Project: Socialize (Chapters 1-197)

185. Christmas Eve - Flowers

[Irina's Perspective]

I quickly rushed out of the train and made my way up past the ticket gates and to the front entrance of the station. I quickly made my way past the crowd, using my facemask to conceal my identity such that people wouldn't slow down and stare at me. I did not want to waste any time being slowed down by fans on Christmas Eve because I had succeeded in convincing Muria to go shopping with me.

After emerging from the busy front entrance of the station, I saw Muria standing and waiting by the open entrance dressed in a warm winter coat. Upon seeing her, a large smile appeared on my face from the excitement I received upon seeing my best friend.

"Sorry for the wait," I apologized as I removed my face mask so as to gasp for air. "The Christmas event took a bit longer than I had expected."

"It's alright," Muria smiled gently.

"Let's go now!" I happily exclaimed while I wrapped my arms around hers and ushered her along as we made our way to the nearby mall.

"Do you need a moment to catch your breath?" she asked as I gently pushed her along.

"I'm fine," I responded with a soft chuckle.

The mall wasn't too far from Nocsinis Station, meaning that we merely had to spend a few minutes on foot in the cold, winter streets of Palisia. However, I personally did not mind spending time outside as it gave me an excuse to be up close with Muria as I hugged onto her. Her body is just so warm and soft that I would not have any complaints hugging it all day.

"So I've heard that this place has great crepes in the food court," I casually remarked to Muria as the two of us entered through the automated doors. "We should definitely go try it out later."

Like usual, Muria simply smiled as she listened to me ramble. It's a great quality of hers that I admire. She's just so mature both in appearance and in personality that I bet plenty of guys secretly have a crush on her. Not only does she have the personality and the looks, but she also excels in other areas as well, such as her academics and her culinary skills.

Come to think of it, the two of us do not have much in common. If I were to look at our relationship from a bystander's point of view, I would be quite surprised that friendship was able to develop between us. It's just so unlikely that someone as busy like me would ever cross paths with a girl as perfect as her...How did we even meet in the first place?

That question bothered me during our shopping session, constantly drifting near the surface of my consciousness and always there whenever my mind isn't being occupied by some other thought. However, it didn't pose that much of a bother to me since I did not pay much thought to it, simply allowing it to slip to the back of my mind whenever it does come back up. I'm not really concerned about how we've met. All that mattered to me was that we did meet and that we're good friends now. If it's not for Muria, I would probably still be alone when in school and would probably just head straight home after the Christmas event.

After walking around, buying some clothes and looking at some accessories for about an hour, Muria and I rode the escalator down to the underground floors in search of the crepes in the food court. There was a short line waiting before the counter, but since we had already agreed on trying the crepes, we waited in line as well. The wait wasn't as long as I expected, taking no more than ten minutes before it was our turn to order at the counter.

"I'll also have strawberries and vanilla ice cream in mine," I said to the employee and finished my order.

"Ice cream in this weather?" Muria smiled.

"I won't get sick," I responded to her in an amused manner.

After receiving our crepes, the two of us moved to the side of the food court hallway so as to not cause a disturbance for the other customers. As we stood there, we enjoyed our crepes. For me, I savored the fresh strawberries and felt the chills as I consumed a small mouthful of the vanilla as well as the crispy crepe skin.