The Only Exception

Chapter Three

The meeting with the client went well—their team will renovate the interior of a small teahouse called Edokawa, in Enoshima to upgrade its clientele. It's at least a two-hour drive from Tokyo and Shohei had almost refused the project, because after computing the cost of the project and the resources they will need in transporting and the manpower... plus more, it really is not worth it.

Except the client said that he would be willing to pay any amount for them to get the project done—that they were highly recommended by another client he doesn't want to reveal. Shohei had consulted this with Eiji and the guy simply said that they are still a small company and needed all the projects they could get... also, they needed the money to get a new office and to hire more people.

Shohei doesn't regret it anyway when he met the owner, Homura Kaname. She is a sweet old lady who tells him about how it's really just his grandson who wants to fix up her old teahouse. She doesn't really mind how other restaurants and cafés are getting more customers because, for her, this is just something she'd like to do because it has always been her life. She has a garden at the back where she grows her plants, collects the tea leaves, and dries them to her standard.

Besides, she has her loyal customers who don't care if the interior of her teahouse is falling apart. He couldn't agree more. Her Gyokuro tea recipe is just amazing and when Shohei asked her what she put in it, she basically gave him a toothy grin that accentuated the beautiful wrinkles on her face and told him 'It's a secret.'

He spent a good amount of his morning not just measuring spaces and taking photos of the place, but also just talking to the old woman. She has so many stories to tell, despite the slur on her speech which she also said happened when she suffered a minor stroke last year. It's already almost lunch when Shohei left him with the promise of coming back. She packed him some osenbei rice crackers for the road before he left. Right at that moment, he knows he has fallen in love with her and will probably do this job even if his grandson didn't pay enough.

She reminds him so much of his late grandmother—probably the only person who has loved him and accepted him even before he came out to his family. His grandmother took him in for a few months before his father found out and kicked him out, again.

The memories bring a bitter taste in his mouth which he knows he can never wash out with any sort of high-quality tea. Rejection is foul, but rejection from your own family is just the worst. Sometimes, he wishes he is not the way he is. Maybe, life would have been easier.

No use thinking about that now. He goes back to where he parked Eiji's pickup because that guy is just a sweetheart and decides to look for someplace first to have lunch. He is about to start the engine of the truck when his phone buzzed.

>> You said you'd call.

Shohei chuckles. He's late for only ten minutes since the conversation with Homura-san has dragged on for a while, but Junya is already mopey. It's cute. He picks up his phone, stills his heart before pressing call.

Junya answers on the third ring.

"Kita-san!" The excitement in his voice lifts Shohei's spirits up and in that one phrase, he finds himself smiling.

"Junya-kun." He says and he swears he heard Junya let out a breath he had been holding. Is he also nervous?

"Kita-san."

"Junya-kun."

"Kita-san."

Shohei chuckles, "Is that all we're going to say?"