His first reaction after reading the long-awaited reply from the very person he had considered important in his heart was to smash his phone against the concrete. Luckily, he stopped himself. His chest heaved as frustration grew even stronger within him. He still couldn't believe Kei would act this far. After all this time, with their closeness and familiarity, Wataru thought that Kei would at least say something to him. But no, Kei chose to run away without a word. What is this, some kind of a melodrama? Wataru lamented inside his heart.
He kicked a nearby trash can. The next second, he put it back up. Fortunately, the trash can was empty, and there was no one around. Wataru took a deep breath, then crouched down, both hands over his head. Then, he shouted to vent his frustration. This time, it was much more relieving.
Across the street, there was an apartment building. Wataru looked towards the second door on the second floor. He had gone up there earlier, pressing the bell and knocking on the door to no avail; no one answered the door. The commotion caused the auntie who lived next door to come out and asked him if he had some urgent business or something because Mrs. Hosugi was still in the office while her son was out of town visiting relatives.
That was why Wataru sent the message to Kei earlier, and it only caused him more frustration.
What was wrong with that Hosugi Kei? Did he think he was the only one with troubles? Did he think he was the only one going through a tough time? Did he think this was easy for him? What is he for Kei?
Wataru messed up the hair on the back of his head, frustration coming back. So what should he do now? Did this mean he was being jilted? Did he have to assume that this meant their relationship was over or something? Kei said to give him some time, but how long did Wataru have to wait?
"Dammit!!" he shouted, shocking a young office lady who happened to walk past him. She squeaked, then looked at Wataru funny. Wataru couldn't care less. He looked towards the apartment again, hesitating between waiting until Aunt Maya came home or just going straight to Aunt Maya's office. He was sure Kei's mother would be able to explain what happened to him.
The thing was, he didn't know when Aunt Maya would come home. She worked as an art director for an advertising agency, and she never had fixed working hours. Sometimes she came home right on time, but she came home late most of the time. To make it even worse, Wataru didn't know Aunt Maya's contact information. The only person he could ask would never reply him at this stage, and if he were to go to Aunt Maya's office, he thought it would probably be impolite to disturb someone at their workplace just because Wataru couldn't see his boyfriend.
Boyfriend. Wataru snorted. Did Kei still consider him that? At this point, Wataru suspected that probably Kei never considered Wataru as his boyfriend even though they spent so much of their times together and not in the way friends spent their time together. Wataru was never one to deny his own feelings; not that he accused Kei of doing so, but now that it came to this…
He had known Hosugi Kei since they were in junior high. Back then, he didn't pay that much attention to Kei because (1) they were never classmates, and (2) Kei was rather an introvert while Wataru himself was always surrounded with people. Then, they happened to enter the same senior high school and got into the same class, but they didn't start talking to each other until the summer of that year. Their class teacher decided to rotate their seats. Wataru, who always loved to sit at the back near the window, got his seat moved one row to the left and three seats forward, right next to the quiet Kei. He threw a perfunctory smile at Kei, who returned it with a nod. Wataru tried to exchange his seat back but their class teacher refused, so Wataru had to dejectedly accept his fate. His classmates laughed at him, including Kei.
It wasn't that Wataru disdained sitting next to Kei. It was about the seat, which was too in the middle for his liking. After a few days, between recess, Wataru happened to catch Kei watching a music video of a band which Wataru happened to be a fan of. Happy to find a fellow fan, Wataru then excitedly start talking to Kei. After a while, he then realized that Kei rarely speak not that he was shy. He could talk at length when the topic and/or the person was right. Since that day, they became friends.
By the time Wataru realized that many of their conversation start to contain innuendos or flirty words, he became a bit concerned. He knew that even between friends, things like this were normal, it was just a joke. However, Wataru wasn't able to get the way Kei smiled at him, or Kei's seemingly random tease, or the way Kei looked at him, out of his mind.
Then his heart started to skip a beat whenever Kei smiled at him, his breathing caught when Kei stood too close, he felt restless, and suddenly didn't know where to look when they stood side by side in the changing room after P.E. class.
Wataru became very, very concerned.
In times like this, Wataru came to the only person he considered an expert: his older sister. His older sister was a romance novelist, so Wataru thought she must have a knowledge regarding this thing. Plus, she was a few years older than him. Naturally, he didn't disclose that what he told his sister was happening to him because of Kei. He never thought that instead of getting an answer, his sister wrapped an arm around his neck, then pulled him down so she could mess with his hair, instead. Wataru protested loudly.
Then, his sister said solemnly to him, "If this person, whoever they are, started to appear in your wet dreams, you better find a way to date him."
Wataru threw a comic book at his sister's face.
A few days later, on their way home from their evening club activities, Wataru bought Kei a dozen of taiyaki and asked Kei to go out with him. Wataru was ready to be rejected, because who in their right mind would ask his bestfriend out with a dozen of taiyaki? Therefore, he almost choked with air when Kei took the paper bag from Wataru's hand and said, "Well, if you keep buying me taiyaki every week, then okay, let's go out."
Wataru liked him so much.
If only all of that was just a joke and his heart hadn't been so taken with Kei, then he wouldn't be this frustrated.
*****