The New Neighbor - A Rival
Nino stared at the door in front of him, still contemplating if he should knock. He had promised Ohno that he would join the baking class with him, which led to Ohno giving him the address for his business partner’s house. However, now that he had arrived… Was it a good decision to come here? He had no desire to learn how to bake. He only came here because of Ohno.
He turned around, ready to leave. However, before he took a step away from the house, he looked once again at the door, hesitating to go away. Would it be a good idea to leave? Would Ohno be disappointed if he didn't show up as promised?
So, he returned to the door, raising his hand once again to knock on it. But, once again, he stopped his action. This time, he thought about Ohno's business partner. Would he be okay if an outsider joined their baking class? Ohno said his business partner was scary. So, there's a chance he might not like having Nino in the class.
So, Nino turned around once again. After only taking a few steps from the house, Ohno's face appeared in his mind, begging him to stay. He found it hard to reject the man even though it was only in his mind. With a sigh, he turned around once again, squeaking to see a handsome guy with bushy eyebrows leaned on the door. When did this guy open the door? Why didn't he hear anything?
"Who are you?" Nino asked. Stupid question. Of course, this was Ohno's scary business partner. No wonder Ohno was scared to come alone. His business partner’s murderous stare would be enough to kill a person.
"Huh?" The guy answered coolly as he walked towards Nino. "I should be asking you that. What are you doing in front of my house?"
Nino was spared from answering when Ohno appeared behind the business partner.
“Nino!” Ohno said excitedly. “You’re here!”
“This creepy stalker is your friend?” The business partner asked, looking at Nino sceptically.
“Hey!” Nino was offended. “I’m not a stalker,”
The guy smirked at him. “Well, my CCTV will disagree,”
Nino had nothing to retort. The guy was right. Everyone else would think the same if they saw the way he paced back and forth in front of the house. Even so, he glared at the guy who snorted at him in return.
"Oh, Jun Kun…" Ohno said. "Don't be too harsh on him. Nino must be shy to knock on your door earlier,"
"Whatever…" Jun drawled. "Finish whatever you want to do with him quickly. You know what we have to do after this,"
Jun turned around and was about to enter his house. But, what Ohno said made him stop.
"Nino is going to bake with us," Ohno announced happily, squeezing Nino's hand as he did so. Nino stood there awkwardly, not sure how to react when Jun glared at him.
"Huh? The stalker is going to join us?" Jun asked for confirmation. As Nino had expected, Jun was not happy to let Nino join their baking party.
“Yes, Nino is going to join us,” Ohno answered, ignoring the look on Jun’s face. “And stop calling him a stalker. His name is Nino,” Then, he shifted his attention to Nino. “I apologize for Matsujun’s behaviour. He is a nice guy but sometimes he is rude. He didn’t mean what he said. Where is Aiba chan? He didn't want to join us?”
With a pout on his face, Ohno looked so cute and Nino found it hard to resist looking at him. He knew Ohno had asked him something but he didn't answer. What was the question again? Nino couldn't remember.
"Nino… where is Aiba chan?" Ohno asked once again. Nino blinked his eyes, trying to recollect himself. What happened? Why couldn't he act properly when he was around Ohno?
"He cannot come. He has volunteer work today," Nino said, finally able to think properly.
"Oh! The animal shelter?"
Nino nodded his head. Aiba had come over to Nino's house after his breakfast date with Sho, bearing news that Sho couldn't meet Ohno today. His new neighbour was excited to hear the news because he could escape from Sho's nagging. However, Ohno left soon after that as he had to meet Jun to discuss their business. When he texted Nino earlier, he had asked Nino to bring Aiba along.
"How many people did you invite to bake with us, Satoshi?" Jun asked. He looked at Nino with dissatisfaction, in which Nino returned the look with the same intensity. He was annoyed with the grumpy man. And it became worse when he heard Jun call Ohno by his first name. "I don't have enough ingredients. I bought them only for the two of us,"
Ohno rolled his eyes. "You don't have to bake, then. Just tell us what to do,"
"What an easy solution. I don't have to bake," Jun said, mimicking what Ohno had said earlier. "I don't mind teaching you guys. But, does he want to bake?"
"Of course! If not, he wouldn't agree," Answered Ohno. Nino stayed quiet, not bothering to correct Ohno. He didn’t come here to learn how to bake. He was here to spend time with Ohno.
“Whatever. It’s late already. Let’s get started,” Jun finally gave up.
Jun didn’t like him, Nino could feel that. As for why… well it could be because Nino didn't give a good first impression by acting like a stalker earlier. However, rather than that being the reason Jun disliked Nino, maybe Jun was angry at him for interrupting his baking date with Ohno.
Nino had been observing Jun since they started baking together. The way Jun looked at Ohno proved that the taller guy had a crush on Ohno. Whether the feeling was mutual, Nino had no idea. But, he was certain of one thing. Nino didn't think he wanted them to be together. Jun wasn't suitable for Ohno.
"What are you doing, Ninomiya?" Jun chided as Nino was deep in his thoughts. "How long are you going to knead that dough?"
Nino rolled his eyes at Jun and then looked at his dough. It looked okay and Jun just wanted to make him look bad. That's what he had been doing since they began baking. The taller guy kept trying to find his mistake. Ninomiya, did you measure [insert the name of any ingredients] before you put it in the bowl? Whenever Jun looked at him, Nino already memorized what he's going to say. Urgh, so annoying!
"His dough looks fine to me," Ohno said, defending Nino. Jun only scoffed, not wanting to disagree with Ohno. “Nino is so good at baking, ne, Jun?”
Jun rolled his eyes, refusing to admit Ohno was right. Knowing that Jun would point out his mistake, Nino decided to show off his skills in cooking. Despite being lazy, Nino was a skilful cook, thanks to his parents’ genes. Both are chefs and naturally, their skills were inherited by Nino.
"Do you want to work with us? I want to hire you," Ohno suggested, earning a frown from Jun.
It was a joke and Nino knew that. However, Jun seemed to take it seriously and didn't bother to hide his annoyance.
"Are you insane, Satoshi? We need to interview before we hire someone. We have to make sure…"
"Relax, Jun," Ohno quickly interrupted. "I'm just joking. I don't think Nino wants to work with us,"
Nino almost smiled when he saw Jun's cheeks turned red. He must be embarrassed for losing his temper just now.
"I will work with you if you pay me more than my current salary," Nino said, trying to lighten the mood.
"That would be impossible, then!" Ohno sighed. "We cannot afford you. But, you can still help us on weekends, right?"
"Sure, if I'm not busy," Once again, it was hard to refuse Ohno. But, he was certain it was also a joke.
"If you want to help, we don't have to pay you, right?" Jun said. His tone was softer this time. "Anyway, Satoshi, I've been thinking about something…"
"What is it?" Ohno asked curiously.
"Curry pan," Jun answered. "Do you want to put it on the menu?"
"Eh?" Ohno looked happy. "Are you sure?"
"Un," Jun nodded his head. "Your curry pan is delicious. I think we could make your curry pan as our signature bread,"
"Yeah!" Ohno exclaimed as he moved towards Jun and hugged him. The taller guy blinked his eyes repeatedly as twin spots of red appeared on his cheeks, surprised to be hugged by Ohno. As Nino watched the scene in front of him, he… hmmm… what was this feeling? He didn't know how to describe it.
"Your hands are dirty, Satoshi!" Jun said, trying to push Ohno away. "Wash your hands first if you want to hug me,"
"Awh, are you shy, Matsujun?" Ohno continued to tease Jun. "I'm just happy because you want to include my original recipe on our menu. Thank you so much!"
Ohno beamed with happiness as he went to the sink to wash his hands. Then he returned to the counter and continued to work on his dough.
“You should taste his curry, Ninomiya,” Jun suddenly said with a triumphant look. “It’s the best curry I’ve eaten,”
Nino rolled his eyes. What was Jun trying to do? Trying to make him jealous, perhaps? Urgh, Nino didn’t understand why Jun treated him as a rival. Unlike Jun, he wasn’t interested in Ohno. They were just friends. So, there’s no need to think that Nino wanted to steal Ohno from him.
“Nino already ate my curry yesterday,” Ohno said. “I made too much so we ate together,”
Upon hearing that, Jun widened his eyes, surprised by the news. He tried to act cool but it seemed comical and Nino found it hard to stifle his laugh.
“Oh…” Jun began but he was spared from further embarrassment when his phone suddenly rang. “I need to take this call,”
Jun left the kitchen, leaving Nino and Ohno alone. Nino started to giggle when Ohno scooted closer to him.
“Nino~”
Ohno started sing sang his name repeatedly. It should be annoyed to hear that. But, maybe it’s because Ohno who made the noise, he loved to hear that.
“What do you want, Ohchan?” Nino asked, pretending to be serious. “If that grumpy teacher is back, he will scold us,”
“Nothing, Nino…” Ohno answered with a smile. A smile that clearly shown he was up to something. “Ah, you have something here,”
It happened too fast. Nino noticed Ohno had dipped his hands in the bowl full of flour. However, he couldn’t stop Ohno from touching his face, leaving flour on his cheeks.
“Hehehe,” Ohno was giggling. “Yeah! I win!”
Taking advantage of a laughing Ohno, Nino dipped his hands in the same bowl and then put it on Ohno’s hair.
“Hahaha!” Nino laughed. “You’re a Grandpa,”
But, his neighbour wasn’t angry at him. He continued laughing as he covered Nino’s face with flour. Of course, Nino wouldn’t stay quiet. So, instead of working on the dough as they should, the two of them started to play with flour. Before long, he didn’t realize that the two of them had ended up wrestling on the floor.
“Satoshi, are you staying… WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING?”
As both Nino and Ohno were too focused on their game, they failed to realize Jun was back in the kitchen. They quickly stood up to face Jun, not ready at all to deal with his wrath. The grumpy man looked at them with fury.
“GO AND WASH YOUR FACE NOW!” Jun bellowed and the two of them quickly dashed to the washroom. They had no intention to make Jun even angrier at them.
“AND DON’T PLAY WITH THE WATER THIS TIME,” Jun continued to yell.
Once they were done washing their faces, both Nino and Ohno stared at each other and then laughed.
“Your business partner is grumpy,”
“Right? But, he is nice,”
“GET BACK HERE QUICKLY AND CLEAN THIS MESS,”
The two of them continued giggling as they walked to the kitchen. Jun handed them tools to take care of the mess and they obediently complied. Jun was scary when he’s angry and it’s better not to test his patience.
“Who started this?” Jun asked as they were cleaning. “It must be you, right, Ninomiya?”
Should Nino be angry because Jun accuse him? Nah. This could be avoided if he didn’t join Ohno. But, it was fun. So, he didn’t mind to be blamed for it.
“I started it, Matsujun,” Ohno said but Jun shook his head, refused to believe it.
“You don’t have to defend him, Satoshi,” Jun said. “I don’t think you will start this,”
“But…”
“It’s okay. I forgive him. But, if you want him to join our baking class again, don’t do something like this again,”
“Okay,” Ohno agreed while Nino nodded his head. However, he thought that this would not be the only time they would cause trouble to the grumpy man. It’s fun to see an annoyed Jun. So, maybe he should do something different next. Hmmm, perhaps he could invite Aiba to join them. The more people to annoy Jun, the better.
Jun glared at him as if he could read Nino’s mind and know what Nino had been planning. So, Nino returned the glare with a sweet smile.
A/N: It's been a while since the last time I updated this story, right? I hope this is okay. Let me know what you think of it, please. It will be very much appreciated :)
Oh and also, I will close the poll for Cupid in 24 hours.