The shop had just opened when the first few customers trickled in. Min greeted them with a polite smile, arranging bags and jotting down notes while Kei handled payments. Their movements flowed smoothly together, as if they'd practiced this dance countless times.
Yet even amid the quiet rhythm of the morning, Min's mind drifted back to last night. The stranger's expression, Kei's guarded tone—it all clung stubbornly to him.
As he reached for a stack of receipts, he asked casually, "So… will you tell me his name?"
Kei stilled for a fraction of a second, but his hands never faltered as he counted the change. He handed it to the customer, offering the faintest smile before the man left.
Only then did he answer. "Riku."
Min repeated it under his breath, testing the sound. "Riku. He looked… familiar with you."
Kei's silver eyes flickered. "Too familiar."
Something in his tone made Min glance up sharply. Kei wasn't looking at him; instead, he arranged the coins with an almost obsessive precision.
"Was he—" Min hesitated, unsure if he was prying too much. But the thought pressed at him until he spoke again. "Was he someone important?"
For a moment, silence hung between them. Kei finally sighed, his gaze shifting to the window where sunlight spilled across the floor. "Important? Once, maybe. But not anymore."
Min wanted to ask more, but the bell above the door chimed again. A new customer walked in, smiling warmly. Min quickly greeted them, though his thoughts remained tangled around that single name—Riku.
He couldn't shake the memory of last night: the sharp contrast between Kei's composed presence and the stranger with dark hair and piercing gray eyes. There was a rawness in the way Riku had looked at Kei, like something unfinished lingered between them.
The day wore on. Laughter from children outside, the chatter of neighbors, the hum of the market—it all filled the shop with a comforting buzz. Yet every time the bell rang, Min's heart jumped, half-expecting those cold gray eyes to return.
By closing time, Kei finally leaned against the counter, stretching slightly. His expression had softened again, almost back to the calm Min knew so well.
But Min couldn't shake the way Kei's voice had dipped when he said that name. Riku.
It wasn't just a ghost from the past. It was a thread, and Min had the sinking feeling that someone might tug at it soon enough.
To be continued...