You frowned, glancing slightly to your right, just to confirm no one was calling for you.
âY/n!â he said again, and this time you managed to connect the unfamiliar voice to a slightly- then suddenly very familiar face.
âAâŚâ It took a second for your breath to collect the memory of his name before it slipped past your lips. âAtsumu,â you greeted him warmly, a drastic change from your previous annoyance at the world and its inconveniences.
Like youâd been friends for years, he leaned in for a loose hug, and when you parted again, you adjusted your scarf a bit as if that would buy you more time. âWhatâs up, champ?â
It was so instinctive, laughing at whatever Atsumu said, like it all had an undertone of humour. It was all you had done on your first date, where he charmed you with joke after joke. Thinking back, he eventually fell off the dating roster because you excused any discomfort in acknowledging your feelings as an ick. âNothing much, dawg.â
His laugh hit the same wavelength as yours as both of you mentally reminisced about that one running joke of pet names in the sports world being so inherently unsexy.Â
âOr, actually, so much but nothing I want to talk about.â
His curious eyes levelled on you. âI get that. Iâd say the same, but Iâm actually doing so well. And love to talk about it.â
Your smile widened to an embarrassing degree, suddenly seeing Atsumu as this shining light you wanted to keep basking in instead of a threatening meeting with your own emotions. âThat actually makes me so happy to hear. Heading home from work?â You checked your watch like you could have confirmed his answer yourself.
âKind of. My brother opened a restaurant, so I thought Iâd head over there. Maybe see if my good looks pull some customers in.â
You gasped in glee, letting his joke pass by as a flutter in your heart. âOsamu did?â
He blinked for a second before laughing it off. âHe did. Yer very welcome to join me, ya know? We could catch up.â You were about to accept when he clicked his tongue. âBut wait, donât ya have dance class on Thursdays?â
It felt like the whole world stopped. All you could feel was the loud beating of your heart and your soul reigniting at feeling seen. How in the hell did a guy you went on less than a handful of dates with remember something as mundane as your schedule?
âWe switched to Tuesdays for the new semester- How did you even remember that?â
âHm? What do you mean?â He seemed genuinely confused by your question. âWhy wouldnât I? You were worth planninâ dates with.â
And so was he. From then on out, he got all the dates he wanted.
thankyou @cottonlemonade for always encouraging me to write<3