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“What. Have you. Done?”
Two pairs of guilty eyes--amber and teal--turned to face the angry man standing in the doorway of the restaurant.
“Oh, heeeeeyyyy Shadow.” Reki tried for a grin, tensing slightly. The older man did not look happy. Beside him, Langa waved slightly, seemingly unaware of the danger they were in.
“Don’t you ‘hey Shadow’ me.” Hiromi barked, stalking up to the table and slamming his hands down, making the two teens jump. “I’ll say it once more, and that’s it. What have you done? ” the bulky man leaned in close, staring the teens down.
“Relax clown, it’s not as if they did anything wrong .” Hiromi whipped around, gritting his teeth as Joe spoke. The chef walked around the counter, setting a plate in front of the pink-haired man at the bar. “They just wanted to help you out, and I agreed with them, so we decided to help.”
“I think you mean I helped, stupid ape.” Cherry fanned himself slowly, turning to look at the three younger men. “I’m the one with the technical skills, remember?”
Joe rolled his eyes, “Whatever you say, Princess .” The big man grabbed three more plates from the kitchen and set them down at Reki and Langa’s table. He motioned for Shadow to take a seat as well.
Hiromi sat, crossing his arms over his chest. “If you think bribing me with food is gonna get y’all out of this, you’re wrong.” he eyed the plate in front of him, determined to resist it, but he couldn’t help that his stomach growled. He huffed, uncrossing his arms and picking up a fork. “But I won’t say no to a free meal.”
Reki and Langa glanced at each other, before shrugging and digging in. Joe grabbed his own plate and sat down next to Cherry, who was eating slowly. It was quiet for a few minutes as everyone ate. Langa was the first to finish, and he pushed the plate away from himself. Shadow gave him a look , but the blue-haired boy just blinked.
“So you gonna tell me what you did now?” Hiromi asked, tapping his fingers against the table. “Wanna explain why my inbox is full of people wanting to ‘get to know me’?”
Langa blushed slightly and shook his head. “I...uh…” he turned to Reki for help, but his boyfriend was pointedly ignoring the conversation, seeming to be fully engrossed in his meal.
“We set up an online dating profile for you, obviously.” It was Cherry who spoke, leaning his back against the bar. “The kids felt bad about your terrible luck with your manager, so they asked us,” he motioned to himself and Joe, “for advice.”
Joe nodded, taking the plates in front of them, and setting them behind the counter in the sink. He walked back over to the boys, grabbing their plates and stacking them up. “I honestly don’t understand why you’re mad.” Joe set the plates with his and Cherry’s. He sat down next to Cherry, wrapping an arm around his waist. “Kaoru did an excellent job making your profile aesthetic.” Cherry blushed and turned his head away.
Hiromi’s eye twitched and he got to his feet, hands curling into fists. “Mad? I’m not mad ,” he chuckled darkly. He tapped his foot on the ground in an anxious rhythm. The tension in the room thickened.
“If you’re not mad, then why did you storm in here all loud?” Langa asked quietly, tilting his head.
Reki slapped his hand to his forehead and groaned, “Dude, you couldn’t just leave it alone, could you?”
“I’m not mad,” Hiromi hissed, “I’m furious .” The teens shrank away from the older man’s gaze, and Hiromi rounded on Joe and Cherry. “Why the hell would you agree to help them?” he shouted, stalking up to them. He jabbed a finger at Joe’s chest, and the tanned man scowled. Before he could say anything though, Cherry’s fan snapped Shadow’s hand away.
“I’d appreciate it if you kept your hands off my husband,” Cherry remarked, gold eyes flashing. “But I have to side with the gorilla on this one. I don’t understand why you’re upset.” He lowered his fan, watching as Shadow took a step backwards, rubbing at his wrist. “If you would just use your words and explain, maybe then we could understand.”
Hiromi took a deep breath in, forcing himself to calm down. “Alright, fine. I get it. It’s just--” he glanced over at Reki and Langa, who were watching with wide-eyes. “I’m already seeing someone. If he found out about this,” he threw his hands up in the air in exasperation, “dating profile, then he might think I’m not serious.”
“Oh. Fuck.” Reki’s voice broke through the awkward silence. “I didn’t think...He didn’t say it was a date .” The teen flinched when all eyes turned to him, and Shadow blushed slightly. “So it’s--”
“Yeah. So…” Hiromi scratched at the back of his neck, shifting from foot to foot. “I mean, it’s nice of you guys to want to help me out, but...I kinda don’t need it.”
Langa blinked in confusion. “Wait, I don’t get it...who’re you seeing, Shadow?” He turned to Reki, searching his boyfriend’s face for answers, but Reki shook his head slightly.
Hiromi’s face turned bright red and he looked at the two couples in the room. “I...well. You guys remember that party a few months ago?” Cherry and Joe exchanged a knowing glance, some unspoken communication happening between them. Langa nodded slowly, Reki sighing and resting his head against the other boy’s shoulder. “I brought those flowers with me, just because, you know, flower shop,” Hiromi continued. He shoved his hands into his pockets and stared at the floor. “It was meant to be a joke, when I offered them to Oka, but…” he sighed, looking across the room at Langa. “But Oka really liked them, and started calling the shop for orders, and one thing led to another and…” he trailed off, a small smile playing on his lips.
Langa blinked, tilting his head. “Oh, you and Manager Oka?” Shadow nodded shyly. “That’s cool.” The boy turned to Reki and tapped him on the nose. “You knew about this?”
The other boy shook his head. “No, I mean...I knew they were hanging out? But Manager Oka didn’t call them dates?” He turned to Shadow, curiosity apparent. “Were you guys hiding from us?” Shadow kicked at the floor, refusing to meet anyone’s eyes.
“You were concerned about how we would react, right?” Joe spoke softly. “Hiromi, literally everyone in this room is LGBTQ. You don’t have to hide from us.” The twenty-five year old muttered something under his breath, and everyone leaned forward to try and hear. “I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch that--”
“We didn’t hide because of that!” Hiromi blushed. “We...we weren’t even trying to hide it’s just…” he trailed off, muttering under his breath again.
“Just what?” Cherry prompted.
“We’re engaged!” Hiromi spoke, a little too loudly for the quiet room. “We didn’t want to say anything ‘cause we didn’t want y’all to judge us for moving too fast--” he was cut off as Reki and Langa hugged him hard. “You guys...” the words trailed off as Joe joined in on the hug, squeezing tight. The group hug lasted for a moment longer, before everyone let go to catch their breath.
“Dude, congrats!” Reki pumped his fist in the air. “That’s so exciting!”
Langa grinned, nodding. “Congratulations, Shadow!”
Joe set his hands on Hiromi’s shoulders, looking him over. “I’m proud of you, clown. It’ll be a fantastic wedding, I already know it.” he glanced towards his husband, who was furiously typing on a laptop that seemed to come from nowhere. “Kaoru, what are you doing?”
“Deleting that shitty profile.” Cherry hissed, fingers moving quickly over the keyboard. “And setting up a wedding registry, of course. We’re going to need one.”
Shadow groaned, facepalming. “You guys...you’re too much.” But that didn’t stop the grin from spreading over his face.
He was kinda glad they made that stupid profile.
It was about damn time to tell them.