fourteen
‧˚₊꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹
"Okay. I'll stop talking to you then."
His last words continued to play in your mind as you stared at the familiar man who was sitting right outside your bakery. To be specific, in the set of tables and chairs your bakery provided for customers to eat and relax right outside of the shop.
The spiky, dark-haired man was sitting with one of his legs over his thigh, creating a number four with his thigh and leg. Although you tried your best to ignore his presence, which could be seen through the glass window of the shop, you couldn't help but wonder why he was doing this.
I should've known he was never going to keep his word.
You weren't sure if he was doing this to taunt you or if it was because he genuinely enjoyed the pastry here. However, for the past few days, Dabi has been coming to the bakery and sitting outside for long periods of time. Moreover, he would be sitting at an angle where you would see his face whenever you looked up.
Even worse, he has been coming to the bakery wearing a thick black coat and a black mask, covering his lower face. Not to mention, he was wearing sunglasses as well, which didn't help with disguising himself.
Though you weren't sure if he was seriously trying to conceal his identity or if he was purposely making it obvious, you couldn't help but become hurt. For every time you look at him, it reminds you that you will never know how his love will feel.
It was a bittersweet agony that haunted your very being. It was like gazing into the depths of sheer beauty, knowing that it would forever remain out of your reach.
The aching only intensified as, despite telling him to go away, he persistently appeared in your life like an unwavering force. It's as if he wanted to keep you entangled in a bewildering dance of torture. Each time he reappeared, a storm of conflicting emotions engulfed you, thrusting you onto a precipice of despair and hope.
All you wanted to do was forget him, but it was like he saw through you and wouldn't allow it to happen. His presence became a constant reminder of what could have been—a cruel reminder of the love that is tantalizingly close yet forever unattainable.
If you were granted any wish right now, you would've asked for the bakery to have wooded walls instead of glass walls. That way, it would be easier for you to deal with the situation.
"Alright, you're free to head out for the day since we're pretty much sold out," your manager mentioned as she passed by you in the back.
"Are you sure? I can help you close up the shop, you know," you offered, but mainly it was so you wouldn't have to deal with the ocean blue eyed man who was staring at your back intensely.
"Thanks for the offer, but I can't keep letting you do that," you heard her say aloud, causing you to sigh in defeat as you turned your head towards the front of the shop.
Your gaze immediately met his ocean blue eyes, and you immediately regretted it. His eyes were alluring and soft as they gazed into your e/c eyes. You wanted to keep his gaze, but you knew you shouldn't. Not when you were going to be married to someone else.
The tightness in your chest snapped you back to reality as you looked away.
No, I shouldn't do this.
"Alright, I'm heading out now," you said aloud to let your manager know that you were leaving.
"Good work today. See you tomorrow," you heard her reply back from the back of the shop, probably preparing a new batch of dough.
You took a deep breath before exhaling as you walked over to the door. Pushing it open, you walked out of the shop and decided to go in the opposite direction of where Dabi was sitting.
Though you hated the fact that you had to take the longer route home, it was better than being in his presence.
▃▃▃▃▃▃▃
The following day, you were quite surprised to see that Dabi hadn't bothered to come by to taunt you with his presence. It should've felt good, but it didn't. You felt empty more than ever before. For that reason, you wanted to hate him for making it harder to forget him, but you knew you couldn't. In fact, you would never feel such emotion towards him, especially when he was the only one who tried to comfort you.
Lost in your mind, you were brought back to reality as you gasped for a breath of air. Your chest tightened, letting you know that you'd been holding your breath. Your heart's aching only reminded you how much it was craving a love you would never come to know.
"Are you okay?" Your manager asked with a worried face and brows knitted.
"I'm fine," you managed to flash her a smile.
"I'm worried about you these days," your manager let out a sigh. "Although I'm not sure why you've been sad lately, I hope you know I'm here if you need an adult to talk to," she added before giving you an encouraging smile.
Her statement made you stunned, as you thought you were hiding your emotions perfectly, yet here your manager stood, reading you like an open book.
"How did you...know?" You asked, dropping the terrible smile on your face as you frowned.
"Come on, I've been your manager for years. Of course, I would know when my favorite employee is upset over some love quarrels—oops," your manager quickly covered her mouth when she accidentally slipped out some words that she tried to keep inside.
Your shoulders dropped along with your face. "That guy and I...aren't dating," you said quietly as you brought your gaze towards the empty chairs outside the shop. "We were just good neighbors, that's all," your voice quivered slightly as your heart began aching for the cerulean-eyed man.
The stoic expression stayed on your face throughout most of your shift unless you were talking to customers, then you'd put on that smile you tried to fake. After some time, your manager also went out to finish a delivery order while you watched over the shop.
"Welcome to—" You smiled as you greeted the two customers but were cut off when the female spoke up.
"Are you the girl that's got our Dabi being extra mean to us?" The blonde female with two messy buns on both sides of her head accused you, with her index finger pointing towards you. By her side stood a well-built man with blond hair and gray-blue eyes. He also had a large scar splitting his forehead, which you found intimidating.
"That's right. Are you?" The man asked with his hands on his hips.
The familiar name sparked unwanted emotions from within you as you tried to remember who the blonde female was. She looked awfully familiar; even the man by her side felt familiar. It was then that you recall seeing them at Dabi's housewarming party that night.
They are his friends.
You recognized them as Dabi's friends, but you couldn't tell why they were here, accusing you of something you weren't aware of. If anything, you have never talked to his friends before, so you are now wondering how they know about your work.
"Um...I think you have the wrong person," you shook her head slowly.
"Are you sure? You look awfully similar to the girl in this picture," the blonde female said, taking out a photo from her back pocket and showing it to you.
In the picture was a zoomed-in shot of you working, and from the bottom left corner, you could see some spiky black hair poking from the corner. It was clear that the photo had been taken recently, as you looked quite depressed in the photo.
"That's me, but I don't find any reason as to how I am associated with him..." you answered.
"Jin-kun, what should we do now?" You heard the blonde ask quietly, as if it were supposed to be a whisper.
"Should we kidnap her and bring her to him? I think that might—"
"I can hear the both of you loud and clear, you know," you interrupted the two in their conversation, causing the both of them to turn their heads in sync with a surprise expression.
"Y-you're lucky we're busy right now, but we'll be back if you don't fix our Dabi," the blonde replied as her expression changed into a confident one before walking off.
Though you could have sworn you saw their ears tinted with a shade of red, you quickly disregarded that as you returned to your shift.
▃▃▃▃▃▃▃
"What did I say about filling my glass every time it was empty?" Dabi glared at the bartender as his hand tightened the glass cup in his hand.
"My apologies," the bartender quickly apologized before pouring some more whiskey into Dabi's glass.
"Tch, your lucky I don't feel like throwing my hands on some lazy worker," Dabi murmured under his breath before downing the glass of whiskey.
Rather than say anything, the bartender could only watch as the dark-haired man drowned himself in alcohol to rid himself of emotions he wanted to forget. Or at least that's the main reason why most people often find themselves at bars, drowning in alcohol rather than women.
Once empty, the bartender made sure to fill Dabi's empty glass with whiskey once more, as Dabi was an important customer. Not to mention, Dabi brought great money into the bar.
As Dabi brought the glass to his lips, the amber liquid glimmered, teasing his soul with the promise of relief. Downing the whiskey in one go once more was a desperate attempt to forget a love that feels like nothing more than a distant memory.
Before this, Dabi thought he could do it. He thought he could go on without speaking to you, but it was killing him inside. The feeling of abandonment without a proper explanation was overwhelming. Not to mention, he thought you would give up and speak to him eventually if he continued showing up to taunt you, but that didn't happen.
If anything, it only made Dabi's pain worse. He was going insane every time he thought about you. Why were you so insistent on avoiding him? What were the real reasons behind this?
After a while, he decided enough was enough and left the bar, only to be greeted by a woman from his past in front of the bar.
"Wow, you've been here awfully long this time," the female exclaimed as she tried to put a hand on Dabi's arm but was snapped away before it could.
"Do not touch me or talk to me," Dabi glared at the female before walking off, angry that she had the audacity to speak to him.
"Take me home," Dabi told the driver as soon as he entered the luxurious black car park in front of the bar. Although Dabi was always rebellious, he knew when he should or shouldn't drive. Especially now that he's been drinking and upset at himself.
Eventually, at a certain stoplight, Dabi's eyes narrowed as he saw the woman he'd been longing for. The aching pain in his chest only grew when he saw a familiar man by her side. He thought he was going insane earlier, but now he is actually going insane.
"Tell the boss I won't be coming to work tomorrow as I have a personal meeting to attend."
‧₊˚✩彡𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟‧₊˚✩彡๋ ࣭ ⭑๋ ࣭ ⭑
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