Hotline {Soukoku}

{11}

For a day in which the sun was shining down, it was oddly cold. The kind of day where the sun's rays offered very little relief from the unusually cold gusts of wind, well, what a peculiar day that is.

Since the studio was cold, Chuuya was laying flat on his bed, staring blankly up at his ceiling. A whole day had passed since Dazai had taken Chuuya out to drink, and they hadn't spoken since.

On one hand, the redhead knew that he had to talk to that dreaded barista at some point, but how? Was he going to thank him for the food? Yell at him for stealing his keys and being in his apartment while he was unconscious? Both seemed like great ideas, but logically, Chuuya knew he had to thank that man. He wasn't about to be ungrateful, although he was never one to be accepting others' charity. Should he offer to pay him back, by any chance?

Would Dazai even accept the money? Did he know about his financial situation? Despite hardly remembering their conversations from that night, Chuuya was quite confident that he wouldn't have said much about his situation to the brunet, even if he had asked. So perhaps he would accept the money?

But the more he thought, the more the redhead realized; Because of the fact that Dazai had entered his apartment, he was probably able to assume the ginger's lack of money, based solely off of his lack of food and belongings. He facepalmed, sighing as he did so. He never wanted that man to know this much about him.

Ever since meeting that man, Chuuya had felt nothing but strong emotions, emotions he could only assume were anger. He was never the best at distinguishing his emotions, as he didn't exactly have the best circumstances growing up, but this felt unnecessarily strong to him. Yeah, Dazai was annoying, but how could he be feeling this much hatred towards him? He had never felt this for anyone else in his life.

But it made no sense, either. If this man is the most hated person he's ever met, why is he still willing to hang out with him, and be around him? Why didn't he just immediately cut off that cafe, and find a new one? He shouldn't even be going to cafes right now, he should be worrying about his finances. Rent is due in two weeks, after all, and his savings only has about half of the amount.

Chuuya groaned even more. His finances were draining him way more than the situation with Dazai. His finances seemed bleak all around, whereas whatever is going on with Dazai was.. At least not all that bad? It was hard to tell, and quite frankly, it was giving him a headache.

Groaning, the redhead slowly sat up, rubbing at his temple as he did so. Thinking wasn't going to do him any good, only his actions would.

~

It was always a bit hard to get back into the groove of work after a day off, and from most angles as well. In the morning, the room is just a little too cold, making the bed all the more addicting to stay in. The simple tasks of the morning, such as dressing and becoming presentable, they oftentimes feel all the more strenuous. Maybe the coat you usually wear wasn't in the place it's usually at, and the extra 20 seconds of looking for it were enough to make you want to call it a day before the day even started. Work was a bit of a walk away, do you really feel like walking today?

The morning before work has its issues, but work itself is hardly any different. It's a hassle, taking care of an establishment for upwards of 7-8 hours straight, even the breaks drain you, as you spend all 15 minutes dreading the end of it. Consistently socializing for hours on end, trudging tired feet along the same floor, cleaning up the same areas that end up dirty again only 20 minutes later.

"Dazai! I've got a batch for you in about 5 minutes!"

But hey, it's not all bad. One will oftentimes be rewarded for a job well done.