My Long Winter, a My Beautiful Man/Utsukushii Kare FF.

4 : Don't You Have Uncontrollable Manly Urges Too?

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"Just like that?" Iruma asked, grasping onto the wooden edge of the table as he leaned in.

"Mm. Just like that," Kiyoi responded, his torso now entirely bent over the wooden surface, papers splayed beneath him.

"Are you sure I should keep going?"

"Mm. Keep going."

Iruma kept going.

"Won't he be upset?"

"I don't think so," Kiyoi furrowed his brows and his mouth twisted in thought. "These lines don't quite make sense to me anyways, so it should be up to our interpretation."

Iruma looked across the table at Kiyoi whose body was now entirely hovering over his copy of the script as he intently studied each word. He chuckled cruelly and shook his head. "Of course a complicated love story doesn't make sense to you. You can't focus on anything besides your career, right?" His comment likely wasn't supposed to be as harsh as it came off, or was it?

Kiyoi glanced up at him, then back down at the script. Times like these he wished to show off his very complicated boyfriend. What actually didn't make sense about this play was that the couple matched each other so perfectly. They thrived in every aspect of life because of their perfectness and prided themselves in that, never questioning the depth of their fondness. Based on his own experience, that made no sense. How were the couple supposed to grow together if neither of them had anything to learn from the relationship? It all seemed like a dreadfully shallow affair that barely qualified as a true love story. Perhaps it was Kiyoi's inexperience showing, seeing as he's only ever had interest in Hira - his polar opposite - but their own dynamic made most sense to him. Kiyoi would've never learned true love if the same old people kept trying to wedge their way into his life.

Besides, such comments hardly held any merit since his emotional portrayals have drastically improved. With Hira, Kiyoi's learned what vulnerability truly meant. He's been challenged time again to express his deepest feelings, so merely acting them out for a play was coming easier to him these days. He also felt safe sharing more of himself with the world because he knew that even if his heart was exploited, Hira would always come to his rescue. Or at least he held that belief firmly enough to find security for now.

Kiyoi was also suspicious that Iruma was upset about something else entirely, but he chose not to say anything if his cast mate refused to be direct. The only person he reserved such patience for was Hira. The rest of the world was damned to suffer the eternal indifference of this Ice King.

Iruma sighed at Kiyoi's resigned silence and knocked on the table to draw his attention. Kiyoi generously spared a sound of acknowledgement. "I'm sorry, Kiyoi, I was just trying to be funny. It is kind of frustrating though. You never come out and party with me now that you're famous. It almost feels like you're avoiding me." Iruma slid his hand across the table to graze Kiyoi's arm.

And Kiyoi reflexively pulled away. Indeed, he was avoiding spending time alone with Iruma and his relentless advances. Since they met, Kiyoi thought he made it apparent that he wasn't interested in such attention, but the guy never lets up. He was only alone with Iruma today because the theater troupe director instructed them to dissect the newest script together. Kiyoi was trying to remain cordial, but couldn't shake the feeling that playing nice was also disrespecting Hira. Iruma, on the other hand, didn't share such concerns as he was only growing impatient with Kiyoi's blatant refusals.

"How about we practice this scene?" Iruma suggested without specifying what he referred to. Before he could inquire about what was meant, he crossed over, looped his arm around Kiyoi, and whispered in his ear, "How about we remain like this forever?" That was the line just before the protagonist's grand kiss.