TULIP ver. Yellow | There’s Sunshine in Your Smile

Despite his prior popularity with already being a new transfer student and the latest addition to the soccer team, he has garnered the attention of his peers once again, as it didn’t take long for word to go around about Tsubaki’s CEO family ties. 

When Tsubaki steps out the double doors of his department building, he’s greeted by a group of fellow majors as they call out to him in a friendly manner.

“Yo, Tsubaki! Let's grab something to eat with everyone!” one student insists as he throws an arm over Tsubaki’s shoulders. “There’s this cool place I know close by that everyone goes to. Let's go together.”

“I’m good.” He made his answer clear and brief, but they persisted.

“What? Aren’t we friends, Tsubaki?”

“Yeah, Tsubaki, we’re all friends here!” 

Tsubaki brushes off the student's arm and turns to look at the group. “Friends?” he says skeptically, tone leveled and expression short of any emotion. He scans each person who stands before him with a hollow stare and finishes with, “My only friend is Yuri.”

He hears the sound of exasperation from one of the student’s mouths as he’s told, “Come on. Don’t be like that.” He then watches their forced smiles say again, “We can be friends, too!”

A particular one in the back of the group clicked his tongue as he made sure his side comment was loud enough to hear. “I told you we shouldn’t have asked him....”

At this point, the female students attempt to plead with Tsubaki, but he can also tell the retreat of some of the others around him. Looks of embarrassment start to glaze over them while Tsubaki’s expression and decision remain unmoved.

“Let’s just go,” one finally huffed out as he stuffed his hands in his pockets, trudging off with a few more immediately following his lead. The more reluctant female peers would exchange glances among themselves as they conversed silently with desperate eyes—just to end it all with awkward smiles and bidding goodbye.

Tsubaki lets out a sigh as his shoulders drop after a shrug. Exhausted from the confrontation and relieved that it’s finally over, he begins to walk in the direction of the engineering department.

When he arrives near the building, he sits at the usual spot the two had agreed on and waits for Yuri as another long breath leaves his open mouth. But just before his consciousness is about to drift deeper into the depths of his mind, he hears a familiar voice call out his name. His eyes brighten as he lifts his head and sees Yuri jogging over to him.

His expression eased and lit up into a smile. There was a particular warmth and radiance in it that only came out around his favorite person.

“Sorry! Did you wait long?” Yuri catches up to Tsubaki’s side and slings an arm over his shoulder. 

He adjusts his shoulder so that Yuri’s arm would sit more comfortably as he answers, “No, just got here myself.”

“Oh, did your last lecture drag, too?”

“Something like that.”

 Yuri ruffles Tsubaki’s honey-brown locks, and as they walk down the open corridor, they go through a string of casual conversations, wondering if they watched the latest episode of their favorite series or if they heard that new song released by a popular band. 

The list could go on.

Not only did they have four years of their life to catch up on, but their friendship had always been this way since the day Yuri met a particular 6-year-old boy who moved into the house next door. Both being neighbors and the same age, Yuri jumped at the chance to make a new friend, and from then on, everything just clicked.

The two grew up together and did just about everything with the other by their side. As an only child to a single mother, Tsubaki often spent his time at Yuri’s house. He would go there after school or on the weekends. They’d play video games together and then get scolded by Yuri’s mom to study.

It was a habit.

It was all Tsubaki knew—living in Yuri’s world. 

However, believing it was all going to go back to the way things were was just an unrealistic dream, and lately, Tsubaki started to realize that maybe he didn’t know that world all that well anymore.