.
.
The new guy's hair was blonde.
That was the first thing Koiwai noticed as his supervisor was showing the new guy around the office. The guy's hair was blonde, which was unusual, since corporate dress code had strictly forbidden dyed hair. Koiwai had complained about this rule, of course - he himself used to rock frosted tips in his younger days - and he chalked it up as a win when corporate allowed for touch-up dye jobs, black or dark brown to cover up any salt-and-pepper strands threatening to turn completely gray.
"So," Koiwai said, when the new guy was settled, "Do the curtains match the carpet or what?"
xXx
.
As it turned out, the new guy was half-British and he spoke pretty good English, but his language skills weren't because of his upbringing.
"I took it in college," Sakurai said. He didn't really talk much, just kind of floated out answers while he continued typing at the computer. "I was adopted. I never met my biological family."
"So you never went to America or England?" Koiwai had been to both.
"No, I haven't." Sakurai pushed up his glasses, clamming up like he normally did when Koiwai got too personal:
"My apologies, but I have a few clients I need to call."
xXx
.
"He's dreamy," one of his co-workers said.
Koiwai grabbed a cup of water while his co-worker leaned against the counter, holding a bunch of folders to her chest and staring at the new guy, wistfully.
"Eh? The new guy?" Koiwai said. Two women behind him giggled. Koiwai cocked an eyebrow.
"Dreamy" wouldn't be the word Koiwai would use to describe him. Nice, maybe, if not a little awkward. He didn't talk much and he could be overly serious when it came to work. But he was always polite, going out of his way to help a colleague or offer insights based on his expertise.
But Koiwai could get why the ladies would swoon over him: while Koiwai saw a guy awkwardly hovering at the counter, the girls saw a sexy quiet type, coolly sipping his coffee while taking stock of the rabble.
xXx
.
"I'm not interested in dating," Sakurai said.
Koiwai was hanging around the cubicle again, trying his best to hook up Yamada-san or Tadashi-san. "Please put in a good word!" Yamada-san all but begged him, and Koiwai thought it gentlemanly to at least let the kid know people had a thing for him.
"Dating? Who said anything about dating? Those girls just want to get a drink."
Koiwai watched with interest as his junior cohort sighed loudly and pushed up his glasses.
"I'm behind on a deadline," Sakurai said. "I'm sorry, but I don't have the time."
Koiwai waited a moment, but the kid ignored him. Koiwai scratched his head and frowned.
xXx
.
Quickly, the kid's reputation grew: he was competent, an overachiever set to outpace the rest of his co-workers. The other employees grumbled as their workloads started to increase, their supervisor stating loudly that if Sakurai-san could deliver three weeks before the deadline, then the rest of the team should be aiming for three weeks earlier, too.
"You know, Sakura-chan, the other guys are gettin' pissed at you."
Sakurai shrugged. Koiwai was the only one who bothered to talk to him, mostly because the kid was fun to harass, but also because despite the kid's sulking, he never outright told Koiwai to shut the hell up, which was basically what the others resorted to as their deadlines loomed. "I mean, they probably wouldn't mind so much if they actually got to know you," Koiwai said. "Ne, Sakura-chan. The rest of the guys and I are getting a drink. You should come out with us! It's Friday night, they're shutting the lights off at eight, so you can't clock overtime!"
"I actually already have plans," Sakurai said, and he snapped shut his briefcase. Koiwai watched him curiously.
"I don't like that blonde guy," one of his co-workers said. Koiwai watched as the guy downed his beer, gulping it like a glass of water before slamming the glass back onto the bar. "Thinks he's better than us! The supervisor reassigned one of my clients to him!"
"He's like a stupid prince. And what the hell? All the girls are swooning at him!"
"Sakura-chan's not that bad," Koiwai said. The other guys stared at him.
"Eh?"
"'Not bad'?!"
"Koiwai-san, you're drunk! Of course that kid's that bad!"
"Nah," Koiwai said. He tossed back a drink and grinned at them. "Sakura-chan's just shy, he's not anti-social."
"Tch." The other guys tossed back their drinks.
xXx
.
While the others thought Sakurai was cold and aloof, Koiwai knew he was just socially awkward.
It was a matter of projection: Sakurai spoke up in meetings but didn't take the time to ingratiate himself, and while the others just assumed he was just the Aloof Cool Guy, Koiwai knew it was because Sakurai was actually pretty shy. At the break room, Sakurai would hover just at the periphery of where everyone else was grouped together, fingering his sad sack lunch and waiting anxiously by the Keurig machine.
If Sakurai were a girl, Koiwai realized, everyone would chalk up that aloofness to quiet shyness.
"We're going out to eat," Koiwai said. They were in the weeds, coming up on another deadline with a jittery client breathing down their necks. Sakurai was sorting through stacks of paperwork while Koiwai shuffled papers behind him. "We're not gonna get stuff done on an empty stomach! C'mon, let's grab some food! Thirty minutes! Then we can put in our overtime and cry all night 'cuz we didn't get to go home."
xXx
.
Slowly but surely, Koiwai started to wear him down.
"Ne, Sakura-chan. What's it gonna take for me to woo you?"
"Dinner and a movie, first," Sakurai deadpanned. He was typing, staring at the monitor.
Koiwai sighed dramatically, dropping the back of his hand against his forehead. "You're so cruel, Sakura-chan!" Koiwai said. "Do you know what the guys in the break room say? Poor, selfless, Koiwai Homare! He'll be old and gray before his cute little subordinate pays attention to him!"
"I'm your junior co-worker. We have the same title, I'm not your subordinate."
"Just admit it! You can't resist me, Sakura-chan!"
Sakurai's mouth quirked. A stifled laugh. Koiwai preened triumphantly.
xXx
.
"Ne, Sakura-chan," Koiwai said, apropos of nothing, leaning into his cubicle, "How come you don't have a girlfriend?"
He watched as Sakurai gave the long suffering sigh of someone weighted down by a certain co-worker's incessant chatting.
"Seriously," Koiwai said. "Even on Friday nights you just go home."
"I don't have time for a girlfriend," Sakurai said. His face was pinched. He was staring at the monitor.
"Don't have time? Sakura-chan! Half the girls in the office would totally make the time!"
Sakurai kept typing. "I'm sure you know as well as I do that the office isn't the best place to find a date."
"Yamada-chan is in a different department," Koiwai said, helpfully. Sakurai glanced up briefly, then kept typing. "She's young and she's cute, and she's totally into you!"
"If she put you up to this, then you should break it to her that I'm not interested. I told you already I'm not looking to date."
"Why?" Koiwai asked. Sakurai sighed, loudly. "Did you break up with someone? Get out of a longterm relationship?"
"Kind of." Sakurai hunkered down in front of the monitor.
This was a first. Koiwai watched as Sakurai fidgeted a little, trying his best to keep his attention on the stack of papers in front of him. But Koiwai could tell something was bothering him. "There was this girl," Sakurai began.
"I knew it!" Koiwai said.
"It was...sort of a long-distance relationship."
Sakurai went quiet. Koiwai waited, expectantly.
"Her name was Yuki," Sakurai said, quietly. "We were friends for a long time, but then she stopped talking to me."
"Did you call her? Email her? Maybe something happened to her," Koiwai said. Sakurai shook his head.
"I never got her contact information," Sakurai said. Koiwai raised his eyebrows.
Apparently, Sakurai had been spending his weekends gaming with a girl he only knew online; they'd start playing on Friday nights and keep playing together on the weekends.
Then one day, she stopped logging in. Sakurai kept rushing home, sitting by his computer waiting for her, until the weeks stretched to months and he realized she was probably never going to log back in.
Koiwai didn't understand it. They only ever met online, for all the kid knew, he was being catfished.
But the kid was taking it hard; he was just as depressed as someone who had broken up. Maybe even worse, because the girl disappeared with no explanation.
xXx
.
The clock on the wall said 9 AM, but Sakura-chan was late. Koiwai glanced at the cubicle, frowning. Soon the hands on the clock ticked to 9:10, then 9:15, until Sakura-chan was a full 45 minutes late. That was unusual, to say the least.
"Where is he?" The project leader glanced at his watch, glaring. Koiwai drummed his fingers on the tabletop, then discreetly shot Sakurai a text. Yo. Did you forget the 9 AM meeting?!
Koiwai ducked into the bathroom and called. His call went to voicemail.
"Yo, Sakura-chan! It's Koiwai. Where are you? Everyone's waiting for you at the meeting."
He glanced at the clock again, which read 10:30.
It wasn't until 1 PM that a frazzled Sakurai lurched into the office, wild-eyed and jittery from downing several cups of strong coffee. "Where were you?" Koiwai asked, not bothering to preface his interactions with him with the usual lighthearted teasing. Sakurai panted and set down his briefcase.
"I overslept and ran into a girl," Sakurai said.
"So you blew off the morning meeting to go chat with a girl?" Koiwai said, incredulous. Sakurai shook his head.
"No, I was turning the corner and I literally ran into a girl. I elbowed her in the face while I was calling in."
"Wait, seriously?" Koiwai said. Sakurai sat down heavily.
"I'm so tired," Sakurai said. "Like an idiot, I spent all night gaming. I didn't get a chance to sleep."
"Did that Yuki chick sign in?" Koiwai said. Sakurai shook his head.
"No, not her. It was just a guy friend," Sakurai said.
xXx
.
The crush was getting out of hand.
Instead of diligently going over his work assignments, Sakurai spent the better part of the workday searching up Morioka Moriko's work history, feverishly networking with old co-workers and gathering information while they went out for drinks. He even started bothering Ikeda-san, who apparently was Morioka's old boss, despite the fact that the woman was stern and unforgiving and someone the others usually gave a really wide berth.
"Where's he going?" one of Koiwai's co-workers asked. "Is he going to that convenience store again?" And Koiwai watched as Sakurai yet again took a noticeable detour from his commute, only to be disappointed again, and spend the rest of the workday fidgeting and looking at his phone.
xXx
.
It was only an 8-minute walk from the train station, but Koiwai tapped in the address in his GPS anyway, since there were multiple Cowsons and he wanted to make sure he went to the right one. The night was quiet, and it was already getting late, but Koiwai had a hunch, and thought he'd stop by anyway.
There wasn't anyone there. Koiwai picked up a few snacks and tossed them into his basket, coming up to the register and humming to himself. At the very least, he picked up chips and beer. Slinging the plastic bag over his forearm, he walked out of the store, the doorbell above him dinging cheerfully.
A woman was coming toward him; he glanced at her tits as he held open the door.
"Thank you," she said, and he nodded, "Don't mention it," and he thought about how she had nice big ones, just like Morimori-chan. More than a handful, Morimori-chan...
"Hey, are you maybe Morioka Moriko-san?" he asked. And he smiled widely as she stuttered and tried her best not to freak the fuck out.