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Friday nights are usually movie nights for the three of them, but Kugisaki had bailed tonight. She texted last minute too—later than last minute, actually. Yuuji and Megumi had been waiting for her for roughly ten minutes before she texted them, saying something about how she was hanging out with Maki so she couldn’t make it.
It was annoying, but Yuuji couldn’t really complain. Their movie night consisted of watching older movies on the TV in the common room, so it’s not like she was shirking out on some big commitment. Plus, he’d probably do the same if he knew Maki would be there to keep Kugisaki company…Or at least he hopes Kugisaki only bailed because she knew Megumi would be with him.
That’s probably the biggest reason why Yuuji isn’t bothered by Kugisaki ditching movie night. It’ll be pretty exciting for just the two of them to watch something together. Yuuji was thinking of showing Megumi some of his favorite movies that they wouldn’t be able to watch if Kugisaki was here. Not because they were inappropriate or anything, it was because Kugisaki would start complaining nonstop if he even so much as suggested watching them. Kugisaki was very adamant in her refusal to watch some of them, and she was very judgmental about it too!
Megumi on the other hand, the wonderful guy that he is, is actually willing to give Yuuji’s taste in movies a fair chance before saying anything. …Or maybe he was just fine with watching whatever if it meant he got to eat snacks and cuddle with Yuuji on the couch. He really can’t blame him if it’s the latter though, he’s also rather thrilled at the thought.
“Hey, Megumi?” He asks, singsonging his lovely boyfriend’s lovely name the way he always does, and setting his phone down on the table now that he’s finished reading Kugisaki’s texts.
“Yeah?” Megumi says in response. He looks over at Yuuji to indicate he’s listening (so sweet!) and Yuuji gladly meets Megumi’s beautiful eyes with his own.
“Since Kugisaki’s not coming, do you wanna watch Human Earthworm?” He tries to frame it casually, so if Megumi doesn’t want to watch it he won’t feel bad about saying no.
“Sure. I’ll watch whatever you say is good,” Megumi replies passively, more invested in making himself comfortable on the couch. He pulls a blanket over his lap and rests a bowl of microwave caramel popcorn on the vacant couch cushion to his left, looking incredibly cozy when he’s finished.
So it was the latter option earlier—Megumi did not give a damn about what they watched and would remain completely satisfied as long as he was comfortable and had his popcorn. Yuuji can’t say he’s surprised though, Megumi is far from a movie critic, so he probably wouldn’t have strong opinions about what to watch regardless. Yuuji honestly wouldn’t be surprised if the only movies he’s seen in his life were the ones he saw during their movie nights.
“Ok!” Yuuji exclaims cheerfully as he heads over to the little cabinet under the TV. He finds the Human Earthworm DVD case in its designated spot and opens it up.
“Oh, just so you know, the first one isn’t that good, but you need to watch it so you’re familiar with the characters and stuff like that. Like if you went straight to the second one, which is the best one, you wouldn’t understand anything.” The pink-haired boy informs the other.
“Mhm,” Megumi nods along, already starting to eat his popcorn before Yuuji has even finished inserting the disc into the DVD player.
After the DVD player accepts the disc, Yuuji scrambles back to the couch and fiddles with the remote to make sure the TV is on the correct HDMI channel so that the movie will actually play. While Yuuji does the very difficult technical work of sifting through the channels (it wasn’t hard at all, it was just annoying), Megumi spreads out the blanket on his lap so that it covers Yuuji’s legs as well. The gesture makes Yuuji’s heart flutter.
“There it is!” Yuuji exclaims, finally finding the shifty little channel that’s home to the Human Earthworm menu screen. He hits the play button and then sets the remote down on the coffee table before fully retreating into the blankets with Megumi.
Yuuji is absolutely delighted that Megumi agreed to watch this with him, and even more so when Megumi asks him questions about the movie. It’s not like he thought Megumi wouldn’t care or wouldn’t pay attention, but he’s pleasantly surprised that he cared enough to ask more about it. Yuuji does the best he can to answer without spoiling anything, barely able to contain his excitement. It’s nice to share something he likes with Megumi and it seems like Megumi is actually into it too.
…Scratch that, actually. Only about twenty minutes into the movie, Megumi pulls away from him and slips out of the comfortable bundle of blankets, leaving Yuuji freezing (he’s still in the warm blankets, but what good is that without Megumi there?) and alone. Did he not like the movie after all?
“The popcorn ran out,” Megumi explains to his heartbroken boyfriend. As if to prove his point, he grabs the empty popcorn bowl and starts heading over to the kitchen section of the common room.
“Okayyyy,” Yuuji sighs, pausing the movie and leaning his head back to look at Megumi, who’s currently behind the couch on his journey to the kitchen. He looks pretty funny upside down.
Snickering to himself, Yuuji makes the terrible mistake of letting his guard down. Megumi seizes the opportunity to press a sudden kiss on Yuuji’s exposed forehead. His boyfriend then proceeds to leave, resuming his trek to the kitchen, before Yuuji can so much as try to kiss him back. He can be so cruel sometimes!
Yuuji debates whether he should follow Megumi into the kitchen or if he should just wait for him to come back to the couch to even things out. Seriously, it had to be some sort of crime that Megumi’s gorgeous face hadn’t been kissed at all (in like the past hour). But then there’s that difficult question again: Should he get up and kiss Megumi in the kitchen right now or should he ambush him with kisses when he gets back to the couch?
He continues to weigh his options for a few moments before he feels the blood start to rush to his head. He still hasn’t come to a decision about when and where to kiss Megumi, but he does decide to just turn around instead of trying to look at the kitchen upside down. He lifts his head up from the back of the couch and shuffles around until he gets a good look at Megumi in the kitchen from over the back of the couch.
Ok, definitely kiss him when he comes back, Yuuji thinks. He’s perfectly content enjoying the view from here, so he really doesn’t want to get up. Honestly, Yuuji is probably just about as entertained watching Megumi as he would if he were watching a good movie. It’s not that Megumi is doing something funny or anything like that, he’s just mesmerizing.
Yuuji watches as Megumi peers into the cabinet for another packet of popcorn, triumphantly grabs it, opens up the microwave, places it gently on the microwave plate, gently closes the microwave, then presses the popcorn button. Afterward, he goes to the fridge and pulls out a squeezable bottle of caramel (Yuuji should have thought of that! Yuuji made the first popcorn bowl earlier tonight, so, hopefully, Megumi still liked it even though Yuuji didn’t give him extra caramel. He’ll definitely remember the next time he makes popcorn for Megumi.) and starts to squeeze it into the empty bowl. It looks like he’s carefully distributing the caramel, perhaps even making a pattern.
Yuuji rests his head on his right hand and sighs longingly. Megumi looks so handsome and he’s just making microwave popcorn. It’s crazy just how endearing a person can be when you love them, especially when that person is Megumi Fushiguro.
He already thought Megumi was pretty cool when he first met him, and now that he’s got to know him, really know him, he’s just found more and more to like about him. The fact that Megumi is his boyfriend still makes him so giddy. Even a simple moment like this makes him remember how grateful he is to have someone as wonderful as Megumi in his life.
The microwave beeps twice before Megumi stops it. He tries to grab the bag right away, but it must be too hot because he quickly retracts his hand and waits a second before reaching for it again. Then, he opens the bag, pours it into the bowl, and proceeds to drizzle even more caramel on top of it, sporting the cutest concentrated expression while he does so. Yuuji could watch him all day. He could even watch Megumi watch paint dry.
Megumi sticks the extra caramel popcorn back in the microwave for a handful of more seconds (Yuuji’s too far away to see what number he punches in) and returns the squeezable caramel bottle to the fridge. He leans against the counter as he waits for the popcorn to finish up in the microwave, seemingly satisfied with his popcorn work.
Megumi’s eyes wander until they stumble upon Yuuji. Yuuji’s been lovingly staring at him the entire time, so, naturally, their eyes meet. Megumi startles a little at the eye contact, like he was somehow surprised that Yuuji would be looking at him too.
“Sorry, you can press play again,” He says, cheeks turning pink. Yuuji hasn’t the faintest clue whether it’s because he’s embarrassed that Yuuji was staring at him the entire time, he’s embarrassed of his little popcorn routine, he’s embarrassed that Yuuji caught him trying to look, or he’s embarrassed for some other reason. It’s cute though.
“No way, I’m waiting for you,” Yuuji insists.
“It’s fine, I’ll be over in like-“ Megumi glances over at the microwave, “Nine seconds.”
“I can wait nine seconds. I’d wait for you forever.”
“If you’re waiting for me to make microwave popcorn forever, something is probably wrong.” Despite his words, a fond expression crosses Megumi’s face.
The microwave goes off again. Megumi retrieves the bowl of extra caramel popcorn and finally returns to Yuuji on the couch. After Megumi joins him under the blanket again, Yuuji finally restores balance to the world (aka gives Megumi a dramatic kiss).
“Revenge, for earlier,” Yuuji tells him smugly.
“Are we going to finish the movie or are you going to keep falling down a dark path?” Megumi asks playfully.
“Oh yeah. I’ll get you later.” Yuuji replies, unpausing Human Earthworm and snuggling closer to Megumi.
Yuuji thinks his beautiful boyfriend must have settled down now, but, a little past the halfway mark, Megumi slips away again.
“Do you want me to make some more?” Yuuji offers. He’d eaten a couple of handfuls of Megumi’s popcorn after asking to try it (It was pretty salty, but very very tasty. Megumi definitely knew what he was doing.), so it was only fair that he was the one to make more. “I think I remember your caramel technique thing.”
“‘S fine,” Megumi mumbles.
Instead of going to make more popcorn by himself like Yuuji thought he would, he leans forward to set the empty bowl on the coffee table and then he’s right back to snuggling up against Yuuji’s side again. Without any popcorn to eat now, he rests his head on Yuuji’s shoulder. Hell yes. Yuuji puts his arm around Megumi to hold him closer and Megumi obliges without hesitation, sighing contentedly. It reminds Yuuji a little bit of when he scratches Megumi’s Divine Dog’s stomach in just the right spot.
He smiles, warmth blossoming in his chest at just how intimate this all feels. He giddily presses a kiss on the top of Megumi’s head. For a few moments, he wonders if he can even feel it or if the kiss got lost in the mass of hair. He decides to give him a couple more, just in case (read: he peppers the whole top of his head in kisses), and then leans his head so that it’s resting atop Megumi’s.
The atmosphere is dampened by the shrill sound of a woman screaming from the TV before she’s brutally murdered, with several gross squelching sound effects accompanying. Suddenly, it hits Yuuji that he should’ve picked a romantic movie. Yuuji groans internally. He’d been so excited to show Megumi Human Earthworm that he hadn’t even thought that it would’ve been better if they watched something else. Yuuji is usually the romantic one too! It’s too late for that though, as the movie is already almost at the end.
When the credits start rolling, instead of being thrilled and talkative like normal, Yuuji is silent and nervous. He can’t stop worrying that maybe Megumi thought the movie was dumb and he wishes they watched something romantic instead. Yuuji unfortunately can’t see his expression from this angle, and it’s unlikely he’ll see it any time soon, as Megumi has made no move to get up. Megumi hasn’t said anything yet either, so he really has no idea what‘s going through his mind.
Yuuji sits there silently for a few moments before daring to move his head from its resting place on top of Megumi’s head. Despite Yuuji shifting, Megumi stays in the same position for a little while longer, not lifting his own head. Yuuji wonders if he’s fallen asleep.
“Yuuji?” Megumi says suddenly. Yuuji’s heart flutters momentarily upon hearing Megumi say his name, but then it seems to remember he’s nervous and it returns to a typical sped-up nervous heart rate.
“Yeah?” Yuuji replies quickly, feeling horribly dreadful in anticipation of what he could possibly say. Maybe he did hate the movie. Maybe he had been sleeping and Yuuji had woken him up. It was probably nothing good.
“Would you love me if I was a worm?”
Yuuji’s quiet for a moment, making sure he heard him right. He leans his head over to try to get a good look at Megumi’s face. There’s a teasing glint in his eyes, so Yuuji must have heard him right.
“Would you?” He asks again.
Yuuji’s heard stories online where people got broken up with over the worm question, but thankfully Megumi seems to be totally messing with him. Though, even if his relationship isn’t on the line, he still wants to give him a good answer. The movie wasn’t romantic at all, but this could be a second chance to impress Megumi.
“Uh, like a worm man or a regular worm?” Yuuji finds himself asking in an attempt to give himself more time to come up with something.
“Does it matter?”
“No, it doesn’t! I’d love you forever no matter what!” He insists. “…But it’d be funny if you said worm man.”
“Because of the movie?” Megumi sounds a little amused, so that’s a good sign.
“Well, yeah, but it’s even funnier because something kind of like that happens in the fourth movie.”
“What happens in the fourth movie?”
“Ok, well—do you care if I spoil it a little bit?”
“No, it’s fine.”
“Do you remember Rin? She showed up earlier.”
“The brunette?”
“Yeah! So basically, she and the Human Earthworm fall in love. Like they really like each other. Like they get married and have a bunch of human-worm-human kids and it’s like really romantic. Well, until the Human Earthworm gets killed, but that’s not the point. The movie’s still about love, but it’s like a tragic love story type of thing.” He pauses for a second. “Basically, I’d be the Rin to your Human Earthworm, specifically in the fourth movie.”
He thinks he hears Megumi laugh.
“What if I was a normal worm?”
“As long as it’s still you, I’d love you. I’d be like: Even if you’re very slimy, I love you, Wormegumi.”
Megumi lifts his head from Yuuji’s shoulder (his shoulder feels almost wrong now, without the weight of Megumi’s head on it) and turns to look at his face. He has an interested twinkle in his eyes. Yuuji takes that as a sign to keep talking.
“And then I’d kiss your worm lips.” He states confidently.
“Worms don’t have lips,” Megumi corrects him, but he doesn’t sound bothered at all. He sounds quite the opposite, actually.
“Well, then, uh…do they have mouths?”
“They do.”
“Then I’d kiss your worm mouth.”
As if to prove a point, Yuuji leans in and kisses him. Though he’d love him no matter what, he’s really glad Megumi isn’t a worm because he’d really miss kissing him on the lips. Kissing Megumi is something he’ll probably never get over.
Even now, when his lips are dry and salty (no doubt due to the heaps of caramel popcorn he had just eaten), the kiss is still fantastic. It vaguely reminds Yuuji of this time when he was little and he licked several of those colorful crystals in a gift shop, expecting them to have taste because they were different colors, only to find they were all equally salty and grainy. Except Megumi is salty in a good way and he’d much rather lick Megumi than a gift shop crystal.
The kiss lasts a while longer, as neither worms nor dry lips are enough to deter him from kissing Megumi. Nothing at all would stop him, unless like Megumi told him to stop, of course. Or unless there was a good reason to, such as the fact that Megumi might be dehydrated.
Yuuji pulls away, only briefly distracted by the way his boyfriend’s eyes flutter open before remembering he was going to ask him something.
“When’s the last time you drank water?” Yuuji blurts out at the same time that Megumi says “I love you too.”
Yuuji is stunned into silence. That’s the first time Megumi’s said that (if Yuuji could annotate his thoughts, he’d underline “that” until he ran out of ink) to him! He replays it in his mind a couple of times, savoring this monumental moment…a moment that Yuuji totally fucked up by asking him some stupid question about water. Agh, why did he do that?
“A couple of hours ago?” Megumi replies to the water question, sounding unsure of his answer. “Why?”
Wait, no, Yuuji doesn’t want to start talking about water! He doesn’t want that—that with five million underlines—to just be brushed over!
“I love you too…too? I mean, I’m seriously in love with you! I love you so much, Megumi!” Yuuji confesses frantically. Megumi’s face heats up to a comical extent and he turns to look at the floor.
“I heard you the first time you said it.” The other speaks up, albeit a little quietly. He’s probably gotten shy, now that he’s the one being told that he’s loved.
It’s a little funny how that works, when Megumi’s the one saying it, he’s totally reserved, but when he hears it, he gets all flustered.
Well, Yuuji’s pretty much the same. When he heard it from Megumi, he was experiencing something life-changing, but when he was the one saying it, it hardly felt like anything. After all, loving Megumi was as easy as breathing. He thought it all the time, so it didn’t really feel so dramatic to admit. If anything, it actually felt like he wasn’t being dramatic enough.
He always tells Megumi he loves him, so it just isn’t as special when Yuuji says it. He had to say it multiple times to make it up to him. He just really wants Megumi to feel as special as Megumi makes him feel.
Megumi eventually faces him again. His face has returned to its normal color other than his slightly rosy cheeks. He makes eye contact with Yuuji again, holding it for a few moments before his eyes shift down to his lips. Megumi licks his lips, then makes a face.
“That’s why you asked me that.” He groans.
“Hm?”
“I’ll drink some water, I guess,” Megumi says, wandering over to the kitchen again.
Oh yeah. How could he forget that his poor boyfriend was dehydrated? That’s way more important than trying to flatter him.
“Yeah, please do that.”
“Quit worrying.” Megumi huffs, pointedly showing off a glass he just grabbed from the cabinet. He fills the glass in the sink and holds it up again so that Yuuji can see.
“Thanks. I love you.” Yuuji coos.
“You don’t have to keep trying to convince me.” Megumi mumbles, taking a sip of water.
The words take him by surprise. Megumi is probably just teasing him again because he’s getting shy, but there’s just something about his words that’s off-putting. Irked, Yuuji goes over to the kitchen to face him properly.
“I’m saying I love you because I want to. Do you think I’m trying to convince you?”
“No, I just think…Nevermind. I mean that I believe you when you say it.”
“You believe what? That I love you?” Yuuji asks.
Megumi sighs and fiddles with his shoulder. Yuuji still doesn’t know where he picked up a habit like that.
“Well, it’s hard to believe and it’s even harder to admit,” Megumi says at first, looking down at the floor. “But yeah, I think so.”
“Huh? What do you think?” Yuuji asks eagerly. He knows what he means, he just wants to hear Megumi say love again and get even more flustered.
“Are you serious?” Megumi gives him a flat look.
“Well, you’re being so vague…”
“What do you want me to say? I think you love me?” He huffs. Yuuji doesn’t miss the way he hesitates when he says “love.”
“Hell yeah, I do!” Yuuji exclaims gleefully, leaning in to kiss him dramatically. “Megumi, I really love you and I want you to know. Even when you know, I want to keep telling you, too. I just like saying it to you. But maybe I want to say it a lot so you’ll get flustered too.”
“I knew you had ulterior motives,” Megumi says playfully, cheeks flushing. Yuuji delightfully notices that his ears are pink too.
“What? Nooo.” Yuuji replies, a big grin spreading across his face.
Megumi sets his glass down on the counter with a clink. Then, he gets in close and cups Yuuji’s face with both hands. His touch is gentle, the way it always is, and it gets Yuuji’s heart beating even faster.
“Yuuji?” Megumi asks, looking him in the eyes.
“Yeah?”
“Do you know that I love you too?”
Megumi had just told him a few minutes ago, but hearing “I love you” again had him giddy. Of course, Megumi had to, or else why would he be doing any of this? Yuuji almost says that, but then he gets a brilliant idea.
“What would you do if I said no?” Megumi’s gaze intensifies, watching him closely.
“Do you think that?”
“Hmm…maybe.” He doesn’t mean it seriously, he means it in a flirtatious, Megumi-I-want-you-to-say-you-love-me-more-and-also-kiss-me-more type of way.
Megumi leans in, holding him so close their noses brush up against each other. Instead of kissing him like Yuuji hoped, however, Megumi stays a little distance away. He’s gazing deeply into Yuuji’s eyes, not like he’s smitten, but like he’s looking for something in them.
“Maybe?” His boyfriend parrots back in a way that makes it sound like Yuuji’s in trouble. “So you don’t?”
“Wha-no! I believe you, I just meant it like “maybe not, wink wink,” y’know? Like “oh no, I don’t believe you, so you’ve got to say it again to make me believe you,” that’s how I meant it.”
“Did you?” Megumi asks. It sounds accusatorial.
Yuuji thinks of saying of course, he was just joking around and that he believes that Megumi loves him without a doubt. The words don’t leave his mouth.
He does have some doubts, actually. It’s not like he thinks Megumi doesn’t like him! It’s just…maybe it’s hard to believe he really loves him. There’s part of him that just doesn’t truly accept it and still feels guilty being with Megumi. But it’s no big deal.
“Yeah,” Yuuji says after too long of a silence.
“Sorry.” Megumi apologizes, dropping his hands from Yuuji’s face and stepping back a little.
“Huh? What are you sorry for?” Something in the back of his mind tells him that Megumi’s going to say he doesn’t love him and he wants to break up.
“You tell me things like that all the time, but I don’t do the same,” Megumi speaks slowly, cautiously.
“Why?” Yuuji asks anxiously. He’d honestly thought Megumi was pretty affectionate in his own way, so hearing him say he’s not just makes him even more antsy.
“It just doesn’t come naturally to me like it does for you. I’m not very good at things like this at all, but…I appreciate you a lot.”
Yuuji finds himself in an embrace. He lets it happen, sinking into the hug until his face is squished up against Megumi’s collarbone.
“Sorry for saying I didn’t believe you,” Yuuji mumbles into the crook of Megumi’s neck. “I mean, I don’t think you’re lying to me or anything. Maybe I just wanted you to say “I love you” and kiss me again. I don’t know, that’s dumb.”
“It’s not dumb.” Megumi holds him tighter. “I want you to know that I do love you, Yuuji.”
Megumi doesn’t say it verbally a third time, but Yuuji can hear it. Megumi rubs nonsensical patterns on his back and the gentle touch says I love you. When he peppers Yuuji’s skin with soft chaste kisses, Yuuji hears the unspoken I love yous. He hears I love you in the way Megumi breathes out slowly, he hears I love you from the tingles he gets being held like this, he hears I love you when Megumi runs a hand through his hair, he hears I love you I love you I love you.
Oh.
He wasn’t lying earlier when he said he did actually believe him, but he didn’t really get it then. It didn’t truly click until now. He tosses around the thought in his head. Megumi loves him. Oh, he thinks again as a ticklish warmth starts to build up inside him.
He thinks he feels a little choked up. (Hah, maybe loving Megumi is even easier than breathing.) It’s nice to be able to ask silly things. It’s nice, to be loved.
“What if I was a worm? Would you love me then?” Yuuji asks playfully.
“If you were a worm, I’d get you your own compost bin and I’d feed you apple slices,” Megumi says with full confidence, like he’d thought about his answer beforehand, then kisses him on the cheek. That’s the most romantic thing that’s ever happened to Yuuji in his life.
“Can you say it now?” Megumi asks.
“I love youuuuuuu,” Yuuji tells him, smooching him on both cheeks.
“Not that.”
“Can you just tell me?”
“That you know that I love you.”
“I always believed that.”
“That…?”
“That you love me.”
Megumi presses a gentle kiss on his lips. He then glances at the TV and then back to Yuuji.
“Can we watch the second movie?”
“You liked the movie?”
“I thought it was interesting. I’m curious how they make a second one. It seemed to be complete at the end.”
“Yeah! So it wasn’t actually supposed to get a sequel but it got pretty successful so they made a second one. You’d think that would end poorly, they just made an unplanned sequel out of the blue! But it’s actually pretty good! The ones after that weren’t as promising, the third one was kind of boring and the fourth one was just ok, but you can watch those too if you want!”
“I want to,” Megumi answers passively, yet Yuuji still feels something like swooning.
“Ok, movie marathon it is!” Yuuji announces, getting up to set up the DVD player so that it’ll play Human Earth Worm II.
Yuuji quickly returns to Megumi on the couch, cozying up to him so closely that an onlooker could hardly pick out whose arms and legs were whose; an amorphous bundle of soft feelings.
I love you, Yuuji thinks instead of says because the movie is playing, pressing his cheek against Megumi’s shoulder as if the contact would somehow send the message. As if Megumi could hear him, he exhales slow and quiet, his whole body seeming to melt in Yuuji’s arms, and he presses a lazy kiss to Yuuji’s forehead. He doesn’t say anything, not out loud, but Yuuji hears it loud and clear. I love you.