one more chance (zhongchi)

chapter 1

"Ow..." Zhongli winced as he rubbed his shoulder.

"Sorry Mister!!" A voice called back to Zhongli.

He looks back to see a ginger male around his age running away. Zhongli turned back around to see another redhead girl panting.

"I'm so sorry about that! He's such a handful." the girl bowed and chased after the ginger.

'...' Zhongli thought as he carried on with his day.
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After a day of walking around town, Zhongli was getting hungry. A strong aroma caught his attention so he decided to follow the smell.

The smell led Zhongli to a small bakery at the end of the street.

The sign read: 'Tartagalicious Bakery"

Zhongli walked in and the atmosphere almost changed immediately.

It felt so warm and cozy in there. A fireplace in a corner, brick walls surrounding the room, smell of coffee brewing, and plants and decorations everywhere. It was surprisingly empty with just a few customers here and there sitting and working on stuff.

"OH! It's him!" Zhongli heard from behind the counter.

He turned around to see the redhead girl from this morning.

"Hi! I'm Lia! Welcome!" she said with a warm smile.

"Ah, hello. I'm Zhongli."

"Mr. Zhongli then, the person who so rudely crashed into you this morning was my brother. I'll get him down here right now and give you a sincere apology." Lia said as she ran upstairs.

Zhongli was about to say something but the redhead had already disappeared. He looked at the menu instead. Tartagalicious bakery specialized in tarts.

"I'm back!" Lia dragged a very annoyed ginger by the ear down the stairs.

"Ugh Lia, what are you-" the ginger looked up.

A shocked expression emerged from his face as if he'd seen a ghost.

"Um, hello-" Zhongli awkwardly said.

"Dude, apologize." Lia urged the ginger.

The ginger shook his head and snapped out of whatever was going on in his head.

"I-I'm so sorry about this morning I wasn't looking when I was running..." he said.

"Ah, it's quite alright..." Zhongli awkwardly said back.

"Alright, now that that's over with, order anything! It's on the house." Lia smiled again as he shoved the ginger away.

"Thank you Lia." Zhongli ordered a few tarts and a coffee.

The food was absolutely delicious and after he enjoyed his meal, he still left money for the meal even though they insisted it's on the house.
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'What an eventful day.' Zhongli mused to himself as he unlocked his apartment door.