Chapter 7: The Chat

The music I'm listening to is soft and sentimental—it matches my mood as the day wears thin. My windows are cracked open just enough to let cool air inside, and the soothing sensation of the wind gives me a quiet sigh. The breeze carries a scent of fresh greenery mixed with the aroma of freshly baked bread wafting from nearby bakery shops.

Today is a Thursday, which means it's one of my days where I don't have any classes after noon. I spend those hours working part-time jobs or taking care of personal errands. Today though, I'm home all day long...tired already. I feel like sleeping right now.

It's been nearly a week since I went on my first paid date as a rental boyfriend. Recalling how the date ended makes me smile wryly to myself.

I haven't had any contact with Yui Ishikawa since then—and honestly, It would be weird if I did. She doesn't know my real identity, so it wouldn't make sense for her to call me or message me online.

There was something about the Twitter app, that the agency told me to use to communicate with clients. They said it was an easy way to stay connected to them outside of our official meetings. However, I never actually tried using it until today—which I guess is understandable considering I have only one client at the moment.

Looking through the emails from the agency, there's a mail that says 'username: hiroshi_hirano' with a random password written below it. With trembling fingers, I enter the details into the blank fields on my mobile screen. Everything seems to work fine, and the new account pops up on my profile. Once logged in, I can see my profile. My Twitter name is <Hiroshi Hirano>, zero followers and zero tweets.

My eyes flicker down to the message in my inbox, suddenly taking notice that there's a bubble with a bell inside. Never having used Twitter before, I have no idea what it means. Curious, I click on the bell...

The message reads 'new message received from yui_ishi'. The little window also displays the time, which is on last Saturday, nighttime. Guessing that this user must be Yui Ishikawa herself, I open her message.

yui_ishi: Hey Hiro, it's Yui here! Hope you made it home all right!

That is definitely her; she probably got my Twitter username from the agency and then sent me a direct message to ask if I arrived safely. Feeling bad that I had not replied to her earlier, I quickly type a reply—

hiroshi_hirano: Hi Yui-san, sorry for the late reply. Yes, I did arrive home safe and sound. Thank you for your concern. :D

I press SEND and wait for a response. A few minutes go by, and nothing comes through. I rest my cheek in my hands and stare at the screen of my mobile phone, pondering whether or not I should send another message. Probably not...it's Thursday, a weekday. She's probably working right now. She must be busy.

Just as I'm about to close the Twitter app—a response pops up in my inbox. Yui Ishikawa replies:

yui_ishi: uwaa. i thought u had blocked me already. sry if I was too forward with the hugg that day, it was just so hard not to hold you tight hehe.

My face warms up as she mentions the hug. For some reason, I recall vividly; that particular moment during the date when her hands held tightly onto my back, trying to pull me closer.

My cheeks heat up further—shaking my head to get rid of this sudden, embarrassing feeling. I quickly reply:

hiroshi_hirano: You should hold back a little more. You startled me that day...

A moment passes, and I receive another message from Yui-san.

yui_ishi: oopsie!! i'm sorry for scaring you like that! haha. but thank you for your understanding, i'm glad you didn't block me...i'll try to be less forceful with future hugs, okay? *wink*

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I groan softly and roll my eyes at her attempts at flirting—but I couldn't help smiling a little bit just as well. I type out a quick response:

hiroshi_hirano: whatever. are you at work right now?

yui_ishi: yes. i'm working in the office today. pretty dull stuff though lol. you don't have classes in the afternoon?

Thinking for a moment, deciding whether to reveal any more information about me, I finally respond to her question.

hiroshi_hirano: nope. i'm free all day! listening to music in my room... :P

I wondered if I should mention that I'm currently listening to jazz— but decided against it as I waited for her response.

yui_ishi: sounds nice. hehe. I just finished an exhausting round of meetings with the bosses at work today.

yui_ish: im boored and tired lolo.

Before I could reply, Yui sent another message. The speed of her replies seemed to have increased considerably.

yui_ishi: hey hiro! whr you?

The elegance and grace Yui-san showed during our first meeting were gone—instead, she looked chatty and energetic as she typed away at her keyboard. Is this what people mean when they say a person acts differently when they're talking to someone over text messages rather than face-to-face? I wonder...

hiroshi_hirano: I'm here, but I can't help with your boredom.

yui_ishi: ugh. boring stuff again. i'm stuck doing excel spreadsheets for the whole day. grrr.

hiroshi_hirano: didn't you say that you liked your job??

yui_ishi: yeah, but i hate excel. i think its purpose is to torture people like me—lol. oh well, i gotta finish these reports and get them back to my boss tomorrow morning. gg for now. talk to you later bye hiro!

hiroshi_hirano: Bye Yui-san~

With the sudden ending of our conversation, I exhale slowly and stretch my arms; up over my head. It's still early afternoon, but it is slightly hot today...feels like I haven't taken a shower in days. With my mind filled with thoughts of hot, steamy water, I run off to take a quick shower.

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