#anyway this is like the fifth time I’ve gotten a brown girl discount

[just-rogi]

Ok.. either I am just genuinely so radiant that sometimes strangers just LOVE me… or there is some untapped potential of a racially ambiguous mixed girlie… because there as an absurd and disproportionate trend in my life of going to restaurants run by people of color and the wait staff instantly clocking me as “friend shaped” and then giving me a huge discount for no other reason… like in front of my white friends. I’m treated WAY differently and it’s honestly hilarious?? Like the really cute waitress tonight was on her break when we left and stopped to say “byeeee it was wonderful to have you!!! You were so sweet!!” At like only me, while my two other friends were right ?? there?? She also did not charge me for my drinks at all!?? Which was a slay! And this KEEPS happening?? And only with other young brown girlies and Arab dads/granddads who instantly daughter zone me and refuse to let me pay the price on the menu when they find out my mom is Arab??

[nozakiu]

Seowaka hanging out and people keep thinking they're a couple? (Pls?)

ok so i’m sorry i let this sit in my inbox for a while but i’m here now and let me just say I CAN TOTALLY see seowaka being THAT couple that faked a proposal just so they can get free cake at a restaurant or something like that so LMFAO.

___

Wakamatsu wasn’t sure why he kept taking Seo out on “dates”. Of course, he still comes up with as many bullshit excuses as he can though. 

“I have two tickets to this movie and all my friends happened to bail on me and I don’t want it to go to waste!” 

“I have a gift-card that still needs to be used so I can buy a coffee for you if you want!”

“I’m not saying I’m giving you these cookies as a gift, I just sort of realised I bought extra so if you want some you’re welcome to have them!”

It was the fourth of fifth time Wakamatsu had taken Seo out somewhere that he sort of realised they had formed some resemblance of a relationship over the time they’ve hung out together. Seo probably wouldn’t admit her and Wakamatsu were maybe possibly on platonic terms even if the Lord himself descended from the heavens and commanded her to, but Wakamatsu could tell that slowly, him and Seo were becoming what normal people would call good friends.

The thing is, Seo was anything but a normal person.

She wasn’t afraid of cars and skipped across cross-walks without even looking one direction. She didn’t care about femininity and made it obvious in the way was loud and bold in her movements and talked with her mouth full, never the type of girl to sit quiet and just be seen. Half of the time their “dates” would end by Wakamatsu frantically trying to convince Seo that no you can’t just hop into the ball-pit you’re not 8 years old anymore or dragging her away from an arcade because she had gotten pissed at a crane game she lost and started beating up the machine.

Not saying that Wakamatsu didn’t have a good time though. Everytime on the ride home, he’d catch himself smiling to the window as the sound of Seo’s brash laughter still played in his ears - she didn’t have a dainty laugh but it was contagious and just thinking about her giggles made a grin want to split Wakamatsu’s face.

The only thing that ever deterred him was when they’d get mistaken for a couple while they were out. One time at the ice-cream parlour, the cashier had looked at them and smiled, saying “It’s a discount deal for couples who want to share a sweet treat together!” and before Wakamatsu could even sputter that they weren’t dating, Seo was immediately snatching the cash from his hands to tell the cashier “We’ll take it.”

Seo didn’t seem to care whenever people thought they were a couple. Waiters at restaurants that would greet them and ask, “And what can I get for this lovely couple?” or “Is the boyfriend going to be paying tonight?” When they went clothes shopping and the shop assistant would ask Wakamatsu “doesn’t your girlfriend look beautiful?” when Seo would try on some clothes. Going to the movies and people would smile and ask them, “Ah, are you two on a date?”

If anything, Seo just used it to her advantage to talk up to employees and get discounts. Wakamatsu just hoped his cheeks didn’t look too pink as he let Seo drain his wallet because Wakamatsu was too nice to ever say no to anybody, especially Seo and her particular glutton for the gummy candies that the movie theatre sold.

The first time it actually mattered though was when he and Seo were eating out for dinner.

It was a fairly formal restaurant, and at this point Wakamatsu knew by far this wasn’t a standard place you’d take just a friend, but Seo had said she wanted some fancy cuisine so they took a table anyway. The meals were expensive though, and they both knew Wakamatsu would still pay anyway, but then a lightbulb seemed to go off in Seo’s head and Wakamatsu hesitated.

“No,” he said.

“No what?!” Seo asked, and Wakamatsu scoffed.

“Please. I recognise that look in your eyes. You’re planning something malicious and terrible and I’m just going to say right now that no - whatever you’re planning on doing, it’s not happening.”

Seo had the gall to laugh. “Me? If anything, my ideas are genius.”

“The last ‘genius’ idea you had was to somehow sneak above the catwalks during a play because you ‘wanted a better view’ and ended up dropping your jacket on the main lead actor,” Wakamatsu said flatly. “I don’t want to get ushered out of a nice restaurant like this because you decide to spike someone else’s drink for fun or something.”

“I swear it’s nothing dangerous like that, Waka,” Seo said, and the nickname made Wakamatsu want to flick her on the forehead. “It’s totally safe and there is no harm in it. Plus, it’ll get us free cake.”

“I’m sorry, what? Free cake-?”

“Propose to me.”

Wakamatsu nearly choked on his ice water, and he looked at Seo like she was mad. She just calmly looked back at him, waiting for his response, and Wakamatsu glanced around furiously to make sure nobody was possibly overhearing them.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me, propose to me!” Seo said. “The staff will feel obliged to give us a celebratory cake dessert in congratulations, and there you go! Free dessert!”

Wakamatsu was sure his cheeks were as pink as the rose that sat delicately between them on the table. “You’re insane. I don’t even have a ring.”

Seo paused, then plucked a simple gold band off of her right hand. It was a ring that her parents had given her as a birthday gift, and she tossed it to Wakamatsu, who barely caught it. “Use this one. Pretend you’ve been holding onto it for me.”

Of all ideas Seo had tried in hopes to get free food, this had to be the craziest. Wakamatsu only took a sip of his water. “You want me to propose to you with your own ring? Are you serious, Seo?”

“Free cake!” Seo said, wiggling her eyebrows persuasively. “Pleaase, Waka. Do you not want to marry me?”

This time, Wakamatsu did choke on his water, and his coughing plus Seo’s brash laughter caught the attention of a few people sitting at nearby tables. When they eventually resumed their meals and Seo had calmed down, Wakamatsu sighed.

“Do you really want free cake that badly, Seo? You know I can pay for a regular order of dessert-”

“Just do it, Waka,” Seo hissed. “Oh, and make sure you’re loud and public about it. Wanna make sure we catch their attention.”

Wakamatsu couldn’t believe he was doing this, but as said before, he was never someone to say no. And as he slowly stood up out of his seat to kneel next to Seo, clutching her ring in his hand and nervously looked around the restaurant before lowering to one knee, he wondered just how he managed to get himself this whipped for the brown-eyed girl who was sitting calmly in front of him.

“Yuzuki Seo,” he announced, loud enough that a few eyes flickered to him. As people saw Wakamatsu on one knee and the way he held the ring in his hand, it was easy for people to assume what was happening and a few awed gasps could be heard around the tables.

“As one of my greatest friends,” Wakamatsu began, “you have always managed to make me smile. Everytime we are together, it’s always memorable and amazing.” 

In the back of his head, he realised he didn’t want to sound completely fake in his speech to give them away, and so he tried to be as real as possible with his words, starting to pull some genuine truths into it.

“Even if you’re a little bit crazy and oblivious, and have reckless ideas that I’m more often than not the one that has to drag you out of them, I still end up always having the best times with you. You always manage to make me laugh, whether it’s because you say something funny or it’s with your own, because your laugh is so contagious.”

At that, Seo’s cheeks tinted a little pink, and she reached a hands up to cover her mouth. In the back of his head, he thought she’s good at acting.

A quietness had fallen upon the restaurant. People were now staring in awe at Seo and Wakamatsu, and Wakamatsu swore in the back of his mind.

“And I just wanna say, I love you. I love spending time with you and being around you, because everytime I do, I can tell we are making memories that I know I will look back at later with fondness.”

And as Wakamatsu carefully presented the ring to Seo, he said, “so I ask you, Yuzuki Seo, if you’d please continue making memories with me for the rest of our lives, and make me the happiest man alive and marry me?”

And as Seo stood up, cheeks passionately red and nodding furiously while chanting, “yes! Yes!” and the restaurant burst into applause, the waiters dutifully giving them a free celebratory cake dessert with ‘congratulations’ written out in frosting on the top just as Seo had anticipated, Wakamatsu decided he definitely needed to start learning how to say no to people.

___

“Yah, Waka!” Seo yelped in happiness later that night as they left the restaurant, their bellies full and cheeks pink. “You never told me you were good at acting!”

Wakamatsu had to inhale a cold breath of air before replying, as something in the back of his head said yeah, because some of it was actually real. “I could say the same for you. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you blush before.”

Seo cackled at that, and Wakamatsu felt a smile tug at his lips. “We are both amazing. And I told you - nobody got hurt! And we stole away with free cake, and they even gave us a discount on our meal! My plans aren’t always terrible, eh?”

“I guess not, but I wouldn’t be so confident,” Wakamatsu said, chuckling. “This is only one time versus at least a dozen other plans that weren’t that successful.”

“Aish, there’s always gonna be haters,” Seo scoffed, rolling her eyes, and Wakamatsu grinned. As he glanced at her, he noticed the ring was still on Seo’s left hand ring finger - if anything, he expected her to put it back on her right hand where she always wore it. 

As they walked to the station for their rides, Seo gently elbowed him with her shoulder. “You should trust me more, Waka. Next time, I’ll make it so that we get free clothes or something when we go shopping.”

“Seo, I’ve told you I don’t approve of shoplifting,” Wakamatsu said, and Seo laughed. And as they eventually parted ways to go to their own homes, Wakamatsu realised his heart was still thrumming from the excitement of fake-proposing to Seo.

I wonder if she could tell I was being truthful in some of the things I said, he mused as he made his way to his home. If only I had a real ring to give to her at the time.

And when Wakamatsu notices that Seo from then on starts wearing her ring on her left hand now, well - he never really gives a reason why when Seo asks him why he’s smiling like that.

x