Will you love me? - Part 1
Nino stared at the phone, contemplating. Should he call his boyfriend and ask him out tonight? The man might say no. Heck, the chance of him saying no was significantly higher than yes. So, why bother to ask him out.
But, Nino missed his boyfriend. They hadn’t seen each other for a month and barely communicated. Only a few short messages asking the man how he was doing. But, his boyfriend only gave him a brief answer with no room for further conversation. He sighed, why was he stuck in this kind of relationship?
The name of his boyfriend is Ohno Satoshi, nicknamed Ohchan by him. He knew the man in university when they took a few classes together. It was the first time Nino was attracted to someone and as time passed, the feelings grew deeper until he decided to confess to Ohno.
The relationship they had wasn’t what he imagined it would be when he confessed to the man. Rejection was what Nino expected, considering what Ohno’s best friend, Sakurai Sho, had warned him about Ohno’s past. From Sho, Nino found out that Ohno’s ex-girlfriend cheated on him. They broke up but Ohno hadn’t moved on from her. He loved her so much that he couldn’t bring himself to hate her despite what she did to him. Because of that, Sho was certain that Nino would be rejected. However, Nino ignored the warning and tried his luck to confess to Ohno. Much to his surprise, Ohno accepted him.
But, it didn’t take long for Nino to realize the reason Ohno agreed to be his boyfriend. Ohno had used him as a means to forget his ex-girlfriend. But, it didn’t seem to work. Whenever they go on a date, it was clear that the woman is still in Ohno’s mind. He often spaces out and ignores Nino. Never once had he initiated anything between the two of them. They would only go on a date when Nino asked. The phone calls and text messages… Nino would be the first one to do so and Ohno would be the one to end them.
Was Nino stupid to stay in this relationship? Maybe. But, he wasn’t ready to let go of Ohno. He kept telling himself to be patient and when the time is right, Ohno would definitely love him back. That’s what he wanted to believe. But, it’s getting harder to do so.
Nino glanced at the clock. It’s almost time for his break to end. If he wanted to ask Ohno out today, he should do it now. The man would hate it if Nino bothered him during work. So, taking a deep breath, he finally called the man.
“Hello,” Ohno answered on the first ring.
“Ohchan… hmm… it’s me, Nino,”
“I know,” answered Ohno with an indifferent tone that Nino was already used to hearing. “I saw your name when I answered the call. What do you want?”
How he wished he could just put the phone down. Ohno wasn’t happy to receive a call from him, making it harder for him to voice out his desire to see Ohno tonight.
“Are you busy, Ohchan?” He said. “I’m sorry to bother you while you’re working,”
“If I am busy, I will not answer your call,” replied Ohno. Nothing changes in his tone. “Just tell me what you want,”
“Hmm… can we meet tonight?” Asked Nino timidly.
No response from Ohno. Nino almost regretted asking him out. So, he immediately continued.
“If you’re busy, it’s fine. We can…”
“Okay,”
Nino was surprised when Ohno cut him off. And, for a second, he was at a loss of what to say. He was confused. What did Ohno mean by okay? Did he mean it was okay for them to go out tonight? Or, did he mean it was okay to schedule it for another day? Nino had no idea at all.
“Hmm…”
“Shall we meet after work today?”
Eh? Once again, Nino was surprised. Did Ohno agree to meet him? This was hard to believe.
“That sounds good,” said Nino after he recovered from the shock. “I will wait for you at the train station as always,”
Usually, if they go on a date, that would be the place for them to meet.
“Nah… I will meet you at your office,” informed Ohno. Once again, he surprised Nino. “I have an appointment with a client there. I’ll see you later,”
And, then, without saying goodbye, Ohno ended the call. That didn’t surprise Nino because that’s what the man usually does. But, something has certainly changed in Ohno. Nino couldn’t help but wonder how and why it happened.
I’m at the cafe
A text message from Ohno arrived when Nino was doing his work. He glanced at the clock, noticing it was only 4:00 PM. That means Ohno would have to wait for an hour. Would the man be patient enough to wait? What if he gets bored and cancels the date to go home? If so, what should Nino do to prevent that from happening?
“What’s wrong?” Asked his colleague, Toma, who sat across from him. “Bad news? Your face changed after you get that text,”
“It’s nothing,” answered Nino. An idea struck him at the moment so he continued. “Do you think our manager will let me get home early today?”
Toma shrugged. “I don’t know. Why don’t you go and ask him?”
Nino took a deep breath and then headed to the manager’s room. At the moment, he didn’t have any urgent work. He had settled everything except a report, which will be due in two days. It was almost done too. Still… he didn’t think the manager would let him go easily. The man was quite stern.
“Oh… Ninomiya,” said the manager, whose name was Matsumoto Jun when Nino entered his room. “Thank goodness you are here. I was about to call you,”
“Why?” Nino’s worry intensified. What if the manager assigns a new task for him? What if he has to go home late because of it? “Is there any problem with my work?”
“No…” Jun chuckled upon seeing his reaction. It was the first time Nino saw him like this. Jun rarely smiled when he worked. “Hmm.. do you have any plans for tonight? If you don’t have anything planned, how about we go and have dinner together?”
Nino’s eyes widened, surprised by what he heard from Jun. Did the man just ask him out? Nino quickly shook his head. That would be impossible. Maybe Jun wanted to discuss something about work with him.
“You don’t have any plans?”
Oops… Jun had misunderstood his reaction. That wasn’t the reason he shook his head.
“No… I mean… I have a plan, Matsumoto-san,” said Nino quickly. It would be better to quickly clear the misunderstanding. “And that’s why I’m here. Can I go home early today?”
“Oh…” The man seemed to be disappointed, which, in return, made Nino feel guilty. “Is it important? You rarely take a day off… so, I’m surprised you want to go home early,”
“Err…” Nino didn’t know what to say. He preferred not to say anything about the reason for his request. If Jun knew that he wanted to go home early for a date, the man wouldn’t allow it. Should he lie, then? No, he won’t resort to lying. So, maybe he should just go home as usual and pray that Ohno would patiently wait for him. If not… ah, let’s not think about that now.
“It’s okay, sir. I will just go home as usual,”
He, then, quickly left the room, leaving Jun startled with his action. He went back to his place to do his work. But, it was harder than he thought. He couldn’t focus on his work. Only Ohno in his mind right now, afraid that the man won’t be in the cafe when he gets down later.
A few minutes before the clock struck 5, Nino quickly saved his work and then switched off the computer. Once it was time to go home, he sprinted towards the elevator. Whether his colleagues looked at him weirdly or not, he had no idea. All he cared about was getting to Ohno as soon as he could.
As he waited for the elevator, he kept looking at the watch, wondering if it would be quicker if he took the stairs. Fortunately, the elevator came before he changed his mind. Without wasting any seconds, he quickly entered. However, before the elevator door could close, Jun entered, staring at him with amusement.
“It’s strange seeing you like this,” said Jun. “Why are you in a hurry?”
Nino only smiled at his manager. There’s no way he could tell Jun about Ohno. Thank goodness, it didn’t take long for the elevator to reach his intended floor. With a nod at Jun, he quickly went out and headed towards the cafe.
No words could describe how happy and relieved he was to see Ohno was still there. A pout was on his boyfriend's face, though. And, he looked grumpy. A cup of coffee was on the table but it was already empty. If Nino was late by just a few seconds, maybe Ohno won’t be there anymore.
“Sorry, I just finished work,” said Nino, apologizing without sitting down. “Shall we go now?”
Ohno looked at him briefly before he stood up. No words came out of his mouth.
“Hmmm… how about a movie?” Suggested Nino. Knowing how much Ohno enjoyed watching action movies, he quickly added. “I think there is a new action movie… after that, we could go to McDonald’s to have dinner,”
That’s pretty much what they usually do on their date. Sometimes, they would go to a mall together or strolling in the park. Boring, right? But, Nino couldn’t think of any other activities to do with Ohno.
“Nah…” said Ohno. “I’m not in the mood to watch a movie,”
“Okay,” Nino tried to his disappointment. If Ohno didn’t want to go for a movie, well, they probably would just go to a restaurant and then go home. It would be a short date only. “We can just eat. What do you want…”
“How about bowling?”
Nino blinked a few times, afraid that he misheard what Ohno had said. Did Ohno just suggest they go for a game of bowling? That can’t be true, right? It was hard to think properly under Ohno’s intense stare as the man waited for his answer. Refusing to let Ohno be mad at him, Nino nodded eagerly, hoping that what he heard was true.
“Let’s go, then,” said Ohno and to Nino’s surprise, his boyfriend gently took his hand as they exited the cafe. Nino was in a daze, believing that he was dreaming because there’s no way Ohno would touch him like this. Don’t let this dream end soon! He didn’t want to be disappointed when he woke up later. Let him enjoy this moment even though it was just a dream that would never come true.
Being lost in his thoughts, he didn’t notice Jun right in front of him and bumped into his boss. The curse that came out of the manager’s mouth broke him out of his trance. Did he fell asleep while working? This was terrible!
“Sorry,” Nino quickly apologized. “I didn’t mean to…”
Nino paused, eyes wandering around his surroundings. Eh? He wasn’t in his office. He was outside the cafe and Ohno was still holding his hand. Eh? So… it wasn’t a dream, was it? He was utterly confused right now.
“Matsumoto-san, I’m sorry,” Nino decided to apologize despite being confused. After all, it was his fault, right? He should pay attention to his surroundings.
“It’s not entirely your fault,” Ohno suddenly said. “This man was looking at his phone too,”
Jun didn’t say anything. He simply stared at them, frowning. He didn’t seem to be happy and Nino was afraid this would affect their professional relationship.
“It’s fine, Ninomiya,” said Jun, allowing Nino to sigh in relief. “As the man said, I was at fault too. Hmm… who is this? Is he the reason you…”
“Ohno Satoshi,” Ohno cut him off. “Nino’s boyfriend,”
Nino turned to look at Ohno. He recognized the tone used by his boyfriend. Was it jealousy that he detected from the man? That’s impossible! Ohno didn’t love him. So, why would he be jealous?
"And…" Ohno continued while Jun seemed to be having a hard time digesting the information. "We need to go now so we can enjoy our date. Bye,"
The man, once again, did a shocking thing by putting his arm around Nino's waist and dragging him away under Jun's curious eyes.
A weak smile adorning Nino’s face as he watched Ohno. His boyfriend was focusing on the pin before he hit them with the ball in his hand. Not all pins fell, though. One was shaking but it remained standing firmly. As a result, Ohno could only pout.
But, that was a good result, right? He might not get a strike this time. But, he could get a spare since there’s only one pin left. Knowing how good Ohno is at bowling, that would be easy.
Nino let out a sigh, thinking about how much he knew about Ohno but the man barely knew him. They had been dating for a year but Ohno wasn’t even aware that Nino would get seasick whenever he was on the boat. Not that the man would care. Ohno often goes fishing on his boat but no once has he ever asked Nino to join him. And, Nino was certain it had nothing to do with seasickness. Ohno simply didn’t want him around whenever he was doing his favourite activity.
Why was he in this relationship? He knew it was stupid of him to continue this. But, he couldn’t let Ohno go. If someone asks him why he loves Ohno, he doesn’t know how to answer it. At first, he just found the way Ohno sometimes dozed off during the class funny. Haha, Nino laughed to himself as he thought about it. That’s a lie. Not sometimes… always. Ohno always fell asleep in the class, not caring at all that the professor was annoyed at him whenever he snored. Strangely, the man would be wide awake a few minutes before the class ended. Once it ended, he would start asking other students if he could borrow their notes. Of course, no one would lend it to him since they were also annoyed by his snoring. No one! No one but Nino. As Nino found Ohno amusing, he lent his notes to Ohno and that’s how their weird friendship began.
Sometimes, they would bump into each other in the cafe or library. Without even saying a word, they would share a table. Attracted to the man’s cool aura, Nino sometimes studied him. Ohno would usually frown as he read the textbook. Sometimes, he would scratch his head, having trouble understanding their lesson. He would glance at Nino with a hope Nino would explain to him. And, Nino happily did so. After the explanation, Ohno would continue reading the textbook. But, after a few minutes, he would get bored and start doodling in his notebook. Ohno was a different person when he drew. The way he focused as his hand moved around the book was something that Nino never thought he would see in the man. Seeing the two different sides of Ohno was the reason Nino wanted to know more about him, which resulted in him falling in love with Ohno.
“Don’t you want to bowl?”
Nino was brought back to his current situation by Ohno’s indifferent tone. He lifted his face and found Ohno staring at him coldly. He gulped, feeling worried to see the expression on Ohno’s face. Not wanting to make Ohno angry at him, he quickly stood up, ready to bowl. However, he was surprised when he looked at the scoreboard. Eh? Two strikes? Did he just get two strikes? But, when did it happen?
“I did it for you,” came the answer from Ohno. Nino turned to look at his boyfriend who stood beside him. “You seem to be lost in your thoughts. So, I did it for you. But, we come here to bowl. So, I should let you do it too. Well… unless you don’t want to do this,”
“I’m sorry,” Nino quickly apologized. This was his long-awaited date with Ohno. And it was the first time they did something different. So, he shouldn’t ruin it.
Nino quickly rolled the ball. Perhaps because it was hard for him to focus on the game, the ball didn’t hit any pin. From the corner of his eyes, he saw a slight smile on Ohno’s face.
“Not good at bowling, I assume,” said Ohno when Nino took another ball.
“No…” Nino denied. “I was just distracted because… hmmm…” What should he say? It didn’t seem right to tell Ohno that the man was the reason he couldn’t focus.
“Because of the man we met just now?”
“You mean… Matsumoto-san?”
“Well… that’s what you called him earlier…” Ohno scratched his head, seeming hesitant to continue. “Who is he?”
“My boss…” answered Nino. “And, I’m not distracted because of him,” When Ohno mentioned Jun earlier, it gave Nino an excuse for being absent-minded earlier. “I’m just thinking about my work,”
“Okay, whatever,” shrugged Ohno. “Just quickly roll your ball,”
Nino smiled weakly and turned around, ready to bowl again. However, before he could roll the ball, an idea struck him, causing him to pause.
“Hey…” Nino called his boyfriend. “Want to make this game more interesting?”
Don’t try to push your luck, a part of him warned. Ohno is treating you nicely today. What if his attitude changed once you voiced out your idea.
“What do you mean?” Asked Ohno curiously.
Nino shook his head. This is stupid. “It’s okay,”
Ohno stared at him, studying. “Tell me,”
The tone used by Ohno made it hard for Nino to decline. He cursed silently, wondering why he said something without thinking before.
“Hmmm…” Nino began. “It’s nothing, really. But… how about a penalty for the loser?”
“For this bowling game?”
Nino nodded. “But, if you don’t want…”
“Okay,” said Ohno firmly. “The loser has to fulfil the winner’s wish. Only one wish. And it can be anything,”
Nino contemplated for a second before nodding. “Only one wish,”
He was determined to win the game. He had to. If he wins… no, when he wins, he will use the wish coupon to fulfil his selfish desire.
A kiss from Ohno.
That’s what he wants.
“Alright, then. Let the game begin,”