Shunsuke fixed his fringe on his phone camera reflection for the nth time this past half hour, his leg bouncing under the shiny wooden table and the ice cream in his iced coffee melting. Ryusei had said to be early, in case the person he was going to meet turned out to have serial killer vibes. He had argued that serial killers wouldn’t look like serial killers, and that Ryusei was just judgmental, but he followed his friend’s advice anyway, arriving at the meeting place a whole hour before the agreed time.
The door to the cozy retro cafe swung open. Shunsuke’s head snapped up at the same time the servers welcomed the new customer, and he pocketed his phone as he had for the past few customers that entered, in case the person he was supposed to meet today had arrived. The man who entered looked fairly young, and he looked around at the cafe until he spotted Shunsuke at the corner table. Ah, this must be him.
“Hello,” the man greeted quietly as he approached Shunsuke. “Are you..?”
“Micchi,” Shunsuke confirmed. A nickname. Ryusei had told him everyone used one, even the customers, for privacy reasons. He smiled the way he knew customers would like. Also something Ryusei made him practice. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Hokuto-san.”
The man, Hokuto, nodded and took the seat opposite Shunsuke. “I hope you didn’t wait long.” He took the cafe menu Shunsuke offered him, looking over the drink menu.
Unexpectedly, he was attractive. Not the usual sleazy old pervert or lonely housewife whose kids had gone off to college that Ryusei often told him about. No, Hokuto had a nose other people would have had plastic surgery for, and even a beauty mark near the corner of his lip. More importantly, Shunsuke liked his curly, fluffy-looking hair.
“Not at all.”
Hokuto settled on a coke float and pizza toast that he offered Shunsuke. He had said in their chats that he was thirty-four, a full fourteen years older than Shunsuke, and worked in the apparel industry. Must be one of those snotty overpriced vintage clothing store owners , Ryusei had commented harshly when Shunsuke told him about it, and he seemed right, with the sweater Hokuto had on stained with spots of bleach and riddled with holes.
“I’m in vocational school studying to become a hair stylist,” Shunsuke said, even though he was pretty sure he had told Hokuto that already when they first chatted on the sugar dating app. “Do you do your own hair?”
“Yeah.” A one-word answer. For someone who would pay a 5,000 yen fee plus food expenses for a date, Hokuto didn’t seem too interested in talking to him at all, preoccupied with chewing small forkfuls of his pizza toast. But Shunsuke was a professional and his job was to provide him company, so although he was also an introvert and not as confident in his conversation skills as Ryusei was, he tried his best to make small talk. He had to make sure Hokuto was happy by the end of the date after all.
“Oh. It looks nice.” Maybe he wasn’t that interested in hair. Shunsuke tried again. “Are you from Tokyo originally? I’m from Osaka.”
“No. From Shizuoka.”
“Oh, you must have high standards for tea then.”
“I guess.”
After several more attempts at initiating conversation, Shunsuke settled on awkward silence and the clinking of ice against glass as he stirred his iced coffee. Maybe he was too boring, he thought, feeling a little defeated. He can’t be boring. His financial well-being depended on being good company. He decided he would ask Ryusei later for more conversation topics in case he encountered more people like Hokuto.
Hokuto didn’t even bother looking at his watch discreetly when his time was nearly up. “I have to go.”
“Oh. I see.” Shunsuke gave him a smile. “Thanks for the date.”
Hokuto shifted in his seat, looking somewhat apologetic. “Sorry, it must’ve been really boring for you.”
So this guy had a bit of self-awareness after all.
“No, not at all! I had fun,” Shunsuke lied. It was boring, but it was easy money compared to having to keep up with someone upbeat. Or having to praise old people who just wanted someone to listen to their bragging, which was the kind Ryusei often complained about whenever he got home in a bad mood.
“It’s just that I haven’t been on a date in a long time. And you’re really pretty.”
Oh. So he did find Shunsuke attractive after all.
“Really? I’m happy to hear that,” Shunsuke recited his lines with a smile. When they flatter you, act really happy, was Ryusei’s instruction for such an occasion.
“Would you go out with me again if I asked?”
Shunsuke’s eyes widened, but he quickly trained his face to smile instead. “If you’re okay with going out with me. Of course.”
Hokuto gave him a small smile that made him look more personable than he had been all afternoon.
Shunsuke went home 7,000 yen richer and with a stomach full of iced coffee.
-
“Creepy,” was what Ryusei had to say when Shunsuke told him about the date. “Definitely a serial killer. Run!” he yelled, pretending to hide behind the frying pan cover he was holding.
“I think he might be nice after I get to know him. Just shy.” Shunsuke munched on edamame at the dining table, while Ryusei fried gyoza for dinner.
The two of them had been living for about half a year now. Shunsuke can’t cook, so Ryusei has been in charge of cooking from the very start, while Shunsuke took care of cleaning their shared apartment since Ryusei can’t clean for shit. It was the perfect arrangement and the two of them got along well enough. They’ve been friends since their high school days after all.
“Why would you want to get to know him?” Ryusei asked as he scooped rice into a bowl. He handed Shunsuke a bowl before getting one for himself.
“Because he’s not gross and he tipped me 2,000 yen.”
They clapped their hands together to show thanks for the meal, before digging into their bowls of rice and gyoza.
“Is he hot?”
“Yeah.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“That’s not fair,” Ryusei whined into his rice. “You just started this whole sugar dating thing and already got a hot customer. I’ve been doing this for more than a year and only get old people.”
“You were just calling him a serial killer.”