Fragments to form a Star [IDOLiSH7 IoRiku]

Fragments to form a Star

It was another tiring day at work. The man is glad it was over. There were too many problems during the major meeting that he felt like he could have exploded at any time. He does not get paid enough for his effort. If only he could find a better job, he would have resigned since day one. Life as an office worker is hard, or at least it is for Izumi Iori.

The man sighs as he walks into a park that is a shortcut to his home. As usual, Iori walks fast without appreciating the pretty autumnal scenery around him. He just wants to get home, eat something and throw himself on his bed.

The park is not exactly lively, so the only sound Iori hears is the one he makes. The sound of the crunching leaves, though annoying, is better than any voices inside his head. He keeps walking with his head down, going through the exact same paths he takes every day. He will get home soon. He will be on his bed soon.

Cough Cough!

Suddenly, Iori stops in his tracks. Perhaps he is too focused on getting home that he is startled by a typical random noise around him.

Except, that noise is not so typical.

Iori turns his head to the left to see a red-haired man sitting on a bench with his hand covering his mouth. The man's face scrunches up in pain as he coughs his lungs out.

Iori's first thought is that he should not have looked. Then again, seeing how the man struggles, he would feel bad walking away and pretending he did not see anything. Iori decides he had better ask since the man does not seem to be getting any better.

Iori walks forward until he is standing right in front of the stranger. Bending down a little, he asks "Hey, do you need help?".

The stranger moves the hand that was covering his mouth to his chest. He pants heavily as the coughing fit calms down for a moment. Struggling to speak, he finds a single word that he hopes would alert Iori about what he needs. "...I-inhaler"

Fortunately, Iori understands right away. He sits down right next to the stranger. "Okay. Where do you keep it?" He sees that the stranger pats his shoulder bag with the other hand. Iori does not hesitate to open the bag. There does not seem to be a lot of stuff inside so Iori sees a flash of blue almost right away. He takes the inhaler out, shakes it well and pulls the cap open.

The stranger seems too weak to use the inhaler himself so Iori shifts closer to him, locates the medicine in front of his mouth. "I'm going to press it. 3, 2, 1..." Iori presses the inhaler. The stranger inhales a faint white puff that came out before holding his breath and letting it out a few seconds later. Iori gives some time for the man to calm down. A good thing he does not seem to be in pain anymore.

"Thank you for helping me" A man turns to face Iori. He gives the office worker a bright smile that Iori feels his heart just skipped a beat.

Iori clears his throat after realising he has been staring at the man. "*Ahem* I-it's not a problem" He returns an inhaler to the stranger before quickly getting up. "Do take care" He leaves without waiting for any responses from the man.

The man clutches the inhaler in his hand as he sees Iori walking away from him. "I didn't even get his name" His face shows a light tone of pink. Iori is good-looking. He might have been charmed by those cool gaze he caught a glance at. Although at the very least, he is not the type to accept an act of kindness without repaying it.

~~

The next day, at around the same time as yesterday, the stranger returns to the park. He sits at the very same spot he was at yesterday, hoping to meet his hero. He holds a box of chocolate close to his chest. He could feel his heart beating fast. Something about this makes him so nervous.