My Friend's Roommate
Ohno braced himself as he stared at the door in front of him. This wasn't the first time he stood in front of the room. In fact, he had been doing it for the past two years. Still, he was anxious and excited to see the man behind the door.
Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door. Within seconds, a short man, around the same height as Ohno, opened the door with a smile.
"Hello, Ohchan," said the man. His name is Nino. "Right on time, as always,"
"Hi, Nino," said Ohno, hoping he sounded natural despite his nervousness. "Is Sho-chan here?"
"Of course, he is," answered Nino. "It's 8 PM. It's your dinner time with him,"
"Is that Satoshi, Nino?" Said a familiar voice from inside the room.
"Yes, Sho-kun," said Nino. He opened the door widely, letting Ohno see his friend studying on the table. "If you take a break from studying, you will notice it's time for your dinner with Ohchan,"
Sho looked at his watch and then excused himself to get ready to go out. People would assume that Ohno was there for Sho. But, they were wrong. He went to the room every day at the same time for Nino. Ever since Sho became Nino's roommate in their first year, Ohno had developed a crush on the other man. But, he was too shy to ask Nino out, feeling certain that he would be rejected.
"Will you be joining us today, Nino?" Asked Ohno.
"Nope," it was the same response as usual. Everyone in the college knew Nino was a cheapskate. Rather than eating out, he preferred to make his own meal. He would only eat out if somebody paid for his meal.
"Even if it's my treat?" Asked Ohno, trying his luck.
"Damn, if only you come a little earlier," said Nino. "It's okay, Ohchan. I already had my dinner. Maybe next time we can eat together. Your treat, okay?"
"Sure!" Ohno said excitedly. Sho chose that moment to appear at the door with a smirk. He was the only person who knew about Ohno's feelings for Nino.
“Ready to go?” said Sho. Ohno simply nodded. After saying goodbye to Nino, both of them headed to the cafeteria.
“So, you’re finally ready to ask Nino out?” teased Sho. His voice was too loud so Ohno quickly shushed him down. There was no one around but it would be better to be safe. “Will you tell him how you feel?”
“Are you crazy?” said Ohno. “What if he rejects me? I don’t want things to be awkward for us,”
Sho responded with a sigh. “But, you will not know how he feels if you don’t tell him,”
“It doesn’t matter,” said Ohno, pouting. “It’s impossible. I’m already happy to be his friend,”
“Hmm, okay, Satoshi. Whatever you say,”
The next day, Ohno was once again standing in front of the room shared by Nino and Sho. If he asked Nino to join them for dinner today, would the other man agree?
He knocked on the door, feeling excited to see Nino when the door was opened. However, the smile instantly faded when it wasn’t Nino who stood in front of him. Instead, it was Sho.
“Disappointed?” said Sho. “Sorry, seems like Nino is busy. He is working on a group assignment with Aiba-chan and Matsujun,”
“Oh…” That was the only response from Ohno. Well, he was fine with it. Maybe, Nino would be there to greet him tomorrow.
But, once again, he was disappointed that it wasn’t Nino who opened the door the next day. Sho gave the same explanation. The same thing happened again when Ohno knocked on the door the next day. And the next. And the next. The whole week passed by without meeting Nino.
“Do you miss him?” Asked Sho as the two of them walked to the cafeteria together.
“I’m okay,” said Ohno. Sho, in return, laughed at him.
“Satoshi, stop lying,” said Sho. “I could see how frustrating you were when it wasn’t Nino who opened the door,”
Ohno chose to stay silent. He didn’t know what to say.
“Anyway, do you hear the rumours?” asked Sho, trying to engage Ohno in a conversation. Without waiting for Ohno’s response, he went ahead. “Seems like you have a competitor. Apparently, Matsujun also likes Nino,”
“How did you know?”
“From a reliable source,”
Ohno didn’t say anything. Nino and Matsujun. He couldn’t help but think how well-suited the two were. Thank goodness, he didn’t follow Sho’s advice and confessed to Nino. He didn’t think he would stand a chance against Matsujun.
The next day, Ohno knocked on the door. He had been wondering why he continued this routine even though Nino might not be in this room tonight. But, well, he enjoyed having dinner with Sho so he decided to continue it.
To his surprise, it was Nino who answered the door this time.
“Hello, Ohchan,” greeted Nino with a smile. “Are you here for Sho-chan?”
“Yup,” answered Ohno, hoping he sounded normal. Truthfully, he was excited to see Nino again. “Hey, how are you? I haven’t seen you for a while,”
“Yeah, I was swamped with work. We had a group presentation today. Thank goodness, it went great. How about you? Did you miss me?”
“Well…” Ohno was at a loss of words when he heard that. It wasn’t something he expected Nino would ask him.
“You don’t miss me? That’s cruel,”
“I didn’t say that,” said Ohno quickly. “Of course, I miss you. Eh.. I mean…”
“You are so cute when you’re flustered, Ohchan,” Nino cut him off. “I know you miss me. Anyway, I’m afraid you will not have your dinner with Sho-kun tonight,”
“Eh, why?”
“Because he is not here. I kick him out,”
“Huh? Why did you do that?”
A sly smile was on Nino’s face as he pulled Ohno inside the room. Confused, Ohno simply entered it with a frown. The room was rearranged to put the table in the centre of the room. On it were two sets of meals. Nino pushed him to sit on a chair before taking a seat opposite Ohno.
“A little bird told me that today is your birthday so I made chahan to have a nice and not-so-quiet dinner with you,” explained Nino. Of course, Ohno was aware that it was his birthday today. He already talked with his mother early this morning. But, it was a surprise that Nino actually cared about his birthday.
“Err… thanks,” said Ohno. “But, you don’t have to do this,”
“Well, I want to,”
Ohno was curious to know the reason. But, he was too shy to ask. Instead, he looked at the meals in front of him. The chahan looked simple. But, he wouldn’t doubt Nino’s cooking skills. He had tried the man’s hamburger once. It was delicious.
“Sorry, it isn’t much,” said Nino when he noticed Ohno’s attention was on the food. “You know, I’m stingy so I can only make you something simple,”
“It’s okay, I really appreciate it,” To be honest, Ohno was touched that Nino was willing to do this for him.
Nino then urged him to give it a try. So, without hesitating, Ohno took a spoonful of the chahan. As he expected, it was tasty.
“Do you like it?” Asked Nino.
“Yes, it’s really delicious. Thank you, Nino,”
Nino seemed happy to hear the compliment as he took another bite of the meal.
The two of them continued to eat. Nino pointed out that even though they had known each other for almost two years, he didn’t know much about Ohno as their conversations were limited to when Ohno came to his room. So, he had been asking questions about Ohno during the dinner.
“Would you like to join me on my next fishing trip?” Asked Ohno. Nino was quick to shake his head.
“That would be a terrible idea. I will get seasick,”
“Really? Oh, I’m sorry,”
“It’s okay. Maybe you can cook for me with the fish you catch next time,”
“Sure. Anything you want, Nino,”
Once they were done eating, Ohno contemplated what to do next. It was fun spending time with Nino even though they didn’t do much. He didn’t want the night to end yet. Thank goodness, Nino was on the same page. He took Ohno’s hand and brought him to sit on his bed.
“Happy birthday, Ohchan,” said Nino. I have a present for you,”
Ohno tilted his head, wondering why Nino looked shy. And, he looked so cute when he blushed.
“The present is… hmm… myself…”
Nino mumbled the last word, making Ohno wonder if he heard correctly.
“Sorry, you must be thinking that I am a weird person,” said Nino before Ohno could ask for confirmation. “I like you, Ohchan. I like you so much. I want to get to know you better. Would you like to be my boyfriend?”
That was unexpected. All these times, he thought it was a one-sided crush. Never in his wildest dream would he thought Nino would have the same feeling as him.
“I like you too, Nino,”
A/N: Trying to use the postpone feature in LJ. Hopefully it works so that this fic will be posted on Ohchan's birthday.
Anyway, it's been a while since I wrote a story. Getting rusty. I thought of not writing anything for Ohchan's birthday but the idea just came up to me when I woke up a few days ago so I decided to write it. Hopefully it is okay.