"Do you want to talk on the phone?"
Even though Nifuji could talk with his mouth, he decided to follow Sumi's method of communication, which was to use his smartphone to write words.
"No, it's fine for you to talk, but I am sorry for not being able to talk properly~!
"I am too shy!"
While Sumi was shy, she typed so fast that it was unbelievable.
"Okay, can I call you, Sakurasawa-san?"
Sumi hurriedly nodded.
"Do you want to stay at that cafe first? Let's talk while we have a coffee or a tea over there before we start our date."
As the word "date" was heard, Sumi's face quickly turned a crimson that of a boiled lobster, so that she even had steam on her face.
Yet, even so, she nodded hurriedly at his offer.
"Good, follow me, Sakurasawa-san."
Sumi nodded, then followed him as he walked slowly. Yet, as they walked, she couldn't help but take a peek at him, staring at his handsome face in a daze, as her body grew hotter and hotter.
Fortunately, the cafe was cool thanks to the air conditioner, and as Nifuji ordered a cold chamomile tea, Sumi also ordered the same.
"You want the same?"
Sumi nodded.
"Okay."
Nifuji didn't try to talk much, as he could tell that Sumi was still nervous; yet he tried to be polite, kind, and gentle, as that was what he should do. He also tried not to maintain skin contact unless she initiated it, as he didn't want to be sued, even if it was impossible to win against him, especially when he had a secret weapon to face a sexual harassment allegation.
What was it?
A fight.
Yup, if he just punched the woman, which wouldn't happen unless it was necessary, he could turn the case into a fight instead of the sexual harassment, which led him to social death.
In this country, reputation was everything, or rather, in the world of business, reputation was everything, so Nifuji knew that he had to take care of his image.
Yes, it was troublesome, but wasn't that how it was to make money?
It was troublesome and hard, so he had to protect it well, as creating it was harder than destroying it.
Still, as Nifuji placed their order, the two didn't immediately sit down but looked at the various types of pastries displayed, ready to eat for whoever paid.
"Do you want a pastry?"
"....."
Sumi blinked, shook her head, then looked down for a moment before staring at the display, at various delicious pastries in the cafe set out on the long, narrow reclaimed dark cypress wood.
She was in a daze, wondering what to choose, as she had to admit the pastries on the list were delicious, especially when she saw many hyped, popular types on TikTok, such as Dubai Chocolate and Zodiac Sweets. There were also the normal yet delicious ones, such as An-Butter Sando, Hojicha Terrine, Mille-feuille, Madeleines, Canelé de Bordeaux, Croissant, and Kouign-Amann.
"I will get the croissant and Kouign-Amann, what about you?"
"Eh?!"
Sumi's voice was cute, sweet, and feminine, despite her surprise, yet, as expected, she lost her voice; she quickly covered her mouth, a crimson blush, as if she might pass out.
He is going to laugh at me, Sumi thought.
However, Nifuji didn't say anything and just waited patiently for her.
"Hmm?"
"...."
Sumi blinked her eyes, and somehow, she took a deep breath and calmed down before she pointed at the pastry that caught her eye.
"Only one? Two is okay, you know?"
Sumi quickly shook her head, afraid of getting fat.
"You won't get fat. You are cute."
"....."
Sumi had to admit that while she was about to pass out, she was happy!
"Are you okay to sit side by side?"
Still, when they were about to choose their seats, the one with the desk in the middle, where two people sat while facing each other, was full, so all they found was the one that sat next to each other.
While Sumi was shy, as she would get so close to Nifuji, as they were just practically separated by centimeters of distance, she didn't want to trouble him, as there was really no seat beside this one, and to be honest, when the two of them sat down, she felt more comfortable this way.
"Um."
Her voice was quiet, yet she nodded, saying that she was okay, even though she could feel like he was so close, but somehow, it was more comfortable to her since compared to a close distance between them, she felt that the stare of his when the two sat face-to-face... was more uncomfortable somehow.
It might be for some people, and there were many, who were comfortable by sitting face-to-face, or even preferred it, too, but for Sumi, who was shy and might even pass out when she was being stared at for too long, this sitting next to each other was more comfortable, since if one made an easy comparison, it was like how one sat next to each other in the public transportation.
During that time, instead of having one person stare at you from the opposite side, the one next to you was more pleasant, especially for sharing food.
While Nifuji ordered two pastries, Sumi ordered one, the most hyped, the Dubai chocolate.
"I have always wanted to try this."
Sumi wrote what she wanted to say.
"It's good that we tried it, then."
"Um."
If she were alone, she would be too shy, but as she was with Nifuji, everything seemed so easy and natural somehow. After all, in many cases, she was afraid, shy, or even felt she might cause trouble, considering she was unable to talk properly, yet somehow Nifuji was just patient and took the initiative to talk softly about many things.
On the other hand, Nifuji had to say that even if Sumi might be shy and wasn't used to talking to men, she was easy to talk to, too, as she listened to every one of his words carefully, and naturally, as she was a good girl, he let her and waited for her response every moment and even encouraged her as they had their pastry and tea.
Still, as he ate, he noticed Sumi's gaze. "Do you want to try?"
"Eh?!"
"I will cut some of my pastry for you."
"Ah, um."
"Don't worry. I won't give you the part that I have eaten."
Nifuji cut down some of his pastries on the clean area with the prepared knife and fork. "Is this enough?"
Sumi nodded hurriedly and even stopped him, grabbing his arm, when he gave a big cut.
"I am going to get fat!"
"We will be walking around, so don't worry about the calories."
"..."
Sumi blinked her eyes, then nodded in comfort. Still, before she ate, she cut part of her pastries, too, and gave them to Nifuji. "For you."
"Thank you." Nifuji nodded and accepted her kindness, then ate without worry as she asked. "It's delicious. What about yours?"
"Delicious!"
Sumi nodded with bright eyes as she happily ate the pastry!