A Love Stronger Than Whispers

Unexpected Love

"He left her his number after a hit-and-run! Isn't it just like a Hollywood story? We always knew it was crazier!"

Chizuru, intrigued now, glanced at the phone screen. A vaguely familiar baseball player grinned next to a photogenic K-pop star. Names flickered in her mind – Jeongyeon, right? She'd heard Hana gush about her. But the baseball guy... "I guess she left him her number instead... Who's Yamazaki again? Definitely not that Kento. Nor that big southpaw... ah, it's YAMASAKI. Sorry."

Hana's jaw dropped. "Seriously? You don't remember? The ORIX pitcher now with San Diego? The one at TWICE's Osaka Dome concert who... years ago..." She paused, eyes widening in realization. "Wait, you weren't there, were you?"

Chizuru chuckled. "Seven years ago? Nope, busy with... work stuff." She winced internally, the phantom sting of a canceled yoga class still fresh.

But Hana, ever the whirlwind, had already moved on. "Oh, right! Well, you need to know this! Shinichi, Kazuya, and that six-foot-something Yamazaki – they actually met years ago in Korea! TWICE concert, rookie Yamazaki, remember the whole 'flower boy sneaking merch' scandal?"

A jolt of recognition finally flickered through Chizuru's mind. Vaguely, she recalled Shinichi mentioning a wild trip with Kazuya back then, something about baseball, TWICE, and a near-riot caused by a lovestruck rookie. Now it all clicked.

Suddenly, the phone flew from Hana's grasp, snatched by a breathless Chizuru. Her eyes scanned the screen, then widened in horror.

"Oh no. Oh no no no. NO. NO WAY. THEY ARE ALREADY MARRIED AND EXPECTING TWINS! PEOPLE HERE ARE TOO BUSY WITH SHOHEI OHTANI, YOSHINOBU YAMAMOTO, AND ROKI SASAKI NEWS, WHILE THIS EXACT TEAMMATE OF THEIRS WAS PDA-ING WITH THIS WOMAN IN A TEAM KOREA JERSEY AT ALFREDO HARP HELU AFTER SAMURAI JAPAN LOST THE WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC FINALS RED-HANDED!"

"ROMANO KNEW IT. HE WAS THERE AT THE WEDDING LAST DECEMBER!" Hana exclaimed, pointing to a man lurking by the doorway. Shinichi sheepishly joined them, grinning. "Twitter's gonna meltdown. Imagine jealous TWICE fans with me and Chizuru in the picture!"

A sly smile played on Chizuru's lips. "Carnage guaranteed," she declared, grabbing her phone. "Popcorn time. Let's watch the internet burn."

Meanwhile, a burnt-out Kazuya, the one who actually encouraged Yamazaki's beau-knobbing adventures, just chuckled from the gym, the trainer Fujio Uzaki chuckling at the young lad. Shinichi then met his father-in-law, telling that his shenanigans with Kazuya's former mates at the Self Defence Forces paid off big-time.

Chizuru, now fully invested, sank back into her chair, a sly smile playing on her lips. "Carnage guaranteed," she declared, reaching for her own phone. "Time to grab some popcorn and watch the internet burn."

Some secrets are best kept, even as the internet ignites.

Boom.

Not long after, the gang – Shinichi and Hana, Kazuya, and Chizuru – are huddled around the Jumbotron near the apartment, scrolling through Twitter with popcorn in hand. The Yoo Jeongyeon and Soichiro Yamazaki news has blown up, transforming the internet into a battleground of fan wars and ship wars.

Hana: (Eyes glued to the screen, breathless) "Oh my god, Shinichi-kun, did you see the Jeongyeon stans roasting the baseball nerds? This is pure gold!"

Shinichi: (Sweat on his brow) "Yeah, Hana, maybe we should... take a break? This feels like it's about to get messy. Really MESSY."

Kazuya: (Sipping tea calmly) "Relax, Shinichi. It's just like watching a sports game, only with more tears and glitter. I went to their wedding, remember. American tax money!"