edelweiss - &team

2

In a dark room, where only a bright monitor offered a sliver of light, a man slouched in a gaming chair, hands resting on a keyboard and mouse. Thick, black rimmed glasses perched on his nose, shielding tired eyes ringed with dark eye circles. On his screen, he moved coloured shapes and texts, pausing to take in the work, before continuing to make adjustments.

Just then, a shrill doorbell rang out.

Frowning, he begrudgingly lifted his body from its awful posture on the chair and went to check out the visitor. Through the door camera, he saw two fuzzy but familiar figures.

"What's up?" He asked, confused but pleasantly surprised as he opened the door. Two men stood at the door, one with messily tousled hair, his weight shifted on one leg, rocking a black leather outfit. The other one was dressed in more casual clothes, his youthful features riddled with worry. Both looked like they'd rather be elsewhere, but still happy to see him.

The first man shook his hair from his face, "Goodness Yixiang, you look terrible. When did you last see the sun?"

"Why thank you, Yuma, what brings you two here?" The man feigned a smile of gratitude as he slid to a side to invite his friends into the apartment.

As they slipped into the warm apartment, Yuma sighing contentedly as he shed his black leather jacket, the second man quickly said, "Did you receive Yudai's email?"

"Yudai emailed me?"

"Yes, he emailed all of us. I'm surprised Fuma didn't receive it earlier than us," The second man dropped a paper bag on the dining table, gesturing to their host to have it.

"Euijoo, that old timer is so busy you'd have to fax him. His fax machine is the only mode of communication right at his research table," Yuma remarked as he strolled through the apartment, poking at random knick-knacks, before picking up a photo frame.

"Gosh, he's really ancient," Euijoo chortled, his bright eyes shining.

"May I remind you we are all merely a couple years younger than him," Yixiang mentioned.

"Are you his defence attorney, Yixiang?"

Yixiang managed an exasperated look, before poking through the paper bag and withdrawing a box of cookies with the joy of a child. Deciding that it was time to be serious, Euijoo straightened and cleared his throat, "Yudai is asking for us to gather. So we gotta go to Japan."

Yixiang froze, the gears in his mind desperately turning, then said, "It's forty three years too early."

"We know," Yuma set down the photograph gently, his slender fingers lingering at the frame's corner, "But Yudai was serious."

"So what do we do?"

Euijoo chuckled, "Easy. We gotta drag Fuma out of his school."

"Right now?"

"Would you like an invitation?"

Yixiang sighed, "Let me get changed. Man, I'll have to cancel a client now."

As he trudged off to his room, Euijoo joined Yuma where he was still wordlessly staring at the photograph.

"What, don't we all own a copy of this?" Euijoo commented as he scooped it up. In the picture, nine men were positioned in two rows, some seated, some standing. A black and white photo, the formal clothing and props were reminiscent of the older centuries fashion and style. Despite the serious setting, the men were all smiles and laughter, leaning towards each other, all in close contact. They all looked very, very happy.

Yuma remained silent, but there was this liquid sadness in his eyes, "It's been a while. I wish our first meetup in a while didn't have such high stakes."

Euijoo didn't know what words he could offer in comfort, so he too stayed quiet as they both studied the smiling faces in the picture.