[Fanfic] Out Of My League (Chapter Four)
I made a graphic for my other fic A Beautiful Mess because someone commented that her image of Yana is the like that of Shibasaki Kou and I was like, "Nooooooooo~~~!!" Haha. I'm not fond of her at all so I made a graphic of that and while at it, I decided making one for this fic too. So here it is! ^^
If you're not familiar with Mandopop, the girl is Hebe Tien from the girl group, S.H.E. My image of Rina is the same as her personality, funny, outgoing and cute so I used her picture. ^^
This chapter is a light, fluffy one. Makes you all giggly after reading it. :))
Oh, I remember Sho once said on one of his Hanamaru Cafe guesting that Jun likes using emoji when sending mails so I tried using emoji in his mails in this chapter. I copied the emoji Shirota Yuu's been using on his tweets. Haha. :)) Happy reading guys! XD
CHAPTER FOUR
Nakagawa Rina is restlessly walking around her apartment for the past thirty minutes, waiting for a knock on her door. She received an out of the blue message from Matsumoto Jun last night, asking her out for a date tonight. A date. After declining all her invitations for the past days, he’s now asking her out for a date, saying that he’s sorry for not making it to her invites because work has been hectic. She doesn’t believe it. He seems cold in his replies and if he really wants to come, he can drop off even for a few minutes, after all, their apartments are a few step away from each other. She felt that he’s been ignoring her and she doesn’t have the slightest idea why. She wanted to say no to this date and act the way he acted the past few days by not replying to his message but she gave in this morning when he called her and she said yes. It was awkward at first, both not knowing what to say to each other. He even trailed off when he said the word ‘date’. She found it adorable at how he seems so shy over the phone and all the uncertainty she felt was gone in an instant. Now, it’s seven in the evening and he will come knocking in her doorstep any minute now.
And he finally came. The knocking on the door startled her as she walk nervously to open it. It was him, looking perfectly handsome with his hair left unstyled under a brown fedora hat, simply dressing up with a red cardigan and a white shirt inside. He’s shyly smiling at her, making her heart jump with that sight. For a moment, they were silent, their eyes were the only ones talking.
“Ready?” Jun manage to ask.
“I’ll just get my bag.” Rina replies, rushing inside to grab her bag from the living room. He was left standing outside. “Let’s go.” she says as she returned to the door.
It was a quiet ride in his car, there were times that their eyes would meet and would shyly smile at each other. Both knew that whatever they have now is different from the last time they spent time together, they are only waiting on who would have the guts to talk about it first.
It wasn’t a long drive to reach their destination, Jun pulled over to a small café in the heart of Ebisu. It was an ordinary day so the teenagers were not around the town to hang-out. The place consists only of some office workers having meals after work. He opted for a quiet place in the café’s open air second floor where in a few couples were present, oblivious to the fact that a super idol is present with a date. They sat in the corner table, in the middle is a candle lit inside a glass case, adding to the already romantic vibe in the place.
“I hope this is fine with you.” Jun starts, shrugging off the awkwardness still present between them.
“It’s fine. I like it, the ambience is nice.” Rina assures him, softly brushing her hair with her hand as the wind blows.
“I’m glad.” Jun let out a relieved smile.
“It is your day-off today?” Rina asks, striking up a conversation.
“No.” Jun shakes his head. “Been working since 8 in the morning, it ended early today.”
“Oh. Nee-chan said she’s lonely coz Sho-kun’s working late tonight. I said I have plans so I can’t out with her. I guess she’s bored at home.” Rina laughs, resting her elbow in the table.
“Sho-kun’s schedule is tough. He’s the busiest among us. He’s been complaining on how he barely spends time with her.” Jun says. “Did Aki know that your plan tonight is with me?”
“No.” Rina shakes her head. “She’ll just bombard me with question if I said that. Did the members know that you’re with me tonight?” She asks in return.
“Just Aiba-chan.” Jun answers.
“Aiba-san knows me?” Rina wondered, they were never introduced before.
“Ahh. That…” Jun says, his hand is cradling on the back of his neck. “When I sent you that mail last night, we were together having dinner. You know Aiba-chan, he will insist on things.” He finds his excuse, hoping that she’ll believe it.
“Ohh.” Rina nods her head a few times, smiling.
“I’m sorry for not making it the past few days.” Jun starts. “I went through something and it’s not good, I tell you. But I’m okay now.”
“So working late is just an excuse then?” Rina asks.
“We’re pretty busy too but I took it as an excuse.” Jun confess.
“I see. I thought I did something terrible for you to act so cold towards me.” Rina says, she doesn’t look mad though, the calmness she possesses is still there.
“No. It’s not you.” Jun says instantly, he doesn’t want her to get the wrong impression. “It’s me and my low self-esteem.”
“Matsumoto Jun and his low self-esteem? That’s new. Where did the Matsumoto Jun I knew went?” Rina looks bewildered. “And what does your low self-esteem has to do with me?”
Jun laughs at her reaction. “I told you, I never met anyone like you before. I feel so inferior.”
“What?” Rina exclaims. “Don’t be! I should be the one to feel inferior, you’re a superstar for crying out loud.”
“I guess no one should feel inferior between us.” Jun decided and she agrees by nodding. “Now, I promise to make it whenever you mail me. I’ll be there in an instant.” He smiles at her.
“I think I’m overdoing the whole neighbor thing.” Rina says and Jun has this questionable look on his face. “Maybe you are getting annoyed by my constant mails.”
“No!” Jun says right away. “It’s totally fine with me. You can mail me anytime you want, tell me anything under the sun, I wouldn’t mind. In fact, I like it.”
Rina felt her cheeks burning, thanks to the dark surrounding, he didn’t get to see how red it looks. “I just want one thing from you. I hope you stop seeing me as a rich, socialite kid who doesn’t know anything in life.”
“Rina-san-” Jun tries to stop her but she put a finger on her lips, asking him to stop.
“My family might be rich and all but it doesn’t mean that I’m different from the normal girls you get to meet every day. I’m trying to shy away from the lifestyle that I grew up with by living on my own and I have to say that I did quite well. I cook, I do the laundry and I even clean my own bathroom. Isn’t that very normal of me? And I’m very proud of myself for doing it. It might be petty to others but for me it’s already a big achievement.”
“I promise to never think of that. From now on, you’re just Rina, my funny and quirky neighbor. Is that okay?” Jun smiled. She’s more than a neighbor to him but he doesn’t want to jump into that now.
“That’s perfect.” Rina says, smiling. The awkward and uneasy atmosphere is now gone, replacing with a serene and friendly feel they give each other.
---
“I hope this date can be longer but I’m still early tomorrow.” Jun says as he walks Rina up to her apartment. The word date gives Rina a fuzzy feeling inside, all they did the whole night was eat, talk, share random funny stories and planning another day out on his next day off. This is the first time mentioned ‘date’.
“This is really a date, huh? I thought you just want to pay back the times you declined me.” Rina laughs.
Jun softly laughs while putting both his hand on his back pocket, “I’m not misleading you on that word. This is really a date.”
“Oh.” Rina says, she can’t find other words to say besides that.
“I’ve been debating on whether to say this tonight or not but I guess I should.” Jun stops, their eyes meeting each other. “I like you, Rina-san. I really do.” He finally said it, all that’s left to do is to hear what she has to say and he suddenly felt nervous.
Rina froze in her spot, hearing Matsumoto Jun says ‘I like you’ is like a dream to her. Only a dream, never did she imagined him saying it in real life.
“I like you too.” Rina says, barely getting that voice out.
Jun’s chest felt relieved and happy at the same time. They went silent, only the fast beating of their hearts can be heard.
“Ja, I have to go.” Jun says, ending the silence.
“Hai. Thanks for tonight. I had fun.” Rina says.
“You’re welcome. I can’t wait for the second date.” Jun says with a shy yet playful smirk.
“Me too.” Rina shyly laughs.
Jun came closer, gently placing his lips on her for a quick goodnight kiss. Rina felt her stomach clenches with excitement and joy as Jun starts to walk away from the corridor, waving her goodbye before entering the lift.
---
Rina wakes up with a warm feeling inside her, she hugs her pillow tightly, giggling as she remembers what happened last night. It was pure happiness, his kiss, although short, still made her knees go weak. She doesn’t want to get up from her bed, laying on it, cuddling to her pillow and thinking about Matsumoto Jun the whole day would be fine for her.
On the side table, she saw her Blackberry blinking and she grabs it to read the messages. She decided to ignore all the mails sent to her by her assistant, she wouldn’t be back to work in a few days so she doesn’t want to be bothered by problems in the office. As she scrolls down, Jun’s name showed up and her face suddenly scrunches up with a bright smile.
From: Matsumoto Jun
Ohayou! (＾∇＾)
I’m thinking of calling you
but it’s still early so you might still be asleep.
What are you doing today?
I hope I can see you tonight. (*^▽^*)
Rina couldn’t be any happier than this, waking up to a cute mail sent by this man, that she admire and like, who admire and likes her back.
To: Matsumoto Jun
Ohayou! (*-*)
Take care on your work today.
As for me, I’m staying home,
unless Nee-chan wants my company. Hehe.
I want to see you too. *(^O^)*
She wrapped her arms around the pillow and happily reads that mail from him, over and over again, not getting tired of it.