How Dare You! - Part 6
Did she ask Ohno to have lunch with her? That's outrageous!
His chest tightened watching the way Ohno smiled at Serina. Ah, there's no doubt! He's going to say yes, forgetting his promise to have lunch with Nino today. Maybe Ohno had even forgotten Nino was still there, watching him flirting with another woman. Ah, this was so...
Nino blinked his eyes in surprise when he felt something warm on his forehead. When he realized it was a kiss from Ohno, he started to feel embarrassed, especially when he heard a giggle that was unmistakably from Aiba.
"You're miles away, Kazunari," Ohno was mere inches from him, staring at him with a smirk. His heart pounding harder under the intense stare. "What are you thinking about?"
"Nothing…" To avoid Ohno's stare, he looked around the office. His friends were watching them, trying hard to stifle their laugh before they excused themselves to go out for lunch. And Serina was still here, watching the two of them with jealousy evident in her eyes.
"Do you always kiss your staff, Satoshi?" Serina asked, diverting Ohno's attention from Nino. "Be careful. I don't want you to get reported for harassing your staff,"
Ohno responded with a cute chuckle. His eyes were once again staring at Nino as he rested his arm around Nino's waist. "Don't worry. He's more than just my staff. He's my boyfriend,"
Serina went rigid to hear the declaration from Ohno about them. Her eyes and mouth were wide opened, gasping because of the news. However, a minute later, she burst out laughing.
"This is not funny, Satoshi,"
"And I'm not making any jokes, Serina nee-chan,"
"I thought…" Serina seemed to be at a loss of what to say. She looked at the two of them, focusing on the way Ohno's arm lingered around his waist. "Your sister told me about this. I thought she was just bluffing to make me return,"
Ohno only smiled in return.
"Well, but we can still eat together, right?" Serina asked. "I still want to catch up with you."
"Well… is it okay if Serina nee-chan joins us, Kazunari?" Ohno asked, looking at him expectantly.
"Huh?"
Nino was lost in his own thoughts. He heard the two of them talking but he didn't really pay attention. He couldn't take his mind off thinking of what Serina had just said. About the possibility of his relationship with Ohno as a bluff to make her return from wherever she was before. What if it was true? That would totally explain why Ohno brought him to meet his family. But, that would mean… Ohno was lying about his feelings. No, he didn't want to think of Ohno like that.
"Are you okay, Kazunari?" Ohno asked, flicking his nose. Ohno had looked at him with affection. But, what if it was just an act? Urgh, he should really stop thinking about this. He shouldn't doubt Ohno.
"Of course I am okay," Nino said, trying his best to act like his usual bratty self. He didn't want Ohno to know what was bothering him. "Sorry for not paying attention. I suddenly have an idea to clear a game level that I have been stuck on for a while. Did you ask me something?"
Ohno pouted in return, retracting the hand that was around his waist to cross his arms and pretending to be sulking. "How could you think of your game when you're with me?"
Nino stuck out his tongue at Ohno. Should he point out that Ohno had just flirted with a woman in front of him? Better not. He would sound like a jealous boyfriend, which he clearly wasn't.
"I'm hungry," He said, rubbing his belly. "Can we go now?"
"That's what I've been asking you, my dear. Is it okay if Serina nee-chan comes with us?"
What? Ohno wanted Serina to eat with them? How could he? Weren't they supposed to talk more about their relationship during lunch? So why would he invite Serina?
But, if he said no, it would show that he was jealous. But, he wasn't jealous. He was just unhappy. So, even though he didn't want Serina around, he begrudgingly agreed.
He regretted the decision almost immediately.
They walked together to a restaurant near the office. Nino pouted the whole time as Ohno gave his attention only to Serina despite holding hands with Nino. And he hated it. It felt like he was the third wheel, not Serina.
The two of them talked about something that he couldn't interject at all. Apparently, Serina was a friend of Ohno's sister in school. They were close and Serina often came to Ohno's house. But, Serina accepted a job offer from New York five years ago and since then, they hadn’t contacted each other.
"You look different, Satoshi," Serina commented while they were waiting for their food.
She was clearly trying to seduce Ohno. The way she ran her fingers through her hair and then tilted her head to expose her neck… that was enough to tell Nino of her intention. However, Ohno seemed to be oblivious, or perhaps pretending to be oblivious, with her intention. He still treated her nicely.
“Different?” He scratched his head. “I feel the same, Nee-chan,”
Serina laughed in response. The way she covered her mouth as she laughed… urgh, it looked so fake for Nino.
“You look more confident, Satoshi,” She clarified. Twin spots of red appeared on Ohno’s cheeks as he smiled shyly at her. “And it makes you look even more attractive,”
Wow, she’s being so direct here!
And she got bolder as she tried to extend her hand, trying to reach for Ohno’s hands on the table. However, much to Nino's surprise, Ohno quickly moved his hands away, putting one of them around Nino’s shoulder while the other rested on his lap.
“Thanks to Kazunari, I guess,” He said.
If Serina was disappointed with the way Ohno rejected her advancement, she didn’t show it. Instead, she only smiled at them as if to show she wasn’t going to give up. Urgh, this woman had no shame! How could she try to seduce Ohno in front of him?
Their food arrived and Serina pretended to be interested in Nino by asking Nino to talk about himself. Nino only told her bare minimum, feeling uneasy to reveal personal stuff about him. Realizing that Nino wasn’t going to talk more, she shifted her attention to Ohno again.
“Do you still go fishing, Satoshi?” She asked, glancing slyly at Nino. Why did she give him that look? Did she want to show that she knew more about Ohno than him? Well, he didn’t care. She had known Ohno longer than Nino so it made sense for her to know more.
“Not really…” Ohno answered. “I don’t have time,”
“Well, if you want to go, bring me too!”
“Eh?” Ohno sounded surprised. “I thought you hate fishing,”
“Well, I have a change of heart,” She answered, winking at Ohno.
But, Ohno ignored her, pretending not to see the wink, much to Nino’s pleasure.
In fact, that was what Ohno did each time she tried to get his attention. Instead of responding to her, Ohno would pamper Nino instead. And she didn’t bother to hide her dismay at all. To be honest, Nino wanted to enjoy the moment. But, a voice at the back of his mind was telling him that Ohno was pampering him to make Serina jealous. He tried to ignore the voice but it was too loud.
“It is nice talking to you today, Satoshi,” She said as they waited for the bill. “And nice to meet you, Ninomiya san,”
Nino only smiled slightly. No, he didn’t really enjoy having her ruining his lunch date with Ohno. Yes, Ohno was pampering him but what if there’s an ulterior motive behind it? He couldn’t shake the thought out of his mind.
Once they were out of the restaurant, she excused herself because she had something to do. Good riddance. That’s what she should do from the beginning.
Both Ohno and Nino then started walking back to the office. He stayed silent, not really knowing what to say.
“Are you angry, Kazunari?” Ohno asked once they were back in the office. Aiba, Jun and Sho were in the pantry, judging from the noise.
“Huh?” Nino feigned surprise. “No… I don’t have any reason to be angry,”
He wanted to go to his seat but Ohno pulled him into his embrace.
“You’re angry. I know that. I’m sorry for letting her join our lunch. But I have a reason to do so,”
“Why? To make her jealous?” He said, pushing Ohno away.
“Huh? You’re being ridiculous, Kazunari!” Ohno laughed. But, he immediately stopped when he realized Nino was serious.
“You have feelings for her, right?” He didn’t want to do this. He didn’t want to tell Ohno what he was really thinking about. But, he couldn’t stop himself. “You brought me to see your family. Then, your sister told her about me. So, she returned to Japan to get you back. And poof, you will have your happy ever after with her. Ohchan, I really like you, you know. Why are you using me? How could you play with my feelings like this!”
His voice was too loud, causing his friends to come out of the pantry to see what’s happening. When he saw them, he felt embarrassed for bursting out his feelings.
“Kazunari…” Ohno called him gently, reaching out to touch him. But, he pushed his hands away.
“I have work to do. Don’t bother me,”
He was in a bad mood for the rest of the week. Thank God, it happened on Thursday, so he only had one day and a half to look at Ohno’s face. His boss tried to talk with him but of course, he ignored him again. He was an expert in ignoring people, after all.
His friends tried to advise him, but he quickly changed the topic whenever one of them started to talk about it. If they thought of him as immature, he didn't give a damn care.
And finally, the weekend had arrived. He spent the entire Friday night playing games to stop thinking about what happened. He did wonder if perhaps he had acted rashly by accusing Ohno like that. Maybe it wasn’t what he thought. But, he was too prideful to admit he was wrong. So, he didn’t do anything about it.
When he woke up on Saturday, it was almost 1 PM. His stomach was growling, asking him to eat. Well, he skipped dinner last night so that would explain why he was famished.
He went out to the kitchen, hoping Aiba had prepared lunch. If not, he would just pour milk and eat cereals. Aiba was not in the living room but he heard a noise from the kitchen. Someone was happily singing while cooking but it didn’t sound like Aiba. The voice was too soothing to be Aiba’s voice. He’s not saying Aiba’s voice was terrible but this voice was better than Aiba. It sounded like…
His eyes were wide awake when he realized who the owner of the voice was. He wanted to turn around, not ready to face the person yet. But, he froze on the spot when that person beat him to it.
“Kazunari?” Ohno said.
He was wearing the apron that Nino often used when he cooked. It was a yellow apron with blue flowers. It looked feminine but he didn't mind because the apron was cute and he loved it. Ohno was holding a ladle with his right hand. Nino wanted to laugh because it was funny to see Ohno like this, something that he would never expect before. But, as he was still angry with Ohno, he only glared at him as he walked to the refrigerator and took a glass of milk to drink.
“Why are you surprised to see me? This is my house,” He scowled at Ohno. “What are you doing in my house? Should I call the police?”
“Making lunch for you,” Ohno answered. “I’ve been here since morning because I want to have breakfast with you. But, you woke up late. And you don’t have to call the police. Aiba chan let me into your house,”
“I’ve told you to stop bothering me, right?”
“And I’ve told you, it feels like I’m in hell when you ignore me,”
Nino was taken aback by the response. He didn’t expect Ohno would retort like that. It was something that Ohno had said during his confession. He had promised there would be no more tricks because he couldn't take it if Nino ignored him again. Thinking of how sincere Ohno looked when he confessed his feelings, Nino admitted that he might be wrong about Serina.
"I'm sorry for being childish and immature," He mumbled. He lowered his face, couldn't bring himself to look at Ohno because of how ashamed he was to accuse Ohno without thinking.
Ohno went to him and hugged him tightly. He simply let him do so because he missed being so close to Ohno. He wondered what perfume Ohno used because the scent was so comforting. But, both of them were surprised when they smelled something burning.
"OMG!" Ohno shouted, releasing him from his tight embrace. "I forgot to turn off the stove,"
Nino only laughed as he watched Ohno take care of the mess he had made. He never expected to see Ohno make a careless mistake like this.
"Laugh all you want, Kazunari…" Ohno pouted. "But, we don't have anything to eat for lunch now. I'm too lazy to cook again,"
"It's okay. I'll cook for you," Ohno beamed with happiness when he heard that. Well, that's the least he could do to apologize for accusing Ohno. "Let me eat some bread first, okay? I'm starving,"
Once he was done eating, he started preparing to cook. He put some vegetables on the table and looked at Ohno expectantly.
"Do you want me to cut the vegetables?" Ohno asked, raising one of his eyebrows. Nino only grinned in return, handing him a knife.
"I thought you want to cook for me,"
"Hmmm…" Nino drawled. "I just think it will be sweet if we cook together,"
Ohno rolled his eyes, taking the knife from Nino. "You lazy bum. You're lucky I love you,"
"I know," Nino scrunched his nose. "So, where is Aiba chan?"
"Going out with Sakurai san, that's what he told me,"
"How about Jun Kun? Did he go with them?"
Ohno shook his head. "He didn't say anything about Matsumoto san,"
Oh… did one of them finally take an initiative? He cannot wait to ask Aiba about it.
But, let’s put aside Aiba and Sho first. For now… he had other things to do.
"So…" he began. "About you and Serina… do you mind telling me more about your relationship with her?"
Ohno didn’t seem surprised by the question. But, he did look uncomfortable.
“Do we have to put carrots in?” Instead of answering, Ohno pointed at the carrots on the table. “I don’t like them,”
“Okay, I will put a lot of carrots in the dish, then,” Nino stuck out his tongue at him, not really going to do what he said. “Tell me about her, please,”
Nino gave him his best puppy eyes. He knew Ohno was weak against it. So, with a sigh, he began.
“She is…”
Poll
A/N: To be honest, I don't know what to think of this part. Hope it wasn't too weird. Sorry for making Nino so immature in this part. But, rather than being immature, I think he was just too emotional to think properly. And thank you so much for reading this fic and supporting me. Wherever you are, please stay healthy, ne?