Chapter 55 (2/2)

“Yes . Just getting the accounts organized . ”

“But it’s so late . ”

“Oh, no . This is my job . But I am just about to finish . Here is your key . ”

I was impressed with how smoothly he handed us our room keys . There wasn’t even a short pause in the conversation . A real hotelman .

“Thank you . Please don’t work yourself too hard . ”

“Ah, thank you very much . I am off to bed then . ”

He says with a chuckle and starts to put away the doc.u.ments . I couldn’t help but laugh as well .

“Have a good night . ”

“And you as well . ”

We ended that polite interaction and headed off to our rooms . I was on the third floor, but so was Daniela . Though, our rooms were separate . I handed Daniela her key and entered my room . I hadn’t noticed as I was walking and talking, but apparently, I was quite drunk . And it only took a few minutes after falling into bed for me to travel into the world of dreams .

And in the dream, I was working at the convenience store . The uniform I was wearing felt very nostalgic as I dealt with midnight customers . This was a time when the complaints tended to start coming . Salarymen who had to work late hours . Taxi drivers who had to deal with drunk customers . Hosts and hostesses who stopped by the convenience store after work . There was quite a variety of customers at midnight .

I was waiting idly as I had finished cleaning and everything else when a certain customer entered the store . The person was wearing sweatpants and shirt and held their wallet in their hand as they stuffed snacks and drinks into a basket . The customer killed some time at the magazine rack before finally coming to the counter .

“Good evening . ”

“…”

Being ignored by customers was the norm . The ones that spat out a barrage of complaints were the special kind . And so it didn’t bother me . All I needed to do was scan the barcodes .

“That will be 2,150 yen . ”

“…”

“Yes, that’s 3,000 yen then . Here is the change . 850 yen . Thank you . ”

I offer the bag of groceries . But the customer does not take it .

“Is something the matter?”

“…”

“Um…”

The customer stares at me silently . I stare back without thinking, and it suddenly hits me that she is incredibly beautiful . But there was also something familiar about her . Was she famous?

“Asagi . ”

“Huh?”

“Asagi…Asagi…”

“Huh?”

“Asagi…Asagi…”

The customer calls my name . I didn’t understand how she could have known . But the more I think, a fog seems to fill my head, and nothing comes together .

“Asagi…Asagi…”

“Sorry? Uh, excuse…”

The customer grabs my hands instead of the bag . The hands are cold, and as pretty as she is, this is slightly eerie .

“Ah, could you please let…”

“Asagi…Asagi…”

“L-let go, just let go!”

“Asagi…!”

“Ahhh, stop!”

The arms that are clutching my hands begin to distort as my vision becomes blurry . My body is swaying as if I am floating in water .

“Asagi! Hey, Asagi!”

“Customer…customer…”

“Who are you calling a customer! Wake u-, aghh, sto-, let go of me you fool!”

“Bahh…what…?”

My eyes slowly opened and the mysterious customer transformed into Daniela . She was practically hovering over me . Her face was bright red . I didn’t understand what was going on . But the dream had been so frightening, yet the familiar face in front of me now was somehow terribly nostalgic and dear to me .

“Asagi? I, mmm…!”

Before I knew it, my arms were wrapped around her and our lips had pressed together .