A "Normal" Day Off With My Friends

“Sorry for making you all wait!”

After I received their call, I quickly prepared myself to go to the mall. Luckily, I caught a bus on time.

The three's eyes widened for a moment when they saw me.

“Wow! Did we not just call you around thirty minutes ago?” Fynn commented impressed.

“T-that's crazy, man!” Jack also showed his surprise.

“However, one could see how much you rushed...” Anna stated while holding her stomach and turning her face away.

“Hm?”

Jack and Fynn started to chuckle after realizing what Anna meant.

Thus, I took out my phone and checked what was wrong.

“Ugh...”

Well...

This is pretty embarrassing...

“Pff! I can't hold back anymore! Hahahaha!” Anna laughed out loudly.

“S-shut up!”

I hurried up so much that I completely forgot to comb my hair...

My face burned up seeing my messy hair.

“Only a minute passed since I arrived and I want to go home already...” I remarked hiding my face with hand.

“Hey, don't be like that, man. Just buy a cap if it bothers you so much.” Fynn cheered me up as he patted my back.

What a guy. He has a solution for everything.

“Let's go, already!” Anna said cheerfully.

“So where should we go first?” Fynn asked.

“Clothes? Yes, clothes. Let's take a look at clothes first!” Anna suggested, or rather ordered.

Anna is a fashionable girl. Therefore, it would be natural for her to look at clothes if she was in the mall.

Anna and Fynn were slightly ahead of me and Jack. While the two of them were talking happily, Jack and I remained silent.

Jack's head hung a bit low which was unusual for him. I didn't know how to approach him so I focused my gaze back to Anna and Fynn who were leading the way to the first store.

It seems like it was still quite awkward between us due the incident during basketball practice.

Jack sent me a message to apologize shortly after the incident but I guess he still felt guilty.

“I'm sorry for shouting at you, back then...” Jack apologized quietly while his face looked into the other direction from me.

“O-oh, you don't have to apologize again! It's fine, I swear!” I replied frantically as I waved my hands in front of me.

“Really...?” he turned his face slowly to me but his eyes still did not meet mine.

“Yes. It's all water under the bridge! After all, you shouldn't feel guilty for being a passionate person!” I said forming a huge crescent with my mouth.

“Yeah, passion, indeed...” he murmured before his usual confident smirk returned.

I guess you could say that the mood between us was finally restored.

“Hey, why are the two smirking at each other? Come and join us!” Fynn yelled from a distance.

“What's with that face, Jack? Are you trying to steal Leon from me?!” Anna chimed in furiously with a bad joke.

Without realizing it, Jack and I almost lost sight of Anna and Fynn. But luckily, the two of them found us.

“What did you say, Anna? I recommend you to visit a doctor because you have a few screws loose!” Jack retorted angrily as his veins on his forehead bulged.

Sigh.

I could only sigh at this situation.

Jack stealing me from Anna? As if. If you think about it, then Fynn would have better chances at doing it.

Just kidding, of course.

“Geez, calm down, you two. We're still in public, you know?” Fynn stopped the two after heaving a sigh, too.

“Tch.” Jack clicked his tongue.

“Ugh, fine...” Anna agreed but was also reluctant.

Fynn Notic. Truly a hero.

After the two settled down, we entered the first store.

The inside of the store was huge and was full of clothing articles and the likes.

To be honest, I couldn't care less about fashion. As long as I didn't stood out like a sore thumb, I was fine with everything. So I just tagged along with the others who seemed engrossed with the articles here.

“Leon, can you hold this, please?” Anna asked me as she gave me three clothing articles.

“Sure...”

How could she already find three articles when we just entered the store five minutes ago? I didn't know if I should be impressed or not.

Without me realizing, I was left alone as the others scattered around the store on their own.

I knew that Anna and Fynn cared about their appearance. But Jack? No offense to him but he doesn't look like that kind of guy who cares about fashion.

“Hey, could you watch after this for a while? I'll be back.”

Speaking of the devil.

Jack pushed his things onto me and vanished before I could even react.

“Ah, I see...”

Jack did not care about the street clothes but rather about sports clothes. That made sense.

“...”

Not wanting to stand at the same spot for an eternity, I decided to wander around the store, too.

An entire hour passed until we met up again.

“I didn't expect to buy this much today, hehehe...” Anna admitted embarrassed.

“I call this an investment for my sports career!” Jack proudly justified himself.

Anna and Jack were the only ones to spend a fortune on clothes today.

“Hm? Did nothing catch your eyes, Fynn?” I asked him surprised that he came out of the store empty handed.

I, as well, did not buy anything and yet I had to carry the bags of Anna and Jack.

“Wel-”

“Must be because everything was so cheap, haha!” before Fynn could say anything, Jack butted in suddenly.

Cheap? I may not know what the average prices are for clothes however, one or two articles from this store would hurt my wallet extremely.

“Jack.”

Fynn's tone was colder than usual and his eyes looked also different. It was as if he was trying to make Jack back off by glaring at him sharply.

“S-sorry.”

Jack turned silent like an intimidated dog.

“What's wrong, guys?”

Anna, who was ahead of us three, turned to us after noticing the change in the mood.

“Nothing at all.” Fynn answered with his usual tone and smile.

I looked at Jack, who just nodded in agreement, although his face was pale.

And then there was that side of Fynn. Just now, he seemed like a completely different person. It was like a switch was flipped.

Should I address it? However, Fynn and Jack pretended like nothing happened...

“Want to go to a café?” Fynn proposed.

As most of us were tired from shopping and carrying things, we all agreed.

Thus, he was guiding us to a café in the vicinity.

But all of the sudden, Fynn and the others stood still.

I could tell that the atmosphere was tense by looking at their faces. They looked to the front as if they saw a ghost.

Standing in front of us was a tall and slim man in his forties with a stubbly beard. He has long and curly black hair. That person was clad in dark clothes and wore big and round glasses which did not hide the dark circles under his tired looking brown eyes.

That man seemed dangerous. And yet also so familiar...

“What are you doing here?” Fynn asked with a piercing gaze.

There he was again. The 'other' Fynn.

Unfazed by the stares, that mysterious man came closer until he was right in front of Fynn.

Everyone's guard was up. Especially Jack was ready any time to take action.

Then, the man finally opened his mouth.

“Relax, kids. I'm just here to check on my client.” he said with a croaky voice.

Client? Was he a doctor?

“Couldn't you just call or write me?” Fynn stated.

An eerie smile crept on that man's face.

“I'm not talking about you.” he responded as he locked his gaze on me.

Did he want something from me?

But without elaborating further, he walked away.