Yěhuā
A Xiān Kè Lái Extras Collection
By: Aviantei
[Shibuya Operation – Story Storm]
33. Lotus (24)
I'm stuffed into a small booth in some restaurant I've never heard of, the place decked out in oranges and yellows. It's a less than formal place, the kitchen staff chattering from behind their partition, voices somehow louder than the clustered in patrons. The inhale of spice from the door has busted my sense of smell, but somehow the aroma from Heng's smoke crinkles my nose.
My coworker raises his eyebrow at me, flicking ashes from the end of his cigarette. "You really are bad with cigarettes, huh?" he asks, sounding almost amused. I try to deny it—he invited me out to lunch even though I work in a separate part of the building now—but Heng waves his hand, forming waves with his smoke trail. "Don't deny it. I saw you when we went out for dinner. Where'd you grow up that you didn't have to put up with this crap? This is China, you know."
"The mountains," I answer, trying very hard not to tuck my hand over my face. Heng goes to extinguish his cigarette, but this time I shake him off. "Just…give me a minute. I'll be okay. I've gotten used to it. Besides, it won't stop everyone else in this place." Smokers are everywhere, sucking in nicotine during their allotted breaks. There's a reason I tend to bring lunch from home.
"True." Heng nods and takes a fresh drag, but blows his smoke away from me. It's as good as I can expect. "I think you're the only guy in the office who doesn't smoke at some point. Not to be rude, but it's kinda funny."
I huff air out my nose. "It's funny that I like keeping my lungs in one piece?"
"You got me there," Heng says, then blows a ring of smoke to show off for our waiter.
34. Lotus (25)
I wake up in the morning, fighting off the chill with my blankets. The sky outside the window is filled with gray clouds, though they have yet to drop any snow. I haven't seen a single snowflake while in Tokyo, though winter still has a few months in it. Not that I mind; I'm sure I'll get my fill of the seasons once I finish hopping continents.
Knowing that holding it off won't make handling the cold any easier, I push off my blanket, feet pressing into the slick floor. Funbari Onsen was built long enough ago that central heating wasn't part of the plan, and my space heater can only do so much. I dress in a few layers to keep my core heated, clip my hair into place, and retreat to the dining area where I know the kotatsu is waiting.
Ryu's cooking in the kitchen. He tends to make enough for all of us, so I don't interrupt. Anna and Tamao are seated at the table already, coffee cups in front of them. We four are the early risers of the place, so it's the usual crowd until I notice Asakura nodding off beside Anna, looking as groggy as ever.
"G' mornin', Ren," he greets through a yawn. Tamao chirps her own greeting, while Anna just meets my eyes in acknowledgement.
"I'm impressed you're even awake," I say, tucking myself under the blanket. The miniature heatwave rolls into my legs and starts to thaw out my toes. "Isn't this closer to your bedtime than your concept of morning?"
"We're going on a date today," Anna announces as an answer. Tamao goes red at the sound of the word. "It'll be some time alone before the temple visit tonight." Right, it is the turn of the calendar year. I'm so used to the Lunar New Year I hadn't even considered the date. I should expect a call from my family at least, given that my birthday's tomorrow.
Tamao fidgets with her coffee cup. Cream has dyed the innards almost as light a shade as her pale pink hair. "Y-you're welcome to come, too, Ren-san," she offers.
"Oh, yeaaah," Asakura drawls, not rising from his hunch over the table. A sleepy smile worms its way onto his face. "You should definitely come, Ren. I mean, you're not gonna be in Japan next year. You should have the temple experience now!"
They're not wrong. "Alright. Let me know when we depart." Asakura defers the duty to his fiancé, who tells me to be ready by-eleven thirty. I glance around the table again, noting our missing member. "Horohoro still asleep?" Not that I want his loudmouth so early in the morning, but better to be prepared for the battle than otherwise.
Tamao shakes her head. "He left for Hokkaido last night," she informs. "They're holding festivals right now, so he wanted to be with his family." Right, he did mention something like that. For such an idiot, at least he honors his peoples' traditions. It's just a shame one of the newest generation to preserve the Ainu culture is him. "He won't be back until classes start up again."
"Good riddance," I say, with little conviction.
Asakura snickers into the table spread. Anna yanks him to sit upright. "You are not going to sleep all day," she scolds. "Wake up or I'll have double the bags for you to carry on the way home."
"I'm waking up, I promise!" Asakura says, holding his hands up in surrender. "You know, coffee does sound great, now that I'm thinking of it. You want some Ren? I'll grab you a cup, too." He scrambles to the kitchen, almost to show that he's awake enough to move that fast.
It's my turn to snicker. Not that I do. But I do smirk at Asakura when he returns with the coffee I didn't even ask for.
35. Wildflowers (3)
Min Jia checked on Shui's hand in his as they shuffled through the crowd. The streets held tight with innumerable festival goers, and Min Jia couldn't risk getting separated from his younger cousin. Yes, Shui was a smart kid, and he knew where to meet up if he got lost, but Min Jia didn't like taking any chances.
"That girl was pretty," Shui said, his small voice carrying up to Min Jia's ears. The elder stopped in the middle of the crowd, and people parted around them, chattering all the same. Conversations on the New Year and calls for customers filled the air instead of car traffic. At least five different aromas of food hit Min Jia's nose, tempting even though he had eaten breakfast before picking Shui up.
"Yeah, she is," he agreed, because he still thought so. They didn't work well on a long term wavelength, but she was pretty. Her dressing up enhanced the effect. And that Ren guy—for all she talked about him, he didn't even get it? Then again, Cuì Jú didn't seem to realize she liked him, either. "What a space case…"
"Huh?" Shui tilted his head up to his cousin. Min Jia shook his head. He agreed with Cuì Jú that they didn't have the same long term goals. Just friends worked fine for them. If she was happy floating around the friend zone with a guy dense in a different way than she was, then all the power to her. "Can we go play games, then? Mom gave me some pocket money." Shui tugged Min Jia's pant leg and pointed down the street. Even though he couldn't see that far, Shui remembered the festival layout from the year before.
Min Jia smiled and hoisted Shui up without warning. The kid was still small enough to be lifted without too much strength required. Swinging his cousin around, Min Jia tucked Shui into a seat on his shoulders. "You bet!" Min Jia said, keeping hold of Shui's legs until the boy regained his balance to hold on himself. "Hey, I'll give you some pocket money, too. New Year's gift and all that. Whatcha wanna try to win?"
As Shui tried to choose between every possible festival prize (and others not even in existence), Min Jia forged their path through the crowd, one step at a time, in the opposite direction from where he knew Cuì Jú stood.
36. Aster (8)
"Oh, yeah. Cuì Jú, how's things going with that guy you were talking about?"
I pause with my cheese stick halfway to my mouth, breadcrumbs sticking to my fingers. Yating's penchant for Western food won the dinnertime draw for this week. Yating is also the one peering at me through the frames of her glasses, instigating the question, but Lim leans closer in curiosity, too.
I shrug and take a bite anyway, marinara sauce blending well with the piping hot appetizer. "Ren's doing good," I answer. "He let me pick out a few plants for his apartment. You know how white's supposedly in style or something? That man needed a splash of color."
"Ugh, I could never go all white," Lim says, pinching the tip of her straw into an oval. "Even the furniture?" I think about it, then nod. Some of it was grey accent stuff, but the couch I sat on was white. "You see, that's something only a guy could have. I mean, what would you do if you had a bad accident with your period or something?"
Yating grimaces, but resets her expression as she pushes her glasses up. The new lenses make her eyes look much larger than they are, but the look suits her. "I'd rather not think about that nightmare," she says, snatching up another cheese stick for herself. I munch down the second half of mine with another heaping helping of marinara. Double dipping is a myth among friends. "But you guys went out and bought plants together again? How was it?"
"Tons of fun!" I chirp, because it was. Ren ended up being pretty attentive about the whole thing. He even asked me questions about meanings. "Mrs. Xia appreciated the business, plus she knows tons about fung shei. Ren's really into chi stuff and they talked for a while. Isn't that, like, super cool?" Maybe next time I get to pick the conversation, I'll see if he can teach me a little bit, too.
"Hmmm." Yating frowns and licks the crumbs off her fingers, manicured nails flashing in the process. "Well, I'm glad you had a fun time."
"Yeah, maybe this Ren guy can keep up with you about flowers." Lim toys with her hoop earring, the different parts jingling together. Try as they might, my friends can't always keep up with my plant talk, which is fine. At least they listen in the first place. Lim's smile shifts a bit, and I notice the troublemaking look in her eyes. "Maybe we should all hang out sometime, see what he's like. Ow!"
Lim hisses and leans down to rub her leg. Yating says, "Sorry, kicked the wrong direction," without much conviction. I look between my two friends, but they don't elaborate. "But I dunno if Ren would wanna hang out with a bunch of college kids. We're probably brats to him."
I just won't tell them that's accurate… Ren may have loosened up a lot in the past few months, but I don't think that grumpiness will go away anytime soon. "I can ask," I hedge, and Lim shoots Yating a smirk she thinks I don't see, "but he's been busy with his promotion. I barely get time to hang out with him as it is."
"Too bad," Lim mumbles, reaching for the appetizer plate. "What the heck? You guys ate all these already? I call foul!"
"Not my fault you don't eat fast enough," Yating snarks. I give Lim an apologetic smile, and she sips cola through her deformed straw. "But, seriously, Cuì Jú. You don't have to drag Ren along. But if you ever wanna mingle your friend groups, we're not opposed."
I nod, tracing childish flower patterns onto the table with my fingertip. "I make no promises." Something like that seems big, too big to happen in the time we have now. I'll stick with my little moments where I can get them. "So, do we wanna stuff ourselves silly on another round of appetizers, or are we saving room for desert?"
[Author's Notes]
One more week is left in [Shibuya Operation - Story Storm], folks. It blows my mind just how fast this challenge goes every year, but we're almost at the closing point. Make sure to get your extra requests in, because I'll be getting to work on those soon. Of course, maybe what you were looking for was covered in this round...
33. Lotus (24) - Hey, look, it's that OC that I introduced in Lotus (1)! More of Ren being social with his coworkers.
34. Lotus (25) - Zing! One more section with the Funbari Onsen crew. This one didn't necessarily fit into Ren's mini character arc. I mentioned the different holiday traditions in Xiān Kè Lái, so I wanted to explore it a bit more.
35. Wildflowers (3) - Expanding on Min Jia and Shui's relationship. They only got a little bit of screen time in the main story, so I wanted to play around with their dynamic.
36. Aster (8) - Speaking of being social, Bai has friends, too! She doesn't just stake out the cafe to hang out with Ren. Character dynamics are fun.
As said, [SOSS] is coming to a close, so there aren't many recommendations left to give. This time I'll toss out another not-yet completed entry, FullMentalPanic's Whispers In Woods. Do I have the slightest bit of context for the fandom? No, siree, but FMP still delivers a wonderful inverted fairy-tale sort of environment with just the right bit of intrigue. In general, she's got a great, snappy style that makes me go into awe, so show her some love!
And then, next week we'll have the final set of mainstay extras. If you've come this far, I hope you'll find it worth the read. Don't forget to get those extra requests in, and please look forward to it!
-Avi
[02.19.2018]