"You know what would be funny?" Your mom piped. "What?"
"If he was liste-"
"STOP." Your hands shot up as if she could see the absolute terror that washed over you in a fraction of a second. "If he was listening the whole time." She finished. "Why would you say that? Out of all the things you could have said." You sighed.
"He felt all flushed with fever." She lulled.
"Don't be like this."
"Embarrassed by the crowd; That's me by the way. I'm the crowd." She giggled.
"Mom-"
"He felt you found his letters and read each one out loud!"
"It's a good joke, a great one even." You pinched between your brows.
"He prayed that you would finish, but you just kept right on STRUMMING HIS PAIN WITH YOUR FINGERS-"
"Sangwoo?!"
"SINGING HIS LIFE WITH YOUR WORDS-"
"Not my ankles! Have MERCY!"
"KILLING ME SOFTLY WI-"
And there it was. Shit! Your head snapped in the direction of the shuffle you heard. "Oh no. Oh no no no no no." You pushed up and onto your feet. "What's wrong?" The singing cut short, hearing the panic in your voice. "I heard something." You nervously exhaled. "Damn, you really got caught telling his life story." There was something in the snarkiness of her reply that didn't sit well on your conscience. Like she already knew.
"YoU rEaLlY gOt CaUgHt- so supportive ma'am. Thanks." You darted around the corner, eyes straining in the dark hallway. "Toshi?" You called out to only receive no answer. "Big guy, are you home?" Still nothing.
"Why- why do you think he'd answer?"
"Ow, why'd you have to say it like that." You touched your chest. "It's because he's confrontational as all get out."
"But is he still when he's embarrassed?" She countered. "You know what?" You paused, putting a shaky hand on your hip as you thought. "How about I just call?"
"Have fun with that." She laughed.
You hung up, quickly dialing Toshi after. If he was home, you convinced yourself you'd at least hear his phone somewhere in the distance. And so, you stood. In the dark hallway, you counted each ring until
"Yes?" The voice you hoped for came through. "Tosh! Hey! Hi! Uhm-" The plan was to call and see if he was home, and yet you hadn't made plans to not sound guilty of something if he actually answered the phone.
"Hello?" He chuckled.
"Hey...hey where are you right now?" You scratched your head, thinking of something, anything to say. "Behind you." He whispered. "Huh?" You almost gave yourself whiplash turning around. Nothing. "Dude, don't scare me like that."
"I'll have to respectfully decline. Was there something wrong?"
"No, well yes." Your eyes narrowed. Probably shouldn't just stand in a dark hallway. You stepped back into the den, plopping down on the piano bench.
"What is it?"
"Are you coming home tonight?" You asked. "I plan on it, should I not?" I can see him raising that fucking brow. "Nah, I just wanted to make sure you were bringing me dinner...since you ate my leftovers and all."
"They didn't taste that good." Yagi said matter of factly. "Well they weren't for you, were they?" You shot, resting your elbows on your knees in terrible posture. "It feels like I did you a service." He continued. "Now you don't have to throw away the container it was in."
"Toshi! I made you a whole bento!"
"You did. With that cute little note, thank you so much."
You sighed loud and hard, hand thrown into your hands as you spoke. "I'm going to start hiding my food."
"Hide more than your food." He mumbled.
"Excuse me?" Your eyes widened comically large. "What-"
"So did you want to go out somewhere?" He chimed. "Don't change the subject!" You almost stood up, jumping in excitement. What else could he have been taking? "I didn't, we're still talking about food." The blonde laughed. "Yagi..."
"So is that a 'no' to going out?"
"No, I don't want to go out. I don't even feel like cooking and you can't really cook-"
"Woah!" Toshi scoffed.
"So takeout seems to be-" You continued.
"Pump the brakes."
"Our only option right now." Finally, with the sentence finished, you felt a tiny sense of accomplishment. Payback for whatever he was taking that you hadn't noticed yet. Better not be my-
"Peach, you're not going to just gloss over that."
"Gloss over what?" You snapped out of your intrusive thoughts. "You don't think I can cook?" Yagi asked, almost sounding hurt. "I mean....rice doesn't count if you're using a rice cooker so..." You answered honestly. "I can make more than rice." He puffed. "Oh yeeeeah, I forgot about your tv dinners." You grinned.
"TV DINN- Those are premade, nutritional meals from a subscription box and-"
"But you put them in the microwave, Toshi."
"Well I have to heat them."
"And then you sit-"
"Dont."
"In front-"
"Peach."
"Of the tv. Sometimes it's your computer but it's the same thing at this point."
"What do you want me to bring you?" The hero conceded. The small victories add up, and you started counting. "Surprise me?"
"Right. See you in a bit."