Sweat trickled down Inagaki's face. He hadn't even had lunch yet but his mother had asked him to accompany her and his aunts to go shopping. Inagaki’s task was to carry all the shopping bags, which was more difficult than the task assigned by his Physics teacher.

Almost stumbling, he followed his mothers and aunts who were busy discussing kitchen utensils. His phone in his pocket vibrated, a sign of incoming notifications. It must have been from Kinnosuke. He was worried that his best friend needed help looking for Yukihide. But once he got ‘a noble task’ from his mother, he couldn’t escape easily.

“Dear, are you tired?” His mother was wiping the sweat on Inagaki's forehead with a tissue. He dodged—he was embarrassed to be treated like a kid in a public place.

"Yes, Mom. Can I wait at the cafe?”

"Café?" Her mother looked surprised, "What if we need someone to bring some more shopping bags?"

“Please, Mom. I'm very hungry. You don't want me to pass out on the street, do you?" He was half threatening.

His mother thought for a moment before giving him permission to wait at the cafe, “Alright. But I'll call you if I need help carrying things. And don't forget, you have to take these shopping bags with you everywhere. Don't lose it. If you go to the toilet, you have to take it too."

Since when did he become a porter?

"Oh my God, what will people say if they see me carrying bags full of bras?" Inagaki pouted.

"Stop acting cute. They don't care what bags you carry."

Whether he liked it or not, he had to carry all the shopping bags to the cafe. He deliberately chose a cafe that was far enough from the crowd so that later he would have the excuse of 'long distance' if his mother told him to come immediately.

The cafe he went to was apparently quite busy but he still went inside it. The first thing he did after ordering drinks and food was to check the notifications. Several incoming messages and two missed calls from Kinnosuke. The rest were Twitter notifications about the viral tweet about 'Kinnosuke is looking for the man of his dreams. The students who retweeted it cried emoji because Kinnosuke was looking for the ideal 'boy', not the ideal ‘girl'.

From : Kinnosuke

Message : I didn’t find Yukihide. I made a fuss.

Reading the word 'fuss', Inagaki was curious. He hurriedly called Kinnosuke, "What were you doing?"

“I thought that looking into the classes one by one would take a long time. So I shouted his name on the campus radio. Umm, I mean, I hijacked the radio broadcast.”

“Are you nuts? But that was cool.” Like in the movies, Inagaki thought.

“It's not cool. Yukihide didn't hear my call. I even got hit.”

Inagaki laughed at him. He couldn't imagine how messy it was to hear Kinnosuke yelling on the radio broadcast, “Then try again tomorrow. I’ll come with you."

"No! I'm banned from appearing again or I'd be hit!”

"So you're just gonna give up? The Kinnosuke I know is not like that. That person won’t give up so easily. Don't you dare call me best friend if you just give up ."

"Okay! I call you the enemy."

"That is not what I mean!" His shout made some people at the cafe stare angrily at him. Kinnosuke proceeded to tell him the whole story of that radio hijacking.

He was so engaged in Kinnosuke's story that he didn't realize someone was in front of him, carrying a tray of drinks.

“Excuse me, is this seat empty? May I sit here?" That person asked Inagaki’s permission.

“Yes, go ahead—” He froze.

The person in front of him smiled kindly, “Thank you.”

Panicked, he told Kinnosuke, “Come here! Hurry! What you're looking for is right here, man." He muttered because he didn't want to be heard by the man in front of him. Yukihide Shota.

Yes. That Yukihide Shota. The guy from Kinnosuke’s reflection.

"Hey, I can’t hear you clearly."

“Shit! I panic, you know! I’ll text you!” Immediately, he texted Kinnosuke the cafe address along with an exaggerated message, 'YUKIHIDE IS IN FRONT OF ME! OH MY GOD I’M GONNA PASS OUT!’

Kinnosuke's reply was no less exaggerated, 'OH GOD WHAT DID YOU DO WITH YUKIHIDE? WAIT FOR ME! I’LL RUN THERE!!'

Kinnosuke was such a dumb. At a critical time like this, why did he choose to run instead of taking public transportation? Inagaki had to buy time so Yukihide didn't leave until Kinnosuke arrived.

He smiled at Yukihide. Ueda’s sketch looked like Yukihide in real life.

"You had a fight with your friend?" 

Inagaki shook his head, then nodded and shook his head again, “Actually we didn't fight. That's how we communicate."

Yukihide beamed, "You guys are so cute."

“Ha-ha-ha, yes we’re funny, ha-ha-ha.” His laughter sounded weird. It was easier for him to find many topics to talk about before, but with Yukihide, he seemed to have lost his ability. He was nervous, “Ah! Our orders are the same.” It was the only topic he could think about. He pointed at the glasses of the two of them.

Yukihide raised his glass, "You also ordered an iced cappuccino?"

"Oh, uh no, it’s not. Uh, I thought it was Americano.” Inagaki regretted asking that.

Covering his mouth, Yukihide chuckled. Even the way he laughed was very polite.

"You’ve bought a lot of things. You're still in high school, right?" Yu pointed at the shopping bags underneath Inagaki's feet, "Women’s underwear?"

“They belong to my mother and my aunts. They’re still shopping. Anyway, how did you know I’m still in high school?” What a stupid question.

“You're wearing Ogasaki High School's uniform. My school used to have a brawl with your school because of trivial things.”

"Really? I didn't know our school was hostile. By the way, I'm Inagaki Ken." Whatever happens in the future between his best friend and Yukihide, he had to make a good first impression.

"Yukihide Shota."

“You went shopping too, Yukihide-san?”

"No. I'm looking for inspiration for my painting. Only a few more days before the exhibition.” Without being asked, Yukihide opened his sketchbook and showed it to Inagaki.

Inagaki gasped seeing Kinnosuke's sketch in Yukihide’s sketchbook. Not just one, but four sketches. He was shaking. His thoughts were all over the place.

So not only did Kinnosuke see Yukihide's reflection, but the same thing happened to Yukihide?

“Wow, these are so great! That man must be your close friend, right? You drew him more than once." Inagaki's index finger pointed at Kinnosuke's face.

“I wish, but no. He's not my friend. I don't even know him."

He desperately restrained himself from shouting, 'But I know that guy! His name is Kinnosuke Hiro and he is my best friend!', to the point that he had to bite his tongue to keep from saying it.

Come quickly, Kinnosuke!, he screamed in his heart.

“Then did you know him online?”

Yukihide smiled shyly, “You won't believe me if I tell you. I'd be very grateful if I could meet him. He is the inspiration for my painting.”

Hearing the truth, Inagaki was more than happy for his best friend. Both of them had to meet as soon as possible. He had to put on a normal expression with a forced smile. He hated when his mother called while he wanted to know what would happen between Kinnosuke and Yukihide. He ignored his mother's call. That was more important than being his mother's porter.

He was about to text Kinnosuke as someone pulled up a chair beside Yukihide while patting the man's shoulder and calling his name, “Yukihide-san,”

Yukihide turned to his side. As soon as he saw Kinnosuke, he seemed to be holding his breath. Inagaki didn't want to miss this important moment. He immediately recorded that precious moment on his cell phone. 

***