Playing with Fire | Yuzuru Hanyu

31. Unresponsive

Aria had plenty to explain when a few of her co-workers saw the flowers.

Just as it was already usual, she dismissed it and tried her very best to pretend like she didn't notice their curiosity.
Some things were just better kept to yourself.

When she was finally walking home with the bouquet of orchids in her hands, Aria couldn't help but think of the man who had gifted them to her.

Was he truly serious? Did he really mean it?

If her walls had once been up and reserved to make sure he couldn't enter, it now seemed like it was the complete opposite. She wanted to let him in and wreck all of those barriers that she had settled for so long.

Arriving home, the first thing she did was place the flowers in water, the second was sitting on the couch, grab the chocolate he bought for her and finally installing the text app that she hadn't used since her time in Japan.

She didn't even know when the last time she bought a chocolate was.
It wasn't necessarily something that wasn't expensive but Aria had prioritized nutritional value over taste for the last few months. It was just important to save as much money as she could to make sure that the grocery store was still an alternative as she finished her studies.

One thing was certain, she had forgotten how much she loved it. Even in this, Yuzuru had found a key point.

Food.

She loved it, in every form or factor. Either cooking or tasting well-crafted dishes, Aria's way to her heart had always been food.

And this handsome idiot had somehow figured out how much she liked sweet things.

So even if she wanted to ignore his attempt to get in contact with her, it seemed impossible to deny just how much her heart was already attached to him.

When you're doomed, might as well accept it.

She logged into her line account and finished setting everything on her phone. It seemed almost ridiculous that she was installing this damned app just because of him when none of her friends used it.

Once she was finally done and settled, her chocolate was long gone, making her wish for more.

Typing the number he had written on the receipt, Aria had his contact opened in mere seconds. Now it was only a matter of finding the courage to message him.

But what could she even write? 'Hey, this is Aria? You asked me to reach out?'

If he had really been the one sending her the flowers a few days before, he had to somewhat be pissed at her for throwing them in the trash. Did he even know?

Why couldn't she have read the damned card back then?

There was no reason to dwell on things of the past now. Aria had to focus on the task at hand of messaging him properly. It was only a matter of figuring out what to actually write.

Aria spent far more time thinking about it than she should have, only to settle with the simplest of things.

'Hey, this is Aria'

Safe to say that as soon as she hit send, Aria spent the next half an hour wondering if it was the right way to go.

Of course, it didn't help that he didn't answer...

Yuzuru seemed to be ignoring her all throughout the next couple of hours.

Her anticipation levels were sky-high as she bit the skin around her nails with the stress. Aria couldn't even begin to describe just how much was going on in her head.

Why would he ignore her now?

The possibility that he was making her taste a bit of her own medicine was stuck in her brain but Yuzuru definitely didn't seem like the type to go for something like it.

At least Aria didn't think he would after going through so much work to get his number and contact info in her hands.

And yet, at that moment and with every passing minute without a single reply, Aria really wondered if she knew him at all. It was dumb to think she could assess his whole personality in the little meetings they had, no matter how much she felt to know him.

The reality was that most of their interactions until that moment had been under the pretense of providing a service to the man and not much more.

Did she even realize what she was getting herself into?

Then again, as thoughts of him filled her brain, Aria could only think of everything that made him so special in her eyes and the reasons why she was even thinking about him in the first place.

It was just too naive to think that he would even have the time to mess with her if he wasn't serious.

Even if she never researched him, Aria knew he had a few medals under him. No high-level athlete like that had time to mess with girls for fun without getting something out of it.

Looking at her watch for one last time, it was only natural for her instincts to kick in and just tell her to get some sleep. With an exam on the following week, Aria should be focusing on her studies. Instead, all she was doing was focusing on this boy.

And it was only when she was preparing to give up and send him a very rude message that his answer came.

'Hello pretty girl, I hope you weren't hanging for long, I just got off the ice!'