Worth and Warmth - Chapter 2
So much dialogue
"Do you know what you'd like from the food court? You can get anything you'd like, Yuri's paying, he doesn't mind."
She looked at me without breaking eye contact and I felt transported back to ten years ago, when she would ask me questions similar to the one she just asked. Back then, she would not wait for an answer and would instead pour boiling hot tea all down my lovely soft brown fur. I'm not sure if the pain of hunger could be anything compared to the kind of burn that could stain you for decades, no matter how many times you were thrown in the wash, but which was completely and utterly preventable.
Human pain was indeed strange though. It wasn't all permanent and was easily remedied, but it was rather constant and almost unavoidable.
"How would I know which food in particular was good or not? It all does the same job in the end," I replied. It was less of a sarcastic complaint and more of a statement of the obvious. Watching that silver haired doll win her heart the first time, I do have to admit that I agreed with him in some respects, like how pointless preferences seem.
"Well, why don't we just try something and you'll see if you like it?"
She's quite positive now. I'm not sure which is more annoying though: when she was depressed about her grandpa, or now that she won't even bat an eyelid at my dry responses.
At the food court, an array of options stood before us, and yet she chose the one that she chooses every time she's here. It's not even like it's her favourite food.
I have no opinion of food myself, being only freshly human, so I simply asked for a lasagna, a dish I remember her grandma making all the time. It never looked appetising back then, and to be honest, it still doesn't now. I don't pay too much attention to it's taste or texture, but the feeling of something wandering around in my mouth and throat feels what can only be described as disgusting.
The smell of it, however, does fill me with a nostalgia that I can't help but enjoy.
"What do you think then?" she asks me, snapping me back into a conversation I'd been paying no notice of.
"Of what?"
"Of what we should do."
"... About what?" This back-and-forth is getting annoying.
"Oh, about our living situation. Everyone remembers different things, and everyone's in a relationship with me, and only you and I remember everything, and now we all have to live together."
"Oh... Well... I don't know. What do you want?"
"What? I don't know..."
"You've seen everyone, you've loved them all. So pick your favourite."
"My favourite?"
"Come on. Of course you have a favourite, right?"
"Um... Well... I don't know. How can I have a favourite?"
Is she kidding? How can she not? It's obvious she'll have a favourite. No one wanted to bring it up yet because we all wanted to enjoy the brief calm before the storm, but everyone surely knew that we would have to compete in the end. Is she still that thick to not know that?
And it seems I'm not the only one who thinks that way.
"Hm? But isn't that the case? Surely my honey won't keep all of us now, right?"
"Hmm, I hate to agree with Yuri, but he is right. I don't know if it's really practical to keep going as if nothing's changed. We may have our own memories of our relationships with Eri, but Eri has her own memories of all of them."
"If only we could keep just the Eri from our own memories..."
"She is the Eri from our own memories. She just includes the memories of all of us as well."
"But still... Choose just one? How? There's no way I can do that! I love each and every one of you so much. That's how we even got here in the first place. How can I do that?"
"But how can you not? Eri... It's impractical to go on like this. Realistically, it's already difficult with just the six of us living together, and now we've got one more person living with us too?"
"But, Tei..."
"I understand how you feel, but how are we going to cope? I don't want to cause you trouble, so we should firstly consider how this situation will work. There are too many of us now. Not just in the house but involved with you. We have to make at least a few changes."
"I..."
Tei sighed. "First of all... I'm going to drop out of school and start working at Banjul full time."
"What?? Drop out of school?? Tei, you can't!!" A chorus of objections resounded from our small table in the corner of the crowded restaurant. I'm honestly not even sure who said what, it was so hectic.
"I'm sorry, but I have to. I already cause the owner trouble at school with my popularity and, on top of that, there's no way we'll be able to afford feeding the seven of us, even with Yuri's salary as a full-time teacher."
"Actually," Yuri interjected, "I was about to bring that up. In my recalling of events, I quit my job at the academy and started working at Banjul with you, just so you know."
"Dear God, the sun must have risen from the west the day you decided that," Lance commented. I remember when that happened. Angels cried so loud I could hear them all the way from Hell. Alternatively, in Tei's story, Yuri willingly taught him to play the piano, so an alliance might not be so impossible.
"Ahaha. Yes, well, it was all for the sake of my honey. I plan on doing the same here too then."
"Are you sure? The teaching role will probably pay more," Tei said, concern creasing his brow.
"That's true. But it's too inappropriate. I won't be able to hold myself back around my honey and I can't have all the jealous people around seeing that." It was still refreshing to see Yuri so serious. "Besides, I find the cafe to be much easier and more enjoyable. The stress from all that planning and marking wasn't good for my sensitive skin. At Banjul, I can enjoy both the beauty of music and the beauty of girls at the same time, without as much of the hassle." I retract my previous statement.
"Well, okay... It is better like this when you put it that way," she said with a sigh, ignoring the last comment. The others all made sounds in agreement, but one blonde spoke up.
"But...if Yuri quits his job at the academy, as Tei said, there won't be as much money..."
"That's true, but I'm glad to no longer have to see that man's face everyday at school," Lance smiled.
"No, that's not what I mean. I don't disagree with Yuri quitting. I just think...if both Yuri and Tei are...maybe I should too."
"What?? You too?? Why??" Why does she feel the need to shriek so loudly in the morning?
"I'm saying it would only help if I went to work at Banjul too."
"Ah, Yeonho, you don't have to do that. Yuri and I can handle it."
"Right. This might be too much for you to handle," Yuri agreed. "You kids can just leave this to the adults. I have my own secrets too, you know."
"No. It's fine. I can do it. In my version of what happened, I also worked at Banjul, just for a week. It was a bit difficult, but I was fine with it. It was really fun actually," he said confidently, in a calm, yet determined tone. "You guys don't have to worry about me. I'm tired of being the one who always has to get taken care of. I want to help."
"Hmm... Eri, is this true?" Tei mused, deep in thought.
"Yes, it is. He didn't even tell me what he was doing either! I had no idea where he was going every night, but he ended the week with enough money for us to go to the amusement park together, and even planned that whole surprise trip himself."
"Does he really have to quit school though?" Red asked. He was being unusually quiet, but broke his silence to ask about his fellow 'Warrior of Justice'.
"Yeah, I was about to say! Tei works part time, and so did you back then! Why don't you just work on weekends or only on some days of the week? You don't have to do it every single day!"
"Well..." he began.
"No, I agree with the Heroine. I don't know about Lance, but I don't plan on quitting school, it's best for me to stay beside the Heroine. Just us two and Lance going to school everyday? It'll get really lonely like that..."
"Uh..." Yeonho sighed. "Okay then. Maybe I'll just start working on weekends and see how it goes from there... I do still enjoy going to school, even if it's really crowded and classes are confusing. I'll just have to work a bit harder."
"That does sound difficult, Yeonho. But..."
"Don't bite off more than you can chew," Yuri said, interrupting Tei. "Believe me, it's unhealthier than even the greasiest of fast food joints."
Yeonho hummed. "Everyone...thank you. I will consider this. Maybe I'll start off with working just one day a week and see how it goes from there. Thank you!" His pure smile radiated genuine gratitude.
Lance spoke next. "Yes, that's very noble of you, Yeonho. As for myself, I will continue my life as normal, pursuing the role of the student government president. I can't imagine working in an environment like that of a crowded cafe. And someone other than that noisy idiot should still keep an eye on Eri," Lance said.
"That's all of us then, right? I also want to keep going to school, like normal. What about you?"
...
........
..... Me?
Oh. Perhaps I've spent so much time observing silently that I forgot I was involved in this conversation too.
"What about me?"
"I mean, what do you want to do everyday? You could get a job, you could come to school with me, you could stay home. I don't know, it's entirely up to you."
Hmm... I hadn't really thought about this. I always knew I wanted to be reunited with my owner, but I only wanted to do what we'd always been doing. Playing dress up, having tea parties.
"I'm not sure I even know what to do in a school."
"That's okay! You can take your time and I can teach you," she beamed, as though you could see on her face that she was happily imagining all the things we might get up to there together. "It sounds like the best option for you in my opinion. It's the most structured and it's a place we already know so well. You'll fit right in, I promise!"
"I'll...think about it..." I don't know... I don't care...
"So," Tei started, "it looks like we've got an idea of how things will look in the short term, so that's good. But back onto the topic at hand, even with these arrangements, it unfortunately still looks unreasonable for us all to just live together as if nothing's changed."
"Agreed. The salary of a simple waiter is small enough on its own: I'd much rather spend it all only on my honey rather than have to provide for five other people as well," said Yuri with a lighthearted smile.
"Yes. All of us should start thinking about what sacrifices we might have to make if we can't afford to keep living with the owner. We'll need to prepare to move out and learn to live on our own."
"Hold on, wait a minute!" she cried. "I didn't agree to this, you're all deciding this without me! Move out? That's not gonna happen. I don't want anything to change, why can't everything stay the same as it was? I don't care if we can't afford it, as long as we're together. I didn't love each and every one of you just to have to lose you in the end."
"I understand how you feel, we all do feel the same way. This is an unfair situation to everyone. It's easier said than done though, to say that we'll get along just fine. Everyone's story here is different, but I'm sure in assuming that all of us have experienced something where we ended up inconveniencing or even hurting you at least once, whether we intended it or not.
"I know that you want things all to stay the same, but you of all of us must know that change is inevitable. I can see that, looking at how unrecognisable you all are to me now.
"We understand. No one here wants this outcome, Eri. But we can only do what we can. So let's prepare for the worst while we hope for the best... Okay?"
"Prepare for the worst and hope for the best..? I-I don't know... I care about you all way too much..." Hmm. "Okay.
"I'll...think about it."
1 note
·
View note