[TaroTre] My Blind Date is My Childhood Friend - Chapter 10

To be fair, following that first disastrous encounter, Taro had gone on several more blind dates. Sometimes he brought Taiga along, sometimes he didn’t, but regardless of the circumstances, none of them ever led to a second meeting.

The first batch of candidates selected by Marie had been completely wiped out. That group’s defining characteristics were: not too busy with work, liked children, and a preference for females.

Given that, it wasn’t hard to guess the theme of the second batch.

“Taro, I’ve set up a meeting at a café tomorrow afternoon. Taiga happens to have the afternoon off from school, so take him with you,” Marie said to her son while watching a TV drama.

“Who is it this time?” Taro walked over while munching on a piece of bread, resting his chin on Marie’s shoulder curiously.

“You’ll know when you get there,” Marie replied, refusing to answer. “And don’t lean on me while you’re eating; you’re going to get crumbs all over my clothes.”

“Oh, alright.” Taro stood up and wandered over to stand behind his son, who was doing homework. “Taiga, how’s the schoolwork coming along?”

“Dad, if you have nothing to do, go eat something. Don’t just wander around. How am I supposed to write when you’re hovering like that?” Little Taiga expressed his annoyance at being harassed by his father yet again.

“You’re actually writing your homework?” Taro was shocked. “Don’t you usually just copy off Fyliss?”

“Did Fyliss transfer schools? How did I not know?” Taro was genuinely surprised; he couldn’t think of any other reason why Taiga would actually be writing his own assignments.

“What? No! This is for Language Arts an essay titled ‘My Ideal.’ You can’t copy an essay from Fyliss; the teacher would find out immediately,” Taiga said crossly.

“I thought so. With a personality so similar to mine and a friend who’s just as ‘academically gifted,’ there’s no way you’d suddenly become a diligent student,” Taro nodded. Good, my son hasn’t changed.

Watching from the couch, Marie was speechless. “Taro, listen to yourself! Is copying homework something you should be encouraging?”

“Ah, I was just speaking casually. Besides, I worked hard eventually, didn’t I?” Taro quickly tried to backtrack, having forgotten his mother was in the room.

“Hmph.” Marie remained skeptical of her son’s excuses.

The following afternoon, Taro arrived at the café with Taiga.

Their date hadn’t arrived yet. Taro leaned in and whispered to Taiga, “Do you think this person is going to be late too?” He was truly traumatized by his previous experience.

“I don’t know,” Taiga replied. I’m just a kid; how should I know?

As they were talking, the café door pushed open. Taro looked over curiously and saw Tregear.

Before Taro could even call out to him, Tregear had already spotted them and walked straight over to their table, taking a seat. Taro’s mind went completely blank the moment Tregear sat down.

Fact A: He was at the café for a blind date. Fact B: Tregear saw him and sat down immediately. Question: What was Tregear doing here?

“Oh, it’s a blind date,” Tregear said, answering the question Taro had accidentally blurted out loud.

A blind date?!

Both Taro and Taiga were stunned. They instinctively turned to look at each other. To any outsider looking in, it was a comical sight: a young father and his “troublesome age” son staring at each other in utter disbelief.

A silent exchange of glances ensued:

Taro: Son… did your grandmother mention that my blind date was Tregear? Taiga: Dad… are you actually gay?

Tregear sat across from the duo. Seeing that they wouldn’t be snapping out of it anytime soon, he signaled a waiter and ordered a coffee. Once it arrived, he added several sugar cubes and stirred until they were completely dissolved. He set the small spoon aside, gripped the handle with his right hand while supporting the saucer with his left, and took a sip.

Yes, that’s the one. Tregear squinted his eyes in enjoyment.

While everyone else was at work, he was using work hours to openly enjoy a coffee and go on a blind date. It was a truly pleasant experience.

Tregear remained immersed in his coffee. As for the father and son opposite him?

Heh. Let them figure it out in their own time.

The cup was a bit small; he was already considering a refill. Tregear clicked his tongue softly. The coffee here was far too good; he couldn’t help himself. Forget it, he thought, when I head back, I’ll pack a round for everyone in the office. It was the least he could do for the colleagues covering his shift while he was out on “leave.”