Love Time (MewGulf AU)

🌞Chapter 11🌻

🌞🌻

After about an hour of drive, the car came out to seaside road. For the next 30 minutes, the same scenery will pass them by. The asphalt road was still dark with moisture, but there wasn't one piece of rain cloud left in the sky.

"It suddenly stopped raining. When I opened my eyes the sky was blue and P'Gulf was standing next to me, so I was surprised."

Mew did not speak one word to Gulf for the last hour since the car started moving, but he finally spoke to him.

When Gulf did not say anything, he paused for a while before continuing.

"The weather became nice from the west side, so...It's great that it cleared up."

He couldn't refuse to talk out of sheer stubbornness. He felt bad not saying anything, so Gulf answered him.

"...That's true."

"The bad weather made my feelings go down, too. If it had been a nice weather from the beginning, the ocean would have been so much more beautiful...Oh, I'm sorry." Mew bit into his lips. "I'm sorry; that was insensitive. You're not in the mood for that, P'Gulf."

Silence again. If he didn't reach out to him, it felt like Mew would not talk to him again.

"My uncle's condition wasn't as bad as I thought, either."

"Oh, really...? That's good to hear."

Mew let out a sigh, as if relieved. He realized that Mew couldn't even ask him how the patient was doing, because he was being overly considerate. Perhaps he thought that if he asked, Gulf would yell at him and say that it's 'none of his business.'

Suddenly Gulf shifted his gaze to the view outside the window. Contrary to the clear sky, the sea was fuzzy and dull. It had a depressing grey shade.

"If it hadn't rained, the ocean's color would have been a lot more gorgeous. The area around here has quite amazing scenery."

As if answering his gaze, Mew talked to him. Gulf was not familiar with this area. He almost always took the train whenever he visited his Uncle.

...The train did not follow the seaside.

"If you are not in a rush to return, may I stop the car for about 30 minutes?" Mew asked.

"Sure."

About 5 minutes after that, Mew stopped the car in a place that Gulf had seen before. It was an empty lot next to a closed-up storage place. Behind the storage place, you can see the ocean beyond the levee. He quickly realized that it was the same place where they had stopped the car before on their way to the hospital. 'I'll be outside just for a second," Mew said as he started to leave the car. He paused and asked Gulf, "I'm going to buy something to drink. What would you like, P'Gulf?"

"Co...Never mind me."

He started to say coffee, but he stopped. He didn't want to owe anything to Mew.

"Really?" Mew answered before he lowered his head and got out of the car. Mew walked to the vending machine, and came back with two coffees in his hands.

"Drink this. If you don't want it...I'll drink the other one later."

Gulf took the offered warm coffee. He rotated the can in his hands, as if it was a burden.

"If you don't mind, would you like to come outside, too, P'Gulf? It feels great."

"I'm okay."

When Gulf shook his head, Mew did not insist any more. He slowly climbed the stairs in the middle of the levee, whose banister half corroded away. When Mew climbed to about middle of the stairs, he ignored Gulf's curious stare that wondered what he was up to and reached up to place one step higher than the levee. He spread out his legs and sat on the stairs, beyond the levee.