The School Idol's Roommate [BL]

Breather (3)

"You know, just a week before you came back, Zy moved out of their house and said that he would live on his own," Rina said as she scrolled through her phone while lying on Aki's bed. "But I bet you, he's moving in with Drew."

Aki raised an eyebrow. Rina glanced at him and rolled her eyes.

"Oh come on. It was obvious! Like super duper obvious! Zy have this huge crush on Drew ever since. Anyone could tell." Then she froze. As if realizing for the first time who she was talking too, she lowered her voice. "I'm sorry. That's... not a good topic to talk about."

Aki shrugged. "Don't mind me. It's fine."

He stood up from his desk and Rina watched him walked towards the balcony where he opened the curtains wide as if he was proving a point. The room -- Zy's room, across his was close. Nostalgia hit him and he had to grip the curtain to steady himself. "I'm fine."

"Are you really." Rina put it more of a statement than a question as she sat crossed-legged and stared at him. "You don't have to lie to me. You run away from them right?"

Sometimes Rina seemed like she was the older between the two of them. When in reality, she was two years younger than Aki. But even 'he' was unnerved when she fixed her scrutinizing gaze at him as if there was nothing could escape those eyes. Aki felt like escaping from them now.

He joined her in bed, hugging his knees. "I did run away. But not just from them. I...run away from quite a couple of things."

Rina snorted beside him. "Whatever happened to the person who used to say 'I'd rather face the problems head-on than run away from them?'"

"Apparently, that person is a proud idiot."

"'That' is the truest word you've ever said." Rina grinned at him.

"Hey!"

She added on a quiet voice, "If you fall in love again, find a guy who would treasure you instead." She did not say, 'instead of just pulling you around.'

Aki watched her face but her hair fell on the side so he could not tell what expression she had.

Rina drew a shaky breath and laughed. "I'll go back to my room. Oh, and thanks for the fruit salad. They're delicious."

"I told you not to eat them!" But Aki was laughing.

He shook his head and stood back to the balcony. Aki watched the dark and empty room across his. When he came back home, he avoided opening his curtain in the fear of facing Zy's room. There were so many memories in there that he was afraid to remember them all. It was in this balcony where they chatted for hours, where he would pretend to water the plants just to catch a glimpse of the person on the other side. They stood there when Zy first talked about Drew ("What do you think of Drew?" he asked.) and from then on, every topic would be about Drew.

"If you fall in love again, find a guy who would treasure you instead," Rina told him.

'But there would be no next time Rina.'

Aki drew back his curtain and went back to study.