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Ever since they moved away from Gray City and started living together, Ryu had always wondered this- has Layden always been this childish?
Apparently the answer is yes. The former cartel boss had been nothing but whiny whenever he mentioned anything remotely similar to going to work.
“Layden, let go, I have work…” Ryu groaned as he struggled to get off the couch, but his boyfriend was clinging onto his waist so tightly that he couldn’t break free.
“But honey…” Layden whined, “I’m lonely…”
It’s always annoying when he does this because it never fails to make Ryu feel bad about leaving for work. And Layden, for someone who’s probably done questionable things before, is awfully similar to an oversized koala- adorable and affectionately clingy, albeit irritatingly so. Truly annoying, but in a good way.
“Seriously, I have to go or I’ll be late,” Ryu said, trying his best to pry the hands off of him, “you don’t have to work but I do!”
“I’m telling you, you don’t have to work!” Layden only held onto the boy harder, “I’m rich, dammit!”
“And I’m telling you, that I don’t want to live off of your money!” Ryu retorted as he turned around and poked at his boyfriend’s forehead. “I think it’s unfair if you’re the one paying for everything when I’m fully capable of getting a job!”
“I love you for that, but you really don’t have to get a job-” Layden cried while shamelessly wrapping his legs around his boyfriend and pulling him back onto the couch, sliding a hand into Ryu’s shirt, “-or I could just make you skip today?”
“Don’t you dare,” Ryu said, pinching his arm ruthlessly, “I’ll be back in five hours. If you can wait, I’ll…”
“You’ll?”
“I’ll let you do me as much as you want.”
“Isn’t that what you say in bed anyway? But fine, since you said it so adorably.” Layden finally released the boy from his grip with a pout. “I’ll visit you during the day.”
“Don’t,” Ryu started, before giving in and pecking his boyfriend on the cheek. “Ugh, you know what, do whatever you like.”
A smile crept onto his face upon recalling the events earlier in the day. Ah, he can’t wait until the day is over to go home and-
“-Hey!” A customer impatiently snapped his fingers in Ryu’s face. “I’m trying to order a damn coffee here!”
The barista, snapped out of his trance, quickly put on his service smile and moved to take his order. “My apologies. What can I get started for you today?”
“Tch, just a medium latte to go.” He snapped, “if only you weren’t good looking, I would’ve trashed this place already!”
Ryu wasn’t trying to judge, but the customer was rough looking and didn’t look friendly at all. Even though his cafe was sitting on the borders between two local groups, no thanks to whoever the previous owner was for picking the spot, most of his customers were nice. And compared to the average people coming in and out of his shop, the guy was not only making a scene over a damn latte, he was also, frankly, really fucking ugly.
Before the guy could make his life any harder, he huffed and got on with his job, making the latte begrudgingly. Truthfully, he briefly considered tampering with the drink out of pure pettiness, but he decided against the idea after realizing that the guy, for all he knew, could be a part of one of the local groups. And he promised Layden to stay out of trouble with them.
It was exactly days like these that made Ryu want to live off of Layden’s bank account, but it didn’t feel right to just leech off of his loaded boyfriend. Forcing another smile, the barista handed over the beverage. “Here you go!”
Much to his discomfort, the customer took the chance to caress his hand. “You know, I kinda feel bad for being rude earlier. You’re indeed as cute as the rumors say.”
“Um, please let go…” Ryu asked, politely, desperately keeping the urges to punch the guy in the face in check because one, he doesn’t want to go to jail and two, he doesn’t want to be out of business because the new owner of the cafe beat some creep up. “This is harassment.”
The customer set his drink down on a nearby table before tugging on Ryu’s arm, pulling him in and running a hand across his cheek, completely ignoring how the barista tried to pull away, “it’s amazing how I’m the first one to-”
-It was just then the door opened, and Layden walked in.
Upon seeing the scene before him, the former cartel boss walked straight up to the counter and hovered intimidatingly. “What is this, honey?”
Ryu was panicking inside and trying to find the best way to explain himself before he realized there’s no need- Layden’s eyes weren’t on him, they were on the guy grabbing him- he had figured out what was going on.
Before he could do anything, his boyfriend had ripped the guy off him and threw him on the ground. In a split second, Layden had pulled a gun and held it to the creep’s head.
“What, are you his boyfriend or something?” The guy taunted, completely ignorant to the danger staring him in the face, “why are you so protective?”
The gunshot echoed, and the entire cafe went dead silent. Layden had fired, and the bullet was etched in the floor, mere millimeters away from the guy. Everything came to a halt as the others in the shop tried to figure out what was going on- which didn't take long, and everyone soon started bolting out of the shop in different degrees of panic. Well, all except one person. He was in the corner, still sipping on his drink, legs crossed and oblivious. No, rather than oblivious… His eyes were on the commotion, but he wasn’t shaken. At all.
By the time the chaos was over and the cafe was nearly empty, Ryu had already made his way to his boyfriend and was trying to dissuade him from killing the creep. The first thing Layden did when he looped an arm around him was to grab his face gently and check for any injuries.
“Did he hurt you?” Layden sounded like he was physically restraining himself from completely losing it.
“No…” Ryu answered, quickly rubbing Layden’s hand reassuringly, “I’m just surprised, that’s all. You came just in time…”
“I’m glad.”
Now, moving onto the guy… He was terrified, shaking in place, not only from the fear that the shot earlier could’ve killed him, but also from the former cartel boss never moving his gun nor taking his eyes completely off him while fretting over Ryu. He had no idea who he just pissed off, but he could tell that it was a bigshot that he wronged, and he wondered if it was too late for him.
The only other person in the room put his cup down with a clear, quiet yet deafening clang and walked towards the three. “…Layden, I see you haven’t changed at all.”
“Please don’t- wait, Mr. Kouya?” Just as Ryu was about to stop the person from approaching and angering his boyfriend even more than the creep already did, he recognized the man as one of his regulars. And much to his surprise, Layden listened and put his gun away. “How did you…?”
However, the man seemed more shocked than Ryu was. He scrambled backwards when Kouya approached, and once he realized that he was no longer held at gunpoint, he bolted-
-Only to be grabbed by the back of his collar by none other than Kouya himself and decked right across the face. “Allow me to apologize for the trouble this dumbass caused,” he said, turning to the two and bowing, “I didn’t expect my kids to run around and hound regular citizens like rabid dogs.”
“Tch.” Layden only clicked his tongue, but it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that he was holding back. “Is he yours?”
The regular sighed before slowly nodding. “I guess you can say that.”
The former boss of R did not speak, but his facial expression said enough.
“I’ll make sure this doesn’t happen again. I’m truly sorry.” Kouya bowed in apology before turning to leave, dragging the poor guy along the floor and waving as he left, “Ryu, let me know if you need anything in the future. Then, I’ll see you around.”
It wasn’t until after Ryu finished cleaning up his shop (rearranging the furniture, picking up the mess and wiping the blood off the floor) that Layden hugged him from behind and slumped against him. “Honey, how does Kouya know you…?”
“Mr. Kouya?” Ryu asked as he sat down, naturally ending up in Layden’s lap. “He’s a regular. Why?”
“Thank god. I was worried that you got caught up in some mess like how you did with us again.” Layden answered, burying his face into Ryu’s shoulder. “He's one of the executives of the Yumi group.”
“That Yumi group?” Ryu remembered hearing his boyfriend mention them before. They’re one of the two main groups in the area, but while the other cooperated with Nero more, Yumi worked with R, and that was the extent of what he was told.
“You didn’t know?” Layden raised a brow, before defeatedly sighing, “you’re really clueless, you know that?”
Ryu blinked. “Huh?”
“It’s nothing…” Layden shook his head with a pout as he lifted the boy up and spun him around so that Ryu would end up straddling him. “Well, I guess it’s good that he knows you, since that means you’ll be safer in these parts. But honey-”
He leaned in, gently biting on Ryu’s ear, as he whispered, “-if he goes too far- or you, for that matter…”
“Hngh- Layden…!” The boy shuddered, shoving two hands on Layden’s chest and pushing him away with a furious blush, “it’s not going to happen.” He bashfully looked away, “I only have eyes for you.”
“Honey, you…” Layden couldn’t help but smile as he pulled Ryu back into his arms, ignoring his protests, “you really… You always say stuff without thinking of the consequences.”
“But that’s okay.” He said, planting soft kisses all over his boyfriend, “that’s one of the reasons why I love you, after all.”