The School Idol's Roommate [BL]

Amusement Park (4)

Aki was glad to see the light at the end of the haunted house and he did not seem to be the only one, judging from the other's scared stiff faces. To calm his nerves, he took a couple of deep breaths then realized that he was still holding hands with Liam.

...could he not let it go?

Alas, they were outside and the only thing that he could do was stare at their linked hands. At the corner of his eye, he found Liam staring at it too. They caught each other's gaze, smiling awkwardly as they slowly unfurled and separated their hands.

"I'll buy some ice cream," Rina said all of a sudden as she stomped towards the ice cream stand.

"She can't hold them all. I'll help her," Liam said to Aki, following Rina's trail.

Grace and Anna mentioned something about going to the restroom, leaving Aki with the sullen boy. They sat at a nearby bench with a wide space between them.

"That was scary," Aki said.

"Yes."

"But it was fun!"

"Yes."

Aki face-palmed inside. It was wrong of him to try and start a conversation with a guy who had not spoken more than five words since they entered the park. With nothing better to do, he just watched Noah quietly.

Noah looked like he jumped out of Japanese manga with his slightly long black hair, parted sideways that almost covered his eyes. He was the pretty boy type and the brooding look on his eyes added to his charisma.

He never knew that mysterious ones would be Rina's kind of guy.

"Are you okay?" Aki asked when he noticed that the other guy was a little flushed.

Noah looked up as though horrified that Aki was talking to him again. "I'm f-fine."

Aki narrowed his eyes. This guy... did he do something inappropriate to his sister while they were inside the haunted house?! He raised his eyebrow when he noticed that Noah was sitting straight and formal beside him. Aki let out a huff of laughter. "You don't have to be so stiff around me."

The younger guy lowered his head, still not meeting Aki's eyes. "But you're Rina's brother."

Aki narrowed his eyes once more, scrutinizing Noah from head to toe as he spoke, "Yeah. So?" He bit his lip. "Are you, perhaps, Rina's boyfriend?" He only said it to tease the other guy but he did not expect his reaction.

Blushing, Noah almost fell on his seat as he shook his head and waved his hands in front of him. "No! I mean, no." Then in an even quieter voice, he added, "I don't even think she likes me."

'Oh ho.' Aki fought the smirk that threatened to appear on his mouth. This was interesting. "What do you mean by that?"

Noah did not answer and remained looking at the ground that Aki felt bad for teasing him. So he said, "Come on, you can tell me. Maybe if I like you enough I can help you with my sister. This goes without saying, but I'll keep our conversation a secret from her."

That had Noah whipping his head up to look straight at Aki. "Will you, really?"

The hopeless look at the other guy's eyes tugged at Aki's heartstrings. He understood that look more than anybody else. Somehow he already felt a sense of camaraderie with this person.