Syon stepped out of the staff restroom.
Apparently the worst bathroom trip in the café's history. There wasn't much left of the warm smile and charming guy anymore.
What the hell is this, Lyra?
What happened?
After the call, he'd first sent her a massive text wall of explanation, then a flood of messages. All unread.
Why now of all times?!
He dragged himself back behind the counter and leaned against it with both arms.
"You okay?" the young woman from earlier, Yumi, asked on her way to the exit.
Syon grinned. He tried to make it warm, but it came out way too crooked. His sweaty forehead gave away more than he wanted.
"Yeah, I'm good. Have a nice day." He waved.
Yumi adjusted her beige trench coat and tilted her head. "Still trouble with your ex?"
One of Syon's eyelids twitched.
"Yeah… Yeah. It's complicated."
She nodded sympathetically. "It'll work itself out."
Then she stepped closer and placed a napkin with her phone number on the counter. "In case you ever wanna talk. Or forget."
She gave him a wink and disappeared out the door.
Syon picked up the napkin and glanced at it.
Are y'all try'na fuck around with me?
He crumpled the number up and tossed it into the trash. The only one he'd ever take was Lyra's. Even if she was apparently losing her mind right now. Then he noticed the half-finished coffee again.
Oh, fuck…
The girl from that order before was still there, sitting at the table in the corner with her phone.
At least the customers still like me…
He dumped the cold coffee and started a new one. His practiced movements felt slower than usual, his thoughts were somewhere else entirely.
Was this some kind of test from Lyra? But why? Why did it have to be a call?
The coffee finished brewing. He added the milk foam and shaped it into a crippled heart. Then he grabbed a slice of fresh apple pie from the display case. A charming apology for the inconvenience, or something.
How would you have reacted, Lyra?
How would you have reacted if Kathy had been a guy?
He dragged himself past the guests toward the table in the corner.
If you knew it was me? Your old friend? The one who was always there for you without you even noticing? The one you never really saw?
The one you ghosted, just like Hana.
Then a thought hit him like a distorted echo.
"I LOVE YOU! FUCK, I LOVE YOU!"
Hana's words shot through him so hard he nearly stumbled. The cup slipped from his hand and crashed onto the customer's table, soaking the tablecloth and her outfit in dark brown coffee.
The young woman jumped to her feet in horror.
"Whaaaat the hell?!"
Syon reacted instantly.
"Oh my God, I'm so sorry! I'm such a fucking idiot. I'll fix this right away."
He pulled a towel from his barista apron.
Just as he was about to kneel down and clean up the mess, his eyes caught the phone lying on the table.
There was Lyra on the screen.
Lyra, buried between garbage bags.
…what?
Instinctively, he grabbed the smartphone and kept swiping through the gallery.
Hana next to Lyra, desperately clutching her arm.
Lyra on a bus, pressed close beside Hana.
Lyra in Hana's filthy bed, Hana beside her. Close. Dangerously close.
Then the phone was ripped out of his hand.
"HELLO???"
He'd never seen this customer before. A girl with short dark-blue hair. Her expression flickered between uncertainty and anger. The surrounding tables had already turned their attention toward the two of them and Syon's little accident.
But he did not even notice.
Hana's message from before, that made absolutely no sense. Lyra asking him for help for the first time in her life. Those pictures.
Click.
Syon straightened up again. The accident had given him his mask back.
"I'm really sorry. That was completely out of line," he apologized calmly.
He gestured gently, scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, smoothly diffusing the situation. Authentic as always.
Once the women nearby had gone back to their gossip, he stepped closer to the girl and leaned slightly toward her.
His voice came quiet and precise, like a subtle offer.
"Cute couple pics you've got there of Hana and Lyra."
Asaki took a step back, her pupils shrinking. Caught, shocked, or both. Either way, she couldn't get a word out.
Syon straightened up again, the corners of his mouth curling dangerously high.
"Let me invite you for a coffee. We should talk."
Bunny Club "Velvet Dust," 3:49 PM
The office smelled like expensive alcohol and cheap perfume.
Rudi sat behind his massive dark wooden desk, fingers wrapped tightly around a glass of whiskey. His face looked tense, cracks showing through his usual smug expression.
Vox and Serena stood in front of him.
Vox had his hands shoved into the pockets of his worn leather jacket, the greasy grin firmly in place. Serena leaned casually against the wall with arms crossed, her mismatched eyes fixed on Rudi.
"So," Rudi began, taking a sip of whiskey. "You found 'er?"
"Course we did," Vox croaked. "Wasn't hard. Lyra was sitting around in her apartment like always. We didn't check Hana's place because—"
Rudi slammed the glass down a little too hard.
"You didn't check on Hana?!"
Vox flinched and opened his mouth, but Rudi wasn't done.
"I told you to bring BOTH of them! Not just one!"
"Boss, we thought—"
"YOU THOUGHT?!" Rudi's voice thundered through the room. "You're not paid to THINK!"
Vox took a step back, his grin gone.
Serena stayed calm, raising only a slight eyebrow.
"There was no reason to go to Hana," she said evenly. "Lyra had her boyfriend with her. That disproved your theory."
Rudi stared at her. "What theory?"
"That the two of them are a couple." Serena shrugged. "No couple, no conspiracy."
His round jaw tightened. "Her… boyfriend?"
"Yep." Vox found his grin again. "Guy pretended to be her date. Pretty smooth, honestly."
Rudi leaned back, fingers drumming against the desk.
"Describe him."
"Early twenties," Serena began. "Blue hair. Dressed pretty casually. Confident. Charming."
"Too charming," Vox added.
Rudi's eyes narrowed. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Vox scratched his chin. "No clue, Boss."
Rudi stood up, walked to the window, and stared out at the neon-lit street. "And you believed him? That he's her boyfriend?"
Serena and Vox exchanged a glance.
"Seemed real," Serena finally said.
Rudi turned around, his stare boring into them.
"Find out."