Not for Sale - Part 7 (Final)
“Junny, open the door!” shouted Nino, knocking hard on his roommate’s door. The moment he broke out of his trance after… well… after Ohno kissed him on his cheeks… he noticed that the door to Jun’s room was slightly ajar. Even though Jun wasn’t visible, Nino knew the man was spying on him and Ohno. And, he was proven correct when the door was immediately closed after that.
“Okay! Okay!” said Jun from the other side of the door. “I’ll open it. Stop banging on it!”
A moment later, the door was opened from the inside, revealing a guilty Jun.
“Pervert!” Accused Nino. “Why are you spying on Ohno-san and me?”
“I’m sorry, okay,” Jun was quick to apologize. “I cannot stop myself,”
“Why? Because we two are cute together?”
He said those words without thinking. And, when he realized what he had just said, he was too embarrassed to even look at Jun. What the hell was wrong with him? What made him hate what he said was he actually agreed with it. The time spent with Ohno was short but he couldn’t deny it. Indeed, they looked cute together.
“I’m sorry, Nino,” said Jun, much to Nino’s surprise. He thought Jun would be teasing him for what he said about Ohno earlier. Instead, Jun chose to ignore it and immediately apologized for what he did even without Aiba here to force him. He must be feeling super guilty, then. Should Nino take advantage and make Jun suffer first?
But, as soon as he thought about how he wanted to punish Jun, Ohno’s face appeared in front of him, lecturing him about forgiving Jun. He sighed, wondering if he should follow the advice. He was leaning towards that option since he hadn’t thought of a way to make Jun suffer. But, that was so not him to let Jun go just like that.
“You’re still angry at me,” said Jun, pouting. Nino frowned, tilting his head towards Jun. Even he himself wasn’t sure if he was still angry at Jun- This was Ohno’s fault for corrupting his mind to forgive Jun without torturing him- So, what made Jun think Nino was still angry?
Ah!
Was it because he was sighing earlier? It must be that, right? He tried to stifle a laugh. It was funny. The sigh had nothing to do with Jun but the man thought Nino did that because he was still angry. And, of course, Nino had no intention to correct the man. He wanted to see how far the man would go to get his forgiveness. Hahahahaha!!! Ah, this is going to be fun!
“Nino, what I did was wrong,” Jun continued when Nino chose to stay silent. “I shouldn’t sell you even though it was just a joke. Yes, I did that to get back at you because you have been lazy. But, that couldn’t justify my action. What I did was too much. If you won’t forgive me… I understand… But…”
Jun paused as his voice began to crack. His face became red and he started to bite his lips to stop himself from crying. The man was going to cry and realizing this, Nino decided to change his mind. He was weak against tears, after all.
“We have been friends for years,” Jun continued once he managed to control his emotions. “I don’t want to lose your friendship over this. Just tell me what to do. I will do anything for you,”
“Junny…” Nino sighed. He should stop making Jun feel guilty. Yes, he wanted Jun to suffer. But, In a way, this had been a punishment for Jun too.
“What is it?” Jun cut him off. “What do you want me to do?”
Nino smiled at him. “I forgive you,” He finally said. Ohno was right. It would be easier to simply forgive Jun. In a way, it would give him peace not to hold a grudge against Jun for what happened. “I did a terrible thing to you too. I mean... do you still remember when I pretended to be dead…”
“No way I’m going to forget that,”
“I know…” said Nino. “Even though I hate that you meddle with my life… I sort of… hmm… like the result…”
A weird smile was on Jun’s face when Nino said that. So, Nino smacked his head.
“It doesn’t mean anything, okay?” Nino clarified. “It doesn’t mean I like Ohno. He is a great guy but…” Nino shook his head. This wasn’t the time to talk about Ohno. It’s about him and Jun now. “The important thing is… I forgive you. You are right. I don’t want to lose our friendship over this,”
A bright smile was finally on Jun’s face. It made Nino happy to see that. “Really? So, we are still friends, right?”
“Of course!” said Nino, smiling. At the same moment, an idea suddenly crossed his mind. So, he added. “But, there’s something I want you to do,”
The phone only had a chance to ring once before the person on the other side of the line picked it up. A moment later, Ohno’s cheerful voice greeted Nino.
“Hello!” exclaimed Ohno once the line was connected. “Is that you, Kazu?”
“No!” Nino tried to change his voice, making it sound deeper. But, it failed when Ohno laughed excitedly from the other side.
“Thank goodness! You finally called,” said Ohno. “I've had two unknown numbers call me in the last few hours. I kept assuming it was you. It’s embarrassing to call them Kazu when it wasn’t you,”
Nino smiled, imagining how Ohno enthusiastically answered the calls only to get disappointed because it wasn’t Nino who called. It must be cute. How he wished he could be there to see… Nino quickly shook his head. What the hell was he thinking about?
“Idiot!” said Nino. “You should let them talk first,”
“I know…” answered Ohno. Nino could easily imagine the man was pouting. “But, I’m so thrilled to talk to you again,”
“I didn’t say I will call you,”
After talking to Jun, Nino had spent a great deal of time thinking if he should call Ohno or not. He tried to play video games to keep him occupied. But, thoughts about Ohno kept distracting him from playing properly. So, he switched it off. Right on cue, Aiba got home from his date with Sho so Nino decided teasing Aiba would be the best way to forget Ohno. However, as Aiba talked about the date, Nino kept imagining about going on one with Ohno. It drove him nuts. In the end, he decided to sleep. Once again, luck wasn’t on his side. He dreamt of Ohno this time. And, he vowed never to talk about the dream to anyone else. For one thing, it was embarrassing to dream about someone he just met. But, the real reason he won’t talk about the dream was… well... It was a naughty kind of dream.
Upon waking up, he decided to call Ohno. There won’t be peace for him unless he talks to the man. So, he calmed himself before taking his phone and then searched for Ohno’s contact number. But, he didn’t call Ohno straight away. Instead, he stared at the name, second-guessing himself. If he called the man, what were they going to talk about? He had no idea. He almost put down the phone again. But, the cute face of Ohno Satoshi once again flashed before his eyes. Sighing, he finally called the man.
“Kazu…” called Ohno. “Are you still there? Why didn’t you say anything?”
Kazu. There he went again. He called Nino by his first name. But, the weird thing was… Nino didn’t mind. If anything, he liked the way Ohno said his name.
“Kazu?” The man called him again when he didn’t say anything. “Hmm… What's wrong? You don’t want me to call you Kazu? Hmm… If you don’t like it… I will call you…”
“No!” Nino stopped the man. “You can call me Kazu,”
What the hell did he just say? Nino started to curse in his mind. Ah, whatever! The damage was done. It’s better than hearing Ohno calling him ‘the cute but annoying Nino.’
“Really?” asked Ohno. The man sounded so happy and Nino could imagine the bright smile on his face.
“Sure,” responded Nino. “You can call me by my first name if you want,”
“Thank you, Kazu,”
It wasn’t a bad choice, Nino decided. Ohno was happy. That’s more… What the heck? Once again, Nino shook his head. Why would he be thinking about Ohno’s happiness?
“Kazu, how is the thing with Matsumoto-san?” Asked Ohno, oblivious to the way Nino felt. But, Nino was grateful for the question. It gave them something else to be talking about. “Have you guys reconciled?”
“Yes,” answered Nino. “But, of course, I didn’t let him go easily,”
“Oh… what did you make him do to earn your forgiveness?”
“I asked him to…” He smiled. “I’m not going to tell you. It’s our secret,”
A chuckle echoed through the line. And for Nino, it was a lovely sound.
“You are still as cheeky as before,” remarked Ohno. “I still remember how you promised you would only watch two more episodes of Teletubbies but when it ended, you asked for another,”
“Stop talking about Teletubbies,” grunted Nino. He wasn’t annoyed but when Ohno kept talking about the children show, it worried him. It made him think that Ohno was only interested in his younger self and had no intention to know more about his current self.
“Hahaha… okay,” answered Ohno. “About Matsumoto-san… You’re not going to tell me about what you did to him?”
“Nope…” said Nino. “... unless… you agree to cook for me tomorrow,”
What the heck did he just say?
“Sure!” said Ohno, sounding happy. “What do you want to eat? What time do you want me to be there? After work? Or do you want me to come over to your office during lunch?”
Okay, this was too much! Before Nino could recover from the shock of asking Ohno to meet again, the guy already bombarded him with tonnes of questions. And, frankly, he didn’t know what to do. And, he couldn’t take the words back. Ohno was too happy with the suggestion and honestly, Nino felt the same too.
“Hmm… Kazu?” called Ohno when Nino went silent again.
“Still here…” Responded Nino. “About tomorrow… can you come to my house again for dinner?”
“Sure. What do you want to eat?”
Nino thought about it for a second. The burger that Ohno made for him today was delicious. He wouldn’t mind eating it again tomorrow.
“Burger… the same one that you made for me today,” informed Nino. “And bring the ingredients yourself,”
Yeah, he sounded petty being stingy with food. But, whatever.
“Okay, Kazu. I will be there around 8 if that’s okay with you,”
Nino only hummed in agreement. Usually, he would already be home at that time.
“So, what did you do?”
Nino blinked, not sure if he understood what Ohno meant. Did Ohno ask for what he did after Ohno went home? Well, he was just…
Ah!
Ohno was asking him about Jun. About what Nino did to his roommate as a punishment for selling him. Well…
“I forced Junny to go on a date with my colleague,” answered Nino. At first, Nino wanted to put Jun’s profile on a dating website and he would be the one to choose who Jun was going out with. He wanted to choose someone who was far from Jun’s ideal partner. Let the man know how he felt to be pushed to meet with someone he barely knew. However, he remembered a colleague at his office. The name was Ikuta Toma. The man had been trying to ask Jun out on a date numerous times, but Jun rejected him. That’s why Nino decided to interfere this time. Jun would thank him later, he knew it.
“I like the way you call Matsumoto-san,” Ohno chuckled. “Junny. It’s cute,”
“Err…” Nino didn’t know what to say. He didn’t expect Ohno would compliment him because of that. “It’s late. We should go to bed,”
“Hmm… you are right,” said Ohno with an unhappy tone. “But, we’re meeting tomorrow. I look forward to seeing you again,”
“Me too,” said Nino shyly. “Hmm… good night,”
“Good night,” replied Ohno. “See you tomorrow,”
And, then Nino ended the call. Talking to Ohno made him feel happy. A big smile was on his face, looking forward to tomorrow, to his meeting with Ohno. They had only been talking for a short time but he could feel that Ohno was a nice man. Yes, initially, he was angry at Jun for what his roommate did. But, if Jun didn’t do so, maybe Nino won’t get the chance to meet Ohno. Weirdly, he thanked Jun for that even though he would never admit it to the man.
How would his relationship with Ohno progress after this? Would they meet each other again? Maybe yes, maybe no. But, he could feel that tomorrow won’t be the last time. He closed his eyes, letting himself fall asleep. If he dreams about Ohno again, regardless of what it was, he won’t complain.
A/N: So, this would be the last part of Not for Sale. I think it's quite obvious that they're going to be friends after this and perhaps more later on. I hope this is okay.