Kanawanai Yakusoku chapter 10 (final)
Title : Kanawanai Yakusoku
Pairing : Sakumoto/Juntoshi/Sakumiya
Genre : Angst, romance, m-preg (not clearly mentioned)
Length : chaptered
Rating : pg
Disclaimer : I own nothing, only that I borrowed their names for the characters.
Summary : A semi long distance relationship was never a problem for Jun and Sho, they trusted each other and managed to live the same path. However, the sudden appearance of Ninomiya and Ohno had affected Jun’s decision.
Warning : Bad English, no beta
“Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your captain speaking from the cockpit, we are currently flying 38.000 feet above sea level and 180 km from Tan Son Nhat International Aiport of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The weather is reportedly fine with the visibility around 10 km. Please sit back and relax while we’ll be preparing for landing, thank you for flying with us and welcome to Ho Chi Minh city.”
Sho gave the code to the co-pilot to lower the cruising altitude; it was a fine six-hour flight from Tokyo to Ho Chi Minh City. It had been a while since he flew here, his current schedule was always to USA or Europe. They landed the plane safely and headed the arrival hall where their shuttle bus was waiting.
Sho stuffed his luggage at the trunk and boarded the car, he leaned in the seat and closed his eyes immediately. It was almost three in the afternoon; he needed a long bathe and sleep. He listened to the conversation between the stewardess, but not for long since he slowly drifted to consciousness.
The driver woke him up when they arrived at the hotel lobby. Sho confusedly took his luggage and dragged it towards the reception desk. He checked-in and headed the elevator quickly. His watch pointed to four pm in the afternoon; it was definitely too early to sleep, but he couldn’t think of something else to do.
It had been two weeks since the envelope accident and Jun still denied meeting him. He gave Sho a clear statement that he still needed time until he was ready. Sho had no choice but to wait. It was not easy, though, he had tried to sneak around to Jun’s shop more than once but he stopped half way as he imagined Jun’s frowning face.
He even didn’t go back to their apartment; Sho stayed at the hotel for the time being and spent his time by rereading the novels he had read for the nth times.
He alighted the elevator at the 7th floor, headed his room at the end of the corridor, unlocked it and entered the room which welcomed him with rather a pleasant smile. He slumped on the bed, letting his pilot cap fell to the floor. The silence was so intense, it felt so weird compared to an hour ago when he was still on the flight.
Sho let the silence consume him, bringing him to the day when he met Nino along with his five-year-old son at the city laboratory. The kid was Nino’s little version; pale skin, pretty nose, a cute smile he had the same willingness to talk all the time.
He addressed Sho as ‘Mr. Pilot’ as Nino told the kid about Sho’s profession, even though he seemed to find difficulties in understanding what Sho did.
Somehow, the three of them looked like a happy family with Kokoro walked between them. The kid held Sho’s right hand and Nino’s left hand while humming softly.
“He always did it to everyone,” Nino said with an apologetic smile.
Sho looked down at the five-year-old boy and smiled at him, “Do you want to become a pilot?” he asked.
“No,” he shook his head, “I want to become a doctor.”
“You said you want to be a teacher,” Nino chimed in.
“That was three days ago,” the kid answered.
Sho chuckled and moved his gaze to Nino; he looked beautiful as he always was, but Sho had decided that he would move on. Nino caught his sight and gave him a soft smile. They continued walking while listening to Kokoro’s rumbling about the fish he kept at home and the complaint about his breakfast. He was sure taking after Nino on that.
The laboratory staff was a young woman; she welcomed them and noted their names on a book and told them to wait. She called Kokoro first, another young woman guided him and Nino towards the other room. Sho shifted closer towards the woman and showed her the DNA result he had received a week before.
“Did your office release this?” Sho asked.
The woman formed a puzzled expression as she took the paper from Sho’s hand. She checked the date and searched for a file on her computer.
“I’m afraid that our office never printed this result,” she said, confused.
“Thank you,” Sho took the paper back and slipped it into his pocket.
The three of them had a nice lunch as they finished the laboratory thing. Sho asked the nurse if there was someone who collected the DNA test under his and Kokoro’s name, but as expected she said that she never received anything related to Sho and Kokoro except for today. Sho decided that maybe it was better to let the sender unknown - he had no energy left to judge them.
“Papa, can I become friends with Mr. Pilot? He’s a good guy,” Kokoro said as they headed back home and they were about to separate at the station.
“Sure,” Nino answered. “You can befriend him.”
The kid waved goodbye at him as he and Nino boarded the train. Sho felt something warm slipped into his heart, he didn’t know whether he should be happy with the fact that Kokoro wasn’t his son (not mentioning that the real DNA result hadn’t finished yet).
The DNA result had been sent to Nino’s address three days later and it showed that Sho wasn’t Kokoro’s father. Nino phoned him when he was about to depart to his domestic flight (Kokoro’s voice could be heard from behind). Nino wished him a safe flight and apologized for the trouble he had caused and sincerely hoped that he and Jun would reunite again and resumed their delayed wedding schedule.
Sho slowly rose off of the bed and checked his phone. He had been keeping his promise not to bother Jun within these past two weeks and he missed the man more than he had ever experienced. Perhaps, Jun wouldn’t forgive him that easily after what he had done all these years. He only knew how to be loved without even knowing how to love somebody else the way they wanted.
Nino was right that he was just a self-centered man who thought too high of himself.
He walked towards the window and looked at the scene outside; he had never asked Jun to take a holiday together because he assumed that Jun was too busy with his shop. He never really talked about it anyway. He took a deep breath, hoping that there was still the way out for their relationship.
***
“Matsujun, try this one.”
Aiba handed him a cake with orange topping; it was their off day but Jun decided to work on his new recipe and Aiba seemed to think about the same thing.
“It’s a little bit sour, but I like it,” Jun commented.
“Can we make it for the next order from the wedding organizer?” Aiba asked.
“Sure,” Jun nodded. “I think the sour cake will be a nice idea.”
Jun checked his cake inside the oven; he had failed in making cakes upon his new recipe, something which never happened until now. Aiba said that it had something to do with his emotion and Jun hated to admit that Aiba must have been right.
He had freshened up his mind during his short gateway to Kobe, but the thing in the back of his head wasn’t something he could ignore. He had to clear his problem with Sho - if he could call it as a problem - what they had was something deeper and more complicated.
Jun had canceled everything related to their wedding, including the hotel reservation, the honeymoon plan (something he even hadn’t discussed with Sho) and he threw away the wedding invitation cards since he knew that they would change the date anyway. He wasn’t even sure that the wedding would happen in the first place.
He should talk to Sho sooner or later, but he didn’t know how to start it. He had called Ninomiya a few days ago and told the man that probably they needed to change the wedding date. Ninomiya answered with a casual tone without showing him any sign that he was probably the reason behind it. However, Jun had stopped blaming the man for what happened between him and Sho - it was not Ninomiya’s business anymore.
“It’s a trash,” Jun said, throwing the cake from its container.
“Matsujun, you need to take a rest,” Aiba said, looking at him with concern in his eyes.
“I have taken enough rest,” Jun slumped on the chair, feeling so frustrated.
They heard someone entered the front door, thinking that it might be Fujigaya or the other employees, Jun and Aiba didn’t move from their place until they saw a figure on the doorstep.
“Ninomiya san?” Aiba said with questioning gaze, “we are close for today.”
“I know,” the guy spread his smile at them, “I’m here to visit,” he put the plastic bag with beer cans in it on their table.
“These are what we need,” Aiba beamed happily, “come on, Matsujun, let’s leave the oven for a while.”
“I can’t drink,” Jun shrugged, glancing at Ninomiya.
“Maybe you should, you look awful,” the guy shifted closer to him. “A can of beer will help you.”
Jun shrugged and looked at the cake in the trash bin, Ninomiya was right, he was awful.
“Okay,” he nodded and loosened his apron. He led the way towards the front room and sat down on one of the chairs, followed by Aiba and Ninomiya.
At first, Aiba was the one who talked meanwhile Jun and Ninomiya only responded with ‘mmm’ or ‘yeah’ or ‘really?’ but when they guy finally dozed off lightly, both of them were left in a weird silence.
Jun had kept many questions he wanted to ask Ninomiya, but when the man was really here before him, he couldn’t even recall what he wanted to say. On the opposite, Ninomiya looked so calm, he slid something from his pocket and put it down on the table.
“Open it, it’s the authentic one.”
Jun took the envelope and fished the paper inside it. Sho’s name was printed on it along with Kokoro’s, but the result was different - it showed that he wasn’t the father of the kid.
“What does it mean?”
“Didn’t Sho tell you?”
“We…he hasn’t told me,” Jun avoided Ninomiya’s gaze.
“We went to the lab and got DNA test, this is the result and it isn’t something fake like the one which was sent to your apartment.”
“Did you send the fake one to us?” Jun asked after a few minutes of silence.
“Why would I do that?” Ninomiya sipped the beer and wiped his lips with the back of his hand. “I have moved on from Sho on the day I left him.”
Jun’s stomach flared up as he heard what the guy said, but there was no point to hate Ninomiya. He sipped his own beer and read the DNA test result once again.
“I’m still available to arrange your wedding,” the guy continued, flashing a soft smile at Jun.
“I don’t even know if we should continue our relationship,” Jun shook his head, “everything will never be the same again.”
“Well, if it changes for the better, why don’t you try?”
Jun looked into Ninomiya’s eyes; they were deep and calm and pretty; they showed him no lies and Jun knew that the guy sincerely wanted him to be happy with Sho. However, it was harder than what Jun had thought to begin a talk with Sho after what happened. He wasn’t ready for it, but he had to or his cakes would never shape right.
“He’s in Vietnam now,” Jun mumbled, more to himself than Ninomiya.
“You can go to the airport and welcome him home,” Ninomiya said.
Jun chuckled dryly, remembering the last time he picked Sho from the airport which ended up in a fight and he being hospitalized.
“Maybe I will,” Jun said, finishing his beer and tossed the can into the trash bin which woke Aiba up from his light nap.
The three of them continued eating Aiba’s new cakes until it was dark outside and Ninomiya mumbled that he needed to go home.
“I think he came to encourage you to talk with Sho san,” Aiba said as they finished cleaning the shop and their tools.
“I don’t know, Sho loved him to the moon and back and I was so jealous that I could poison him,” Jun said while smiling.
“You should have done that,” Aiba said, patting Jun’s shoulder, “but maybe you have to make up with Sho before you poison him.”
Jun came back home with a lighter heart after seeing Ninomiya that afternoon. He took long enough to stare at Sho’s pilot uniform in their closet; he took it and smelled Sho’s scent which remained on it. He missed Sho too much right now, it was surprising how much he needed Sho’s warmth tonight. He held the uniform and imagined the man was hugging him, whispering Jun’s name in his ears.
***
Jun was having his breakfast when his phone rang, Sho’s name appeared on the screen. He bit his lower lip before answering, he could feel his heartbeat rising as he heard Sho’s voice.
“Hi, Sho.”
“Am I bothering you?” Sho asked in a worrisome.
“No,” Jun tried not to be heard over excited, “I…how are you?”
“A little bit tired,” Sho answered, “how are you?”
“I fail in completing my newest recipe and Aiba said it was because of my mental problem.”
“Is that because of me?”
“Maybe because I missed you too much,” Jun said, sending silence between them. He heard Sho inhaling a deep breath on the other line before he answered.
“I miss you, too,” Sho said, “can we talk after I come back?”
“Sure, I’m sorry for keeping you wait this long.”
“I understand, it’s all my fault.”
“May I pick you up at the airport and go somewhere after that?”
“Sure, but I want to go straight to our apartment if you don’t mind,” Sho said.
Jun smiled as he heard it; it had been forever since he and Sho spent their time together and did nothing. They would talk about random topics endlessly until Sho dozed off on his lap.
“Sure, after we talk about everything.”
“Jun,” Sho’s voice was trembling as he spoke, “do we have any chance to…?”
“We can talk later after you come back,” Jun cut him, “you have a flight to catch, be careful on your way home.”
“Thank you,” Sho said, he needed a good two minutes to hung up, “I love you, Jun.”
Sho’s last words echoed inside Jun’s ears like a magic mantra; he kept on clutching his phone for the rest of the morning. He glanced at the clock on the wall, Sho would be landing at Narita Airport nine hours later, it felt like having their first date after a long separation. He still felt a light grip on his chest, but now it was something different, it was more because he missed Sho.
Jun went to work that day, finished some orders and left earlier. Aiba wished him a good luck and gave him an encouraging pat on his shoulder. He drove his car towards the airport while listening to Utada Hikaru’s song and hummed the song along the way. He remembered the first time he kissed Sho, recalled the first time he held the pilot’s hand and the first time Sho agreed to look for an apartment where they could stay together.
Sho perhaps wasn’t the sweetest guy on earth, but it didn’t stop Jun to love the man the way he was, not to mention that Sho was still in love with Ninomiya. Jun was still jealous when he imagined that Ninomiya had Sho’s heart back then and even after Sho and Jun dated. Come to think about it, Ninomiya also had some issues which forced him to leave Sho, he could do nothing to erase the past they had shared.
He reached the arrival hall and bought a cup of coffee while checking the arrival announcement board. Sho would be landing in a few minutes and for some reason, he was nervous. He sat down on one of the seats at the arrival hall and sipped his coffee, his eyes wandered around towards the passengers whose face mostly showed the tiredness and heavy jetlag.
Jun thought of Ohno all of a sudden; the actor didn’t show up in his shop since the night he confessed his feeling to him. Jun was too absorbed into his problems with Sho that he had no time to worry about Ohno. He didn’t want their friendship ruined because of it, but he didn’t know how to face Ohno if they meet again.
‘Announcing the arrival of Japan Airlines, flight number JL750 from Ho Chi Minh City, thank you’
Jun’s heartbeat sped up as he heard the announcement, he clutched the coffee cup tighter in his right hand and tried to calm down. It wasn’t his first time to meet Sho, this feeling was some kind of stupid, he felt like a teenager who waited for his crush at the corner of the schoolyard.
He took a deep breath, glancing at his watch, Sho would be exiting the arrival gate anytime soon and he still couldn’t find the right word to greet him. Was it okay to pretend that everything was alright until they were alone? What Jun wanted the most was to hold Sho tight and kissed him on his lips before talking about everything.
Jun wasn’t ready yet when Sho finally appeared from the exit door, his left hand was dragging his luggage, his eyes automatically found Jun who stood a few meters away from him. The noise around them couldn’t be heard anymore as their eyes met; Sho was the only one exist in front of him, he looked way too handsome in his pilot uniform.
Sho approached him, forming a soft smile on his lips, but Jun couldn’t move an inch, a thousand-mixture emotion splashed in his head. For mere seconds, he wanted to run away from Sho, far away that they wouldn’t meet again.
“I’m home,” Sho said, pulling him into a hug, ignoring that they were in the middle of the crowd. “I missed you,” he whispered in Jun’s ear and it was enough to erase his anxiety which clutched into him for weeks.
“Sho,” he whispered back, not knowing what to say.
Sho pulled further and looked into his eyes, “Let’s go home.”
They walked together towards the parking area, hand in hand. Jun could tell from Sho’s gesture that he missed Jun sincerely, but he wasn’t ready for this lovey-dovey Sho and it made him a little bit awkward.
They didn’t talk much on the way home until they were comfortable enough on their sofa with two cups of hot tea before them. Sho looked tired and sleepy, but he denied to take some sleep, not until they talked.
Jun didn’t know where to start, so he talked randomly about the new cakes recipes that he failed to make and about Aiba who seemed to have a new crush.
“Ninomiya san visited me a few days ago,” Jun said, waiting for Sho’s reaction, “he brought me the DNA result.”
“We went to the laboratory,” Sho answered. “He told me that he would be getting married anytime soon.”
“Really?”
Sho nodded, sipping the hot tea after blowing it for a couple of times. The silence fell between them, each of them was trying to find the right word to say.
“Jun, I’m sorry about everything,” Sho said. “I don’t know if an apology would be enough for what I’ve done, but I don’t want to lose you, I’ll be scattering around if you leave me. I know that I’m a jerk for not realizing how much you mean to me, but now I know that I can’t live without you.”
Sho extended his hand to Jun’s, squishing his fingers softly and leaning closer to give Jun a kiss on his lips.
“We need some times,” Jun said as Sho pulled away.
“What do you mean?”
“I feel like we don’t know each other very well, regardless that we are live together for a long time, I want to know you better,” Jun caressed Sho’s cheek as he spoke; he had been thinking about it for days and he knew that they couldn’t be happy if they stayed where they were.
Sho nodded, leaning his forehead against Jun.
“I’m so scared that you will leave me.”
Jun shook his head, “I would never do that.”
“Thank you,” Sho whispered and hugged him. The warmth of his body was something that Jun missed the most.
Sho’s hand slipped under his shirt and caressed his bare skin; it had been so long since they made love and perhaps that was what they needed right now to loosen the tense between them. They kissed and searched for each other’s warmth, their breaths united as one, and their longing was poured into it.
***
“This tie will do,” Jun said as he helped Sho to pick the tie for the wedding party they would be attending together.
“The pattern isn’t that stylish,” Sho pouted his lips.
“Nobody will pay attention on your tie anyway,” Jun sighed, taking another tie and handing it to Sho.
“I’ll be reading a speech, of course, they will pay attention to me and my tie.”
Jun rolled his eyes and left Sho to the living room. They would attend the wedding party of one of Sho’s colleagues; the guy wanted Sho to read the speech as the representative of their office and Jun had no idea why it made Sho too obsessed with his tie pattern.
Ninomiya was in charge for the wedding, the guy told Jun when he visited his shop a few days ago, together with a man who Jun presumed as his boyfriend.
Talking about the wedding; Jun and Sho hadn’t talked about it anymore. They decided to take things slowly and Jun was glad that Sho showed him more love and attention. It was about waiting for the right time to get married and there was no need to rush.
Sho finally chose a navy-blue tie and announced that he was ready a few minutes later. They drove towards the wedding venue by Jun’s car. Sho re-read the speech text that he would be reading and chanted it like a mantra. Jun teased him that he looked like an awful weather forecast announcer which gained a sour laughter from the pilot.
They reached the last junction to the wedding venue, Jun stopped the car as the traffic light turned red.
“Sho, isn’t that man Ohno san?” he pointed at the man who was about to cross the street, a girl was beside him, they walked hand in hand.
“I don’t know that he is a straight man,” Jun mumbled, remembering Ohno’s confession.
“He’s an actor anyway,” Sho answered. “Maybe he can switch his emotion anytime he likes.”
“Do you think that he’s the one who slipped the envelope under our door?” Jun asked. He had been guessing that Ohno probably the one who did that, even though he hoped that his guess was wrong.
“I don’t know,” Sho shrugged, “even if he did it, I would thank him that I could be honest with my feeling afterward.”
Jun nodded. He followed Ohno with his gaze, the girl clutched tightly on his arm and somehow, Jun was happy for the man. He fed his car some gas as the traffic light turned green, Sho returned his attention at his speech until they entered the venue.
Sho held his hand as they entered the hotel hall where the wedding was taking place. He introduced Jun to his colleagues and proudly said that he was one of the best pettisier in town. They met Nino as well; they greeted him shortly since he needed to return to his work.
“Sho, I think I still want to entrust our wedding in his hands,” Jun mumbled to Sho as they took a seat.
“I’ll leave it to you, but of course I’ll go together with you this time,” Sho said, smiling at him.
The atmosphere reminded Jun of the first time he met Sho at the wedding party. Maybe they were fated to be together, Jun thought. He stole a glance at Sho’s face; he knew there would be many days where they would fight or argue over small things, but he also knew that they couldn’t live without each other.
The orchestra started playing and all of them paid attention at the groom and bride. Sho found Jun’s hand and squished it softly as if telling him that he was looking forward to their upcoming wedding.
The end
a.n: Hi, everyone, finally the final chapter is up!! I must admit that I really love this series (sorry for being narcist) hehe. Thank you for all your support, comments, likes along the chapters, I would have never completed this story without you. It goes to the silent readers too, thank you for visiting my journal.
I have just returned from my last work trip for this year and get a light headache T_T.
Pairing : Sakumoto/Juntoshi/Sakumiya
Genre : Angst, romance, m-preg (not clearly mentioned)
Length : chaptered
Rating : pg
Disclaimer : I own nothing, only that I borrowed their names for the characters.
Summary : A semi long distance relationship was never a problem for Jun and Sho, they trusted each other and managed to live the same path. However, the sudden appearance of Ninomiya and Ohno had affected Jun’s decision.
Warning : Bad English, no beta
“Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your captain speaking from the cockpit, we are currently flying 38.000 feet above sea level and 180 km from Tan Son Nhat International Aiport of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The weather is reportedly fine with the visibility around 10 km. Please sit back and relax while we’ll be preparing for landing, thank you for flying with us and welcome to Ho Chi Minh city.”
Sho gave the code to the co-pilot to lower the cruising altitude; it was a fine six-hour flight from Tokyo to Ho Chi Minh City. It had been a while since he flew here, his current schedule was always to USA or Europe. They landed the plane safely and headed the arrival hall where their shuttle bus was waiting.
Sho stuffed his luggage at the trunk and boarded the car, he leaned in the seat and closed his eyes immediately. It was almost three in the afternoon; he needed a long bathe and sleep. He listened to the conversation between the stewardess, but not for long since he slowly drifted to consciousness.
The driver woke him up when they arrived at the hotel lobby. Sho confusedly took his luggage and dragged it towards the reception desk. He checked-in and headed the elevator quickly. His watch pointed to four pm in the afternoon; it was definitely too early to sleep, but he couldn’t think of something else to do.
It had been two weeks since the envelope accident and Jun still denied meeting him. He gave Sho a clear statement that he still needed time until he was ready. Sho had no choice but to wait. It was not easy, though, he had tried to sneak around to Jun’s shop more than once but he stopped half way as he imagined Jun’s frowning face.
He even didn’t go back to their apartment; Sho stayed at the hotel for the time being and spent his time by rereading the novels he had read for the nth times.
He alighted the elevator at the 7th floor, headed his room at the end of the corridor, unlocked it and entered the room which welcomed him with rather a pleasant smile. He slumped on the bed, letting his pilot cap fell to the floor. The silence was so intense, it felt so weird compared to an hour ago when he was still on the flight.
Sho let the silence consume him, bringing him to the day when he met Nino along with his five-year-old son at the city laboratory. The kid was Nino’s little version; pale skin, pretty nose, a cute smile he had the same willingness to talk all the time.
He addressed Sho as ‘Mr. Pilot’ as Nino told the kid about Sho’s profession, even though he seemed to find difficulties in understanding what Sho did.
Somehow, the three of them looked like a happy family with Kokoro walked between them. The kid held Sho’s right hand and Nino’s left hand while humming softly.
“He always did it to everyone,” Nino said with an apologetic smile.
Sho looked down at the five-year-old boy and smiled at him, “Do you want to become a pilot?” he asked.
“No,” he shook his head, “I want to become a doctor.”
“You said you want to be a teacher,” Nino chimed in.
“That was three days ago,” the kid answered.
Sho chuckled and moved his gaze to Nino; he looked beautiful as he always was, but Sho had decided that he would move on. Nino caught his sight and gave him a soft smile. They continued walking while listening to Kokoro’s rumbling about the fish he kept at home and the complaint about his breakfast. He was sure taking after Nino on that.
The laboratory staff was a young woman; she welcomed them and noted their names on a book and told them to wait. She called Kokoro first, another young woman guided him and Nino towards the other room. Sho shifted closer towards the woman and showed her the DNA result he had received a week before.
“Did your office release this?” Sho asked.
The woman formed a puzzled expression as she took the paper from Sho’s hand. She checked the date and searched for a file on her computer.
“I’m afraid that our office never printed this result,” she said, confused.
“Thank you,” Sho took the paper back and slipped it into his pocket.
The three of them had a nice lunch as they finished the laboratory thing. Sho asked the nurse if there was someone who collected the DNA test under his and Kokoro’s name, but as expected she said that she never received anything related to Sho and Kokoro except for today. Sho decided that maybe it was better to let the sender unknown - he had no energy left to judge them.
“Papa, can I become friends with Mr. Pilot? He’s a good guy,” Kokoro said as they headed back home and they were about to separate at the station.
“Sure,” Nino answered. “You can befriend him.”
The kid waved goodbye at him as he and Nino boarded the train. Sho felt something warm slipped into his heart, he didn’t know whether he should be happy with the fact that Kokoro wasn’t his son (not mentioning that the real DNA result hadn’t finished yet).
The DNA result had been sent to Nino’s address three days later and it showed that Sho wasn’t Kokoro’s father. Nino phoned him when he was about to depart to his domestic flight (Kokoro’s voice could be heard from behind). Nino wished him a safe flight and apologized for the trouble he had caused and sincerely hoped that he and Jun would reunite again and resumed their delayed wedding schedule.
Sho slowly rose off of the bed and checked his phone. He had been keeping his promise not to bother Jun within these past two weeks and he missed the man more than he had ever experienced. Perhaps, Jun wouldn’t forgive him that easily after what he had done all these years. He only knew how to be loved without even knowing how to love somebody else the way they wanted.
Nino was right that he was just a self-centered man who thought too high of himself.
He walked towards the window and looked at the scene outside; he had never asked Jun to take a holiday together because he assumed that Jun was too busy with his shop. He never really talked about it anyway. He took a deep breath, hoping that there was still the way out for their relationship.
***
“Matsujun, try this one.”
Aiba handed him a cake with orange topping; it was their off day but Jun decided to work on his new recipe and Aiba seemed to think about the same thing.
“It’s a little bit sour, but I like it,” Jun commented.
“Can we make it for the next order from the wedding organizer?” Aiba asked.
“Sure,” Jun nodded. “I think the sour cake will be a nice idea.”
Jun checked his cake inside the oven; he had failed in making cakes upon his new recipe, something which never happened until now. Aiba said that it had something to do with his emotion and Jun hated to admit that Aiba must have been right.
He had freshened up his mind during his short gateway to Kobe, but the thing in the back of his head wasn’t something he could ignore. He had to clear his problem with Sho - if he could call it as a problem - what they had was something deeper and more complicated.
Jun had canceled everything related to their wedding, including the hotel reservation, the honeymoon plan (something he even hadn’t discussed with Sho) and he threw away the wedding invitation cards since he knew that they would change the date anyway. He wasn’t even sure that the wedding would happen in the first place.
He should talk to Sho sooner or later, but he didn’t know how to start it. He had called Ninomiya a few days ago and told the man that probably they needed to change the wedding date. Ninomiya answered with a casual tone without showing him any sign that he was probably the reason behind it. However, Jun had stopped blaming the man for what happened between him and Sho - it was not Ninomiya’s business anymore.
“It’s a trash,” Jun said, throwing the cake from its container.
“Matsujun, you need to take a rest,” Aiba said, looking at him with concern in his eyes.
“I have taken enough rest,” Jun slumped on the chair, feeling so frustrated.
They heard someone entered the front door, thinking that it might be Fujigaya or the other employees, Jun and Aiba didn’t move from their place until they saw a figure on the doorstep.
“Ninomiya san?” Aiba said with questioning gaze, “we are close for today.”
“I know,” the guy spread his smile at them, “I’m here to visit,” he put the plastic bag with beer cans in it on their table.
“These are what we need,” Aiba beamed happily, “come on, Matsujun, let’s leave the oven for a while.”
“I can’t drink,” Jun shrugged, glancing at Ninomiya.
“Maybe you should, you look awful,” the guy shifted closer to him. “A can of beer will help you.”
Jun shrugged and looked at the cake in the trash bin, Ninomiya was right, he was awful.
“Okay,” he nodded and loosened his apron. He led the way towards the front room and sat down on one of the chairs, followed by Aiba and Ninomiya.
At first, Aiba was the one who talked meanwhile Jun and Ninomiya only responded with ‘mmm’ or ‘yeah’ or ‘really?’ but when they guy finally dozed off lightly, both of them were left in a weird silence.
Jun had kept many questions he wanted to ask Ninomiya, but when the man was really here before him, he couldn’t even recall what he wanted to say. On the opposite, Ninomiya looked so calm, he slid something from his pocket and put it down on the table.
“Open it, it’s the authentic one.”
Jun took the envelope and fished the paper inside it. Sho’s name was printed on it along with Kokoro’s, but the result was different - it showed that he wasn’t the father of the kid.
“What does it mean?”
“Didn’t Sho tell you?”
“We…he hasn’t told me,” Jun avoided Ninomiya’s gaze.
“We went to the lab and got DNA test, this is the result and it isn’t something fake like the one which was sent to your apartment.”
“Did you send the fake one to us?” Jun asked after a few minutes of silence.
“Why would I do that?” Ninomiya sipped the beer and wiped his lips with the back of his hand. “I have moved on from Sho on the day I left him.”
Jun’s stomach flared up as he heard what the guy said, but there was no point to hate Ninomiya. He sipped his own beer and read the DNA test result once again.
“I’m still available to arrange your wedding,” the guy continued, flashing a soft smile at Jun.
“I don’t even know if we should continue our relationship,” Jun shook his head, “everything will never be the same again.”
“Well, if it changes for the better, why don’t you try?”
Jun looked into Ninomiya’s eyes; they were deep and calm and pretty; they showed him no lies and Jun knew that the guy sincerely wanted him to be happy with Sho. However, it was harder than what Jun had thought to begin a talk with Sho after what happened. He wasn’t ready for it, but he had to or his cakes would never shape right.
“He’s in Vietnam now,” Jun mumbled, more to himself than Ninomiya.
“You can go to the airport and welcome him home,” Ninomiya said.
Jun chuckled dryly, remembering the last time he picked Sho from the airport which ended up in a fight and he being hospitalized.
“Maybe I will,” Jun said, finishing his beer and tossed the can into the trash bin which woke Aiba up from his light nap.
The three of them continued eating Aiba’s new cakes until it was dark outside and Ninomiya mumbled that he needed to go home.
“I think he came to encourage you to talk with Sho san,” Aiba said as they finished cleaning the shop and their tools.
“I don’t know, Sho loved him to the moon and back and I was so jealous that I could poison him,” Jun said while smiling.
“You should have done that,” Aiba said, patting Jun’s shoulder, “but maybe you have to make up with Sho before you poison him.”
Jun came back home with a lighter heart after seeing Ninomiya that afternoon. He took long enough to stare at Sho’s pilot uniform in their closet; he took it and smelled Sho’s scent which remained on it. He missed Sho too much right now, it was surprising how much he needed Sho’s warmth tonight. He held the uniform and imagined the man was hugging him, whispering Jun’s name in his ears.
***
Jun was having his breakfast when his phone rang, Sho’s name appeared on the screen. He bit his lower lip before answering, he could feel his heartbeat rising as he heard Sho’s voice.
“Hi, Sho.”
“Am I bothering you?” Sho asked in a worrisome.
“No,” Jun tried not to be heard over excited, “I…how are you?”
“A little bit tired,” Sho answered, “how are you?”
“I fail in completing my newest recipe and Aiba said it was because of my mental problem.”
“Is that because of me?”
“Maybe because I missed you too much,” Jun said, sending silence between them. He heard Sho inhaling a deep breath on the other line before he answered.
“I miss you, too,” Sho said, “can we talk after I come back?”
“Sure, I’m sorry for keeping you wait this long.”
“I understand, it’s all my fault.”
“May I pick you up at the airport and go somewhere after that?”
“Sure, but I want to go straight to our apartment if you don’t mind,” Sho said.
Jun smiled as he heard it; it had been forever since he and Sho spent their time together and did nothing. They would talk about random topics endlessly until Sho dozed off on his lap.
“Sure, after we talk about everything.”
“Jun,” Sho’s voice was trembling as he spoke, “do we have any chance to…?”
“We can talk later after you come back,” Jun cut him, “you have a flight to catch, be careful on your way home.”
“Thank you,” Sho said, he needed a good two minutes to hung up, “I love you, Jun.”
Sho’s last words echoed inside Jun’s ears like a magic mantra; he kept on clutching his phone for the rest of the morning. He glanced at the clock on the wall, Sho would be landing at Narita Airport nine hours later, it felt like having their first date after a long separation. He still felt a light grip on his chest, but now it was something different, it was more because he missed Sho.
Jun went to work that day, finished some orders and left earlier. Aiba wished him a good luck and gave him an encouraging pat on his shoulder. He drove his car towards the airport while listening to Utada Hikaru’s song and hummed the song along the way. He remembered the first time he kissed Sho, recalled the first time he held the pilot’s hand and the first time Sho agreed to look for an apartment where they could stay together.
Sho perhaps wasn’t the sweetest guy on earth, but it didn’t stop Jun to love the man the way he was, not to mention that Sho was still in love with Ninomiya. Jun was still jealous when he imagined that Ninomiya had Sho’s heart back then and even after Sho and Jun dated. Come to think about it, Ninomiya also had some issues which forced him to leave Sho, he could do nothing to erase the past they had shared.
He reached the arrival hall and bought a cup of coffee while checking the arrival announcement board. Sho would be landing in a few minutes and for some reason, he was nervous. He sat down on one of the seats at the arrival hall and sipped his coffee, his eyes wandered around towards the passengers whose face mostly showed the tiredness and heavy jetlag.
Jun thought of Ohno all of a sudden; the actor didn’t show up in his shop since the night he confessed his feeling to him. Jun was too absorbed into his problems with Sho that he had no time to worry about Ohno. He didn’t want their friendship ruined because of it, but he didn’t know how to face Ohno if they meet again.
‘Announcing the arrival of Japan Airlines, flight number JL750 from Ho Chi Minh City, thank you’
Jun’s heartbeat sped up as he heard the announcement, he clutched the coffee cup tighter in his right hand and tried to calm down. It wasn’t his first time to meet Sho, this feeling was some kind of stupid, he felt like a teenager who waited for his crush at the corner of the schoolyard.
He took a deep breath, glancing at his watch, Sho would be exiting the arrival gate anytime soon and he still couldn’t find the right word to greet him. Was it okay to pretend that everything was alright until they were alone? What Jun wanted the most was to hold Sho tight and kissed him on his lips before talking about everything.
Jun wasn’t ready yet when Sho finally appeared from the exit door, his left hand was dragging his luggage, his eyes automatically found Jun who stood a few meters away from him. The noise around them couldn’t be heard anymore as their eyes met; Sho was the only one exist in front of him, he looked way too handsome in his pilot uniform.
Sho approached him, forming a soft smile on his lips, but Jun couldn’t move an inch, a thousand-mixture emotion splashed in his head. For mere seconds, he wanted to run away from Sho, far away that they wouldn’t meet again.
“I’m home,” Sho said, pulling him into a hug, ignoring that they were in the middle of the crowd. “I missed you,” he whispered in Jun’s ear and it was enough to erase his anxiety which clutched into him for weeks.
“Sho,” he whispered back, not knowing what to say.
Sho pulled further and looked into his eyes, “Let’s go home.”
They walked together towards the parking area, hand in hand. Jun could tell from Sho’s gesture that he missed Jun sincerely, but he wasn’t ready for this lovey-dovey Sho and it made him a little bit awkward.
They didn’t talk much on the way home until they were comfortable enough on their sofa with two cups of hot tea before them. Sho looked tired and sleepy, but he denied to take some sleep, not until they talked.
Jun didn’t know where to start, so he talked randomly about the new cakes recipes that he failed to make and about Aiba who seemed to have a new crush.
“Ninomiya san visited me a few days ago,” Jun said, waiting for Sho’s reaction, “he brought me the DNA result.”
“We went to the laboratory,” Sho answered. “He told me that he would be getting married anytime soon.”
“Really?”
Sho nodded, sipping the hot tea after blowing it for a couple of times. The silence fell between them, each of them was trying to find the right word to say.
“Jun, I’m sorry about everything,” Sho said. “I don’t know if an apology would be enough for what I’ve done, but I don’t want to lose you, I’ll be scattering around if you leave me. I know that I’m a jerk for not realizing how much you mean to me, but now I know that I can’t live without you.”
Sho extended his hand to Jun’s, squishing his fingers softly and leaning closer to give Jun a kiss on his lips.
“We need some times,” Jun said as Sho pulled away.
“What do you mean?”
“I feel like we don’t know each other very well, regardless that we are live together for a long time, I want to know you better,” Jun caressed Sho’s cheek as he spoke; he had been thinking about it for days and he knew that they couldn’t be happy if they stayed where they were.
Sho nodded, leaning his forehead against Jun.
“I’m so scared that you will leave me.”
Jun shook his head, “I would never do that.”
“Thank you,” Sho whispered and hugged him. The warmth of his body was something that Jun missed the most.
Sho’s hand slipped under his shirt and caressed his bare skin; it had been so long since they made love and perhaps that was what they needed right now to loosen the tense between them. They kissed and searched for each other’s warmth, their breaths united as one, and their longing was poured into it.
***
“This tie will do,” Jun said as he helped Sho to pick the tie for the wedding party they would be attending together.
“The pattern isn’t that stylish,” Sho pouted his lips.
“Nobody will pay attention on your tie anyway,” Jun sighed, taking another tie and handing it to Sho.
“I’ll be reading a speech, of course, they will pay attention to me and my tie.”
Jun rolled his eyes and left Sho to the living room. They would attend the wedding party of one of Sho’s colleagues; the guy wanted Sho to read the speech as the representative of their office and Jun had no idea why it made Sho too obsessed with his tie pattern.
Ninomiya was in charge for the wedding, the guy told Jun when he visited his shop a few days ago, together with a man who Jun presumed as his boyfriend.
Talking about the wedding; Jun and Sho hadn’t talked about it anymore. They decided to take things slowly and Jun was glad that Sho showed him more love and attention. It was about waiting for the right time to get married and there was no need to rush.
Sho finally chose a navy-blue tie and announced that he was ready a few minutes later. They drove towards the wedding venue by Jun’s car. Sho re-read the speech text that he would be reading and chanted it like a mantra. Jun teased him that he looked like an awful weather forecast announcer which gained a sour laughter from the pilot.
They reached the last junction to the wedding venue, Jun stopped the car as the traffic light turned red.
“Sho, isn’t that man Ohno san?” he pointed at the man who was about to cross the street, a girl was beside him, they walked hand in hand.
“I don’t know that he is a straight man,” Jun mumbled, remembering Ohno’s confession.
“He’s an actor anyway,” Sho answered. “Maybe he can switch his emotion anytime he likes.”
“Do you think that he’s the one who slipped the envelope under our door?” Jun asked. He had been guessing that Ohno probably the one who did that, even though he hoped that his guess was wrong.
“I don’t know,” Sho shrugged, “even if he did it, I would thank him that I could be honest with my feeling afterward.”
Jun nodded. He followed Ohno with his gaze, the girl clutched tightly on his arm and somehow, Jun was happy for the man. He fed his car some gas as the traffic light turned green, Sho returned his attention at his speech until they entered the venue.
Sho held his hand as they entered the hotel hall where the wedding was taking place. He introduced Jun to his colleagues and proudly said that he was one of the best pettisier in town. They met Nino as well; they greeted him shortly since he needed to return to his work.
“Sho, I think I still want to entrust our wedding in his hands,” Jun mumbled to Sho as they took a seat.
“I’ll leave it to you, but of course I’ll go together with you this time,” Sho said, smiling at him.
The atmosphere reminded Jun of the first time he met Sho at the wedding party. Maybe they were fated to be together, Jun thought. He stole a glance at Sho’s face; he knew there would be many days where they would fight or argue over small things, but he also knew that they couldn’t live without each other.
The orchestra started playing and all of them paid attention at the groom and bride. Sho found Jun’s hand and squished it softly as if telling him that he was looking forward to their upcoming wedding.
The end
a.n: Hi, everyone, finally the final chapter is up!! I must admit that I really love this series (sorry for being narcist) hehe. Thank you for all your support, comments, likes along the chapters, I would have never completed this story without you. It goes to the silent readers too, thank you for visiting my journal.
I have just returned from my last work trip for this year and get a light headache T_T.