LIVING | 하루토

13 - Eyes of Wonder

my heart stopped for a second at the mention of kei's name again.

"earth to ruto?" mrs watanabe followed up, waving her arms in front of his face as he was dazed at the question.

whenever kei's name was mentioned, i couldn't help but suddenly feel small all over again like the first time i felt when i came here. was it that smile she had on her face that day? was it something she said? i don't know.. and i didn't want to feel this way toward a person i barely knew.

fuck's sake, yena. YOU'RE the one that doesn't belong here.. stop acting as if you do. kei's been in his life waaay before i came along, i've got no right to be thinking like this!

"i didn't get the opportunity to invite her," he finally responded, taking a huge bite out of his sunnyside up as mrs watanabe eyed him before nodding, somewhat satisfied with the response.

not long after, she spoke again. this time, we were cleaning up the area.

"when do you plan on inviting her over? i haven't seen her in ages ruto..." she sighed softly as i stacked up the plates quietly, again feeling as if the whole world had just shunned me out.

was it wrong to feel this way? feel so bad that i wasn't the one mrs watanabe was talking about? i understand it's a bit selfish of me.. but i somehow couldn't help it.

dozens of questions flooded my brain at the slightest mention of her name. so many questions i wish i had the courage to rapid fire haruto with like: who is kei to him? why does his family know her? why did she hug him so tightly that day? did they date? are they dating? is she his ex? have they been separated?

but we're not even close.. so i couldn't get myself to even blurt any one out. does he even consider us as friends? surely right?

but why did she keep bringing her up?

was kei someone so important to haruto before?

maybe they were something. ARE they something?

should i ask haruto? if i do, would he even answer honestly? would it be too much of a personal question? i mean.. we've only known each other for like 4 fucking days, but a question is a question! you can't kill someone because of one, right?

shit.

just what in the world have i gotten myself into?

•••

"pack your things." haruto instructed, emerging from the kitchen and back into the room we shared.

"i already have," i eyed him.

he was dressed significantly different today. instead of the usual dark colours he'd worn before, along with his sword hanging by his left hip, he had a simple white tee on. not to mention, how his features only got even more highlighted with the pearl necklace & silver watch he had on. it was as if this was his off duty outfit. it was nice to see a change,
but it puzzled me a little. we're just going back to the forest border..? why is dressed so nicely?

i chuckled to myself a little.

i finally got to see a glimpse of what his fashion sense was like. it's certainly not what i expected; for such a closed off person, i thought he'd only have dark colours but seeing how he had brown and silver accents with brightly coloured tops proved me wrong.

'never judge a book by its cover' indeed.

"let's go then," he said, grabbing his small leather crossbody bag and resting it across his broad shoulders & lean physique.