Elliot

Twenty-Three

We went to the Korean restaurant that Tobias had suggested months ago. I could tell that the food is good because of the smell inside the place. We placed our order once we settled on one of the tables.

"This place is nice." I said. There are clouds of mist all around the place.

"Yeah, I'm telling you, the food here is immaculate," he said.

"I could tell." I looked at the dish on the other table. "And also kinda expensive."

"You don't have to worry about that."

"What do you mean?"

"My treat." He raised an eyebrow.

"What are you, my sugar daddy?" I smirked.

Tobias winked. I never saw him do that. "Will always be."

"No way, Tobias. We're gonna split the bill."

"I'm paying, Elliot. And I'm not asking."

Okay, maybe he's serious about it. I pointed a finger at him. "Next time, I'm paying." I said. He gave me a firm nod and smiled.

The food arrived after a few minutes. And I'm not lying when I tell that they looked really good. I had no second thoughts and ate right away.

"How is it?" Tobias asked.

I put a thumb's up.

"I'm glad you liked it."

"So fucking good, man."

"Told ya." He smiled at me and we ate in silence for a moment. Then he said, "Are you enjoying so far?"

I chew on the beef. "Absolutely. I loved the museum really bad. I wish I knew that it existed sooner. I could've explored it more. The fucking paintings also were so good. You know, for a second there I thought I was staring at a masterpiece. Then I remembered that we're in a fuckin' museum and everything in there was a masterpiece so that thought was really dumb."

Tobias was silent. He just kept looking at me and there's a smile on his face.

"Fuck, am I blabbering? I'm sorry."

He laughed. "No, it's fine. I love it when you go storyteller-mode."

"Wow, so you enjoy my weirdness?"

"It's not weird telling a story."

"It is if it's too much."

"It will be if you tell a weird story."

I shrugged. "Good point."

He laughed again. He was so happy today. I liked seeing him happy. I get happy too. "What's your plan after college, by the way?" I said.

"Well I would start as an assistant photographer first to build experience. And maybe after that I can be a professional photographer and have my own studio someday."

There's nothing more enchanting than seeing my boy be passionate about himself.

Tobias looked confused. "What?"

"Nothing." I smiled. "I'm just proud of you."

"For what?"

"I can't be proud of my boyfriend for no reason?"

He chuckled. "Okay, then." We both smiled at each other. "What about you? What's your plan after college?"

"Honestly, I don't really know. Maybe I'll just help at my father's shop for awhile then if I get lucky to find a job then that's that."