君と僕の関係
[Kimi to Boku no Kankei]
By Bayou
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Part 8
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Takashi was sitting alone in the dark; the only light was coming from the muted TV in front of him. There were several cans of beer scattered recklessly on the low table and the floor, while he was holding a half drank can in his hand.
He was supposed to be drunk by now, but his mind was perfectly clear. People would realize what they lost when it was already gone. He regretted letting Shogo go few hours ago. He regretted saying that they were only a mere fuck buddy. He regretted taking him for granted for years.
They've been together for almost all their life. Shogo was the only best friend he had. Shogo was also the only one who could put up with his selfishness and still stood by him in every circumstances. It was Takashi who forced himself at Shogo and it was almost a rape at the first time they had sex together. Takashi was pushy, harsh, careless, and inexperienced. Shogo was crying in pain and bleeding at the first time he penetrated him. When he noticed how hurt Shogo was, he was crying too. But Shogo soothed him by saying it was ok and told him to continue.
And how could he forget how much Shogo tolerated his arrogance and ignorant behavior. They were having fights over silly things, yet, it never last long. Since it was always cleared up easily, Takashi couldn't remember what they were fighting for. And now, they really had a fight over serious matter and he didn't think Shogo would forgive him that easily.
When did it start like this?
When did he start sleeping with people other than Shogo?
Takashi lost his virginity with Shogo and realized that he never slept with another person, yet, a woman. Again, it was all started with curiosity and partly accident. He was in his first year working in the company when one of the female colleagues seduced him in one of the drinking party. Heavily drunk, he ended fucking her in some cheap love hotel.
He saw so many blue films and realized that female bodies are different with male. But experiencing it himself was way different than seeing it through a TV. He couldn't forget the sensation; she's so soft and fragile in his touch, and looked vulnerable. Since then, he had his personal attraction toward female bodies.
At that point, he realized that he was bi. He loved Shogo, and realized that he couldn't love anyone but Shogo. Not even a woman with a nice body and attitude could ever replace Shogo's place in his heart. For Takashi, fucking a woman was only to satisfy his body needs. That was the only justification he had. He knew it was wrong, but his body needs came first than Shogo's feelings. At certain times, he accepted the offer from female colleague and slept with her secretly. To reduce his guilt, he was never be the one who invited them first. The invitation always came from the other party.
The rain poured heavily outside. The strong wind made the window rattled quite fiercely. He chugged down his beer can until the last drip and threw the empty can to anywhere and a clang sound resounding in the quiet room.
"Geez, how come you make a mess in our flat like this?"
He heard Shogo scolded him. And there he was, standing right in front of him, bending a little with both arms on his hip and pouted invisibly with his usual expressionless face of him.
Takashi smiled, he was happy that Shogo came back for him. He must have had forgiven him to come back this soon...
"Sho-chan..." he reached out toward Shogo, but the tall man's body evaporated in the thin air like a mist.
Takashi's hand balled into a fist and he pressed his forehead with it, he was on the verge of tears.
"Damn it!" he cursed.
What should he do?
He never used the 'sorry' words for so long when fighting with Shogo. And now, at the crucial moment, he still couldn't say it. He forgot how it like was to apologize properly since he was always on the winning side. Though 'sorry' was a simple word, it was unbelievably hard to say.
"...ry..."
"...sorry..."
"I'm sorry..."
He curled his body like a ball in the sofa, and chanted the words countlessly like a spell.
But sorry would mean nothing if it wasn't said to the other person. The question was; could he say it properly at Shogo?
To tell him that he was sorry and asked him to come back to him.
His only obstacle was his overly high self-pride.
And if he recalled what Kyou had said to him so many times; "Just eat your own pride if you can put soyu on it. You won't gain anything if you hold onto your pride too much. You'll loose everything, instead."
When Takashi thought of it all over again; Kyou was right...
The next day, Shogo's fever had gotten worse. Kyou pleaded Maou to call a house doctor to treat Shogo, and he said he'd pay the doctor's bill. Which—of course—rejected by Maou who said that he'd be the one who pay the bill. But Shogo didn't want to trouble both of them, so he said he'd pay for the bill. The three of them argued who'd pay the bill until Kyou gave up and let Maou and Shogo continued the argument while he had to go to campus. Kyou was at his crucial moment where he had to do his final task to graduate from college. He just couldn't skip his meeting with his hard-to-find guidance counselor by prolonging the silly argument.
After seeing Kyou off, Maou returned to the bedroom.
"You shouldn't call a house doctor, Mochidzuki-san," Shogo said, "It isn't necessary, I'm fine, really. After resting for a while, I'll be as good as new."
"Are you sure about that?" Maou asked with a disbelief look, "You look white as a paper, and your fever increasing just a while ago."
"I'm fine," Shogo tried to convince the other man.
Maou observing Shogo for a brief moment, "Fine, we'll check on your temperature once again," Maou took the thermometer from the drawer, "If your fever went down just a little, I'll cancel the doctor."
Reluctantly, Shogo nodded. Maou put the digital thermometer in Shogo's ear, it bleeped, and he checked it out. Maou was surprised seeing he was burning up to 39 degree. Shogo couldn't refuse anymore when Maou really called the doctor to come and examined him.
The doctor came a little while later; he examined Shogo and wrote a prescription for him. "It was just because he got himself wet in the rain for quite a long time, and he's all stressed up for some reasons. Just let him rest properly and please maintain the healthy meal for him, also don't forget the medicine. A strong young man like him will be healthy in no time," said the doctor to Maou before he left.
Maou was insisting to pay the doctor, and Shogo finally surrender. But he persisted to pay for the medicines, and Maou agreed.
"You're such a nice man, Mochidzuki-san," Shogo said.
Maou looked bashful at the compliment; he didn't seem to believe of what he said.
"I'm not."
"Yes you are," Shogo said, "I'm just a stranger to you, and yet, you let me stay here and even pay for my doctor bill."
"I am?" he looked confused, "I don't think..." he paused, "Ah... I see. It was all because of him."
Maou smiled so tenderly, his face clearly said he was in love.
"Kyou, isn't it?" Shogo asked.
"Yes. That boy changed my entire life."
"You love him, don't you?"
"Very much."
"But... what if one day he betrayed you?"
Maou's face stiffened at the question.
"What do you mean?"
"What if one day he slept with other people? He was originally a virgin before he dated you, wasn't he?"
Shogo maintained his eye contact at Maou, who stared dagger right back at him.
"No he won't," Maou answered without a trace of doubt in his voice.
"How do you know for sure? You guys aren't together 24/7. What if one day he decided to sleep with other person, a woman maybe?"
Maou crossed his eyebrow; he seemed to notice where this questions lead.
"Shinonome-san... is he..." Maou seemed reluctant for a moment, "Your partner," he repeated, "is he cheating on you?"
That sentence struck him like lightning. Shogo hung his head and closed his eyes. They were burning inside his close lids; the tears were threatening to come.
"Yes."
[To be continued]
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君と僕の関係
[Kimi to Boku no Kankei]
By Bayou
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Part 7
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Shogo was blaming Kyou for the incident. If the boy didn't encourage him to say those words to Takashi, everything would be like how it was before. They wouldn't break up, and he still wouldn't know that his partner had been cheating him for years.
But did he really want it?
Being cheated and lied for so many years. And sooner or later, the truth will be revealed. It was just the matter of time. And ten years was actually quite a long time for the pus to seep out the rotting wound.
Shogo knew how selfish Takashi could be, if he wanted something, he had to get it no matter what it cost. It was the same when he won over Shogo. A little persuasion broke Shogo's defenses down and Takashi could have his own way on Shogo.
There were times when Shogo had doubts toward Takashi's loyalty. But he loved him great enough to turn a blind eye and hoping Takashi didn't really cheating on him. He did notice the times when Takashi gave him excuses to sleep over at his parents' place, or how he went home very late at night after having drinks with his colleague and smelling like woman's perfume. But he didn't want to think much about it. Not even when he called Takashi's parent's house and they said Takashi didn't go home that day. He thought Takashi just went with his friends and didn't want Shogo to tag along. Now he knew that Takashi didn't want him to tag along.... so he could fuck another men or woman without him knowing.
Why couldn't Takashi satisfied with him only?
Why did it have to be someone else?
No one could answer that but Takashi himself.
He was dying to know the reason, but the truth scared him to death also...
He was wandering aimlessly in the rain without umbrella, hanging his head all the way. He was soaking wet like a drenched rat and people on the street just sparing him a weird glance and walked away.
"Shinonome-san?" someone called.
When he turned around, he saw the juniors in the illustration division who was just coming out from a bar. It made him wonder how long had he been strolling without direction on the street?
And he saw Ooguma Kyou's tall figure came out last from the bar. He strolled at him, gave him a punch on the face without saying anything, and collapsed. Kyou caught his body before he fell onto the hard pavement. He had to give his umbrella up and let his clothes wet by the rain.
"What the...?!" Shinjo Eiki yelped in surprise, "Why did he suddenly punch you, Kyou?"
Kyou looked carefully at Shogo's face, the corner of his eyes were red for crying. He knew that instant, something was definitely wrong with him.
"I think he's just drunk," Kyou said, making up an excuse. "Help me get a cab to ride him home."
Shinjo clicked his tongue and shook his head in sympathy.
"You're too nice, Kyou. Even though he's drunk, he didn't have the right to hit you."
"Maybe he has," Kyou said.
Shinjo crossed his eyebrows in confusion, but before he said anything, a cab pulled over at their other friend's call. He helped Kyou to put Shogo into the cab before it went away.
Shogo awakened by the sound of two people talking. But his mind was still hazy; he wondered what had happened to him.
"Just let him stay here for tonight, Maou-san," it was Kyou's voice, "Do you expect me to let him sleep on the street like that? He has a fever... ouch!" he yelped out. "Gently, please. I'm a wounded person, here."
It seems like the other person was treating Kyou's wound.
"You're overly nice to people," the other man sighed.
Shogo barely recognized the other voice.
"Especially since he punched you before."
I punched him? Shogo asked inside his heart.
"Something must've gone wrong with the advice I told him," Kyou said, "Shinonome-san wasn't a person who punched people out of the blue even when he's drunk. I must be at fault if he did that."
The other man kissed Kyou lovingly.
"You will never be at fault, Kyou. You're too nice for that."
Kyou chuckled.
"Hey, Im only human, you know. I made mistakes too," he kissed the other man back and cuddled him.
The scene roused the jealousy out of Shogo, he was getting angry for no reason. He didnt want to stay long to see the scene so he got up off the bed, but his head spun and his body swayed, made him collapsed again onto the bed.
"Don't move, Shinonome-san. You have a fever," Kyou said, he hurriedly walked toward Shogo and forced him down to bed when he stubbornly tried to get up again.
A beautiful young man in black turtleneck and loose sweatpants stood beside him gracefully. He seemed like a high class and very well mannered person. Yet, he looked a bit childish by clutching the edge of Kyou's shirt, as if he was afraid that someone would take the tall boy away. And that someone was him.
When it all came to him, he just realized that Kyou had a male lover.
"Are you gay, Kyou-kun?" he asked bluntly.
Kyou opened his mouth to answer, but he canceled his words. He paused for a moment before saying, "Well, you can say that..." he grabbed the beautiful man beside him by the shoulder and held him close, kissing his forehead. "I'm gay to this person only."
Kyou's lover blushed pretty hard hearing that, he pinched Kyou's waist and made the taller boy yelped in pain.
"Ooouch! Easy with the nail, Maou-san! You could've torn the flesh there. And relax will ya, Shinonome-san here is gay too."
Color faded from Shogo's already pale face. He was shocked that Kyou would mention it out of the blue, as if he had known for long.
"Yeah, I know your relationship with Kanoe-buchou for quite a while, Shinonome-san."
"Does anybody know that..."
"No. No one seemed to notice, since you guys deliberately put an act like the whole thing was only a joke."
Shogo sighed in relief.
"And I thought I knew you from somewhere..." he said to Maou.
"He's in charge for our company's subsidiary, Mochidzuki Maou-san."
Maou nodded at him, and he nodded back.
Of course, Shogo had seen him several times walking in and out the illustration division, but never knew who he was exactly.
"So, wanna tell me the reason of this?" Kyou asked him while pointing at the band aid on the corner of his mouth. It was an obvious punching wound.
"Well, that's..." Shogo hung his words. "I'm sorry..."
Shogo was quiet, it was hard for him to explain everything to Kyou. The boy waited, but if he didn't want to say anything, then he wouldn't force him to talk.
Kyou huffed, "If you don't want to talk about it, then I won't force you. Just sleep here until your fever broke, we'll discuss about other things later."
Shogo looked around the spacious bedroom and noticed that it was the master bedroom of the host, and he felt bad about it.
"But this is..."
"We have a sofa-bed outside. Sometimes we sleep there too. It's like camping indoor," Kyou joked, "Don't feel guilty or anything, you're a sick person, anyway."
Kyou smiled and took Maou's hand and lead him outside the room.
"And oh!" he stopped and turned at Shogo, "If you happen to hear suspicious sound in the middle of the night, don't bother to look, it'll be just us, smexing each other... OUCH!"
Kyou yelped because Maou pinched and dug his nails onto Kyou's waist again, and dragged him out from the room after apologizing for his partner's impoliteness.
Shogo was in awe, he didn't think that the plain boy could be this perverted. And outside the room, he could hear Maou was scolding the boy who was just laughed over it.
It would be a lot easier if Kyou wasn't such a nice person, so he could blame the boy without feeling guilty like this. As he thought of that, sleep took him away from his consciousness.
[To be continued]
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(3)
君と僕の関係
[Kimi to Boku no Kankei]
By Bayou
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Part 6
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Shogo thought that both of them would feel the same at each other.
So why would it end like this?
On that fated day, they were relaxing on the sofa; Shogo was leaning his back on the seat and watching a comedy show on TV while Takashi laid his head on Shogo's lap, reading a book. When suddenly he got bored and put down his book and stared at Shogo's face for a while until his partner noticed him and he blushed a little.
"What?" Shogo asked.
"Nothing. C'mere," Takashi put his hand behind Shogo's head and pulled his partner's head closer to his and kissed him.
Shogo's lips naturally parted and allowed Takashi's tongue to slide in. They kissed for quite some time before the words just slip out of his mouth.
"I love you..." Shogo said.
Takashi froze. He broke the kiss and sat up the sofa, looking confused.
"Taka-chan?"
Takashi pressed his forehead with his palm and rubbed it down and stopped at his mouth.
"Why do you have to say that?" he said.
"What? What's wrong with saying that I love you?"
"Stop. Stop at that!" Takashi sounded panicking.
Shogo was confused.
"Everything is working perfectly without that word. If you said that, things are going to be complicated."
"Why?" Shogo didn't understand what his partner was trying to say.
"We're perfect just like this. Without any word of love inserted. That one particular word can ruin everything," Takashi muttered his words.
"What do you mean by that...?"
Takashi was silent.
Shogo thought of something awful that suddenly crossed his mind. He gasped and clasped his mouth.
"Taka-chan... d-don't tell me you've been sleeping with other people too?" he didn't want to say it, but those words came out of his mouth just like that. He just had to make sure.
Takashi was still quiet.
Shogo let out a pathetic awkward laugh.
"Please tell me that what I said was a lie."
Takashi stood still and didn't say anything, but his expression said everything. It was the guilty expression anyone could have when they were caught doing something terribly awful.
"So it's true?!" Shogo raised his voice, his eyes wildered in disbelief. It was the first time in so many years that he let his emotion out on the surface.
He stood up and walked back and forth in the living room in agony, pressing both of his temples with his thumb and middle finger.
"Oh my god. I can't believe this. After all these years! I thought we share the same mutual feelings, yet..." he hung his words and sighed, "That's why you never answered my questions clearly..." he looked dejected as he said so.
"Sho-chan..." Takashi tried to reach out his partner, but Shogo slapped his hand harshly.
"Don't touch me!" Shogo shouted.
Just thinking that he was touched countless time by the same hands that were used to touch other people, disgust him.
His chest felt tight and something choked up his throat. His stomach felt funny in an unpleasant way, he felt like throwing up. His head felt like spinning and he almost lost his balance. He reached out to the sofa arm and supported his body there.
How many person has he been sleeping with?
How many years has he done that?
The questions resounding in his head repeatedly.
Takashi was still like a statue and didn't say anything. Shogo tried to calm himself down and subdued his trembled body.
"Are you not satisfied with me, Taka-chan?" he asked. His voice miss-pitched in several words and he looked like he was on the verge of tears. "Am I not enough?"
"Sho-chan..." he hung his words. Seeing Shogo's expression, Takashi couldn't give any reasoning to him.
"You're living with me because I'm convenient to you. Aren't you, Taka-chan? Because I won't ask you for anything and won't be pregnant no matter how many times you fuck me. And by the time you're bored, you just go and sleep with somebody else... You did a great job keeping it from me for so long..."
Shogo didn't know how much it hurt him when he said that. He felt his heart was crushed and shattered into small pieces, so he didn't care if Takashi was hurting by his words too.
"It's not that..." Takashi wanted to defend himself, but failed to find any excuse. Whatever he'd say, he was the one at fault from the beginning.
"How many..." Shogo canceled his words, "No, never mind that. I don't want to know how many people you've been fucking while you're with me. Or how long have you been done that," he took a deep breath and exhaled it out. "We're over."
Takashi's eyes widened. His mouth was opening and closing as if he wanted to say something, but not a single word came out of it.
Shogo paused for a momement before walked his way to the front door, reached out his jacket that was hung near the genkan before taking out his shoes from the shoe rack and put them on.
"Where are you going?" Takashi asked, chashing after him.
Shogo stood up by the door and glanced at Takashi with a cold gaze.
"Out of here. Anywhere. I might pick up some guy along the way and let him fuck me in return for a shelter tonight."
A hard slap ran across Shogo's cheek, the voice reverberated in the quiet room.
Takashi clasped his hand; he was surprised by his own act by impulse. He knew he didn't have the right hitting Shogo. He wanted to say sorry, but the word stuck in his throat. While Shogo just accepted the slap and maintaining his cold gaze.
"Oh, now you're mad? You've been doing it for years, so why can't I?"
Takashi lost in his words. He couldn't even stop Shogo when he walked out through the door...
He was still hoping that Takashi would chase him over and stopped him. Saying he's sorry and pleaded him to come back. Perhaps kissing him and forcing his way at Shogo like the usual to win him over.
But no.
Takashi was a man of his pride, and so did he. It would be hard for Shogo to squeeze out the word of sorry out of Takashi. If they were having a fight, it all would be over in no time without any single apologetic words. And somewhat, things turned to be okay.
But not this time. This wasn't any ordinary fight.
Takashi had betrayed him for years!
While he was being faithful, his partner slipped out at certain nights to sleep with other people. And not even a thousand words of sorry could ever fix their relationship. Ever again...
His heart was torn and ripped apart. His mind was blank. Everything that had happened before was like a bad dream he had. Somewhat he wished that this whole thing was only a mere nightmare. And he waited to be awake beside Takashi in their warm bed and glancing at his partner who laughed at him over his nightmare.
So he waited.
And waited a bit longer while his eyes stared blankly at the unstarry sky above.
As if the sky took a pity to his misarable self, the rain started to pour hard. The water blurred his vision and he didn't even notice that some of the water that was dripping came from his own eyes. It's been years since the last time he cried like this.
At that time, he knew that everything was real...
[To be continued]
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(5)
君と僕の関係
[Kimi to Boku no Kankei]
By Bayou
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Part 5
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Shogo writhed on the bed, slowly opening his eyes and sighed. He was exhausted but sexually satisfied. Though he was still naked, he didn't feel sticky from the leftover cum splattered all over his body. Takashi must had had cleaned him at some point. He shifted his position and found Takashi was lying next to him with several pillows supported his back while he was reading a book with the dim light of the bedside table lamp.
Takashi felt Shogo's movement and turned at him. "Sorry, did I wake you up?" he said, turning the lamp's head downward so Shogo didn't catch the light.
Shogo shook his head weakly, he was still sleepy. "How long have I been out?"
Takashi checked the alarm clock on the bedside table, "A little over 1 a.m., you've been sleeping for 5 hours straight."
Shogo mumbled and rubbed his eyes and made his partner snickered.
"You're too energetic like a wild cat earlier that made you exhausted too soon," Takashi teased.
"Shut up," Shogo punched his partner's arm playfully.
"Now you're being bashful," Takashi teased him again.
"Am not."
"Yes you are. I can see it behind that expressionless face of yours... And now you're pouting," Takashi said, he was almost never failing to guess Shogo's mood behind his plain expressions.
"Am not."
Takashi laughed and snuggled the taller man, playfully bit him all over, and licked his face like an over friendly dog. Forcing Shogo to chuckle when Takashi's wet tongue licked his nose. Shogo loved it when they're being silly like this.
"You laugh only when I do this," said Takashi, rather pouting. "You should laugh more often."
"I can't force myself to laugh just like that."
"Yeah. You're indeed one of a kind," Takashi said.
Shogo missed the meaning since the words had double perception; it meant good or bad of being one of the kinds. He silently sulked.
"But I say, it's better this way since I'm the only one who can see you laugh. It means, I'm special."
Takashi kissed the other man and Shogo tasted a sweet taste of a candy on Takashi's tongue. He's was sucking on lollipop again aftermath, it's pudding flavor this time.
"How about me, Taka-chan?" Shogo asked.
"About you, what?" he asked ignorantly.
Shogo pouted invisibly, "Am I special to you?"
Takashi chuckled, "If you're not, I wouldn't be your best buddy and stay with you for this long."
That wasn't the exact answer Shogo wanted, but at least it was satisfying... for now. He'd try to keep fishing Takashi with his leading questions until he got the answer he wanted.
"How difficult is it, to say 'I love you'?" Shogo sighed, speaking his mind out loud, surprising Kyou who was sitting next to him in the cafeteria.
"Are you feeling out of love, Shinonome-san? Having fight with Kanoe-buchou?" the tall guy asked.
Shogo glanced at Kyou and sighed again. The other boy could tell that he was being depressed.
"No, we're not fighting. Besides, this and that are a very different matter."
Shogo was still trying to cover his relationship with Takashi in the office, though Kyou was already aware that they were an item. He could sense it, since he had a male lover too. But since Shogo didn't want to be honest, he just pretended he didn't know anything.
"Rii~ght," Kyou said with bored look. He definitely didn't buy Shogo's diversion.
Shogo felt a bit awkward by Kyou's reaction, he felt as if the boy could read behind his stoic face.
"I say it every day and every time I had the chance, Shinonome-san," Kyou opened the conversation again.
"Huh??"
"The 'love' word," Kyou reminded him.
"Ah... Err... you say that to your lover all the time?"
"Yap!" Kyou grinned, his slanted eyes turned into a straight line as he smiled, and he looked very happy, "To put our feelings into words are very important. Though there are other circumstances where some people who are being together for so long and everything feel so natural for them, and words don't matter anymore because they already understand each other."
Kyou was putting Shogo and Takashi's relationship in a vague example, hoping that Shogo would understand what he was trying to say.
But Shogo seemed to think quite hard about it, made Kyou thought he was over thinking about their relationship.
"My lover is a bit insecure about our relationship," Kyou talked again, "So, I tell them I love them all the time."
Shogo's expression didn't change, but Kyou could tell by his gesture that he was troubled; he put his fist over his mouth and bit his lower lip.
"Do you feel insecure about your relationship too, Shinonome-san?"
Shogo hung his head, staring at his half eaten kitsune udon.
"Yeah," he said.
"Why don't you say it yourself?"
"Huh?!" Shogo was surprised by the idea.
"Yeah. Instead of waiting your partner to say it, why don't you say you love them yourself?"
"But that..."
"Would ruin your relationship because you don't know what he thinks, right?" Kyou cut into Shogo's words.
Shogo nodded.
"How do you know that?" Kyou asked.
Shogo's hand twitched.
"How do you know that for sure?" Kyou repeated, "At first, I was like that too. Afraid to tell my lover that I love them, afraid that it would ruin our relationship. Understanding each other are enough at some points, but sometimes, you have to put your feelings into words to make the other party know how you feel."
"But it's been over 10 years..."
Shogo didn't mean those words to slip. He clasped his mouth with his hand.
But Kyou acted like it was nothing, he pretended that he didn't know this 'other person' Shogo meant.
"Time doesn't matter," he encouraged him, "If you don't say it soon, it'll be another 10 years passed. And everything just keeps repeating itself all over again. Do you want to torture yourself for another 10 years? If it was me... I don't..."
Kyou picked up his finished lunch tray and stood up.
"Your udon is getting soggy, Shinonome-san,"he said, "I'm going first. I still have work to do."
The boy patted Shogo's shoulder—encouraging him—and left.
Shogo still hung his head and stared blankly at his lunch. And after few minutes later, he stood up with a determined look on his face.
[To be continued]
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