Chapter 32

Big Fox on a Saturday afternoon truly seemed like a village from a fairy tale.

There were people everywhere, but it wasn’t crowded like a tourist spot, and because lavender and rosemary bushes had been planted here and there, the air smelled good. Children ran around laughing, and an appetizing smell drifted from a bakery nearing closing.

Cherriot chattered to Yuri about everything he saw. From an explanation that the garden of the church where Mass was held every Sunday was a good date course, to the special breakfast menu of a café whose blue paint was peeling in places, to the tomatoes sold at the farmers’ market being held in the square. It was all so trivial it was almost fussy.

After twenty minutes of walking, they arrived at the largest café in Big Fox. They had passed two more cafés on the way, but even while saying he wanted coffee, Cherriot insisted they had to come here instead of going somewhere closer. It was a stubbornness Yuri couldn’t understand, but he silently followed him. The café Cherriot wanted sat directly in front of the lakeshore. Its terrace was already full of people drinking coffee or eating while looking at the lake.

“Sit here for a moment.”

The café was much larger inside than it looked from outside. It seemed they didn’t only sell coffee and desserts; toward the back, they also sold miscellaneous goods and books. It was, in a way, a general store.

“You aren’t planning to sit down and drink coffee, are you?”

“Not exactly, but… why? Can’t we sit and drink?”

It would certainly be inconvenient to carry the drinks around, but Yuri couldn’t picture himself leisurely sitting in such a place and drinking coffee. Besides, he didn’t want to sit there for no reason and draw anyone’s attention. “I thought we were going to the lake.”

“Ah, now I see. You were looking forward to it?”

Yuri twisted one corner of his mouth and scoffed, then took off the sunglasses he had been wearing and held them out to Cherriot. “If you’re going to walk around a crowded place, put these back on.”

“No, we won’t be here long. I’m going to see if they sell sunglasses inside. Keep those.”

“If I’m buying them, shouldn’t I be the one who buys them?”

“I want to choose them,” Cherriot whined like a child.

Yuri folded his arms and looked at him with disbelief. “Why would you choose my sunglasses?”

“Because if I leave it to you, you’ll buy something as gloomy as the clothes you’re wearing now. Anyway, I’ll be right back. Okay?”

Having already made up his mind, Cherriot moved quickly. He took the sunglasses Yuri held out, placed them back on Yuri’s head, then disappeared inside. It happened so fast that Yuri frowned and raised a hand to his head.

If Alexei saw me, he would clutch his stomach and laugh. Wearing sunglasses like this.

Frowning, Yuri examined the interior layout.

There didn’t seem to be a separate entrance inside, and there weren’t many people. No one looked suspicious at the moment, but if Cherriot took more than five minutes, Yuri intended to go find him. He slowly turned his gaze toward the café terrace, assessing external threats, but for now, he saw no one like the hitmen he had spotted at the hotel. An elderly man reading a newspaper looked slightly suspicious, but his plump hands appeared soft, as if they had never held a weapon.

After finishing his scan, Yuri finally looked over his own outfit. As usual, he wore black pants, a black dress shirt, and a white short-sleeved T-shirt underneath. What exactly is wrong with this?

Cherriot’s parting remark bothered him a little, but it changed nothing. Yuri preferred black because dirt didn’t show; whether blood or grease stains got on it, black hid everything. Since standing still and waiting for Cherriot was awkward, Yuri decided to order coffee first. Because Cherriot had said several times on the way that he wanted a Spanish latte, it wasn’t hard to guess what he would want.

Approaching the counter, Yuri was about to order when he remembered that traces of a fight still remained on his face. They weren’t as ugly as they had been the day before, but a reddish tinge like scratches still lingered around his cheekbone and temple. While he hesitated briefly, the employee spoke first.

“What can I get for you?”

The employee taking orders was a man who looked about Cherriot’s age, or perhaps a little younger. The barista, wearing a blue short-sleeved shirt and brown apron, looked up at Yuri with friendly smiling eyes. His pheromones were not strong, but he was definitely an Omega. His moderately sun-tanned skin and short golden-brown hair gave him a fresh impression.

“…A Spanish latte, please.”

“Ah, that’s not on our menu. But we can make something as similar as possible. Would that be all right?”

“Yes.”

“Hot or iced?”

“Iced, please.”

Yuri gave short answers, then lowered his head for a moment. Just as he was about to pull out the bills tucked inside his shirt, the sunglasses shifted and began to fall. He realized it too late and reached to catch them, but the employee stretched out his hand first and snatched them from the air. Because his reflexes were fairly good, Yuri stared at him, wondering if the man might be an agent sent by the Hell’s Watchmen.

“Caught them.” The barista smiled playfully, leaned as close to Yuri as he could, and said quietly, “They’re from your boyfriend, right? It’d be upsetting if the lenses got scratched.”

“…What?”

When Yuri’s dark brows furrowed in confusion, the barista’s eyes widened. Now that Yuri looked, his eyes were green, too. Green eyes were common enough, but after seeing Cherriot’s, these felt different.

“The person you were with earlier isn’t your boyfriend?”

Yuri wondered what nonsense this was, only to realize the man had arbitrarily decided on the nature of his relationship with Cherriot. With a touch of genuine feeling, Yuri asked, “I don’t know why you thought that.”

“It’s not common to see two Alphas standing that close while one puts sunglasses on the other. Ah, I don’t mean it in a weird way. There are a lot of free types around me, too. I only meant you looked affectionate.”

“…Ah.”

At the absurd words, Yuri faintly twisted the corner of his mouth. The word boyfriend sounded far too fleeting to him. “We’re not like that.”

Denying a word that Cherriot might know, but that would forever have nothing to do with Yuri, he took out his bills. Perhaps embarrassed by the misunderstanding, the barista scratched his head and apologized. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine.”

“That’ll be four dollars and fifty cents. Just one?”

Yuri hesitated briefly. The day was hotter than he had expected, and he wanted something cold to drink. Usually, he didn’t waste money on things like this, but… today, going out itself was already an exception.

“One iced Americano, please. ”

“Then it’s eight dollars and twenty-five cents.”

Following an impulse unlike him, Yuri finished ordering and held out a ten-dollar bill. Then a hand reached from somewhere and grabbed him. Normally, he would have struck it away on instinct, but without even seeing the other person’s face, Yuri knew who had caught him. Instead of pushing away the uninvited guest, Yuri calmly turned his gaze.

Cherriot fearlessly grabbed him just fine. Perhaps because the same situation had repeated several times now, Yuri had grown used to it. Or perhaps it was because he knew it was Cherriot that he allowed him to approach like this.

“…What are you doing?”

Yuri had been about to use the name he called him outside, but became conscious of what the barista had just said and shut his mouth. Calling him Cherry could only sound like a pet name, and Yuri didn’t want to add unnecessary misunderstanding. It would be best if Cherriot’s identity wasn’t discovered, but in the event that people later learned they had been here, he also didn’t want a scandal to cling to Cherriot. A person like Yuri could be nothing but a stain on Cherriot.

“I’m paying.”

When Yuri quietly looked sideways, he saw Cherriot’s jaw. Because the cap had been pulled down deeply, his face wasn’t clearly visible. Finding it commendable that Cherriot was at least trying to hide, Yuri decided to deal with him instead of scolding him for the unauthorized contact. “Done looking?”

“Yeah,” Cherriot answered briefly and pulled Yuri back. Standing between the barista and Yuri in an instant, Cherriot blocked the space between them.

Behind his back, Yuri raised his brows. The pheromones felt close and unstable, bristling, so Yuri could tell Cherriot was in a very bad mood.

“Keep the change. ”

After paying in Yuri’s place, Cherriot glanced back and looked down at Yuri. When the green eyes hidden beneath the cap were slightly revealed, Yuri finally saw his expression properly. Dissatisfaction brimmed in those pretty green eyes. Why, all of a sudden?

Unable to understand why someone who had been excited the whole time had undergone an emotional shift in only a few minutes, Yuri studied him with puzzled eyes. Cherriot whipped his head away, pulled his cap down again, and held his hand out to the barista. “Can I have the sunglasses, please? They’re mine.”

“Ah, sorry.”

Judging by his usual behavior, Cherriot could have at least pretended to smile at an Omega, but in a toneless voice, he stated only his business and took the sunglasses back. Then he gave Yuri, who had been waiting quietly, a light glare and walked past him to the café table farthest inside. Sitting with prim delicacy, he crossed his legs and leaned back in the chair. Yuri, staring in difficulty at the client displaying displeasure with his entire body, slowly headed toward him.

It was hard to tell for certain because the cap hid his face, but Yuri thought Cherriot was looking at him. When Yuri reached the table and quietly pulled out the chair across from him to sit, Cherriot spoke at once, as if he had been waiting. “You acted like you weren’t interested when I said there would be lots of pretty Omegas.”

“What?”

“You were letting that barista flirt with you.”

Flirt? Before Yuri could refute it, another question followed. “Is that your type? Is any Omega fine?”

“…Cherriot.”

“No matter how I look at it, I’m better-looking, aren’t I? Even if we’re judging by prettiness, isn’t it me?”

“I don’t know how you came to that conclusion, but nothing happened.”

Cherriot shook his head, then set the sunglasses in his hand down on the table with a tap. “Then why was he holding my sunglasses?”

“They were about to fall, and he caught them.”

“Then you should have taken them back right away.”

The more they spoke, the larger Cherriot’s dissatisfaction grew. It had only been the day before yesterday that he said Yuri frightened him, yet in barely three days he had grown used to him enough to say things like this. Should Yuri call that admirable, or bold?

While Yuri considered whether indulging this inexplicable sulking was one way to reassure him, Cherriot asked again. “Was it nice talking to a handsome Omega?”

It felt strange. Yuri had never had this kind of conversation with anyone, but he suddenly remembered Alexei arguing with his lover about topics like this. It felt as if he had been placed in that kind of situation. Cherriot and Yuri weren’t at all in such a relationship, but… the content of the conversation was strange. “No. ”

Whatever conversation he had with the barista was none of Cherriot’s concern, but Yuri answered no. For now, he judged it was better to do so, and it was the correct answer. Cherriot, who had been sitting with his arms crossed in a somewhat delinquent manner, slowly looked at him and uncrossed his legs. “I don’t want to come to this café anymore.”

“…Fine.”

Do as you like. Yuri matched his rhythm despite his confusion. When Yuri answered obediently, Cherriot’s pheromones clearly began loosening little by little.

Somehow, Yuri found that cute, and he changed the subject to improve Cherriot’s mood a bit more. “You chose my sunglasses well, I assume. ”

“I did, but.” Cherriot jerked his chin toward the sunglasses on the table. “Wear mine.”

“Is there a reason I should?”

“The ones they sell here are closer to toys. They don’t block ultraviolet light properly.”

In that case, it seemed even more correct for Cherriot to wear his own, but Cherriot stubbornly pushed the sunglasses toward him and rose from his seat. Like chasing a dog that couldn’t stay still, Yuri stood and followed him. He also put the sunglasses Cherriot had left behind into his pocket for the moment. Now that he looked, the coffee had already been made.

Cherriot strode to the counter, took their coffees in both hands, and left the café. On his way out, Yuri’s eyes met the barista’s. Seeing Yuri, the barista smiled brightly and made a gesture of putting his palm to his ear.

Frowning because he didn’t understand the signal, Yuri left the store and was met by Cherriot’s back, standing still. “Cherriot, tell me what you’re upset about. ”

Yuri didn’t want him to continue like this. At Yuri’s direct question, Cherriot sighed and answered, “When you’re with me, focus only on me. You’re my bodyguard.”

“I think I’m already focused enough.”

Because his attention was already on Cherriot to the point of overflowing, Yuri even felt a little wronged. At the calm answer, Cherriot paused, then held one of the coffees in front of Yuri’s face with a hand that had loosened somewhat. “You notice other things like a ghost, but why can’t you notice this?”

The answer to that incomprehensible statement appeared soon enough. Cherriot was holding up the coffee so Yuri would look at the number written on the cup sleeve. Yuri guessed it was the barista’s number. Only then realizing that the barista really had been flirting, Yuri frowned in difficulty.

So that was why he asked if Cherriot and I were dating. It seemed he had another purpose. But Yuri couldn’t be certain whether this was a signal meant for him. “It might be a number for you, not me.”

“Do you remember that the person he talked to wasn’t me, but you?”

“Hard to say.” Yuri recalled what Cherriot had said. “You’re the one who said a few seconds is enough to fall in love. He said he saw you and me talking, then spoke to me. So who knows?”

“I was wearing a cap, so he couldn’t see my face,” Cherriot shook the coffee as he argued.