𝐒𝐔𝐆𝐀𝐑 𝐁𝐀𝐁𝐘 | 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞: 𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝

☑ ᶜᵒᵒᵏ ᶠᵒᵒᵈ ᶠᵒʳ ᵃ ᶠʳⁱᵉⁿᵈ

ｃｈａｐｔｅｒ ｅｉｇｈｔｅｅｎ

♟

Loud bustling of cars and chattering of the crowd emerged in the busy streets of Japan as the hour hand stroke at 5. Honks and distant laughters where heard while the sun above was also occupied in readying for the night.

A certain brunette slipped a folder inside his shoulder bag as he reached for the stack of pens resting beside his work PC. Occasionally, he takes his sight off from his arranging to return the goodbyes given to him by his co-workers.

Now that everyone has went on their own ways, it was only him left inside the headquarters. He sighed in great satisfaction with the new silence that conquered the room. His sight scanned around his desk to check if there was still something that he forgot to place inside his bag before he heads his way home.

After reassuring that everything was set, he made his way to the comfort room. The temperature was very admirable and no one was there. It was heaven for him, considering the fact that he's not pressured to greet other employees from another division just for the sake of formality.

He approached the cleanest sink to start washing his hands. His tantalizing golden hued irises looked up, only to witness a certain (h/c) haired girl grinning down at him from the small comfort room window a couple of inches above the sink that he was about to use.

"W-WHAT THE HELL, (Y/N)?" The owner of the said name scrunched her nose playfully before leaning on the window. She gazed over at the flustered expression of the confused boy that was still looking up at her.

"Yes, hello."

Haru immediately fixed his composure and backed away from the sink, his insides churning with the nerve-wracking embarrassment that he was feeling because of her sudden appearance. He placed his palm on his forehead, his sight darting to the young woman who waved at him after catching him staring at her.

"H..How.. How in the world-"

"I'm standing on a dumpster." The brunette sighed in great disbelief after receiving an abrupt response from her.

"G.. Get down from there! Y..You look like an idiot!" (Y/N) pursed her lips with the male's timid statement, curling it into a teasing smile afterwards. The poor boy's eyes scattered almost everywhere as he tried to ignore her mischievous beaming.

"Hey, visit my place after this! I'll be cooking for you!" 

•••

Haru nervously scratched his arm as he kept on stealing glances on the chicken in front of him. Melvin was staring at him and it was making him very conscious for some very odd reason. The rooster wasn't doing anything but was just plainly straining its sight on the brunette. Although he was the one who bought this fowl for the young woman, he still gets pretty edgy whenever it buries its beady eyes towards him.

Disregarding this fact, he was more tensed with the fact that (Y/N) has never brought up the time when he sent her a basket of flowers. He was not sure why he becomes very hysterical whenever this idea pops in his mind. Maybe he was anxious with the fact that maybe the reason why the young woman never talked about it is because the flowers did not arrive that day .

He wanted to ask her directly about it but then again, he doesn't want her to get uncomfortable. What if the reason on why she did not say anything about it is because she wasn't interested? Or maybe.. she was creeped out because of it.

A loud frying sound that came from the girl's kitchen snapped him out of his deep thinking. His eyes lingered back to Melvin who still has its sight on him. He nervously smiled at the chicken before attempting to pat it on the head, only to be receiving an ear-piercing squawk from it in return.

As he was busy trying to calm the rooster down, the (h/c) haired woman already went out from the kitchen with a platter of food on her hands. She placed the plate gently on the table and sat down on the extra space. Melvin seemed to be pacified after seeing its owner as it hopped on the sofa, settling beside the brunette.

Haru gazed at the food. Its smell brushing against his nose as he observed the delicacy set in front of him. It looked like balls coated with something that is orange. Beside the plate was a small container which seems to be vinegar mixed with different spices such as onion, garlic and chili pepper. His sight shifted back to (Y/N), mentally asking her what it was.

"Kwek Kwek. It's made out of eggs and orange batter." She replied directly, stabbing a piece of it with a stick and handed it to the male.

He grabbed ahold of it before dipping the food on the vinegar and later on took a huge bite. He clenched his jaw after feeling the texture of the coating touching the sensitivity of his tongue. Its crispiness was contrasting with the softness of the egg but in the best way possible; a little bit of saltiness from the batter and creaminess of the yolk were having a war in his mouth but what made it more interesting was the spicy vinegar.

"It's really good." Haru smiled at the cook and shoved the remaining part into his mouth. He got another piece, chowing down on it.

"Wanna know a funny event while I was learning how to cook?" She giddily asked while munching a kwek kwek of her own. The brunette nodded as he strained his sight to the excited girl.

"Well you see, my neighbor's wife is a Filipino. She teaches me various dishes everytime I visit their household. When I came to visit them once again last month, I brought Melvin with me. It was then that time she told me that their family also keeps around a chicken! She then introduced me to their hen, and believe it or not, Melvin immediately got attached to it. They're very cute to look at!"

Haru paused on his eating after a realization popped in his mind once he heard what she said. He gazed at the food that he was holding before shifting to Melvin who was currently munching on an egg as well. 

"W..Wait.. Are you saying.. this is Melvin's offspring?" 

The young woman blinked her eyes in confusion with his question. It took her a couple of seconds to process what he stated, laughing on the worried looking boy who kept on staring at the chicken who was chowing down on the egg.

"Of course not! That's duck eggs." The male released an oh after realizing how stupid his imagination was. He chuckled with the female's amused laughter and proceeded to continue eating. 

A sudden silence covered the room once again since they were busy feasting on the platter. It was only disturbed when the (h/c) haired girl decided to speak.

"Hey.. the flowers were really beautiful.." Haru choked on the food as he tried his best to fix his composure before looking back at her. He awkwardly cleared his throat before stuffing his mouth to cover up the bashful hues of red conquering his cheeks.

"..I really liked them. Thank you."

"I-I.. uh.. n-no problem." He mentally cursed his self after hearing his own voice cracking out of nervousness.

(Y/N) bowed in gratefulness, rattling the boy even more. She sat up to catch the brunette's whole being that was now clouded with the innocent tints of crimson, a shy smile climbed into the alluring features of her face afterwards.

Haru stared at her for awhile. The smile adorning her lips were genuine... and it was causing his stomach to be swarmed with all the families of butterflies known to exist.

It was that moment that he recalled why he bought that flowers in the first place.. it wasn't mainly because of the silly activity that his office held; it was because the bouquet reminded him of her presence...

The flowers were as breathtaking as her.