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 Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2017 11:15 am
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The weather was getting nicer, warmer, to the point where even someone who usually stayed huddled up indoors to avoid people and the world could be coaxed into going outside for a little while.
Yuuri didn’t think he would be one of those people, very much content to hide away in the dark, but since his roommate decided he was going to be particularly obnoxious, Yuuri found himself outside in a park. A park that was relatively close to a cafe where he’d picked up some coffee and a scone since it was still before noon, and made himself comfortable at one of the park benches that overlooked a small sports field where parents brought their kids to play.
One of the good things about being a recluse was that there were very few people who might recognize him or want to approach him to talk. And that was perfectly fine with him, because he preferred watching people rather than interacting with them, as boring as it probably sounded to other people.
Currently, Yuuri had turned away from the field to watch the people hurrying in and out of the cafe, watching as a small group of middle-aged woman stopped to chat in front of the door, effectively and ignorantly blocking the entrance for anyone else for about a minute, and then a couple of teennagers heading inside around them, followed by a man with well fitted clothes, and white hair with pi--
Yuuri spun back around where he was sitting, his eyes wide and face flushed as he realized he knew exactly who that man was. Not only that, but he’d actually been looking at… his clothes. Because why would he stare for any other reason. He just… had good fashion sense. That’s all.
Maybe he hadn’t seen him. Adrien was rather flighty as it was, so maybe he either didn’t see him, or didn’t even recognize him because, let’s face it, Yuuri tended to blend in with everyone else in Destiny City. So if he wanted, he could easily keep his head down or even get up and leave and not have to talk to anyone.
But Adrien had also been kind to him the last time they’d crossed paths, unnecessarily so. And before Yuuri could stop himself or think better of it, somewhat shaky legs were lifting him from the bench as he shuffled his way towards the cafe, his coffee and snack clutched in his hands and just… stood off to the side and out of the way to see if maybe Adrien would come back out.
Or maybe he would just stay inside because he was meeting someone. Or come out and not notice Yuuri, which was perfectly fine, and likely to happen, so if his heart would stop pounding a mile a minute as he tried to decide if he would be disappointed or not, that would be great.
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Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2017 11:43 am
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Adrien had spent the better part of his morning attempting to settle an overabundance of appointments at the salon. The receptionist - a sweet, but flighty thing - had somehow managed to double book Adrien not just once, but three times, which meant that there were a lot of irate people milling about at ten once the doors opened.
He had managed - of course he had, because that was the one thing Adrien could manage. It didn't matter that his apartment was in shambles, because the salon was the highlight of his somewhat solitary life at present, even if it wasn't something that Adrien really wanted to think of.
And now he was - thankfully - done for the day. He loved his job to pieces, but the morning had been exhausting and all Adrien wanted now was a good cup of coffee from his favorite cafe, maybe a drink or a movie, and then to just relax and do nothing for the rest of the afternoon.
The black designer jeans were new; Adrien had bought them only just last week - they fit like a glove - and had now paired them with a white button down and a form fitting blue and white argyle sweater, his white and pink hair carefully brushed to perfection. The faintest hint of blue eyeshadow had been brushed over his eyelids; just a touch of color to his usual pale face, because Adrien was nothing if not entirely careful about his looks, even when all he was doing was going to get coffee.
He stood in front of the counter at the cafe, tapping his finger until his drink was called. Adrien accepted it, as well as a bag of raspberry scones, and scuttled out of the cafe, turned left -
- and ran straight into the same dark haired young man he'd seen only just a few days before and who had fallen asleep on Adrien's couch before the end of Finding Dory.
"Yuuri!" said Adrien joyfully, beaming at him as though they were already fast friends. "Hi! What are you doing here? Do you want a scone?"
He held out the bag, a wide smile on his face.
"How are you?"
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Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2017 2:03 pm
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Yuuri’s choice in clothing wasn’t too much different from Adrien’s, except his jeans were dark burgundy and he wore a caramel brown and navy striped sweater over his white button down shirt. His hair definitely didn’t look as carefully styled as Adrien’s, but at least it didn’t look as shaggy as it had been looking before the trim Adrien had given him.
The way Adrien greeted him had him tensing in surprise, not just because he was totally not expecting him to even notice him, but because he smiled so brightly at him, Yuuri thought he was going to be blinded. He lowered his eyes from Adrien’s face, ignoring the heat in his own cheeks as he stared instead at the well fitting argyle sweater. How anyone could smile so brightly was beyond him, and he tried not to think about how it left him a little breathless, especially since someone like Adrien was bound to be used to smiling at everyone like that.
And he most definitely was not thinking about how embarrassing it had been that he’d fallen asleep on his couch the other day, and so soon after they’d only just met. Yuuri knew better than to let his guard down around people, and yet…
“Thanks, but I…” he started to shake his head at the offer for a scone, holding up the half eaten one in his hand, but paused to look up and glance into the bag, his eyes raising and brows furrowed for a moment as he stared incredulously at Adrien. “Raspberry?” he stared for moment longer, before looking at his own raspberry scone. Well, they were quite good, so it shouldn’t be too surprising that someone would have picked out the same thing, but from all the choices the cafe had…
“I have my own, thank you,” he concluded, shuffling his feet awkwardly as he frowned down at the ground. “I just… I mean I was going to bring your clothes back this weekend,” or just drop them off at the front desk of the salon while everyone was busy, “But I just… wanted to thank you for… the other day.” Because Adrien went out of his way and he definitely didn’t have to.
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Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2017 3:27 pm
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Yuuri received a quick once over from Adrien, because he couldn't quite help himself, especially considering the last - and the first - time they had met. The burgundy jeans were met with a nod of approval, the button down a twitch of his lips in amusement, and the sweater a slight tilt of his head because it wasn't quite the colors that Adrien would have chosen for him.
But it wasn't terrible either. Neither was the slight blush that was forming across the other's cheeks, probably from the shyness factor. It was kind of endearing; Adrien just beamed all the more brighter at him, even as Yuuri had ducked his head, staring at - well, not his face.
"Oh!" said Adrien, noticing the half-eaten scone. He let out a pleased sounding laugh. "Yes, raspberry! They're delicious, aren't they, I could eat, like a whole bag full but I'm trying to watch my figure or something. You can totally have a bite of mine if you'd like, if you want more after you finish that one."
He took a bite, swallowed, and gave a sigh of approval, though his eyes had gone back to focus on Yuuri's downcast head, his soft, quiet voice almost inaudible when there were so many people around. Adrien stuffed the scone back into his bag, wrapped it up, and squished it into the hand with his coffee. His free hand scooped through Yuuri's arm, linking them together.
"This way, it's too crowded," he said brightly, "Come on, come on. Oh, and don't worry about the clothes. I mean, you can bring them back or whatever, but don't rush on it, I'm not waiting. Or you could keep them, they looked good on you!"
He steered his new friend down the sidewalk, Adrien whistling a jaunty tune.
"What are you doing over here, anyway? Were you in classes or something?"
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Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2017 4:49 pm
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He wasn’t entirely sure what he’d expected when he decided to see if Adrien even recognized him, and Yuuri would admit that he was partially surprised he remembered his name (although maybe it wasn’t every day that someone fell asleep on Adrien’s couch), but he hadn’t expected for him to be dragged off again.
Or maybe since this was the second time, he should have expected it.
He sputtered in surprise, not exactly fighting when Adrien linked their arms together, but also wondering if he should protest at all. Even though he suspected Adrien was completely harmless and meant well, Yuuri didn’t really want to waste his time, especially since sooner or later he would realize that Yuuri was kind of a joke.
“C-class, yes,” he managed to get out, trying not to drop his own coffee or scone as he was carted along, his heart pounding away in his chest. “But only a couple. This morning. I was just - enjoying the weather. How about - you? Don’t you have - work?” he tried to string together without seeming too ridiculous and keep his breathing even. He just wasn’t used to this. People didn’t just cheerfully drag other people off. Did they??
Yuuri cautioned a glance up at Adrien, staring in wonder at his expression. He seemed completely at ease with everything, even with Yuuri being, well… Yuuri. It was kind of startling for someone to seem so sincerely cheerful as Adrien did.
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Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2017 7:17 pm
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His shoulder bumped amicably against Yuuri's as they walked; Yuuri wasn't short, exactly, and Adrien wasn't real]y tall, which was sort of nice. He still stood a few inches above the other, but it wasn't such a drastic height that it was going to make things weird or uncomfortable.
"Ooooh, what class?" said Adrien, lifting his coffee to his lips and taking a sip, the bag of scones still bunched in his hand. He took his coffee with a generous helping of cream and sugar, licking his lips in satisfaction as he lowered the cup, because really, coffee was the drink of the gods.
"It's nice outside, right?" he said eagerly, swinging his arm, and by extension, Yuuri's, and even more by extension, Adrien's bag and possibly Yuuri's as well. "It's like, winter forgot to be winter or something. At least it's not raining like it was the last time we met, right?"
He winked at Yuuri, skating over the uncertainty of the other's words with easy, airy ones of his own. "Oh, I was at work this morning, it was a nightmare, so I thought I'd come out and get a drink or something, and then I ran into you, and, well, here we are!"
Adrien had led the pair of them down a crowded side street full of bustling people eager to enjoy the day off at one of the more frequented shopping areas, full of old timey shops and buildings. He had nowhere in particular to go, but now he had good drink, good food, and good company, and the thought of going back to his flat seemed extraordinarily unappealing.
"Let's go mini-golfing!" said Adrien all of a sudden, coming to an abrupt stop. "That's it, that's perfect, there's a minigolf range just up here, come on!"
And with that he began to half walk, half drag poor Yuuri along with him.
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Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2017 8:59 pm
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“Just world history and psychology,” Yuuri responded quietly, not thinking it was all that interesting to be taking the basic freshman classes, and of course he realized he was probably aging himself. Not that it mattered. It didn’t matter, right? Because… why would it? It was all too confusing and they apparently hadn’t covered this topic in psychology yet.
He sipped at his own coffee while Adrien talked, filled with plenty of sugar and cream, his scone half eaten and held in the hand that was trapped under Adrien’s arm.
But the wink was entirely unnecessary, Yuuri thought as his head snapped forward once more, his face heating up because he couldn’t help it when Adrien so casually did things like that. He would just never look at Adrien’s face, because it made him uncomfortable for countless reasons.
It wasn’t that he was necessarily uncomfortable around him, but he was confused by his antics. He just didn’t know the other man well enough to know if this was just what he did with everyone, or if for some unknown reason he was making an exception for Yuuri.
No, it had to be this way with everyone. That was the only way it would make sense.
“W-what??” he sputtered once more when Adrien decided they should go mini-golfing, suddenly stopping causing Yuuri to practically run into him even as he walked beside him. Completely at random. Who did that?? “I-I can watch, I guess,” he tried to make up an excuse as Adrien started walking again, pulling him along. “If you want to play. I don’t mind. I can hold your stuff.” Because it was better than to admit that he would be horrible if he played.
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Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2017 9:12 pm
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Yuuri's age was a passing thought in Adrien's head, because if he was old enough to go to classes, he was old enough to talk to in a comfortable setting. Besides, he didn't look like an ambitious teenager; Adrien would have pegged him at nineteen or twenty, if he was guessing, and he was usually pretty good at guessing.
His nose wrinkled in playful distaste. "I never liked history, couldn't get my head around anything, especially dates," said Adrien with a laugh. "Or, I mean, you know, historical dates, I was plenty okay with actual dates and stuff. Psychology's pretty cool, though, are you gonna go into that, or are you just taking your GenEds for now?"
Adrien was entirely too capable of babbling on about whatever it was that he was talking about/ He took another swig of his coffee, ignoring Yuuri's stammered protests of not going mini golfing, because that was just silly, no one said no to mini golf.
"No, no, you've totally gotta play with me, cutie," he said airily, towing his friend down the street, where a large sign proclaiming DESTINY CITY'S BEST MINI GOLF COURSE could be seen sticking out of a building window to their leftish. "No watching, you've gotta play, look it's so much more fun with more!"
Adrien slowed to a stop in front of the place, turning to look at Yuuri, his expression turning into one of forlorn, woe begotten disappointment.
"I mean, I guess if you don't want to play, I won't force you..." he mumbled sadly.
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Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2017 8:24 pm
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The more he wondered if Adrien cared about his age, the more he was curious about just how old Adrien was. Early twenties, probably, especially with the way he talked about classwork in past tense. So he’d obviously been to school at some point, but whether he skipped college or not, Yuuri wasn’t sure. Maybe he just went to school for hair styling and such.
“Just some GenEds,” he confirmed, knowing it wasn’t all that interesting. He shook his head when asked about psychology, though. “I’m majoring in film. Well, cinematography,” he said as he was dragged along, not too sure about all of this. He could just say no. He could try to pull away and tell Adrien he had other things to do rather than play mini-golf. He could try not to wonder just how many actual dates Adrien was used to, or how boring Yuuri must seem compared to what he was sure Adrien experienced on a daily basis.
He slowed down when Adrien did, his eyes widening at the sudden change in the other man’s expression. Adrien looked almost like he was devastated that Yuuri didn’t seem all that enthusiastic about playing with him. Like it was ruining the rest of his day, or week.
Yuuri also wasn’t stupid. He knew perfectly well that Adrien was probably just making that face to try and guilt him into going along with him. He knew people like Adrien didn’t really exist, because who was so cheerful like he was without some kind of ulterior motive?
And yet, even as Yuuri looked away because he couldn’t stand to look at that sad expression on Adrien’s face, his own expression flustered and red with frustration, mostly at himself, Yuuri couldn’t just walk away.
Well he could. And he did for a moment.
He turned away from Adrien so he could finish the last gulp of his coffee, and then the last bite of his scone, and tossed the napkin and cup into a nearby trashcan. When he turned back, he reached out to grab hold of Adrien’s wrist to pull him along towards the entrance of the mini-golf course, trying to ignore his own stupidly red face or how this was going to be a miserable experience for both of them.
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Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2017 11:06 pm
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"Oh, GenEds are great, though, if you get them all done in the beginning, you can just like, coast by the end," said Adrien enthusiastically, as if he had any idea of what it was like to be at the end of a college career. making a whooshing gesture with his hand. For the briefest of seconds, something flickered across his expression - but then it passed just as quickly as it had come, and Adrien was cheery once more.
"You could take whatever classes you wanted by the end!" he said, even as he was taking another swallow of coffee, letting the caffeine burn into his system. It was always such a blissful rush, and so was meeting someone new, or talking to people in general, as a matter of fact.
Adrien had wilted entirely, however, at Yuuri's lack of enthusiasm about their plans. Shoulders drooping, head bowed, he said nothing at all but scuffed the toe of his expensive designer shoes into the sidewalk, swinging back and forth and then giving a melodramatic sigh, as if this was such a tragedy.
(Which it was.)
For a second, Adrien thought that Yuuri really had decided to just walk away and leave him on his own. But then he felt fingers curling around his wrist, and glanced up just in time to see a very resolute faced Yuuri all but dragging him towards the entrance.
Score. The crocodile tears were gone in an instant.
"I claim first round!" Adrien cheered, darting to catch up with Yuuri, all but skipping down the path to where the front desk was, a bored looking employee lounging against the counter. It was easy to get the passes; Adrien snagged them before Yuuri could even have time to fetch his wallet, and then he was back to dragging the poor guy around after Adrien dumped his empty coffee and stuffed his scones into his bag.
"Here," he said, once they were at the first hole ."I lied, you go first, and for every round, you gotta tell me something about yourself."
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Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2017 9:05 pm
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The change in Adrien’s expression wasn’t missed, even though it was quickly covered up by his cheerful sunshiny self. Yuuri made no comment about it, but instead felt somewhat guilty for noticing at all. Adrien clearly didn’t want to talk about it or let Yuuri know something about what he’d said bothered him, otherwise he wouldn’t have continued on with that almost painfully bright demeanor.
As expected, Adrien seemed perfectly content by the time Yuuri decided he would play mini golf with him. It made him wonder just how much of Adrien’s disappointment was a facade and how much was real. But Yuuri still owed Adrien for being kind to him, both from before and even now. He had no reason to talk to him, but he did. And maybe it was because Adrien was so different than other people Yuuri knew that had him curious enough to not just try to escape. He could have walked away before Adrien even saw him, but he didn’t.
Yuuri stared at Adrien with wide eyes when he told him he could go first, sputtering out incoherent mumblings about how he was really okay with not going first, but awkwardly stood up at the top of the first course trying to make an educated guess on what he needed to do.
The worn area in the astroturf was where Yuuri bent down to place the bright orange ball, and adjusted the putter somewhat awkwardly in his hands. He just needed to aim, and then swing, right? He pulled the putter back and swung forward, wincing as the ball ricocheted across the course, and eventually bounced over the edge of the boundary and into the mulch on the other side of the walkway.
“I… I like archery,” he mumbled, offering that as something about himself, feeling it wasn’t that great, but it was all he could think of saying. And then because he felt guilty about only saying three words, he added, “I used to compete before I started at DCU, but there aren’t many archery ranges around the city.” Yes, he was sure he could join a club or something, but that involved talking to people.
He glanced curiously at Adrien as he went to go pick up his escaped ball, wondering if he would tell him something about himself in return, or if it was just a one way thing.
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Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2017 10:20 pm
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He adored being with people, it was true; Adrien thrived off of company, off of being able to spend his days surrounded by the chatter and bustle and excitement of talk and the stories people could tell and the general feeling of just...noise and chaos.
Yuuri was none of those things. Yuuri was quiet and shy and anxious, from what Adrien could see, but he was still a person. A people, if Adrien was being glib about it. He was someone to talk to and someone to do things for and with, and that made him automatically an Excellent Human Being and someone for Adrien to spend time with.
He approved of this whole mini-golf thing very much. And he would get Yuuri to open up to him whether he liked it or not, damn it.
Adrien's putter was the same old dull silver as Yuuri's, but his own golf ball was a bright, neon pink. He tossed it up in the air as Yuuri positioned himself, grinning over at him with eyes that glittered happily in the bright sunlight.
"Archery's super cool, I've never shot a bow in my life," said Adrien, gliding over to where the little ball holder thingy was and crouching down, carefully positioning his own golf ball onto it. "There's such a thing as competitive archery? That's amazing, can I watch you sometime?"
There was no sarcasm in his voice, just a genuine eagerness, Adrien beaming over at Yuuri and only half paying attention to the fact that he'd just smacked his ball into a plastic flamingo standing on the side of the astroturf. It bounced merrily off and rolled in the direction of the hole, stopping several feet away.
"My fact," said Adrien dramatically, sashaying towards the ball again, "is that my favorite food in the entire world is strawberries. I could literally eat, like, entire bags of them if that was allowed, but I have to watch my figure."
It was unclear whether he was being serious or not.
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Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2017 3:43 pm
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Even though he could tell that Adrien sincerely didn’t know much about archery (or at least he was putting on a good act if he did, or just didn’t care), Yuuri tried not to physically flinch when he voice surprise that it was a competitive sport.
“It’s an Olympic sport,” Yuuri muttered to himself, his face heating with embarrassment as he stared at the pink ball that rolled down the course, because archery was cool but pretty obsolete. He’d already known that, but realizing other people thought it was a pretty pointless sport too was, well, it just helped solidify how there really wasn’t anything interesting about him.
He waited until Adrien’s ball rolled to a stop, and then placed his own orange ball at the top of the course again, this time not swinging quite as hard, the ball rolling down and only bouncing off a few things. So far Adrien hadn’t said he was doing the whole mini golf thing wrong, so that was a good sign at least.
“I like strawberries, too,” he said, reeling in the things he shared about himself and sticking to what was definitely safe. “Have you always wanted to be a hair stylist?” he prompted, hoping if he could get Adrien to start talking about himself, he wouldn’t have to say anything else.
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Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2017 8:22 pm
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Adrien's head swiveled around to look back at Yuuri, eyes comically wide, looking something like an owl.
"Woahhhhh it's an Olympic sport? That's amazing."
It was entirely unsarcastic, Adrien's lips twitching ever so slightly at the deep flush to Yuuri's cheeks; it was kind of endearing. "I had no idea, did you ever want to like, you know, go into that or something? Were you gonna be an Olympian? That's so cool, can you like, shoot dollar bills in the middle or whatever?"
Clearly he had little idea of actual archery practices, but the enthusiasm and eagerness was genuine. Adrien shifted to stand over his own ball again, tapping the putter against the astroturf. He beamed at Yuuri, all smiles and pleasure and happiness, none of the other negative emotions he decided he had no desire to actually deal with at all.
"Good, you're gonna go out with me and get strawberries later, then," said Adrien, carefully repositioning himself so that he was standing ready to hit the ball. "And yeah, I mean...I've always liked doing hair, I used to do my sister's hair when I was growing up - uh, sometimes not very well, I mean, like, one time I cut chunks out of it, my dad was so pissed. But anyway, yeah."
He gave a shrug of his shoulders, thwacked the ball, and managed to knock the pink ball into the hole. "I love what I do, it's a great job."
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Posted: Wed Mar 01, 2017 11:24 pm
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Yuuri didn’t get it. How could anyone be as bright and cheerful as Adrien? He didn’t know archery was an Olympic sport, but he seemed so damn sincere and curious about it that Yuuri couldn’t help but stare at him in wonder.
“I’m not that good,” he said, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to handle the pressure of even trying to do it professionally. There were so many other people who worked harder and were more talented than himself, anyway. Sure, he might have had the skills to do well with competitions, but he’d always turned down any suggestions about doing more with it. It would just be one more thing to exploit.
He stared quizzically at Adrien as he finished tapping his bright pink ball into the hole, listening to him and his story about his sister and cutting hair and how it was a good job.
It must be nice knowing exactly what you liked doing and wanted to do. Adrien seemed happy, which was great. He was glad that this man was happy, because so few people were able to find that.
Yuuri gripped tightly to the pole of his putter, staring down at the course and not realizing it was his turn for a few long moments, but he finally took a few steps over to where his ball waited, and carefully tapped it towards the hole. And then again. And again, because he couldn’t quite get it to go in. Finally his fourth attempt knocked the ball in, and he leaned down to pick up both his and Adrien’s, handing it back to the man.
“My father wanted me to be a businessman like him, but,” he paused, biting at the inside of his cheek, knowing he was already talking too much as it was. “I didn’t want to. I still don’t really know what I want to do, but I like editing videos and things like that. I just. Wanted to get away from my family for a few years. I guess that’s kind of selfish of me, to not want to do what my father expected of me.”
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