Office Diaries - Chapter 119

“How was your day out?”

Yanee looked up to see Tohru standing next to her. She was on the wooden balcony outside her room facing the hot spring and garden where she hanged out with him last night. She was busy jotting down notes on all the stories she’d already listened to. She just finished writing down the lessons on each one when he arrived.

“G-Good,” she stammered as she turned her eyes back on her notebook.

She had lifted her head without thinking earlier and was K.O.ed by the potato’s handsome looks. He wore a business suit, but the upper buŧŧons on his shirt were already open, his collar loose. This made her able to glimpse a bit of his ċhėst— not that she hadn’t seen it before, because she had when he soaked in the hot spring on the first night in Kyoto. Still, she’s not yet used to seeing it in broad daylight so she was feeling shy.

Since she was not looking at him, she was surprised when she was suddenly pulled from her seat and found herself sitting on his ŀȧp.

Huh? HUUUUUH?

What was this position?

She felt way beyond embarrassed, her body all stiff as she was scared to move lest she accidentally graze against something untouchable. Her heart’s not yet ready for that kind of shock.

But then again, it’s the potato’s fault. Who’d have thought he’d turn into a clingy potato? Or was he an octopus now?

“Just good?” he asked as he wrapped his arms around her and rested his head on her shoulder.

His hot breath fanned her neck and she wanted to shiver if she weren’t so conscious of moving. “My Lord, please show some restraint,” she chanted in her mind, but of course, it was futile. The guy was determined to be an octopus.

“Honey, why are you so tensed?”Tohru suddenly asked and this time, she couldn’t help but yelp in surprise, jumping out of his arms to the ground below the balcony. “Yanee!”

Tohru quickly jumped down as well and pulled her back up.

“Close— you’re too close,”Yanee grumbled as she rubbed her ear where he spoke so near earlier.

Tohru laughed. He looked like he finally understood what made her antsy.

“Why did you suddenly turn into an octopus?” Yanee asked audibly looking so frustrated, making his laughter louder as he scooped her up again in his arms and sat.

It was already evening, but still a bit early to set out for the restaurant. It seemed that one young master was determined to spend the time they had left before leaving to torture her brain— and her heart.

“I didn’t,” Tohru denied with a grin. “I’ve always been an octopus. I just couldn’t cling to you before since we just started dating yesterday. That’s why you have to pay for the lost time and let me cling to you now.”

Yanee found herself being bearhugged from behind again.

Well, Yanee couldn’t refute that. Ah… this guy’s really a cheat. Where did that poker-faced cool guy go?

She smiled then as she felt herself resigning to her fate. Well, she preferred him to be sweet like this than the scary aloof boss he was at the beginning.

“I give up,” she said as she relaxed in his arms.

Tohru stopped squeezing her and placed a kiss on top of her head and she tilted her chin so she could look up at his face.

“That’s right. You should be resigned to being totally loved by me,” he said teasingly as he wiggled his brows.

She laughed.

“Yuck. You’re so cheesy,” she told him.

For someone who had spurned romance for a long time, this level of cheese was making her cringe.

Cheesy potato. Well, that’s still yummy, right?

“Don’t worry, I won’t go overboard. I’m just so happy these days,”Tohru said while laughing. “Anyway, what did your sister say about the kimonos?”

“She likes them so much. She already made a contract with the shop.” Yanee happily told him about what happened at the store that day. She of course omitted the part about her becoming a model for their products in the catalogue.

“Are you forgetting something?” he prompted suddenly which made Yanee squint at him.

“Forgot about what?” she challenged although she already had an idea what he was talking about. It seemed he already knew about the photos.

“A little bird told me you did something amazing today, honey,” he answered, his pair of light brown eyes focused on her upturned face.

“What’s something amazing?” she asked sharply with a brow raised but her lips that twitched in amusement betrayed her real feeling.

Tohru grinned as he leaned over. “Like how my honey chose her wedding dress already,” he whispered and Yanee ended up with a burning face once more. “You look so beautiful too.”

Urgh…

She should have known. Marian and her mom would definitely tell Tohru about that. Also, she had a feeling that the potato had a copy of the photos already.

“Who sent you the pictures?” she asked.

“Big Sis. Her phone takes high-quality photos,” he answered readily and Yanee sighed.

The photos Marian took from her phone were the ones the store would use for the catalogs as well. Of course, they would send the best ones to the potato.

“Just don’t show it to others, okay?” she told him grumpily.

“Why not? My honey looks so good in them,”Tohru countered and Yanee felt like having a headache.

She wondered if the potato really lost brain cells or if he was only teasing her. Additionally, it seemed he was not yet done with the topic.

“Do you think we should have a Shinto wedding so you can wear a shiromuku kimono?” he suddenly asked and Yanee finally left his embrace.

Her abrupt action puzzled Tohru but Yanee was not feeling comfortable anymore. There’s tightness in her ċhėst as her heart beat fast while her hands grew cold and she was starting to feel faint and sweat. This was a familiar feeling.

Panic. She was feeling overwhelmed and it seemed her heart couldn’t take it anymore.

“Yanee!”

Equally alarmed, Tohru shifted on his feet immediately to scoop her up. “Yanee!” he called out to her as he brought her back to her room and placed her gently on the bedroll.

“I’m… okay,” Yanee whispered helplessly but of course, Tohru didn’t believe her.

She wouldn’t believe herself either. She knew she looked awful, but her brain was only strong enough to try to fight off the panic that was starting to eat her up. A peal of derisive laughter echoed in her head. Who’d have thought that this little thing that she had thought she had gotten over during the years came back with a bang?

Ah… she must have really been mentally challenged.

“Honey, do you want water?”Tohru asked worriedly and Yanee shook her head. “What do you need?”

He genuinely sounded so worried that even if he was the cause of her panic attack, she didn’t blame him. She pointed at the space near the foot of the bed.

“Space,” she ordered and when he looked confused she gathered her strength to speak longer. “I need space. Move over there.”

This time, Tohru didn’t hesitate to do her bidding. He sat obediently in a formal way, though his eyes continued to guard her. He remained quiet as if finally understanding what was happening and stayed like that.

Ten minutes passed and she finally got her bearings back.

“Sorry…”

Yanee couldn’t think about any other thing to say. It was obvious what happened to her and it was embarrassing and weird to have an attack when he didn’t do anything wrong— well at least technically he didn’t know he triggered it with cheese.

“Why are you apologizing?” Tohru asked her.

“Because I suddenly became weird,” she said.

She didn’t want to explain though, but it seemed there wasn’t a need to.

“But isn’t it my fault? I’ve been pushing you to your limits,” he said and she was surprised.

How did he know?

Tohru smiled. “Well, for a romance allergic person like you to suddenly find yourself being confessed to then allowed yourself to be in a relationship with me in a short span of time, it’s normal to be overwhelmed no?”

HA?

Yanee’s initial surprise turned into irritation. If he knew that then why did he do it then? Her eyes automatically glared at him. But instead of cowering, he smiled at her sheepishly as he scratched the side of his head.

“You’re wondering why I did it anyway, right? Even if I knew you have panic attacks?” he asked her and once again she was surprised.

“You know I have panic attacks?”

Now, this was news to her. She hadn’t had an attack since that rainy day her heart got broken. It’s been years.

“Er… I received a call earlier from your sister,” he confessed and finally, Yanee understood.

Ami…