Real-Life Fairytale; a renga oneshot book

If I was your boyfriend pt.2

Reki doesn't think much about it when he gets home. It's not like it actually makes much of a difference if Langa likes girls or boys. Either way, he's still an airhead and his best friend.

But then they're at school and their teacher keeps going on and on about English and Reki can't help but turn to stare at Langa who is very subtly trying to sleep.

He wonders what Langa dreams about. Does he dream about boys? Which boys? Who's Langa's type?

Langa gets confessed to by girls all the time, and for now obvious reasons, turns them down, but would he date a boy if they confessed? He doesn't know. He thinks he wouldn't.

He feels an odd twist in his gut when he thinks about Langa cancelling plans with him to go eat ice cream with some other guy.

He also feels guilty about how he reacted last night. He doesn't want Langa to think that he thinks it's weird. He's just never had a gay friend before. He wants to be supportive but feelings are hard.

For all that Langa looks and acts like a brick wall he asks a lot of questions about emotions and Reki never knows how to answer. He thinks it must be some kind of cultural difference between Japan and Canada. Maybe people are just more direct with their feelings there. He wishes he could just show Langa that he still thought he was the coolest guy he knew.

When lunch rolls around he sits a little closer than he normally would, just to show him that everything is fine. Langa doesn't seem to notice, focusing intently on his yakisoba bun.

"I found a pretty cool skate trick last night," Reki pulls out his phone. "Let me show you."

Reki scooches in closer so that they can both watch on the small screen. Langa moves back a little bit, probably to give him space, but he doesn't want Langa to think he's uncomfortable with him. So he moves closer again.

"Isn't it neat?" He glances up to check Langa's reaction but it looks like he hasn't taken it in at all. "Are you even watching?"

Langa humphs. "I am."

"We can watch something else if you want." Reki stuffs one of his little sausage octopus in his mouth.

"No. I like watching the videos you find." Langa still stares down at the phone even though the part with the skating trick is over and the guy is just talking to his friends. It makes him realize that Langa hasn't really looked at him at all today. Maybe he's nervous, Reki thinks. He doesn't want Langa to be anxious around him.

Reki plucks another octopi from his bento and holds it up to Langa's mouth. Langa's eyes flick down to it for only a second before snatching it into his mouth.

Langa looks him in the eyes as he chews. His eyes smile at him like he's won a race and Reki feels like it's a little disproportionate how happy Langa is from just a snack. It reminds him how easy Langa is to please in comparison to his other friends. Reki doesn't have to strain himself to have conversations about things he's not interested in or do things he doesn't want to. Langa is perfectly content to just hang out.

It makes him want to try harder to make him happy.

Langa looks down at his bento and then up at him again with his puppy dog eyes. Instead of telling him to eat his own bun like he usually does, Reki scoops out an egg roll and holds it up expectantly.

Langa eyes widen in surprise and delight as he takes the egg roll into his mouth. Impulsively, Reki feels the urge to feed the rest of his lunch to Langa to keep him smiling like that. He doesn't because he has to eat too and gets the feeling that that might be a little excessive but it doesn't stop him from planning a trip to the convenience store before their shift to get them both some snacks.