It's Good To Be Back

The cafeteria started to make a fuss on another level the moment Mori Ken blessed this entire place with his dashing presence.

---

"Omg, Alan plus Ken in one place equals total hotness!"

"My prince Ken, I love you from the bottom of my heart!"

"Who's that b*tch who dares to sit between our prince Ken and Alan? She's not that beautiful to begin with!"

"I know right? She's that famous b*tch who sucks up on every rich and handsome man in this campus!"

"Ugh! I hate her already!"

---

While all the girls make a fuss regarding her presence that is definitely out of place here, Sakura tries to ignore them but notices instead that meaningful look on Akio's face the moment he saw Mori Ken join the table.

She squinted her eyes for a while and thought, 'Does he know Mori Ken personally?"

Tanaka Akio, on the other hand, might have noticed Sakura's suspicious look and immediately shifted his expression into a casual one.

Raising his hand, he looked at Mori Ken and casually asked, "You're Mori Ken, right?"

Sakura and Alan kept their silence as they waited for Ken to respond to Akio's question.

As for Mori Ken, his hand stopped from filling his mouth with a spoonful of rice and shifted his seemingly cold stare at this guy whom he barely knew at all.

"Yes, why?"

These two words alone brought shivers down Sakura's spine as she realized how cold it sounded like to her ears. She was then reminded of those times when she tried to reach out to her former childhood friend but was shunned right there and then with this cold attitude of his.

However, looking at Akio-san over here, this guy wasn't even fazed a bit but instead managed to plaster that annoying smirk on the corner of his lips.

Seriously, what is wrong with him?

"Just making sure."

Just like that, Tanaka Akio started turning on his shoes and walked away from here and out of the cafeteria.

Sakura narrowed her eyes at the retreating figure of this guy.

What was that all about just now?

Looking back at Ken, he seems like he wasn't even troubled by what that guy just said and continued eating.

Sakura sighed. I don't know who is even weirder now, this guy or Ryo's cousin…

***

"Welcome home, master."

Sakura and her other two co-workers, Strawberry, Cupcake, and Cheesecake, all bowed simultaneously at the male guest who arrived just now in his business suit. Judging by his looks, this man is probably in his thirties right now.

The said guy eyed his favorite maid Cupcake and smiled widely at her.

"Long time no see, Cupcake-san." the businessman said sweetly to the maid.

Cupcake made sure that Sakura was able to watch her closely at how she swoons her guest before returning her gaze back at her customer and responded, "How have you been lately sir? It's good to have you back."

"Oh, you know, the usual. It's always about work, work, and work."

"I know right? Why don't I lead you to your seat so that you can relax a little and then we'll have a nice, relaxing chat to catch up with one another?"

"Oh, that would be nice, thank you so much!"

After that cheesy conversation between Cupcake and her customer, the former began moving and led the man into his VIP seat.

While all of these are happening, Strawberry can't help but snicker at her place which Sakura immediately overheard.

"I hate it when she shows off at you like that. It just shows that she is really threatened by you, don't you think?" Strawberry whispered within Sakura's earshot only while there aren't any new customers entering yet.

Sakura only chuckled and didn't seem to be troubled with Cupcake's challenging look a while ago.

"That's okay," she said. "Let her be where she feels most comfortable and happy. It doesn't matter if she bothers me or not."

Upon hearing this, Strawberry extended her right arm and lightly swatted her friend by the arm, catching Sakura off guard.

"How can you be so kind and understanding like that? People would often take advantage of you if you keep being like that, geez." Strawberry said this out of concern for Sakura.

Strawberry had been working with her in this cafe for a couple of months already. Since she had helped her become an undisputed top-notch maid for almost two consecutive months, Strawberry feels somehow responsible for taking good care of Sakura, who has no parents to guide her here in Tokyo.

Sakura sighed in response to her co-worker's words, recalling her own experiences during high school. While not overly dramatic, like what many people have experienced, being betrayed by someone you trust with all your heart is somewhat traumatic and painful even the relationship you had with that person is only shallow.

Not to mention being abandoned by your most trusted friend out of the blue as well after things get tough in your life.

With all these experiences to remember and cherish, Sakura weakly beams at Strawberry and replies, "Of course, I completely understand what you mean. But don't worry, I'm not that same gullible girl I used to be in my past."

By mentioning that, Strawberry is now starting to get curious about what she really meant by that but still decided not to delve deeper into that topic and just let her be for now.

Instead, Strawberry said to her co-maid, "That's great to hear then," and gave her a light pat on her shoulders, since she is much older than Sakura in terms of their age.

The corner of Sakura's lips twisted into a friendly lopsided grin as she met Strawberry's gaze once more.

Soon, their attention was instantly shifted when the chimes hanging on their door began making some metallic, clanking sound until a tall image of a guy emerged in front of them.

"Oh, it's master Ken!" Strawberry pointed out and bowed her head down. "Welcome home master! Long time no see."

The latter only grinned at her before shifting his gaze from her to the maid standing beside her.

"Yeah. It's good to be back," Ken replied while his eyes are fixed on Sakura only.