Not him, You! - Part 1
“Ohchan, wake up,”
Nino gently shook his friend who was sitting in front of him. The two of them were in the library, studying together for the exam, which will be in two weeks. However, his friend, whose name was Ohno, fell asleep fifteen minutes ago. As it was almost time for dinner, Nino decided to head back to their house now.
“Mnhedbj...”
Nino smiled fondly as Ohno mumbled incoherently in his sleep. His eyes remained shut while he pushed Nino’s hand away. The man was always cute, Nino thought.
“Sorry, I don’t speak gibberish,” said Nino before he shook Ohno’s body again, harder this time.
“I love you too,” said Ohno suddenly. His eyes finally snapped open. His voice was quite loud. Thank goodness, there was no one else in the section where they studied.
At first, Nino was stunned to hear the words from Ohno’s mouth. But, upon realizing that Ohno had just woken up from his sleep, he could only laugh. Ohno, on the other hand, smiled shyly at him. His face was scarlet red. He must be dreaming about the person that he loves. Wonder who that person might be. They had known each other since their first year as they were assigned as roommates but Nino wasn’t aware that Ohno had a crush on someone. Guess it’s time to tease his friend, then.
“Awh… I’m sure those words are not for me,” teased Nino. “But, I could help you saying them to the right person,”
“Don’t tease me!” begged Ohno, refusing to look at Nino directly. Instead, he clumsily put the books into his bag. “Should we go now? I’m hungry!”
“Yeah, it’s time for dinner,” uttered Nino, glancing at his watch. “But… tell me… who is that person?”
“No one… I was just having a dream about my mom. So, I told her I love him… I mean her,” Ohno said quickly, proving that he was indeed lying.
“Don’t lie, Ohchan,”
However, Ohno’s attention was elsewhere. He was staring at his phone, scratching his head. It wasn’t unusual for Ohno to ignore him while they were talking. His friend was easily distracted. But, there was something about the action that piqued Nino’s interest. What was on the screen of the phone? A video of fish, perhaps? Nah, it couldn’t be. Ohno usually had a dreamy smile on his face when he watched them. Right now, however, he seemed lost.
Without thinking, Nino snatched the phone from Ohno. That would be the only way to divert Ohno’s attention from the phone. If he asked, his friend wouldn’t answer him. That’s why he had to do something like this despite knowing it would cost Ohno’s wrath.
The reaction, however, wasn’t what Nino expected. The moment he snatched the phone from Ohno, he immediately started running from the man. But, when he didn’t hear anything from Ohno, he turned around and was surprised by what he saw. Ohno was still in the same position as before. Eh? What could make him react like that? It must be something on the phone, then.
So, Nino had his attention on the object in his hand. Feeling slightly guilty, he unlocked the phone. The two of them had known each other for four years. It was only natural for him to know Ohno’s passcode. After all, Ohno wasn’t fond of using his face or fingerprint to unlock the phone.
However, right after he unlocked it, Ohno suddenly appeared in front of him, pouting. Damn! He was too engrossed that he didn’t notice Ohno had broken out of his trance. And, there wasn’t much that he could see. What appeared on the screen was a text message and thank goodness, Nino had the chance to see the name of the person who texted Ohno. It was from Sho-chan. They knew a few people named Sho but he didn’t think Ohno had ever called any of them Sho-chan.
“Nino!” Ohno hissed. “What are you doing?”
“Making sure you aren’t watching porn on your phone,” answered Nino lamely. He tried to think of an excuse to justify his action. But, having the phone in his hand made it difficult.
“I don’t watch porn,” mumbled Ohno. And, Nino simply chuckled when Ohno’s face turned scarlet. Not watching porn? Yeah, right!
“Really!” Ohno insisted upon noticing the smile on Nino’s face. “I don’t… ah, whatever! Now, give me back my phone!”
Sighing, Nino handed the phone back to Ohno. “So, who is Sho-chan?”
The perk of knowing Ohno for a long time. To other people, Ohno may have remained expressionless. But, Nino knew he was surprised. And, perhaps, slightly mad at Nino.
“It’s my phone!” said Ohno, pouting. “You shouldn’t look at it. What else did you see?”
Nino felt guilty. “Sorry, I was just curious. Don’t be mad at me, please?”
There was no response from Ohno. The man simply stared at him without saying anything. And, it scared him when Ohno was silent like this. What if Ohno hated him for what he did?
“Okay…” Ohno finally said. “But, don’t do this again,”
“I promise. I will not look at your phone without your permission,”
“Let’s go, then,” said Ohno. “I’m starving,”
The two of them walked together in silence. It was normal for them to be like this. Spending too much time together, they don’t need words to express their thoughts.
That’s why it frustrated him. Who is Sho-chan? Why hadn’t Ohno mentioned the man before this?
“Ohchan…” Nino called the man softly. He couldn’t bear it any longer. He needed to know who Sho-chan was.
“Hmm…” hummed Ohno.
“Sho-chan… hmmm… who is he?”
Would Ohno answer him? Perhaps not! If Ohno wanted to tell him about Sho-chan, he would do it without Nino asking.
Still, it’s worth trying.
“Sho-chan?” To Nino’s surprise, Ohno responded. “He was my best friend,”
“Best friend?” Nino tilted his head. He failed to notice that Ohno was using past tense. “I thought I am your best friend,”
Ohno chuckled. “You are not my best friend,”
“So, who am I to you?”
“My boyfriend,” teased Ohno, winking at him. In return, Nino smacked his head.
“Be serious, Ohchan,”
Despite staring at Nino, Ohno’s mind seemed to be elsewhere. A nostalgic smile was on his face, making Nino wonder if something bad happened between Sho-chan and Ohno. That would explain why Ohno never told him about Sho-chan before.
“He was my best friend,” Ohno said once again, emphasizing the past tense. “But… hmm… do you remember my friend who studies abroad?”
Nino nodded, remembering their first year. Ohno would sometimes talk about a friend who studied abroad. Come to think of it, Ohno hadn’t mentioned the friend for quite some time. Was that friend Sho-chan?
“You guys had a tiff?” Nino bravely asked, hoping Ohno wouldn’t mind him probing.
To his surprise, Ohno shook his head. “Not a tiff. We are just sort of drifting apart. I mean… we both are busy with our studies, right? So, we barely talked to each other anymore,”
“Oh…”
“And, he called me a few days ago,” informed Ohno. “But, we had a class at the time. So, I didn’t answer. Then, I forgot. He called again today,”
“What did he say?”
“I don’t know,” answered Ohno. “He called when we were in the library. I put my phone on silent mode so I didn’t notice the call,”
“So, he sent you a text?”
“Un!” Ohno nodded. “He says he has a surprise for me. I wonder what the surprise is,”
“The surprise is... I will be here to meet you tonight,”
Both Ohno and Nino were surprised to be interrupted from behind. Immediately, they turned around. A handsome man was standing a few feet from them. The man was smiling, particularly to Ohno.
“Sho-chan!” Ohno shouted happily, running towards the man who opened his arms widely to welcome Ohno in his embrace. The action took Nino by surprise. It was weird to see Ohno hugging another guy. Noticing the sparkle in Ohno’s eyes, a thought suddenly crossed his mind.
“When did you get back?” asked Ohno, hitting the man lightly on his arm. “Why didn’t you tell me you will come here?”
Sho laughed. “It’s not my fault. I tried calling you. But, you didn’t answer. Why? Are you avoiding me? Are you mad I didn’t keep in touch with you?”
Nino didn’t hear the answer that came out from Ohno’s mouth. He decided to go home without Ohno. Both Ohno and Sho must have a lot to catch up on. He wouldn’t be needed there.