Chapter 7: Considerations
Len and Rin start to wonder about More.
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Notes: A little more texting in this chapter
Tell me O Wise One, Len beseeches, my best friend retroactively confessed. What should I do?
The white alpaca plush in his hands stares back silently, its adorable expression unmoving. He sighs inwardly and sets it down. Maybe he'll have more luck with the capybaras.
It's a busy day at the toy emporium. There's barely any room to explore freely, with children scampering about, their parents crowding, and objects of random shapes and sizes scattered everywhere. Not quite the place he'd expected to be summoned to when Rin extended her invite—'plushie shopping day!' was all she'd texted back to his question marks.
He's deep into a debate with a capybara ("What do I think of her? She's… Rin.") when his phone vibrates.
Rin: guess who forgot her wallet
Rin: will be 10min late
Despite his nerves, Len laughs.
Some things never change—she always finds a way to make him smile, and how he appreciates it. Even after yesterday, after her… confirmation, she'd done the same, too.
Rin arrives past their agreed time true to her estimate, slowing down from a jog in a bit of a fluster. She's in another oversized hoodie of a different color that looks equally comfy and huggable. God, Len, get a grip.
She walks right past the pillar he's leaning on, and for a burning second it's so, so tempting to catch her shoulder. But then what? He doesn't have an answer to his conundrum, so he doesn't.
"I think I love you," the memory echoes distantly. Rin gets on her tiptoes, scanning the scene with her back turned to him. Cute of her to try with her height.
"Yes, I did," yesterday repeats. He dives behind a shelf as she turns. A child looks on curiously, prompting him to wave and plaster a smile. Yeah, he really needs to get a grip, preferably soon. If his heart would stop thrumming in his chest, he'd be golden.
Rin: just reached. where you?
Thank goodness his phone is perpetually silent.
Len: walking around
Len: got bored lol
Len: going back now
Rin: wait
Rin: i'll be quick. just wait outside. super crowded!
Len: since you asked so nicely…
Rin: thanks
Rin is typing…
Rin: （＿ ＿ ; ;
Oh, he's not going to keep away now, not with that expectation. He counts the seconds, staying the imp in him demanding to be let loose, feeling time march by. One minute, three minutes, five…
Showtime!
He finds her standing before a shelf of very round, very fluffy yellow canary plushies. Or are these finches? Well, no matter. She's so absorbed that it would take breathing down her neck to alert her, so he allows himself a moment to relish the secrecy.
It hits him like a splash of icy water how much time they've spent apart, seeing the looping ribbon in her hair and stray coils of frizz from rushing over. She was more into styling with headbands back then, and they were equally tall when they fought.
Now if he so dares, he could easily give the crown of her head a peck. It's right there. All he needs to do is lean in. Just a little one.
No. Len bites the inside of his cheek.
Wow, she must really like these plushies to not even turn around or something. And this is the girl who usually picks up on his "jokester aura" (he has no idea what she means).
Can't say he didn't wait.
Sated and charged with mischief, he slings an arm around her shoulders. "Find something nice?"
Rin shrieks.
.
.
"Strangling me wasn't enough, huh?" Len remarks, cradling a very fluffy yellow pile in his arms. "I go out of my way to say hello and you treat me like a shelf."
Rin huffs, stacking birds onto him. "Shh, shelves don't talk."
He ignores her. "Are you actually buying all of these? The café must pay pretty well!"
"Don't make me kick you," she warns. "And no, just one… but it has to be perfect."
"These are all perfect. Perfectly cute." Well, not that he can tell anything apart with his vision filled with yellow and his hands completely full. He can't even see her. Is she doing this on purpose?
"You don't get it." He imagines Rin turning up her nose at him. "It has to be firm but not rock-solid, soft but not too squishy, evenly-fluffed—"
"Okay have fun," he cuts in. "I'll be here, atoning for my crimes, shelf-style."
"You're impossible," Rin groans.
"And you're picky!" Squaring his shoulders, Len resigns himself to shelf duty, out of curiosity in part. Are all toys not created equally?
In the din of toy sound effects, jingling accessories and children shouting, there's a faint, barely-there melody and the sporadic tapping of feet. The rhythm is ever so slightly off for emphasis on certain hooks leading into improvised harmonies, but something about it is simply endearing. So silly, so precious, so Rin.
His eyes flutter closed. The burden aside (did she just add another to the pile? What a tyrant), he could stay like this forever.
"Ah!" The humming abruptly stops, breaking spell and song, nearly breaking his heart with them. "I found it!" Rin trills, "My new friend!"
"Don't forget your old friend over here," Len calls from the fluff in exaggerated struggle.
She giggles. "Believe me, I tried." The birds are plucked off one by one, much to his relief.
Light peeks through and finally he sees her, glowing with happiness, sunnier than the lucky yellow plushie in her arms. "Thank you!" she says brightly.
Oh you, he thinks, rubbing the back of his neck. Silly Rin. He would give anything to see this smile more. "It was nothing."
Rin continues admiring her find, hugging it with measured force, grinning widely. Good for her. Though just when she seems to be done, she squeezes the thing some more, and he feels a pinprick of something petty and shallow.
Len squints. Who does that canary think it is? James the Goldfinch-looking ass. "Looks the same to me."
"Perfect little thing," she coos, ignoring him.
Oh, now she's asking for it.
"Is it, though?" he questions, reaching out. For better or for worse, the canary is eagerly placed in his hands.
Hm. She might have a keen sense for this after all—it's the ideal dumpling-adjacent shape and has a wonderfully plush springiness. At least compared to the flock he was carrying, this one is golden.
Too bad. Len drills his knuckles into its head.
Rin makes a sound between a squawk and a screech, ripping the toy away. "Stop it!"
"If it's so perfect, it'll be fine."
"You're going to ruin it!"
He gasps in feigned hurt, going doe-eyed. "I would never."
"You just tried to!" she cries indignantly.
"It's not that bad. Give it here."
"No!"
He's got half a mind to snatch the plush when something barrels into him with considerable force. A child tagged 'It' for an ill-situated game of tag mumbles what sounds like apologies and flees. He topples forward.
Next thing he knows he's landed on his forearm on the wall hard, toes straining for balance, face dangerously close and hovering over his best friend trapped in his shadow.
One second. Precisely three thoughts cross his mind:
1. Ow.
2. Phew, didn't hit her.
3. Pretty.
Did she always look this pretty?
Three seconds. He wants to weave his fingers through her flaxen hair. He wonders if her lips are as soft as they look, how it would feel to raise her chin and—
Five seconds. He vaguely registers her eyes growing wide and face flushing bright red, and then she's shielding herself with the canary. If he were any less present he could swear it asks, "Are you okay?"
Len crashes back down to Earth, suddenly aware of the dull throbbing in his arm. "Ah, um. Yes. Yeah. It's—am okay," he babbles foolishly.
"Okay. Good," Rin says, quieter. Then, "I wanna go pay."
"Right, yeah. Sorry." He pushes off and she makes a beeline for the cashier, slipping through gaps in the crowds.
What was that?
Len rakes a hand through his hair. Maybe he hasn't slept enough (he's never slept better since the start of this trip). Maybe he's going mad (he's never been happier). Or maybe it's because he's been single for an extended time now.
Rin, now owner of the supposedly perfect canary plushie returns to him jubilant yet shy, and he feels his insides light up like a Christmas display, full festive palette and cheer and all things nice.
Oh shit.
"Would you like to try our latest chocolate series?" A staff member presenting a small container of sweets smiles pleasantly at them. There's something persuasive about the woman's meticulously-painted face, perfectly-lined eyebrows and dark wavy hair.
"Sure." Rin meets Len's eyes profiling the chocolate wafer ball, eyebrows raised. He mirrors her expression and nods.
"Wow," is all he says.
"We're running a promotion right now," the staff continues, gesturing to a counter stacked with boxes of varying colors. "Buy three and get one free! We have other flavors too, if you'd like to try samples."
"Yes please!" Len is like a kid in this confectionery store Sweet Ann's.
They're here at Rin's friend Galaco's request, and their timing couldn't be better. Rin counts her friend group on her fingers; the promotion is just enough for all four. She'll add something for Gumi while she's at it.
"Hey Rin, which one do you like best?" Len calls from the displays.
"The hazelnut one. Why?"
"Okay! Three boxes of hazelnut please," he tells the nearby assistant. "So four in all, nice."
Wait, what? "Who's that for?"
"For you and me," Len says with a smile.
Dazzling as always. She fights a blush down. "It's a lot though."
"That's why we're sharing, duh." He doesn't take the money she offers. "Don't worry about it. Be right back, I wanna try more stuff."
"Your boyfriend is very sweet," the staff from earlier chuckles quietly as Len wanders off. Rin reads the tag pinned to her crisp shirt: 'Mew'. "Have you been dating for long?"
He's not my—Rin drives the thought into a ditch. "It's been a few years." Technically true, and it's easier this way. Len will understand.
(And yet, it feels so scandalous.)
"This is good too!" Said boy returns to her side with a brownie cube skewered on a toothpick. "Try it, try it."
Caught off-guard with her canary in one hand and her phone in the other, Rin parts her lips. She's probably imagining the one second of delay. The brownie is delicious.
"Aww," Mew coos, "You two are such a cute couple."
Len notices, because of course he does. "Eh?"
"Uh, thank you," Rin eekes out, nudging him once in an attempt to convey her panic. Play along. "We'll take a box of brownies too."
"Make that two," he adds. What a natural.
Mew rings them up with a discount for "making her day more interesting", whatever she means, and they leave with a vague feeling they'll be the subject of workplace gossip for a while.
"About earlier," Rin croaks when they're safely out the store. "That was, um…" A white lie. Intentional. Daydreams. "She assumed we were a thing so I just… went with it. I'm sorry." But also not really.
Len mumbles something. It sounds a lot like "It's okay I get it, I don't mind", but she's sure that if they discuss any further she'll spontaneously combust.
They link up to navigate through crowds of shoppers to the next store. His touch is light, hesitant even, and the tips of his ears are red.
Was he always this shy?
.
.
Just when she thought this day couldn't get any crazier, Len hugs her.
Well, hug is the proper term for him wrapping his arms loosely around her for support. It's a gesture of gratitude for helping him pick gifts for his friends, and it's while he's convulsing with laughter at the mugs that read "Secret Leaker" and "Hindsight █/20" respectively, but she'll count it.
"Thanks, you're the best," Len wheezes, and her heart throbs again.
.
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They're back at the hotel lobby before long, waiting for the elevator in silence.
"Hey." They enter when it opens. She glances at Len in the reflective paneling. "Let's go to that other mall tomorrow," he says.
"What for?" Rin asks impulsively. Fuck. She stares at the rows of brushed metal buttons, their floor number lost to her scrambling thoughts.
Len laughs. It's a lovely, airy sound. "Do I need a reason?"
"…Maybe."
"I wanna hang out," he says as though stating the obvious, like pointing out something routine. He reaches over to press the button behind her and once again he's leaning over her, tall and imposing and so, so close. "Hang out with you."
She nearly sighs.
Why does he have to say it like that? If he keeps this up, she's going to get the wrong—
The elevator dings. Rin is first out. It's all she can do to meet his eyes (so dreamy) for a second and force herself to speak. "O-okay."
"I'll text you!" Len is beaming as she heads toward her room. A health hazard, he is.
"Did you mean what you said back then?"
Why, why did she think it was a good idea to answer that? What was she thinking? What was she hoping for? Rin groans and drops her face into her hands, drawing skeptical looks to her corner.
She must be the only one like this, in a less-than-pleasant mood on this floor of the mall where everything is bright and cheery. She closes her eyes and exhales after counting to ten. Reset and return.
Deny as she might, everything boils down to a very simple fact: because it's Len, her former neighbor, her again-friend…
Because he's her too-long, hopeless, nowhere crush.
He's the reason why she's in her ribbon blouse and jean shorts. If they're on the same wavelength and if she really knows him, he'll appear in something show-stopping or unusual just because.
There's movement in the corner of her eye. She whips around and there he is in an orange plaid button-up shirt (not buttoned up enough, the cheek of him), hands in his khaki pockets, faintly scented like a clear coastline.
Orange looks great on him. He should wear it more, not because it's her favorite color or anything.
"Aww," Len says, "you noticed me."
Do you want to give me a heart attack? Jerk. "You'd have better luck if you dropped the cologne," Rin teases. "Also, what are you wearing?"
"An icebreaker." He removes his gag glasses-and-mustache with a chuckle, the blue of his eyes sparkling behind them. "Did it work?"
Stupidly well. "Yeah."
Len takes them to an open-air bistro, stylishly modern with a mascot statue at the front. They're early enough to receive the hammed-up hospitality of the servers and a table on the veranda.
Glad as she is to be away from crowds, being alone with him like this—especially considering where they'd actually left off—is a wholly different test of nerves. Her carbonara tastes as good as it looks, and all the while they dine she keeps her eyes on the joke accessory folded on his open collar. It's a very nice collar.
She thinks she hears a comment on her blouse, but it's while she's sipping on her drink. "What?" she asks when she puts her glass down.
"Just talking to myself, don't mind me," he says. Then he seems to decide otherwise, giving her a look that gets her heart racing. "You look prettier today."
Prettier? It's tempting to pick at his words, but she's not sure if she's ready for his answer, whatever it could be. "T-thanks. You look nice too."
"You mean the glasses, right?" he laughs. "Just kidding. Glad you think so."
Len scans his card at the register before she can get her purse out. She makes him take her cash. "And keep the change!"
"How generous."
"So." She ignores him and taps the point of her flat on the stair, looking away. "Where to next?"
"There's this gachapon store that opened here recently," he says, and takes her hand. "Shall we?"
How Len is able to instantly pick out the shows they used to watch in this multicolored merchandise maze, Rin has no idea, but it's nice to see the child in him again.
"Wow, it's been forever since this came out. I feel old," he sighs wistfully before a machine. "I think it's getting a remake though. If they make another movie, wanna watch it together?"
She's been staring at the display, trying to place Who this is and What show from, coming up short. "Huh? Um, sure, alright."
"Riiiiin," Len whines, bumping her from the side. "I'm asking you to watch the remake with me."
"I said alright! Weekly or marathon or whatever! We can watch it!"
"You promise?"
"Mm-hmm."
"Okay." He sounds satisfied. "Gonna look around a bit."
Finally at ease identifying the character through Google search, Rin finds her best friend has disappeared. She looks left, right, round a circle and around again. He's not in this aisle. Where did he go?
Then, brisk footsteps and an excited voice: "Found something cool!" Len reappears as quickly as he'd gone and practically drags her to another machine. "One for you, one for me?"
It's a gachapon for music-themed accessories from bracelets to earrings, featuring notation symbols in the designs. Very random, though not as much as that other machine with pudding powder in it. She should stop being surprised. "Why not."
Len dashes off and returns again with tokens. "We can make this even more interesting," he says, divvying up with her. "Let's roll for each other."
"You sure? You might have to start wearing earrings."
"I know I'll rock them." He wags his eyebrows at her.
Yes you would. She shakes her head to hide the smile on her face.
The tokens fall in noisily and a capsule drops down. Len turns it over, trying to discern the contents in the translucent plastic to no avail.
"Just open it," Rin laughs.
It's a treble clef pendant on a short chain, metal with a bit of heft. Not something to wear to a formal dinner, but she can picture herself with it day-to-day. In fact, she wants to wear it right now.
"Help me out," she requests more out of habit than anything, holding her hair up. The memories of them experimenting with accessories aren't enough to keep her from jolting at his fingertips.
"Relax, I'm not going to kill you. What do you take me for?"
"Hair Ruiner, Plushie Killer, Weirdo," she lists.
Len hums with interest. "Okay, I get the first two. Explain 'Weirdo'."
"You misheard." She suddenly regrets answering him.
"No I didn't."
"Yes, you did."
"Come on, tell me."
"No."
"Oof. Keep your secrets, then."
His hands leave her neck, lingering on her sleeves for a second longer before he turns her around. There's an earnest, searching intensity in his eyes that steals the air out of her, though before she can ponder its meaning he steps back with a satisfied smile.
"It looks great on you."
Weirdo! You're being one right now! In one motion, Rin twists the crank harder than necessary, earning momentary catharsis and a capsule.
Inside it is a smaller package than the last, and inside that is a metal band for the finger. She holds it to the light. "A bass clef ring! Huh."
The corner of his lip is quivering when she looks at him. Oh no, now what?
He elegantly holds out his hand, and for a blissful moment it's all in good fun, just two friends adorning each other with quirky accessories, until she notices he's extended his left hand… and his left ring finger.
Her breath hitches.
"Don't be stupid!" Blood rushes to her face. He laughs unhelpfully at her panic when she almost drops the prize. He laughs harder when she yanks his right arm out, and has tears in his eyes when they discover the ring doesn't fit on the fourth finger.
It eventually finds a home on his right pinky, while her fists home in pummeling his chest, just barely masking her embarrassed squeaks.
"You… you! I can't believe you—ugh!" She gives up trying to form a response and thunders out the store.
Len keeps pace at her heels, shaking with residual giggles. "My bad," he apologizes between snorts, not the least bit remorseful. "The ring's really nice. Thanks."
"Fuck off!" She keeps moving, glowing scarlet.
At first it was trying to get away from Len, away from his dumb ideas for jokes and his easy laughter creating tidal waves in her heart, awakening butterflies in her stomach. Then it was escaping the unceremonious drizzle falling over them in the middle of a plaza.
They crash into a small café lightly drenched and short of breath. Tugging herself free of Len's grasp, Rin marches over to the seats by the window.
"What luck," she laments, retrieving her purse from her bag, "rain again!"
"Now with hot drinks," Len appends with a grin.
She doesn't take his hand when getting off the stool, doesn't lean on him for warmth when they line up to order drinks. He says "I'll get that, too" after she picks a mocha, and she swats away his hand and card to pay in cash.
Anything to settle her nerves.
Leaving Len to wait at the collection point, she finally has a moment to breathe, to take in the symphony of busy baristas and whirring appliances. It's not unlike her workplace, and all the better for it right now.
Still, her eyes keep drifting to him across the floor. He's resting one arm on a nearby merchandise shelf, the other raised in front of him. She's sure his soft expression is directed at the ring because he's turning his hand to the light.
It's unfair; he's gotten her flustered again without even being here.
Rin: help
Rin: am i crazy or does my best friend like me?
Gumi: Huh
Gumi: Ohhh?
Gumi: Slow down girl. Gimme a m
Gumi — last seen a minute ago
Gumi is Online
Gumi is typing…
Gumi: *min
Gumi: Okey, share with the class
By virtue of being a co-worker with a listening ear and the ability to keep secrets, her fellow barista is the first dropped with the bombshells Len and I are friends again because of this trip somehow and I may or may not have confessed to him a second time and now he's acting, I don't know, different.
Gumi: Σ(º ﾛ º๑) Waaaaaa
Gumi is typing…
Gumi is typing…
Gumi is typing…
Rin tucks her phone back into her bag. The rest of the messages—or singular message, knowing Gumi—will come later.
Len returns with their coffees and they watch the rain come down heavier. Gray, relentless and loud; it's unlikely to stop in the next half-hour.
"Sorry for earlier." For the first time today he's not trying to get a rise out of her. "If I ever make you uncomfortable, just tell me. It won't kill me to be reminded."
A part of her wants to correct that it's not the joke, but the timing of said joke that freaked her out. She wants to tell him she likes they got each other matching accessories like cheesy couples do, and that he's a sight for sore eyes sipping on coffee like that. But daydreams really should remain daydreams.
"It's fine, but it was very corny," she says instead after a long, soothing drink. "By the way, I thought you were a tea kind of guy."
"Expansions, remember? Coffee, tea, I swing both ways now." He winks. "I was curious about your mocha. It's not bad."
"You could've tried mine if you asked," she blurts out.
"Really?" He shifts closer, head tilted to hold her gaze, eyes glittering with something she can't quite make out. If he's searching for a reaction, he gets one when red zips from her cheeks all the way up to her ears. "Next time, then."
She claps a hand over his face. She might as well have slapped him from the volume of the impact.
Len recoils. "Ow… At least scold me first!"
"I'm so sorry!"
"You're killing me here, Rin," he says, massaging his cheek, already smiling again. Weirdo!
Her phone chiming has never felt so timely. It takes a moment to register that it's not some bizarre bit of marketing, but Gumi's proper reply. And the girl's still typing!
Rin blinks at it. It's a wall of runes, taking up nearly her whole screen. What the fuck? With a bit of squinting, she deciphers precious few phrases.
'—relationship advice column time, huh? Dear Twice-Confessed—' Haha, very funny.
'—he's into you!' First a random tourist, Merli, Kyo, and now Gumi, too? Can she believe that?
'—are you still into him?' Yes? No. Well… maybe. It's all so messy, what with their history, the trip and again for emphasis, their history.
'But when he flirts, do you wish he would stop, or do you wish you were more?' Flirting? Pssh. Skip question, thank you.
'—get attached to get Ryuto off your back—' What an idea. She coughs into her hand to stifle a giggle. It's certainly something her friends might try, and have tried; Galaco ended up dating her pretend-boyfriend for real. But Len deserves more than that, so much more.
"That looks like spam," Len comments over her shoulder and she chokes, slamming her phone down into her lap.
"Rude! I'm asking my lecturer about stuff!" Technically true. Gumi had lectured at length that day after both newly broken-ups left. Now's your chance and You can make him happier, among other ridiculous notions.
"What kind of stuff?"
"Project stuff!" Stupid. Somebody shut her stupid mouth already.
From how he's smirking, he's definitely not convinced. "While on holiday?"
"Yes," she lies through gritted teeth. Her phone buzzes again. "Now shush."
She ignores his pouting, glossing over a new headstone of letters from Gumi and sneaks a reply.
Rin: forget it, i can't with this guy
Gumi: Nooooo
Sunny weather thoroughly washed out by rain, the air is positively freezing when they step out. She kind of expected this after the amusement park, but Len, who's more suitably dressed for a trip to the seaside, is ill-prepared.
"Wanna use my shawl?" Rin asks as he rubs his shivering arms.
"No. I mean, look at what you're wearing." He's got a point; the shawl completes today's ensemble.
"Then let's share," she insists, and he lets her throw the other end of the fabric on him.
There's less room under it than they thought. Him holding her shoulder and her his waist, they stumble along like two stooges tied together. It's so stupid, so absurd that she can't panic over their proximity as much as comment on their coordination, or lack thereof.
"Slow down, you're splashing at me!" she yelps.
He tugs at her. "You walk faster!"
"I thought you were better at this!" She steer-shoves them away from a puddle. "We were one-legged champions!"
"Keyword, 'were'! Your legs are too short to keep up now."
"Wha—it's you who got too tall!"
"Jealous?"
"You wish!"
They see a blonde couple in the distance, a man on his phone and the woman next to him with golden waves tied into a ponytail. Reiji and Sumire.
Before Rin can think to call out to Len's parents, the world spins around with a gentle pressure at her back. She's swept into a tiptoe-walk towards a storefront, backs to the pavement and a good part of her braced in her best friend's arm.
"Hide. We'll never hear the end of it if they see us like this," Len hisses urgently in her ear, flushing pink. "They're relentless."
She nods with understanding reflexively, but her mind is a pebble skipping across a lake, overwhelmed by the sensation of his breath fanning on her neck and his hand hot on her waist. Her attempt at a response comes out high-pitched. "I see."
"Are you okay?" Len sounds worried now. His touch withdraws. "Oh. My bad."
"It's fine." Her logical faculties are all screaming at her to keep her composure, to let it go—let him go—but she can't. She doesn't want to.
Craving an inexplicable thing, she instead leans into the lanky canopy of chin and shoulders that is him, enough to feel his heartbeat. She couldn't be more thrilled if she tried, knowing it's going as fast as hers. "I'm okay, really."
For a frightening few seconds he's frozen stiff, and she thinks she's overstepped somehow. Then slowly, his hand comes to rest on her shoulder in the firm, reassuring sort of way he always tries to. And yet it's different, because it makes the firecrackers in her chest spark and explode.
Despite it, she can't bring herself to point out how strange this looks—two best friends pressed together under a shawl, pretending to window-shop to avoid teasing parents, as though they have something to hide, as though they might be something more.
It's a long while before Len moves again, like this—whatever this is might be disturbed if he so much as breathes too loudly. He only holds her tighter.
"Cold, isn't it?" he asks softly into her hair.
If anything, it's too warm. "Yeah, it is."
Maybe, Rin indulges silently while thumbing the pendant around her neck, maybe I do wish we were more.
.
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Notes:
This chapter was, um, something. Not my best and maybe a little on the weird side, but I hope you enjoyed. For clarity, the mugs are for Lui and Oliver, introduced in chapter 1.
Heck yea slow burn! It'll stop burning soon I promise! Just can't resist a good sizzle.
I imagined Rin here would try to use kaomojis once in a while in an effort to meet Len in the middle, because they're both cute like that.
The rest of the chapters probably won't be as long as 6 and 7. 6 was eventful and I got carried away (massive understatement) with 7 hahah.
Thank you for reading!