Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Excuse me?” A soft voice spoke out.

“Mm…” Klein hummed as he stirred awake, feeling his left shoulder being gently poked by something.

“Oh, you’re awake now.” Klein heard as he slowly blinked the tiredness out of his eyes and squinted it, trying to make out the blurry face of the person currently in front of him.

Wow, he’s really handsome…. Klein couldn’t help but think as he stared at the person in front of him, still half asleep and in daze. The pair of green eyes silently stared right back at him, slowly curling his lips upwards. 

Green eyes…. Long dark hair…. Handsome…

“Ah…? Ah!” Klein gasped, immediately jolting awake and stood up frantically. “H… hello there.” He awkwardly greeted the other, feeling embarrassment wash over him.

This wasn’t just any random handsome guy, this was the Leonard Mitchell!

“How can I help you?”

“When I was doing a check up, I noticed that you were still here, asleep, so I decided to wake you up since working hours are over.” While answering, Leonard’s smile didn’t drop at all.

Klein instantly felt another wave of embarrassment hit him and he couldn’t help but think if his face was bright red right now or not. 

“I must’ve fallen asleep…” He mumbled, wanting to facepalm and throw himself out of the building through the window. “Sorry.” He added.

“It’s alright!” Leonard smiled and waved his hands in reassurance, but Klein still seemed really embarrased. “How about this, while we’re still here, you don’t mind if we go out to eat dinner together?“

Klein’s eyes widened in surprise at the sudden invitation. “Dinner? With you?” He blurts out and Leonard nodded.

“Why not? I mean, this could be a great opportunity for us to get to know each other. You joined last month, right? I like to get to know my colleagues more.” 

“Ah, but this is just….” 

All of a sudden, the sound of Klein’s stomach rumbling interrupted them, causing the both of them to fall into a brief moment of silence.

“…”

“…”

☆

And that was exactly how they both found themselves in a barbecue restaurant.

“… I’m sorry for bothering you.” Klein sent Leonard an apologetic look as he apologised, still feeling extremely embarrassed. He felt so embarrased that he was close to digging his own grave right then and there.

Leonard shook his head and grabbed onto a piece of meat with his chopsticks. “I already told you that it was okay.” With his chopsticks, he hovers the piece of meat right in front of Klein’s mouth.

Klein stared at the meat for a bit before slowly opening his mouth and letting Leonard feed it to him.

“Good?” Leonard asked.

Klein’s eyes instantly lit up as he chewed and nodded his head in response which couldn’t help but make the other chuckle in amusement.

“So, how is work in the company so far?”

“Mm….” Klein thought for a bit as he stuffed another piece of meat into his mouth, chewing it and swallowing before answering, “It’s not as bad as my last job. The boss is really nice too.” 

Leonard nodded in agreement.

“Dunn really is an amazing boss. You can’t find others who are as amazing as him.” Klein also nodded in agreement and shuddered a bit as he thought about his old boss who’s name was Roselle Gustav.

Sure, he was also nice, but sometimes he could be a bit too…. nevermind. That’s a story for another time.

Klein and Leonard had small conversations here and there while they grilled and ate some meat which slowly helped clear up the uncomfortable atmosphere. Klein still couldn’t believe that he was out here, eating and chatting at a restaurant with the company’s well known employee.

Ever since Klein had started working at the company, a name and face that had popped up was always ‘Leonard Mitchell’. They’ve only ever exchange small talks, pleasantries and smiles once in a while when they bumped into one another, so it was quite shocking that Leonard had invited Klein out like this.

It really felt like Leonard wanted to know more about him and Klein couldn’t help but feel flustered at that thought. 

Leonard was the complete opposite in Klein in terms of…. well, just practically everything.

First off all, he was everyone’s ideal type. Very nice, outgoing, handsome, tall, wasn’t struggling financially, well spoken and he worked really well too. Although, Klein had heard that Leonard could be quite lazy sometimes, but he did seem to do his work well most of the time.

Leonard seemed to be the type of person who liked to make friends wherever he went, so it wasn’t surprising that he knew practically everyone working at the company. As for Klein, he was still reletively new to the company and his introverted personality didn’t help him much in making friends, but that didnt mean that there weren’t people who had tried to befriend him.

He was just still new to the current working environment and was too shy to initiate more conversations with them. 

Compared to Leonard, Klein looked like a total loser. Well, at least, that’s what he thought anyway.

As Klein took a sip of his beer, Leonard asked, “I frequently see you reading a webnovel called ‘Lord of the Mysteries’ at work during break.” 

“Pfft—!” Klein choked on his beer and almost spat everything out. “ Cough! Cough—! ” He coughed out repeatedly. 

“Are you okay?” Leonard asked in concern, handing Klein a tissue.

“Ye—Yeah…” Klein mumbled, accepting the tissue and wiped his mouth clean. “I just wasn’t…. expecting that…” Once again, he felt extremely embarrased. He didn’t think that Leonard would be the one to catch him reading his favourite web novel at work.

“Do you like it a lot?”

“Yes….” Klein nodded with an embarrassed smile.

“I like it too. It’s my favourite web novel currently.” Leonard’s response caused Klein’s eyes to double in size due to shock.

“What?! You do?” Klein’s sudden burst of excitement caused a few people to look his way but he didn’t seem to realise as he was too excited to notice anything else. “It’s my favourite too!” 

It was the first time that Klein had found someone with the same interest as him, especially someone who also enjoyed a web novel that was his personal favourite. 

No one would’ve expected that this little ‘incident’ would form a close bond of friendship between the both of them.

☆

“Leonard, I got your favourite coffee!” Klein exclaimed as he entered the room.

“Oh?” Leonard raised a brow as he accepted it. “I didn’t even ask for it today.” 

“Hm? Am I not allowed to buy my best friend his favourite coffee?” Klein said teasingly and Leonard shook his head woth a laugh, choosing to not question any further.

”Klein, do you wanna go out for barbecue again today?” Klein shook his head in response. “Let’s hang out at your place tonight instead.” 

“Okay.” Leonard responded with a smile.

“Can you please stop flirting in front of my face?” Rozanne groaned, rolling her eyes as she walked into the room. Their other colleagues would frequently tease Klein and Leonard a lot because they were so close to the point where they were stuck together like glue now, but they both had learned to ignore the teasings. “And Klein, what about my coffee?” She frowned.

“About that…. I totally forgot….” Klein really did forget about it. He only went out to buy Leonard’s and himself, completely disregarding his other colleagues.

Rozanne sent him a look of disbelief and sighed. 

“It looks like I’m the favourite one who’s getting special treatments.” Leonard joked, taking a sip of his coffee.

“Tsk.” Once again, she rolled her eyes and walked away causing the two males to chuckle.

Suddenly, Klein felt his right arm being tugged. He turned to his right where Leonard was and sent him a look of confusion. Before he could even ask anything, the cup of iced latte macchiato was held up to his lips and immediately, Klein felt the cold and sweet yet bitter taste of coffee enter his mouth.

Wasn’t this Leonard’s cup of coffee that he had drank out of?? 

“Leonard—“ Klein felt flustered as he called out once the cup had been pulled away from his lips with the taste of the coffee still lingering inside of his mouth. “What— What the hell was that for?”

“Did you taste it?”

“Yeah…. What’s the problem?” He asked, feeling as if his face was on fire. Leonard smiled in response, moving his face closer to Klein’s and closing the distance so that they were basically only inches away from one another.

“You accidentally gave me yours.”

Oh.

Oh.

Klein glanced over at the label on the cup of coffee that was now held up in front of him and realised that the coffee really was supposed to be his and not Leonard’s! He had accidentally handed Leonard the wrong one.

They both liked iced latte macchiato, the only difference was that, Klein had ordered it with much lesser milk than Leonard which was displayed on the coffee cup’s label, but Klein had completely forgotten about it.

“Ah… my bad…” He mumbled, still feeling extremely flustered.

“It’s okay. I don’t really mind it.” Leonard smiled as he took another sip of the coffee that was supposed to be Klein’s.  “Maybe less milk will wake me up better as you say.” He added before casually making his way towards his working area.

Klein was left alone, speechless, with the coffee that was supposed to be Leonard’s in his hand. 

Only when Leonard was completely gone from his point of view did he finally snap out of his daze. Klein couldn’t help but raise a hand up to touch his face and realized how warm they were.  

“What the hell is wrong with me…” He muttered.

Klein’s own heart felt as if it was really about to burst out of his own chest.

He then glanced down at the iced latte macchiato in his hand and thought, ‘I’ll be drinking sweeter coffeee this morning….’  

☆

“Leonard, do you mind if I— Mmmhh—“ Klein was suddenly interrupted by a piece of boneless fried chicken being stuffed into his mouth. “… Why do you enjof feedin me so mush?” He asked as he chewed.

“Because the face you make is adorable whenever you're caught off guard.” Leonard shamelessly answered with a smile that reached his eyes.

Klein blushed, turning his head away and let out a cough before taking a small sip of his beer. He was suddenly reminded of their first dinner together and couldn’t help but smile a little as he thought about it.

Leonard, who saw his little smile couldn’t help but raise a brow in amusement but before he could even ask or say anything, Klein had turned back to face him.

“Do you mind if I borrow your laptop?”

“Is it for reading web novels again?”

“You know me well.” Klein’s smile widened.

“Klein, sometimes I wonder if you only come hang out with me at my place so you could read all of the stuff I have on my laptop.” Leonard jokingly said but Klein nodded seriously in response.

“Of course. Your tastes in web novels is amazing.” Unknowingly to Klein, Leonard had tilted his head down and took a sip of his beer to hide the redenning of his cheeks and ears.

Klein had always thought that his reading lists were always elite but ever since he had discovered Leonard’s, he felt as if he couldn’t go back to his own anymore. 

Sometimes, Klein would just show up randomly in front of Leonard’s doorstep, just so he could hang around inside of Leonard’s apartment and scroll through his reading lists. It was practically a common thing between the both of them now.

“It’s at the usual spot.”

“Okay.” With that, Klein was off to go grab Leonard’s laptop and almost instantly, he was back. This time, instead of sitting across from each other, they were both sitting beside one another.

“You added more things here?” Leonard hummed in response and casually dropped his head on Klein’s left shoulder. “If you’re sleepy, you can go to sleep. We don't have work tomorrow.”

“Okay.” Leonard didn’t object and to Klein’s surprise, he actually fell asleep instantly with his head still resting on Klein’s shoulder.

“…” At that moment, Klein didn't know whether or not he should laugh or cry. Instead, he just shook his head and sighed. His lips couldn’t help but twitch upwards.

He then proceeded to scroll down on the reading list for a bit with his eyes constantly darting around the room before landing on Leonard who was in deep sleep next to him. 

“Leonard?” Klein tried to call out softly.

“…”

There was no response.

Klein tried to poke him a few times but still, there was no response. Leonard was knocked out cold and reeked of alcohol. He must’ve drank too much. Even his ears and face were bright red.

This was enough for Klein to turn his attention back towards the laptop screen in front of him. With one last glance at Leonard, he stared at the screen in front of him for a bit more before finally deciding to click onto a folder. 

Lord of the Mysteries.

Those bold letters instantly greeted him.

Klein was a person who respected privacy, but ever since he had accidentally stumbled upon the folder full of only that of an author would have of their own novel, he couldn’t help but come back to this folder every time Leonard wasn’t looking.

It made him feel extremely guilty but he couldn’t help it at all.

Klein had never thought that Leonard, who had told him that he also enjoyed reading his favorite web novel, would actually be the author of that same web novel. 

It was hard to believe at first, but ever since he had accidentally came across this folder, he couldn’t stop himself from snooping around a few more times before coming to a conclusion that Leonard really was the author. 

Klein had been planning to tell Leonard about it but every time he tried to, he always ended up running away from the plan and he didn't exactly know why.

Perhaps he was afraid that Leonard would be extremely upset that he had invaded his privacy like that.

Klein glanced at Leonard’s innocent sleeping face and instantly felt a pang of guilt hit him. He bit into his lower lip and quickly closed the folder and as he was going to shut the laptop, he noticed something in the corner of his eyes. 

Klein Moretti.

Huh?

Why was there a folder with his name on it? 

With furrowed brows, Klein moved the mouse and clicked the folder. He was expecting maybe a folder filled with silly photos of him that Leonard may have taken, but instead, it was multiple different files of texts.

Klein knew that he should’ve stopped snooping right then and there but of pure curiosity, he clicked onto the first one that was titled ‘love at first sight.’

His slowly widening eyes scanned over each word as his cheeks started to burn and his lips were left agape. Klein came to realisation as he carefully read each word in every single file inside of the folder.

He couldn’t believe his own eyes.

These were all poems written by Leonard about Klein and they weren’t just any ordinary poems, they were love poems. 

Yet again, Klein glanced over at Leonard’s peacefully sleeping face that rested on his shoulder as he tried to process everything.

All of this time… Leonard…. 

“What the hell….” Klein covered his burning face with both of his palms. “Fuck…” He softly cursed to himself.

For fucks sake, he just found out that his own best friend had been in love with him before they had even became friends!

Just what the hell was happening?? And what was he supposed to do? How was he supposed to feel about this?

Klein’s emotions were extremely chaotic.

Especially his heart. It was loudly thumping inside of his chest, as if trying to tell him something but Klein couldn’t figure anything out. He felt so lost and confused.

He felt as if he should be disgusted. Instead, he wasn’t. It was another type of feeling that he couldn’t comprehend at all.

Klein felt as if he had really gone crazy at that moment.

“Leonard Mitchell, just what the hell are you doing to me?” He whispered underneath his breath.

Chapter Text

Leonard still remembers that day very clearly.

The always bustling underground subway station was much busier than usual and Leonard found himself muttering out apologies as he bumped into a few people while trying to get into the subway train.

And then it happened.

Leonard almost let out a sound of shock as his arms instinctively caught onto a body that had fallen right in front of him.

His green eyes immediately locked onto a pair of brown eyes and for a moment, Leonard couldn’t help but stare curiously at the stranger who was laying in his arms.

“Th-thank you…” The stranger looked extremely embarrassed as muttered out those two words before quickly finding his balance and crouched down to pick up all of his stuff that he had dropped.

Leonard, being the very kind local citizen that he was, decided to also crouch down and help the stranger out too. His hand reached out to grab a few things before finally landing on a phone. As he grabbed onto the phone, he noticed that the screen was still lit up and his eyes couldn’t help but stare at the big bold text that was displayed on the phone screen.

Lord of the Mysteries

Chapter 970

This suddenly caused Leonard to freeze in his own spot with his green eyes still glued onto the phone screen.

He was only snapped out of his trance once he felt the phone being forcefully pulled out of his grasp.

“Thank you so much.” The stranger hurriedly stood up and thanked him.

“Yeah….” Leonard mumbled in response as he slowly stood up and before he could even say anything else, the stranger was already out of his sight.

For some reason, like an idiot, he found himself standing there with his arm strenched out and mouth agape as if he was try to call out to someone.

Leonard wondered if his eyes were deceiving him that day.

It lingered in his mind a few times for the next three days and he would’ve really eventually forget about it, but instead of that incident completely being pushed towards the back of his mind, it evolved into something that wouldn’t leave Leonard’s mind at all.

It all started when he spotted that familiar stranger again at the same underground subway station.

‘He’s….?’ Leonard wasn’t a person with good memory but for some reason, he had recognised that face.

His hair was the same messy parted black and he was wearing the same set of suit that Leonard assumed was his usual work attire along with a black backpack hanging off from his left shoulder. The stranger had his head hung low, seemingly busy scrolling through his phone as he waited for the subway train to arrive.

Leonard knew that he shouldn’t be staring for this long, but he couldn’t help it at all. He found himself wondering about what the stranger was looking at on his phone. Of course, it wasn’t in a weird way.

His mind just reminded him of something from a few days ago when he had ‘met’ the stranger for the first time.

Leonard wondered if he was still reading that web novel.

Around this time, the web novel was already close to a thousand chapters and it was being updated daily still. When Leonard saw the chapter number on the stranger’s phone screen, he noticed that it was the most recent one that came out on that day. 

‘He seems really into it…’ He couldn’t help but think to himself as he continued to stare longer. Leonard then tore his gaze away and sighed, shaking his own head in disbelief.

What the hell? Did he just assume that the stranger was reading the web novel right now? He could be doing anything, for goddess’ sake! 

With one last glance towards his right where the stranger stood, Leonard got into the subway train, not noticing how the stranger had looked up from his phone and got in as well. 

After that day, Leonard would’ve really forgotten about it if it wasn’t for the fact that he felt as if he was seeing the stranger everywhere. Well, it was only in the underground subway station and also…. inside of the subway train as well.

One time, inside of the crowded subway train, he was standing right next to the stranger who (obviously) didn’t recognise him, eyes still glued to his phone that he was holding onto.

Leonard considered himself to be a person who respected privacy and didn’t like to be nosy, but he just couldn’t help it. He was so curious to the point where he couldn’t hold it in anymore and took a quick glance.

He hurriedly looked away once he had confirmed his guess. The stranger really was reading the same web novel!

‘Should I…?’ Leonard contemplated to himself, darting his eyes around nervously and as he parted his lips, prepared to say something, the subway train came to a halt with a screech, causing the stranger to bump into him.

“Oh—!” The stranger panicked and looked up at Leonard and for a moment, Leonard froze with the words that he was about to utter, stuck inside of his throat, refusing to come out.

“I’m sorry.” Yet again, the stranger politely apologised.

“It’s— It’s okay…” Leonard manages to mumble out and with that, they both turned away from one another with no more words exchanged.

‘Damn it.’ He couldn’t hlep but silently curse to himself and sighed inwardly. 

Maybe next time…..

And in fact, next time did happen, but it wasn’t what Leonard had expected at all.

This time, he was sitting right next to the stranger inside of the subway train and as usual, the stranger’s eyes were glued down on his phone screen.

“Excuse me?” After a bit of contemplating, Leonard finally spoke out softly.

The stranger was quickly alerted and looked up towards his left where Leonard was. There was a change of emotions in his eyes but Leonard still couldn’t tell what it was. Perhaps he had recognised him this time?

“Yes?”

“Um…. You….” Leonard glanced at the stranger’s phone before glancing back up at the stranger’s face. “You like to read a lot, don’t you?”

The stranger immediately seemed embarrased at the sudden question and Leonard quickly felt panic rising inside of him.

‘Shit— Shit— Shit— Shit—! Was that a bad question—?!’ He cried internally.

“You…. noticed?”

Leonard embarrassingly nodded in response.

“I can’t help but notice you a lot since we both frequently see each other here, in the subway station.”

“Ah…. yes, I do actually.” 

“Oh, okay. I think its pretty cool.”

“Thanks.”

“…”

“…”

As the silence enveloped them, the stranger awkwardly and silently turned his attention back down to his phone screen. All Leonard could do was pretend as if everything was fine as he also silently turned his attention away.

He didn’t even know when his socialising skills had gotten this bad.

Was he really that shy? No, Leonard wasn’t a shy person at all! In fact, he was considered a social butterfly. So what the hell was the problem here?? He didn’t know.

These encounters became so frequent that Leonard ended up spilling it to a good friend of his who happened to be an amazing author.

“Fors, I kind of met this guy….”

“You finally have a boyfriend now?!” Fors gasped with her mouth still stuffed with pancakes.

“No….”

Fors immediately frowned and showed him a disappointed expression. “Then, what is it??” She seemed as if she was dying to know and for some reason, Leonard did tell her everything about it.

He started to one by one unravel his encounters with the stranger at the underground subway station from the past few weeks.

“Hm….” Fors seemed to be deep in thought and sighed softly to herself. Leonard didn’t even need her to say anything about it for him to know what she was thinking about. She was definitely thinking about something along the lines of ‘Couldn’t you just tell him that you’re the author?’

And of course, Leonard responded before she could say it.

“I can’t use your novel for something like that!”

“Why not? I don’t mind it anyway. Besides, I did ask you to cover for me and be the author.”

“I can’t do that….” Fors sighed in response and lifted a hand up to pat Leonard rather roughly on his back.

“Just tell him that you read to web novel too then! Aren’t you a very sociable person? What’s stopping you now? Is he really that cute that you become so flustered when you see him? With your looks and personality, I doubt that—“

“Okay! Okay! Stop it!” Leonard gently pushed Fors away with his face and ears painted red. “I’ll try…” He sighed, ruffling his hair.

And Leonard finally did.

On that day, he finally mustered up the courage, softly clearing his throat as he sat next to the stranger on the subway train.

“Lord of the Mysteries?” He casually asked causing the stranger to jolt in shock.

The stranger almost fumbled his phone as he looked up at Leonard with his lips parted. His reaction was kind of cute.

“You…. know this web novel?”

“I do.” Leonard answered, nodding with a smile. He may have appeared calm but on the inside, he was internally panicking. He had to clench his hands into fists to stop them from visibly shaking as he laid them on top of his thighs.

That day was a little bit of a blur to Leonard as all the remembered was them having a conversation about the web novel as he suppressed his emotions, trying his hardest to stay cool.

‘Oh goddess…. I think l stared at him and smiled at him way too much… ’ Leonard couldn’t help but lament as he got off the subway train, ruffling his hair.

Before the subway train could start moving again, he caught a glimpse of his own reflection on the window and quickly covered his own mouth in surprise.

He was really smiling that much?

Leonard looked down on his feet and let out a breath that he didn’t even know he was holding until now.

His face felt so warm….

He must’ve appeared so red to the stranger.

‘Ah….’

Then it hit him.

Leonard forgot to ask for his name and number!

‘Fuck.’ He cursed and facepalmed himself.

Well, he could always do it the next time that he sees him at the subway station…. but what Leonard didn’t know was that the stranger would never show up ever again.

He didn’t know how long he waited for, but Leonard remembers vaguely how he arrived at the subway station that day, feeling giddy and all bubbly on the inside. He glanced around nervously with a hand fiddling around the strap of his work bag.

A few seconds passed, then a few more minutes passes by and still no sign of that familiar face. Leonard couldn’t help but glance down on his phone screen. This was usually the time when he was here.

Before he knew it, the subway train had arrived.

Huh?

Leonard glanced around one last time before getting into the subway train, feeling down all of a sudden.

Maybe he missed it today? Or something had came up? Probably. 

So, Leonard kept his head up and decided to just wait around for a couple of days. Eventually, he would show up, right? And oh how he was so wrong about everything.

The stranger had completely stopped showing up. Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months.

Leonard found himself missing how every time he’d go to the subway train, he’d just stare at the stranger or try his best to talk to him (like the weirdo he was.) 

Was he weird for getting attached to a person he barely knew? Probably. 

But he couldn’t just stop thinking about him for some reason. It was to the point where Leonard felt as if he was slowly going insane.

He even talked about it to his good author friend, Fors, who was practically sick of him at this point, but still tried her best to help him out even though she couldn’t do anything. All she could do was sigh, feeling only pity for Leonard and muttering a “You’ll get over it.”

And perhaps Leonard wouldve really gotten over it eventually, but he didn’t.

Well, he couldn’t.

One fateful day, Leonard found himself greeting the new employee at the place he worked at. Those same pair of brown eyes, parted black hair and familiar face staring back at him with a small smile as he also greeted him.

Leonard remembers standing there, frozen in place as he tried his best to mumble out his greeting to the new employee without falling over from shock.

He wasn’t sure if the new employee had recognised him, but he noticed how the other’s brows furrowed a little.

“Hello, nice to meet you. I’m Klein Moretti.”

Klein Moretti.

That was a name that Leonard would never forget.

Before he even knew it, as if he had just blinked, he had written love poems about this man.

Leonard didn’t even know what happened to his own self. It felt as if he was infected by a weird illness. An illness that definitely had no cure. He felt as if he had really gone mad.

There were hearts in his eyes and those eyes seemed to belong only to Klein Moretti.

Chapter Text

Klein had always thought himself to be more of a coward and maybe he was right about it.

He wouldn’t be one if he wasn’t constantly running away from the obstacles in front of him. It felt almost like an automatic reflex for him to turn around and make a run for it as soon as he bumped into one.

And that was exactly what was happening right now.

There Klein stood inside of the elevator, staring back at a familiar pair of green eyes that he admired so much. The grip on his phone that he was holding onto tightened as more and more time flew by.

Leonard’s lips parted but no words came out. After what felt like forever of just maintaining eye contact, he seemed to have quickly swallowed the words he had wanted to say and closed his mouth. His green eyes flickered with unknown emotions before he tore his gaze away and silently entered the elevator.

Neither of them spoke a word. It was as if they were just strangers.

Klein could only silently keep his head hung low, staring at nothing in particular as panic and anxiety ran through his whole body.

Why was he avoiding his own best friend so much? Why was he acting this way? Should he just tell Leonard the truth??

All of these questions that had ran through his mind countless times before slowly started to resurface again as Klein tried his best to stay and seem as calm as possible.

He missed Leonard so much but he couldn’t stop avoiding him for some reason. Every time that he had tried to confront the other about everything, he ended up running away in the end.

He couldn’t even get himself to pretend as if nothing had happened.

Klein wasn’t sure what the hell was wrong with him but his heart was always threatening to beat out of his chest and his face would start burning uncontrollably whenever he approached Leonard.

Was he going crazy? Klein felt as if he had!

He wished he could say or do something about it, but every time he tried to, he always ended up fleeing in fear.

Klein’s emotions were all over the place.

He wasn’t sure what to do or what the emotions he was feeling were, but one thing was for certain and it was that Leonard was the cause of it.

☆

Leonard stiffly stood at the back corner of the elevator, fingers fidgeting with the keychain that hung from his bag as his eyes bore through Klein who had his back turned against him. Klein also stood stiffly in front of the elevator buttons.

It was clear that the both of them were itching to just say something, but neither of them seemed to have enough courage to break the agonising silence.

Leonard was extremely frustrated. There was a lot of things that he had wanted to say to Klein but once the opportunity rolled around, he couldn’t think straight at all.

First off all, why was his best friend acting so weird and distant with him? 

Klein may have used endless excuses such as ‘oh, i’m just really tired.’ or ‘i don’t feel like talking to anyone right now.’ but Leonard knew damn well.

He still respected his best friend of course, that was why, he chose to not bother him about it. Except for some questions like, ‘are you okay? are you sure you don’t need to talk to me about it?’ and some more reassuring words which Klein would immediately turn down without giving a single thought.

It frustrated Leonard to the point where he felt like he was going crazy.

He missed Klein so much.

Sure, they may see each other at work practically everyday but it wasn’t the same at all. They barely talked or hung out and it felt as if Klein was purposely trying to avoid him.

Leonard wondered if he had done something wrong. He had even confronted Klein with those kinds of questions, but the other would deny it every time. 

He trusted Klein but… Leonard wasn’t so sure anymore.

Their relationship was drifting apart so quickly that Leonard couldn’t even gather the courage to greet Klein properly now. He felt frustrated with Klein who refused to give him a clear reasoning but most of all, he was frustrated with himself.

He was so sure that he hadn’t done anything wrong, but if Klein was acting this way then it means that he must’ve done something wrong, right?

Ah…. Leonard already felt dizzy from the overwhelming thoughts and emotions.

His heart ached like crazy.

Leonard missed Klein so badly.

He wanted them to talk normally again, to joke around with one another, hang out at each other’s places, especially when Klein would burrow his laptop to browse through his web novels reading lists….

Now, every time he tried to continue writing love poems for Klein whenever he could, he realised how much he yearned for the other.

His love poems were getting more and more desperate.

When Leonard noticed this, he couldn’t help but feel the urge to shut his laptop in disgust and just as he was about to do that, he suddenly paused, staring at his laptop screen in daze as if he had gotten possessed.

“Could it be…..?”

Leonard’s green eyes roamed around the files in his laptop as he slowly came to a realisation.

“Did he really….?”

His eyes blew open in shock.

There was no way, right?? 

☆

The World

thank you for playing with me again today.

Klein typed out the text message before clicking send and he watched as the other person started typing before sending a response.

Justice

no problem !!!

it was fun as usual ^_^

Klein smiled as he read the text.

The World

of course.

Justice

but i have a question tho…

is it okay if i ask?

The World

yeah, sure.

go ahead.

Justice

i can’t help but notice that you’re kind of a bit more different than usual lately

is everything okay???

i’m just a bit concerned for you

Klein stared at the text messages displayed on his phone screen with slightly widened eyes as he was taken aback by the suddenness of it.

Well, he wasn’t too surprised though since him and Justice had been online friends for a while now and she always had a track record of checking up on her friends. She would always notice something amiss with someone’s emotions.

The World

kinda? it’s hard to explain

Klein decided to not lie. Even if he did, Justice would notice it anyway.

The World

actually….

i need some advice on it too

He sent those text messages before Justice could even send a reply.

Justice

i see….

don’t worry

ask away!

The World

what do you do if you found out that your best friend has been writing love poems about you and that they’re also the author of your favourite novel as well?

Justice 

oh

that’s something…

Klein couldn’t help but sigh. Even Justice was reacting this way.

The World

i’ve been avoiding him for quite a while now because of it…

i can’t seem to confront him at all

what should i do?

please. i need help.

Justice

hmmm

well it depends

do you feel uncomfortable after finding out about the love poems?

The World

no? i’m not sure myself

it’s kinda this weird feeling that i can’t describe

it’s not unpleasant though

Justice

oh

then you might have some feelings for him then?

Klein’s eyes were about to bulge out of his sockets. What did she just say?! He had to immediately shut his eyes and exhaled a sharp breath before opening them back up to read the text again.

Nothing has changed!

Justice

i cant tell you for sure but from the small crushes i’ve experienced in the past, if you feel emotions that aren’t unpleasant then you may have some sort of feelings for him?

of course this is just what i think

if you didn’t like him then you would feel uncomfortable, no?

as for the second part, i think you can solve that easily by confronting him when you’re ready.

i’m sure if you found out he was the author accidentally then he wouldn’t be THAT mad…

i think? well, i don’t know him so i wouldn’t know how he’d react for sure

As expected, Justice really pulled through with her advices yet again. Klein was starting to question why he didn’t ask her for advice right away.

The more he read her text messages, he more he felt this itching feeling inside of him growing larger and larger.

Did he really have feelings for Leonard? He hadn’t really thought about it that way… but the things Justice said made a lot of sense.

The more that Klein thought about it, the more his mind began to clear up. He tried to imagine Leonard in a romantic way like Justice had suggested and in return he ended up rolling on his bed with red painted cheeks and almost throwing his phone out of the window.

Why the hell was the first thing that came to mind was Leonard kissing him?!

Klein covered his face with his own pillow in an attempt to get rid of the image that his mind had created.

The World

shksnsnkesiiillwhs

Justice

oh?

well, i’ve gotten my answer now then it seems

The World

… yes.

thank you.

Klein was too ashamed to say anything and he wasn’t sure if he should laugh or cry that Justice understood him without him needing to say a word.

Justice

i’m here any time if you need me !! <3

He then bid Justice goodbye and thanked her once more before tucking himself into bed properly.

Klein closed his eyes.

“…”

He then re-opened his eyes.

There was no way that he could sleep tonight.

☆

“Klein—“

“Leonard—“

“…”

They both stared at one another, mouth agape, speechless.

“I—“

“Hey—“

“…”

“You can go first…” Klein mumbled.

“Oh… um…” Leonard awkwardly scratched the back of his neck, managing to spit out the words, “Do you… wanna hang out after work?”

“Sure.” Klein instantly replied.

“Great!”

Silence once again enveloped them.

“Um, what were you going to say?” Leonard asked, breaking the awkward silence. 

“I was gonna ask the same thing actually..”

“Oh…”

“…”

Once again, they both fell silent but only this time, they both decided to walk towards their working quarters together — still in silence of course.

☆

With the warm breeze brushing past them, Leonard and Klein stood in silence next the railings as they stared out at the clear blue sky.

The weather was nice today.

They frequently came up to the building’s rooftop together whenever it was break time, but obviously they haven’t been doing that lately so it was the first time in a while for them.

“Leonard.” Klein called out, breaking the silence.

“Hm?” Leonard hummed in response, still staring out at the scenery in front of them. He missed this.

“The reason why I’ve been…” Leonard finally turned to look at Klein who had paused to take in a deep breath. “… distant with you lately was because…. well, I’ve been thinking hard about something.”

“…” Leonard parted his lips, licking the dryness off, preparing to mutter out something but no words came out so he quickly shuts his mouth.

“Leonard, are you….”

Oh, god…. here it comes.

Leonard had been expecting it.

Perhaps Klein really did find out that he was madly in love with him after—

“Are you really the author of Lord of the Mysteries?”

“…. Huh?” Leonard stood there, dumbfounded.

“Listen, I’m really sorry for snooping around on your laptop but I promise that it was on accident! I really didn’t actually mean to…” As Klein continued to frantically make up excuses, Leonard was still dumbfounded from the sudden question.

He wasn’t expecting that one at all!

It was only now did he realise that he had the whole webnovel file on his laptop that had been sent by Fors. It had completely crossed his mind that Klein might’ve came across that one too.

“Klein…. Actually….” Leonard couldn’t help but let out a sigh. He was currently mentally debating on whether or not he should tell Klein the truth.

Fors had told him that he was just a cover up for her and technically, he could just tell everyone that he was the author but for some reason, he didn’t want to lie to Klein.

“I’m not the author.”

“Huh?” Klein genuinely looked confused and if it was in any other situation, Leonard would’ve thought that it was cute. “…. You’re not?” 

But how??? Was the first question that struck Klein.

Leonard took in a deep breath before starting to explain everything to Klein who’s confused expression slowly turned into one that was full of embarrassment.

“I see…” He mumbled, clearly holding on the urge to facepalm himself. “I’m sorry.” Klein immediately mutters out an apology. “I didn’t mean to—“

Leonard shook his head and interrupted him, “Don’t worry, I’m not mad at you at all. If anything, it’s kind of funny — in a good away, of course.” 

“Are you really not?” Klein genuinely seemed upset and Leonard smiled, continuing to reassure him. 

“I’m not, I promise.”

Klein looked at Leonard before sighing, still in distress and it worried Leonard.

“Are you okay?” He asked worriedly and Klein shook his head in response.

“I’m okay but the thing is…” Klein bit down on his lower lip before looking right back at Leonard’s green eyes. Instantly, Leonard felt the energy around them shift which made his smile quickly drop. “Leonard…. You…”

Klein seemed to be in a mental struggle, trying to find the right words to say as he stared seriously at Leonard.

“I read it all, Leonard.”

Leonard froze and he felt his heart instantly dropped.

“I— I can explain…” He could barely mutter out those words through uneven breaths and the heavy lump in his throat.

“The love poems you wrote….” Klein didn’t even give him time to spit out excuses. “Do you really…. mean all of that?” Leonard couldn’t even blink as he took in a deep breath, suppressing the urge to cry.

He really felt as if he was about to break down.

Was Klein going to leave him if he answered truthfully? Could he even lie to Klein? Leonard’s head was spinning all over.

“I….” He swallowed a lump, slowly casting his gaze on the floor. “Klein….” Leonard bit down on his lip harshly. He couldn’t bring himself to answer.

Just then, he felt his face being gently lifted up. Only when he saw Klein’s face through his blurry vision did he notice that he had started crying.

Leonard was afraid.

He was afraid of what would happen if he answered.

Even if Klein didn’t feel the same way, he still wanted their friendship to stay as it is.

“I want to hear it from you, Leonard.”

“… Would you hate me for it?” Leonard almost sobbed completely when he responded.

“I won’t, I promise you that.” Klein’s voice was soft when he spoke and so were his hands that had moved to hold onto both of Leonard’s hands.

After staring at one another on silence, Leonard finally confessed truthfully, “I’m in love with you, Klein.” He squeezed Klein’s hands as if he never wanted to let go. “And I always have been…. for a while now.”

After the confession, Leonard couldn’t bring himself to maintain eye contact anymore and quickly tore his gaze away from the other.

“I think I am too.” 

“Huh?” Immediately, Leonard’s head shot back up in shock. “What?” He looked into Klein’s eyes, searching for any indications that he might’ve been lying, but Klein’s eyes were sincere.

“I’ve been thinking about it for a while now and I don’t think that I can be fully sure right now, but maybe you can help me find that out?”

It meant that Klein was still confused about his feelings, but it wasn’t a bad thing at all. It seemed like he really was open to explore more with Leonard.

“Then… does that mean that if I try to court you hard enough, you’ll be my boyfriend?”

“Let’s see.” Klein smiled cheekily.

Leonard’s eyes instantly sparkled and immediately pulled Klein into a hug. Klein was startled at first but soon afterwards, he also wrapped his arms around Leonard.

“I’m happy then.” Leonard mumbled, burying his head into the crook of Klein’s neck.

“Mhm.” Klein hummed in response, grateful that Leonard couldn’t see how red his face was from how flustered he was. 

“I’ll do my absolute best for you.”

Klein’s lips curved up into smile. “Of course, of course.” He wanted to laugh as he spoke out. 

Leonard truly had no idea that Klein was already in love with him. He had just been too much of a coward to confess properly, but Klein still looked forward to it.

“I’m looking forward to it, my dear poet. ”