Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

At the beginning of summer, when the winds were hot and balmy and Yuya’s two year anniversary was around the corner, a flower shop opened up in a remote corner of Maiami City seemingly out of nowhere and with little fanfare. It was tiny and the glass walls were covered with posters which advertised a wide array of exotic, multicolored plants, but left very little room to see the inside. Yuya was going to buy Yuzu a simple bouquet from the grocery store’s flower market, but his mother had insisted that he put in more effort for his gift, and even gave him money for a custom bouquet. He could have spent it on the ¥2500 bouquet and pocketed the rest (such was the hard life of an unemployed college student), but Yuya decided that he didn’t want his lies towards his mother to stack on top of each other like bricks. One day, the tower he built around himself might fall.

The flower shop opened with the ring of a bell.

“Hello,” someone said from deep in the shop. It was a simple layout—rows and rows of potted plants spanned the length of the square room, stretching towards the harsh ceiling lights, like some kind of greenhouse. There were larger potted plants of many shapes, colors, and sizes pushed up against the walls. The tendrils of each plant intertwined with the next as if they were all one living, breathing mass that, if Yuya were to step between the tight rows of plants, he would surely be swallowed alive.

On the nearest wall, there was a sign that read: “DANGER: FLORA MAY BE TOXIC AND LETHAL, DO NOT TOUCH OR INGEST WITHOUT EMPLOYEE HELP.”

“Welcome to Garden of Eden. How may I help you?” the voice from the customer service counter said.

Yuya carefully maneuvered himself between a row of plants and the large potted ones against the wall, wary of touching them. He almost tripped over an empty decorative pot and some fertilizer, stumbling to the counter and grabbing the edge for balance. The employee chuckled before Yuya looked up and saw him.

He certainly blends in with the plants, was Yuya’s first thought.

The man behind the counter stared down at him with amusement piercing through his pink colored contacts. His brightly-dyed pink and purple hair matched the most enticing poisonous plants. He wore a sleeveless vest, perfect for summers in this hot, humid greenhouse space, that showed off an intricate network of black and white flower tattoos, which flowed into the next in a perfect web all the way from his wrist to his neck. In his gloved hands were shears, its freshly sharpened edges glistening in the light, and on the counter in front of him was a potted plant that he was in the middle of pruning, its dead, wilted ends scattered across the counter’s surface.

Yuya stared at where the black and gray petals shyly peeked from the man’s slender neck.

“I…” Yuya licked his dry lips. “I would like to buy a bouquet. Do you wrap them here?”

The person behind the counter nodded his head towards the wrapping paper and tools next to him. His nametag flashed in the bright light. His name was Yuri.

“Yes we do,” Yuri said. “I wouldn’t recommend it if you handle some of our more common species—” he gestured vaguely to the rows and rows of potted toxic plants— “but we have some clients who like to make bouquets of the less-touch-dangerous specimens. Bleeding hearts and larkspurs are quite pretty. Generally, we encourage everyone to take the entire potted plant, though.”

“I’ve never heard of a flower shop that only sells poisonous flowers,” Yuya said. He kept staring at the man’s web of tattoos crossing over his creamy skin, dipping and curving delicately around his lightly toned bicep.

“Not all of our plants are poisonous,” Yuri explained, setting down his shears. “Some are carnivorous. They make amazing pets. You don’t need to clean up after them and you only feed them one fly every couple days.”

“I… see…”

Yuri gently pushed his potted plant out of the way and brushed his hair behind his ear, exposing more of his slender neck and creamy skin. “We are proud vendors of exotic collectable plants, you see,” Yuri continued. “They’re only for experienced handlers, of course. I take it that that’s what you’re into, right? So what can I get you today, sir?”

“Uhh.” Right. Yuya came here to get Yuzu a gift, a gift that his mother had offered to pay for. “I need a medium-sized bouquet of roses.”

Yuri stared at him.

Yuya stared back.

Yuri tapped his fingers on the counter as if he was waiting for something. When Yuya didn’t say anything, Yuri blinked, then went wide-eyed.

“You…” he said incredulously. “You came here… an exotic plant dealership… for a rose bouquet?!”

Yuya thought for a moment. Bouquets usually had more than one type of flower in them, right? What was another common flower in gift bouquets?

He snapped his fingers. “And marigolds!” he said.

“And mari—!” Yuri gasped, covering his mouth. He laughed like Yuya had told him the funniest joke ever, and even though his pristine, genuine belly laughter was music to Yuya’s ears, he didn’t get why. This was a flower shop after all, so what was the big deal?

Yuri wiped a tear from his eye, then went back to looking at Yuya expectantly. Then the realization that Yuya was serious about his request must have hit him because his face shifted into surprise, grief, defeat, and finally acceptance.

He replied flatly, “I’ll check the back.” 

Disappearing through the single door behind the counter, Yuri left Yuya alone.

Yuya stood by himself in that room with tons of toxic plants all around him for what felt like an hour. He found it difficult to sit still, so he cautiously explored the plants, reading signs that advertised the carnivorous ones and the toxic ones, organized by region of origin. They all had long names that Yuya struggled to read, much less pronounce, but it gave him something to do until Yuri came back with two medium-sized packages under his arms.

“You’re in luck—we only have one order of each,” Yuri said, setting them down on the floor.

Yuri picked up his shears again and got to work. He picked out only the best roses and carefully inspected them in his hands for any sign of wilting or tearing.

Turning to Yuya, Yuri asked, almost dejected, “I suppose you want me to cut the thorns off, too?”

What kind of question was that? “Uhh, yeah,” Yuya replied.

Yuri meticulously snipped off each thorn, the sharp shears slicing through the green skin and meat with perfect precision. He took his time before moving onto the next rose. Once he had amassed enough roses, Yuya assumed, Yuri dug through the box of marigolds and pulled out ones that resembled a perfect yellow-orange sun. Yuri arranged each flower in their approximate positions before cutting them to length. Then he added a bunch of accents from behind the counter, considering each with a hum, cut those, and began wrapping the bundle in sheer plastic.

All the while, Yuya kept staring at Yuri’s neck with a dry throat.

Yuri made a couple of last changes before wrapping the bouquet in another layer of wrapping paper and tying it with a large bow. The hyperfocused attention he put into flower arrangement was remarkable. Yuya didn’t know the first thing about flowers, but looking at what Yuri made just made sense.

“That’ll be ¥9500,” Yuri said.

It was slightly more expensive than his mother had anticipated when she slapped a wad of bills into Yuya’s hand and shoved him out the door, but Yuya wouldn’t complain about it. He handed over the money and Yuri punched some numbers into the old fashioned cash register.

“This place doesn’t do QR codes?” Yuya asked.

“We believe in anonymity, sir,” Yuri said as if that answered everything. “Whoever your sweetheart is, they’re lucky to receive this gift from you. Will that be all?”

Yuya ended up leaving the store with more questions than he had answers for. Regardless, he took his bouquet, thanked Yuri for his service, and left without looking back. He hadn’t planned on ever returning again.

Later that evening, Yuzu’s father had been so kind as to book them an anniversary dinner at a four star restaurant. It was flashier than either of them liked—it had been so long since they had their last beer-and-movie night—but it made both of their parents happy to see them dressed up like dolls. Yuzu wore a nice pink dress that showed off her long legs. She accepted the roses gratefully, putting on the same type of smile that Yuya wore.

“Where did you get these?” she asked, smelling them while her father scoured his kitchen cabinets for a vase.

“There’s a new flower shop called Garden of Eden on the north edge,” Yuya explained. “I thought I’d see what it was like.”

Yuzu frowned. She lowered the flowers into the crook of her elbow. “My dad and I passed that place last time he took me shopping,” she said. “It kind of gave me the creeps.”

Yuya decided not to tell her about all of the dangerous plants the shop housed, and instead nodded along to Yuzu’s tale, then at Yuzu’s dad when he relayed a long list of rules to Yuya. Bring her home immediately after dinner. No drinking. No taking her to his house. No ignoring his calls. If he found out that Yuya did something gross, he would beat him up. It was all an act, though—Yuya had known Yuzu’s dad for well over a decade.

The dinner was nice. Yuzu hinted that she was seeing someone else, but Yuya didn’t push it when he saw her look so uncomfortable. That night, after Yuya’s shower, he got a text from Yuzu saying that her father threw a fit because Yuya didn’t propose.

“He says that there must be something wrong with you (∩╹□╹∩)” —Yuzu 10:43PM

Yuya stared down at the single bright light of his phone, his chin propped on top of his pillow. His mind went somewhere where it shouldn’t have. He shook it off immediately, like many times before.

“If only he knew” —Yuya 10:44PM

“(V●ᴥ●V)” —Yuzu 10:46PM

College classes reignited for the third time at the beginning of autumn when the days were dyed in muted brown hues and the air smelled of seasonal coffees wherever Yuya went. The college he attended was a small, local one with a low minimum entrance exam score and a high acceptance rate, but that didn’t stop everyone from putting on their best clothes like some kind of fashion show.

Yuya ran into Yugo in the east building, who looked so terribly lost on his own as he tried to find his first class of the day.

“It’s so fucking hard!” Yugo cursed, staring at the school map on his smartphone. “I don’t understand the layout of this school at all! It’s like it’s constantly changing! I was in the main building, now I’m here…”

Yuya bumped his shoulder against Yugo’s as he slid beside him to see the map. “Did you take into account that the map is sideways?” he asked.

“I…” Yugo gulped. Yuya turned the phone around in Yugo’s hands for him, showing the correct school layout.

“You need to go—“

“Shut up, Yuya,” Yugo said. He shoved his phone into his jeans pocket and sighed. “How was your summer? How’s Yuto?”

Back in high school, Yuto had been a transfer student with a shy and aloof demeanor. Yuya entertained briefly the idea of pursuit, his generous nature worth standing side-by-side to, but he ultimately slammed that door closed since it wasn’t worth the fuss. He did end up getting close to Yuto through the after-school game club where both Yuya and Yuto shared lighthearted sportsmanship, never worrying about who won or lost, only that the game was fun. Yuya missed the days that they would crumple onto the floor in a fit of laughter, undulating and gasping until Yuto would stand up and offer Yuya a hand, and Yuya would take it for two seconds too many until the warmth engraved itself into his palms long after letting go.

Their friendship continued into college where Yuya and Yuto met Yugo. Right before the first day of school, Yuto and Yuzu agreed to walk around campus with Yuya before Yuto left for his other college on the other side of Maiami. Yugo was moving into his dorm and someone had moved his bags, and he couldn’t find them anywhere. Yugo ended up bursting into the canteen and picking a fight with his roommate while Yuya and company were there. Yuto rushed in and tried to break up the fight, and Yugo swiftly punched Yuto in the nose, bruising his face and delaying the start of his classes for two days.

After that, they laughed it off and became best friends.

(As it turned out, Yugo’s roommate had simply pushed Yugo’s bags to the other side of the room and Yugo hadn’t seen them.)

“Yuto’s fine,” Yuya said, checking the room numbers to see if his finance class was somewhere in this hall. “He’s been busy defending Ruri. You know how that is.”

Yugo whistled. “I was shocked when Ruri came out,” he said. “I mean, if you’re committed to a guy, telling everyone you’re bisexual sounds like you want to cheat. Yuto’s a sweet guy. What else could she want?”

“I don’t think she wants anything else,” Yuya said. “Just for Yuto to understand. If she wanted to cheat on him, she would have done it without telling him first.” He forced his face to remain neutral, nonchalant.

Yugo tapped his chin. “That’s true… Plus, isn’t everyone a little bisexual nowadays?” he huffed. “Don’t we all have that one exception we’d go gay for? Just a little? I mean—I’m happy that I’m with Rin, and I wouldn’t want to lose her to pursue someone who’s a passing attraction… And if you’re a boy and you don’t mind ending up with a girl, the odds are that you’re going to end up with a girl, so why go through the hardships of a same-sex relationship anyway?”

Why go through the hardships of a same-sex relationship anyway?

“Yeah,” Yuya said. “I get it.”

Yugo scratched his chin. “But I still understand finding people of different genders attractive; that’s life! There’s a lot of pretty people out there!” With the start of classes nearing the minute, Yugo slowly made his way towards the exit. He threw his hands into the air. “But not as pretty as my Rinnnnnn!!!!”

Yuya covered his mouth and laughed.

When he got home that night, Yuya’s mother asked him about his first day at school. He told her that it was fine, that he was confident in his classes. Then his mother told him that her boss’s son transferred to a prestigious school in Maiami to take over the business. Apparently, when the job-hunting season for soon-to-be graduates began, Akaba Reiji had employers reaching out to him, while every other student was driven crazy sending in applications to not become a NEET.

“If only you got into the better colleges, then you could have been like Reiji,” his mother sighed.

Yuya bit into his stir-fry. “Not everyone can be born into a wealthy family,” he said.

“Your father tried to be that for you,” his mother replied. “He tried to be everything for you before he died. That’s why you need to do good in school and get a good job, to pick up where he left off.”

Yuya lowered his head over his food, sinking deeper into his shoulders, and perhaps then he could grow a shell and hide like a turtle. “I know,” he said weakly.

His mother smiled at him with a look he knew too well. Her eyes became too tender, her crow’s feet crinkling, exposing her true age.

“I started looking for houses the other day,” she said. “I’ve been saving up money for years. The houses in Maiami are so expensive, but I found one less than an hour away for not much money. If you end up getting engaged to Yuzu, I’ll talk to the real estate owner.”

Yuya set down his chopsticks and stayed quiet.

“I mean, it’s been two years that you’ve been dating, and you’ve known each other since you were kids,” his mother sighed. “How long do you need? You keep avoiding… Come on, I’ve always wanted a daughter.”

“Thanks mom,” Yuya mumbled.

“What? I’m sure that her father always wanted a son, too. Isn’t that the idea of every parent? To have at least one of each?” She sighed dreamily, leaning into her palm. “I can’t wait to have grandchildren.”

Yuya didn’t say anything. He let her talk, to have her fill of dreams and fantasies, ideas that he was trying to convince himself he wanted too, that he so desperately wanted to give to his mother.

Because it was hard to be a single mother after losing her husband. Because it was hard to raise a child. Because she sacrificed so much and worked so hard to put a roof over his head and food in his mouth. Because when he was little and lonely and missing his father, she would put on a happy face and play with him for hours to take his mind off of the loneliness.

“Remember, Yuya,” his mother would say as he sat on her lap, too many playing cards for his small hands. She wiped the angry tear from his cheek. “You don’t need to feel frustrated when you’re losing. Games are meant to be enjoyed by everyone. Joy is something to be shared, so always remember to have fun. Now, take a breath, and give me your best smile… That’s my boy. You can use this card with this card…”

He owed everything to her. How could he ever pay her back?

“Eventually,” he promised.

Chapter Text

Yuya didn’t think about the creepy, tiny little flower shop that only sold dangerous, exotic plants until Yuzu’s birthday. It happened that the grocery store wasn’t doing any nice bouquets since there were no romantic holidays around the corner, and Yuya didn’t know of any other flower shops within walking distance since his mom needed the car.

It wasn’t that bad last time, Yuya reasoned to himself, the vague memory of the store’s interior tucked away into a repressed corner of his mind. Yuzu liked the flowers, so that’s all that matters, right?

He opened the front door, shuffling inside with the gentle chime of the bell.

“Welcome to Garden of Eden. How may I help you?”

The interior was a stark contrast to the outside: outside, the weather had changed to crisp, random winds that swept him away and decaying leaves, while the interior was steady, hot, and humid to nurture these luscious plants. Yuya stepped slightly more confidently between the rows of toxic vegetation to make his way to the counter. He ducked underneath a spiky green vine and turned sideways to avoid a dangerously large, toothed leaf. At the counter, the same man with the tattoos and pink hair as before—Yuri—tapped away at a beaten, clunky laptop with gloved hands. In front of him was a stack of spreadsheets that Yuya assumed had something to do with inventory.

“I never see anyone else coming in or out of this place,” Yuya remarked out loud, though he had meant it to be for himself.

Yuri looked Yuya up and down before his eyes widened in realization. “Oh! I remember you,” he said, straightening his back. “Yes, yes! I hope your sweetheart liked the bouquet. I’m not the one who usually does our more normal orders.”

For some reason, Yuya had never considered that someone else worked here (or even wanted to). “Who does the, uh, ‘normal orders?’” Yuya asked.

“There’s a woman named Serena who works part-time here,” Yuri explained. “She has an eye for the usual flower arranging. Usually she works on weekends when we’re more likely to have visits. I’m the only manager, so I’m here whenever we’re open.”

“I don’t imagine you get a lot of clients,” Yuya said before he could stop himself. He covered his mouth. “Ah, I didn’t mean—I’m sorry. I don’t mean to imply that this is a bad store…”

But Yuri shook his head. “It’s fine,” he said. “Most of our clients order online. This store doubles as a warehouse since most of our clients are private collectors who, while they are very loyal, are few and far between. It’s a lot cheaper to rent a couple storefronts and make some extra sales than it is to buy an entire warehouse for a few thousand clients worldwide.”

Yuya would have never expected this kind of business to be a worldwide thing, but it made sense, he supposed. But that brought up a new question. “How do you even receive or ship these kinds of plants around the world?” he asked.

Yuri side-eyed Yuya. “We aren’t supposed to talk about it,” he said and left it at that.

Yuya’s eyes fell to Yuri’s tattooed arm, mostly hidden by a cuffed shirt, and wondered if he was a part of the yakuza. This storefront could have been a cover for a mob and Yuya would never know!

“W-well,” Yuya said, “if Serena handles the normal orders, then I suppose I should have asked her for my bouquet instead of you.”

At this, Yuri frowned. He looked up at Yuya with a pouty expression, a stark contrast to how odd and sinister he usually looked; it was almost adorable. “Did I not do a good job?” Yuri asked.

Yuri might have been playing with him, but from the way he spoke, it sounded like he was genuinely hurt by the insinuation that he had done a bad service.

Yuya held his hands up and took a step back. “Ah, that’s not what I—y-yeah, you must have done a great job. Yuzu—m-my girlfriend—and her father really enjoyed the flowers. She said that they were very beautiful.”

And Yuri smiled, his round cheeks pushing up his eyelids until his eyes were crescent moons, and oh, if he was a flower, then he must have been a sunflower for how brightly he beamed.

“I’m glad she liked them,” Yuri said. “Flowers make the best gifts. If I may make a suggestion, I would say that you should get her a potted plant next time. Bouquets die too fast.”

His mother had given him more money for another bouquet, but it made sense to Yuya that Yuzu’s birthday didn’t require a lot of flower arranging. Yuya didn’t know how much Yuzu liked flowers in general besides thinking they were pretty, but seeing as this relationship wasn’t built on the types of gifts that Yuya got her—no, it was based on necessity —Yuya didn’t see anything wrong with getting Yuzu a cool plant.

The thing was that this place only sold dangerous plants…

“I don’t really want to get her anything that would hurt her,” Yuya explained. “It’s her birthday today and my mother suggested flowers to go with a gift. I guess a potted plant will do. Her father will figure out what to do with it.”

Yuri grinned. He sauntered out from behind the counter with a flourish and swept into the rows and rows of increasingly hostile vegetation like it was his home and the plants were his family. For all Yuya knew, they could have been.

“We have doll’s eyes, wolfsbane, desert roses, false hellebore, corn cockles, white snakeroot… this one here is thimbleweed; isn’t it pretty? I’m personally a fan of flamingo flowers. Columbines and mountain arnicas are popular…”

There were too many names at once. Yuya shook them out of his head. “What won’t kill her?” he asked.

“The vast majority of these plants are non-lethal unless consumed,” Yuri explained. “She doesn’t have a pet, does she? A couple of them have sap that is irritating to the skin. The combination you need to worry about is touching that sap with an open wound. That’s why we have our danger signs.” He jutted his chin towards the danger sign near the large potted plants.

“O… kay…” Yuya said.

Yuri inspected some of the plants, gently moving around their leaves and tendrils. “How long have you been dating?” he asked.

“Two years,” Yuya answered, staring at a bright orange plant with a giant structure sticking out of it. Was this one with dangerous sap? Yuya kept his hands far away from it. “Well, it’s complicated. We knew each other for over ten years before we started dating.”

Humming, Yuri said, “So you were childhood friends before starting to date? That’s adorable.” He chuckled the same way Yuya’s mother might if she were trying to be courteous about something she didn’t actually care about.

“I suppose,” Yuya sighed.

Yuri turned to Yuya, one potted plant cradled in each hand. “You don’t seem happy about that,” he remarked.

“Well—” Yuya shouldn’t talk about this to anyone, much less a stranger. But he didn’t have anyone besides Yuzu to confide in about this. Who better than someone who doesn’t care about Yuya’s personal business? Yuya creaked open his personal floodgates, allowing a tiny stream through the door. “She and I have been faking our relationship, actually.”

Yuri’s eyes widened in surprise. “O-oh,” he said.

“Ever since high school, I knew I didn’t have any interest in dating girls,” Yuya explained. “It turned out that Yuzu didn’t like dating boys. Both of our parents were counting on us falling in love from a young age; they teased us about getting married since we were in elementary school. It was fortunate for us that things turned out this way. Now we don’t need to disappoint our parents.”

Knitting his brows, Yuri frowned. “So what will you do once they start asking for more and more?” he asked. “Once you start dating, they’ll ask you to get married. Once you get married, they’ll ask for grandchildren. Once you give them grandchildren, they’ll want another one. What a sad life, forced into having sex for procreation’s sake. If you can’t be happy, then you’re no more than any of these plants here. Just… existing.”

Yuya gulped. That was… an interesting metaphor. Yuya liked to think that his life was more important than a plant. What child didn’t exist to bring their parents joy and fulfillment? He thought he was doing a good job so far, and that was more than what a plant could do for his mom.

“I just wish that I could get out of it sometimes,” Yuya confided, scratching his neck. “It feels like I’m in a bind, but there’s no better circumstance than this, so I should be happy, right? The fact that Yuzu and I are both gay and best friends was a fortunate coincidence.”

Yuri’s frown deepened. His eyes dropped down to the plants that he was carrying and seemed to contemplate something. He shook his head, then placed them back where they originally were.

“I know something you can give her,” he said, taking Yuya to another row.

In the corner located on the very edge of the shelf was a beautiful pink and white plant with little blooming clusters that looked similar to plum blossoms. Yuri took it carefully and handed it towards Yuya.

“This plant is called ‘oleander,’” Yuri explained. “Isn’t it beautiful?”

Yuya took it in his hands but kept a distance between it and his body. “How dangerous is it?” he asked.

Yuri tilted his head, those coy eyes narrowing into crescent moons again, and he smiled. “It’s only lethal when ingested. I assume she’s smart enough to not drink water off of the plant.”

Well. Yuya couldn’t imagine Yuzu doing that, necessarily.

“Alright, I guess I’ll take it,” Yuya said.

Yuri led Yuya back to the old-fashioned cash register and rang him up for ¥8000. Then he wrapped the flower in plastic and tied it with a decorative bow.

That night when Yuya gave Yuzu her presents (a silver necklace to go with her favorite bracelet and the oleander) she accepted them gracefully in front of her family and friends. Her birthday was a small affair at her home. There were a couple of cousins, aunties, and uncles that lived close by and that Yuya knew personally, plus one or two friends. Ruri stood out of their way. Yuya wasn’t sure how quickly rumors about her spread among Yuzu’s family (he imagined that her father wasn’t so loose-lipped as some of her aunties) but he felt for her, regardless.

Yuzu unwrapped the oleander with a smile and took it aside to put it in a proper pot later. As she faded away, Yuya spoke with her father.

“Job hunting season opens soon,” Yuya sighed. “I’ll try to secure a good job; I hope I don’t have to extend my education.”

Yuzu’s father tsked. “It really is tough to get a job after graduating,” he said. “Even when I got fired from my desk job and tried to start new, almost all of the places I applied for didn’t even look at my experience. They all wanted young, fresh-out-of-school blood to represent their companies… Well, I guess what I have now isn’t bad. You’ve got fire in your blood; you’ll definitely get an offer of employment. How are you and your mother doing? Do you need money for a recruit suit?”

Yuya shook his head. “We should be fine for now,” he said.

“How about in general? Your mother works hard.”

“N-no, you don’t need to spend your money on us.”

Yuzu’s father tsked. “Don’t worry about it. I already have a payment plan set up for Yuzu’s college tuition and she has her scholarship, so really, if you or your mom need anything, it’s alright to ask.”

“The same goes for you,” Yuya said, if only to shut this conversation down. “But really, we don’t need—”

“Yuya!” Yuzu gasped. Yuya stood up from the living room couch and looked over to where Yuzu was in the kitchen.

Yuzu held her hands out in front of her with a horrified expression. From her fingertips and down the palms of her hands, stretching halfway down her forearm, was a blooming red rash that had spread in a matter of minutes. Her aunties yelped. Yuzu’s father jumped and ran to her, carefully cupping her hands in his own.

“Yuya, what is this flower?” Yuzu asked, her hands shaking. All eyes landed on Yuya as his jaw dropped.

Perhaps the worst thing wasn’t that Yuzu got a nasty rash. It was the disappointment and betrayal in her father’s eyes as he looked at him.

Yuya excused himself from the party and ran the entire several blocks back to the exotic plant store. I was a fool, he thought, beating himself up for his stupidity the entire way. It was right before 18:00 on a Friday night, so the store was in the middle of closing. He saw the faintest hint of lights through the posters. Throwing open the doors, Yuya stepped inside, the bell rattling frantically.

The hose, attached to some kind of water canister on wheels, that Yuri had been holding to water the plants dropped from his hands. Water sprayed him briefly before Yuri pressed a button on the canister to shut the water pressure off. Still, it left a puddle on the floor.

“What did you say that plant was again?” Yuya snapped.

Yuri picked up the hose with knitted brows, shaking out the leftover water. He looked at Yuya, pissed, before his mind caught up with him and realized just what Yuya was asking, and his eyes widened.

“Oleander…” Yuri said, the corners of his lips twitching upwards into a smirk. “How did your girlfriend like it?”

Yuya felt rage bubble up from his chest. “You poisoned her!” he accused, fists clenched tight at his sides. Yuri pressed a button on his canister and kept watering his plants as if Yuya wasn’t there. “After she touched the plant, her entire hands turned red! Is she gonna die?! Is she gonna lose her hands?!””

Yuri huffed. “Don’t be so melodramatic,” he said. “Oleander isn’t going to kill anyone just by touching it. The sap is a bit irritating and you definitely shouldn’t eat it, but—”

“I trusted you!” Yuya barked. “I don’t know anything about these plants, I trusted you to choose one that’s safe for her! Why did you give her something you knew would hurt her?!”

Shutting off the water canister again, Yuri looked Yuya in the eye without an ounce of sympathy. It was his cold expression that made Yuya recoil a bit.

“Didn’t you say that you wished it would end?” Yuri asked. “You don’t want to be in a relationship with her but you feel as if there’s no way you can end it. So what if her family ends it for you?”

“So you tried to kill her?!”

“Were you even listening?” Yuri knitted his brows, his expression sour. “She’ll have a rash for a few days assuming she doesn’t touch the oleander again. The rashes can be treated with normal hydrocortisone cream and oatmeal baths.”

Yuya sighed in relief. So Yuzu was going to be alright. He swallowed the lump in his throat and stepped closer to Yuri, speaking through gritted teeth.

“Don’t mess with someone else’s business,” Yuya hissed. “Yuzu is my best friend. We’ve known each other for a decade, and even though our relationship is fake, I don’t want to see my friend get hurt!”

Yuri’s eyes twitched. Slowly, he set his hose down in its slot and crossed his arms.

“It’s really disgusting,” he said, “when people like you act as if you are so high and mighty, as though you are doing everyone a service by squashing down your sadness and masking your true desires.”

“H-huh?” Yuya asked.

“Everyone tells me that I am a selfish person,” Yuri continued. “I’m selfish for not going to college. I’m selfish for dying my hair and getting tattoos. I’m selfish for doing as I please, and for prioritizing my own happiness over others. The reputation of all of Japan is riding on me becoming a ‘standard person,’ and if I don’t, my entire family line going back eighty generations will crumble. How will our perfect Japanese society ever recover? Do I look like a person who cares about pleasing others? The only person I’m loyal to is my employer.”

Yuya was about to tell Yuri that even though he didn’t really care how Yuri expressed himself, Yuri dealt with the consequences from that, and Yuya wouldn’t want to deal with those same consequences. However, Yuri pointed at Yuya and continued.

“And that’s why you and many others are like plants!” His face warped from his pleasant customer service mask into something sinister, bared teeth, scrunched brows, and all. “You exist only to be observed and enjoyed by others without any autonomy. You choose to take root in your pot, and the more you stay there, the deeper and deeper your roots grow until you are stuck, permanently a tool for someone else’s enjoyment. I will never put myself in that place again!”

Yuya pursed his lips in response. He didn’t want to go down without a fight, but the last thing he wanted was to get physical in a place with skin-irritating and long-toothed plants. Instead, Yuya said, “I never asked for your help.”

Yuya hardly caught Yuri’s exasperated expression before he turned his back and left the store.

The first thing he did before breaking out into a run was dial Yuzu’s number.

“Hello? Yuya?” Yuzu answered.

“Yuzu!” Yuya said, sprinting back towards Yuzu’s home. “I found out the cause of the rash! You need to put hydrocortisone cream—“

“Oh, don’t worry. I know,” Yuzu said. “After you left, I texted my girlfriend about it and she already bought me some cream, gauze, and ice cream! I snuck her through my window and locked us in my room so my father wouldn't see but I told him to call off the rest of the party.”

Yuya slowed to a stop on the sidewalk. He leaned one hand on his bent knee and gasped for breath. “I-is that so…? No party? You… hah… your girlfriend is there?”

Yuzu paused. “Uh, y-yeah,” she said. “I was going to tell you one day, but I kept shying away. A while ago, Ruri took me to a lesbian bar on the outskirts of Maiami. She sounded really confident in it. There, I met my current girlfriend! Yuya, she’s really amazing, I think you would really like her.”

There was a shuffling sound on the other side of the phone, followed by the chaste smack of a kiss.

“Congratulations,” Yuya said.

“You aren’t angry?”

“Of course not. Why would I be?”

“It’s alright to be angry.”

“Yuzu, it’s not like I own you.”

“… I know, but it complicates our plans, doesn’t it?”

“Maybe. But I’m happy for you.” And perhaps a bit envious. Very envious.

Yuya slowly made his way back to Yuzu’s home. When he arrived, Yuzu’s father gave him the news that the party was over, and Yuya kowtowed for forgiveness. Even if it was just for show, Yuzu’s father grabbed him by his shoulders and righted Yuya on his feet. Any other scolding her father gave came half-heartedly and he let Yuya go with a gentle squeeze on his shoulder.

Chapter Text

Yuya only had passing thoughts of the exotic plant shop during the rare times he’d see it on his commute around Maiami until Christmastime. Last Christmas, Yuya and Yuzu exchanged the gifts their parents made them get, went to a love hotel, and binged on fried chicken and beer all night long. This time, Yuzu had her girlfriend now so she didn’t want to go out. So Yuya and Yuzu told their parents that they would go to a hotel like last year except Yuzu would stay at her girlfriend’s house for a few hours and Yuya would be alone.

As he searched for flowers for Yuzu, Yuya quickly found that bouquets were few and far between. It was winter, so Yuya shouldn’t have had his hopes up for flowers to be unwilted or off-bloom. He even asked the florist at the grocery store if there would be a new shipment of flowers soon but she shook her head and told him that flowers got very expensive this time of year, and this was all they had.

He didn’t have many options that he knew of. Yuya loathed the idea of going back to the exotic florist after the last time, but he could bite his tongue and stay quiet if he got another basic rose bouquet. He wouldn’t trust Yuri’s plant advice ever again.

This time, when Yuya threw open the door and the little bell tolled at his arrival, he heard people talking. Inside, the store was a greenhouse in contrast to the windy, freezing temperatures outside. Each beastly, monstrous plant thrived in this artificial climate. Yuya slipped off his puffy coat.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” a woman’s voice said. “I’m very well-aware of your opinion of my situation, but this is the only way. It’s not like she’s that interested in her man, and she’s so very sweet that I can’t give up on her like that.”

Yuri sighed. “Such a hassle.”

“You’re bitter because you’re lonely.”

“You know that phrase, ‘love drives people to do crazy things?’ Well, I’m not crazy.”

“You could’ve fooled me.”

“I’m not crazy enough to be someone’s side-piece forever.”

“It’s not–”

Yuya fought his way past searching vines and brimmed leaves, shielding himself with his coat to make it to the counter. Yuri had been talking to a young woman with purple hair and a stern face. When Yuya came into view, she frowned at him with a look of disdain so unexpected from customer service.

“Well, if it isn’t my favorite customer,” Yuri said with a smile. “I’m surprised you decided to come back.”

“Trust me, I tried every other flower shop in all of Maiami,” Yuya said.

“I don’t doubt it.”

“Who is this?” Yuya asked, nodding towards the young woman whose scowl could bore holes into Yuya’s head.

She kicked herself off from where she was leaning on the counter and uncrossed her arms from her chest. “The name’s Serena,” she said just as Yuya read her nametag. “What can I get for you, sir?”

“Serena…” Yuya heard that name before. More importantly, he had heard Yuri say that name before. If she was here, then… “You must be the one that handles the normal orders.”

“Is that what Yuri calls my work?” Serena asked, side-eyeing her manager, who was busy pruning a potted plant with a smirk. Yuri deftly sheared the dead ends of an inconspicuous flower with tiny yellow blooms as if he were giving a small child a haircut. He gently tugged on leaves and stems with gloved fingers to weed out the brown bits, slicing through plant viscera with the metallic crunch of his shears. “I do flower arranging. Yuri has more practical knowledge on all of our plants, I make them pretty to sell.”

“Tell her about the time I made a bouquet for you,” Yuri said to Yuya.

Yuya tsked. He said to Serena, “The first time I came here, I asked for a rose bouquet for my girlfriend and he freaked out.”

“Who comes to an exotic plant dealer for roses?” Yuri scoffed, returning to his meticulous work.

“Me, actually,” Yuya said, looking Serena in the eye. “I’ll take a pain rose bouquet with whatever non-toxic, non-carnivorous plants you have to make it pretty.”

Serena took a deep breath. She looked between Yuya and her manager, and when Yuri didn’t move, Serena left for the backroom. Once she was gone, Yuri set his shears down.

“How boring,” Yuri remarked.

“I don’t trust you,” Yuya said. “Or your plants.”

“You shouldn’t,” Yuri said. “At least you and your not-girlfriend have each other.”

Yuya swallowed. His jaw set, and his eyes lowered to the ground. He paused before he said, carefully, “Well, soon she might be my not-fiancee instead.”

For a split second, Yuya swore he saw Yuri’s eyes widen and jaw drop, but it was quickly concealed by his visage of aloofness. 

“That’s even worse,” Yuri stated. “What are you thinking?”

Yuya paused. He didn’t believe that he was thinking at all. He knew that he was doing this to make his mother and Yuzu’s father happy since they had been so impatient recently, but Yuya had been refusing to think hard about it ever since the idea had first been conceived. He told Yuzu about his plans not long ago and she had been reluctant as well. But it was clear to both of them that they couldn’t stay dating forever. Not with their parents on their backs.

“I want to make our parents happy,” Yuya confessed. “I just want to make everyone happy, and if this is the only way, then I’ll do it. I’m an only child, I can’t just let my mom be lonely forever. And besides, I don’t want to waste time looking for someone else who would tolerate me never loving them back. This really is the best path for me right now.”

Yuri huffed. He gazed out to the rows and rows of green merchandise and said, “This is the reason why I’ve sworn off love.”

For a second, Yuya was quiet as if to give the line time to sink through his pores. “Huh?” he asked. It was a bizarre notion for someone to swear off something so human, so maybe Yuya had misinterpreted Yuri?

But Yuri looked Yuya in the eyes with a tinge of something he hadn’t seen before in the man—wistfulness, or perhaps resignation.

“You make it seem so miserable,” Yuri said. “If you change your personality to hide your real emotions enough, how can you say that anything you experience is genuine? Isn’t it exhausting to keep doing tricks like a dog, hoping for the day someone will throw you a bone?”

Yuya paused. Yuri’s words were harsh, but after his outburst when Yuzu got that rash, Yuya had a lot of time to think.

“But why would you swear off something that is so normal? That would be like swearing off food,” Yuya said. “And isn’t it natural to want to make others happy? Would you rather everyone be sad and miserable—”

“It’s not my responsibility to—”

“Is it not human nature to want to get on the good side of people? Is that not how we make friends? When you go on a date or interview for a job, do you not wear your best clothes and wear a fake smile? By appealing to others, pleasing others, that’s the only way to achieve success in life and build bonds. I may not like my own reality, but I am not blind to how my actions influence others’ perception of me.”

Yuri tsked. “How deceptive.”

“If you wear a smile, even a fake one, eventually it will become real.”

“Who told you that? Your parents?”

“It’s a cycle; good and bad things happen all the time, and moping around in the bad times doesn’t solve anything. Good things will come to me if I keep a positive attitude.”

“So your answer is to fake your happiness, do whatever your parents say, and be miserable until you either get a shred of real joy out of life or die trying?”

“Yuri, I have a question,” Yuya said, a spark of genuine curiosity in his big eyes. “Do you have any friends?”

It was a simple question, yet Yuri jerked back as if burned. His pink eyes widened, and for once, Yuya felt like he had the upper hand. However, Yuri schooled his expression back to normal as soon as it had shifted.

“I have Serena,” Yuri said.

“I mean someone who isn’t a coworker,” Yuya said. “Someone you can confide in and trust. Because, I understand all about making yourself happy, I really do, but the way you don't ever care about the opinions of others pulls people away from you. It’s alright to admit that you’re lonely.”

Yuri knitted his brows, his face scrunching up in disgust at Yuya’s words. “I’m not lonely,” he attested.

“You mentioned that you would never put yourself in a position where you relied on someone else’s happiness for your own again. What did you mean by that?” Yuya asked, a finger on his chin.

Sighing through flared nostrils, Yuri paused and grit his teeth.

“… Let’s just say that I speak from experience,” he said, "of constantly trying to appease someone close, except despite overcoming all obstacles and besting all of my classmates, it was never, ever enough.”

So that was it. Yuya sighed. He couldn’t quite wrap his head around why Yuri would go to extremes now, of all times. It was so easy to say “do as you like” when the opinions of others didn’t determine your wellbeing. And while Yuya was never turned away from Yuri (as strange as it was, he felt like there was a connection, or perhaps he hoped there was) Yuya could imagine all the nasty glares and wary glances Yuri must have gotten from the old and young alike. People must have kept a wide distance from him in public. They had judgements and reservations, and in the end, the wrong kind of attention closed off so many doors and limited what opportunities life offered. Nobody wanted to be friends with someone so closed off in their own lifestyle. Yuri must be lonely, even if he didn’t want to admit it. That was how Yuya understood it.

So he couldn’t help but feel bad.

Yuya said, “Yuri—“

“Are you two done bickering?” Serena asked from behind the back door. “I have a date later, so whatever you’re arguing about, hurry up.”

“Don’t tell me to hurry up, I’m your boss,” Yuri said, his eyes never leaving Yuya’s. “Come in.”

Unlike when he had his customer service demeanor, or even when Yuri was mocking him, Yuri’s gaze held a heat that made Yuya shiver. He didn’t know what to do.

Serena joined them, holding her bouquet of roses in one hand. Everything had been done: the thorns trimmed, wrapped in plastic and paper, tied with a big bow. She punched in a few numbers on the register and Yuya started handing over some cash before he thought of something else.

“Um, actually,” Yuya said in a small voice. Yuri kept staring at Yuya, and if he didn’t do something soon, it felt like Yuri might actually eat him like these carnivorous plants. He pointed to the rows of dangerous flora. “I want to buy one of those.”

“… Which one?” Yuri and Serena asked in tandem.

“The, uh…” Yuya cocked his head as he read the confusing name off of the nearest label. “A-an… thur… ium…?”

“Flamingo flowers,” Yuri smiled. He sauntered in front of the counter to grab a pot with his gloved hand. “Have you decided to become an exotic plant collector too? Ready to stop being so vanilla?”

Yuya twiddled his thumbs. Despite the winter, he burned beneath the greenhouse lights. “I wanted to buy it for you,” he said. Yuri, halfway back behind the counter, stopped in his tracks and blinked at Yuya wide-eyed. Yuya trailed off, mumbling, “I figured that it’d be a nice gesture…”

Serena scoffed. “Hey, look at that, Yuri,” she chuckled. “You got a not-so-secret admirer.”

“As if,” Yuri hissed, lightly shoving Serena out of the way with his shoulder as he took over the register. He cleared his throat. “Yuya, I already have a pot of these at my apartment. It’s a waste of your money.”

But Yuya said, genuinely, “It’s not a waste if it makes you happy.” And helps you feel less lonely.

Yuri gently set the flamingo flower down on the counter. “You know, I would have thought you had ulterior motives if I didn’t already know you mean it when you make others happy,” he said. When he met Yuya’s gaze, it was obvious that he was trying to hide his true emotion from the way his eyes hardened, but even Yuri couldn’t keep the corners of his lips from twitching upward. "I guess I can't convince you otherwise. If you don't mind wasting your money on me, I promise to take good care of it."

That's all Yuya could ask for.

On New Year’s Eve, Yuya took Yuzu hand-in-hand to Sawatari’s party. Yuya’s high school… rival (?) friend (?) had been interning at the town hall thanks to the influence of his council-member father. Sawatari used to always brag about his powerful father and how none of their classmates could do anything to him because he’d call his daddy on them. When he was old enough, Sawatari planned on joining the same council, so of course everyone tried not to get on his bad side, Yuya included (it was inevitable that Sawatari would steal Yuya’s trading cards and Yuya had to beat him in Sawatari’s favorite game to get them back, thus marking Yuya as his public enemy #1). After graduation, Sawatari joined a prestigious university, started interning to earn credits for his degree, and the dark circles under his eyes started forming. Everyone noted after the first year that Sawatari’s demeanor had changed into someone slightly humbled. Apparently, his father hadn’t given him any special privileges after joining as an intern, and Sawatari was stuck at the very bottom of the town hall’s food chain, scanning papers and fetching coffee every day. It was almost hilarious how the mighty had fallen if Yuya didn’t feel so bad.

Sawatari’s living room was filled to the brim with friends and relatives; the adults had cups of wine in one hand and the kids ran around making a mess. Yuya had attended enough Sawatari parties to know a good portion of them by name. When they stepped in, Yuya and Yuzu were greeted with the same amount of zeal before the men pulled Yuya over to ask about school and jobs, and the women pulled Yuzu over to offer her help for when they had kids. Yuya even got to chat with Gongenzaka, who was currently taking a break from the military, and–

“Yuya!” a voice called from the kitchen. 

Everyone jumped when something heavy made a loud bang on the floor. The house went quiet. Yuya peeked into the kitchen and saw Sora scramble to pick up the fallen tray of finger foods. Half of the sandwiches and chicken wings had managed to stay on the tray. Sora apologized again and again to Sawatari’s nanny while Yuya helped clean up the floor.

The only reason why Yuya knew Sora was from cram school. Back in middle school, Sora had a weird habit of creeping into the older classes and spying on other kids. Yuya thought nothing of the oddball younger student until he caught the shadow of Sora following him home one night. There were a tense few months when Yuya was convinced he had a stalker and Yuzu would walk him home like, well, like they were a couple. Yuya thought he had escaped Sora until he suddenly reappeared in high school when Yuya was in his last year. Yuya wasn’t about to let Sora ruin game club with Yuto, so Yuya got to the bottom of Sora’s obsession with him.

As it turned out, Sora was stuck in foster care in the worst part of Maiami City. His biological parents wouldn’t let him be adopted, assuming they would be able to afford taking care of him later, yet his foster parents hardly looked after him. Sora never even signed up for cram school–he was simply in the area at night, saw kids around his age, and snuck into the classes. The reason why Sora stalked Yuya in particular was because the other students said that Yuya was fun to be around, and he hoped to weasel himself into Yuya’s friend group.

It was all so strange, but having witnessed days of Sora arriving to school smelling of dirt, and the days that were so rough even Yuya couldn’t make him crack a smile, Yuya believed him.

“Sora, how’s college going?” Yuya asked, tossing away a deconstructed strawberry mascarpone sandwich into the trash. “You’re still couch-surfing?”

Sora nodded. “It’s tough since my foster family kicked me out immediately when I turned eighteen,” he said, washing his hands free of the chicken wing oil. “I’ve been begging my parents to sign a lease on an apartment for me, but no luck. I have two more years of this before I’m old enough to sign a lease myself. Until then, at least I have friends letting me stay with them, in their dorms… I was prepared for this.”

Yuya nodded his head in sympathy. “That’s good, and tuition isn’t too high?”

“I’m dirt poor and my convenience store job isn’t cutting it, but at least I have a payment plan. I even get discounted food sometimes.”

“I see…”

Yuya didn’t envy Sora.

“But it’s really great being there,” Sora brightened. “It’s so much more freeing than high school! You can dress however you like and people dye their hair in all kinds of colors. I get to meet so many different people, and…” Sora clammed up, eyes darting around the kitchen where the older guests stood around, talking. “Actually, I need to tell you something.”

“Oh yeah?” Yuya asked.

“In private.”

Oh. This couldn’t be good.

Sora took Yuya’s wrist and lead him to the nearest bathroom, locking the door behind him. There was a single thought that flashed across Yuya’s mind in a fraction of a second, something like I’ve seen this situation in a porn before, before he quickly shook it from his head. It wouldn’t help anyone if he had those kinds of thoughts now, at Sawatari’s party, about Sora of all people.

Although, it was entirely possible–

“Yuya,” Sora said, snapping him out of whatever cursed train of thought. He gulped before continuing. “Do you know what X-gender is?”

Yuya wasn’t quite so familiar with gender politics, but he’d read about it before. Carefully, he said, “I’ve seen people using it on socmed. Why?”

“I…” Sora struggled, fiddling with his fingers. “Well, I’ve been talking to people who identify as X-gender. It’s not that they’re common per se in my college, but I joined a club where they can be open, and the more time I spent with them, the more I started to think I might… too…”

Sora scratched behind his (their?) head. Yuya didn’t know how to react, didn’t know why he was the only one in this whole gathering singled out to carry this information, but he knew that it must have been important to Sora. Had Yuya had a similar chance to come out to someone he knew, he might have felt a huge weight off his shoulders.

“I’m happy you discovered something about yourself,” Yuya said with a smile. Sora immediately brightened, beaming, no longer cowered away from Yuya’s gaze. “But why did you decide to tell me?”

Sora shrugged, then side-eyed Yuya in a way that made Yuya’s breath catch in his throat. “I don’t know… there’s something about you that tells me I can trust you with this…”

Sora knows, Yuya thought as he left the bathroom, undoubtedly pale and absent-eyed. I’ve been trying so hard; am I obvious?

But that didn’t matter by the end of the party, because Yuya and Yuzu had made sure to keep the charade going; they put on a show. Sawatari’s entire house, every single one of the at-least-fifty people in attendance, counted down to midnight. Yuya squeezed Yuzu’s hand for support. Then right after the stroke of midnight, when everyone was cheering and laughing and clapping, Yuya got down on one knee in front of Yuzu. He popped the question just loud enough for her to hear over the din, and Yuzu nodded and smiled her practiced smile.

And everyone who saw them was happy.

Chapter Text

It was Yuto’s idea to celebrate. It was Yugo’s idea to drink.

“Come onnnnn its ben so longg since we last want out” – Yugo 5:42PM

“The last time I got drunk with Ruri I cried for half an hour straight. I’m not drinking.” – Yuto 5:47PM

“What did you even cry about??” – Yuya 5:48PM

“We were watching a war movie and it made me sad.” – Yuto 5:50PM

“Haha nerdddd” – Yugo 5:58PM

“Doesn’t Ruri know where all the good bars in Maiami are?” – Yuya 5:59PM

“SHE DOES???” – Yugo 5:59PM

“Yuto y didnt u tell me” – Yugo 5:59PM

“I thot we wer friends” – Yugo 5:59PM

“King Yuto” – Yuya 6:02PM

Yugo changed the group name from “Reiji’s Trust Fund Heist” to “King Yuto’s Courtroom”

“She probably hears a lot of stuff from her brother's job.” – Yuto 6:38PM

“Cna you ask her what she recs???? Vry important” – Yugo 6:42PM

“Are we still going out for drinks??” – Yuya 6:57PM

“... I don’t want to drink.” – Yuto 7:03PM

Yugo changed the group name from “King Yuto’s Courtroom” to “Viva La Revolution”

It was nice to be with these two again.

Ever since Yuto decided to go to a different college in another province, it felt like Yuya never got to see him. In addition, Yugo went home for the holidays, so it seemed impossible to have a night with all three of them together. But Yugo moved back into his dorm early, and Yuto was leaving the following day; therefore, it made sense to take advantage of this coincidence a few days after Yuya’s engagement was announced.

Each year so far, Yugo went back to his mother in the red light district to celebrate the new year. Yuya went with him last year during spring break. He didn’t tell his mother exactly where he was going (he might have lied and told her he would visit Yugo’s house in the outskirts of Maiami and left it at that, and when Yoko offered to visit with him just to see what his house looked like, Yuya said that it was inappropriate because she was uninvited). He promised he would be back the following day. The thing was, Yugo rode his motorcycle around when he didn’t need his uncle’s car to move in and out of his dorm, so when Yugo came to pick Yuya up from his house, Yuya had to ride Yugo’s motorcycle with him.

Yuya was normal for the first minute. The grinding purr of Yugo’s motorcycle rattled the inside of Yuya’s ears, growing louder the closer he got to Yugo and the further away he got from his mother in the doorway. Yugo’s fingers brushed against Yuya’s chin as he adjusted the straps of Yuya’s helmet. He banged his palm against it twice to make sure it was secure on Yuya’s head, then gestured for Yuya to climb onto the motorcycle behind him.

The heat of Yugo’s body against Yuya’s own had scorched his skin through his clothes and lit a fire inside Yuya that he didn’t want to admit. Yuya’s hands shook as he wrapped them around Yugo’s waist. He prayed that Yugo couldn’t tell–perhaps he was shaking due to the motorcycle’s rhythmic puttering of its engine and definitely not from being so close to another man. If Yuya looked over Yugo’s shoulder and put his nose near his neck, he could smell the sweet musky scent of his sweat. Yugo’s muscles shifted beneath his leather jacket as he revved it twice, pumped the gas, and took off.

Having the cool wind whip at his bare face as they sped through the streets had been overwhelming, but not as much as when Yugo allowed Yuya to rest his chin on his shoulder for almost the entirety of the ride.

Two weeks after that spring break, Yugo flew off his bike just as fast as they had flown on those streets. His helmet was unsalvageable, but his two broken limbs and four broken ribs barely were. Yuya visited him in the hospital in time to see Rin be a sobbing wreck in Yugo’s room. He couldn’t remember if they ever broke up again after that, only that Yugo never complained about Rin’s temper again, and that Rin never complained about Yugo’s hardheadedness again. Perhaps Yugo’s hard head had saved him just as much as his helmet did.

This was the second time that Yuya got to ride Yugo’s motorcycle. Since Yuto’s parents’ house was close to the selected bar, Yugo picked Yuya up, and they would worry about the details of getting home later. Yuya gave Yuto one rule: no matter how drunk Yugo got, to absolutely not allow Yugo to drive himself or Yuya home. Yuto gave Yuya and Yugo one rule: to absolutely not leave Yuto’s sight unless it was for the toilet. The most likely ending for that night would be them stumbling into Yuto’s home late at night, Yugo and Yuya taking the floor, until they sobered up enough the next morning.

The bar that Ruri had suggested was Raptor. The bar area was lit in warm orange light that spread sparsely towards the far tables. Groups of workers, still in their office attire, gathered for after-work drinks. Otherwise, there was a fair amount of college-aged students who also sought to drown their stress with a bottle. Raptor was very different from the off-campus bar that Yuya occasionally went to (though he wouldn’t admit it) where every student gathered, got piss drunk, and went wild. It seemed like almost every week, another female classmate got roofied and dragged off, only to come back the next day in total, traumatized silence. With the relaxed atmosphere, Yuya couldn’t imagine something like that happening here.

Yuto made a beeline straight to the bartender. The bartender was busy wiping down glasses when he saw them arrive, and though his face didn’t move a muscle, he nodded at Yuto warmly.

“Shun!” Yuto said over the constant chatter. “I hope you don’t mind, but I brought my friends.”

Yuya leaned over the table to get a view of the bartender’s nametag. Kurosaki.

“I’ll only forgive you if you can promise me they’ll tip well,” Kurosaki said, setting down his dishtowel and glass. “And that they don’t cause trouble.”

Yugo whistled. “Aw, come on,” he said. He patted Yuya’s shoulder with enough force to push him forward. “This guy just got engaged and we can’t even celebrate properly? Getting shitfaced is what you’re supposed to do! To celebrate the end of bachelorhood forever!”

Yuya scratched the back of his neck and chuckled nervously.

“Shun, that’s Yugo,” Yuto said, pointing. “He’s also kidding.”

Kurosaki stared at Yuto.

“... Right, Yugo…?”

Yuya and Yugo had started with one shot of grape soju, then two, just to make sure the first one was enough, then a third after that. Yuto sipped his soda while chatting with Kurosaki. Kurosaki was polite to Yuya, asked him about Yuzu, and Yuya had kept his answers short and simple before the alcohol could loosen his lips. Then the conversation changed to Kurosaki’s past with Yuto.

Yuya knew that Yuto had come from a different city, but he always thought that it was located on the outskirts of Maiami. As it turned out, Yuto and Kurosaki were both from the city of Heartland, destined to cross paths somewhere far away from home. What made them different was how they got there: Yuto’s family moved after selling their condo to pursue Maiami careers now that Yuto, the only child, was older and could take care of himself since they both worked tedious hours. Kurosaki, on the other hand, still had parents that lived in Heartland. They had saved up all their money to send him to a good college. But after hearing that his sister Ruri would be receiving no college fund at all, that it was a waste of money, and that she was expected to be married quickly after graduating high school, Kurosaki turned his parents down. He knew for a fact that Ruri would fare so much better in a college setting than he would. After getting into a huge fight with his parents, Kurosaki left for Maiami once he had graduated high school. He took any job he could find while living in an internet cafe. Eventually, he landed a job as a bartender, which didn’t pay enough, but at least he had roommates in his tiny apartment. And best of all, with him out of the picture, his parents eventually conceded to saving the college money for Ruri.

Given that the bar was close to Yuto’s parents’ home, it made sense that they should meet sooner or later. Funnily enough, Yuto had met Ruri before meeting Kurosaki. Ruri had been staying with Kurosaki for spring break during their first year of college, and Yuto saw her while he and Yuya rode their bikes to meet Yuzu. Yuzu sat on the bench near the vending machine, chatting with this girl neither boy had seen before. She introduced Ruri as someone who was considering moving to Maiami for college, and Yuzu wanted to meet her potential future roommate before her father co-signed a lease on an apartment. When Ruri spoke, the same accent that Yuto had came out. Yuya didn’t even need to look Yuto in the eye to know there were already hearts inside.

But who wouldn’t have eyes only for Ruri? She was sweet and patient, if a bit quiet, and she would have made the ideal wife if she hadn’t gotten caught leaving a lesbian bar two years into her relationship with Yuto.

“It didn’t feel fair to Ruri for me to go to college and for her to stay home, especially since we had the same tutors, the same cram school hours, the same everything,” Kurosaki said, preparing a drink for another patron. Yuya sipped on something easier than soju, a red eye cocktail, while Yugo downed a banana old-fashioned. “Except she always brought back better grades. I didn’t even want to go to college, but no parent ever expects that kind of response from their kids.”

Yuto leaned his chin into his palm, his body sinking into the bar table. He said, “She’s really smart… Thank you for doing that for her. Nothing would be the same if you hadn’t.”

Kurosaki sighed. “It’s hard some days,” he said. “Being a bartender isn’t a respectable profession. But I also think that I’m happier than I would be if I had gone to college and landed a different career. At least I can say with my full chest that I chose this life. I made the right decision.”

Cupping his red eye in both hands, Yuya asked, “But how did you know that your decision was the right one back then?”

Kurosaki shrugged one shoulder. He set the drink in front of the proper patron. “I didn’t. Life got a lot worse before it finally got better. I can only look back at everything I’ve done to pave my own path now that I’ve already done everything I did. Maybe things could have turned out better if I tried harder, took different jobs, spoke to different people. But as long as my sister is fine, I’m fine.”

“That’s wonderful!” Yugo drunkenly hollered. His usually pale face was flushed down to his neck. “We should do a toast to that.”

Yuya groaned. The world was already starting to spin, even as he sipped his red eye.

“One more shot! One more! To making better life choices! C’mon, Yuya! It’s just like when you proposed to Yuzu, so we need to toast to that!”

Kurosaki muttered to Yuto, “Should I cut them off?”

Yuto muttered back, “I don’t know, you’re the expert.”

In the end, Kurosaki allowed them one last shot.

“Kanpai!” Yugo cheered.

Yuya stared at his shot through his tunnel vision.

“Kan… pai…”

“Woohoo!” Yugo laughed as he and Yuya stumbled together arm-in-arm down the street. Maiami nights were full of blurry colors and flickering neon lights. They dazzled Yuya’s tunnel vision like a watercolor painting, somewhat discernible but just out of focus. Cars and buses drove past them as if they were nothing. Drunks from neighboring bars trudged towards the nearest metro entrance, hoping to get home before sunrise.

The worst part was that this was in the middle of winter. Yuya didn’t have the muscle coordination to zip his puffer coat properly, so the cold bled through his open collar and nipped at his hands. Perhaps he would feel colder if he wasn’t so drunk. Maybe he could ask Yuto to zip his coat for him.

Yugo dragged Yuya to a blurry street lamp.

“Hey, Yugo,” Yuya said, holding back vomit at the base of his throat. “Aren’t we missing something?”

Yugo patted his pockets. “Wallet… phone… keys… I’m not forgetting anything. Did you forget something?”

Yuya looked around the sidewalk over a sea of unfamiliar faces.

“What was Yuto’s rule?” Yuya asked.

“I remember that too,” Yugo smiled, jutting his finger. “His rule was to not leave his sight!”

“...”

“...”

“Yugo, I think we left his sight.”

“No way, he’s…”

Yugo looked in all of the directions Yuya did but came out Yuto-less.

“... He’s… uh… he’s just a bit behind. He’ll catch up.”

“Which way did we come from?”

Yugo squinted past his tunnel vision to see different landmarks, but (and perhaps it was because Yugo was not a Maiami resident that he did not know the way around this area) he gave up quickly.

“Don’t worry Yuya. If we keep going forward, we’ll run into him eventually.”

“Yugo?”

“Yeah?”

“I feel sick,” Yuya heaved.

“Okay, okay,” Yugo repeated as he steered Yuya towards the nearest street drain.

It wasn’t humiliating enough for Yuya to be on the verge of consciousness as he emptied his stomach in public. Of course someone had to see him.

“Yuya?” said a vaguely familiar voice.

I must be hallucinating, Yuya thought. Yugo’s warm hand patted his back as the last bit of bile fell from his mouth. I drank too much and this is an alcohol-induced nightmare. My liver is going to kill me if my mom doesn’t.

Like the other watercolor blurs of color that swirled and blended around his vision like fish in a pond, the colors that made up Yuri faded in and out until he came much closer.

“You’re making a mess of my streetcorner,” Yuri said. He wore a thick purple coat and a red scarf wrapped tight around his neck, covering where his tattoos bloomed. His black slacks and boots were hardly weather appropriate. Yuri kept his hands shoved in his pockets to avoid the cold, his head sinking into his shoulders. “Are you going to clean it up?”

“Friend or foe?!” Yugo barked.

“I can be either, depending on my mood. Being the foe is so much more fun, but a couple of drunks are too easy a target,” Yuri said.

“You…! Is this amusing to you?” Yugo asked.

Yuri cracked a smile. He stood about a meter away from them. “Yeah, it’s fairly amusing,” he said. “It isn’t every day my favorite customer finds himself sullying my streetcorner with biohazards that could potentially drive other customers away come morning.”

“Favorite customer?” Yugo asked.

“Yuri…” Yuya slurred, finally finding the strength to stand upright. Like a toddler who came to its mother for help, he asked, “Can you zip my coat, please?”

And it was such an innocent request that the mischievous look on Yuri’s face loosened. Yuri sighed, then stepped even closer inside Yuya’s bubble until Yuya had to look away. If he didn’t stare to the side, then he would be staring at Yuri’s pretty, smooth face, and if he stared at his face, then he didn’t trust himself to refrain from doing what he wanted to do the most.

“I can’t believe you,” Yuya heard Yuri say. His warm breath misted against Yuya’s ear. With each exhale, two clouds of smoke mixed together. They breathed the same air. Yuya shut his eyes. 

His thoughts were interrupted by the ziiiiiiiip of his coat.

“You really are like a helpless potted plant,” Yuri said, resting his hands on Yuya’s chest. “Always needing someone to watch after you…”

Yuya looked at him and gulped.

As Yuya leaned forward, Yuri’s nose twitched and he leaned away. “Your breath smells like puke.”

Yuya was going to cry.

“Who is the one responsible for you?” Yuri asked. “Or did you expect to get yourselves home?”

“Yuto!” Yugo exclaimed as if he had just remembered something. “He’s supposed to find us!”

Yuri stuffed his hands back into his pockets. He made a show of looking down one way on the sidewalk, then the other.

“Oh, it looks like whoever-that-is won’t find you.” Yuri clicked his tongue. “Unfortunate.”

“We’re staying at his home overnight with his parents,” Yuya explained. “I don’t know how to get to his house and neither does Yugo. We need him with us.”

“Have you tried calling him?” Yuri asked.

Both Yuya and Yugo gave him blank stares.

Yuri sighed and hung his head. “Come with me, you two,” he said, grabbing one wrist each and pulling them towards the dark exotic plant shop.

His keys jangled as Yuri turned the lock, and with a flick of the switch, the lights were back on, revealing a nursery full of greens that blended like a jungle. It was so much warmer inside thanks to the nursery’s heating system, so Yuya undid his zipper once more.

Yugo whistled. “Wow. You don’t look like a gardener,” he said to Yuri. “You look like you’d kill everything you touch. On purpose.”

Yuri smiled through gritted teeth. “How barbaric! I don’t need to touch someone to kill them, Hugo,” he said.

“The name’s Yugo!”

“‘You go’ lie down,” Yuri commanded, dragging them both past the lush greenery towards the back counter. It felt exactly as though they had entered an entirely different world that was overrun by huge plants. Yuri unwound his scarf from his neck, revealing the edge of his tattoos. “Yuya, since you got some alcohol out of your system, you can call your friend. I need to call Serena… I’m probably not going to be able to open tomorrow if this goes on…”

Yuya nodded. He took out his phone and struggled to find the motor function to click on Yuto’s name in his contacts and hit call. After some tries, he managed to ring him.

“Yuya!” he heard Yuto’s concerned voice on the other end of the line. “Where the hell did you guys run off to?! I left for two seconds to run to the bathroom and Shun said Yugo bolted for the door!”

Yuya ignored everything Yuto said because there were too many words for him to focus on right now. “Garden of Eden,” Yuya said.

“Huh?!”

“Garden of Eden, edge of Maiami,” Yuya said. “Sketchy plant store.”

He heard Yuto exhale. Yuya knew he should have felt more worried, but that would have required more brain function than he had.

“I think I know where that is. I’ll be there soon.”

“Okay, bye-bye.”

“B-bye-bye.”

Yuya sat himself on top of the counter because it was easier than standing. He stared down at his phone in his lap as he kicked his legs, listening to Yuri bargain with Serena about shifts. Yuri pinched his nose and relented to Serena’s demand of letting her have that Friday off. Once he was done, Yuri sat next to Yuya and sighed.

“How troublesome,” Yuri remarked. “Now I need to work our busy day by myself. I don’t suppose you’re in the market for a thankless minimum wage retail job?”

As he spoke, Yuri flicked his hand. Yuya followed the pale skin of Yuri’s hand, and now that it was close enough to focus on, Yuya almost wished he didn’t. Now that Yuri wasn’t wearing his gardening gloves, he revealed pale hands that were covered in old and new scars, bandaids, and reddened, blotchy skin. It looked so painful that Yuya winced.

“Yuri…”

“Pay starts at ¥500 an hour–hey, So-So! If you want to die, keep going! I’ll turn you into fertilizer!”

In the time that Yuri made his call, Yugo had managed to locate the lush jug plants that were pushed against the left wall. He stared at them like a mischievous cat. If Yuri didn’t intervene now, there was a good chance that Yugo would stuff his mouth with something dangerous–or worse, lethal.

“It’s nature’s cup!” Yugo said, reaching out to grab the jug plant. “I’ve definitely seen people drink from these in movies.”

“Do you even know how to read?” Yuri asked. He marched over and pulled Yugo away from the most poisonous plants. “This is why we have signs all over the place, and yet, customers like you still don’t listen.”

Yugo scowled. “You’re very rude for working in retail,” he said. “Aren’t you supposed to be nicer to possible customers?”

And Yuri grinned wide, lips curling to show his canines, an evil glint in his eye.

“I’m off-hours,” he said as he dragged Yugo behind the counter.

Yugo was quite a strong person (Yuya knew from experience), but the alcohol had given him a substantial handicap against Yuri. In the end, Yuri was able to trap Yugo behind the counter using the huge pots of rafflesia and hogweed to create a barrier (the hogweed’s stems were wrapped in plastic to keep people from touching the sap). Each time Yugo tried to jump over the counter, Yuri was there to catch and tackle him. Everything was happening all at once, this chaos in a tiny, enclosed shop, and it startled Yuya. But all Yuya could bring himself to do was shrink into himself and whimper.

“The offer to turn you into fertilizer still stands,” Yuri threatened as Yugo harrumphed and sat on the floor, out of sight. The sound of their bickering had finally died down only to be replaced by Yuya’s soft sobs. Yuri blinked owlishly at Yuya. “Look at what you’ve done to your friend, Hugo. You broke him.”

The noise Yugo made was inhuman, but strangely sounded like “My name’s Yugo!”

Yuri sat back down next to Yuya and crossed his arms. He sighed loudly. “Do you want to talk about it?” he asked.

Yuya sobbed harder. He wiped the wet tears from his cheeks with the backs of his hands.

Yuri asked, “What is it that you want, then? Speak–”

With all the gentleness and grace of a piss-drunk college student, Yuya took Yuri’s torn-up hands in his. Yuri winced as Yuya made contact with his rashes and scrapes. Gingerly, Yuya ran his thumb over his hand, around the bones of his knuckles, along his long, pale fingers.

“Everyone gets hurt no matter what they do,” Yuya cried, bringing Yuri’s hands closer to his face. “People hurt other people all the time. You, Yuzu, Ruri, Sora, even Kurosaki. But plants also can hurt people. Taking yourself away from everybody doesn’t fix the pain because it follows you everywhere. Nobody is ever truly safe from hurting…”

A river of tears fell freely from Yuya’s chin, dripping onto Yuri’s scars.

Something inside Yuri melted like ice. “Hey, now,” Yuri said, taking one scratched-up hand and wiping Yuya’s tears from his cheeks. “Where is all this coming from? You were always so obnoxiously adamant about making others happy in spite of yourself.”

Yuya looked up at Yuri, his eyes red and swollen from crying. His grip on Yuri’s hand tightened just a fraction. “You… you mentioned something…” Yuya said, squinting in concentration. “Last time, you said… you’d never make someone else happy again. Why is that?”

Freezing up, Yuri looked down at where Yugo had grounded himself. Yugo laid on the ground with his back turned, possibly asleep on the hard tile floor, or perhaps inspecting the gardening equipment very thoroughly. In any case, Yuri was a secretive person. He scrutinized Yuya again and determined him to be low-risk.

“I suppose you won’t remember anything in the morning,” Yuri said. He slung an arm around Yuya’s shoulders, pulling them closer.

Yuya flinched but, dear god, he didn’t want to pull away. He could feel Yuri’s chest expand and contract beneath where he rested his head. The scent of fresh flowers clung to Yuri like he was one of those carnivorous plants he loved so well, and Yuya had gotten caught in his maw.

“My biological parents were unfit to care for me. I was surrendered to an orphanage before I knew of any other life,” Yuri confessed. “I was eventually adopted by a couple who was still grieving the loss of their daughter. They had wanted to adopt a girl to replace her, but they had already gone to a few orphanages and no family was willing to allow their girls to be adopted by them. The orphanage urged the couple to expand their idea of what they wanted in a new child. No child was ever going to match their late daughter perfectly in personality or looks, after all. I think the orphanage just wanted to get rid of us.

“Father was so disappointed to meet me for the first time. I was only six. Conversation was stale with the couple so I suggested playing a card game with them. I always won against the other kids in everything I did, whether it was playing games or not. I figured that I could impress my way to adoption. Despite my age, I won every game, though in hindsight they may have been going easy on me. It was Mother who convinced her husband to let me live with them for the live-in period.

“It was… fine, I suppose. Mother treated me like her little doll while Father constantly tested me on school subjects to see if I was as smart as they thought. I had siblings for the first time. Their house was warmer and less noisy than the orphanage. Because of their money and influence, at the end of the live-in period, my biological parents approved the adoption. From then on, I was Akaba Yuri.

“Very quickly after the adoption was approved, both Mother and Father began ignoring me. Even my new siblings, they didn’t just ignore me–they hated me for taking their sister’s place. I had to try harder and harder to get our parents’ attention. It wasn’t enough to pull at their hands and ask to play anymore–they were never interested in a child, only the teenage daughter they lost. I excelled in school and extracurriculars for them. I won math and music awards for them. I was in every advanced program my school offered for them. Every second during junior high school was spent studying from the moment I woke up until I went to bed, all for them. I was constantly the top student in all subjects.

“And the funny thing was, it was never enough. Their daughter had been perfect in their eyes. I thought I could mold myself into the shape of her shadow and then maybe they would love me. I pursued their love so single-mindedly that every other aspect of myself faded away. By the time I entered high school, I didn’t know who I was beyond Akaba’s almost-perfect child.

“You see, Yuya. There is a problem when you strive for perfection for so long. People who try so hard for years and years and years without any hint of getting any closer to their goal, well…”

Yuri paused, gathering his thoughts. Though Yuri didn’t look at him, Yuya could see his eyes narrow at the plants in front of them.

“... they snap.”

Yuya shivered, shards of ice rolling down his spine.

Yuri continued, “I’ve seen it happen with married couples and families who put on perfect demeanors to the public but are actually cheating, gambling, doing drugs, or committing white-collar crimes. I’ve seen it with people our age who were so traumatized by school that they refuse to leave their house. Once that snap happens, you’ll do anything antithetical to the life you were living before until you’re able to form some kind of semblance of who you might be.” Yuri’s eyes flicked down to his arm where his tattoo sleeve was, still hidden by his coat.

“In my last year of high school, everyone noticed the complete 180 my personality took. I broke every rule, I fought with staff, I arrived late to class. I was still the top student much to everyone’s chagrin–it’s not like they could take away my intelligence. Only after I started acting out did my parents give me the time of day. It was thrilling. I wanted to be the only thing on their mind more and more, even if it was just them yelling at me. But I knew that I couldn’t stay with them and continue striving for perfection. Not when I had already shattered the image of me that was never really me.

“Instead of going to college, I took residence at a classmate’s dorm and worked my ass off. It wasn’t much and we went to bed hungry many nights, but Dennis always had my back in some way. Society punishes less-than-perfect people by making opportunities–jobs, education, money, relationships, you name it–scarce. That’s why everyone our age is so obsessed with getting offers of employment. Once you join a company, you join it for your whole life, and they treat you more like family than your real family does. That’s what is expected of us. Even normal people with normal lives feel like they only get one chance at everything. What about the people who weren’t as good at school, or don’t come from rich families? What about people who were disowned for not living up to their parents’ standards?

“That’s why I can’t stand people like you,” Yuri said, finally looking down at Yuya. Yuya hadn’t moved from resting his head on Yuri’s shoulder. “You’ve had quite a fortunate and coddled upbringing, and though you have expectations placed onto you, they haven’t been nearly as strict as others. And you whine about your predicament like you’re better than everyone else, like you can handle the stress of faking your identity better than everyone. As if millions of Japanese people haven’t already proven you wrong. You’re a trainwreck waiting to happen.”

Yuya was at a loss for words. His head was already so fuzzy, but when Yuri’s words penetrated through his brain fog, he knew instantly that they were true.

“I’m sorry,” Yuya slurred. He didn’t feel like he could do anything else, so he kept repeating himself until he didn’t remember what he was apologizing for anymore. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

“Well,” Yuri huffed, letting go of Yuya’s shoulder. He straightened Yuya’s posture. “It’s time to stop oversharing–”

The door to the shop opened to the sharp ring of its bell. It banged against the wall with a loud thud, and Yuri squinted from across the lush rows of plants to see who caused the ruckus.

“Yuya? Yugo?! Are you still here?!” Yuto said, fighting his way across the plants like some kind of determined hero cutting his way through the jungle with a machete. “I ran as fast as I could! How did you get so far so quickly?!”

“Yuto!” Yugo cried, jumping up from behind the counter. “This guy trapped me like a dog! I have never experienced such awful customer service!”

“If you want to get treated like a dog, I can try harder,” Yuri threatened.

“Thank you for taking care of them,” Yuto sighed.

He helped Yugo over the counter, grabbed his friends by their collars, and dragged them all the way back home. But even as Yuya curled up on Yuto’s couch, he couldn’t get the sound of Yuri’s amused chuckles out of his foggy head.

Yuya stumbled back home in the afternoon when his hangover had all but disappeared. Yuto’s mother made some post-hangover ochazuke before she left for work, and Yuto made sure they drank enough water. When he was finally of sound mind, Yugo drove Yuya back home, and as Yuya walked through his front door, he heard his mother screech.

“Yuya!” his mother called from the kitchen. Yuya ran inside to see her staring disapprovingly at a pot of bleeding hearts that sat in the middle of their kitchen table. “Is this why it took you so long to propose? Do you have another lover somewhere that nobody knows about?”

Attached to the plastic surrounding the plant was a small card. Yuya opened it and, despite having no name or signature, he identified it as Yuri's handwriting.

To Yuya:

May your heart be true.

“Perhaps it’s a secret admirer?” his mother asked when she saw Yuya not react. “I always knew you would turn heads. You got your face from me.”

But Yuya knew things were not that simple. For as long as Yuya had known of Yuri, his handsome face and his sharp tongue, Yuya had not known peace. As much as Yuya was attracted to his presence, he kept getting entangled in his trap. Struggling, more and more, squirming against his teeth as they snapped shut around him. It hurt each and every time. Yuri scared him.

But perhaps, subconsciously, Yuya had wanted to get eaten.