholas had been yapping about “how great his friend is and how jo would definitely like him”… yes, one hundred percent that should be yuma, well in that case nicholas might have a good thought once in a lifetime
a guy takes a seat between jo and nicholas, smiling confidently
“hi, sion! meet jo!”
huh? who’s that??? it’s not yuma??
“hey there, jo” sion says with a flirty voice, which makes jo cringe internally.
no, why would he even trust nicholas this time! of course he found some overconfident and popular guy, like himself, and decided it’s the best option for jo. well of course some people like this kind of “bad boy” vibes, euijoo for example, but not jo!
“i’ll leave you to it!” nicholas says, picking up his drink and changing his seat to a table closer to the cats castle, leaving the two of them alone.
“sooo jo, what do you do? i heard from nicholas you are artsy and all that haha”
oh damn he is not even familiar with the extent of jo’s art job. that’s going to be tough.
“i’m in architecture design, always working on some kind of project you know… nothing special”
“you’ve gotta be kidding me! it’s so cool! i’m studying art history by the way”
oh so we do have something in common. that’s nice to know
“really? what’s your favourite architecture style? sorry, i use it like mbti for art people”
“i’d say eclectic design, a little of everything, but still fresh and unpredictable”
“honestly, that suits sion” crosses jo’s mind. “he’s not so bad after all and history of arts major that’s pretty cute..”
“good choice, i like it. pretty challenging for architecture, but extremely fun to research”
“yeah for sure, you get it… how bout you?”
to jo’s shock, second conversation in a row this evening goes nicely, he hits it off pretty well with sion, bonding over their shared interest in arts and architecture, it feels even nice to finally talk to someone who’s as obsessed and passionate about art.
however, every here and there reappearing flirty remarks make jo feel not so comfortable. this is a date, after all, how could he forget. nicholas set him up for a date, not a hang out.
when it was finally time to leave, yuma approached their table to pick up their cups. jo accidentally made an eye contact and something felt wrong.
yuma looked upset, sad even. this made jo’s heart ache, what could’ve hurt this guy’s happy persona so bad, he was looking so wrecked?
anyway, who is jo to ask or to even worry…
nevertheless, he did. a lot. after getting sion’s number and walking back home with nicholas he was still feeling uneasy, as if it was his fault, that yuma, who was like a ray of sunshine when they met, was looking so broken.
april 22, wednesday, 2:07 am “i should’ve gotten his number too, what the hell am i even doing”