"Seeing you completely drenched in sweat was not in my bingo card in this lovely Sunday."

At the still young night of the same day, the first thing that has caught Sean's attention upon entering the Exiles' underground base was Gin wearing a work apron that had seen better days, carrying a box significantly larger than him that seems to also be as heavy as it looks.

"What are you doing?" Sean asked the man after ignoring the remark directed at him.

"What were you doing?"

"I just jogged my way here to the base."

"I don't know, man. That doesn't look like just a jog.

Heeeeeyyyy? Can someone please get Sean some water?"

"Ah, thanks. I really need that.

But what in the world are you carrying, Gin? Don't we have a forklift here?"

"Sad to say but I'm not forklift certified."

"…Uhh, sure. But are you helping with something today?"

"Nope. More like I'm the one that needs help so I'm borrowing the workshop because I want to learn how to work with metals."

"Now what are you going to craft this time…?"

"Just some stuff."

Uncharacteristically, Gin has given Sean a wink as he uttered those mere three words tepidly, yet seemingly holding a weight more than that of the box that is still on his shoulder. Thus, he walked away only for Sean to follow on his tail.

"Maybe I should learn together with you."

"I don't mind, but compadre… go take a shower first…"

▪ ▪ ▪

Several clinks of glasses were heard over the noise of a busy restaurant as the sun had completely set under the horizon, as seen on an outdoor table occupied by four men at a top of one of the province's plateaus.

"Now I feel embarrassed," Gin sheepishly looked away from his two bosses and Jean. "I've actually went here with my dad, Tenth, and Uncle Shuu in the past and I said they won't ever make me drink."

"Wow, famous last words for a kid. And then you just gave up on my wedding's afterparty at your house.

Well, father-in-law has told me about this place already but I've never visited. We snagged a good table."

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"We would have probably died in the cold if this was still winter, though."

"Stating the obvious, Jean?"

"Boss, we're on a plateau. It's still chilly even right now…"

"You'll warm up soon enough," said Sean, as he downed a pint in one go. "Agh, the ones from the tap are so good but I'm not doing that again…!"

"I can't tell if this guy's on a good or bad mood…"

"Your brother's on a good mood, Hiro," Gin answered on behalf of Sean.

"Hm? Is Jean and I missing something?"

"Just get it over with, Sean."

Getting a refill after his reckless first glass, Sean had slowed down and leaned even further onto his chair as he let out a long sigh.

"Yeah… No way I'm letting go of Haru."

"Something good happened, then?" naturally, the first to ask about such a declaration was Jean, as he is dating the sister of Sean's lover.

"It's so lame… but she stayed over at my place the other weekend and then I cried right after she left.

It honestly felt strange that I got scared at my house alone so I ran to the base to take my mind off it."

"So that's why you looked like someone from the starting five and played until the fourth quarter of a basketball game when you got down to the base."

"Can you not mention that, Gin?

But yeah… now that I've ascertained my feelings, I'm just reading the room and finding the right timing on when to propose.

Now don't be a squealer, Jean."

"Even if I do, I feel like you're going to threaten my job anyway," Jean joked.

"Well, good luck with that," Gin then took out his hand which was received with a firm handshake from Sean.

"Don't 'good luck' me. We're practically on the same boat now."

"Now don't be a squealer, Hiro."

"Huh? What's are you going to do then, fire me? Your boss? Ahahaha.

But haven't you made that pretty obvious already?"

"Sure, like, since I graduated high school. But of course not in front of Rin."

"The difference is that you both make it obvious, especially recently," Hiroomi sighed, stating his observation that was reemphasized by their more frequent visits to the White Street due to his wife's pregnancy.

"I wish I could close that gap with Haru so easily…"

"Just go take your PTOs already! We've hired another financial officer and it looks like Gin's sister is on board too. Man… you work too much, you know that?"

"I would've said the same," Gin agreed. "The reason Rin and I are like this is because we practically see each other everyday. Well, not right now since we're on a bit of a cool-off, but you get the point."

"Who goes on a cool-off period right when their relationship are better than ever. Your weirdness has really rubbed off of my sister-in-law."

"We're just fiiiiine. But I'm just saying that maybe you should change your approach a bit, Sean. You're not getting any younger, you know~"

"I don't want to hear that from someone who's not yet even thinking of his thirties, damn it!"

"What even is this…"

Jean has become fully aware that he has pretty much turned into air in their table, as he could not relate to the banter at all.

It was his mistake to even expect that he would have Gin on his side, he thought. Even after nearly five years of working in the same restaurant and having saved up a bit, the thought of marriage hasn't even crossed his mind, especially as his significant other hasn't even finished her studies yet.

Instead, he had just mindlessly indulged on the food at the table and get refills of his glass from time to time.

"Yep, the ones from the tap sure is better."

But indeed, spring has arrived.

In the eighth year of the country having experienced the four seasons, the season change has still stayed variable with a margin of one week to a month to its extreme. In turn, some seasons may be longer or shorter than the others.

This year, however, the blooming of the very few cherry blossoms that triumphed in this once tropical country has been observed around the last week of January to the first week of February.

Since the completion of the what-if short tragedy that Kuroko Nijisaki wrote, a year has passed.