Chereads / A Dimly Lit Green / Chapter 8 - Trip 3, Zoo

Chapter 8 - Trip 3, Zoo

Miyako and Asahi arrive on the front sign of a large zoo with many decorations outside, a panda, a monkey, a giraffe and an elephant, the largest zoo in the country, Asahi looks at the price of a ticket to enter the zoo and sees that it is quite expensive, but Miyako didn't seem phased by the price as she buys two tickets from the counter for her and Asahi.

Asahi looks on at Miyako at the counter as he was worried about the price, "It's ok I'll pay for my own ticket." Miyako swiftly turns around to face Asahi, Miyako steps to the side clutching her ticket to allow space for Asahi to buy his ticket at the counter, "I should pay for the tickets, I'm the one who invited us here." Asahi buys his ticket and turns around, "We should split the fee for anything, were going to be spending quite a bit of money on this trip after all." Miyako considers the offer and reluctantly agrees.

Asahi is worried about what would happen to Miyako's parents once she's gone, so he wanted to try and make Miyako spend as less money as she can so that she will have more to give back to her parents later and he didn't worry about his father since he knew he would be fine without him.

After finally getting their tickets, they step into the zoo, Miyako looks around like she was searching for something, Asahi makes the most out of the opportunity and looks around at all the animals, he realises that Miyako was nowhere to be seen when he turned, he panics wondering what to do, he then calms down to try and look for her, re recalls she had been searching for something for he went to look in the direction she was headed earlier.

On the way, a souvenir shop catches his eye, he remembers the bracelet Miyako's parents gave to him when they visited her parents from the local shop and a souvenir he bought when they went to the museum, the souvenir was of an extinct animals skeletal structure, he also remembered that Miyako seemed to get lost quite easily in public spaces so he hastened his search.

After walking around for awhile he spotted Miyako nearby, he rushed towards her, panting slightly he asked "What are you looking at?" he looked at Miyako's face and saw her making an excited expression, this was the first time he had seen her make such a face so he turned to see what she was looking at, to his disappointment, she was staring at monkeys with a happy look on her face which seemed to shine.

He looked confused at why Miyako would have such a fascination with monkeys, she looked up and to see Asahi looking down at her squatting, her eyes widen as she's surprised that Asahi managed to find her after she purposely tried to separate from him using the crowd to go look at the monkeys for awhile before going back to find him, Asahi sighs as Miyako stands up and looks away from him, "I was worried you know." Asahi says, Miyako turns back at him and doesn't have any words to say, she only stood there silently before Asahi asked, "So what's with the monkeys?"

Miyako asked him to go and sit down with her at a nearby café, she was embarrassed that Asahi found out about her fascination with monkeys, "You know... they're just so.." She panic and nearly fumbles over her words, Asahi tells her to relax, "It's fine, I won't judge you for it." He then dons a serious look, "Now.. Explain." Miyako straightens herself and forms a serious expression as well making them stick out in the relaxed nature of the animal themed café, "They're too cute when they jump around." She says with an unfaltering expression, Asahi still looks the same before nearly bursting out laughing, but ends up nearly choking instead.

Miyako stares at him blankly, "Sorry sorry, I just wasn't prepared for that." He says as he swallows his cough, "Well sorry having a weird preference." She says as she continues staring at him blankly, "Cheer up, I just meant that I also liked monkeys for the same reason." Miyako's expression lightens up slightly as she orders drinks for both of them.

When their drinks arrived, Miyako took out her phone and asked Asahi to come closer to her, when he got out from his chair, Miyako grabbed his shoulder and yanked him next to her and he nearly trips as she takes a photo while smiling, Asahi catches himself before he fell and looked angrily at Miyako, with an grumpy voice he asked, "Well was that worth it?" Miyako looks at the picture and gently smiles, she faces Asahi saying, "Yes." they realise the whole café was staring at them and they decide to settle down as Asahi sits back down on his chair awkwardly.

They hear the other customers whisper about them.

"that was so funny!"

"are they a couple?"

"that was quite loud."

Asahi and Miyako face each other awkwardly and act as if nothing happened, they pick up their drinks and walk out of the café to continue wandering around the zoo to see the rest of what it has to offer, they saw pandas, camels, lions, peacocks and a multitude of bird species, but most of the pictures they took of animals were of monkeys, before long, they both felt hungry so they decided to leave and set out to find a restaurant.