“So how long you are gonna stay in Tokyo?”

Kai tore his attention from giant Totoro dollbehind the glass aisle of a one toy shop in Shinjuku. “Eh-,? Oh… a week.”

“A week?” Krystal furrowed her eyebrows. “You gotta spend all week in Tokyo?”

Kai nodded his head. “Yes, I don’t know where else to go.”

The blonde blinked a few times before sighed. “You didn’t do any research about Japan before coming here, I see.”

Kai shook his head shyly. “I come here not for leisure, actually.”

Krystal’s eyes rounded in confusion. “Then?”

“I…” Kai shrugged his shoulders. “…kinda wanting to… search for inspirations?”

Krystal frowned before scoffed a laugh. “What kind of reason is that?”

Kai smiled sheepishly as he put his hands inside his pocket. “Well that’s just my reason, though. Turned out I don’t know anything about places I wanna visit.”

Krystal puffed her cheeks with air and nodded as a reply. They continued their walk after that in silence.

“Ah, I almost forgot that I have a song for you.” Kai said while taking off the headphone he encircled around his neck and handed it to Krystal.

“What is it?” Krystal asked in confusion but she received it anyway. The girl put the headphone on and let Kai chose the song from his iPod.

The electrical pop intro music greeted her ears as they kept on walking throughout the busy streets of Shinjuku.

She’s my bubblegum girl

She my bubblegum shawty and she make it go pop

She throw it in the air and she make that thang drop

She go pop-pop-pop-pop-pop-pop

She go pop-badda-dop-pop-pop

That opening lyric successfully made Krystal turned to Kai. Her face brightened. “Woah!”

“I was listening to my iPod in the train just before and I didn’t remember that I had this song.” Kai chuckled. “Me and my friends once used this song to dance in a birthday event a few years ago.”

“You dance?” Krystal asked while bobbing her head along with the rhythm of the song.

Kai nodded. “A member of Flipz Squad dance team in Seoul. Ring a bell?”

Krystal shook her head. “I am not familiar with dance and none of my friends are dancer so…”

Kai was a bit disappointed with the answer. Well, he thought he could brag a little about himself since Flipz Squad is one of the best dance team in Seoul but… since Krystal didn’t know it, he would just let it go then.

The two kept on walking around until they caught a yummy smell of freshly baked pies not far from them.

“Baked cheesetart!” Krystal exclaimed, pointing at the small outlet happily. “Let’s go and buy one!”

Kai followed as the girl dashed forward to queue. He chuckled when he recalled the past two days when he mostly saw Krystal with cakes, candies and ice creams around her. That girl surely is a sweet-tooth. “Do you usually eat this much sugar in a day?”

“Not really, in Seoul I hardly ate sweets.” Krystal replied without tearing her eyes off the aisle. “Unless if the patisserie in the café I’m working on being kind enough to give me one of her creation. Mostly I eat ice cubes for snack.”

“You work in a café?” Kai asked with eyebrows lifted high, full of curiosity. “Where?”

“Somewhere in Seoul.” Krystal replied again before turned to look at Kai. “You want this one too?”

“Yes, and this time I’m paying.” Kai replied as he pulled his wallet out of the bag.

“Why? You don’t have to, it’s cheap anyway.” Krystal said as she also pulled her wallet out. “You have paid for our lunch, no need to pay for me again.”

“But I want to.” Kai replied. “Let me pay.”

“No need.” Krystal insisted then turned to the cashier. “Two mini baked cheese tarts, please.”

The cashier girl smiled so bright with a cheerful “yes”, and punched in the price. “It will be 400 yen.”

Krystal pulled out her money and handed it to the cashier, at the same time with Kai.

The cashier girl looked confused when there were two hands handing the same amount of money to her. “Eh?”

“Take mine, take mine.” Kai commanded in English language.

“No, take mine.” Krystal said in Japanese.

The waiter looked confused, especially when the two started to fight.

“I told you I’m gonna pay for it!”

“No need, I am the one who will pay it!”

“Why are you so stubborn?”

“What’s the matter with only 400 yen?”

The cashier girl panicked when there came some guests to queue behind Krystal and Kai, so before the two made unnecessary traffic she took Kai’s money instead.

“Because it’s a great pleasure for gentlemen to treat their lovers, I bet he would be happy if you let him pay these tarts for you.” The waiter said with her eye smile to Krystal and proceed the payment quickly. “Please wait over there until your order’s ready and my friend call you. Have a nice day and thank you very much!”

Krystal’s jaw hung open with the waiter’s words before broke into laugh and slapped Kai. “It’s your fault that she thought we are lover now. Move!”

They then waited at the pick-up line, looking at multiple dozens of mini baked cheese tart on the aisle.

“You keep on listening to that song, do you like it so much?” Kai asked when Krystal hadn’t given his headphone back yet.

“It’s addictive, I like it.” Krystal replied with head still bobbing back and forth. “I also have my favorite song with a balloon popping sound like this. It is sung by Melanie Martinez, called Soap.”

“Ah, Melanie.” Kai widened his eyes. “I love her too, even when her appearance could be pretty creepy sometimes.”

“Did you see her Pity Party mv? It is so artsy.” Krystal asked.

“I have!” Kai nodded enthusiastically. “And it’s indeed marvelous. I mean, it’s heartbreaking but insanely deep at the same time.”

“And we all know she stands for the bullied kids all over America, to prove them they ain’t a weirdo if they’re different.” The blonde girl smiled as she took off the headphone.

“Same goes to Alessia Cara. Remember her song, Wild Things?”

“That’s bomb,” Krystal shook her head in awe then suddenly sang a part of the song with her melodious voice. “Don’t wanna hang around the in crowds the cool kids aren’t cool to me, they’re not cooler than we are, is a true definition of swag. I love her, that kid.”

Kai was frozen on his spot when he heard Krystal’s voice-, more like star struck. Krystal just sang a very short part of the song but Kai got to hear such a beautiful and velvet-like voice she possess. “-it’s beautiful…”

“She’s one talented song writer,” Krystal nodded. “Most of her songs has that unique lyrics which ma-,”

“I mean your voice.”

Krystal stopped talking and looked at Kai. “Eh?”

Kai’s lips curved into a big smile. “I really love your voice.”

Krystal blinked a few times and Kai swore he could see faint tinted blush on her cheeks, before she broke into one big shy smile. “Thanks.”

One of the waiter tapped Kai’s shoulder from behind then handed two warm tarts that had just been out of the oven and Kai gladly received it.

After receiving the tart, Krystal and Kai left the shop with light steps.

“So what is our plan tomorrow?” Kai asked as he took a bite of the tart.

“Our plan…?” Krystal repeated the question with eyes longing far on the front.

Kai turned his head to Krystal. “Yes, where should we go tomorrow?”

Krystal shifted her eyes to the cheese tart. “…tomorrow I am leaving Tokyo.”

Kai frozen when Krystal said that. He immediately stopped walking, eyes looking at the girl in shock. “Eh?”

“I shall leave for Osaka. There’s no more things I could see here.” Krystal said with a shrug. “I have ever traveled Tokyo before, after all. There’s not much left for me to see.”

Kai felt his legs weakened like jellies and his tongue stiffened.

Ah…

Krystal’s leaving…?

Kai blinked a few times, tried to neutralize the sudden loss feeling inside his heart before forcing a smile out.

Well-, of course Krystal has rights to come and go as she wish. Kai couldn’t be selfish and asked her to stay in Tokyo, could he?

“…oh…” Kai forced to open his mouth. “I see…”

The two then continued their walk in silence. Both suddenly lost their voices. Their eyes looking away somewhere else.

Kai slowly lost his spirit. Imagining himself going around alone again around Tokyo after this didn’t sound so good to him.

Not after he experienced how fun it is to have Krystal as his company.

They kept on walking and Kai realized Krystal was guiding him back to the train station. He glanced at the wrist watch and found out that it was 8.43 PM.

Krystal wanted to go home.

The heavy burdens on Kai’s back increased. He would separate with Krystal after this. That night would be the last time he would meet her.

And he hadn’t even known her name yet.

When they had arrived inside the train, Krystal pointed at the green line. “I’m going there.”

Kai, on the other hand should be on the brown line, so he bitterly smiled. “Alright.”

Krystal watched as Kai stood not far from her with slightly gloomy expression.

“…then, I shall take my leave now.” Kai said as he ran his hand on his hair, tried to get rid of uneasiness inside his heart. “I… hope that we could meet again someday, Bubblegum girl. And thanks for these two days. I have so much fun.”

Krystal still looked at him with unreadable expression.

Kai took a step back before forced another smile out. “well then… goodbye… I think…”

“…you don’t wanna join me?”

Kai stopped abruptly on his track when those words came out from Krystal’s lips. “Uh?”

“Do you still need to stay in Tokyo?” Krystal asked lightly. “You sure you don’t want to see how Osaka looks like?”

Kai widened his eyes and mouth as big as he could. He was really, really surprised when he heard the invitation.

“Osaka has a lot of good foods and Universal Studio.” Krystal shrugged. “You haven’t been in Japan if you hadn’t go there.”

Kai blinked a few times to make sure he didn’t hear wrong. He slowly raised his hand and pointed at himself in disbelief, “c-can I tag along?”

“Of course.” Krystal replied with a laugh. “I am also uneasy to leave you alone in Tokyo, you know. Especially when you have zero knowledge about languages and travel destinations.”

Kai felt happiness exploded inside his heart. His lips curved into a very big smile and he had to hold himself from jumping in glee. “S-seriously?”

“Am I look like I’m joking?” Krystal pouted. “Meet me at Tokyo station on 10 tomorrow. Okay?”

Kai could only nodded in happiness. Butterflies flew inside his stomach without he could prevent it. He kept on smiling so big even after Krystal waved goodbye and disappeared into the JR Yamanote line’s gate.

“YAHOO!”

Kai jumped in pure happiness, ignoring the looks he got from other Japanese walking passed him.

He was so excited, he was so happy. He could still meet Krystal and they even gonna travel to Osaka together.

Wow.

Kai’s heart beat so fast for no clear reason, which he allocated as the excitement feeling for going on another trip with his new super fun friend.

Little did he know, his heart actually was saying something else.

Something so soft it’s inaudible to Kai’s ears.

A/n

So what song Kai had raved about? This is it, the song that caught my attention years ago and was stuck in my mind all along ever since~ It was sung by Nick Bean and it's such an addicting song <3

And yeah they are moving to Osaka~ I hope I could make you experience the scenes here, I tried my best to make it real X)

Guess I will see you on the next chapter, then!

Bye!

*for the love of writing, onerusticpen*