The School Idol's Roommate [BL]

Rina (1)

Rina was grinning when Aki walked towards her table as if she was enjoying her brother's annoyed expression. Knowing Rina, she really was enjoying it.

Out of nowhere, Rina texted him, asking for the address of the cafe and saying that she wanted to visit him at his workplace. It was rare for her to ask him to meet suddenly. She knew that Aki preferred to be informed in advance. Aki was worried that something might have happened but looking at her now, she seemed fine, eating her cake without a care in the world. Same old sister that he knew.

"Wipe that grin off your face," Aki said, joining her in the table.

"Why?" Rina pouted, faking the hurt showing on her face.

Aki could not resist smiling and flicking a finger on his sister's forehead. He ignored her grumbles and accidentally met Liam's eyes as the other passed by their table on the way to serve his customers' orders. Liam gave him a small smile and Aki smiled shyly in return, trying so hard to hide his blush. He propped his elbows on the table and leaned his face on his hand, looking outside so as to avoid Rina's stare.

The two of them never talked about what happened at the party. Aki woke up alone in Liam's bed and found the owner busy in the kitchen. The smile his roommate gave him that day melted all of Aki's worries and anxiety. That smile told him that everything was okay. That everything was back to normal.

Which was okay. As it should be.

But it was also kind of sad.

Aki was somehow, just a tiny bit, only really really small part of him was disappointed, mostly to himself. Despite feeling that, he could not bring himself to ask Liam about what happened either. He had always been like this. And he hated himself more for that.

What should he say? 'Hey, so we kissed. And I'd like to do that again. Hope you don't mind! Hehe.' He rubbed his hand over his face. Just the thought of saying that made him want to disappear from shame.

His eyes subconsciously darted to the side as Liam walked by the side of their table. He really wanted to know what Liam thought of what happened. But he was also afraid of learning the truth. What if the truth was something he would rather not hear? Wouldn't 'not' knowing be better?

Maybe he really should just stop thinking about this whole thing altogether and catalog the memory to one of his happiest memories. It was a one-time thing. It was just a crush. How many people get to do that with their crushes? Wasn't he lucky enough to experience it?

Still...

Idly, he let his gaze drift to the counter. Rina chose a seat close to it, telling him that it was so she could see his brother work up close. But now Aki could also see Liam going on about his work, moving here and there. His eyes following the other's every movement at the corner of his eye, whether he liked it or not.

It was not like he was looking at Liam. Of course not. It just so happened that his roommate was there at the counter. And Aki also happened to look in that direction while he was there. Yep, that was it.

"Earth calling Aki." Rina was snapping her fingers in front of him to get her brother's attention.

Aki turned back to her sister, feeling guilty that he was caught in the act of staring. He could feel his blush spreading down to the tips of his toes. "Wha-what?"

"You've been sighing for a while now."

Aki traced lazy circles on the table, ignoring his sister's narrowed gaze. "Was I?" A pang of guilt came into him as he realized that he was being unfair to the sister whom he had not seen for a while. "So what happened?"