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There was a snap in front of his face and Yuuji was brought back to the present, his eyes zoning in on his co-worker Kugisaki, both her hands on his hips, a brow raised and an unimpressed look on her face.
Yuuji smiled sheepishly. “Sorry.”
“The next time I see you daydreaming, I’m really gonna poke your eyes,” Kugisaki threatened.
“I’m sorry but this place—”
“Feels nostalgic, I know, I know,” Kugisaki dismissed. “You’ve said that so many times. You can daydream as much as you want but not today because the owner is coming and we need to tidy this place or he will fire us all!”
“If you came here a week earlier instead of going on your shopping spree, we would’ve been done here,” Fushiguro said somewhere behind Yuuji.
“What did you say, Fushiguro!” Kugisaki barked, stomping towards their other friend.
Yuuji smiled, their antics never failing to make him happy. Then his eyes flitted back to the house not far in front of him. It was huge and would probably fit twelve people. The specific number that popped in his head had puzzled Yuuji at first, it was like something inside him screamed twelve people will fit there, a mom, a dad, and their ten adopted kids. That too, adopted. Why adopted? Why that specifically?
Not only that, there was a wooden dock at the center of the huge lake, the lake was outlined by mountains and forests. When Kugisaki first invited them here for a part-time job for the summer (the three of them were classmates since high school until now in uni), Yuuji had been excited to see the dock, could already see himself jumping from it and diving towards the lake. Yeah, they were here for work but hey, Kugisaki said the owner allowed them to use the facilities as long as they cleaned up after.
But, for the life of him, Yuuji couldn’t understand the heavy feeling in his chest the moment he set foot on the dock. It was so overwhelmingly sad, he didn’t notice the tears falling from his eyes until Fushiguro asked him why he was crying.
Even inside the house, he could see snippets of something, gentle touches, loving embraces, sweet kisses— always just beyond his sight and when he turned to look, it was gone.
He had thought maybe the house was haunted but it felt so different from that. It was so sweet and yet so achingly painful, like two lovers at the cusp of their relationship only to be separated so abruptly before they could even start living their lives together. The dock felt the most heartbreaking that Yuuji was never able to set foot on it since then.
He had learned from Kugisaki that there was once a smaller house where the huge house was. A little over 200 years ago, a man worked all his life to be able to buy the whole place. A few years before he retired, he had ordered for the construction of the bigger house. He did not have the small house destroyed, instead it served as the backbone for the bigger house. And when he retired, he became a recluse and lived the rest of his life in the house. It was said he had wanted to live in this big house with his beloved but this person died a day after they got married. Or that was what Kugisaki heard from the people from the nearby town.
Whether it was real or not, Yuuji had never felt so strongly for something like this in his life ever.
Sometimes he would wake up feeling a heart-wrenching loneliness and intense longing.
A memory from a dream.
Yuuji snapped himself out of his thoughts. Better get back to work before Kugisaki scolds him again.
The sun was just starting to set, Fushiguro and Kugisaki went to town for a supply run and to get dinner. Yuuji had just freshened up after a long day’s work. He looked at the dock and squinted. There was someone sitting at the edge. He couldn’t really make it out from where he stood but he was sure someone was there.
How did someone come here without him noticing?
Yuuji walked towards the dock, already formulating what he would say in his head. From what he could see, it was a man with a broad back and pink hair, a shade slightly darker than Yuuji’s. The unknown man was with another person, tufts of pink hair, eerily similar to his, peeking out from the crook of the bigger man’s neck.
This wouldn’t be the first time couples came here for a date but this was private property so since he was here, he had to shoo them away. But he stopped short just before he could set foot on the wooden dock, a feeling of intense longing hitting him again out of nowhere.
He looked forward, saw the bigger man moving his arms as if embracing the other tighter against him, burying his nose on pink tufts of hair. It should look normal, it should look like any other couple, but why did that look so… sorrowful?
There was the sound of sudden breaks behind him and Yuuji almost jumped in the air, looking behind him to see an SUV stopping just in front of the house.
Oh no, if this was another group of teenagers coming to take a dip, Yuuji’s really going to have his hands full, just when Fushiguro and Kugisaki weren’t around.
Luckily he only heard one door open and close and saw only one mop of pink hair. Perhaps it was someone coming to inquire about the house. It wouldn’t be the first time. He could handle one person, then he’ll deal with the couple at the dock later.
Just as Yuuji was coming around the SUV, an “Excuse me—” on his lips, he saw familiar broad back and pink hair slightly darker than his and he froze.
The intense longing he felt only grew, his breath caught in his throat, his heart thudded against his ribcage, and the sting of unshed tears made itself known.
Why was he feeling this way? Why did this man feel so… familiar?
The man’s lips and jaw were moving, he was saying something, but Yuuji couldn't make out any of it. The man looked at him, a scowl on his face, probably because he was left unanswered, but Yuuji’s eyes widened at the sight of the taller man.
And he saw the snippets— gentle touches, loving embraces, sweet kisses— from this man. But why?
The man’s scowl faded to surprise when he saw Yuuji, eyes widening, mouth parting, and Yuuji could swear there was a spark of recognition in those crimson eyes. “Do I know you?”
“I—” Why did that question hurt? Why could he hear his own heart breaking?
Yuuji was cut off when the other man’s eyes widened as he said, “You’re crying.”
It was only then that Yuuji realized his tears had fallen and he quickly turned away to wipe them away. “Oh gosh! I’m sorry, I don’t know what came to me.” He tried to laugh, even when his heart still hurt. “This place just really feels nostalgic to me and—” His voice broke at the end and his tears won’t stop falling no matter how he tries to wipe them. “And I— I don’t know—you look so familiar it hurts— and I don’t know why I’m feeling this, but it feels like—”
“You’ve waited a whole eternity for this?”
Yuuji whipped his head to the other man, there was a confused expression on his face but Yuuji could see it in his eyes, the familiarity, the yearning. It was as if he was mirroring Yuuji’s own pain.
“Thank you for bringing me here.”
“I would do anything for you.”
“Let’s raise a family here.”
“We’ll find each other again and I’ll love you all the same.”
“I love you.”
“Please wait for me. Now, always, forever.”
“I…” Yuuji started. Everything was still so new, and yet so familiar, “Did I...make you wait?”
The spark of recognition in the man’s eyes grew as his face softened. “I’m not sure, but something tells me you’re worth it.”
As they were enveloped in the rays of the setting sun, Yuuji, with his tears still falling, let out a mix of a sob and a laugh. His heart still hurt but it was a good hurt. Because finally, finally, his longing has ended.
Yuuji sighed as he settled at the end of the wooden dock that overlooked the vast lake. There were familiar footfalls from behind him but he didn’t need to look to know who it was. His husband settled in the dock, sitting so Yuuji was in between his legs, both of their feet dangling over the edge. Yuuji settled against Sukuna’s broad chest as arms enveloped around his middle.
“You should get as much sleep as you can,” the older man said, his voice still groggy with sleep. It was obvious he had come here upon finding the other side of the bed empty. “You won’t be able to rest until the smaller brats get theirs.”
“Mm-mm. But I wanted to watch the sunrise.”
Sukuna huffed but didn’t argue, instead, burying his head on the crook of Yuuji’s neck.
Sukuna’s inherited the house from a distant relative. They and their ten adopted children come here at least once a year for the summer or winter holidays. Soon, as their kids grow older, both of them will be coming back here by themselves.
Both of them still didn’t know what that yearning and loneliness they both felt meant, and Yuuji still couldn’t explain the couple he saw on the docks many years ago when he first met Sukuna. But both understood that they were whole now, complete now that they’ve finally found each other.
The sun had finally risen and Yuuji smiled against the warm rays of the sun. Sukuna looked up and grumbled about it being too bright but he did drop a kiss on Yuuji’s cheek.
“Good morning,” Sukuna greeted.
Yuuji giggled. “And to you, too.”
Their moment was broken with a loud, “Mooom, Daaad! We’re hungry!”
Both groaned but laughed as they hauled themselves up.
“Whose idea was it to adopt ten mondaiji-tachi?” Sukuna complained, placing his hands around Yuuji as both walked the dock back to the house.
“Yours,” was Yuuji’s deadpan response.
Yuuji still feels the nostalgia. But sometimes, it felt like his happiness extended to the other two who dreamed of a similar life to what he and Sukuna have now.
He still doesn’t know them, he probably never would, but Yuuji wishes that they were happy now.
Yuuji tightened his grip on Sukuna’s hand. His husband looked at him, an eyebrow raised. Yuuji only shook his head and smiled.
“I’m happy, is all.”
Sukuna nodded. “Good. I am, too.”
Yuuji would never let this go.