Sweet Admiration (MewGulf AU)

🌻Chapter 4

🌻

What on earth is going on? Gulf thought, as he checked his watch for the umpteenth time. Just then, he noticed a man walking briskly toward his table.

He was wearing a casual shirt and jeans, and his brown hair was styled messily. As he met Gulf's gaze, he raised his hand and said. "Hey!"

It was Bright. Even though it had been 12 yeas, Gulf recognized him immediately.

"Bright!"

"Gulf, it's been a long time, huh? I'm sorry I kept you waiting. I had a few things I had to take care of first."

Gulf stood up excitedly, and they both looked each other over.

Bright's skin was golden brown from the sun and showed white teeth when he smiled. Even though he looked like every college student nowadays, his smile was definitely that of Gulf's childhood friend. They exchanged a firm handshake.

"Oh, don't worry about it. Did you recognize me right away?" Gulf asked.

"Of course!" Bright replied. "You haven't changed one bit, Gulf."

"Really? It might be weird to say it myself, but I feel like I've changed a lot," Gulf said, grinning as he invited Bright to sit, and then sat back down himself. They ordered drinks from the waiter, and then he gave Bright a nostalgic look.

"No way! You haven't changed at all," Bright said. "You still feel the same to me as you did back then. You definitely look more grown up, though. And now you're all muscular. But you're still you."

Gulf felt kind of flattered. It made him strangely happy to hear an old friend tell him that he hadn't changed at all.

"You haven't changed much either, Bright. I recognized you right away."

Bright laughed. "Oh, so you're saying I haven't grown up much, right?"

That might be true, but Bright was probably 175cm tall now. He was still as thin as ever, but his arms, peeking out from the sleeves of his shirt, were surprisngly muscular, probably from all the outdoor activities he enjoyed.

"Anyway, I was totally surprised when you called me! Didn't you tell me before that you had found work in your hometown! At some bank or brokerage firm or something?" Bright asked.

Gulf nodded. "Oh, yeah. It wasn't official, though. I ended up deciding on somewhere else, which is why I came to Tokyo."

"Don't act like it's no big deal!" Bright said. "I've been asking you for years to come to Tokyo and you never wanted any part of it! So why now? Did something happen that changed your mind?"

"No, not exactly," Gulf answered.

"I don't think you'd do a complete 180 degree turn without a good reason." Bright insisted. "You've always been determined to stay in your hometown and stick to the straight and narrow."

Even though they had just met for the first time in 12 years, Bright was still straightforward, getting right to the point. He'd always been very outspoken---that hadn't changed much.

"Well, I just thought it might not be a bad idea to have an adventure out here, is all. It seemed kind of sad to only know my hometown. So I thought if I was going to move to the city, now would be the best time."

"Exactly! That's what I've been telling you! You should've come to a famous private university in the city to begin with! The univerties here are fun Gulf! There are tons of pretty girls and group of dates are constantly going on. You could have any cute girls you want here!"

"Nah. Unlike you, I didn't go to college just to hit girls." A bitter smile spread unintentionally across Gulf's face. He was reminded of Bright's speeches when trying to persuade him to come to Tokyo for college. He would always say, "You'd be really popular with the ladies, so you gotta come!"

He took a breath as the waiter brought over the drinks.

Bright drank half of his iced tea in one gulp, and said, as if he was just remembering it, "Oh yeah. You haven't told me what company you'll be working for yet. What is it?"

"Uhh..." Gulf hesitated.

"You turned down that other job and came all the way here for it, so it must be pretty good. What is it, a television station? Newspaper? A famous publishing company or something?"

"No, it's actually a newly-formed IT company..."

"Oh, IT companies are great. It's really a cutting edge field right now. Depending on how well it keeps up with the times, you could have a huge success story there. So which IT company is it?" Bright leaned forward excitedly.

Gulf had been expecting him to ask that, but now that it was really happening, he wasn't sure how to answer. He figured that if he came right out and said it, Bright would be extremely surprised. But his reaction after his surprise was what Gulf was afraid of, so he was hesitant to answer. But he knew he had to, so he prepared himself for the worst. Even if he didn't tell him now, Bright would find out eventually, so he might as well just put himself at ease as soon as possible.

"Slice City Corporation."

"What?" Bright stared at him blankly.

TBC