Heartbreak Club - Part 1
Title: Heartbreak Club
Author:
crystal_ceres
Pairing: Akame
Rating: PG-15
Genre: Romance; humour; with random fluff and angst thrown in between
Word count: 19, 434 words
For: eragon22 , who requested for sarcastic Kame and in-denial Jin
Special thanks to: pinkeuphoria1 for checking and correcting my mistakes/errors/typos; ensuring that I won't present myself in the whole glory of stupidity, and for lending me a listening ear when I whined about the plot~
Summary: [Inspired by the Love Mode manga series] When his manager, Ryo, arranged a date with a male host for him, Jin freaked out. Ryo had promised that they were just pretending to be lovers, that it was good for his modelling career, but when he found himself falling in love with the sarcastic, cold, yet handsome host… Ryo's plan took an abrupt turn. The question was; could Kazuya learn how to fall in love again? And of all people, could the bratty, egocentric Jin be the one who would win his heart?
The female reporter was eyeing the model who was sitting opposite of her intently, as if she wanted to jump on him any minute from now. The model, donning a white knee length button down shirt with a jacket of the same tone reaching his waist, a pair of dark blue jeans and, lastly, a pair of black boots, didn’t seem at all uncomfortable under the woman's scrutinizing gaze. In fact, he was wearing his smug expression, looking all too confident, clearly knowing that the woman thought that he was hot.
Well, it was not far from the truth anyway.
"Akanishi-san, do you think you'll be able to shoulder the burden of being the front men of the new Symphony clothing line?" she asked, her hands gripping the tape recorder tightly. Her stare was still on Jin, who was now sitting with his legs crossed, his eyes staring back at the reporter, daring her.
"Of course. No one else would be able to do it but me. I believe that I've got what it takes, and I'm not going to make Symphony regret choosing me."
If he, Akanishi Jin, were not able to do this job, no one would. Because he knew that he was the best there was. Modelling was his passion, and, by the age of 16, he was already a household name. Now, at the tender age of 25, he was the most sought male model in Japan.
Unfortunately, his ego was also as big as his success.
---*--
"Kamenashi Kazuya?" a male in his mid-thirties, he assumed, enquired.
Kame nodded in silence, watching the guy behind the reception counter typing something in his computer, before handing him a rectangle shaped card key.
"Just swipe the card at the sensor in the elevator; it will bring you right up to Akanishi-san's suite. It also acts as the key for his house."
He muttered his thanks and smiled to the man. Walking straight into the elevator, he did exactly as he was instructed, and he found himself at the top floor of the building a few moments later. The apartment complex was certainly luxurious, judging by the elegant, artful interior, complete with the highest security system available. He doubted that he would be able to get inside if it was not for his job.
Kame walked through the brightly lit hallway in confident strides, his hands buried deep inside his pockets. The host was dressed in a smart grey suit, with a white dress shirt under it that had the first top three buttons undone. He had forgone the tie, opting for a sexier appearance without looking too dishevelled.
It was three in the morning, and, seriously, no one would look this good so early (or late, depending on how you saw it) in the day, but within the line of his profession, he had no choice.
He had to look good.
And the positive side, he did like looking good.
Reaching the apartment that he knew belonged to none other than the famous Akanishi Jin, he knocked on the door, swiped his card at the sensor and unlocked it. Pasting a professional smile on his handsome face, Kame went into the suite and politely introduced himself.
---*---
"What the hell, Ryo?" Jin shouted, flinging a random magazine towards his manager, who luckily managed to dodge the flying object from hitting him square on the face.
The man sighed, picking the poor magazine up and throwing it carelessly on the nearest table. He had just arrived at Jin's apartment; he was expecting at least a 'good morning' from the older male as he set his foot inside, yet all he got was a shout of anger and a magazine almost hitting his precious face.
It was part of his job requirement to deal with the temperamental model, but Ryo was slowly beginning to regret his decision. He was not sure if other managers actually had to handle people like Jin, but he was ready to announce that his job was probably one of the most emotionally challenged occupations in the world. He doubted his sanity would last long if things kept going at this rate.
"Control your temper, Jin. It's not good for your image." He began, talking as calmly as he could manage, when all he really wanted to do was to snap Jin's neck in two.
"And going out with a male host is good? Just what the fuck is going on?" The model harrumphed, his arms crossed over his chest, his lips pouting in disgust.
"How many times do we have to go through this…?" Ryo sighed, slowly massaging his temple, trying to figure out the best way to deliver his message through that thick skull of Jin's.
The model was not stupid, he knew that, but the fact that he was self-centred, thinking that the universe revolved around him, was enough to make him feel like jumping out of the window of this very 42nd floor.
Of course, Jin was excellent in his profession; he could flirt shamelessly with the camera and prance around the runway as if he owned the stage, (and hence the unwavering self-confidence which led to the bigger-than-a-whale ego) but that didn’t mean that he could order Ryo around. Being considerate to his poor manager would be the least he could do.
But no… Jin just had to make Ryo's life a living hell. The model was still sulking, doing his silent act in hope that Ryo would change his mind.
What he failed to predict was that his manager wouldn't back off this time, no matter what.
"Listen Jin, and I mean it, listen carefully. You're the representative of the Symphony new clothing line, you're the spokesperson. They need you to go all out, to show yourself, anything, any act that may bring the spotlight on you."
Jin rolled his eyes. "So that they could sell their stuff?"
"Well, yeah, more or less. This is the real world, Jin, people love scandals. Scandals hype things up."
"But I don't get why me going out with a man would have anything to do with selling clothes!"
"Simple Maths Jin, simple kiddie Maths… You, a top model, dating a male, would lead to an uproar: people will see you, and automatically see the things you model for, so they'll buy it, Symphony will be happy, they'll continue with the contract, more money for you. And me, of course."
"That doesn’t sound simple at all."
"Look, just, just please. Just this once, and then if you don't like him, we'll find another one, okay?"
Jin grumbled. "You don’t know how he is! He's the most sarcastic, insensitive man I've ever met!" A beautiful one, he had to admit, but a single stare from that host made him feel so small and vulnerable, as if he was degrading him by his eyes.
He was not sure if he could go on with the party with his arm clinging to the man's one.
"I don't give a damn. Whether you like him or not, this is for the best. You just have to pretend that he's your boyfriend, honestly, how hard can it be? Just smile there and look pretty. A harmless flirtation won't kill you."
"But-"
"Not another word, Jin. You'll go to the Symphony launching party next week, with him in tow."
"And if I refused to?" Jin muttered, and Ryo thought he looked very much like a kid who refused to finish the broccoli in his plate. The scene would be very amusing to look at, if only he was not the person who was supposed to handle this.
"Oh, you will go alright, unless you want your death to be the headline of the newspaper the day after that." Ryo smirked, peering boringly at his nails.
"...I'll go."
"Good."
The Osaka man inwardly patted himself on the shoulder, congratulating himself for another success in handling Akanishi Jin for yet another day. Maybe his job was not so bad after all.
---*---
Kame had just come out from the owner of the host club's office, a troubled expression was evident on his face. He had just received the news that he would be under a two-month-contract with Akanishi Jin, and he was not going to appreciate it if another pillow --or any other inanimate objects-- landed on his face this time. Granted, the male was attractive enough to serve as an eye-candy, but his attitude…
Dealing with a bratty model would be the utmost inconvenience. When the club's owner revealed the fact that he was going to attend a party with the said bratty model, Kame was almost tempted to quit his job. But of course, he didn’t. His spending habits and luxurious lifestyle would be affected if he did.
The elevator dinged and immediately the doors opened, revealing the form of Yamashita Tomohisa, smirking indignantly. Kame shook his head and took a step inside, mentally preparing himself for the other host's question attack.
"So~" Yamashita, better knows as Yamapi, began, "I heard you were with someone important last night."
Kame huffed. He liked Yamapi as a friend, he really did. The slightly older male was the one who taught him everything about hosting, starting from the correct attitude to the art of seduction, and while he appreciated him for that, sometimes the said guy could be a handful to deal with.
"Yeah, important. And bratty too." He answered, his voice adapting an annoyed tone, rolling his eyes as he did so.
Yamapi laughed at the annoyed expression of his junior. "How does he taste?"
"Taste? Pi, you pervert…" Kame clicked his tongue, but he didn't look as if he was too affected by Yamapi's behaviour. He was too used to it, probably.
"Come on, don't be shy, spill the details! I wanna know everything! Was he loud? Was he any good? How about his…endurance?" Yamapi attacked him, one question after another, very much like a police questioning a criminal. He raised an eyebrow at the last question.
Kame faked his cough, mentally cursing Yamapi for being too nosy. "Well…He lasted for about…3 seconds."
Pi gasped. "Woah, so weak!" and got into a laughing fit as soon as he finished his sentence.
"Yeah, well, he took one look at me and angrily stormed out of the room, shouting that he was going to kill his manager. And that was after he threw a pillow at my face."
Yamapi laughed harder at this. "So you didn’t taste him last night! What a pity. He looks…pretty…delicious." He licked his lips at the thought.
"Like I would sleep with such a diva."
"But you're not denying the fact that he's pretty."
"I'm not blind, okay? If only his attitude matched that pretty face of his..."
"Hmm~ I don't mind how he is as long as I could sink myself into that-"
Kame turned around and clamped his hand against Yamapi's mouth, effectively stopping the other host from finishing his words. "Too much information, Pi. Too much." Kame said, glaring at the older male.
Yamapi immediately nodded his head up and down, and Kame released him.
"Okay, I'll just shut up."
The elevator stopped with another ding, having finally reached Kame's floor. He stepped out of the square box as the door opened, waving his hand with his back facing Yamapi.
"See you later."
"Kon!" Yamapi replied, doing his trademark 'kon' sign.
The elevator door closed itself a few second later leaving Pi alone, smirking to himself. "Akanishi Jin, huh?"
This was just too interesting. He couldn't wait to see Kame's pained expression the next time he met him!
---*---
Jin slung an arm over his face, covering his eyes. With Ryo gone, the house was too silent. He couldn't sleep, it was midday anyway, but strangely, the couch suddenly felt too uncomfortable, the ceiling seemed too high and the room looked too bright for him. Nothing felt okay. The previous night's occurrence replayed itself in his mind.
He threw a glance at the door, the door that the beautiful stranger -Kamenashi Kazuya, Jin remembered him saying his name politely- entered through, a charming smile pasted on his face, and, for a second, --just a tiny, fleeting second-- Jin thought his heart had leapt out of his chest.
Jin was sitting on the couch, his eyes glued to the television, but in reality he was not really paying attention to what he was watching. Ryo said that he had arranged a mystery date for him tonight (or maybe it was morning, since it was already three o'clock) and he was mildly nervous about it. If his memory served him well, Ryo mentioned something about this particular of date of his being his contract lover. He grinned at the thought of the probability of getting laid tonight, since it had been too long since the last time he did, due to the nature of his work.
Having a contract lover might not be too bad; it would save himself from the trouble of heartbreak, as they would go their separate ways when the contract ended… no strings attached, and he might get some pleasure out of it.
A knock on his door made him jump a little, but he immediately composed himself, switching the TV off. When his front door was swung open from the outside, Jin gasped at the figure that walked inside. His steps were graceful, his smile confident and his pose was poised. Jin found himself in awe with the creature that stood before him.
"Hi, I'm Kamenashi Kazuya."
The model nodded almost dumbly; he could almost see sparkles and flowers in his vision. Then a thought entered his mind. This person, this pretty person was…a male.
'He's a guy! I'm so gonna kill Ryo!' he snapped in his mind.
Jin shook himself out of his reverie and grabbed the nearest object that his hand could find -namely a pillow that he had happened to leave on the couch-- and threw the said object at the male host.
It hit Kame square in the face.
The host followed with the tail of his eyes as the pillow dropped to the floor, and then redirected his stare at Jin, an eyebrow raised and, a small frown appearing in between those beautiful arched eyebrows. "Brat." He said, smirking, and clicked his tongue soon after.
That was enough to make Jin's blood boil, and he stormed out of his room in anger, his shoulder bumping into the host's in process, but he was too mad to care about such a thing.
"I'm so gonna kill Ryo!"
Kame pursed his lips in annoyance, but Jin was too far away to see that.
---*---
The party took place in a hotel ballroom, situated in the heart of the Tokyo City. The guests were all wearing formal, smart attires; the males opted for suits and tuxedos while the females were dressed in ball gowns and dresses of various shades and colours, undoubtedly from well-known designers, based from the styles and designs. Diamonds and precious gems glittered on the females' bodies, fake smiles pasted on their faces. Everybody seemed to be more interested in what the other person were saying, when in reality none of them cared too much.
It was filled with pretentious air.
Jin could scarcely believe that a week had passed, and now here he was, speaking to an elderly woman with lipstick too red for his liking, a wine glass posed in her hand and her perfume attacking his nostrils. But that was not all, he also had his arms linked with Kame's, while the host's other arm was encircling his waist, holding him close, and he got more annoyed when the woman he was talking to paid more attention to his mysterious partner rather than to him, the main man.
He gazed at his partner for the night. They were both sporting a classic black and white look, courtesy of Ryo and his sheer genius.
'Matching outfits spell match made in heaven, right?' was his manager's exact quote.
Kame's pearly white suit contrasted with the black shirt underneath, a tie matching the colour of his suit complemented his whole outfit. He, on the other hand, was wearing a knee-length silk shirt with the first few top buttons undone, a silver necklace adorning his bare chest, topped with black jacket of the same length, a black scarf hanging on his broad shoulders and black pants. Their looks certainly compliment each other, but their attitudes…were skies apart.
Match made in heaven, his ass.
Jin gritted his teeth and willed himself to go through this act. The woman went off to talk with another person of high-importance, and the two were left alone, for a little while.
"This is the worst day in my life." Jin muttered soft enough that only Kame and he heard the words, but they contained enough anguish in them to convey the message that he hated the fact that Kame was here with him, as his partner.
The host pulled the model's body closer to him, and whispered in Jin's ear, "You must've had a pretty easy life then, princess."
To the other guests, they looked like a couple who was pretty much in love, from the way their hands were not leaving each other, the way Kame whispered in Jin's ear, the way Jin's face turned red at that.
In reality, Jin was flushing with anger. How dare this-this host insult him!
At that exact moment, the representative from Symphony announced his name, and the spotlight went on both of them. Kame had no idea why he agreed to this; he certainly hated to be in the centre of attention like this, but it was too late to back down now. The good thing was that Kame was a master in acting, thus, he never seemed out of place. In fact, he doubted that anyone present could guess that he was actually a host, judging from the whispers he had heard, saying that he was a prince from a foreign country, or a rising fellow model.
He was currently holding hands with Mr-Bratty-Diva, smiling at the flashes of cameras as they both sauntered towards the stage. Jin stumbled upon the staircase on his way up, and Kame reflectively helped the older man to steady himself. Murmurs filled the ballroom as, apparently, the public display of affection was well received.
"Don't expect me to say thanks." Jin lowly mumbled.
Keeping a straight face, Kame replied. "I don’t expect anything from you."
"Why you---"
"Smile, darling, smile for the camera." Kame cut in, a smile was ever ready on his face as he placed his hand on Jin's waist, half-pushing the model towards the stage.
Jin felt like killing this guy, but instead he flashed his brightest smile. Camera flashes attacked their forms from every direction, and the model silently wished that he was anywhere else but in Kame's arm.
Though, weirdly, as they were standing so close now, Jin could feel Kame's body heat radiating on his skin, and his face blushed at their proximity. His heart somehow beat a tad bit too fast as he remembered how close their faces had been when Kame saved him from falling down the stairs a few minutes before.
Jin thought that he must have been coming down with a fever.
---*---
It was quite early in the morning, Jin was not too sure of the time, but he groaned when he heard his front door being opened and the stomping footsteps coming towards his direction.
That must be none other than the infamous Nishikido Ryo. He regretted his decision to give Ryo an access to his suite. Surely, it had seemed like a bright idea at that time, Ryo could come in and drag him out of the bed on his lazy day, as he knew that when he was dead to the world, the loudest alarm clock wouldn't be able to shake him off his sleep. Yet now, as Ryo approached him, with a magazine of some sort tucked in his hand, the model thought that maybe, just maybe, he should fire his manager, regardless of how competent he was in his job.
"It worked Jin! It worked! Your popularity skyrocketed! And Symphony is extremely pleased!" Ryo announced happily, placing the magazine with Jin and Kame's faces from the previous night's party on its front page on the kitchen table.
Jin pouted, ignoring the said magazine, choosing to dunk his spoon in his cereal instead. The poor corn flakes were already mushy and soggy from being soaked in the milk for too long, as the model was too caught in dunking his spoon in the bowl, scooping the flakes up and ended up dunking them back before they reached his mouth. He was currently repeating the process for far too many times that Ryo didn't bother to count anymore, and finally he threw a kicked puppy look at his manager.
"Don't give me that look, Akanishi Jin. Now I’m gonna arrange a meeting for you with Kamenashi again, okay?"
That did it. Jin immediately stood up, causing the chair he was sitting on to fall from the impact, and he hit the table with his bowl. Milk and soggy corn flakes splattered all over the table, some of them spilling on the floor, creating a nasty mess.
"I don’t want-"
"LOOK." Ryo snapped, holding Jin by his shoulder to make the model literally look at him. "Stop being a kid and grow up. Do you know how many people want to be with this guy? I had to pull every string I know to set up this date for you, please, please, for God's sake, don't ruin all my hard work."
"-Fine." Jin reluctantly agreed. Ryo let go of him, running a hand through his black strands. Dealing with Jin always made him lose his temper.
"Now we have to make it look as if you two are really dating, so, go to his house this afternoon. Try to act as if you're being discreet, but don’t wear too much for disguise, or else the paparazzi won’t notice you. A pair of sunglasses will do."
"Ryooooooo~~ Can't we-"
"No." The manager flatly rejected Jin's idea even before he heard him out. "This afternoon, his house, sunglasses. Here's the address. Disobey me, and you will find no place in the industry again, Akanishi." He warned as he handed Jin a piece of paper, Kame's address clearly scribbled on it, along with a map and directions to get there. There could never be such a thing as too much information when he was dealing with Jin.
The model accepted the paper, using the sheet to fan himself. "Gotcha. See him, and break it off."
He received a none-too-gentle smack on his head for that.
"Okay, okay! I was just joking…." He sniffed, rubbing his poor injured head.
NEXT PART