Archive of Our Own

It’s his last year before he can graduate and get the fuck away from this stupid boarding school and he’s eager, too eager for the day to finally come. Unfortunately, it’s only been a month since Ash started his new semester of his last year, and he still has a lot of shit – syllabus, exams, school events – to go through. Don’t get him wrong, Ash doesn’t despise the school because of the people, well at least not the students. He has found the craziest best friends he could ever ask for, and most of his peers, juniors and seniors are great people. (If we exclude Arthur, the school would’ve been a lot more bearable, and it’s unfortunate that Ash can do nothing about that)

It’s the teachers, the administrations, the stupid rules and excessive pressure in here that made him detests this school to the very core, and he swears the only thing that’s holding him from strangling at least one of the teachers here is Griffin. It has been hard for his brother to raise him alone and provide him enough basic necessities ever since he can barely call himself an adult, and he doesn’t want to make it any harder for the man. Ash has been doing pretty great by constantly maintaining his academic performance, which isn’t really a hassle for the boy, and he just has to keep his discipline record clean for next eight months top.

However, there’s an extra program held by the school that apparently is mandatory for all final year students to participate in. It’s a collaborative program with other few elite boarding schools in the country, and they would have to stay in one of the schools, spend a few days studying and, well, socializing with them, he guesses? Ash hears a lot from his seniors that it will be a fun one, and if you’re lucky, you might come back home with a phone number… or phone numbers.

“Dude!” Shorter, his best friend, who happens to be his dormmate too, springs up beside him in the campus’ cafeteria one day after a hectic schedule, “We’ll be heading to the same school for the program!” he cheers, tapping his back a little too hard it makes him fling forward a bit. A sign that his friend is too excited.

“Zara, have you seen the list? Which school are you collaborating with?” Shorter spins his head to the girl sitting across him, as she lifts her head from the novel that she’s been indulging for God knows when. Zara is in the same class with Ash since year one, and they always find each other to team up for pair or group assignments as the fact that they can handle each other’s quirks pretty well is established between them.

She closes her novel, not before putting a bookmark to where she last read, “It’s a girl school, can’t really remember what’s the name and where it is,” Zara shrugs, voice feigning nonchalance but her slightly flushed cheeks said the opposite.

“Hah,” Ash blurts out, more than ready to call out her bullshit, “Sure you don’t know the school’s name,”

“Shit, Zara!” Shorter finally takes a seat beside him, dropping the files and papers onto the table, “You can finally stop the pining and ask for her number instead of constantly replying on her stories like a fool!”

“You guys,” her eyes are shut closed, fingers rubbing her temple to display fake annoyance though the hues on her cheeks haven’t fade even a little, “are ridiculous. I don’t even know if she likes girls. And even if she does, does she even like me?”

Ah, Zara and her coward queer ass again.

It’s a bit funny and Ash sure it’s a very funny coincidence for the universe to gather these three very different people to form a friendship with one thing in common, which is, they’re all are a part of the alphabet mafia. Shorter even named their group chat ‘the three muskequeers’ after knowing about this very fact, and that’s the only bad pun from Shorter that Ash and Zara can handle.

“Zara, I don’t think friends call each other ‘babe’ and calls you pretty on every, freaking, post,” Shorter rolls his eyes, arms crossed over his chest.

“That’s the thing! Girls actually do that and I’m confused as hell whether she’s just being friendly or she’s actually flirting!”

Ash could only chuckle listening to his two friends bickering back and forth about one’s love drama. He has always enjoyed being a spectator more than being a participant. He could enjoy this quarrel just like watching movies at night, he could finish a bowl of buttered popcorns just over this.

“-shut up,” Zara shoots Shorter a glare before sipping her daily canned coffee, that probably is the third one for the day, “Stop acting like you’re excited to go to the school solely for studying,”

“I never said that,” Shorter flashes his cheeky grin, manages to elicit an annoyed grunt from him when Shorter suddenly hooks his arms around Ash’s neck, “We’re excited to get some d- I mean phone numbers and we’re not ashamed to admit that,”

“Woah, woah, hold the fuck up,” Ash peels Shorter’s arm off his neck as he adjusts his messed-up collar, “What do you mean by we?”

“Ash! It’s the ___ Boys’ School, have you not seen them? You should be on Instagram more often, dude,” even Zara is nodding her head, agreeing to Shorter’s statement. Why are they friends in the first place?

“And stalk them? I’m not a creep, Shorter,” Ash shakes his head, unable to fathom his friends’ obsession towards social media. He’s not quite a fan of it, only have an Instagram and Twitter account just because his friends told him to make one, but he barely uses them. He’s not fond with posting pictures of himself or taking photographs, and he doesn’t know how Twitter works. Plus, he can just text his friends whenever he likes to, so what’s the use for social media?

“In my defense, their accounts are public,” Shorter raises his hands, looking like he’s caught red-handed, “Or I can just ask them for a follow, so,”

And they continue the day with Shorter thirsting over some teenagers, switching topics to interesting things happened while they’re in school hours, and finally them deciding to leave the cafeteria and separate ways to head to their dormitories. They continue their daily lives, hanging out every after classes until a week after when the responsible teacher told them that the list of their groupmates-to-be is done prepared. The second the list is in the hand of Shorter Wong, a loud, cheerful “Shit, Ash!” emits out of the Chinese’s lips.

“You lucky shit!” Shorter shoves the papers into Ash’s hands before slapping the his arm a little bit too rough than the usual friendly light slap Shorter used to give – he’s excited, “You are groupmates with Okumura!”

“Okumura? Who’s that again?” Ash queries, eyes still scurrying over the papers to search for his name in the sea of other students’ ones.

“Of course he doesn’t know who Okumura is,” Zara snorts, bringing her index finger to point out Ash’s name on the paper and Ash gives her a silent “thanks” after. He instantly brought his gaze to the name right below his, and he notices, Eiji Okumura.

“He is the school’s pole-vaulter, and hear this, he got a silver for last year’s national. And if you ask me, that’s pretty hot. No, that’s fucking hot,” Shorter utters, eyes burning with avidity.

“Strongly agree,” Zara nods her head lightly, a very rare case that she’s on Shorter’s side.

“Thank you, Zara, I love you,”

“Ew, gross,”

“Sounds like an insolent jock to me,” he shrugs, passing the papers to his other classmates before finding his gaze back to his friends.

“I don’t know, he’s kinda your type,” Zara shrugs, before adding, “Okay, maybe he’s everyone’s type,”

“Good thing you’re not interested, I think he’s out of your league, man,” Shorter taps the his shoulder, smiling apologetically and Ash is holding himself back from swatting his friend’s head. He shakes his head, busying himself with his chemistry report as his friends’ voices fade into the background, letting him wonder internally by himself what’s so good about this Okumura guy.

“He’s out of your league, Eiji,”

Eiji lets out a gasp, half-faking a hurt expression because that does hurt, but he doesn’t want Yue’s words get to him. He doesn’t want to let this little hope in his heart to die just yet, not until he tries. When he sees a blonde head with pretty – oh the prettiest he has ever seen – pair of jade eyes stepped down from the other school’s bus, he finds his friend instantly to squeal over the blondie only to get attacked with those venomous words. What a snake.

Eiji huffs, cheeks puffed out, “Jesus, can’t you be less honest for once?”

“Firstly, no I can’t, and secondly, you’re not Christian, sweetheart,” Yue plants his lazy eyes on the crowd of new faces in front of them, an unfazed frown adorned on his face.

Eiji lets out an exasperated sigh as he rediverts his focus on the program that they will participate in for the next few days, telling himself that he’s here to make this people feel welcomed to their school, be a good host, make friends and help each other in studying. Yeah, that’ll be nice! This will be a good memory for him.

However, he is certain that it will a better experience if the blondie is his groupmate and he get to spend the whole week with him.

Maybe, just maybe, Ash understands what’s the hype about this Okumura guy. The guy is definitely a looker, and no boy could look that good in one’s school uniform. And he’s jet-black hair is fluffy, might be fluffier than he’s favorite pillow, and his hand is aching to testify his hypothesis.

“Hi! I’m Eiji Okumura! Let’s help each other a lot for these next few days!” the guy next to him (yes, he’s sitting right beside Ash) flashes his charming smile, bringing his gaze to each of his groupmate before ending his sentence as his eyes meet Ash.

And when Ash witnesses the glint in those dark round eyes, barely there, but noticeable pink on his caramel skin, Ash definitely understands the hype about this Okumura guy.

Zara’s not lying about Okumura being his type.

Well, everyone’s type apparently, because the adoration in everyone’s eyes in this group is disgustingly palpable, but Ash can’t blame them though.

“Uhh,” Okumura breaks the silence, and, fuck, was he staring? “I think it’s your turn to introduce yourself?”

“Right,” Ash tries his best to be subtle, giving Okumura a slight nod before snapping his head back to face his other groupmates, “Aslan Callenreese, it’s nice to meet you guys,”

“I’m sorry,” Eiji murmurs, cheeks lightly flushed, shoulders slumped down in defeat as a sigh escapes his lips in a reflex. Why do they have to have biology as their very first study session together? Look, Eiji isn’t that proud with his academic potential, but he’s an okay guy. He’s an average in studying and he knows that fact well. But he knows better that biology is not his strongest field. Heck, he’s the worst in biology. And to have his crush helps him continuously for the whole page? That’s another whole level of embarrassment.

“Hey, what’s the sorry for?” Callenreese beams, and that smile alone manages to make his heart melt, “We’re here to help each other, you’re the one who said that, remember?”

Does his voice really sound that soft from the beginning? Or Eiji’s being too delusional he’s starting to imagine things that aren’t real?

Eiji chuckles lightly, still feeling abashed with his weakness for this subject, “Right, I did,” he continues reading the notes that he wrote while the blonde explained to him just now, “Thank you so much. I… It’s just- I just suck at biology. Or just anything in general to be honest,”

“That’s not true,” Callenreese stops writing, his smile falters right away as he frowns at Eiji. Oh no, did he say something stupid? “You’re doing just fine. You caught everything I explained pretty quick. And also, aren’t you-” and the blonde’s words are brought to a halt abruptly, the other’s eyes widened for a while before planting his gaze back to his worksheet, “Never mind,”

“Aren’t I…?” Eiji let the end trails off, lifting one of his brows, keeping his gaze on the flustered boy with hope he can coax Callenreese to finish his sentence.

“Nah, it’s… Uhh,” Eiji watches the boy rubs his nape nervously, green eyes still avoiding his black orbs, “I heard you do pole vault for your school, and you got into nationals, too,”

“Ah,” Eiji nods lightly, drawing his lips to a small polite smile, of course people know about that, “Well, it was just a silver,” he shrugs off before continuing on his worksheet, examining what the hell is this diagram has to do with the question.

“Just a silver?” Callenreese echoes, jade eyes finally meeting his, “Are you fucking kidding me? The fact that you even do pole vault is so cool? And you even got into the nationals and manage to win a medal? If you ask me, Okumura, that’s definitely not just a silver,”

“O-oh,” Eiji is genuinely lost for words, but he can’t deny that those words mean a lot to him as he can feel his heart being washed with pure warmth, so all he can say is, “T-thank you,”

Callenreese waves his hand off, head shaking weakly as a protest to receiving the ‘thank you’ and back to his work. The blonde has brought his gaze back onto his worksheet, but his smile is still there, not budging away from his lips.

“You heard things about me, huh?” Eiji is back to his playful self, raising his brow cheekily to the other only to receive a snicker and an eye roll from him. Eiji is threatened to let out a giggle nevertheless he suppresses it from escaping his mouth, wanting to let his mischievous side stays out for a while.

“Aren’t you a popular one, Okumura?” the blonde snorts, eyes switching from the worksheet right to Eiji as he pronounces Eiji’s last name. It does something in Eiji, and Eiji’s sure that it’s not good for his heart to beat this wildly.

“Speak for yourself, Callenreese,” Eiji’s not going to back down now, he has to be at least on the same level if he’s not able to step up the game, “I’m honored to get tutored by the genius himself,”

And Eiji notices, he notices that Callenreese’s eyes soften a little, smile spreads into a grin, fingers have long abandoned his pen and worksheet as he stares into Eiji, and suddenly the school’s hall is a little too hot for him.

“It’s Ash,”

Eiji blinks. Once. Twice. Repeating the words again and again in his head and somehow, he still couldn’t make sense out of it. Hence, his brief reply, “Ash?”

“Yeah, call me that,” he nods lightly, and if Eiji is not mistaken, Callen- Ash’s cheeks are slightly pink, “It’s from Aslan. My friends call me that,”

Oh.

He gets to call him by a nickname.

And it’s only the first day.

Yue’s not gonna believe Eiji if he tells the snake this, isn’t he?

“Eiji,” he quickly blurts out, too quick that Eiji himself is surprised. Yet, he takes a breath in and out, donning his most handsome smile that he can attempt of, “Ash,” breathes in, breathes out, “You can call me Eiji,”

Eiji would continue with a You can call me babe too but that would be too forward, right?

It’s their second day staying in the school and Ash never thought that he’ll actually have a lot of fun during this program. It could be because all of his groupmates are easy-going, being just nice in between too socially engaging and too quiet, which is just the right level of socializing Ash can accommodate to. Or maybe, just because he has Eiji in his team that made it easier for him to go through his days in this foreign school.

Right, Eiji, that’s what he’s been calling the raven-haired guy.

You can call Ash being a cliché or whatever for having a crush on the popular guy, but hey, it’s nice to know that the popular guy is such a warm, bubbly, and the most kind-hearted guy he has ever met. It makes him store a little bit of faith on humanity, just because the kids are collectively thirsting over a guy that’s worth the hype. Ash understands now, who would not fall for Eiji’s endearing smiles and amiable demeanor apart from his astounding athletic skills and good looks?

After three hours of exhausting study session, it’s finally their lunch break. Ash stretches his arms out upward, sighing in relief when he can feel his tensed muscles relaxed a little instantly. His butt is starting to hurt a little too, for the constant sitting and not moving around.

“I can’t believe we’ll still have three more hours to go after this break,” Ash switches his gaze to a dispirited Eiji who has his forehead slammed on the desk, voice muffled weak. A good chuckle leaves Ash’s lips involuntarily.

Eiji turns his head to him, eyes narrowing to shoot a glare that Ash knows has no ill intention behind it, “Stop laughing. I know that three hours is nothing to you, smartass,”

Ash shrugs, displaying his smug smirk, “Hey, where’s the lie?”

“Ash!” the blonde snaps his head towards the voice hollering his name, watching Shorter steps closer to his desk with a boy in high ponytail tailing him. Is that Yut Lung? Shorter has mentioned about a particular groupmate with long hair and pretty, pretty eyes (Hey, Ash’s just quoting what Shorter said yesterday night okay?), so that must be him, “Let’s go and eat lunch, I’m starving!”

“Yue!” the voice belongs to Eiji he recognizes, switching his gaze to see that the boy has gained a bit composure than before, “I’m exhausted I think I’m gonna die,” and it takes a lot for Ash to not impulsively poke Eiji’s puffy cheeks.

“Let’s go, little dove,” Yut Lung? Yue? tilts his head towards the exit door, “You’re dramatic when you’re hungry. Food will energize you for sure,”

Eiji nods, eyes glinting with fervor at the mention of food, but before Ash could lift himself from his chair to leave the hall with Shorter, Eiji voices out again, “Wait, I have an idea!”

Ash is already on his feet, ready to step out when he can feel Eiji’s fingers brushing his shoulder lightly, a friendly but careful touch, Ash notices, “You and your friend can tag along with us, Ash!” Eiji offers, excited grin suddenly shrinking into a timid one as he pulls back his hand off Ash’s shoulder, “I-if you want to, of course,”

And before Ash can think of a reply, of course Shorter is quick to interrupt, “Hell yeah!” he nods, extending his arm out to Eiji, “Shorter Wong, I’m groupmates with Yue,”

“Ah, so you’re Shorter?” Eiji accepts the other’s hand, shaking lightly as he steals a knowing glance to Yut Lung, “It is nice to finally meet you,”

Shorter seems clueless as to why Eiji said that per se, but he just shrugs it off and offers Eiji a polite smile. Ash then takes his cue to introduce himself to Yut Lung, awkwardly pulling out his arm to the boy, “Uh, hey? I’m As-”

“Aslan Callenreese, yeah? Lee Yut-Lung, just call me Yue. Don’t worry, Eiji talks about you all the time so by now, I’ve heard your name tons of time,” Yut Lung waves his hands off, sneaking a glance and displaying a victorious smirk to Eiji.

“Yue’s funny, right?” Eiji fakes a laugh, trying to appear calm though his face is as red as tomato, “A-anyways! Let’s go and eat, aren’t you guys starved?”

Huh, that is something.

It’s not like Ash is being oblivious, it’s just too early to let your hopes high if he’s being honest. Plus, it’s only been two days, so it’s quite impossible to develop feelings for someone, right? To have a crush? Yeah, that’s pretty normal. But to think that he has a chance of his feelings being reciprocated and they can actually be more than friends? Woah, that’s quite delusional of him, isn’t it?

Right?

So, here they are, four of them sitting together at the school’s dining hall, eating as they exchange stories about their lives living in a boarding school. Ash isn’t a talkative person, has always been the listener for most of the time, but it might be hard for him to concentrate on the other three boys’ loud chats when he’s side by side with Eiji, shoulders bumping and knees brushing. Not when Eiji’s tie is nowhere to be seen and the top two buttons of his shirt popped off, easy for him to (accidentally, maybe) catch a glimpse of the other’s collarbone when Ash is seated by his side.

Ash tries his best to follow along their conversation, nodding occasionally to them while munching his lunch, simultaneously ignoring his wild heartbeat every time he could feel Eiji’s body slumping to his side, shaking as he laughs to Shorter’s story about his journey on trying to keep a mohawk on his head, but failed to do so because of the school’s strict rules and ended up having a bald head instead.

“Our school’s dress code isn’t as strict as yours. You can have a purple mohawk here, y’kno?” Eiji voices, hands busy peeling a banana.

“Damn, this isn’t fair! Why didn’t I see a single person with a purple mohawk here, though?” Shorter mumbles in between his chews, eyes scurrying over the ocean of heads to make sure that his statement is a fact.

“Because we have taste, Wong,” Yue blurts out, face remains stoic as he ignores Shorter’s speech about ‘reasons purple mohawk is cool’, hands busy untying and re-tying his long, black, shiny hair into a neat bun.

“Oh, I think I have an interesting question for you guys,” Ash knows he’s been a passive listener for too long when the second he decides to talk, all three of them instantly divert their focus on him, “What’s it like to be in an all-boys school? Is it more fun?”

Yue and Eiji turn to see each other just for a while before averting their gazes again, eyes planting on random things as they contemplate over his question.

“I don’t know,” Yue replies first, shrugging nonchalantly, “It’s not much different, to be honest,”

“Yeah, nothing’s special, I guess,” Eiji nods, seems like to have the same opinion with his best friend, “Except for the non-existence of female other than the teachers and staffs. And that’s kinda sucks because I do want to have a girlfriend or two though,”

Ash nods, taking in Eiji’s reply as he brings his spoon to his lips when his brain finally done processing what Eiji just said.

Girlfriend.

Eiji wants a girlfriend, or two.

Ash can feel his brain shutting down, and how long has his spoon been staying before his lips? He shakes his head gently, ignoring the bitterness in his heart gradually growing before stuffing the food into his mouth, munching silently.

“Well,” Shorter speaks out, and Ash can feel Shorter’s taking a quick glance to him, but Ash chooses to dismiss, “You don’t have eyes on any of our schoolmates? I’m pretty sure the girls are into you,”

Out of nowhere, Yue breaks into a fit of laughter, loud enough to make heads turning to their direction. Ash lifts his head to witness a still chuckling Yue, one hand on his stomach and another trying to stifle the remainder of his laughs. Shifting his gaze to Eiji, there’s a visible confusion splayed on his face, head tilting a bit as the boy eyes Yue, before Eiji’s expression changes to a hint of realization and starts laughing too, leaving Shorter and him completely dumbfounded.

“Ah,” Eiji breathes in, an attempt to stop the laughter but to no avail, “Oh- Oh God, I’m so sorry,” the boy mumbles in between his breathy chuckles, head ducked, a hand waving in the air. Ash can listen to those melodic laughs for the entire day, but he is still having mixed feelings especially after listening to Eiji’s declaration on wanting a girlfriend.

“Yo…” Shorter eyes the two in bewilderment, trying his best to be polite though he is utterly demented, “Are you guys… okay?”

“I can’t wait to tell our friends about this,” Yue shakes his head, index finger wiping the tear at the corner of his eyes, “Eiji, enlighten them before this gets worse. I can’t fucking believe this,”

“No, Shorter, what I meant was-” Eiji clears his throat, choking back his remaining chuckles, “But I totally get it why you guys misunderstood, though,”

“Misunderstood what?” Ash is getting impatient, and he hates to not know stuff. Seeing them laughing by themselves as they throw cryptic look and comments back and forth is making him feel a little annoyed.

“I meant girl friend. Like girl, space, friend- A female friend! A platonic one,” Eiji enlightens, soft beam drawn on his lips, “I’m not interested in that girlfriend, y’kno,”

And when Eiji gives Ash a playful wink, Ash immediately lost all of his capabilities on thinking straight. Firstly, he’s not and for Eiji to wink him that way, that’s dangerous. Secondly, what did Eiji mean when he said he’s not interested in that kind of girlfriend? Is it just because he’s not ready to have one? Or maybe he’s not into commitment? Or maybe, maybe… Maybe he’s…

“Yes, he’s gay, Ash,” Yue shakes his head, eliciting a chuckle from Eiji, “And I thought you have an IQ of 180,”

They really just dropped the bomb like that, huh.

Ash continues eating his lunch with a blush tainting his cheeks, a giggling Eiji on his side and his tiny hope in his heart rekindles again.

The schedule for their third day has finally ended. Though the long ass hours of studying made his butt sore, Eiji can’t lie that he did have a good time with his groupmates, especially with the intermittent poking and teasing with Ash.

Everyone is packing up their stuff, bidding their goodbyes before leaving their desks and stepping away from the hall. Eiji keeps get interrupted in the middle of his packing to wave his groupmates goodbye, giving them his warm smile and a ‘take care! have a good rest!’.

“Speed up, old man,” seems like someone is being a little too irritating, “You’re taking ages,”

Eiji rolls his eyes, tempting to pack his things slower just to vex the blonde, but he’s missing his bed too so he has to pass that idea off, “We’re just a year apart, shut up,”

“Honestly speaking,” Ash slings his bag, blazer discarded and sleeves folded to his elbow, and what a sight to see, “If I see you outside of the school, I’d call you a kid, especially with that face and that height,”

“Okay, now you’re just being a bully,” Eiji shoulders his bag, eyeing the blonde with an unimpressed look, “You Americans just age too fast, that’s not my issue,”

Ash offers to walk to the dormitories together with him at the end of their study session, and of course his pining ass is gonna take any offer the blonde gives, which is the reason why the younger (apparently after Shorter told him and Yue that this smartass skips a year) waits for him. They step out of the hall together, side by side as they start to amble their way around the campus to get to their rooms.

The walk starts with silence, as their eyes take in the campus’ evening view, appreciating the green landscape the school provides though it seems inadequate. His school is huge and the buildings are new and modern, Eiji recognizes, and people can mistake this school with a college.

And when he can feel their knuckles grazed over each other, Eiji pulls his hand away like it burns, wide eyes meeting Ash’s green one as the blonde blinks owlishly, and it seems like he’s aware of the touch too reading by his tainted cheeks.

Ash clears his throat, bringing his hand to rub his nape – a gesture that Eiji has now learnt that the younger will use when he’s nervous, “So, uhh, how long have you been pole vaulting?”

Eiji can’t help but to feel his grin widens, “First started in middle school back when I was still in Japan. To be more precise,” Eiji calculates the years in his head before proceeding with his words, “About a decade?”

“Damn, that’s a long period of time,” Ash nods, a hint of awe paints on his expression, “By the way, Japan, huh? What’s it like there?”

“I was from Izumo, a city in Shimane, and it’s not a place as busy or as loud as Tokyo,” Eiji explains, eyes shifting to Ash occasionally as he recalls the image of his hometown in his head, “Izumo is famous for their Shinto shrines. Do you know there’s a shrine in our hometown where all the Gods meet once a year to do whatever their business are?”

“It’s my first,” Ash chuckles, eyes haven’t left even a second from Eiji now that he notices, “How many Gods do you guys have, Jesus,”

“There are at least 8 millions- What? I’m not kidding!” Eiji giggles, Ash should see how comical his shocked face is, “I still remember me and my little sister visiting there for festivals or when our parents brought us there,”

“I didn’t know you have a sister?” Ash quirks his eyebrow, grin turns into a cheeky one, “Bet she’s as cute as her big brother,”

“Nah, we’re not alike,” Eiji shakes his head, maybe the pure disgust in his face manages to entertain Ash to make him chuckle like that, “Though Yue is so adamant that we look the same, nah, I refuse to believe that,”. Why is it so hard for people to understand that siblings don’t have to look exactly the same? Plus, he’s way cuter than Hana, his sister, so never in a million years she looks anything close like him.

“Sure, whatever makes you sleep at night, Eiji,” and Eiji could just grunt to that.

“How about you?” Eiji switches the topic, changing his role from the interviewed to the interviewer, “Do you have any siblings?”

“A brother,” Eiji has never seen him with that smile, a warm, affectionate one, maybe Ash reserves that smile only for people that he cares a lot, “Griff practically raised me since I was a baby. When I was little, I see him as a hero, well I still do, but of course I won’t say that to his face,”

“He sounds amazing,” and Eiji witnesses Ash’s smile spreads wider as he stares the taller boy, taking in his delicate features when the other is not looking at him, wondering what’s in the boy’s head when the topic of his brother is brought up. Ash’s warm smile is still there, if it’s still not as wide, at least the emotions are still there, and his gaze is far thrown on the path ahead.

“Oh,” Eiji breathes out when their dormitory buildings come to sight, indicating that their little evening stroll is about to end, “We’re here,”

“So,” both of them bring their steps to a halt in front of the entrance, turning their body to face each other whole, “See you again tomorrow?”

“Oh, actually,” shit, Eiji almost forgets about that, “I won’t be there tomorrow,”

Ash’s small smile is now replaced by a frown, eyes widening a bit to receive the bad news (hopefully it is bad news for Ash), “Oh? Why?”

“Practice, and it’s gonna take all day,” Eiji smiles apologetically, and why does he feel like he has to say sorry? Why is he being sorry for? For not being there to suffer those long hours studying with Ash? For not being there to share the snacks he’s been sneaking into the hall with the blonde? For just… not being there by his side? But does Ash care about these things?

Probably not… right?

“Well,” Ash throws his gaze on the dirt, shoulders a little slumped, hands stuffed in his pockets, “That’s a bummer,”

“A-a bummer?” Eiji echoes, locking his dark brown eyes to those jade ones, not caring a bit for the full fact that he’s blushing.

“Y-yeah,” Ash clears his throat, gaze averted again as his hand rubs the nape of his neck – ah, this habit of him again, “Was hoping to see your pretty face again, but,” Ash shrugs, face trying to appears collected though his reddened cheeks are betraying him, and that’s very, very cute, “Looks like luck is not on my side,”

Eiji grins, arms crossing over his chest, “What if I say, you can still see my pretty face tomorrow?”

Ash blinks, eyes flickering with hope, “And how is that?”

“Meet me at the stadium after class ends tomorrow,” Eiji fishes out his phone from his pants, typing a text to Yue pretty quick before meeting his gaze back with Ash, “You can ask Yue to bring you there, or just ask him for directions, it won’t be that hard from the school’s hall,” he shifts his gaze to somewhere else this time, voice trailing off as he says the next line, “Well, up to you if you wanna meet alone or not,”

Eiji’s eyes are still avoiding Ash even after he hears a snicker from the other, knowing well that Ash indeed manages to catch the last sentence.

“Is it okay, though? For me to interrupt you, I mean. I don’t wanna be a bother or something,” Ash utters, voice and face evident with genuine concern, it makes Eiji’s heart melt even more. Boys like this scare Eiji, it could be just an act and Eiji won’t know until he tries, and he’s willing to try for this one. Oh, this one is going to hurt so bad if this ends up turning south.

“It is fine, Ash,” Eiji reassures, taking a step closer to test the water, and finding that Ash isn’t shying away, instead he keeps his gaze on Eiji, that very same gaze that he finds intimidating at first but warms up to it immediately after. Eiji lifts his heels slightly, head raised just a little as he plants a brief, soft peck on the taller’s cheek before instantly stepping away, brown eyes meeting green ones again, “I want to see your pretty face, too,”

And by that, Eiji waves him a good bye and flees into his building right away.

Right after he slips into his room, shutting his door close a little bit too loud which accidentally making Yue jerks to the sound, things that happened just less than a minute ago trickles back into his mind.

Did he… Did he just kiss Ash?

“Shit,” he breathes out, and he just realizes that he’s been holding his breath ever since that kiss, “I kissed Ash,”

“You what?” Yue plucks off one of his earbuds, eyes widening, “Did I hear that right?”

“On the cheek!” Eiji disclaims, extending his hands in defense, “Shit, is that too bold? Is that too fast?”

Yue blinks, eyes averting away before he shrugs, shock gradually surges off his face, “Nah, you’re okay,” he murmurs before stuffing his earbud back, “Damn, Okumura, you have balls,”

“Yeah, I actually do,” even Eiji is astounded by himself, never knew he could be that bold, “Literally and metaphorically,”

But he still can’t stop thinking – that did not just happen, huh?

So, that really happened.

It’s hard for him to fully register about the kiss when it just happened. Ash literally stood in front of the building like an idiot for solid five minutes before he could regain his composure and enter his dorm. He was being a little too quiet that night that it concerned Shorter and made the Chinese asked him if he’s okay. And only then he told Shorter about what happened that evening and the fact that Eiji kissed him fully sank into his brain.

Eiji kissed him.

Who the hell cares if it was just a kiss on the cheek? It was still a kiss from Eiji, and that’s what it all matters. He doesn’t remember what Shorter was screaming about last night, as his mind kept on replaying the kiss like a broken cassette at the back of his mind, but he remembers asking Shorter if friends call each other pretty and if friends kiss each other on the cheek.

The table does feel a little bit quiet than before without Eiji’s presence here, since he’s the most talkative out of six of them. He takes a glance to the empty seat beside him occasionally while he’s doing his work, can’t help himself but to feel a little downcast that there’s no one for him to poke around or share snacks with.

“Already missing Okumura, Cal?” Ash snaps his head to the owner of the voice, only to meet a smirking Irene, and seems like the whole table are investing their interest in him more as their focus are long off the papers.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Kim,” Ash shakes his head, face as stoic as he can ever be.

“It’s okay, Aslan,” Malik, Eiji’s schoolmate, shoots him a knowing gaze, “We all miss Eiji too, though it’s clear he has favorites,”

And by that, the whole table laughs, even Marsha is quick to point out the blush on his cheeks.

Ash rolls his eyes, planting his gaze back to his worksheet, “You guys are incorrigible,”

He curses that it’s unfair that Eiji get to skip today and let him go through hours and hours of studying by himself. Ash doesn’t remember for this studying session to be this exhausting for past few days. Seems like Eiji really does have an effect on him huh?

Finally, the torturing hours of constant problem-solving ends, and his eyes are already hovering all over the space in the hall, searching for a particular boy with ponytail, or braid, or fishtail, or whatever hairstyle he has today. He tries to search again after failing for the first time, eyes shifting to the watch on his wrist to check if he’s being late when a touch on his shoulder shocks him.

“Jesus, Yut Lung,” Ash jerks away, turning to his side to fully face the other, “I was searching for you,” Ash utters, before noticing – it’s braided bun today.

“I figured,” the boy eyes him, face looking unimpressed as usual, and Ash wonders if that Yue’s default face or Yue just lowkey despises his guts, “And why is that?”

“Oh, uhh,” Ash rubs his nape, sheepish smile on his lips, “Can you show me where’s the stadium? Or you can just tell me the directions, I can go by myself,”

A sigh escapes the other’s lips as he shakes his head lightly, “You can just say you wanna meet Eiji alone and go,” Yue chides before abruptly pulling him out of the hall together, immediately guiding him which way to go and which turns to take from there.

“I’m tempted to hold you back and give you a shovel talk,” Yue eyes him up and down. Ash isn’t intimidated, damn he barely gets intimidated by anything, but he knows he won’t like it to mess up with Eiji’s best friend, “But it’s getting late, and you gotta hurry, so maybe I’ll save it for later,”

Ash starts walking away after thanking the boy, turning back to shoot a glare to Yue when the boy shouts a quick “Spare him! He’s exhausted from his training!”. Just like what Eiji said yesterday, and how Yue instructed him to go, the directions aren’t that hard. It’s just relatively far if he compares to the distance from hall to their dorm, but an evening stroll would do after a fatiguing day.

After what it feels like 15 minutes or more of ambling, row of metal gates come to his sight and he’s quick to seek for the entrance of the stadium, finding it not long after. It’s an open stadium, not too colossal like what you used to find on TV for sports events but at least it’s way bigger than his school’s. Ash can catch a glimpse of a boy in red and white tank top and matching shorts, a band holding his bangs out of his face as he’s busy tying his sports shoes somewhere on the track. When he’s done, Eiji picks up the pole into his hands, chin raised high as he eyes the crossbar, and Ash has never seen so much determination burning in one’s eyes like that.

Ash takes a seat on the bleachers, not daring to go closer than he already is so he won’t disturb Eiji with his focus. He can see Eiji’s chest heaving up and down as the boy takes his time to get ready for his showdown, before breaking into a sprint, pole firm in his grips, eyes blazing with spunk.

And then, just before Ash’s eyes, Eiji flies across the crossbar, and for a second, Ash really thought Eiji has wings and is capable of flying.

The way his body is bent languidly to avoid from hitting the crossbar, the way his fluffy hair lifted in the air, the way his tank top raised up slightly as it reveals a glimpse of his built frame.

Ash has never seen a lot in such a little span of seconds.

When the sound of Eiji’s body hitting the mat echoes in the space, Ash is slapped back from his reverie as he shakes his head to let composure seeps in him full. And when he brings his gaze down again to the track, he jerks a little to find a pair of round dark brown eyes already staring back at him.

“How was that, Callenreese?” Eiji lifts himself up off the mat, hand brushing his messy hair to tame it a little though it doesn’t seem necessary, because Eiji still looks as handsome.

“You’re breath-taking, Okumura,” Ash replies, internally giving himself a high-five when his voice manages to come out unwavering, “You look like you were flying effortlessly,” he adds, already lifting himself off the seat and climbs down the bleachers.

“You flatter me,” Eiji chuckles as he scrambles to the edge of the mat to take a seat there, tapping the space beside him to coax Ash onto sitting beside him.

And how can Ash ever deny Eiji’s request?

He hops on his feet to place himself beside Eiji, fidgeting his weight on the mat awkwardly as he almost stumbles for losing his balance (which manages to draw out a giggle from Eiji, and he doesn’t really mind that). After making himself comfortable, Ash shifts his gaze to his side, only to regret it right after.

Ash is not sure where to lay his eyes on if he’s being honest here. Eiji is literally in his sportswear, sweat glistening over his body and face and that collarbone, and Eiji’s bare knees are just an inch away. And after being overly conscious over these details, there’s no way Ash can maintain an eye contact with the Japanese!

Ash tries to nevertheless, respectfully gazing right into Eiji’s doe eyes and no other else.

“You’re sitting too close, Ash,” Eiji comments, blush staining on his caramel cheeks, “I’m like, super nasty right now,”

“No, you’re not,” And that retort might be a little too quick it’s embarrassing, but it’s already out there and what can Ash do about it though? Nothing. Exactly. Plus, he’s being honest! He’s had it worst with Shorter and Zara and they still doesn’t bother him much. Eiji can ask him to wipe the sweat off using his bare hands and he won’t even hesitate, woah there Ash, “Wait, is that weird?”

Eiji laughs, eyes almost shutting close as his smile widens, and Ash likes how he is the cause for that little reaction, “A little,” he breathes out, still hasn’t done with his chuckles, “Okay then, don’t say that I didn’t warn you so,”

“How was today’s class? Was it fun?” Eiji adds again after he’s finished laughing, eyes being all smiley.

“Was okay,” Ash shrugs, trying to recollect interesting things happened today but all he could think off is his stupid groupmates collectively teasing him, “Less fun since I don’t have my big bro to poke around with,”

Eiji rolls his eyes, contrasting to the smile on his lips, “Annoying,”

“Anyways, where’s everyone though?” the fact that there’s only two of them in the whole stadium just now dawned into Ash’s mind.

“Oh,” Eiji voices out as he peels off the band off his head, another hand brought to his hair to sweep it back, a few strands seem to be stubborn enough to still dangle over his bare forehead. Eiji sure knows how to charm his fans, Ash can already imagine a wave of boys and girls squealing over Eiji if they witness that hair sweep with their own eyes. It would be a lie if Eiji doesn’t know what he’s doing, “Our training has ended quite a while ago. I’m just staying back to practice more,”

“A hard-worker and a looker?” Ash nods calmly, playful grin smothered on his lips, “The guy must be damn lucky,”

Eiji socks him in the arm lightly, trying his best to appear as mischievous but his crimson cheeks seem to betray him, “Have you seen yourself?” Eiji shakes his head, his expression almost seems exasperated, “You must have been tired from people saying this to you, but Ash, you’re the prettiest smartass I’ve ever seen,”

“It’s my first actually,” Ash chuckles, and he laughs even harder when he sees Eiji youre-fucking-with-me face, “My first to hear that I’m pretty and a smartass in a sentence,”

Eiji breathes out a chuckle, smile hasn’t faltered even once from his lips, “And I’m glad to be the first,”

Ash gulps, debating with himself whether to do what he’s been aching to do since day one, so he rests one arm behind Eiji, body leaning towards the other a little when Eiji suddenly turns to Ash’s direction, only to be taken aback with the proximity of their face.

Well, what a timing.

Ash's cheeks burn, flustered though he doesn’t plan on budging away, “I-I,” damn himself for being a stuttering mess, “C-can I kiss you?” Ash too is as surprised as Eiji when that sentence comes out of his lips without his knowledge, “I mean your cheek!” and how is that statement makes it any better, Aslan??? “Unless you’re down for somewhere else but hey I don’t wanna be a creep but you’re too cute and your cheeks are so squishy and-”

A warm laugh echoes through the space, making Ash brought his stuttering ass to a halt. Eiji cups his mouth, muffling his chuckles until it tones down to a smile. And before Ash knew it, Eiji is taking his hand – the hand that isn’t behind Eiji’s back – into his own, bringing it up to cup Eiji’s cheek, and Ash is holding on the few fragments of senses there are still left in him from pinching and squishing Eiji’s soft cheek.

“Go ahead,” Eiji nods once, hooded brown eyes boring into him, “I’m down wherever you want,”

“Are you sure?” he breathes out, gulping hard as his eyes flicker from those brown eyes to Eiji’s plump lips. This is risky, because Ash is well aware with the fact that he’s this close to lose it all and just slams their lips together, so Ash needs reassurance, if a single confirmation isn’t enough.

“Yes, Ash,” Eiji scoots closer, and Ash swears he could feel their lips brushing against each other, “Just kiss me already, smartass,”

And that’s all it takes for Ash to lean forward, crashing their lips together for a sweet, oh the sweetest kiss Ash has ever had. They start with a peck, not too quick, just long enough to register that damn Eiji’s lips are so freaking soft, he needs to use more chapstick, pulling just a hairbreadth away from each other, eyes meeting each other to search for any sign of hesitance before meeting halfway again for a second kiss.

The chastity in the second one is less palpable than before, not with Ash’s hand slipping from Eiji’s cheek to his jaw to the back of his neck, not with Eiji is now so so close to him that the other is almost straddling him, not with their lips occasionally tugging each other’s like this. This is dangerous, so so dangerous because this has never been so so good.

They pull away for what feels like both seconds and eternity, chest heaving as they breath for air. Ash eyes the other, drinking in this side of Eiji, those flushed cheeks, those pink shiny lips, those blown dark eyes, locking every detail into his mind.

“I’m afraid we have to stop here or things might get too…”

“Wild,” Eiji finishes his sentence off, a mix of pleasure, mischief and shy hinting on his smile. It takes a while before both of them are snapped back to reality, eyes widening as they pull away to leave some safe distance between them.

Ash clears his throat, a single hand caressing his nape as the events occurred just now replay themselves in the back of his mind, “Wanna head back to the dorm together?”

“Yeah, yeah, cool, sure,” Eiji nods, eyes seem difficult to meet with Ash’s as he hops down the mat, “Imma just… Get my stuff pretty quick, yeah?” he utters before walking to the nearest bench from the track to pack his things.

Ash spins to his back, cupping his mouth to stop himself from shouting out loud, instead just letting out his pent-up need to scream internally. He breathes in and out after a few seconds, stabilizing his breathing and heartbeat, encouraging himself in his head with “be normal, ash. you can do this, come on, act normal,” before turning back to face Eiji, just right on time when Eiji has finished packing, bag shouldered and his signature sweet smile adorned.

Damn, he gotta thank his school for this opportunity for real.

“Wait, you guys didn’t bang?”

Yue and his ridiculous, over exaggerating ass.

“What the fuck, Yue,” Eiji shoots him a look, obvious that he’s not humored.

“I’m not kidding!” Yue blows off his newly-painted black nails, fingers stretched and distanced from each other so they won’t stain each other, “You guys really look like you’re about to suck each other’s face off all. the. time,”

Eiji huffs a sigh, plopping himself beside Yue, face first on the bed as he receives a light smack on the back of his head with a warning from Yue that if he “ruin my nail and you’re fucked, I swear to God, Eiji,”

Maybe Yue has been friends with Eiji for so long that he can tell the silence coming from Eiji is not a comfortable one when his friend begins to give him soothing pats on his back, “Hey, what’s on your mind, little dove?” Yue’s voice softens, he notices, “Sorry I can’t give you a proper hug or anything, my nails are still new,”

Eiji’s chuckles come off a little bit muffled, as his face still buried in his friend’s bed. He twists to lay on his back, eyes boring into the wall that are full with glow in dark stickers that Eiji still doesn’t know how Yue managed to get that done, “Do you think…” Eiji sighs again, fingers fiddling with the hem of his pajamas, “Do you think he just want to suck my face off and that’s it? Nothing more?”

Eiji tilts his head slightly to face his friend, finding Yue’s sorry smile into his sight, and Eiji hates to listen more to what Yue has in that mind.

He heaves out a sigh, “Look, I’m fine if this is just a fling to him,” Eiji eyes shutting close, throat starting to feel tight and he’s close to suffocating from holding his cries back, “He can do whatever he wants, I don’t care,”

He probably doesn’t care, too, Eiji whispers that only in his head, hearing him saying those words would make it harder for him to maintain his calmness.

Before Yue can even lift his lips to share his thoughts, Eiji is quick to pick himself off Yue’s bed, gives his friend a sweet smile as he bids good night and climbs into his bed. Eiji wraps himself in his fluffy blanket, not bothered to at least get a sight of Yue’s reaction. He shuts his eyes close, with hope that slumber can distract him from this stupid feeling he’s having and get him ready for tomorrow.

Tomorrow is going to be the last day he can meet Ash before Ash and his schoolmates go back to their school in the afternoon. Just one last day of having to go through those juvenile teases, those foolish laughs, those smug jade eyes, those ‘accidental’ touches and that soothing voice. Eiji just has to go through one last time before he can see the other off and act like the past few days never ever happened.

Of course, that’s not what Eiji wants, but he’s not too naïve to think that he can get everything he wants.

“And that’s how you can obtain the value of x,”

Ash smiles awkwardly, not knowing what to do when the whole auditorium echoes with applause as he nods to acknowledge the claps before putting the microphone away and get back to his seat with his groupmates.

“God that was awkward,” his lips contort to an uncomfortable frown as he fixes himself on his seat.

“That was wild, Callenreese! Even Sir Isaac is impressed and that old man is damn hard to please,” eyes wide with enthusiasm as Dylan spills to him and his other groupmates who’s new to the information.

“Yeah, it’s not that hard to guess just by looking at that grumpy face of his,” Irene remarks, and Ash finds himself agreeing to that schoolmate of his too, “And that’s the first time of me seeing him not scowling since the past two hours in this class,”

“Gotta give the credits to Aslan. Good job, dude,” Malik adds in, flashing his teethy smile.

Ash shrugs, adorning his smug grin, “It was nothing,”

“Show off,” Eiji rolls his eyes dramatically, shaking his head lightly with a little smile threatening to creep on his lips.

Ash loves it.

Ash knows it so well that he’s going to miss this. Eiji’s little banters and eye-rolls when he’s being cheeky, Eiji’s sweet smile and angelic chuckles when they tease each other, Eiji’s hand on his shoulder and knee grazing his when that boy asked for help with a question, Eiji’s dark eyes and handsome face, Eiji’s this, Eiji’s that-

Eiji is going to be the death of him, he swears.

Ash knows he’s going to get mocked so bad when he’s back at his school by Shorter and Zara for end up getting head over heels for someone he misjudged as an insolent jock when Eiji has been nothing but an angel in a human disguise – which he learnt that that’s the very reason why Eiji is everyone’s type, his breathtaking looks are just a cherry on top. He can already hear those sneaky remarks and ‘I told you so’s from his best friends, but seems like Ash has no fucks to give, because he’s going to make sure that he’ll see more of those cute smiles and doe eyes in future.

Yes, Ash is going to ask Eiji the question.

No, it’s too early for marriage, though Ash has already thought about how many dogs to adopt together but let’s not think about that yet.

He’s going to confront Eiji and get that number, baby!

And then, another question comes into his mind uninvited.

What if Eiji doesn’t want the same thing?

Let’s be realistic here, when Shorter says that he is out of Eiji’s league, he has no disapproval on that because that, is in fact, a fact. There’s at least another guy out there, if not plenty, that is better than Ash in any aspect, and why would Eiji settle on his lame nerdy ass? No, Ash doesn’t deem this trait of his as a disadvantage of his. He’s damn proud to call himself a nerd, a bookworm, a smartass (maybe this is his recent favorite), but he doesn’t know if Eiji finds this trait an admirable one.

If what Eiji wanted in the end of this is nothing but just a little fling, he will understand and move on from Eiji, he guesses (not like he has any other choice though). Ash can still recall the last time he cried over a relationship that didn’t work out, but he doesn’t recall balling his eyes out over a crush, yet he knows it so well that this one’s going to tear his heart apart and Shorter and Zara better be ready their asses for his meltdown.

Their schedule has finally come to an end, and they were told that they have another hour free before they’ll be asked to get into their school’s bus. Therefore, here he is with his groupmates, already outside of the auditorium, taking group pictures together after Marsha suggested them to do so. Ash can feel his breath hitching when Eiji places his arm gingerly around Ash’s shoulders, as the boy asks him “Is this okay?” and Ash can’t spill out any coherent words, which he gives a shy nod instead.

They manage to take a plenty, thanks to whoever that helped them with the camera. Ash kind of misses Eiji’s hand around him when the boy retracts him arm back, but of course Ash won’t admit that. He turns to face Eiji, already planning on asking the boy to go somewhere a little quiet together and pop the golden question when a girl, and then a boy, and then a couple more approach Eiji collectively, asking the abashed boy for some pictures together.

Eiji shines his apologetic smile, gesturing with his hand that it’ll take a while. He gives Eiji a reassuring nod, weak smile falters as a frown takes over his lips instantly when Eiji looks away. Insecurity starts to kick in himself, he notices, as Ash second guesses his plan in his mind while strolling around the quad for a bit.

Should Ash just give up on what he’s planning to do? Will he even have the chance to do when there are people literally queuing up to take pictures with the star athlete? He pockets his hands, shoulders slouched as the thoughts spiral more in his mind.

Ash keeps on kicking the little rocks and pebbles littering on the ground, when a high-pitched ‘ow!’ comes out of nowhere, only for him to realize that the pebble he kicked might have accidentally hit someone.

And that someone, out of all people, happens to be none other than Yue himself – and wait is that Shorter with his hand around Yue’s waist holy shit-

“Ah, sorry for disturbing your little moment,” Ash shoots both of them knowing look, ready to spin his heels around and act like he did not see them with their hands on each other, which is not a sight Ash want to witness accidental or not if he’s being honest, “Imma just walk away and you guys can proceed-”

“Wait a second,” Yue peels him off away from a flustered Shorter, taking a few steps closer to Ash as his high ponytail sways side to side, “I thought you should be with someone right now but here you are, alone,” Yue leans closer, eyes scanning his face for a while before adding, “And sad,”

“I’m not sad,” and it comes out a little too defensive, but it’s already out there and seems like Ash can do nothing about it, “I’m fine,”

“Why aren’t you with your loverboy, dude?” Shorter voices out, eyebrow lifted as the boy eyes him curiously.

Ash grunts, arms crossed over his chest, “I don’t know what you mean, Shorter,” he throws a dagger to the other as he switches his gaze to Yue who just stuffed his phone into his pocket, black unfazed eyes meeting his again.

“I thought I’ll have enough time to give you a proper shovel talk this time,” Yue shrugs lightly, fingers playing with his shiny long locks, “But pretty sure you know the drills. Now, go get your man, Ash,”

“Wha-” his brows are knitted together, confusion evident in his expression when a familiar voice hollering his name interrupts the moment, turning to his back to find the owner of the voice jogging towards them.

“Eiji,” Ash breathes out, eyes widen a little as he wonders how the latter manages to find them there before an image of Yue typing on his phone flashes through his mind, and then it finally clicks.

“Let’s go somewhere else by ourselves, if you don’t mind?” the angel before him looks a little breathless, an arm extended out for him to make a decision to take it or leave it.

Ash can feel blush creeping on his cheeks as he averts his eyes somewhere else, a hand rubbing his nape and another gingerly placed on Eiji’s slightly rough one, “S-sure,”

He stumbles on his feet a little when Eiji begins to pull him forward, leading them the way to wherever Eiji wants to bring him to. Eiji’s hand is a little calloused now that Ash takes note of, and slightly bigger than his. He likes it, the warmth, the roughness, the way how his hand fits perfectly in Eiji’s, and it makes him reminded again that his crush on Eiji is just growing deeper, and he wonders where that’ll take him to.

They stop walking further when he spots a bench, and only then he becomes aware of the plethora of plants decorating their surrounding which indicates that this must be the school’s garden – Eiji’s such a cliché. Eiji takes a seat on the bench first before pulling Ash to sit on his side, hands still tangled in each other’s hold.

“I’m sorry, was a bit busy just now,” Eiji’s head tilted slightly, sheepish smile adorned on his lips.

“I figured,” Ash rubs circles on Eiji’s hand with his thumb, satisfied smile drawn on his lips when crimson makes its appearance on the other’s cheeks, “Well, what can I expect when you’re the campus sweetheart, right?”

Eiji rolls his eyes, hue on his cheeks darken even more, “Shut up, now you’re just teasing me,”

Ash seems to get lost in Eiji’s beauty again, because how can’t he when the other’s dark eyes sparkle so brightly and Eiji is all red like this? Ash doesn’t know when he can ever meet this beautiful boy again, he doesn’t even know if he’ll be given the opportunity for a next meeting again. So, what does he have to do now? Let them savor this moment now for the last time or grow a pair to propo- He means, to confess?

“Eiji-”

“Ash-”

His eyes widened at the accidental unison, and Eiji seems to be taken aback too as he breaks into a chuckle, soft dark eyes meeting his jade ones, “You go first, Ash,”

Ash blinks, dread seeps into himself though his eyes haven’t wavered off Eiji’s. He can’t be a quitter now that he’s gotten this far, with his hand in Eiji’s, with Eiji’s cheek kiss, especially with their (quite heated) kiss yesterday! He just hopes he didn’t read into the signs the wrong way, and this doesn’t end up unrequited.

“Eiji Okumura, I have a confession to make,” Ash utters, his heartbeat picking up its pace, eyes locking into Eiji’s nervous ones, “I have a crush on you,” he breathes out, and he witnesses Eiji’s face turning into pure shock, “I like you a lot, Eiji. And I think it’s pretty obvious by now,”

“You… like me?” Eiji echoes, brows crashed and his expression is a mixture of disbelief and uncertainty, “Like like me?”

“W-why? Is that- Is that a bad thing?” Ash can feel Eiji’s hold loosens a little, and the panic starts flowing into his vein, “I understand if you don’t feel the same! Y-you don’t have to reciprocate my feelings or- or-” Ash has now pulled his hand away from the other, and he doesn’t know why, but his fight or flight response is on active mode and he can flee away any second-

“N-no!” Eiji cuts in quick, two hands extended towards him, a gesture that is equivalent to ‘don’t go’ if it’s to be translated to a verbal one, “I-I mean yes! Wait, what am I even talking about- Give me a second, please? And don’t go just yet?”

Ash gulps, dreading with whatever it is in Eiji’s head, but he decides to face the truth, which he gives the other a reassuring nod and trying his best to appear more relaxed. The boy takes a deep breath in and out with his eyes closed shut, as Ash watches the other’s chest heaving up and down from it. The instant Eiji opens his eyes, Ash can clock a hint of determination in those dark orbs.

“I’m sorry I was just… shocked? Because I didn’t know you’d be into me like for real?” Eiji gestures Ash with a hand to give a signal to let him finish with what he wants to say when Ash is about to rebut in, “I know, yes, we k-kissed yesterday. But,” Eiji pauses for a moment, evident that he’s hesitant to say the next bit, “But, I thought you wanted just a fling and nothing more, y’know?”

“And is that what you want? This to be just a fling?” Ash chides in right away, hope blooming in his chest as he prays that this feeling won’t betray him.

“No, fuck no,” Eiji shakes his head weak, eyes reeking with sincerity as he spits the words out, “I like you a lot too, Ash. I would have never kissed you in the first place if I don’t have feelings for you,”

Heat starts to concentrate again on his cheeks, and Ash wishes he could catch that on tape and replay that confession again and again in his mind. That would be a great pick-me-up for him when he’s having bad days. Eiji too is as red as him, or maybe redder, because it seems like he just become fully aware of the words he professed seconds ago. Eiji is quite a reckless one, now that it’s caught his attention.

“Look, sweetie,” he drinks in Eiji’s reaction to the endearment he just used, and he’s sure to use it again in future, “We don’t have to be anything yet, okay? But I really want to know more about you, if you let me to,” he takes Eiji’s hand into his, rubbing soothing circles over the boy’s hand as he prepares himself to ask Eiji the question.

“Eiji, can I have your phone number, please?”

“I still can’t believe that you end up dating the very person you called an insolent jock before getting to know the person first,”

The three (muskequeers, haha) of them are currently lounging at their common room, having a study session together for their last and final exam before graduating out of this school. Zara is the one who gave the remark, as she scans through a calculus worksheet, half of her body swallowed into the bean bag.

“Hey, I’ve told Eiji about that and he’s forgiven me, okay?” Ash retaliates, eyes planted on his phone’s screen as he scrolls through Instagram. Oh yeah, he’s active on there now, since Eiji is sociable on there and he can’t miss any story post his boyfriend makes! Plus, he can find Eiji in those posts if Ash is lucky.

“Zara, you should’ve really saw how Ash acted around Eiji at the program with your own eyes,” Shorter who’s sitting crossed legs on the carpeted floor joins in the conversation, “This bitch had his heart eyes on Eiji since the first time meeting each other! And they flirted all the fucking time it’s disgusting,”

“You and Yue weren’t any better, just to let you know,” Ash takes his eyes off the screen to give the Chinese a glare.

“You guys literally end up getting boyfriends over what supposed to be a study trip, huh?” Zara snorts, shaking her head as she registers the information into her head, “Well, I’m in no place to say anything too, am I?”

“Good to know that you’re self-aware,” Shorter rebuts, a chuckle following right after.

Ah, what a life they’re having now.

The upcoming final papers are stressing them to death, having to revise the whole syllabus from the first semester they were in and each of the subjects they’re taking will be 100% written tests. Ash is exhausted over the constant studying they have to do, and he’s pretty sure his friends aren’t having it any better. But at least, three of them have something or rather someone to anticipate to at the end of the day.

“Hey, babe,” Ash’s expression softens from any frown and crease the second he accepts Eiji’s video call, an effect his boyfriend has over him every time, “What’s up?”

“Nothing much, baby! Just in the middle of study break and… I kinda miss your pretty face so here I am,” Eiji’s voice echoes through the phone speaker, and his boyfriend has no rights to look hella cute with his bangs tied above his head like that.

“Aww, bunny, I miss you too,” Ash yelps when Zara throws a pen right to his face, receiving a ‘gross’ from both of his friends in unison. These motherfu-

“Ash!” Eiji looks hysterical with his cheeks flushed and eyes widened, and that view of his boyfriend managed to make him forget the ink mark on his cheek, “You should tell me that you aren’t alone!” Ash chuckles though Eiji is not having any of his antics, but it’s hard to take his boyfriend serious especially with that ponytail on his head.

“Are Shorter and Zara there?” Eiji adds in, voice already dropping a tone lower comparing to his excited color just now.

“We’re here, loverboy,” Zara gives Eiji a wave as Ash turns his screen to the girl, Shorter has long abandoned his seat to fit himself in between their bean bags.

“Eiji, my guy!” Shorter beams, and Eiji mirrors the boy with a wider smile, “You’re doing fine there?”

“I’m this,” Eiji gestures with his hand, bringing his thumb and index finger close until they’re a millimeter away, “close from breaking down. But hey, I’m taking rests when I need to so no worries guys,” his boyfriend shines his charming smile, “And Yue’s fine too if that’s what you’re concerned for,”

“Hey! I ain’t say a word,” Shorter chides over Eiji’s little giggles, and Ash swears he can feel butterflies in his stomach whenever he listens to those melodic sound.

“Good luck guys for the upcoming exams! I have faith in all of you!” the boy cheers, closing both of his fists as a gesture of encouragement pairing with a firm nod, how cute.

“Hey, how about me? Where’s a good luck for your boyfriend, huh?”

Eiji chuckles as Zara’s “he’s back at it again, folks,” caught in his ears, but Ash chooses to dismiss the comment and diverts his full concentration on this lovely boy. This boyfriend of his.

“Well, good luck, smartass. Finish your exams quick so we can have more dates, yeah?”

Sounds like a brilliant plan to Ash.