I don't not love you! Chapter 2 [Ongoing]
You can read chapter one here: http://community.livejournal.com/ebisu_midnights/8150.html
Author's Note: I have finals to study for this Friday, so I decided to update earlier. Hope everyone doesn't mind. ^.^
That was her only sensible reaction. Gasping. Inoue Mao was well aware of Matsumoto Jun's good looks and after three years of working with her costar, Mao was very good at hiding how she felt about him. So one can only imagine how devastatingly attractive Jun was at that moment to have completely caught her off guard.
Jun was wearing an open leather jacket which only slightly covered the drenched white t-shirt underneath that left little to the imagination, combined with some fairly distracting washed out and faded jeans and a pair of black boots. His hair was wet and disheveled as if he just got out of the shower and ruffled his hand through it, and his jeans clung to him in all the right places. He literally looked like he stepped out of a photo shoot in which the photographer got rather pervy and asked him to go under a shower with all his clothes on.
"Well it is raining really hard," said Jun with a tight smile, mistaking Mao's gasp as one of disapproval.
Mao got a hold of herself and the gears in her brain started moving the right direction again: Matsumoto Jun --> wet --> pneumonia --> bad.
"Why didn't you bring an umbrella?" she scolded lightly, as she immediately began drying his hair and leather jacket with the dishcloth she had been holding in her hand.
"Ugh, Mao-chan…" replied Jun as he tried to brush her off, "Your dishcloth is probably really dirty and you're scratching my jacket," he protested. Trust Jun to prioritize fashion over health. "Besides," he continued as he tried to propel her hand away, "we're in the middle of the hallway and anyone could see us."
True.
Mao stopped her mothering and moved aside so Jun could walk in before she closed the door.
"Take off your jacket and hang it on the chair next to the balcony," she said as she threw her dishcloth to the counter in her kitchen and started to head across her apartment and towards her room. She could hear Jun doing what she said. "Take off your other clothes too, I'll go get some dry ones," Mao continued over her shoulder.
"Here?" he asked, incredulously, "Now?"
"Where else? Do you want to get sick?" she asked exasperatedly from her room as she searched through her dresser for something suitable for him to wear.
"…Okay."
She heard the wet slap of his clothing as he removed it.
Oh.
Did she just technically ask Jun to get naked?
And was he actually listening to her?
Oh, God.
Matsumoto Jun was stripping in her living room.
"Um…" Mao started, her movements suddenly getting slow at the onslaught of imagery that came with her thoughts, "There should be a towel in the cabinet next to you that you can dry off with."
She heard the cabinet open and then close. Mao found a loose shirt and a pair of gray sweatpants already but she counted to thirty before walking out, just to be sure he had time to properly cover himself. She schooled her face into a neutral expression, making conversation as she went to him,
"So how come you didn't bring an umbrella with you? Oh, I'll put your clothes in the dryer…" Eyes on his face, not his chest. Eyes on his face, not his chest…
"I left it at the studio," replied Jun to her question, gratefully taking the dry clothes from her with one hand. It was an awkward position he was in. With his left hand, he held both his wet clothes and the towel in place around his waist, and his other hand held the dry ones she just gave him.
Eyes on his face...! Her mantra was failing. She felt her eyes unconsciously draw her attention to his bare chest, still dotted with random droplets due to the saturated wetness of his hair. He was definitely working out more since the end of HYDF filming. Mao mentally slapped herself to remind her of the task at hand.
"Ah, I see. You came over earlier than I thought.” Mao went on, casually.
She made a movement to take the wet clothes, and Jun, lacking the extra hand, jutted his hip outwards to her so she had better access to them.
"Surprise," Jun replied with a small smile, "We were just wrapping up when you called me."
Mao was thankful when she pulled the clothes away from his hand it didn't bring the towel around his waist with them.
"Sounds like a busy schedule as usual, Ouji," she teased lightly.
"Huh, haven't heard that nickname in awhile. I still don't know why you call me that, by the way." Jun already started to pull the shirt expertly with one hand over his head.
Mao didn't reply as she took his clothes and turned around towards her small washer and dryer room. Mao deliberately slowed her movements as to give him time to change. "Coward," she thought angrily to herself. She always had a hard time concentrating when she looked at him shirtless. Most girls would just take advantage of this and make their first move already.
"What smells good?" asked Jun loudly as Mao set the timer and turned the dryer on after waiting five minutes.
"That would be my signature cupcakes," Mao replied in what she hoped sounded like a playful, totally-unaffected-by-you voice. She left the room and rubbed her hands on her apron. Jun was already seated at her table and was taking a bite out of one of her baked goodies. She was put off by how much better Jun looked in her clothes than she did.
"You should really consider opening up a baking store." Jun said. His eyes were closed as if to savor the sweetness that was Inoue Mao's chocolate cupcakes.
"A bakery, you mean?" Mao asked, as she sat down in front of him.
"Yeah, that," he opened his eyes and looked pointedly at her for a moment, "Cute apron."
"Thank you," Mao was careful not to take his compliment too personal, he probably only said it to be polite anyway. She continued on through amused laughter when Jun already started to reach for a second cupcake, "Don't eat them all! I told your band mates I'd save them some!"
Jun laughed as if he had never heard an idea so ridiculous, "No. These cupcakes are mine. All mine. Tell Nino and Sho better luck next time." He pulled the cupcake platter closer to him in a protective manner, and away from Mao.
Mao laughed. "I'll just make them a new batch," thought Mao, "It'll give me an excuse to stop by their studio and see Jun."
"You're going to make me a chocolate cake for Valentine’s Day next year," Jun stated, oblivious to Mao's thoughts. He took a generous mouthful of the baked sweet in his hand.
"Oh, suuure,” Mao stated mockingly, “So I'm going to make you one now? No choice?"
"Nope."
Mao giggled lightly and shook her head gently in disbelief, "But what makes you so sure I was even planning to get you anything?"
“Because we both know how much you value Hug-chan’s life.”
“Jun!” Mao exclaimed in horror.
Jun shrugged, “Don’t worry, I’m joking… and even if I did plan on murdering the little love of your life, there’d be too much blood to clean afterwards…” he mused. Mao hit him a little harder than usual from her seat across from him. Jun laughed. “You know I’m just teasing you, Mao-chan. But really, if you didn’t get me something, I wouldn’t be able to get you that awesome gift on White Day.”
Mao’s mood immediately changed from upset to nosy, “Ne… and what would that be?”
“I don’t know, you tell me. It depends on how fantastic your cake is,” Jun said cheekily.
“Sly, Jun, very sly.” Mao was amused by his low although very effective tactic.
She watched him eat for a bit, before finally noticing the balcony door was closed.
"Hey… did you close the door?"
"Yes. It was cold."
"How is your jacket supposed to dry?"
"It'll still dry, Mao-chan," he said.
"It'll dry faster with the door open."
"You’re so difficult sometimes.” Jun said, showing glimmers of annoyance for the first time through the tone of his voice.
Mao was wise to change the subject, "What movie are we watching this time?" The term "hanging out" to Mao and Jun usually always translated to watching a movie together. When they had more time, they would have movie nights alternating back and forth between their houses, sometimes inviting others to watch movies with them. Last time Mao had opted to watch a Harry Potter movie and brought it over to Jun's, so this time it was his turn to bring a movie over. Living in the same district had its perks.
"Oh," Jun smiled, his attitude immediately brightening, "Kung-Fu Panda."
"Nani!" Mao said, surprised. She started to laugh.
"What? It's a good movie!" He finished the cupcake and reached for a new one. "You like animated films, anyway."
She smiled at his impeccable memory as he took another bite of his cupcake with gusto and closed his eyes once more to savor the taste. Her smile of appreciation slowly turned to one of mischief as a new idea started forming in her mind. Mao reached across the table, and with one finger she swiped some icing- Jun's favorite part- off the top of his cupcake just as Jun started to open his eyes. She quickly stuck her finger in her mouth to hide the evidence.
"HOY!" Jun said in such outrage that Mao knew he had to be joking, "That was my icing!"
"What? What icing?" Mao said innocently around her finger.
"The icing in your mouth!"
She swallowed.
"You can't prove it!" She opened her mouth to emphasize that the icing she stole was all gone.
Jun immediately held out his hand in front of her face, palm up, and with a voice that was so low it was almost a growl he said, "Give it back."
"No," Mao said cheerily, and in one swift movement she reached over, wiped some icing off his cupcake and then dabbed it on his cheek.
"You did NOT just do that!"
Mao started giggling uncontrollably at the expression on Jun's face. Jun at first didn't look so amused but before he knew it, he had joined her giggles with his own laughter. Mao rubbed her eyes as she had laughed so hard she started tear up, before she retrieved a napkin from the napkin holder she kept on the table and started to wipe the icing off his cheek. She was grinning, absolutely happy that she and Jun were friends, and her eyes shined that affection for him. Jun's laughter faded as he suddenly became aware of her very intimate gesture.
"You know, Jun-kun," she started condescendingly as she cleaned his cheek gently, "You could be so clumsy sometimes… getting icing all over your cheek."
When Jun didn't take the bait and start arguing that it was her who put icing on him, Mao knew something was wrong. She refocused on his full face as if to ask why and startled herself when she realized how close she was leaning to him. Her whole upper body was stretched across the table propped up by her elbows as she removed the smudge that she was so engrossed into she didn't notice that their faces were now mere centimeters apart.
He was too beautiful to be real.
No amount of acting with Jun could have prepared her for this. Real life was so much more nerve-wracking. The instincts that willed her to retreat were the very same instincts that begged her to close their distance. Mao could feel every warm breath Jun exhaled. If she leaned in just a bit more they would kiss… but just as she thought this, Jun started to lean in himself.
Mao felt her breathing hitch. This can’t be happening. Jun leaned closer and closer, so achingly slow that Mao almost couldn't handle the anticipation anymore. Her body was torn between her mind's decision of just pulling away now and making up some joke, and her heart's desire to kiss him breathless.
Finally, their foreheads touched and Jun grinned at the contact.
"Nani?" Mao said quietly, bewildered.
"Sank you," he said in an unnecessarily sweet tone.
Jun had been leaning in just to be cute. He did that sometimes.
"Cute," Mao said, rolling her eyes. She was relieved but couldn't squelch her disappointment. Mao was thankful her mouth had the sense to retaliate and her acting skills were still up to par as she scolded her face into something else other than fluttery school girl while her heart was tried to calm the blood flow that surely colored her cheeks. "All that sugar in my cupcakes got to your head," she said, pleased that her voice was still neutral. Jun laughed at this, and they pulled away from each other simultaneously.
"Yosh!" Jun said as he stretched- he seemed perfectly unaffected. "Let's go watch the movie… it's almost 7 o'clock."
He got up- taking the platter of cupcakes with him- and walked to the living room adjoining the kitchen. As soon as his back was turned to her, Mao opened the fridge door and stuck her head inside in order to literally cool herself off.
“It should be illegal to be that attractive,” she murmured hopelessly to the milk carton and eggs. It was going to be a long night.
Author Note: I read everyone's fears and concerns over this being completely in Mao's limited perspective. Yes, it is scary. Trust me, I'm honestly afraid I'm somehow writing Mao wrong- I really want this fic to be accurate in portraying her personality and reactions, especially since I'm so determined to show the world that Mao truly and deeply "cares" about Jun (we all know it's love, she just hasn't found out yet). I believe that Mao is not nearly as obvious in her love for Jun as Jun is, which is why I'm writing this fic in the first place… to explain why (from my own speculations which I somehow hope fellow MaoJun fans share) she is the way she is. I'm sorry this author note is so long, I just don't want to scare MaoJun fans away from this story because we won't be entering Jun's mind for a change… please give it a chance. Onegaishimasu!
~yoshi09
Author's Note: I have finals to study for this Friday, so I decided to update earlier. Hope everyone doesn't mind. ^.^
That was her only sensible reaction. Gasping. Inoue Mao was well aware of Matsumoto Jun's good looks and after three years of working with her costar, Mao was very good at hiding how she felt about him. So one can only imagine how devastatingly attractive Jun was at that moment to have completely caught her off guard.
Jun was wearing an open leather jacket which only slightly covered the drenched white t-shirt underneath that left little to the imagination, combined with some fairly distracting washed out and faded jeans and a pair of black boots. His hair was wet and disheveled as if he just got out of the shower and ruffled his hand through it, and his jeans clung to him in all the right places. He literally looked like he stepped out of a photo shoot in which the photographer got rather pervy and asked him to go under a shower with all his clothes on.
"Well it is raining really hard," said Jun with a tight smile, mistaking Mao's gasp as one of disapproval.
Mao got a hold of herself and the gears in her brain started moving the right direction again: Matsumoto Jun --> wet --> pneumonia --> bad.
"Why didn't you bring an umbrella?" she scolded lightly, as she immediately began drying his hair and leather jacket with the dishcloth she had been holding in her hand.
"Ugh, Mao-chan…" replied Jun as he tried to brush her off, "Your dishcloth is probably really dirty and you're scratching my jacket," he protested. Trust Jun to prioritize fashion over health. "Besides," he continued as he tried to propel her hand away, "we're in the middle of the hallway and anyone could see us."
True.
Mao stopped her mothering and moved aside so Jun could walk in before she closed the door.
"Take off your jacket and hang it on the chair next to the balcony," she said as she threw her dishcloth to the counter in her kitchen and started to head across her apartment and towards her room. She could hear Jun doing what she said. "Take off your other clothes too, I'll go get some dry ones," Mao continued over her shoulder.
"Here?" he asked, incredulously, "Now?"
"Where else? Do you want to get sick?" she asked exasperatedly from her room as she searched through her dresser for something suitable for him to wear.
"…Okay."
She heard the wet slap of his clothing as he removed it.
Oh.
Did she just technically ask Jun to get naked?
And was he actually listening to her?
Oh, God.
Matsumoto Jun was stripping in her living room.
"Um…" Mao started, her movements suddenly getting slow at the onslaught of imagery that came with her thoughts, "There should be a towel in the cabinet next to you that you can dry off with."
She heard the cabinet open and then close. Mao found a loose shirt and a pair of gray sweatpants already but she counted to thirty before walking out, just to be sure he had time to properly cover himself. She schooled her face into a neutral expression, making conversation as she went to him,
"So how come you didn't bring an umbrella with you? Oh, I'll put your clothes in the dryer…" Eyes on his face, not his chest. Eyes on his face, not his chest…
"I left it at the studio," replied Jun to her question, gratefully taking the dry clothes from her with one hand. It was an awkward position he was in. With his left hand, he held both his wet clothes and the towel in place around his waist, and his other hand held the dry ones she just gave him.
Eyes on his face...! Her mantra was failing. She felt her eyes unconsciously draw her attention to his bare chest, still dotted with random droplets due to the saturated wetness of his hair. He was definitely working out more since the end of HYDF filming. Mao mentally slapped herself to remind her of the task at hand.
"Ah, I see. You came over earlier than I thought.” Mao went on, casually.
She made a movement to take the wet clothes, and Jun, lacking the extra hand, jutted his hip outwards to her so she had better access to them.
"Surprise," Jun replied with a small smile, "We were just wrapping up when you called me."
Mao was thankful when she pulled the clothes away from his hand it didn't bring the towel around his waist with them.
"Sounds like a busy schedule as usual, Ouji," she teased lightly.
"Huh, haven't heard that nickname in awhile. I still don't know why you call me that, by the way." Jun already started to pull the shirt expertly with one hand over his head.
Mao didn't reply as she took his clothes and turned around towards her small washer and dryer room. Mao deliberately slowed her movements as to give him time to change. "Coward," she thought angrily to herself. She always had a hard time concentrating when she looked at him shirtless. Most girls would just take advantage of this and make their first move already.
"What smells good?" asked Jun loudly as Mao set the timer and turned the dryer on after waiting five minutes.
"That would be my signature cupcakes," Mao replied in what she hoped sounded like a playful, totally-unaffected-by-you voice. She left the room and rubbed her hands on her apron. Jun was already seated at her table and was taking a bite out of one of her baked goodies. She was put off by how much better Jun looked in her clothes than she did.
"You should really consider opening up a baking store." Jun said. His eyes were closed as if to savor the sweetness that was Inoue Mao's chocolate cupcakes.
"A bakery, you mean?" Mao asked, as she sat down in front of him.
"Yeah, that," he opened his eyes and looked pointedly at her for a moment, "Cute apron."
"Thank you," Mao was careful not to take his compliment too personal, he probably only said it to be polite anyway. She continued on through amused laughter when Jun already started to reach for a second cupcake, "Don't eat them all! I told your band mates I'd save them some!"
Jun laughed as if he had never heard an idea so ridiculous, "No. These cupcakes are mine. All mine. Tell Nino and Sho better luck next time." He pulled the cupcake platter closer to him in a protective manner, and away from Mao.
Mao laughed. "I'll just make them a new batch," thought Mao, "It'll give me an excuse to stop by their studio and see Jun."
"You're going to make me a chocolate cake for Valentine’s Day next year," Jun stated, oblivious to Mao's thoughts. He took a generous mouthful of the baked sweet in his hand.
"Oh, suuure,” Mao stated mockingly, “So I'm going to make you one now? No choice?"
"Nope."
Mao giggled lightly and shook her head gently in disbelief, "But what makes you so sure I was even planning to get you anything?"
“Because we both know how much you value Hug-chan’s life.”
“Jun!” Mao exclaimed in horror.
Jun shrugged, “Don’t worry, I’m joking… and even if I did plan on murdering the little love of your life, there’d be too much blood to clean afterwards…” he mused. Mao hit him a little harder than usual from her seat across from him. Jun laughed. “You know I’m just teasing you, Mao-chan. But really, if you didn’t get me something, I wouldn’t be able to get you that awesome gift on White Day.”
Mao’s mood immediately changed from upset to nosy, “Ne… and what would that be?”
“I don’t know, you tell me. It depends on how fantastic your cake is,” Jun said cheekily.
“Sly, Jun, very sly.” Mao was amused by his low although very effective tactic.
She watched him eat for a bit, before finally noticing the balcony door was closed.
"Hey… did you close the door?"
"Yes. It was cold."
"How is your jacket supposed to dry?"
"It'll still dry, Mao-chan," he said.
"It'll dry faster with the door open."
"You’re so difficult sometimes.” Jun said, showing glimmers of annoyance for the first time through the tone of his voice.
Mao was wise to change the subject, "What movie are we watching this time?" The term "hanging out" to Mao and Jun usually always translated to watching a movie together. When they had more time, they would have movie nights alternating back and forth between their houses, sometimes inviting others to watch movies with them. Last time Mao had opted to watch a Harry Potter movie and brought it over to Jun's, so this time it was his turn to bring a movie over. Living in the same district had its perks.
"Oh," Jun smiled, his attitude immediately brightening, "Kung-Fu Panda."
"Nani!" Mao said, surprised. She started to laugh.
"What? It's a good movie!" He finished the cupcake and reached for a new one. "You like animated films, anyway."
She smiled at his impeccable memory as he took another bite of his cupcake with gusto and closed his eyes once more to savor the taste. Her smile of appreciation slowly turned to one of mischief as a new idea started forming in her mind. Mao reached across the table, and with one finger she swiped some icing- Jun's favorite part- off the top of his cupcake just as Jun started to open his eyes. She quickly stuck her finger in her mouth to hide the evidence.
"HOY!" Jun said in such outrage that Mao knew he had to be joking, "That was my icing!"
"What? What icing?" Mao said innocently around her finger.
"The icing in your mouth!"
She swallowed.
"You can't prove it!" She opened her mouth to emphasize that the icing she stole was all gone.
Jun immediately held out his hand in front of her face, palm up, and with a voice that was so low it was almost a growl he said, "Give it back."
"No," Mao said cheerily, and in one swift movement she reached over, wiped some icing off his cupcake and then dabbed it on his cheek.
"You did NOT just do that!"
Mao started giggling uncontrollably at the expression on Jun's face. Jun at first didn't look so amused but before he knew it, he had joined her giggles with his own laughter. Mao rubbed her eyes as she had laughed so hard she started tear up, before she retrieved a napkin from the napkin holder she kept on the table and started to wipe the icing off his cheek. She was grinning, absolutely happy that she and Jun were friends, and her eyes shined that affection for him. Jun's laughter faded as he suddenly became aware of her very intimate gesture.
"You know, Jun-kun," she started condescendingly as she cleaned his cheek gently, "You could be so clumsy sometimes… getting icing all over your cheek."
When Jun didn't take the bait and start arguing that it was her who put icing on him, Mao knew something was wrong. She refocused on his full face as if to ask why and startled herself when she realized how close she was leaning to him. Her whole upper body was stretched across the table propped up by her elbows as she removed the smudge that she was so engrossed into she didn't notice that their faces were now mere centimeters apart.
He was too beautiful to be real.
No amount of acting with Jun could have prepared her for this. Real life was so much more nerve-wracking. The instincts that willed her to retreat were the very same instincts that begged her to close their distance. Mao could feel every warm breath Jun exhaled. If she leaned in just a bit more they would kiss… but just as she thought this, Jun started to lean in himself.
Mao felt her breathing hitch. This can’t be happening. Jun leaned closer and closer, so achingly slow that Mao almost couldn't handle the anticipation anymore. Her body was torn between her mind's decision of just pulling away now and making up some joke, and her heart's desire to kiss him breathless.
Finally, their foreheads touched and Jun grinned at the contact.
"Nani?" Mao said quietly, bewildered.
"Sank you," he said in an unnecessarily sweet tone.
Jun had been leaning in just to be cute. He did that sometimes.
"Cute," Mao said, rolling her eyes. She was relieved but couldn't squelch her disappointment. Mao was thankful her mouth had the sense to retaliate and her acting skills were still up to par as she scolded her face into something else other than fluttery school girl while her heart was tried to calm the blood flow that surely colored her cheeks. "All that sugar in my cupcakes got to your head," she said, pleased that her voice was still neutral. Jun laughed at this, and they pulled away from each other simultaneously.
"Yosh!" Jun said as he stretched- he seemed perfectly unaffected. "Let's go watch the movie… it's almost 7 o'clock."
He got up- taking the platter of cupcakes with him- and walked to the living room adjoining the kitchen. As soon as his back was turned to her, Mao opened the fridge door and stuck her head inside in order to literally cool herself off.
“It should be illegal to be that attractive,” she murmured hopelessly to the milk carton and eggs. It was going to be a long night.
Author Note: I read everyone's fears and concerns over this being completely in Mao's limited perspective. Yes, it is scary. Trust me, I'm honestly afraid I'm somehow writing Mao wrong- I really want this fic to be accurate in portraying her personality and reactions, especially since I'm so determined to show the world that Mao truly and deeply "cares" about Jun (we all know it's love, she just hasn't found out yet). I believe that Mao is not nearly as obvious in her love for Jun as Jun is, which is why I'm writing this fic in the first place… to explain why (from my own speculations which I somehow hope fellow MaoJun fans share) she is the way she is. I'm sorry this author note is so long, I just don't want to scare MaoJun fans away from this story because we won't be entering Jun's mind for a change… please give it a chance. Onegaishimasu!
~yoshi09