"Why did you leave me? Am I not good enough for you?"
"Childe, enough"
"No, tell me Zhongli, my dear. What do I do wrong? Tell me, I'm begging you" Childe cries his heart out, grasp Zhongli's wrist tightly. "Please, face me and tell me. Why so suddenly?"
Zhongli's lips tremble. "I don't have any courage to say any word to you" Zhongli's voice turns to cold.
Childe snaps, his eyebrows are furrowed. His heart aches. "Stop bullshitting! If you don't have any courage, why did you want to break up in the first place!" Childe grabs Zhongli's body tightly.
"Because you are not her!" Zhongli snapped, pushing Childe's away from him. He sighed. "I still love her. Everything you do makes me remind you of her and I don't want to hurt you. I don't want to give you a false hope. Please, I'm still waiting for her" Zhongli looking away.
Childe is surprised by his lover's words.
"Because you are not her..." His heart wrenched. "The way I treat you reminds you of her?" He was shaken, his lips trembling. He felt foolish for thinking of that particular flower, the Glazed Lily, as his favorite. "Why did you agree in the first place?" He looked at Zhongli. "Tell me this is just a lie, right? You want to protect me, don't you?" Childe's mind raced. He knew he couldn't erase Zhongli's first love from his memory, but he didn't want to lose him. He wanted to prove that he could be happy even without her. "All the things I have ever done are just a waste of my time?" Childe felt betrayed by the one he loved.
"It's true, I agreed in the first place because I wanted to forget about her, realizing I'm also hurting you," Zhongli said without hesitation. Childe wanted to rage and punch Zhongli.
Pow!
His body fell to the ground, feeling a sting on his right cheek. "Tell me... it's just a dream. It hurts so bad, love," he cried, wrapping his hand on Zhongli's thighs, not willing to let go.
"I'm sorry, Childe. This is the end. I don't want to hurt you anymore. I don't want to meddle in your affairs anymore. I hope you still have some energy left to take care of yourself. Here, the mora for your medication."
And that was it. Childe was all alone, like a lost child in a market, waiting for his mother to pick him up, but this time, he was alone on a cold night.
...
At Komore Teahouse:
"One more rice wine at table 6."
"Alright!"
"Can I get a sashimi plate, please?"
"Okay!"
"Where's my rice?"
"Sorry!"
During Happy New Year, Komore Teahouse was the best place to celebrate, usually bustling with people. But today felt different as Komore Teahouse was releasing a new recipe. People gathered to celebrate and create happy memories, but not everyone felt that way.
"Ah... I'm exhausted!" A blond guy expressed his frustration in the kitchen. Thoma, a staff member, was called for help. He turned around, masking his frustration with a warm smile. "Sure." Carrying a plate to table 21, as he passed a room emanating the scent of alcohol, he noticed a distraught ginger young man lost in his own world. 'I wonder what's wrong. His heart seems broken on the night of Happy New Year. What a poor young man.'
"Where's my sashimi plate?!"
"Coming!"
"Ah...I'm beat" Thoma left out his sighed at the counter. He's loved by the all-old woman there because of his politeness and he's so gentle in every way. "You seem to be so out today. Thank you for your favour in helping us out, Thoma ", some of his staff, Grandma Oui smiled while weeping on the floor. He smiles, "I'm so happy that I got a chance to help you out". "How's Lord? Is he eating properly?" Grandma Oui asking him questions makes him stunned. "Yeah, he's eating properly don't worry I would make sure he eats properly" Thoma just smiled wryly.
Lord Ayato... I miss him so much. I wonder if he's back already.
Thinking about him always makes his heart upset. After all, the Kamisato Clan is the most powerful clan in Inazuma. To make his clan expand wider, Kamisato Ayato had to agree with all of his clan to marry a girl from the other clan. I just heard that they have loved each other since childhood so that's why Lord Ayato would agree so easily.
Thoma's thoughts drifted to Lord Ayato. The Kamisato Clan was powerful in Inazuma, and to expand, Ayato had agreed to an arranged marriage. Thoma secretly harbored feelings for Ayato, causing Grandma Oui some concern.
"That's what I said! You should leave! We are not giving you any more alcohol!". Thoma and Grandma Oui overheard all the ruckus behind the door. Thoma rushed to the source of sound. "What's wrong?" he said. "This. Look at all of this mess this young man made. Today I had to go early because of my son's birthday. I'm going crazy" Thoma smiles and calms the woman down. "That's okay, you can go. Sorry you had to deal with this" The grumpy old woman relieves and pats his back gently. "You are so nice, thank you. I'm not sure how to repay you for your kindness. Thank you so much". Thoma waves to the staff as she disappears for about a minute.
Now the situation has become calmer, except for this.
"Why did he leave me? Am I not good enough for him? Am I already so old that he wants to dump me? Am I not handsome anymore?" A ginger young man cries his eyes out. Thoma feels grumpy, it's almost time Lord Ayato finishes his work, Lord Ayatoo must be hungry.
"Hey, wake up" Thoma shakes a ginger young man to make him sober. "Hey, wake up!" he shakes that ginger young man roughly and from that moment, Thoma intervened, attempting to sober him up but inadvertently added more chaos to his life.
"BLUEERGHHHH". His clothes are drained with the vomit of those strangers.
"Kami-sama, just end me now."
"Ugh, he's so heavy," Thoma groaned.
RATTLE...
"Well, Thoma, and hey, you look pale!" Thoma felt relieved at the interruption as soon he arrived in front of hotel.
"Here, put him down in this room. Thoma, do you need anything else?" A staff lady asked him when he came out from the bathroom. "I'm good, thank you for helping me out. I'm gon- ""Nah, forget it, you are not going to sleep here anyway. I can let this slide because you already do much favour". Thoma beams. "Thank you". "You are so handsome, you know. You should have a boyfriend already, you know. It'll be a waste of your pretty good face". "Ah, I um" Thoma flustered. "Pfft, you are so cute when you get flustered like that. Hurry up and go home. You will make Lord Ayato worries" A staff lady goes out of the room. Everybody knows how devoted Thoma to his Lord, but not to her. She already can figure what happened between them, that's why they are so close to share a secret.
'He... Will he be worrying about me?' Thoma's heart beats rapidly.
"Urggh"
"Ouh, I think this ginger is fine after all" He sighed.
"Ah, today's so tired" Thoma was grumpy all the way long. "Hmm, the light's- Lord Ayato is drinking?" Thoma rushes to the table from where he's drinking. He looks so pale, must be tired from his business trip.
"Lord Ayato, why are you drinking so much?" Thoma sighed. Remembering what happened back then at the Komore Teahouse already tiring him out. "Where are you coming from?" Ayato looked at Thoma with such cold glare.
"First, we need to clean the mess you make, okay? I will tell you everything in the first of the morning". The moment Thoma let Ayato wrap his hand on Thoma's waist, he felt a sharp pain. stirring unwelcome thoughts as he looks at his Lord defenseless.
"Is it okay to assume that he's worrying about me?" He sighed while taking Ayato to the bed.
