Up for interpretation.

If you guys enjoy wilparu's intermission chapters, make sure you check out his Affection Multiplier branch if you haven't already.

Here's the link

Mere feet outside of the locker room, you nearly run Hana over. You really weren't expecting her to still be here. You messed around with the Affection Multiplier for quite a while...

Letting out a soft squeal as you grab her shoulders to keep her steady, Hana exclaims, "Frank!"

"Sorry! Sorry! I should watch where I'm going. I just didn't expect you to be out here waiting. If I would have known, I wouldn't have taken so long. Why didn't you just poke your head in and tell me to hurry up?"

Making no attempt to take a step back, she looks up at you bashfully and says, "I didn't want to bother you. Plus... Jan's nearby."

The two of you look over at the gym door. The unmistakable sound of a treadmill comes from behind it. Suddenly aware of your closeness, Hana shuffles back a few feet and nervously brushes some hair out of her face and tucks it behind an ear.

"Hana, never in a million years would you bother me. You've been so incredibly nice to me that I feel like I owe you. How about..."

She blurts out, "You could buy me dinner!"

Hana, clearly having just surprised herself, covers her mouth with her hand for a second before quickly removing it.

Backtracking, she says, "I mean... we could go to dinner. I guess you could pay for my meal as a thank you."

You chuckle, "So... We talking like a date or just dinner between friends? You're sending me conflicting messages here."

Something has changed within your new friend. It's clear as day. With a maxed affection score, it's like she craves your presence. Slightly red in the face, Hana seems unsure about how to answer your question. God... you can't remember the last time a girl was this into you. Natalie certainly hasn't been for years. The next logical goal is to increase Hana's love score. Time to put on the charm.

You reach out and let your hand rest on her shoulder, "Either way, I'm down."

Seemingly relieved at being able to avoid a definitive answer, she says with a cute smirk, "I guess we'll just leave it up for interpretation."

Noticing that the sound of the treadmill has stopped, you look over at the gym door and then back at Hana.

"Let's walk out to the lobby. Don't want Jan ruining the moment..."

Hana laughs, "Oh, we were having a moment?"

"I think so... We seem to be having a lot of them recently."

You reach your hand out which she takes eagerly. The two of you begin walking in the direction of the lobby. You don't know about Hana, but you don't really care if anyone sees you. However, the place is deserted. The office building really clears out this late after the workday. There might be a janitor or two around. Jan, still needing to finish her workout and presumably wash up in the showers, won't be bothering you out here for at least 15 minutes or so if you had to guess.

You pull out your phone and say, "I need to let my family know that I'll be home a little later."

Hana watches you intently as you call Ava first.

"Hey Dad!"

You hear a girl laughing in the background. Must be her friend, Maya. She does have a fairly recognizable laugh.

"Hey sweetheart. How are things going? You girls still out shopping?"

"Yup! We're having a blast! Thank you so much for this. I promise that I haven't gone over the limit you gave me. Although... it's pretty close."

You hear Maya's voice yell out, "18 dollars to go!"

There's muffled voices and you hear Ava whisper something that sounds a lot like, "Shutup!"

You laugh, "Using every penny, I see..."

Ava's voice returns, this time clear, "Sorry! Maya's a terrible influence on me, Dad."

More muffled laughing in the background.

"Oh, I doubt that. You two are having fun and that's what counts. Just please tell me that you haven't let her talk you into buying something for her."

"Oh her spoiled ass isn't getting anything!"

More laughing. You notice Hana watching with an amused smile on her face. How much could she hear? You're glad that Ava's spending it all on herself. Maya's family is fairly wealthy and Ava has been known to occasionally borrow some of her clothes. Especially when something nicer is needed.

You hear Maya whine in the background, "But I'm hungryyyyyy...."

Making eye contact with Hana, you roll your eyes before telling your daughter, "Why don't the two of you grab dinner? 18 dollars should be enough to cover it."

Maya cheers loudly in the background. She must be listening in.

"But what about you and Mom?"

"We'll live. Besides, Hana and I just got through with our workout. We were just talking about grabbing some dinner ourselves."

"Oh..."

You can sense her hesitation.

"Don't worry about your mother. I'll call her real quick and let her know we'll both be a little late."

"Okay... if you say so. I should go. See ya later tonight, Dad. Love you."

"Love you too. Bye."

The smile on Hana's face is gone. She looks conflicted. It takes you a moment to put two and two together. You just mentioned that you were about to call your wife. Maybe not the best thing to mention if you are indeed about to go out on a date...

You mumble to yourself and look back down at your phone, "Actually, think I'll just send her a text..."

You: Grabbing dinner with Hana. I'll be home a little later. Ava is also eating out with Maya. Love you.

Natalie: [...]

She read the text but didn't respond. Including Hana's name is a little petty but you don't care. You could have just said that you were having dinner with friends. But no, you want Natalie to squirm a little bit.