Your City Gave Me Asthma (Shin Tsukimi x GN!Reader)

Why Did You Lie? (Because I Know)

"How was closing last night?" Nao asked as she frantically shoved her things into a bag.

You set down your stuff on the sofa in the break room and responded, "It was fine."

"Yeah? Nothing went wrong?"

"Nope. It's much easier to close when I'm not doing it alone." You smiled a little to yourself.

"Huh?"

You looked up from your chest where you'd put on your name tag to see Nao had stopped gathering her stuff and was staring at you confused.

"What?"

"Was Shin there?"

"Yeah..?"

"...Was it not busy? Did you guys close early?"

"No? We closed at eight."

"Why was Shin there, though? I thought I had him scheduled to get off at seven." She pulled out her phone and pressed on a few things before she continued, "Yeah. Seven." She looked up at you, waiting for a response.

But a response was not something you had.

"...Anyway," She said, "I need to get going. Shin is starting at two, today." She walked out with you to the front of the store, "Bye!!"

You were alone in the store,

And confused.

~ * ~

"Hey, Y/N." Shin said when he entered the store. You stared at him as he walked by the counter and into the break room. You quickly put up the sign stating the cashier would be back soon and followed him into the room.

"Why did you lie to me?" You asked. You hadn't planned what to say to him, and of course, the accusations were what came out first.

Thanks, dad.

Shin's eyebrow twitched. He set his stuff down and sat on the sofa, "What are you talking about?"

You stayed standing, "I'm talking about last night. You said you got off at eight, but I talked to Nao and she said you were supposed to get off at seven."

Shin hesitated, "Hey, dude. Come sit down." He said, patting the couch.

You sat down, and Shin was quiet for a minute, "So... I know you'd probably rather me... pretend like I don't remember anything, but I think it's better if I'm honest with you." He kept a safe distance from you, while also staying somewhat "close" and keeping eye contact. His hands shook slightly as he spoke.

"I knew you were dating... Hiyori in high school. And I remember what happened that day. If you don't want to know what happened, I won't tell you, but I needed to say that so you know that I understand that you're uncomfortable with him."

Shin sighed, "He was waiting last night. He was waiting for me to get off work so he could talk to you."

You were nervous. What Shin said worried you, but you were also worried because he did remember you.

"How do you know?" You asked quietly with your voice shaking. You hadn't realized how scared interacting with Hiyori again made you.

"His car kept pulling up after you started yesterday. And uhm... I think he was the one who texted you pretending to be me."

"Why did you act like you didn't remember me?"

"...I didn't want to make you uncomfortable..."

You leaned back and stared at Shin. He wasn't suspicious, that much you could tell.

But you weren't sure how to feel about the whole situation.

"Well... thank you for looking out for me, but I think I would've been fine."

"Yeah, I know, I just... uhm... You didn't react well to seeing the footage of him—" So it was him. "—So I didn't think that after three years of him pretending like he'd killed himself, you'd want to see him. And you... clearly moved on."

"Sorry." He said. It wasn't a word you heard often from other people, and it filled you with guilt.

"No— It's... it's fine." You said, "Thank you. Seriously. You... uhm... you're right. I don't know what I would've done if I saw him again. Uhm... Yeah. Thank you, Shin."

Shin bit the inside of his lip. "Yeah... No problem."

You facepalmed, "That's why your sister was angry with you." You said upon realizing.

Shin smiled nervously, "Yeah... I had to tell her after it had already turned seven that I'd be a bit late."

"You shouldn't have done that." You chuckled.

"Sorry." He responded, "She's fine though. And it was just another hour."

~ * ~

A/N: little diss to my dad because it's his birthday and i hate him.

remember to eat and hydrate hoes