I Want to Get Closer to You | Short-Short #UnrequitedLoveLiteratureClub

"I want you to give me some ideas."

I brought this up to my best friend Kento at the Starbucks near our university.

"There's this girl I really want to get closer to. She's incredibly cute, the kind of girl who was born to be an idol!"

"Hmm."

In contrast to gloomy me, Kento is a socialite who can talk to anyone with ease, and he's quite the expert when it comes to romance.

"She's the school's Madonna, right? 'Madonna' is a bit old-fashioned, so maybe someone like Mai Shiraishi? So, Aoi, what kind of approaches have you tried so far?"

Kento, who loves talking about love, took a sip of theGrande Muscat Frappuccinothat I paid for, grinning all the while.

"I came up with some ideas in my own way, and I tried them out for now, but..."

"Uh-huh."

"First, I wanted her to remember my face, so I tried wandering around to get into her line of sight, or tried to make eye contact."

"Wait a second. That's creepy right from the start."

"I-is it?"

"Your behavior is so suspicious that you might even be mistaken for a stalker if you're not careful."

Kent started smirking again as he said that. It looked like he was trying to hold back laughter.

"Well, she's always talking to so many people that there's no opening to speak to her, so I thought I'd try from a distance for now."

"Aoi, you really are shy. That's why you can't get a girlfriend."

"Mind your own business!"

"So?"

"No response at all."

"I figured."

"Then, I tried intentionally dropping my smartphone as we passed each other."

"Your smartphone!? You know, sometimes you're a bit too bold. So? Did she pick it up for you?"

"No, I didn't check. Because I suddenly got embarrassed and dashed away."

"Huh!?"

Kent stood there for a few seconds with his drink in hand, his mouth hanging wide open.

"Maybe she didn't notice and someone else picked it up, or even if she did pick it up, I was afraid it might turn into one of those novel plots where you get caught up in an incident—I forgot the name—so maybe she didn't pick it up, or maybe she turned it in to the police box."

"Yeah, I guess..."

"Did you call your phone?"

"I did, but it said, 'The phone is powered off or out of service.'"

"Ah, I got a call from Ren this morning and thought it was about tonight's group date, but since it was you, I guess that's what it was about."

By the way, I wasn't invited to that group date.

"But, actually, I talked to her for the first time today!"

Forgetting that I had lost my smartphone, my eyes turned into the kind of sparkling stars you often see on anime characters.

"Tell me first! What did you say to her?"

"A tall iced caramel macchiato."

"Huh? Say that again."

"I said, a tall iced caramel macchiato!!"

The middle-aged man sitting at the next table looked over at us with a surprised expression because of my overly loud voice.

"That's..."

I nodded while casting my gaze toward a certain staff member who was going around wiping tables.

"...So it was a Starbucks employee!!"

"But she's incredibly cute, right? I'm shy, so I used to leave the store whenever she was working the register. I was too embarrassed to talk to her directly. Since Kent was here today, I mustered up the courage to talk to her."

"You're a cute guy, aren't you?"

Kent started laughing with a cackle.

Distracted by his laughter, I accidentally knocked over my glass.

I had barely drunk any of it, so the floor became a sea of caramel macchiato.

"Are you okay?"

Just then, that clerk who had been going around wiping tables quickly came over,

"I'll clean this up right away. Did you get any on your clothes?"

I was blushing so hard I felt like steam was coming out of my face, and all I could manage was to shake my head from side to side.

As soon as the clerk finished cleaning it up, she said,

"Please wait just a moment."

With that, they ran off to the other side of the register.

"Hey Aoi, your face is bright red."

While I felt annoyed at Kento for chuckling, I was disappointed deep down.

I shouldn't have bothered them when they're so busy.

Then, before long, the clerk returned.

"Here, I've remade it for you. Please, enjoy!"

What they were holding in their hand was an iced caramel macchiato.

"Oh, um..."

As I stood there, flustered and unable to speak,

"You come here often, don't you? Thank you for always visiting us."

"Huh!?"

“Oh, that’s perfect timing.”

The clerk walked briskly toward the door marked “Staff Only,” disappeared for a moment, and then immediately came back out.

“Is this your lost item, sir?”

What they handed me was my smartphone, which I had intentionally dropped inside the store.

“I was wondering if someone might call, but the battery had died and it was powered off. I’m glad I could return it to you.”

When the phone was held out to me, my heart was in a state of complete panic.

Because on that phone case, there was a huge illustration of Maomao, the protagonist of “The Apothecary Diaries”.

H-how embarrassing...

I wanted to run out of the store right then and there, but the clerk said something I never expected.

“I love this series too! I’ve read both the novels and the manga, and I’ve watched the anime over and over! I’ve actually been looking at that phone case from afar for a while, thinking how nice it was and wondering where you bought it. To be honest, I’ve secretly been hoping for a chance to talk to you.”

The clerk said this, looking a little shy.

Could this be a sign that things are finally going my way!?

And once a certain phrase came to mind, I made up my mind.

“U-um!!”

CLATTER!!!

My sudden, forceful standing caused my chair to tip over backward, and a loud noise echoed through the shop.

At that sound, every customer in the shop turned their gaze toward me all at once.

“Y-yes!!”

Perhaps overwhelmed by my strange intensity, the clerk also gave a forceful reply.

Time stood still between the two of us as we stared at each other.

Kento, who had been watching the two of us, waited with a tense expression mixed with anticipation and anxiety.

Including the other staff, everyone in the shop held their breath, watching to see what the two of us would do next.

I took a deep breath and let the words spill out with all my might.

"Won't you stay at my place tonight!"

Kento slid off his chair like a slapstick comedy routine, spilling his Frappuccino all over the designer jacket he had bought for tonight's mixer.

(2,500 characters)

■ This short-short is included in the following magazine 😌

■ I am currently participating in a magazine specializing in novels and short-shorts ✨️

This article is a submission for Naru-san's project, the [Unrequited Love Literature Club]. The theme this time was
[Idea].

I wanted to keep it under 1,500 characters, but since I used a lot of dialogue, it ended up getting long, and I wound up writing 2,500 characters 💦

Recently, my two elementary school-aged daughters have been hooked on "The Apothecary Diaries," buying the manga and watching the anime.🙂

Just like with "Oshi no Ko" before, I have a feeling I'm going to get hooked on it too because of my kids.🙄

Also, I often go to the Starbucks at my nearest station to read or work on my writing. The Starbucks staff there (both men and women) have incredibly high levels of attractiveness and friendliness, and I'm just a creepy middle-aged guy who sometimes stares blankly at them, thinking they must be living happy and fun lives. (lol)

Thank you for reading this far.🍀 Have a great weekend.😌