He hadn’t been expecting a hug, as he wasn’t much of a hugger himself, not unless he was close to the person. He accepts the hug despite of this, flour and all, albeit a bit awkwardly. “It really has,” he replies, smiling at her as they step away from each other. At the announcement that this was her place, his eyes widen. “Really?” he exclaims, glancing around the locale. “You own this place? It looks really great.”
His question about her mother goes unanswered, he notices, but decides to make no mention of it. If he remembers correctly, Chaeyeong didn’t have the best relationship with her mother, hence why the girl hadn’t wanted to be there during the fashion shows. As his relationship with his own mother had gotten even worse since the last time he met the older, he figures it would be best not to get into it, as he was sure the both of them would rather talk about just about anything else.
“Awesome! Thank you so much,” he replies, relieved to be able to give his roommate the gift he had envisioned. “I was thinking just a few cupcakes with yellow and red frosting, maybe some decorations with Iron Man’s head on them or something. You can go crazy with them, I’m sure they’ll be great.” He doesn’t have a completely clear vision in his head, but he’s sure the baker will do a good job with them, as everything else in the bakery looked amazing.
“Yeah, it’s been a while,” he muses. How long has it been? It must have been at least 2 years, maybe more. Kenji doesn’t remember exactly when his mother had stopped dragging him along to all kinds of fashion events, deeming him too sick to do anything but give her a bad reputation. How had he been? How honest was he meant to be? During the time they had known each other, Kenji’s mental and physical state had gotten progressively worse, but every time the older had asked, Kenji had brushed her off, insisting he was fine. Still, he’s sure she had been suspicious despite his assurances. He had never really been a good liar.
“I’ve been alright,” he replies. Alright was neutral enough, and technically true — at least if one were to compare his current situation to what it had been the last time they met. He is doing a lot better now. “I did eventually manage to graduate high school. I honestly still struggle a bit with Korean, but I’m getting there. I go to school here now,” he tells her. “What about you, noona? How have you been? I still can’t believe you own a bakery.”
✿ : › No note came of resistance, she was blissfully ignorant, high on the electric excitement of reconnection. “Yeah, I didn’t think I’d end up with something like this either, I guess it just happened.”
She investigates his handsome face like a treasure map. It’s all more mature than she remembered and in some ways he looks better than she had recollection of. Towards the end of their time spent together he began to look ragged, weathered like a storm. She never learned why that was, he wouldn’t tell her, but she had worried for him. A friend to her, even though their relationship was a nightly affair, only triggered by happenstance and they never spent time together outside of those dark, loud fashion halls. “I’ll make something special~,” she replies sweetly.
“It’s been 2, I’m pretty sure. It’s been too many, I didn’t mean to lose track of you,” she seems sheepish, as if it was a silly mistake and not one that had saddened her when she ran away. She’d had ample time to grieve all of the friends she left behind in fleeing from her past life. “I’m happy,” her tone is sobering, genuine, “Ayy, your korean sounds great, it sounded good even then, to me. We never had a hard time whispering together and laughing at ugly clothes, so it was good to me.”
Kenji, she smiles brightly, warmth blooms. Was she always so sentimental? Or could it be that years and loneliness of tearing apart her life just to rebuild it in her own image had created a sloshing, bottomless pit of clingy, sticky heartache that translated directly into a need for friendship and closeness. She’s like a too sweet old lady at this point, she needs saving from her own emotional self.
“Things are going well for me, I mean─ I’m totally in debt but it was worth it. This place is the only thing I have now, so I guess I just have to make the best of it. I’m more happy that it brought me you. I know we didn’t become that close but I still look fondly on that time. Because of you I was able to survive so much torture at the hands of fashion,” she says it conspiratorially, light-hearted words but in a lot of ways it isn’t far from the truth. She was having a hard time when they met, and his friendship however limited, was a vessel to hold her afloat.