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The host club was buzzing with laughter and chatters when Sho came out of the dressing room to start his shift. The light was dim in the club, but sequined disco balls were hanging from the ceiling, casting a shine on the customers and the hosts all around. The tables were almost all occupied, but it was still early, and Sho knew it was only a matter of time before the club would be crowded, and before he, as the number one host of the club, would be fully booked for the night.
He passed a table of giggling women being entertained by some of his colleagues and shot a smile at one of them when he noticed she was staring at him. The girl blushed from head to toe, becoming even redder than the skirt she was wearing, and hid her face behind her hands immediately.
‘I found my first prey tonight,’ Sho thought as he approached the table slowly.
He sat down next to the woman in the red skirt, smiling at her once again.
“Your smile was calling for me, angel,” he said with a warm voice. The woman instantly reacted by casting her eyes down and laughing coquettishly at him.
For three years in a row, Sho had been the number one host at Himitsu. What was once the hobby of a spoiled rich kid, had turned into his most successful venture, and he never looked back. Once he got his degree, he moved out of his parents’ house and told them that he was working at a well-known company, becoming a full-time host instead.
He loved being surrounded by adoring fans, hearing them praise him while he tried his best to make them swoon with no real strings attached. Being a host, he could decline unwanted advances easily, but at the same time he could lead them on so they would keep coming back to see him and fill his pockets with more tips.
There was only one problem with his job lately, and it was standing in front of him right now in his perfectly tailored white suit and the smile of a true angel on his face.
“Mind if I sit next to you, princess?”
The woman in the red skirt Sho had wooed for the past ten minutes, looked at the newcomer with hearts in her eyes.
“O–of course,” the woman said, shily.
The host sat down gracefully, his attention all on her as he spoke. “My dear princess, speak your name so that I can carry it in my heart for all eternity.”
“Azumi…”
“Azumi-sama,” the host said, bowing to her. “My name is Aiba Masaki, but if you’ll let me, I’ll be your knight tonight.”
Sho got up in a rush and smiled at the woman. “Maybe we could have a more private chat where no one else can disturb us, my angel.”
The woman looked at Sho, then back at Aiba, a disappointed expression coloring her face. “Oh,” she said. “Maybe it would be rude to leave so soon when Aiba-san has just arrived,” she said, batting her eyelashes at the host in the white suit.
“Of course,” Sho said bitterly, sitting down once again.
From then on, Aiba turned his charm up to a thousand, drinking merrily and wooing Sho’s client with no regards for him. After a couple of failed attempts at getting the woman’s attention back on him again, Sho had resorted to looking at Aiba with a fiery anger coming out of his eyes.
“If you’ll excuse me, I’ll go powder my nose.”
Sho stood up, startled, smiling as the woman walked to the ladies’ with a couple of giggling friends. When she was out of sight, he sat down again and his gaze turned murderous once again as he set his sight on the other host.
Aiba, who was sipping on his champagne without a care in the world, put down his glass and turned to look at him too.
“Be careful, Sakurai-san,” he said, adjusting his jacket. “If you stare any more you might burn a hole through my suit. Then I’d have to go around naked,” he said, catching the strawberry floating in his glass and taking it to his lips innocently. “Though I doubt you would mind that very much.”
Sho clenched his fists over his knees. “What are you implying, Aiba-san?”
Aiba chuckled, taking his sweet time with his strawberry. He licked the champagne off of it before biting on it, using his tongue to catch the juice dripping from his lips. Sho’s knuckles became white as his fists tightened impossibly, unable to look away. Slowly, Aiba got closer to Sho till his lips were brushing on his ear, his bubbly breath on Sho’s skin sending shivers down his spine despite the fact that it was very warm in the club.
“You find me hot,” whispered Aiba in a sultry tone, “everyone knows it.”
The host pulled away, a smug lopsided grin pasted on his face as he did so. His long fingers reached for his champagne glass and Sho observed in spite of himself as Aiba’s lips touched the rim of the glass while he tried to think of something, anything, to retort.
But Sho couldn’t say anything after all, for the woman – Asami? Ayumi? – came back pretty quickly, sitting down between them again. She had put on more make-up, Sho could see it. He clicked his tongue in irritation at that.
Aiba didn’t seem to notice, or, if he did, he didn’t mention anything. He just leaned forward and whispered something in her ear, making her chuckle again. Sho stood up at once, starting to feel angry and annoyed. He put on his best polite smile and turned to Aiba.
“Aiba-san, would you mind coming with me for a second?”
Aiba ignored him at first, only looking at the woman in front of him as he took her right hand and left a kiss on it. “I’m sorry princess, it seems like I need to leave you for a moment.”
The woman sighed, half upset and half dreamy, leaving Aiba to stand up and follow Sho.
Sho kept his smile for the whole time they walked through the tables of the club, sending winks to the women whose gaze he met on the way. Aiba followed him in silence, but Sho could feel his presence behind him cause most of the women – and a few men – followed him with their gazes as they whispered to their friends and giggled.
Sho reached the dressing room first, keeping the door open for Aiba and getting in after him. The door closed with a soft click, and Sho turned to see a perfectly calm Aiba sitting down on the small sofa.
Sho breathed in for a second, trying to collect his thoughts before he spoke. “I won’t let you steal my title as number one host like you keep stealing my clients, Aiba-san.”
“Is this really what this is about?” Aiba said, incredulously. “It’s not my fault your clients like me best.”
“This isn’t a game!”
“But that’s exactly what it is,” Aiba said, getting up and walking toward Sho. “And I’m the one who’s winning.”
Sho scoffed. “We’ll see about that.”
“What’s the matter, Sakurai-san?” Aiba asked with fake concern. “Are you jealous of your clients, or are you jealous of me?”
Sho laughed out loud. “You’re delusional.”
“And yet,” Aiba started. “I see the way you look at me when I’m wooing the clients. It’s not that you want me to stop because I’m stealing them. It’s that you want to be in their place, don’t you?”
Sho was lost for words for a second. “Fuck you,” he finally managed to say behind gritted teeth.
“Oh, you wish,” Aiba said with a glint in his eyes.
Sho felt his breath become unsteady all of a sudden. All the oxygen seemed to have vanished from the air when Aiba put that simple, yet deadly thought in his brain. Sho’s mind was unhelpfully supplying him with images of the younger host that he had only ever let himself dare to imagine in his dreams.
“You know…” Aiba stared at him, looking evidently pleased with the reaction Sho was showing. “There’s many other things I’m better at,” he teased.
“Like what?” Sho croaked, not really interested in it.
Aiba crossed his arms and leaned against the door. “Kissing, for example.”
Sho’s heart skipped a beat. He looked over at Aiba, tongue licking at his lips as he tried to revive his brain. “Wanna bet?”
Aiba didn’t let him say it twice. His lips were on Sho before he could even finish his sentence, hands roaming on his chest as if they were on a treasure hunt. Sho recovered from the shock pretty quickly, pushing Aiba to the door again as he deepened the kiss. Their tongues touched, hot and wet, and Sho moaned into their kiss, eliciting Aiba’s chuckle. They kissed for what seemed hours, hands tugging at each other’s jackets and shirts, both trying to exert dominance over the other.
It was game over when Aiba somehow turned Sho around and pushed him against the door, making him feel weak in his knees. Sho went willingly, maybe even too willingly, but he didn’t really seem to find it in him to care. Aiba was kissing his jaw now, and Sho closed his eyes as he felt his skin tingle from the contact.
“You know, princess,” Aiba said with a whisper upon his skin, and Sho didn’t know what it was that made him shiver, if that or the way Aiba had just called him. “I bet I’m also better in bed.”
Sho had to suppress the growl that threatened to escape his lips as he felt the heat spread to his body. His hand found the key to the dressing room and clicked it close before he lost all control.
“I’ll be the judge of that.”