Chapter Text
Everybody said that Makoto was lucky to have gotten an internship at one of the most popular fashion magazine companies in East Asia, but for Makoto, he couldn’t be any more unlucky. Where Makoto had wanted to intern at was at the country’s biggest news magazine where the building was nice and modern, the bosses were nice, and the interns weren’t treated like scum. But at Vivi, everything was the complete opposite.
The interns were treated like second-class citizens, and the bosses were rude. The higher up the boss, the worse they were. One had yelled at Makoto on his first day there simply because he stood in his office for too long, even though his boss had never dismissed him. The only two nice bosses were Matsuoka and Yamazaki, but they still frightened Makoto. Yamazaki has never smiled a day in his life and while Matsuoka was friendly and outgoing, his sharp teeth tell another story. Makoto’s workspace was a literal cubicle on a floor with only two windows and was so dark, Makoto had to bring an extra lamp to be able to see what he was doing. And one thought the bosses were mean? Try the employees who take their frustrations off of the poor interns who want to get a steady income to support themselves. Makoto had a short list of employees that were nice to him.
Like the secretary Kou who worked at the front desk. Every day when he greeted her, she would greet her with an equal amount of enthusiasm. They both take their lunch breaks around the same time, and the two have conversations about their lives over a cup of coffee before returning to work. She was probably the nicest person working there.
There’s another intern named Ai and while he was nice and the two have shared pleasant conversations, he mostly tailed after Matsuoka, running errands and relaying messages for him. It was almost a given if Ai was present, Matsuoka was right around the corner and as mentioned before, he was afraid those sharp teeth will cut him open if he did one thing wrong in front of his boss.
Rei worked on the same floor as Makoto, but at a much nicer wing where there’s lots of sunlight peeking through the glass panels, and there’s comfortable seating. He was the head of tech support, and with the ten-year-old computer Makoto was given to work with, he was there too often to his liking. Rei didn’t seem to mind however, he had stated to Makoto once that he was always the highlight of his day, for everybody else had perfectly running laptops and the few other jobs he would have included menial things like dealing with annoying customers who don’t understand the internet trying to navigate through. Must suck working for a high-tech company, huh?
Nagisa also worked on the same wing as Rei, but he took the calls for tech support. He was a little ray of sunshine and a ball of ever bursting energy. Seriously, the guy never seemed to run out of excitement. He always greeted Makoto with enthusiasm, no matter time of day it was and no matter what mood everybody else was in.
After Nagisa, the only nice people left in the company were Nao and Natsuya, but he’s only spoken to them once, and his nice experience with them was out of sheer politeness. Everybody else from the company was nasty. They mostly ignored the intern when he greeted him, and if they did acknowledge his existence, it was to relay in the rudest attitude imaginable, a message from the higher-ups.
Makoto hated working there, and that was saying a lot for him. Makoto wished he had never applied but it was a requirement for his college that he worked during at least one semester at an internship, and so his senior year finally opened up a schedule clear enough for him to have an internship. If there was any bright side to this internship, it was the fact that it was the closest one to his apartment. After a long and torturous day there, he only needed to walk for five minutes down the street, make a right, cross the street and voila , he’d be home. If he had gotten into any of the other places he had applied for, he would have to take a train ride back and forth. Not that he cared, because everybody there would be nice and friendly and he’d like it there.
Or at least that was how he felt until he met Haru.
That fateful day started like any other day. Makoto had arrived a minute late, and one of the higher-ups was already breathing down his neck about his lack of work ethic and assigning Makoto even more work to do atop of the already huge pile he had to. Makoto had trudged to his desk with his head hung low, and as soon as he went to turn on his computer, a bunch of indecipherable numbers on a black screen appeared. With a sigh, Makoto picked up the phone and dialed the tech team’s number.
“Hello, this is the technical services department, how may we help you?” Rei answered.
“Hi, it’s me again, my computer is doing the weird thing with the numbers again,” Makoto rubbed his temples as he stared at the screen, “I don’t think this is something I can manually fix again.”
“Of course Tachibana-kun, I’ll send somebody to fix your computer right away,” Rei said, “They should be there in a minute.”
“Thank you,” Makoto replied before hanging up the phone.
Somebody came to fix the computer and the guy asked Makoto if he minded getting coffee for the two of them while he fixed the computer. Makoto gladly took the offer and went to the break room to make coffee. While making coffee, Nao stepped into the room. He looked like he was searching for somebody. When he saw Makoto, his face lit up.
“Oh, there you are,” Nao said as he approached Makoto, “You’re needed today.”
“Oh hey,” Makoto replied, already thinking how far behind he’s going to be by the end of the day, “Sure, I’ll be there in a bit.” Makoto picked up the two steaming cups of coffee and began to walk back to his desk.
“I’ll come with you,” Nao suggested, already falling into step with Makoto. The first time they had met, Nao was wearing glasses, his long silver hair was tied up, and he was wearing a “business casual” outfit. This time, however, Nao’s glasses were nowhere to be seen, his hair was in a bun and he was wearing casual clothing. It surprised Makoto that he hadn’t been yelled at for not wearing work appropriate attire.
He must’ve been giving looks because Nao answered, “I’m doing an interview today so I can wear whatever I want.”
“Ah, I see,” Makoto nodded, resting the cup of coffee that he had gotten for the man fixing his computer, “I got your coffee right here, I’m needed somewhere else so I can’t stay but thank you for your help!”
After that Makoto asked Nao about the interview.
“Oh, a model is coming in today and we’re interviewing him on what he likes to do over the summer for next month’s issue of Vivi,” Nao explained.
“Oh, that makes a lot of sense,” Makoto said, “Who is the model?”
Nao shrugged, “I don’t know. Our boss will tell us.”
Makoto grimaced at the thought of one of the bosses being in the same room as Makoto. It was going to be rough if all they did was yell at everything Makoto did.
As if he read Makoto’s mind, Nao added, “Rin will be in charge of everything.”
Makoto let out a sigh of relief. Good . Besides the fact that he was going to have a lot of work the next day, the day seemed to be taking a turn for the better.
“It’s a good thing you’re just wearing that collared shirt instead of a suit and tie today, today is a more casual day,” Nao said as he pushed the elevator button.
“It would’ve been nice to have had a heads up,” Makoto sighed.
“I only found out this morning through an email,” Nao agreed, “Sometimes management sucks like that, that’s why you have to check your email constantly.”
“Right.”
The elevator door opened and the two stepped inside. Nao pressed the floor they were heading to and promptly pressed the close button. They were the two in the elevator and for the first time, Makoto realized how spacious it was. He never noticed since every time he’s been on one, it was full.
When the door opened, the intern followed Nao out of the elevators and into the new room they were heading into. There were people bustling around, weaving in and out of the various rooms that lined up the hallway. Each room had a nameplate with a name scribbled on a piece of paper across it. Some doors were opened to reveal a dressing room where a model was getting ready for their shoot. Nao made a turn and took them down another hallway where each room could be looked through from a window where a person sitting on a computer sat. In the bigger rooms, there were people setting up for a photo shoot, getting cameras set, setting up the backdrop and checking the lighting.
Eventually, they reached a clearing where a crowd was gathered. People were everywhere, running around with cups of coffee and stacks of paper, everybody seemed to be in a hurry. One girl bumped into Makoto, her folders crashing onto the ground from the impact.
“Hey,” she growled, “Watch where you’re going!”
“Sorry,” Makoto apologized as he bent down to pick up one of the folders, “Here.”
The girl didn’t even spare him a glance as she snatched the folder from his hand and stormed off. Makoto frowned as he continued to follow Nao through the crowd.
“Where are we going?” Makoto asked.
“To the back room,” Nao pointed to an open door that seemed less crowded, “That’s where Natsuya said the interview will be held.”
“Okay.”
As soon as the two entered the room, Nao closed the door, drowning out the chaotic atmosphere going on outside. The room was spacious enough to fit a camera, a backdrop, two chairs and other equipment used for filming. In the middle of the room, fiddling with his camera sat Natsuya. From head to toe, he was wearing all black, except for the orange flannel shirt tied around his waist. His brown hair looked combed through, aside from the few ends that were sticking up. As soon as the two entered, Natsuya had looked up from his work and greeted the two with a smile.
“You’re finally here,” Natsuya waved his hand, “Nice to see you again Nao, and,” he turned to Makoto, “You’re the intern. Tachibana, right?”
“Yes,” Makoto replied, “Feel free to call me Makoto.”
“Alright Makoto,” Natsuya replied, “Don’t mind me I’m just setting up for the recording. The model should be here anytime.”
As if on cue, there was an announcement over the intercom telling everybody to gather in the main room. The three of them stepped out of the room and joined the crowd all gathering around one of their bosses.
Rin Matsuoka always had a proud smile on his face and faced everything with a confidence Makoto wished he had. Even with all eyes on him, Rin didn’t care. With a clap of his hands, he was able to silence everybody.
“Alright everybody, our model has arrived. You should know that during the summer he’s the most sought-after model and it’s an honor to have been able to schedule several photo shoots over the course of this week. I want everybody to be at their best. We may never get an opportunity like this.”
The crowd quietly talked among themselves wondering who they were working with. Those who already knew were excitedly looking above the several heads anxiously waiting for him to come in.
“Everybody please welcome Haruka Nanase.”
As soon as the model walked into the room, the world stopped. Everything happening around Makoto silenced and slowed down until it just felt like it was just him and the gorgeous man in front. To call him beautiful, gorgeous, or hot was by any means an understatement. The man that stood in front of the room was ethereal, with his captivating blue eyes taking all of Makoto’s attention. He was the most attractive man alive, that was Haruka Nanase.
As he passed by Makoto, their eyes met for a brief second. The tips of Makoto’s ear began to redden as the model’s lips turned upward ever so slightly, and while Makoto knew it wasn’t because of him, he felt a little prideful that he managed to get the great Haruka to smile.
He stopped in the front of the room next to Rin who wrapped an all too familiar arm around his shoulders and continued, “This is Nanase Haruka, everybody, he’ll be here for a photoshoot and an interview for next month’s issue. Haru?”
The brief smile the model had was long gone, instead, he looked into the crowd straight on with a confident but still in-expressive look on his face. He formally bowed as he said in a quiet, but nothing close to shy voice, “Please treat me well.”
“Alright,” Rin clapped his hands, “Get to work everybody.”
The crowd that had gathered to greet the model had dispersed, making last-minute preparations for the model. A group of girls took him by the arm and whisked him away to the dressing rooms. For a moment, Makoto thought about following them, to catch more glimpses of the model but a hand on his shoulder brought him back to reality.
When Makoto turned around, Nao was smiling at him, “C’mon, let’s get ready for the interview.”
He followed Nao back to the room they were in before, and Nao beckoned him to come over. Makoto approached Nao to find a tablet with a word document opened.
“I need you to transcribe everything said in this interview,” Nao asked, “It’ll be helpful easier for me rather than watching the interview for when I write my article.”
Makoto nodded, “Sure.”
Nao looked down at his watch, checking the time, “We still have some time before the interview, would you mind getting me coffee? I would get myself but the break room is on the other side of the floor and I need to set up still.”
“I can do that,” Makoto smiled, already standing up,
“Thank you, if you can pour a bit of milk and some sugar into the coffee, I would appreciate it.”
“Got it.”
Makoto had a bit of trouble finding the break room, being that the entrance looks like any other room, but eventually Makoto found it by the elevators and dressing rooms. He remembered to add milk and sugar to it like Nao had requested before heading back out. He quickened his pace a little, knowing that he lost some time looking for coffee and that he should be back by now. On the bright side, Nao was a nice person and wouldn’t make Makoto feel bad for taking so long with the coffee.
Distracted from his thoughts, Makoto failed to see somebody coming in his direction and bumped into them, dropping Nao’s coffee onto the ground. Makoto cursed under his breath as he bent down to pick up the already spilling cup of coffee. At least, it didn’t spill onto them, that would’ve been a disaster.
“I’m so sorry,” Makoto apologized as he straightened his back, the destroyed cup of coffee in his hand, “I wasn’t looking where I was going and, oh god, I’m sorry about this--”
Makoto paused when he realized who he was standing right in front of him, who he had just bumped into and made himself a complete fool in front of none other than Haruka Nanase. Makoto gasped and covered his mouth with his hand, his face reddening from the embarrassment. His heart raced as he apologizes again.
“I apologize for my clumsiness Nanase-kun, I’ll be more careful next time. Again, I’m sorry--”
“--Haru,” the model interrupted.
Makoto blinked, “What?”
“Call me Haru,” Haru said.
“Oh,” Makoto rubbed the back of his neck, “Okay, Haru.”
Before then, he hadn’t been looking at Haru but at that moment he decided to meet Haru’s gaze. He looked uncomfortable but he was giving Makoto a shy smile, one that a friend would give when trying to comfort a friend in distress. Makoto immediately felt himself relax, and he re-composed himself. He looked down at the empty cup in his hand and sighed. He was going to need to re-do it.
“I have to re-do the coffee,” Makoto said, already backing away from the model.
“Okay,” Haru replied following Makoto, “I’ll come with you.”
“Are you sure?” Makoto asked, “You don’t have to.”
The only response Haru offered was a nod as he followed Makoto back to the break room. While Makoto threw away the cup, Haru handed Makoto a new one.
“Thanks,” Makoto said as he began making the coffee again.
Haru nodded before sitting down at the table. The two stood there in silence as they watched the coffee pot brew more coffee. Occasionally, Makoto would look over to Haru who looked bored as he watched the pot. Makoto smiled, Haru didn’t have to be there with him, and yet he was, and that made him strangely happy. Even though they weren’t talking, Haru’s presence gave Makoto a sense of comfort.
When the coffee was ready, Makoto poured it into the cup Haru gave him and prepared it as Nao had requested. When he was finished he turned to the model who had been silent all this time to find him looking at him. Makoto blushed under the intense gaze of those blue eyes. He felt like he should say something, anything, but nothing came to mind. Makoto looked away with a heavy heart and began to walk out.
“I’ll see you later Haru.”
Suddenly, there was a loud creaking sound and Makoto turned to find Haru standing up looking at Makoto. His face was slightly red and he looked nervous as he asked, “What's your name?”
Makoto blinked and mentally slapped himself for forgetting to introduce himself earlier. “Oh uh, I’m Makoto.”
Haru nodded, “It was nice meeting you Makoto.”
“Uh, right, right,” Makoto replied his face reddening, “Bye.”
That was weird and yet endearing.
On the way back, Makoto made sure to not bump into anybody or drop the coffee again. When he finally made it back to the room, he found Nao talking to Natsuya as Natsuya continued to work with the camera.
“Sorry I took so long!” Makoto apologized as he gave Nao his coffee, “I got lost.”
“That’s alright,” Nao smiled as he took a drink of his coffee, “Natsuya and I were just talking about office drama.”
“Office drama?” Makoto asked as he pulled a chair over to the pair.
Nao nodded, “Natsuya? You’re the one who knows who knows all this stuff.”
“That is false, the one who knows everything is Nagisa. I just happen to listen in to everything he’s got to say,” Natsuya corrected as he adjusted the settings of the camera.
Nao laughed, “Okay, well you know more than I do, so take it away.”
“Well, what I was telling my dear friend Nao here was that office drama is ridiculous. Take the bosses for example. There’s a rumor that Rin and Sousuke are dating, but Rin is married, everybody’s seen the ring Rin wears on a daily basis. And Sousuke isn’t single either.”
“Well that solves it, they’re married, not dating,” Nao concluded.
“What?” Natsuya sputtered, “No, no, see it’s comments like that, that get these ridiculous rumors spreading like wildfire. There is no logical explanation behind it, it’s just somebody saw something and now everybody is jumping to conclusions.”
“Okay, but how do you know Rin is married? Has he ever told you…?”
Natsuya huffed, “Of course not, I’m not friends with the boss, but the ring, it’s got to be his wedding ring, nobody has a ring that beautiful unless they’re married.”
Nao laughed teasingly shoving Natsuya’s shoulder, “You’re jumping to conclusions too.”
“Okay, whatever I have to get this all set up for when Haruka comes in. Shouldn’t you be getting ready too?”
“Okay, right,” Nao mused before turning to Makoto, “When you become a full-time employee here, you’ll have more time to talk about this stuff with us.”
“Right,” Makoto sheepishly smiled politely knowing well that once this internship ended, he’ll never set foot in the building again, “So uh, what will I be doing?”
Nao smiled as he handed Makoto a tablet, “I need you to transcribe everything said in the interview. We’ll need this for the subtitles and for translating it to other languages. Think you can do it?”
Makoto gulped as he stared down at the tablet in front of him. Could he even type that fast? What if he got distracted and messed up what they were saying? What if--
Nao placed a comforting hand on Makoto which strangely snapped Makoto out of his thoughts, “Don’t stress out, it’ll be recorded later right?” Nao pointed towards the camera, “If something is missed or incorrect we can look at the video and fix it. You got this.”
Makoto nodded, his grip on the tablet tightening, “You can count on me.”
“Alright,” Nao turned back to his work, “The interview will start in a few and I still have to get ready.”
Makoto spent the time as the other two prepared for their interview playing around with the tablet. Most of the apps were meant for office work, but there was a single game installed on there that Makoto passed the time with.
When the Natsuya and Nao finished, they had a hot second to relax before Haru in all his glory stepped inside followed by his manager. Makoto hadn’t seen the manager before but she was cute, violet hair in a pixie cut with piercings all over her ears (Makoto has counted 7 total, 3 on her left and 4 on her right). Despite how cute she was, all of Makoto’s attention was focused on Haru.
He was in a different outfit from before. Haru must’ve changed before coming. His hair seemed to have been combed through cause now there wasn’t a single strand of his hair sticking up. There must be makeup on his face now too because Haru’s face seemed to be glowing in the light. He was ethereal, like an angel living and breathing on Earth, Makoto just couldn’t look away.
Nao and Natsuya introduced themselves to Haru and the model politely shook their hands. Makoto followed the others lead and stood up to Haru. When those blue eyes met Makoto, he knew he was done for. His face flamed as he stumbled over his words.
“Uh we met earlier but I’m Makoto, uh obviously haha, you probably remember.”
Haru smiled, “I do, it’s nice to meet you again Makoto.”
Aw man, how is he so cool? Especially after the awkward slip-ups Makoto had?
“Haruka,” Nao called out, “Why don’t we start the interview?”
“Okay,” Haru replied turning away from Makoto. He froze for a second before turning back to Makoto. His cheeks were bright red and he looked like he wanted to say something.
“I…” he frowned and shook his head.
“Haru?” Makoto asked softly, encouraging him to say what’s on his mind.
“Nevermind,” Haru smiled apologetically before turning back to Nao.
While the others got ready to start filming, Makoto returned to his seat and opened up a document to write. Haru’s manager took the empty next to Makoto and crossed her legs giving Makoto a polite smile.
“I’m Sam,” she said, “Haruka’s manager.”
“Makoto,” he replied, “An intern.”
As the interviewed commenced and Makoto transcribed what was going on, the two quietly talked. Makoto had learned that Sam was actually from the United States and had moved to Japan on a study abroad program, fell in love with her roommate ended up staying. She started working for Haru a while back, he liked her because she was friendly but didn’t bother him.
Sometimes when Makoto would look to watch the interview from his seat, he would catch blue eyes sneaking a glance at him. Every time their eyes met, Makoto’s heart would skip a beat and his face would redden. He swore that at one point Haru was smiling at Makoto while he answered a question.
“He likes you,” Sam whispered while Nao began to wrap up the interview, “Throughout the whole interview he wouldn’t take his eyes off of you.”
Makoto flushed glancing back at Haru who was in the middle of saying his concluding sentence. He stared down at the tablet as he wrote the last few words, wrapping up his own job, “He wasn’t looking at me the entire time.”
--
Makoto walked into the office on time today, but he had a lot of work to do. Makoto turned on his computer and immediately got to work. Thankfully, he had gotten a good night’s sleep so he was able to get through about half of the pile of work he had before his lunch break. However, he was feeling a bit distracted.
Sometimes his mind would wander and blue eyes would pop inside Makoto’s head and he would flush aggressively as he worked, or he would smile lovingly which was noticed by his co-workers.
When his break came, Makoto headed down to the break room and took out his lunch. There, was Nagisa, Rin, and Rei all seated at the table talking. Makoto decided to join them. He quietly took a seat next to Nagisa and began eating.
Rin’s eyes immediately wandered to makoto and he blushed under the intense stare. The redhead smiled teasingly, “So I heard that you and Haru had coffee yesterday.”
Makoto almost spit out his ramen, “...what?” he blurted staring wide-eyed at his boss.
“Whaa? You and Haru-chan went out yesterday?” Nagisa turned to Makoto. The look Makoto had given him must have only lead nagisa to believe that what Rin said was true because then he gasped and his sparkled with enthusiasm, “Are you and Haru-chan, in a secret relationship? Star-crossed lovers?”
“What? No!” Makoto blushed, “I literally just met him, yesterday and that’s not what happened!”
“Then what happened…?” Nagisa asked, his magenta eyes filled with curiosity.
“It’s all a misunderstanding,” Makoto waves his hands, “I was getting coffee for Nao-san and then I bumped into him and dropped the coffee. He felt bad so he just followed me there and yeah…”
Rin was soaking up every word with a wide grin, “You mean he didn’t even say a word? He just stood there and watched?”
Makoto shrugged, “Well he was sitting but pretty much. Nothing happened I swear--
“Oh man, that is so Haru. Don’t mind his weirdness, when he finds somebody interesting, he clings to them like a cat,” Rin explained, “But wow, Asahi was completely off.”
“Well, what did you expect?” Rei was silent this entire time finally piped in, “It’s like a game of telephone. Asahi heard about it from somebody else, who heard it from somebody who heard it from somebody who was told by a witness who saw it. Things get lost and twisted along the way until you have a false story.” Rei laughed pushing his glasses back, “I knew that these “dating” allegations were false from the start. Nothing is true unless you go to its source.”
Suddenly, Makoto’s mind drifted to what Natsuya was talking about earlier. About how rumors spread and get twisted. If somebody saw him and Haru together and told others about it and there is already a version that claims they went on a date, could that mean the entire office thought the two were together…?
Makoto turned to Rin, “Please don’t tell me the entire office believes that I and Haru--
Rin shrugged, “I don’t know, but I know my employees love getting into everybody else’s business when it comes to love. I mean people believed that Sousuke and I were dating--
“Except it’s true,” Nagisa chimed in.
“Shut up!” Rin snapped, his face reddening, “Besides, it’s only been recent since we started dating…” he shook his head, “Anyways, I wouldn’t be surprised if the entire office has heard about it already.”
Makoto cursed under his breath as he stood up. He knew from overhearing the interview yesterday that Haru had another shoot at the moment, what if somebody working there talked about it and he overheard? No, he needed to clear things up before the rumor got to Haru. “E-excuse me,” Makoto said as he rushed out of the room and slamming ran into somebody.
“Oh sorry, sorry!” Makoto stammered as he looked at the person he had run into and shrieked realizing it was another one of his bosses. Sousuke was giving him a strange look, eyebrows knitted together. “Sorry,” Makoto repeated before stepping aside and pushing past him.
Makoto rushed to where the photo shoot would be as fast as he can. As he frantically pushed the button to have the elevator take him to the floor where Haru was, Makoto prayed that these ridiculous rumors haven’t reached him yet.
As soon as the elevator doors opened, he was greeted with Haru standing on the other side. The two of them stared at each other with a surprised look. Haru that day was wearing an athletic jacket with a black shirt and dark-washed jeans. He looked like he what he was: a model with a cool demeanor and the most beautiful man Makoto had ever seen.
Makoto snapped out of his trance and placed his hands on Haru’s shoulders, “Haru!” he said as he backed Haru away from the elevator causing the surprised man to gasp as he stumbled back with Makoto, “Thank god you’re here!”
Haru lifted an eyebrow, “What’s wrong?”
“You haven’t heard anything right, no rumors from the office?”
Haru looked at Makoto like he had two heads, “..no? Why?”
Makoto sighed in relief, “Okay, sorry for just bursting out of the elevator like that but I needed to get to you, there’s a rumor going around about us, that isn’t true.”
Haru frowned, “And this concerns you because?”
Makoto found himself speechless and blushed in realization of all the unnecessary drama he had caused in his panic. Haru was right, why did it matter? What the others thought wasn’t important.
“Right, sorry for disrupting your day,” Makoto apologized as he turned away from Haru, “Have a nice day.”
“Wait!” Haru called out grabbing Makoto’s wrist, “I didn’t mean it like that.”
Makoto’s heart skipped a beat as he turned around to face Haru. Green eyes met blue ones as Haru gave the intern a small smile, “You shouldn’t let petty rumors you know aren’t true get to you. You know what’s true, stick to your beliefs, even if everybody else disagrees.”
Makoto smiled in reply, “Right, sorry--
“Stop apologizing so much,” Haru interrupted, “You’ve done nothing wrong.”
“But--”
“No buts,” Haru’s hand on Makoto’s wrist slid into his hand and he gently squeezed them before releasing them. There’s a moment of silence as Haru debated on whatever was on his mind before speaking up, “Are you...free?”
“Well…” Makoto looked up at the time at his clock. He still had another half hour before his break ended and he had to return to work, and after the stunt he had pulled in the break room, his bosses were going to be even stricter in the afternoon than normal, “I got some time.”
“Great, me too,” Haru looked relieved as he continued, “Would you like to grab some coffee with me?”
Makoto nodded, “Okay.”
“Okay,” Haru said taking a deep breath, “Let’s go.”
As they walked out of the building, there were people eyeing the two of them.
“Now they’re really going to think we’re dating,” Makoto sighed.
“Oh, that was the rumor?” Haru asked, side-eyeing Makoto.
“Yeah.”
“I’ve had worse.”
“Y-you have?” Makoto stuttered.
“I’m a celebrity, I get ridiculous rumors all the time,” Haru replied as he stopped in front of a coffee shop, “This is the place,” he said as he pushed the door.
Makoto felt himself panic, The place looked like a high-end coffee shop, one that a small cup of coffee cost more than something Makoto could afford. He didn’t have that kind of money.
Haru must have noticed Makoto’s discomfort because he immediately threw over his shoulder, “I’ll pay for everything,” before entering the shop.
“Are you sure?” Makoto asked as he followed Haru inside.
“It’s the least I can do after yesterday,” Haru said as he lined up behind a stranger.
Because Haru had insisted he can get whatever Makoto he’d like, but because Makoto didn’t want to take advantage of his kindness, Makoto had ordered a small cup of his favorite macchiato and a cookie. Haru didn’t order coffee, he just asked for a cup of water and had gotten for himself a sandwich.
The two took a seat at a table in the front of the shop where a glass panel that looked into the street was. The two sat in silence for a couple of minutes, not knowing what to say but not exactly feeling awkward. Makoto liked how comforting it was, the presence of Haru was enough to make him happy and relaxed. It was oddly welcoming.
Finally, Makoto spoke, “How long have you been modeling?”
“Two years,” Haru replied, “I started after my injury.”
“Your injury…?”
“Didn’t you know? It was national news, I used to be an athlete,” Haru replied.
Makoto shook his head, “I was really busy with college stuff, I don’t remember. What sport did you play?”
“I was a swimmer.”
Makoto lit up, “Really?! I swam in high school! What stroke?”
“I only swim free,” Haru replied as if it was something he’s said all the time.
Makoto chuckled, “That’s awesome? What team did you play for? Maybe my college versed yours!”
“I was on the national team, I never went to college.”
Makoto blinked the pieces coming together. How did he not realize? This was the freestyle swimmer the whole nation had their eye on since he was in junior high. They watched him grow up to be a phenomenal swimmer and join the national team. He had his whole life ahead of him and was believed to bring home several medals for their country when suddenly…
Haru pulled up his shirt revealing a thin scar running down the side of his hip, “I was in a car accident.”
“You were in a coma for two weeks, and everybody else in the accident had died,” Makoto’s voice lowered, “That must’ve been horrible…”
Haru lowered his shirt, hiding his scar once again, “I was out for the rest of the season and I couldn’t bring myself to go back…I already had a contract with a swimsuit company and I needed money so, here I am...still modeling.”
“Do you miss swimming?” Makoto asked.
Haru shrugged as he took a sip of his drink, “Not really, I have a pool in my apartment complex and I swim in it every day but the competitive side…” Haru frowned, “Sometimes I wonder if I had just stayed…”
Makoto grabbed Haru’s hand and intertwined their fingers. The model froze and gasped looking down at their joined hands. A moment passed as his tense shoulders relaxed and he raised his head his face still awestruck. Those blue eyes were studying Makoto, looking for meaning on Makoto’s face. Makoto gave Haru a reassuring smile, “Everything happens for a reason.”
Haru sighed a small smile on his face as he said, “Yeah, they do.”
An hour later Makoto came rushing back to his cubicle. He didn’t mean to be late, he had been paying attention to the time, but suddenly, he got wrapped with Haru and it was like time had shifted. Before he knew it, he was glancing at the time on his watch, realizing he was supposed to have left ten minutes before when he could’ve sworn he had another five minutes and suddenly he was hastily cleaning up and hurriedly running back to work.
As soon as he sat in his chair and turned on his computer, Makoto had let out a sigh of relief, thankfully his bosses hadn’t noticed that Makoto did not return to his work on time.
“Tachibana-kun.”
Makoto cursed under his breath as he turned to his boss, “Yes, Yamazaki-kun?”
Sousuke Yamazaki was looking down at the intern, his face pulled into that permanent scowl he’s always had, “You’re late, you were supposed to have returned ten minutes ago.”
“I know, I apologize I wasn’t paying attention to the time when I realized I came back as fast as I could,” Makoto apologized.
Suddenly Sousuke’s lips curled in a smirk, “Were you out with Nanase?”
“Uh, y-yes?”
“Did you have fun?” Sousuke pried, resting his shoulders on the top of the walls of Makoto’s cubicle.
“Yes…?”
Sousuke snorted, “Well as long as you had to fun I guess it’s fine. Just make sure the two of you are on time the next time you go out. Rin was about to murder me over Haru skipping his photoshoot.”
Makoto’s jaw dropped, “He what ?”
Sousuke frowned, “Yeah, he was scheduled to have a photoshoot but he never even bothered to show up. Turns out he was with you.” Sousuke blinked putting two and two together, “You didn’t know…?”
“No,” Makoto felt like he was having a heart attack. Haru skipped his shooting to be with Makoto? Why would he do that?
“Anyways, next time just watch the time, and,” Sousuke lifted a stack of papers and placed them on top of the already big pile Makoto had, “We need all of this done by 6.”
Makoto sighed, “Yes.”
“Thanks,” Sousuke smiled as he left.
Makoto sighed again and ran his hand through his hair, trying to calm down his beating heart. Makoto focused on the task before him.
Back to work it is .
But as he worked, all he could think about was blue eyes and the most beautiful man he’s ever laid eyes on.