Work Text:
He really shouldn’t be feeling so disappointed. It was Richard’s job, after all. Certainly, they had taken a day off for his birthday, but when it came to a client as important as Sakurai-sama, it would be hard for them to say no.
Or rather, as it turned out, hard for Richard to say no.
Seigi would have been perfectly content with working that day. At least that way he’d get to spend the day by Richard’s side. But that clearly didn’t sit right with Richard, who had shoved a pair of movie tickets into Seigi’s hands—tickets a client had gifted them, ones that he and Richard were supposed to be using together—while simultaneous trying to book a third one, and then dropped him off at his parents’ house.
“I will try to finish up quickly”, he said and, after a quick peck on Seigi’s lips, he was gone.
Seigi sighed. Again. He wondered how many times he had sighed that day.
“Just a few more”, Hiromi said, handing him yet another shirt to add to the ever growing pile in his arms.
Seigi turned to search for Yasuhiro, giving him a look pleading for help when their eyes met. Much to his disappointment however, his father chuckled and shook his head. “Humour your mother for today”, he said. “She’s missed spending time with you.”
“I don’t even remember the last time I’ve shopped for you like this”, Hiromi chimed in, pulling out some more shirts. “You don’t even visit Japan as often these days!” Seigi had just begun to apologize when she held up two shirts of different colours for him and Yasuhiro to see. “Which one?”, she asked, pointedly bringing an abrupt stop to any apologies Seigi could blurt out.
“White”, both men said almost simultaneously—and a bit fearfully in Seigi’s case—and Hiromi nodded in agreement, adding it to the pile.
“Hiromi, I think I should try these on first”, Seigi said in an attempt to stop his mother from looking for any more clothes. “We can still browse afterwards.”
Hiromi was definitely having fun, Seigi could tell. Really, when was the last time he’d gone along with her to shop for clothes? He’d begun doing most of his shopping on his own once he’d entered high school. As a single mother, Hiromi’s life had been centered around Seigi for several years, and that hadn’t changed even after she had remarried. Seigi had often felt like a burden to Hiromi during his childhood, but perhaps he had failed to see the simple things she did with him that brought her joy.
He should make it a point to do such things with her more often.
That said, Hiromi had no doubt gone overboard with this shopping spree of hers. Nine shirts and four trousers were definitely too much. And it was mildly concerning when both his parents smiled and nodded every time he stepped out of the changing room donning a new set of clothes.
“I do hope you’re not planning on buying all of these?”, he asked afterwards.
“Not all ”, Hiromi replied. “That blue shirt didn’t look quite as nice as I’d hoped. And let’s see if we can find the turtleneck in a different colour.”
“Hiromi, you’re spending too much!”
“It’s your birthday , Seigi. Will you really keep your own mother from buying you gifts on this day, especially after you kept denying any the last couple of years?”
“Not to mention, Richard-san has requested we spoil you rotten today in his place”, Yasuhiro added with a laugh.
That’s right, Richard… he was, after all, the main reason for Seigi’s countless sighs throughout the day. Or rather, the lack of him was. They had already made plans for that day, everything up to dinner reservations. It was meant to be their day off to spend in each other’s company without having to worry about work. But if Seigi had to be honest, he didn’t mind the work. What he did mind is Richard not being there because of a last minute appointment which could not be rescheduled—and one which Richard opted to leave Seigi out of as, quote: “It’s [his] birthday. [Richard] couldn’t make [him] work on [his] birthday!”
Of course, it was Seigi who had convinced Richard to meet with the client in the first place, while Richard was intending to try and reschedule on account of it being a day off for them both. But never had Seigi expected being forced to stay behind.
“Seigi?”, he heard Hiromi call out to him, pinching his cheek for good measure.
“Sorry, I was spacing out”, he said casually.
To Seigi’s horror, Hiromi hummed with a knowing grin. “I know you’re missing Richard-san, but didn’t he say he’ll join us for dinner? You’ll see him soon enough.”
Seigi felt the blush on his cheeks, more a result of Hiromi’s teasing tone rather than her words themselves. “I wasn’t thinking about that”, he said, and his voice lacked any conviction even to his own ears.
Hiromi huffed. “Really now? Lying to your own mother?”
Just as Seigi found himself with his back against the wall, Yasuhiro swooped in with a laugh and a hand on Hiromi’s shoulder. “I think you’ve teased him enough, Hiromi.”
“Don’t act like you weren’t the one more surprised of us two at the idea of Seigi spending his birthday with us rather than Richard-san.”
“Er, that…”
Seigi bit his lip in guilt while his parents continued to playfully tease each other. He’d regularly meet up with them for meals together with Richard; but his personal life had, after all, revolved around Richard for the last couple of years. And neither he nor his parents were dissatisfied with the arrangement—after all, Richard was the most important person to Seigi! But that didn’t mean Seigi didn’t cherish every moment he spent with Hiromi and Yasuhiro. He wouldn’t lie, he certainly would have been over the moon if Richard were with them—and the disappointment of having to spend a birthday without his most precious person was undoubtedly felt—but he wasn’t alone. His parents were there, and even though Richard’s absence saddened him, he was still happy. Besides, Hiromi was right: Richard had promised to join them for dinner! They’d all be together only in a few short hours, so he should really be focusing on his parents and spending time with them. As for Richard…
“I’m with Richard pretty much all the time”, Seigi said with an awkward laugh. “And I have the two of you with me today! So I’m fine, really!”
Both his parents’ faces softened at his words, and Hiromi laid a comforting hand on his arm. “You don’t need to lie to please us. We’ve both noticed how upset you’ve been without Richard-san around.”
“I’m honestly not upset! Okay, maybe a bit, but I’m also really happy to be spending time with the two of you!”
Seemingly having decided that her previously opted method wasn’t working out as well as she’d hoped, Hiromi folded her arms over her chest and sighed dramatically. “You always were the type to hide your feelings from me. It really makes me sad.”
“H-Hiromi!”
“Now, now”, Yasuhiro intervened. “Look, you’ve really teased him enough. And the movie’s going to start soon, so we should get moving.”
Hiromi pouted lightly, disappointed that her teasing had to be forced to a stop, while Seigi muttered a quick “Thank you, Nakata-papa!”.
“Alright then, where’s the register?”, Hiromi wondered aloud as she took the pile from Seigi’s arms. Carefully balancing the clothes on a single arm, she lightly slapped Seigi’s back with a grin. “Come on, we may not be able to replace Richard-san, but we can hopefully make for good company!”
Seigi gave her a weary smile. “I don’t need you to replace Richard. More importantly, are you seriously thinking of buying all of those?”
“Why not? They look good on you and your father and I want to give you something you’d use. Isn’t it perfect?”
“Sure but do you need to buy all of them? If you’re adamant about me having all of those, then at least let me pay.”
“No”, Hiromi said, simply and without a second wasted on hesitating. “How are we supposed to spoil you if you pay for it yourself?”
Flabbergasted at the sheer amount of stubbornness his mother was showing, Seigi desperately turned, once more, to his father. “Can you talk to her? Please ?”
“Hiromi, did you remember to bring your credit card? It was in the other wallet, wasn’t it? Take mine if you didn’t bring yours.”
“Huh? Nakata-papa, wait—”
“Don’t worry, I remembered to switch everything over to this one.”
“Hiromi, please—”
Unfortunately for him, no matter how much he protested, his words fell to deaf ears. His efforts still continued, however, all the way to the cash register, to the point where he even tried to intervene and pay himself. But his efforts were for naught as he was held back by Yasuhiro, until he ended up with a rather large bag of clothes in his hand, entirely paid for by Hiromi who grinned victoriously.
“Oh, don’t pout”, she chastised him afterwards. “I’ve been saving this money for a long time, I’d say it’s up to me how I want to spend it.”
“Even so, you went overboard!”
“Oh, enough already! Look, it’s almost time for the movie to start. We’ll miss the beginning if we don’t hurry.”
And just like that he was forced to accept defeat as he was pushed out of the clothing store and steered towards the cinema hall.
“That was a good movie!”, Yasuhiro exclaimed, his expression bright with enthusiasm. “I should take a look at that director’s other works when I get the chance!”
Hiromi smiled wearily in response and Seigi nudged her with his elbow. “You slept through it, didn’t you?”, he whispered to her.
“Hush. It didn’t seem like you were much invested in the story either.”
Seigi grimaced. “I wasn’t”, he admitted. “I really don’t know how I managed to stay awake through the whole thing.”
Hiromi giggled at Seigi’s words, prompting Yasuhiro to turn to them. “What is it?”, he asked.
“Oh, we were just talking about how it would have been nice if Richard-san could join us”, Hiromi said without missing a beat.
“Yes, and after he was kind enough to buy an extra ticket!”, Yasuhiro exclaimed. “For one of those expensive seats too, just so we could all sit together! Ah, Seigi, do you think you could talk him into letting me pay him back? He kept refusing when I was talking to him earlier.”
“I’ll try”, Seigi replied with a chuckle. “But don’t expect too much. He can be surprisingly stubborn!”
Yasuhiro laughed while Seigi found himself lost in thought. Would Richard have liked the movie , he wondered. Perhaps he would have, it did have similarities to the kinds of stories Richard seemed to enjoy. Perhaps he’d have talked about the cultural context of various scenes of the movie afterwards, or perhaps he’d simply have asked Seigi to help him procure the delicious looking desserts the movie featured in a few of the scenes. Maybe he should look into how to bake them?
They resumed walking with no particular destination in mind, chatting about whatever came to mind. Hiromi tried dragging Seigi into a couple more stores, but Seigi adamantly refused in fear that she would spend even more.
“Look, Hiromi, I think that dress would look good on you”, Seigi said, almost a bit desperate, as his mother made to drag him into yet another shop. “Nakata-papa, what do you think?”
Yasuhiro studied the dress displayed at the window Seigi pointed towards and nodded. “Yes, she’d look beautiful.” Seigi didn’t miss the blush that spread across Hiromi’s face, and though Yasuhiro’s expression did not change, he caught sight of a peculiar gleam in his father’s eyes. “But you don’t wear dresses very often, do you, Hiromi?”
“I don’t mind wearing dresses”, she said, still trying, and failing, to hide her flushed face. “I just don’t get the opportunity to wear them often.”
Seeing his chance, Seigi grinned and grabbed her hand, pulling her towards the boutique. “Let’s go try it on!”
“Try it—?! Seigi, I can tell even without looking at the price tag that it’s expensive! What’s the point of trying on something I couldn’t possibly buy!”
“Who’s saying you’re buying?”, Seigi shot back. “ I’m paying for it.”
“Hah? What are you even saying?”
“I’m saying I want to buy it for you. And don’t even think about saying no. I’ll be using the money I’ve earned, and it’s up to me how I want to spend it.”
Seigi knew he’d won when Hiromi, having had her own argument thrown back at her, clamped her lips shut and allowed herself to be dragged along by Seigi.
“It’s your birthday, so why am I receiving something from you?”, Hiromi said fifteen minutes later with a bag from the very store they walked into in hand.
“It’s a ‘thank you for giving birth to me’ gift, I guess?”
“What does that even mean?”
Hiromi’s voice sounded frustrated, but she was smiling. Seeing her joyful expression, Seigi could almost find himself forgetting how upset he was at Richard’s absence. Almost. The loneliness lingered in the back of his mind regardless of how he tried to distract himself.
“Nakata-san too…”, Seigi said, the smile on his face coming surprisingly easily. “I’d like to buy you something as well. You’re always looking out for Hiromi and I, and I want to thank you.”
Yasuhiro stared at him for a few seconds, as though trying to process what he’d just been told, before he laughed and ruffled Seigi’s hair. “You don’t need to buy me anything. Seeing both you and Hiromi smiling like this, what more could I possibly ask for?”
He removed his large hand from atop Seigi’s head, taking a moment to brush his hair back into place when Yasuhiro realised the mess he had made of it. Seigi glanced at Hiromi afterwards, when Yasuhiro was distracted, and Hiromi grinned as she said, “His birthday is coming up next. Try to be in Japan then, if possible, and go all out. I’ll even help you pick what to get him.”
Seigi grinned back, agreeing to his now partner in crime’s proposal as Yasuhiro gave the two a perplexed look.
It was when they had stopped by at an appliance store—the rice cooker at Hiromi and Yasuhiro’s home had apparently been giving them some trouble—when Seigi felt a vibration in his pocket from his phone, which he had forgotten he had left on silent mode. Wondering if he’d missed any calls as a result—and what if they were from Richard—he hurriedly pulled it out and his heart skipped a beat when, lo and behold, the display informed him that it was, indeed, Richard who was trying to call. He turned back towards his parents who were still busy comparing two different rice cookers. “Hiromi, I’m stepping out for a bit to take this call!”, he said, already having begun to briskly walk towards the exit. Hiromi gave him a thumbs up to let him know she’d heard over her shoulder, and Seigi increased his speed until he was all but sprinting.
“Hello? Richard?”, he said, slightly breathless as he brought the device up to his ears. He couldn’t tell if it was the adrenaline, or because he had been longing to hear Richard’s voice all day that his heart pounded with anticipation. Really now, he’d spent longer without having Richard by his side, what was it about his birthday that had made him this needy?
“Seigi?” , Richard’s silky smooth voice came through the speaker, and Seigi’s free hand clutched the railing in front of him as he stood on the balcony overlooking the lower levels of the shopping mall. “How… are things? Are you enjoying yourself with your parents?”
“I am”, Seigi replied. “I haven’t done something like this with them for years , so I really am having fun.”
“That’s… good. Yes.”
Seigi couldn’t see Richard, but he could make out the tension in his voice, and he pictured the beautiful face with downcast eyes, no doubt looking as breathtaking as ever even as a cloud of sadness marred his features. Seigi frowned, his mind throwing out all sorts of troublesome scenarios that may have resulted in Richard’s mood. It didn’t sound like he was hurt. Had the sale not gone through for some reason? Or was it something else?
“Is everything alright?”, Seigi asked, his voice terse.
“That… I don’t think… I’d be able to join you for dinner.”
“Oh.”
It wasn’t anywhere nearly as bad as some of the things his overactive imagination had come up with, but neither did it signify that nothing was horribly wrong. Regardless, Seigi felt his heart sink even as he nodded, not that Richard could see. “That’s alright”, he forced out, his throat feeling unusually dry. “But what’s come up so suddenly?”
“Sakurai-sama has asked that I join her for a meal while we continue our discussion. I wanted to say no, but—”
“Don’t!” He heard Richard breathe in sharply as he interjected. The hand around the railing tightened. “She’s an important client. It wouldn’t do for us to accidentally offend her.” That’s right, this was important. Seigi shouldn’t let Richard hear the disappointment in his voice. So he forced a smile, not that Richard could see it. “You should go. I mean, I’d be failing as your secretary if you were to ignore a client's wishes to make me happy, wouldn’t I?”
Seigi heard a gentle laugh from the other side, and he imagined Richard’s beautiful smile. “I had a feeling you’d say something like that” , Richard’s voice said. “But are you… sure this is alright? And I , myself, wish to spend your birthday with you.”
“How about this…”, Seigi said, “You go have dinner with Sakurai-sama tonight, and then we can have dinner together tomorrow.”
“We dine together every day when we are together. Some other day won’t be as special as dinner on your birthday.”
“We’ll get a cake. If you’d like, we can even ask them to write ‘Happy birthday’ on it. Honestly, as long as I’d be together with you, it doesn’t matter to me.” Richard’s presence was important, so even on his birthday he’d have liked to be with Richard, wherever it may have been. But he opted to keep those thoughts to himself for the time being. “You really don’t need to be worrying about me.”
He wondered what kind of expression Richard had as they said goodbye. It wouldn’t be a happy one, that was for certain. His voice was much too tense, and he ended the conversation a bit too quickly. Seigi bit his lip. The tone of Richard’s voice—that hurtful tone, so full of guilt—it was enough for Seigi to want to cry.
It was so silly, he thought as he put his phone back into his pocket, they both wanted to be together. It would have been so easy for them to have been together all day!
And yet they weren’t.
Seigi walked into the empty apartment, calling out “I’m home” to the walls and the silent rooms, and flung himself over the couch in the living room. There were no pitter-patter sounds of nails of the dogs hitting against the wooden floorboards, rushing to greet him. After all, this was the company housing he and Richard used whenever they were in Japan, and the dogs were back in Sri Lanka.
He’d had fun, going out with his parents and shopping with them. In the end, he’d even managed to buy a tie for Yasuhiro, who didn’t have the heart to say “no” when Seigi was already upset due to Richard cancelling on dinner. They had still gone to the restaurant Richard had booked ahead of time, and Yasuhiro insisted on paying. The clothes were Hiromi’s gift to you, dinner will be mine , he had said with a grin. And Seigi had smiled. But he was still upset, and he knew his parents were aware as they had clearly been extra lively so as to help distract him. And he had laughed along with their jokes, and commented on the stories they shared, but the sadness he felt remained.
He’d been hoping that perhaps Richard would be back by the time he returned to the company housing, ready to greet him with a hug. But even that had turned out to be nothing more than hopeful fantasies, and the apartment remained as empty and lifeless as they had left it.
He had never before realised how lonely a birthday could be.
“Seigi!”
He startled, wondering if he was actually missing Richard to the point of hallucinating his voice, but the shuffling sounds he heard from the direction of the front door were very much real and he shot up to his feet, wondering how he had managed to miss the sound of the front door unlocking.
“Richard!”, he exclaimed, and there he stood—the man he had been longing for all day. His hair was a mess, and his suit was ruffled, and his arms were full with a bouquet and some boxes, but he looked as beautiful as ever in Seigi’s eyes.
Richard gasped, breathing ragged, as he moved towards Seigi, managing to accidentally trip in the process. Seigi rushed forward, catching Richard in his arms. “Are you okay?!”, he asked, his heart pounding.
“Yes, I’m… I’m alright”, Richard said, stepping away from Seigi with his brows furrowed. “What time is it?”
“Eh? Time? It’s about 11:30, I think. But why are you asking?”
Richard let out a sigh, his body visibly relaxing, and his smile looked strangely relieved. “Thank heavens the date hasn’t changed yet”, Seigi heard him mutter, and Richard raised his arms, together with the bouquet and the boxes, and gave Seigi the most charming grin. “Happy birthday, Seigi. Thank you for being born.”
Seigi stared at him, dumbfounded. He looked at the gifts and then back up at Richard who waited patiently. He then took a step towards Richard, throwing his arms around the beautiful man’s shoulders, and pulled Richard as close to himself as was physically possible.
“Seigi?!”, Richard gasped, his arms outstretched on either side so as to keep the flowers and the contents of the boxes from being crushed.
“If you were done with dinner, why didn’t you just come home immediately?”, Seigi asked, his voice cracking as he buried his face into Richard’s hair. He smelt of freshly cut flowers, not of his usual cologne, and Seigi wondered just how had he managed to find a flower shop that was willing to serve him this late in the night.
“I’m sorry”, Richard mumbled, and Seigi felt the flowers tickle the back of his ears as Richard awkwardly wrapped the arm holding the bouquet around Seigi. “It’s my most precious person’s birthday, and yet I couldn’t even spend the day with you. At the very least, I did not wish to return empty handed.”
Seigi shook his head, messing Richard’s hair even further. “I just wanted you , Richard. The whole time, I just wanted you.”
“Did you not enjoy yourself today?”, Richard asked, and Seigi could hear the disappointment in his voice clear as day. “It has been a while since you’ve been able to spend time with your parents, so I thought…”
“I did have fun!”, Seigi cut Richard off. “Of course, I had fun, Richard! I was with my parents, and I loved every second I spent with them. I honestly wasn’t lying to you earlier.” Seigi pulled away to meet Richard’s eyes. “But, after all, I still felt lonely without you there.”
Richard’s face turned a beautiful shade of pink even as he frowned. “If that was the case, why did you have me agree to have dinner with Sakurai-sama? Why did you let me meet with her in the first place? It was our day off, I’m sure she would have understood!”
Seigi shook his head. “She would never have asked to meet at the last moment if it wasn’t urgent”, he said. “Even if she would have understood, as a jeweler’s exclusive secretary I cannot allow a client to be disappointed on my behalf.”
“You cannot continue to put your own feelings aside like this, Seigi.”
“I wanted to go with you!”
Seigi realised his outburst was much too sudden, and perhaps a bit loud, especially when Richard jumped in surprise. He muttered a quick apology, before he continued. “You said that you didn’t want to make me work on my birthday, but I honestly don’t care. I don’t care if I have to work, or do anything else, so long as I can stay with you! It was why I became your secretary in the first place, isn’t it? So please, whenever it’s actually possible, let me be with you.”
This time it was Richard’s turn to stare at Seigi. It lasted only for a few seconds, however, as Richard let out a chuckle. “You should really learn to cherish your days off, especially on your birthday”, he said, smiling much too gleefully to match his scolding words.
“I cherish any day so long as I’m with you”, Seigi responded, a smile of his own gracing his handsome features. Finally, he accepted the bouquet of flowers from Richard, who used his now free arm to hook through Seigi’s.
“I brought cake”, he said, his eyes glittering. “Let’s have some before midnight.”
“Alright, just this once”, Seigi said with a laugh. “Seriously though, how did you manage to buy all this so late in the night?”
“I have my ways”, Richard said, grinning almost mischievously, before he leaned in for a kiss.