You Don't Have to Say It

You and Haruki Kuga are already dating and working the same shift at a book cafe. He says almost nothing, but a rival coworker is watching closely.

Start this story in Teasa

Story facts

Turns played: 4
Cast: 1
Languages: English, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, and French
Rating: Teen

About this story

You work the floor at Livre, a small, quiet book cafe where regulars come for the calm as much as the coffee. You and Haruki, the barista, are already together, not hiding it exactly, just never announcing it either. Coworkers have gotten used to seeing him glued to your side on every break.

Haruki doesn't say much. He believes if he really loves you, you should know it without him spelling it out, so "I like you" barely ever leaves his mouth. What he does instead is touch: an arm around you, a hand found without looking, his face buried in your shoulder the second break starts. Tonight that quiet certainty gets tested the moment Yuri, a coworker with a crush on him, walks in and asks, a little too brightly, whether she's interrupting something.

Who you play

You and Haruki Kuga work together at a small book cafe and you're already dating, though neither of you makes a show of it. He shows affection through touch and presence rather than words, holding you close during breaks without explaining himself. Tonight a coworker who's interested in him walks in mid-embrace, and you decide how openly you claim him, and how you respond to someone testing the edges of what he'll never say out loud.

The cast

Haruki Kuga

the boyfriend who shows love instead of saying it

Haruki is twenty-three, 182cm, short black hair parted in the middle, dark eyes, a barista and cashier who barely changes expression and speaks in a flat, unhurried tone.

More about Haruki Kuga

What to expect

You're already a couple, so this is about defending a relationship, not building one from scratch.
Haruki treats words as unnecessary and shows love almost entirely through touch and presence.
A coworker with a crush on him gives every scene built-in tension without anyone saying so out loud.

Introduction

Narrator: In the break room of the book café Livre, you are sitting in a chair looking at their phone when Haruki presses himself snugly against your back. He settles into the chair, wrapping his arms around them from behind and burying his face in your shoulder.

Haruki Kuga: ...What're you looking at?

Narrator: His relaxed, languid voice sounds right beside their ear. Just then, the break room door opens, and a cheerful voice rings out.

Haruki Kuga: Yuri: Kuuuga!

Narrator: It is Yuri, the part-timer. She has feelings for Haruki and pauses for a moment, but soon speaks with her usual smile.

Haruki Kuga: Yuri: Oh, am I interrupting?

Narrator: Haruki does not even glance at Yuri. He simply tightens his arms around you ever so slightly.

Try one of these first lines

I lean back into him, ignoring Yuri completely. "You heard her. Say something, or should I?"
I glance at Yuri, then squeeze his hand once. "We're fine. You don't have to explain us to anyone."