As decided, Eiji and Minami stayed to watch the shooting and join the filming crew at lunch. Both of them stood at considerable distance from where the shooting was held. Unexpectedly, the atmosphere was pretty light. Eiji thought since they were professionals, the mood would be serious and strict. However, the set was filled with laughter, few people were making jokes here and there.

”Why are they laughing? They’re not taking work seriously”, Eiji ridiculed.

”Eh… I think they’re being serious. They look like they enjoy their work.”, Minami replied, a smile formed on his face. But thinking about how he replied casually to a superior, he panicked and apologized.. “..I’m sorry for talking so suddenly…”

”Do you still think I’m going to beat you up? Calm damn.”, Eiji replied. Enjoying… it’s true that the crew was enjoying it. The laughter… the smiles on their faces were genuine. Somehow, it made him feel jealous, seeing how people view work differently. Eiji, for example, made work as an excuse to forget everything.

”No… I think Eiji-san is a nice person. Oh, they’re done!”, Minami cut himself off and ran to the crew. He greeted them with ‘good work’ while he handed them bottles of water. Looking at the rookie, Eiji felt like he suited more in this kind of work than the advertising department.

Lunch started and Eiji joined the filming crew’s table. They talked a little more regarding the project, throwing some suggestions here and there. Nobu was nowhere to be seen. He brought his portion of lunch though, so he was most likely eating somewhere else. Eiji was glad he didn’t have to meet him though. It was awkward being with him. And who knows what crap he’d say. He didn’t want the project to be ruined.

“That was delicious. Thanks for the food.”, everyone else got back into work, with only Eiji left. To show his appreciation, he offered to clean up the table. It wasn’t exactly hard to clean it up since they ordered fast food and he only had to collect the plates into the trash bin.

Looking around, he noticed that Minami was nowhere to be seen. He was probably out somewhere getting a scolding from the Advertising department. If only he could transfer the young rookie into his own department, perhaps Minami will have an easier time. Eiji decided he’d bring it up to Kuwabara-san the next time he saw him.

Again, a few minutes had passed and there was no traces of Minami yet. Eiji was getting impatient, being the only person with nothing to do while everyone else was preparing for the next shoot. With nothing else to do, he decided to find Minami so they could bid farewell and return to their office.

Getting out of the warehouse, Eiji was met with the scorching sun that had risen to its peak. It wasn’t exactly hot though, since winter just ended and it was only spring time. Eiji started to searched for Minami who had gone missing, but there was not a single sign of him being around.

”Where is that kid? I should have gotten his phone number”, Eiji muttered while his eyes and head kept on swinging left and right in hopes that a small fragile looking man would appear before him.

A few minutes had passed. Eiji decided to gave up and planned to return to the warehouse to bid his farewell. Perhaps Minami had went ahead on his own and for a reason so believable, he might have forgotten to tell Eiji about it. That must be it.

Eiji turned around and started treading his steps back to the warehouse. However, on his way back, loud creaking sound deafened his ears. He couldn’t see where the sound originated from, even while he turned around to see the culprit. One last look upward was all it took for him to understand. A beam of metal was on its way to breaking off from a support that kept it in place. A few seconds later, the beam started to fall.

”Look out!”, Eiji didn’t know what was going on. Upon seeing the dangerous object overhead, he simply froze. At that moment, a young guy pushed him away with all his might. The guy in question now in danger in his place. Eiji closed his eyes, unprepared for what was coming next.

One second… Two… three… the loud, earth shattering impact he was expecting never occurred. He took a peak with one eye to see the space beside him emptied. No sign of metal beam… no sign of his rescuer. He opened the remaining eye in surprise and looked around. He was there behind him.

”You’re fine.”, Eiji replied in relief and let out a loud sigh. He would never want anyone to risk their life for him. His life that turned wrong wasn’t worth sacrificing for. Instead, it should be him that needs to sacrifice his life to make it more meaningful.

”Of course, I am. And…bye.”, Nobu started to walk away like nothing happened. Of course, his action had taken Eiji aback. No matter how awkward it was between the two, Eiji thought that at such times, they should at least care.

”Umm.. wait.. the metal beam? What happened to it?”, Eiji asked. He really wanted to thank the person but he didn’t know how to start, knowing how he kicked the person out from his room days ago.

”Look up.”, Nobu replied.

Eiji did as he was told. The metal was hanging mid-air. At first he thought it was floating. Because of the bright sunlight facing his way he couldn’t really see it. But when he squinted his eyes, several ropes were actually tied around the beam. Now, the beam was hanging there but it seemed like the rope wouldn’t last considering how heavy the meal beam looked.

”We should move away I guess. It looks dangerous.”, Eiji said but Nobu didn’t say anything. After mustering his courage, Eiji sighed deeply and faced his rescuer.

”Nobu-kun, honestly I don’t want to have anything to do with you but I’m not a heartless person. Though it was a false danger, I still think I need to express my gratitude. So… umm… thank you.”, Eiji finally said it out. A smile formed on Nobu’s face. His young attractive feature was truly a beauty. Even without attraction, Eiji’s heart skipped a beat just from that look.

”If you’re thankful, meet me later tonight.”, Nobu smirked as if he had an evil idea.

”Didn’t you hear me? I said I have nothing to do…”, Eiji felt like he was being fooled around and he was not about to fall into some kind of trap. Yet, his words were cut short by Nobu.

”Then forget about thanking me Eiji-san”, Nobu started walking away once again.

Eiji didn’t want to be heartless. Even while he didn’t want to, his conscience wouldn’t allow him. In the end, he had no choice but to accept. ”Fine. I’ll come. As long as you promise to not do anything weird.”