✍🏻See You Again

19 🫐 Chapter 19

I cook for us a simple rice dish that I believe is nobody's favorite but still tasty, while Yuzuru's in the shower, making me worried that he drowned after an hour of being locked in there. When he eventually comes out I scan him up and down, quirking my brow.

"You going somewhere?" I question while my eyes hover over his black pants and yet another button-up shirt.

"No?"

"So why are you dressed like this?"

"Like what?" He replies with a question and looks down at his clothes.

"Like you're going somewhere. Don't you have sweatpants and a t-shirt in that massive suitcase of yours?"

"Um," he scratches the back of his head but then he quickly combs it back, brushing his hair behind his ears.

"You know, you'll be staying here for a few days, right? You're allowed to dress comfortably."

"Heh," is all he says before hesitantly going to the suitcase and taking out a change of clothes. I roll my eyes and leave him be, going to reheat the food and when he comes out of the bathroom for the second time, I give him a nod of approval. It's kind of funny to see him in such casual clothes, the sweatpants hanging loosely on his hips and the simple black tee making him look very...domestic.

We eat the food on the sofa while watching TV, sitting right next to each other and whenever our elbows brush against each other there's a faint electricity current that travels right through me. I go back to the moment I entered his apartment and how the excitement of seeing him again almost made me lose my mind. Then I go back even further, trying to pinpoint when did it all happen but no matter how hard I try, I can't. With Javi, it was as soon as I saw his lopsided smile while he was staring into his phone at one of the competitions, and then with one other guy, it was when I noticed his habit of biting his lip whenever he was nervous. But with Yuzuru there's no such moment. It's just him, as a whole and it strangely feels way more intense than any infatuation I had in the past.

He's unusually quiet the whole day and I give him space to let his mind wander to whatever place it needs to go without the constant hovering like his mum was doing, keeping myself occupied with my uni work or cleaning. When I get to his suitcase and ask him if he would like to unpack so I can wash it he finally shows signs of life and almost falls off the sofa from how fast he gets up.

"Have something naughty there?" I tease as he hops to me with panic in his eyes.

"N-No?" He stops at the suitcase and pulls it to himself, only raising my curiosity. "But I would need to wash most of it. If that's okay."

"Of course, it is," I smile and nod toward the suitcase, "so take out the clothes and I'll put them into the washing machine."

"I'll do it myself," he counters, still tightly gripping the handle. "Just show me how your washing machine works."

I narrow my eyes, damn curious about what's in there but then I realize he just maybe wants to start doing things by himself. I take him to the washing machine and explain to him all the buttons, showing which program to select for normal clothes and what for sports clothes, and also showing him the settings of how to make the program go straight into dryer mode. He nods at everything I say and I giggle imagining him as a small boy in class, hanging on to every word the teacher says.

When I'm done with my lesson I let him know I'm gonna go and take a shower before going to bed and he nods, waiting at his luggage and starting to open it only once I grab the bathroom handle, the whole time eyeing me like a hawk. I speed up through the shower but when I get out, whatever secret was in the luggage must be already gone since it's lying open next to the sofa with only some clothes and earphones in there. The washing machine is quietly humming in the background and I lean over the back of the sofa, asking him if he's also going to bed or planning to stay up longer.