PRETTY BOY . itoshi sae

#02 | SWEATBANDS

[ third person ]

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"Why am I here?" [y/n] asked as she sat across from Sae in the courtyard of a nearby mall. His eyes were casted downwards towards the table as he sat there with a blank look on his face. Based on her expression, she wasn't necessarily thrilled to be here with Sae on her only day off.

When the male didn't answer, she groaned and rolled her eyes, "Why do I even bother?"

 Standing up, she pushed in her chair and began walking away from the table to look around at the stores nearby. Sae remained in his seat, glancing up at the girl who walked away with no set destination in mind.

About an hour ago, [y/n] was on her way to the mall to buy some new socks for school but was caught by her mother who stopped her at the door. Politely and pleadingly, she asked [y/n] to do her and Gillian a favor by hanging out with Sae for a bit at the mall while Gill does some work in the area. She had absolutely no idea why an eighteen year old guy needed to be babysat as of right now, but she was slipped an extra twenty for the new mangas she had been dying to buy, so she agreed to go. Unfortunately, when she arrived, she was all alone with Sae who was being extra unresponsive today.

Geez. Can't he even say something or answer my questions? She thought with a loud huff, walking through the automatic doors of the sports store she usually visited whenever she was free. [y/n] was necessarily athletic nor was she a sedentary person. She did enjoy looking through the sports store for random items that could pique her interest.

"What's with this musty shop?" The suddenness of his words made her jump, nearly falling into the shelf behind her that had a ton of dumbbells rested on them. Her chest rose up and down, desperately trying to calm her racing heart that still couldn't seem to relax after that surprise attack.

Sae was stood in front of her with his hands buried in the pockets of his jacket. His seemingly bored eyes scanned the store before returning to the female who straightened herself out.

"What the hell are you even doing here? I thought you were still at the table." The girl said as she turned away from him, exiting the aisle to go into a different one filled with other stuff. The male wandered behind her with a empty look on his face. The only thing that seemed to move on his face was his eyes that would occasionally peer in her direction. When Sae didn't answer, she pursed her lips, exhaled deeply then walked away. She was in no mood to play along with his dumb behavior today. "I'd rather not talk to a wall."

"[y/n], yo!" A new voice called out, waving down the female who exited the aisle. Her eyebrows immediately perked when she saw the brunette male standing at the register with a smile on his face. "Been a while, no?"

"Oh, hey, Nao!" The girl grinned, approaching the male who she knew from her school. "Where the heck have you been? I haven't seen you in class lately."

"Ah, yeah, my mom's been having a hard time, so I'm doing online courses for now." Nao answered with an easy smile as he leaned his weight on the counter. The female nodded understandingly, leaning forward to gently kiss his cheek. The male returned the cheek kiss while giving her a small hug. His western habits didn't seem to fade away after living here for so long. At this point, [y/n] accepted the greeting and returned it. "Who're you here with?"

"Uh, I'm with-" She peered over her shoulder, jumping when she saw Sae standing behind her with his usual blank expression. He was so close that she nearly shouted and jumped on the counter. Sighing, she pointed at the male, "Him."

"Nice to meet you, man! I'm Naoto!" Nao held out a hand to Sae for him to shake but retracted it when Sae made no moves to shake his hands. He laughed lightly, "I forgot you guys don't shake hands often here. My bad."

"Nah, he's just prick." [y/n] deadpanned, chuckling when Nao shook his head and laughed. "This is the soccer player my Dad manages. We met a few days ago, but I'm keeping him company for now."

"Soccer, huh?" Nao crossed his arms over his chest, grinning lightly at Sae. "I'm a part of the volleyball club, but it's our off season right now."

The male beside her didn't necessarily react since [y/n] spoke up first with such enthusiasm about what he said. "I miss your volleyball games! It was always so fun."

"I miss you cheering me on. All my friends were jealous when you would show up to cheer me on." Nao snickered, recalling how his friends hated how he was the only one receiving affection from her. I mean, it was [l/n] [f/n] we're talking about here. "You don't seem to be going out much these days. Everything okay?"

She nodded, "Yeah, I'm just tired after school, so I go straight home. This is the first time in a few months that I went out." [y/n] explained with a shrug. She used to be very active by going out and about all the time but quickly mellowed out when Gillian became a part of her family. The amount of family time she craved with her mother and new father increased. Not that Gillian was home often enough to have that.

Throwing a glance in Sae's direction, she found the male standing there with his phone pressed against his ear. He seemed to be talking to Gillian since she could hear his timid voice through the phone saying that they should return soon. Of course, Sae muttered something before hanging up and turning on his heels to leave.

"I gotta go, but I'll text you later."

Grabbing her by the wrist, Nao stopped her before she could get too far. "Hold on. Before you go, why don't you take these?" Pulling out two sweatbands, he placed them in her hand and grinned, "Matching sweatbands for you two."

A laugh escaped his lips when he saw the sour look on her face.

"Thanks though." She held up the sweatbands as she walked away. "I appreciate it!"

Catching up with Sae, she shoved the sweatband into his hand and pulled out her phone to call up Gillian to let them know that they were going home. As the phone rang before Gill answered, she looked over at Sae who held the sweatband. "Just keep it. It's not like I want two, pretty boy."

"Don't call me that."

"Oh, now you talk, ugly boy."

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[ a/n : bruh its been like a month since i updated this book omfg hey. ALSO, WHEN I REREAD THE FIRST CHAP, HE'S SO OOC AND I WANTED TO CRINGE SO PLS DISREGARD THAT FOR A BIT ]