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Koichi jolts awake, his heart racing, as the ringing of his phone pierces through the silence. He scrambles out of bed, almost losing balance, to answer the call. "Hello?" he mumbles groggily, wondering what time it was.
"Uh... Hey Koichi, it's me. Josuke," the voice on the other end says, but there's an unusual urgency to his tone. "I have to talk to you, man. I need some advice."
Koichi furrows his brow, picking up on the seriousness in Josuke's voice. "What's wrong?" He asks, his concern growing and suddenly feeling very awake.
There's a brief pause before Josuke sighs heavily. "Look, man, will you just meet me at the cafe or something? I want to do this in person."
Koichi can feel the tension mounting. "Okay, Josuke," he replies with a nod, even though Josuke can't see it. "Thank you, bro..."
The line goes dead, Koichi holds the phone away from his face, watching it hopelessly as if it could give him some insight into what just happened. He decides to get dressed and head to the cafe, wondering what kind of advice Josuke could possibly need.
Koichi's interest was definitely piqued as he wondered what could have left his typically cool and confident friend so rattled. Running a little behind schedule, he arrived at the meeting place to find Josuke already seated at a table, hands folded in front of him. Mumbling a quick apology for being late, Koichi took a seat and ordered quickly, sensing that whatever was on Josuke's mind must be something very pressing.
The grim expression on Josuke's face only heightened Koichi's concern. Had there been a stand attack? Was there another murderer lurking in the shadows? When Josuke cut him off mid-sentence with a fierce look in his eyes, Koichi braced himself for the worst.
"So, Josuke, what's—" he began to ask, before Josuke slammed his hand onto the table, demanding his full attention.
"Okuyasu and I had sex." Josuke blurted out, his words hanging heavy in the air.
A deafening silence broke across the cafe. When Josuke finally spoke again his voice was barely audible. "Three times." he quietly confessed, his ears turning red as he averted his gaze, looking down at his hands.
Koichi's stared as he struggled to maintain his composure. "I mean, why are you telling me this exactly?" He asked, beside himself .
Josuke crossed his arms over his chest, a look of frustration on his face. "I haven't seen or talked to him in days, bro! What happened?" he demanded, shifting restlessly in his seat.
Koichi took a deep breath, calmly asking, "Can you uh... start from the beginning I guess?"
Josuke's emotions were all over the place as he began to explain. "He came over to help me finish moving into my apartment. We had a couple of beers, ended up kissing. We moved to the couch and then he started to-"
Koichi cut him off with a shake of his head and a raised hand. "I think I can come to a conclusion from there!" he said, wincing at the thought.
Josuke groaned and leaned in his chair, throwing his head back. "We confessed to each other, dude! He told me he loves me, a-and I said it too!" he continued, his expression becoming more and more miserable.
"And I just... I don't know, man. I'm so confused!" dropping his head into his arms and letting out a despondent whine. "I just don't know what to do, dude." quietly mumbling.
As the waiter approached apprehensively Koichi orders another drink, giving Josuke a chance to collect himself before he begins to speak again. "I mean, at first, I thought it was going to be something we just never spoke about again, ya know? Like that time we made out at your birthday party..." He says so casually. Koichi almost spits out his drink, sputtering and coughing as he tries to process what he just heard.
"Wait, you did what!?" Koichi exclaims, his voice rising in disbelief. "How many times has something like this happened?" Regretting the question as soon as it left his lips.
Josuke leans over the table, propping his chin up on his palm as he thinks. "I don't know, man. Maybe three times? Maybe more?" he shrugs, placing his elbows on the table. "But that was just kid shit like making out and dry humping. We've never done anything close to what happened the other night..." he adds, blushing at the memory.
Koichi stares at his friend in shock, trying to process this new information that was just thrown at him with the casual tone of someone relaying the weather " Three or more times?!" he repeats, unable to believe what he's hearing.
Josuke didn't respond, his heart aching as he gazed at Koichi. The look was filled with so much sorrowful longing that it stopped him in his tracks.
"Koichi..." Josuke let out a deep sigh. "The look in his eyes, dude..." Josuke shivered as he recalled." It was like he peered right into my soul..." heart racing with emotions that he couldn't control or articulate, voice filled with so much sincerity that it made Koichi gasp.
"I just knew... I knew right then..." he trailed off, lost in thought before going back to absently picking at his food. He looked back up to his friend with pleading eyes. "What am I supposed to do now?" he asked, nervously. "Koichi, please help me."
Koichi heaved a sigh and raised an eyebrow. "You want me to help you with a relationship problem that you didn't even know you had?" He inquired, clearly taken aback. Josuke nodded excitedly and replied "You're my best friend, dude! We've got to figure this out together!"
Koichi pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to swallow down the regret of answering his phone. "Okay, so...after...take me to the day after, what happened?" he asked, trying to keep his cool and composure intact while keeping the Josuke on track.
Josuke's expression became glum as he traced his fingers on the table. "I woke up, he was gone..." he replied dejectedly.
"And the fucker hasn't said two words to me since! I poured my heart out to him!" Josuke exclaimed, slamming his fist on the table so hard that it shook with a sudden burst of rage, startling the other customers before slumping forward in his chair with a pout.
Koichi avoided any questionable glances and tried to calm him down. "Dude, get a grip... Look, he's probably just as confused as you. Let's be honest, probably a lot more confused... But... if this has happened before, maybe he just assumed it was like the other times?"
" Yeah. No, okay. that's fair."
Josuke chirped and pointed at Koichi. "But we never went that far before, ya know?" he said, smiling sheepishly and rubbing his cheek. "But..heh...dude the things we did...it was awesome..." he added shaking his head and closing his eyes, lips curling into a grin. The corner of Koichi's mouth twitched as he silently pleaded to be spared the details.
"And he hasn't returned any of your calls?" Koichi asked flatly. Josuke ducked his head, and his shoulders sank at that. "Uh, well, I haven't actually tried to call him..." he trailed off.
"...What...?"
An awkward silence fell upon them before Koichi grabbed his wallet. "Just call him Josuke."
"B-But what if he doesn't want to talk to me or—" Josuke started to say before Koichi cut him off.
"Call him," Koichi said firmly. "Or go to his house, man, but talk to him." Josuke bit his lip and stared down at his plate.
Koichi put his money down and stood, placing his hand on Josuke's shoulder.
"The Josuke I know would never back down from a challenge," he said, trying to inject some inspiration into him. "Talk to him. Today." he added sternly.
"Okay, dude. You're right. I will." Josuke finally said.
Koichi nodded and gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze before leading him out of the cafe, the peptalk seeming to work as they parted ways.
He headed home and disconnected his phone line. Expecting no less than a good and well-put-together outcome for Josuke's situation. Another day's work of being the most reliable guy around.