"So what are we gonna do while we wait?" Steven asked as Peter finished texting Ren.

"Well, aside from the first-class lounge amenities, visiting the shops would be the obvious choice," Peter replied, finally taking a bite of his food. "What do you think, Benji?"

"Whatever passes the time quickest," Benji shrugged.

"The shops it is, then. I saw a fragrance store that looked interesting. You want to go there?" Steven suggested.

"I don't know if I want strong smells this early in the morning. How about the bookstore I saw? A nice book is a good way to pass the time," Peter offered.

"Boring," Steven and Benji said in unison.

"Fine, how about we just go around and check out anything that catches our eye?" Peter sighed.

"Fine, just no books," Steven shuddered in disgust, making Peter roll his eyes.

After finishing their food, the trio decided to wander around the terminal.

"Ughhh, you know, on second thought, can we not walk around? I'm too full," Steven groaned.

"That's your own fault," Peter lectured as they walked through the central plaza. "I told you not to eat like a pig. Now you gotta deal with the consequences."

As Peter continued lecturing, Benji's attention was caught by a bookstore on the left side of the plaza near the gates 1-10. "Let's go there," Benji said, pointing toward the store and cutting off Steven's complaints.

"What? Bro, I thought we agreed on no bookstores," Steven whined, feeling betrayed.

"I said no books. It has manga—completely different story," Benji clarified, already making his way to the store.

Steven reluctantly followed along with Peter. Inside, Benji and Peter browsed through the shelves, checking out various books and manga, while Steven leaned against a wall, scrolling on his phone. After about 10 minutes of exploring, both Peter and Benji settled on something. Benji picked out a manga titled Under the Stars, while Peter chose a book called The World's Greatest Actor. After paying for their selections, they left the shop in search of the next place to explore.

"Since you guys picked the most boring thing ever, it's my turn now," Steven declared, scanning the area before settling on a store selling travel items and souvenirs.

"Really? Your idea of fun is a store full of overpriced airport utility products?" Benji snickered.

"It's better than looking at books. Plus, maybe we can find something wacky. They sell other things too," Steven defended his choice.

The group entered the store and wandered around, finding little of interest—until they came across friendship bracelets in blue, green, and purple.

"Ooo, look! We should get these as a memory of the trip," Steven suggested jokingly.

"Absolutely not," Benji replied coldly.

"I'm with Benji here," Peter agreed. "And if we were going to do something like that, we'd find something better in Japan."

"It doesn't hurt to have more than one, Peter. Besides, this blue one goes perfectly with Benji," Steven teased, trying to put the bracelet on Benji's wrist.

"I'd genuinely rather talk to my father than wear that. It might just give me gangrene," Benji deadpanned, making Peter laugh.

"Huh? What's Gang Green?" Steven asked, confused.

"Basically, it's the death of body tissue," Peter explained, still chuckling. "It happens if you lose blood flow for a long time or get a bacterial infection, but in this case, I think the diagnosis is 'bad taste.'"

Steven rolled his eyes. "Whatever, it's your loss," he grumbled.

Eventually, the group left the store without buying anything.

After a few minutes of wandering around, Peter pointed out a designer store selling accessories. "Let's check this out. Even if we don't buy anything, it has to be more interesting than Steven's choice," he quipped.

The men entered the store, finding designer glasses, shades, and a few necklaces, all priced far beyond what Peter or Steven were willing to pay.

"$200 for glasses? What are they made of, titanium?" Steven scoffed, eyeing the price tags.

"Yes, actually," an older, posh-looking man chimed in. "This specific pair is made of titanium with a demi-gloss silver finish and polarized blue mirrored gold lenses. Quite premium, and they'd look rather dashing with your outfit, young man," he said, directing the comment toward Benji.

"Are you a worker here?" Peter asked, raising an eyebrow.

Benji chuckled. "Nah, I can tell a rich snob from a mile away. He's exuding it," Benji replied coldly.

"How presumptuous," the man responded smoothly. "I merely happen to be knowledgeable on the subject. Since I overheard your conversation, I thought I'd educate your friend here on the intricacies of the product."

Benji rolled his eyes. "Notice how he's only talking to me because I'm wearing a custom designer necklace, and he's ignoring you two unless it serves his point," he explained. "And listen to how he's trying to sound all 'elegant,'" he added, air-quoting the word.

"Well, not necessarily. You antagonized me, so I responded to you first," the man said, starting to get annoyed.

"See? Now he's justifying himself, trying to gaslight us into thinking I'm in the wrong. He butted into our conversation uninvited because he wanted his ego stroked. It's classic entitlement—dressed head to toe in designer, thinks he's hot shit, probably working for some Fortune 500 company. He feels important because the people whose checks he's signing care, but no one else does," Benji continued, now getting personal.

Steven shifted nervously. "Hey, Benji, don't you think you're being a little harsh?" he chuckled, trying to defuse the situation.

The man, visibly frustrated, took a step toward Benji. "I refuse to stand here while you belittle me with your ignorant statements."

Benji's demeanor shifted instantly, his voice low and serious. "Do something I dare you."

"And if I do?" the man doubled down, making Peter start to step in, but Benji stopped him.

"I'll figure out who you are, where you work, and tear your life apart bit by bit until you have nothing left. Now run along before you do something you'll regret for the rest of your life," Benji retorted, his words cold and calculated.

"Alright, I think that's enough, guys," Peter interjected nervously, stepping between the two men. "Let's try not to get kicked out of the airport or, you know, arrested before our flights."

He forced a chuckle, hoping to lighten the tension, but his eyes darted between Benji and the older man, clearly more anxious than amused.

The man hesitated, then backed down. "Fine. You do have a point boy," he muttered, trying to save face. "Well, have a good day, and apologies for any trouble I may have caused," he added before leaving, still attempting to maintain his dignity.

"Jeez, Benji, that was pretty harsh," Steven muttered, not wanting to provoke him further.

"Whatever," Benji scoffed. "He only backed off because Peter gave him an out. He was too prideful to quit but smart enough to take advantage of your attempt to de-escalate. Did you catch how he still tried to belittle you at the end?"

"True," Peter admitted, "but a little social awareness goes a long way. We both know why you snapped like that."

Benji sighed, his expression darkening, but said nothing.

"I get that you're still not over it," Peter continued, his voice uncharacteristically serious. "But taking it out on random people isn't helping you. I know you're smart enough to take the high road."

Benji remained silent, his frustration evident but restrained, as the group continued walking through the terminal. Steven glanced between them, clearly confused and unsure of what had just unfolded.

"I'll leave it alone for now since, yeah, that guy did rudely jump in and then completely ignore me," Peter said, his tone softening, "but don't act like you were entirely in the right either." He left Benji with his thoughts, while Steven, visibly confused, chose to stay quiet to avoid making things more awkward. The trio was enveloped in an uncomfortable silence for about 30 seconds until Benji's phone buzzed.

Benji pulled out his phone to check the notification and saw that their flight had been delayed again, this time for two hours. Without a word, he held his phone up for Peter to see. Peter glanced at it, his shoulders sagging as he sighed in defeat.

"What did I say? What did I fucking say?" Peter exclaimed, his voice rising in frustration. "We're gonna be stuck in this airport all day. Fuck me."

"I mean, sure, if you're into that," Steven quipped, attempting to lighten the mood with a smirk.

"Not the time, Tao," Peter shot back, not amused. "Let's just head back to the lounge. I need to sit down, read my book, and relax. No distractions."

Without any further objections, the group followed Peter's lead, making their way back to the lounge in resigned silence.

The three sat in silence as they arrived in the first class lounge: Peter engrossed in his book, Benji absorbed in his manga, and Steven, having neither, deciding to take a nap. After about 20 minutes, Benji finished his manga while Peter continued reading, so Benji opted to watch anime for the remainder of their wait. At around 10:15 a.m., Peter took a break from his book to update Ren on their situation at the airport.

"Hey Ren, we got delayed again but this time for 2 hours at this rate we're gonna be getting there at night instead of in the morning," Peter sent with an emoji conveying his stress.

After 5 minutes Ren responded, "Aww sorry to hear that, if you want I can get my friend to come with me to pick you guys up to take some stress off you," He sent a Smiley face.

"Yeah sure, that would be nice," Peter sent a pleased emoji.

"Alright I'll talk to him, talk to you in a minute," Ren responded one last time.

In Japan, a man with long, fading red hair, numerous facial piercings, and a black rose tattoo on his neck was finally heading home. He wore a leather jacket over a white tee, ripped jeans, and black boots. As he entered his small, cluttered apartment, he kicked off his shoes at the door and collapsed onto the bed, visibly exhausted. The apartment was a chaotic mess, littered with beer bottles and overflowing trash. The only areas that seemed somewhat orderly were his bed, a guitar, and a nearly pristine set of drums.

The Man:

"「なんで生きるために働かなきゃいけないの？もう、うんざり！" he complained tiredly

(Nande ikiru tame ni hatarakanakya ikenai no? Mou, unzari!)

English Version: "Ugh, why does working to survive have to be a thing."

Moments later, the man's phone begins to ring. He reluctantly gets up and sees it's Ren calling.

"「何だよ？」", he answered annoyed.

(Nandayo?)

English Version: What do you want?

"「明日の夜、ちょっと頼みたいことがあったんだけど、その代わりに飲み物はサービスするよ。」," Ren offered in return, which intrigued the man.

(Ashita no yoru, chotto tanomitai koto ga atta n da kedo, sono kawari ni nomimono wa saabisu suru yo.)

English Version: I was going to ask if you wanted to do me a favor tomorrow night, I'll compensate you with drinks on the house.

"ええ、何ですか？", he replied.

(E e, nanidesu ka?)

English Version: "Yeah What"

"「春樹と友達を空港まで迎えに来てほしいのですが、主にあなたの車が必要です。」", Ren chuckled nervously.

(Haruki to issho ni kuukou kara tomodachi o mukae ni itte hoshii n da kedo, omoni anata no kuruma ga hitsuyou dakara.)

English Version: "I need you to pick my friends up from the Airport with me and Haruki, mainly cause we need your car."

"「わかった、彼らを迎えに行くよ。ただし、車の中でキスは禁止だからね。」," the man quipped.

(Wakatta, karera o mukae ni iku yo. Tadashi, kuruma no naka de kisu wa kinshi da kara ne.)

English Version: "Alright, I'll get them. But no kissing in the car, got it?"

"「黙って、ケイ。私は彼のことをそんなふうには思っていない。", Ren replied flustered.

(Damatte, Kei. Watashi wa kare no koto o sou iu fuu ni wa omottenai.)

English Version: "Shut up, Kei. I don't like him like that."

"「レンが信じたいように信じていいよ。空港に行く時間だけ教えて。」" Kei replied, clearly eager to end the call and get some rest.

(Ren ga shinjitai you ni shinjite ii yo. Kuukou ni iku jikan dake oshiete.)

English Version: Whatever you want to believe, Ren. Just tell me when to go to the airport.

"「ありがとう。分かったら連絡するね。おやすみなさい！」," he said hanging up the phone.

(Arigatou. Wakattara renraku suru ne. Oyasumi nasai!)

English Version: "Thank you, I'll let you know when I know. Goodnight!"

Back at the airport, Peter received a message from Ren.

"Alright, my friend said yes. Just let me know when your plane takes off and when you arrive, okay?" Ren replied.

"Gotcha, I appreciate it, Ren," Peter responded with a heart emoji.

Peter set his phone aside and returned to reading his book. Although he was still annoyed, he was calmer now. Unfortunately, time seemed to crawl as the trio entered their third hour in the airport.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

End of Chapter 3

Yay, Chapter 3 is done! Thanks for reading :). I have no excuse for being 3 uploads late other than I got lazy and was always distracted T_T, welp at least it matched the title name :P. With that being said hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Benji getting spicy :o, and a New character :D. Hope you liked his design, it may change slightly in the future but that is basically his appearance :). Also Sorry if the Japanese isn't perfect it was kinda rush but if anybody knows Japanese or is Japanese and knows a better way to get the lines across I'll gladly go back and edit it. Lastly some quick side notes.

"Under the Stars" the manga Benji picked up is actually a Real Webtoon made by creator Tsumiwt, who also posts on TikTok! If you want to check it out the link is below as well as the creator's Tiktok:

Webtoon Link: https://www.webtoons.com/en/canvas/under-the-stars/list?title_no=925440

Tiktok Link: https://www.tiktok.com/@tsumiwt?lang=en 

I recommend it as a fan of the creator, as they are one of the main reasons I even began pursuing writing in the first place, so if you enjoy a good Romance Webtoon I'd check it out here's the description to hopefully persuade you more, "Too Afraid to Perform in front of an audience, Wren secretly plays the piano late at night in an unused music classroom, unable to give her passion up for good. But as the melody she plays echoes through what Wren thought were empty University halls, it makes its way to Shion. Whether it be Curiosity or a feeling from deep within, Shion becomes strangely drawn to where the beautiful playing could be coming from, and so begins the start of something that neither of them could have expected." I'd really appreciate it if you checked it out and supported the creator as their content is always wonderful.

The Book Peter was reading is another one of my stories in the making "The World Greatest Actor" (TWGA). It's a story about an actor who died suspiciously. He walks you through his life from the after-life and it's a psychological book that goes deep into mental health disorders, and trauma, especially Imposter Syndrome, and PTSD. It's a very Triggering story but yeah, I think one of my better-written plot-wise.

With that being said I hope you had or have a great day and the next chapter should be out way sooner!!

Next Update (Hopefully): 9/9/24