Work Text:
The thing about Hifumi and Doppo is that they may live under the same roof, but they rarely see each other. Hifumi has a night job in a host club while Doppo has a day job as a salaryman, hence their days begin at different times. When Hifumi is asleep, Doppo has to leave. When Doppo gets back from a long shift at work, Hifumi already left.
Though despite of all that, they find their own little ways to say good morning and good night, especially when they can’t see each other.
1.) Good Morning
Doppo wakes up in the ungodly hours of the morning. The world is still silent but the traffic is hell on earth. It’s also rush hour in the train station. It’s like everyone took an oath of silence (or forgot to take their daily dose of coffee) in order to start the day early and end it faster. Doppo dreads these moments when he has to leave the warmth of his shared bed with Hifumi and face the cold, hard plastic chair of the train (assuming he even gets a seat at all).
He gets out of bed every day, always careful not to disturb the man next to him. He gently removes the arm wrapped around his waist and pulls back the sheets, not forgetting though to place them back so Hifumi won’t feel cold. He stretches and cracks his back then proceeds to the shower. He scrubs himself efficiently then dresses up in his button-down shirt, green tie, black blazer and slacks. He runs his hands through his messy red and blue hair to make it somewhat presentable. He didn’t really have the willpower to brush his hair as well as Hifumi does anyway. He puts on his socks then pads softly to the kitchen. He makes sure that the bedroom door is closed before even cracking an egg.
Doppo isn’t as good as Hifumi when it comes to making food, but ever since he discovered rice cooker pancakes, he thinks it’s satisfactory (That’s a lie, even if it’s slightly burned he blames himself). He makes the pancake batter and places it in the rice cooker which he cleaned the previous night. He closes the lid and sets the stainless steel egg timer that Hifumi bought to around seven minutes.
He then brings out his favorite red pan, oil and a couple of eggs. He makes his own first, scrambled egg with a splash of milk. He sets that aside, the smell always making him feel good. He goes to the fridge and gets three slices of bread. Two for himself obviously and one for Hifumi. He toasts them directly on the pan (never again going to use that infernal toaster) until they’re the perfect shade of golden brown.
The timer goes off and Doppo rushes to remove the pancake from the rice cooker. Thankfully, most of these days, it’s perfectly golden brown like the toast. It’s also fluffy, buttery and almost melts in the mouth.
Doppo doesn’t really have the time to enjoy the rice cooker pancake, (well when does he ever have time), so he places it on a plate and places that on top of their dining table. He goes back to the stove and cooks Hifumi’s sunny side up egg. Funny, Hifumi likes sunny side up, over easy. It matches his personality in a way where the yolk stands out in stark difference to the whites. It’s like the yolk is the core of his being. And when the yolk is popped or opened up, the best parts come out.
And Doppo is a scrambled egg... enough said about that.
Doppo slides the egg off the pan and onto a different plate. He turns off the stove and cleans up after himself. He glances at the clock, he’s running two minutes late on his mental schedule, so naturally he panics. But then he sees something and calms down right before he can go on self-deprecating.
He makes his egg sandwich (complete with cheese!) and wraps it up. He always eats it while walking anyway. He goes back to the room and sees that Hifumi is still fast asleep, peaceful. Without the usual chaos that accompanies his presence, he looks like a sleeping angel. A rare smile dances on Doppo’s face. As much as they argue and banter, he can’t deny how much he actually loves him. In rare moments of tenderness, Hifumi and Doppo actually are very, very compatible.
When Hifumi wears his suit, something about it excites Doppo in a way he can’t articulate. His toned body is accentuated by the crisp, straight lines of his tailored suits. When Hifumi is out of it, besides the fact that he’s mortifyingly annoying and afraid of women, he’s more endearing to Doppo. He’s the Hifumi that he actually came to love.
Doppo stands beside Hifumi and brushes a lock of hair from his forehead. Doppo leans down to kiss it and says good morning, right before rushing out and leaving for work.
He doesn’t forget the ID that was hanging on the hook beside the door, hung by no other than Hifumi himself.
—
Hifumi gets home before the ungodly hours of the morning. It’s 4AM, and it can be said it’s the satanly hours of the early morning. Worse than ungodly. Nightlife is still going strong, but 3AM is enough for his host club. He’s energized from being a host, but he’s also exhausted. When he takes off his new blazer, he feels the tiredness sink in. He doesn’t know how he does it, but he does. Like Sensei said, he’s good at compartmentalizing his emotions. He tosses his blazer on top of the couch, fully aware that it was going to be rumpled. That was fine, he could always iron it later in the day.
He stretches and cracks his back, much like what Doppo does in the morning, well, later in the morning.
Hifumi checks on Doppo first, who is (thankfully) fast asleep. For the first few weeks of being roommates, Doppo stayed up waiting for Hifumi. He’d blame himself if he fell asleep before his best friend came home.
Well, they progressed beyond the best friendship stage obviously, so there’s that. Doppo got over it after a lot of talk downs by Hifumi.
Doppo looks restless while he asleep, muttering stuff about his work. Hifumi goes in and sits at the edge of the bed. He holds Doppo’s hand and kisses it. Doppo’s hand tightens around his and Hifumi has to fight the temptation to just lie down. If anything, he wants to clean off the smell of alcohol and smoke on him. He doesn’t want Doppo to wake up to the smell of a club on him (and he does have the need to be clean). He stands up and goes to the shower. Unlike Doppo, he stands for a long while in the running hot water, savoring the feeling. He then takes time to take care of his blonde and green hair (it doesn’t look good on its own you know) and scrub his body with his favorite lavender soap (which is also Doppo’s favorite, along with jasmine.)
He changes into a thin white shirt and boxers and walks out of the bathroom. He changes the note he posts next to the clock for Doppo. He knows Doppo gets upset even if he is just a minute late in his mental schedule. Hifumi isn’t sure if he writes the same thing over and over again, but he makes sure he doesn’t write the same thing for a week at least.
This time he writes: It’s okay! Don’t worry about it. There are 86 400 seconds in a day, missing a few won’t affect it as much. I love you!
He sticks it next to the clock. He then moves Doppo’s ID from the kitchen counter to the hook by the door so his husband wouldn’t forget it. He looks at the dorky picture on the ID. Doppo in the picture is a few years younger, and a lot less tired. The dark circles around his eyes aren’t as evident. If Hifumi stops to think about it, Doppo probably has those circles since college started. Or for that matter, middle school.
He looks around for something to clean up, aside from the blazer, nothing was out of place. Though he was sure if he stepped inside Doppo’s office… well the last time he cleaned up didn’t go so well. Doppo works in… organized chaos. He knows where everything is. Even if is monthly report is hidden under the yearly statistics report, his paperweight and all the files from the past two years. How it got under there is a mystery.
He smiles. Doppo really does outdo himself. The plates are still on the dishrack, so Hifumi placed them back in the cabinets where they belong. He was just about to close the lights when he saw a note taped behind the kitchen sink. It was from Doppo. It said that there was still some leftover dessert in the fridge if he wanted some.
Hifumi, there’s dessert in the fridge if you want some. It’s not what you made, but it’s some chocolate pudding. I know it’s not as good as yours but I did my best… I’m sorry if it’s not up to your standards. Must be my fault… I hope you love it anyway as much as I love you. Sorry.
Hifumi chuckled a little bit and took the note down. He was going to keep it with the other notes in the sidedrawer. He has an office, but he has clearbooks filled with notes from each year. He has three or four, for the past years they’ve been together. (Don’t worry, they’re organised).
He ate the pudding cup in the fridge. It was in one of those cute disposable ones Hifumi bought on a whim. He had to admit, the touch of vanilla was interesting. He threw the cup in the trash and washed the spoon.
Doppo always leaves him a little bite to eat or a drink. Some days, it’s his favorite Chai Latte or chocolate pudding, or his favorite Moet Champagne (chilled to perfection). He goes to the bathroom and brushes his teeth with his green toothbrush (Doppo’s is blue).
Hifumi though, as tired as he is, wishes he could do more, so he goes in the room and fixes Doppo’s side of the closet. His shirts have improved, mostly because Hifumi keeps buying him some and lending his own.
He organises the ties and the blazers. He runs his hand down one of the particularly worn down ones and smells the sleeve. Even if it is the ugliest one of the bunch, it’s his favorite because it carries Doppo’s scent. Hifumi closes the closet and takes his place beside Doppo. He tucks himself in and puts an arm around Doppo so he’s spooning him. He plants a kiss at his cheek then his neck. He snuggles closer.
He whispers a good morning before falling fast asleep.
2.) Good Night
Doppo comes back to an empty apartment. It’s 8PM, and Hifumi left the apartment an hour ago. Doppo sighs to himself. He’s used to it, but sometimes its super infuriating. He misses him by a hair. Hifumi, even if he is sort of a mess, is never late to his work. Once he puts on his suit and goes on host mode, his kittens are everything to him. Well, not above Doppo.
Doppo knows that he shouldn’t stay up all night because Hifumi said no and its not the responsible thing to do… his boss would also be disappointed and then it would be his fault that the extra work isn’t finished or that the office is messy and he would have to clean it up…
Okay. Sleep would be good.
But not before he eats the dinner that’s waiting for him on the table. Hifumi never fails to make Doppo dinner, and even if the dishes repeat, its always a gastronomic adventure. Hifumi used to make food good enough for an army (which was the reason why they invite Jakurai almost all the time), but now he knows how to downsize (except on anniversaries and special occasions and when he feels like it). Today it was yakiudon and tempura. It was still a big serving, but nothing he couldn’t handle. He burns all of that anyway with his stress.
Hifumi left a note on the counter.
It’s a new recipe. I hope you like it! Goodnight and sleep tight!
Doppo takes off his ID and places it on the kitchen counter. He takes the note and puts it in the breast pocket of his blazer.
Doppo eats at the dining table while he watches Hifumi’s livestream on his phone. Not that he misses him or anything… that’s a joke he misses Hifumi a lot. He’s the chaotic, but calming presence that makes him stop apologising, self-deprecating and overall makes him feel like he's all good and that he’s never at fault.
Hifumi on the livestream is wearing his favorite suit. It was the black one with gold accents. When Hifumi turns around in the light, the gold shimmers and makes golden flower patterns. It brings out the color in his eyes and the lines of his lean, toned body. (On an unimportant note, whenever Doppo gets the chance, it’s the suit he likes taking off of Hifumi the most because the material just slides through his fingers.)
IIIIIIt’s HifumI! I’m here with my kittens (cue screaming girls) and I’m so happy I have over 10K viewers tonight! Oooo and rising!
Hifumi laughs and Doppo eats another bite of the mouthwatering yakiudon.
It’s party central here in my club! Come down here if you want to drink to your heart’s content! Hifumi accepts a glass of champagne from one of the waitresses. Anyway, He takes a big sip of the champagne, almost draining the glass. It’s an important video today becaaaauuuse out of all my adoring kittens, I have selected one to feature in my livestream! She won the instagram contest last week. Hifumi beckons to someone off camera and a girl, wearing a body-hugging sparkly silver dress appears. Hifumi wraps his arm around the girl and Doppo almost laughs at her expression. It looks like she would go into cardiac arrest. Well, she was holding what looked like to be an apple martini in one hand.
“Idiot.” Doppo mutters as he takes a sip of water. “That poor girl is going to faint. “
Hifumi introduces the girl to his now 11.3K viewers. He says a lot about her, giving her the right of amount of attention. He asked her some questions, but of course none of them disrespectful, just borderline flirtatious. And do you have anything to say to my viewers? He asks the girl, a brilliant smile on his face.
The girl stutters. I…I… Hifumi is amazing! I…I… She looks like she’s about to cry.
Hifumi laughs again, his host personality the ever-confident playboy. She’s speechless. Poor kitten. He plants a kiss on her cheek and removes his arm from around her shoulders and leaves to walk around the club some more.
Well, I can’t be on my phone the whole time can I? I have to enjoy this party! Lots of kittens to sweep off their feet. Lots of hearts to break. He laughs. Ah. How hard it is to be me. Surrounded by all of these beautiful, he twirls one girl, wonderful, he winks at someone off camera, and fantastic women yet my heart is taken. Hifumi winks at the camera.
Both Doppo and Hifumi both know that they can’t make their relationship public because Hifumi would be out of a job. Hell, Hifumi had to bribe several people just so that they would shut up. Hifumi loves saying that he’s in a relationship, but he never says with who. People just directly assume that he’s referring to a different woman each time, or for that matter the viewers. Hifumi’s host personality really is a terrible flirt.
Goodnight baby! See you all tomorrow night! Hifumi then turns off the camera.
Doppo puts down the phone and takes the last bite of the tempura.
“Goodnight.” Doppo says and stands up to clean up the dishes.
Doppo decides to make chocolate pudding for Hifumi tonight. He needs some food to absorb some of that alcohol. Doppo makes Hifumi something every night, from lattes to cupcakes to sandwiches.
Doppo googled a recipe online and followed it step-by-step, except adding a little bit more vanilla because Hifumi mentioned something about liking that.
Doppo tries not to feel too bad about the quality, but he still does. He writes a note to Hifumi, apologising profusely for the inferior quality of his pudding.
He put it in the freezer for it to settle and uses the spatula to clean the bowl. He licks the spatula, finding the taste satisfactory enough and then washes up. He places the dishes on the dish rack and heads to their bedroom.
Doppo freshens up and changes into his pajama pants and black shirt. He places his shirt in the hamper and hangs his blazer and pants. He just doesn’t believe in washing something until it actually gets dirty. His jacket and slacks are still fine for at least two or three more working days, assuming he doesn’t spill something or someone spills something on him which is of course completely his fault-
Doppo shakes his head and brushes his teeth. Hifumi said no self-deprecating before sleeping.
He does the laundry. He tosses all of his clothes in the washing machine, but he washes Hifumi’s suits by hand. Even if they can be machine washed, Doppo does it anyway because he feels like they need extra care. Unlike Doppo, Hifumi’s appearance is literally his career. The machine can never really wash away the smell of smoke and alcohol anyway. Doppo, for some reason, enjoys the feeling of the cloth under his fingers.
He places the clothes in the dryer (his clothes at least) and hangs Hifumi’s on the clothesline outside. They do take longer to dry, but it’s better than having them messed up in the dryer.
Doppo takes down the suits he washed yesterday and his dry clothes and proceeds to iron them. The first time he did that though, he burned his fingers and really had to wait for Hifumi to get home. Not that he enjoyed having a slightly drunk, mostly flirty man fix him up and kiss his fingers all better… well, he may have enjoyed that last bit.
When that’s done, he places all the clothes neatly in the closet. Hifumi’s side is to the right while his is to the left.
With that all done, Doppo falls back on bed and tucks himself in, not before sending Hifumi a reminder to take out the trash when he wakes up.
—
Hifumi wakes up to an empty apartment. Its 8AM and Doppo left the apartment an hour prior. Even though he slept at 5AM, he made sure that he would eat the breakfast (or brunch, considering that he was just going back to sleep after that) that Doppo left him. He even set an alarm for it.
Hifumi does not want to waste the breakfast Doppo made for him. The first time he did, he felt so bad, he almost started self-deprecating as hard as Doppo. He gets up and eats the rice cooker pancake and sunny side-up egg. He gets jam from the pantry and spreads it on his pancake and toast.
HIfumi had to admit, Doppo was getting better. His pancake was definitely a lot more fluffy and buttery. It had that great texture that just melts in the mouth.
He finished the brunch and cleaned up. He went through his phone for a bit, feeling safe that the girls were just behind the screen. But, he couldn’t stop the cringe everytime he got a new DM notification.
He selected a winner for the Instagram contest he started last week and made a teaser post for the next contest. He saw the text from Doppo and followed the instructions. He did take out the trash, bringing it downstairs.
He went back, greeting some of the neighbors and scampering up whenever a woman appeared. Once he was back in the apartment, he sent Doppo a text saying that yes, he did take out the trash.
Hifumi yawned and as always, was still sleepy. So he turned on the TV, watched an episode of a series that he barely keeps up with, and fell asleep on the couch.
…
Hifumi woke up again at 2PM. That was just enough time to procrastinate and watch the show he actually does follow. It was one of the animes that Ichiro recommended to him. Though it was quite possible that he messed up the name, Ichiro was just rattling off animes he could watch. Not to mention the list that Jiro sent, along with Saburo. Hifumi literally just asked: What’s a good anime?
Ultimately, he settled on Yuri on Ice. Because. Obvious reasons.
Hifumi watched an episode or two… possibly three… okay actually it was six then closed his laptop. He set it down on the coffee table in front of him and got up. He was going to make dinner. He didn’t want to leave the apartment without eating and without making something for Doppo.
He had to fight the temptation to make enough for an army, or else they’d end up inviting Jakurai again. Hifumi settled on making shrimp and vegetable tempura and testing out that new yakisoba recipe. He wanted to add more soy sauce and a bit more sugar, just to see what would happen.
Hifumi brought out his garish apron and tied it around his waist. He brought out the ingredients, his wok, his wooden spoon and chopsticks and set to work.
He first made the batter of the tempura and left it to set. For some reason, like crepe, it binds better when rested. He cut the vegetables (eggplant, carrot and sweet potato) into enough pieces for the both of them. He seasoned them with salt and pepper. He then cleaned the shrimp (careful to not ruin the tail part at the end) and seasoned it lightly with some salt and pepper. He also put a swipe of mustard on it to have that little kick at the end.
He figured that frying takes the least amount of time, so he always does that last. Nothing satisfies him more than hearing the fine sizzling of fried tempura.
He started on the yakisoba. He chopped up some onions, cabbage, carrots and shitake mushrooms. He then prepped the yakisoba sauce, seasoning here and there and adding what he felt like adding. It’s really unfortunate he can’t repeat a recipe because, like his persona, it’s always changing.
When Hifumi was satisfied with the taste, he put some canola oil on the wok and spread it around with his spoon. He tossed in the onions, sauteing them until they were translucent. He then added the other vegetables, continuing to stir until they changed in color and the room was beginning to fill with the aroma.
He then let them simmer for a bit in soy sauce and sugar. He prepped the noodles, taking them out of the pack and then dropping them in the pan. He stirred it and added the yakisoba sauce while doing so.
He got a plate, set it aside and took the noodles out of the wok. He placed them on the plate and then garnished it with pickled radish.
As much as Hifumi wanted to dig in, he had to get started on the tempura. He wished he would be there to see Doppo’s face when he tries it. As hard as Doppo tries, he can’t conceal the expression when he likes Hifumi’s food.
Hifumi poured oil in the wok, deep enough for the tempura to float, but not overly deep that he would waste the oil.
He put his thermometer in and right before it hit the right temperature, Hifumi dropped in the vegetables first in the batter and using his chopsticks, fully coated them and then dropped them into the oil, right as it hit the perfect temperature.
Hifumi then retrieved a plate and placed tissue on it so that the excess oil will be soaked.
He waited for the tempura to be the color in between pale yellow and golden brown before pulling them out and placing them on the tissue. He did the same with the shrimp.
It was 5:30PM when he finished. He had to leave the apartment by 7PM so he could be at the host club by 7:30PM. He still had to clean up and settle into his persona.
Hifumi ate his share quickly, but he took note of the flavor he managed to infuse. The mustard on the shirmp was a nice kick. He liked the seasoning on the vegetables, but it could use a little more work. He also figured he should still work on his yakisoba. It was great, but, it could always be better.
Before leaving the table, Hifumi made sure that the food looked like it was served at a restaurant. He even cleaned the serving plate. He also left a note telling Doppo that it was a new recipe along with a good night and sleep tight.
Hifumi went to the shower and cleaned up, removing the smell of onions from his hair. He blowdried his hair and brushed it carefully. (Hair that good doesn’t happen on its own you know!) He then applied a bit of make-up, but not enough to make it obvious he’s wearing it. He just wore the right amount of eyeliner and added just a tiny bit of mascara to make his eyes really pop.
He went to the closet and saw that Doppo’s organised traces. The suit he wore three nights ago was hanging and Hifumi stroked it with a smile on his face. His Doppo would He tugged on his favorite suit, the black one with the shimmering gold designs. He made sure to unbutton the first few buttons on his black shirt to expose a hint of his chest and collarbone. He knew the girls loved it (along with Doppo of course).
The blonde felt his persona set in. His back straightened and as he combed his hair again, he felt his confidence growing. He was ready for a night out. Well, a night out working. He checked himself out in the mirror, took a mirror selfie for good measure (posted on IG!) and walked out of the bathroom.
He put on his shoes, grabbed his keys, took one look around the apartment and was off.
Bonus: I Love You
It’s day off, and as much as the couple loves Jakurai, there are some days where they just need time for themselves. But of course, they are going to have dinner with him, after all, they did win the last territory battle. Nothing makes a group of people closer than spitting out verses with aggression.
Doppo and Hifumi went out the entire day. Well, from 2PM until 8PM (that was the time they were going to meet Jakurai at a restaurant that DOES NOT serve drinks). They went shopping. Hifumi had Doppo fitted out for a really really nice suit that he can’t wear to work. Doppo grumbled on about the unimportance of it, but inside his heart was fluttering at it. Hifumi however had to resist the temptation to be the one to measure Doppo himself. He hasn’t ran his hands down that torso in forever, but he resisted.
Doppo bought Hifumi a nice necklace with a green gem at the end of it. It had a long chain, so it reaches Hifumi’s sternum. Doppo has been eyeing it for the past few weeks. He even went as far to put a down payment on it, just to make sure nobody would get the gift he wanted for Hifumi. The necklace was a bit on the expensive end, but Hifumi couldn’t care any less. He loved it. He promised Doppo he’d wear it everyday.
When they walked down an alleyway, Hifumi brought Doppo in for a swooping kiss. Thanking him for all of the little acts of service he does everyday. Doppo kisses him back. Thanking him for just being a part of his life and for being the light that brightens his gloomy world.
The kiss lasted a long while and could’ve gone farther, because clearly both wanted it to, but ultimately, they decided to just continue their day, exploring Shinjuku and its many shops.
Doppo and Hifumi usually don’t see each other even if they live under one roof, but for a love as true and kind as that, they don’t need to see each other to feel the warmth and care one feels for the other.