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Reika is happy. She spent her afternoon delightedly with her husband, who treats her like she's the most precious thing in the world. Yuzuru holds her hand everytime they walk to make sure they don't separate, he cleans a food stain near her lips when they're eating, he even stops and squats down to fix Reika's shoe tie, to make sure she won't stumble on it.
When the sky turns orange and it's time to go home, Reika's heart is fulfilled already.
"Thank you for today, Yuzuru-san," Reika says as she sits in the car. Without her expecting, Yuzuru bends his body towards Reika, fastening her seatbelt for her. Close. He's so close to her. She can see his face pores and she can smell his body mist. Mint with a mix of his body scent.
"Of course," Yuzuru fastens his own seatbelt after he's done with Reika's. When he turns to her, Reika still has a peachy blushed face, which confused him. "Why are you red?" He bends closer again and put his hand on her forehead, worried. "Are you feverish?"
"No!" Reika refutes quickly. It's because of you.
"You're right, your temperature is normal." Yuzuru nods, satisfied. "Then why are you reddish like that?"
Reika's doe eyes widen, even though they're round enough as they are. Yuzuru couldn't help but think how she looks like a doll with those round innocent eyes. "Let's just go," she eventually responds.
"Hehe, okay," Yuzuru grins as he drives out of the parking lot of the mall.
"Okay..." Reika sits by and calmly look at the view from the window.
Ah, silence again. Yuzuru doesn't like silences. "Reika, can I ask you something?" He breaks the ice.
"What is it?" She turns to him, staring straight to his eyes curiously. "Ask away."
"A few days ago, when I called you 'Rei', you were very angry. But I heard your brothers call you Rei before and you were fine." Yuzuru carefully touches on the subject, but Reika tensed up immediately as it's brought up. Even though Yuzuru notices how she looks sensitive about it, he still choose to proceed. "You were mad at me when I call you Rei. May I know why?"
Reika stays silence. And for quite a while, she holds her silence. Yuzuru doesn't pressure her to answer, he doesn't say anything either. He simply waits as he drives.
She takes a deep sigh before answering. "When I was in middle school... I was sick. My sickness made me lost my hair. I..." Reika's voice sounds shaky. "My hair kept thinning and thinning, so eventually I had to cut it short like a boy's haircut."
Yuzuru does not interrupt. He sits there, all ears open as he looks at her from time to time, a part of him feels touched that Reika is willing to share her life with him. He didn't know she was sick before.
"When I showed up at school with my boy-like hair, people starts to make this joke that I'm a boy, and started to make fun of me." She continues. "They call me Rei to mock me. My family calls me Rei, yes. But when the people in my middle school called my Rei, they did it with the intention to mock me. I hate it."
"I'm so sorry that happened to you..." Yuzuru frowns. "Excuse my language, but they were assholes."
"Hm." Reika turns her head to the window, avoiding Yuzuru's gaze. "Ever since then, I never like if anyone except my family call me Rei."
"Ah... I'm sorry. I didn't know." Yuzuru feels guilty. He rubs his neck uncomfortably before asking, "Are you still..."
His question didn't finish itself, but she knows what he's asking about. Reika hesitates for a while, but she eventually answers."Don't worry, I don't have it anymore."
"I'm glad. You were so amazing to be able to beat it." Yuzuru gives her a genuine smile. "Ah, we're here." Yuzuru stops the car at the parking space in the condo and unbuckles his seatbelt before doing the same to Reika's. Once again, the gesture makes her cheeks flushed with red, but thankfully he doesn't seem to noticed.
"I like your perfume," Yuzuru randomly spouts. He realized it after bending closer to Reika to help her with her seatbelt a few times, Reika has a really lovely fragrance. "Rose?" He takes a guess.
"Yes," Reika confims. "Bulgarian rose."
"I like it."
Yuzuru comes out of the car. Reika was going to opens her door and get out on her own as well, but she pauses when she sees Yuzuru walks towards her side.
And unlike what he had been doing before, he opens the door for her.
"Please, my lady," Yuzuru bows like a butler, his hand placed on his chest.
Reika couldn't help but to laugh as she gets off the car. "Yuzuru-san you're so funny," she lightly hit his arm. "I really enjoy today, Yuzuru-san. Thank you for taking your day for me."
She hesitates for a split second, but she decides to add, "I love you."
Wha—
Yuzuru freezes. He stands there, his eyes are frozen wide open in an expression of stunned, and although his eyes were fixed on Reika, she doesn't seem to notice as she walks away before getting a response.
They entered the apartment without talking to each other. Yuzuru wasn't sure what to say, and Reika doesn't elaborate more to him about what she said, that leaves him even more confused. Both of them entered their rooms quietly, and Yuzuru crashed his bed immediately, staring at the ceiling for a long moment before his phone ring.
"Hello?" He answers his phone, putting it on his ear.
When the person calling him speaks on the other side, Yuzuru stands up immediately. "No!" Yuzuru denies the caller's request. "I don't want to do it again."
The caller speaks again.
"I have a wife, you know." Yuzuru stated to the caller.
Yuzuru walks to his door to make sure it's locked before carefully answering again in his low tone, "You left a mark on my neck. You're lucky my wife thought it's a bruise."
author's note; if you guys don't remember about the bruise, re-read chapter 11
