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“I’m afraid only three Deluxe Queen rooms are available as of the moment, if that’s alright with you, sir,” the receptionist smiles stiffly, like she’s prepared to receive an earful of complaints and demands.
Honestly, if Rin hadn’t been exhausted from driving all the way to the hotel and resort, he might have. But being in the same car as his friends for almost 12 hours can take its toll on a man, and Rin wants nothing but to lay on a nice, soft bed and ignore the rest of the world for the remainder of today.
“Any single rooms available?”
“Unfortunately, there are none.”
Great.
“We’ll throw in some free room service vouchers for you and your company. Again, we’re really sorry for the inconvenience,” she adds, sensing his distress.
Rin knew they should have booked the rooms in advance. Spontaneity brings nothing but chaos.
He sighs, and hands over their IDs and his card to the receptionist, who works swiftly in getting them their rooms.
Aryu and Tokimitsu, Isagi and Chigiri, Rin and Bachira.
How fun.
Rin receives their room keys and IDs back, along with his credit card and thinks about how much interest he’s going to charge his friends when they pay him back.
“They don’t have double rooms anymore, so we’re all gonna have to share beds,” Rin says, redistributing the key cards and the IDs. “This is why I said we need to reserve the rooms before the trip.”
“But what if we’d found a better hotel?” Bachira chirps in, to which Chigiri and Aryu nod.
“Yes, like a very stylish one with a spa,” Aryu adds.
Rin snorts and takes out the room service voucher they all got to show his friends. “They gave us these, so we don’t have to go out for dinner tonight, unless you want to, but leave me out of it. Come on, Bachira.”
“‘Kay!” Bachira follows Rin as he starts to walk away, their luggage in tow.
“Whoa,” Bachira exclaims as they step inside the room. They’re all on different floors, but the hotel is only 12 stories high, so it wouldn’t be a problem if they need to go to each other’s rooms. Though Rin would prefer if he and Bachira stayed undisturbed.
For comfort reasons, of course.
Bachira wastes no time toeing off his shoes and jumping onto the bed, laughing loudly as he bounces on the soft mattress. Rin drags their suitcases into the big closet and lets them sit in there for now.
The room is . . . not as bad as Rin thought. He supposes it is an upgrade from what they originally planned, but while he thought sleeping in one bed with another person would be a bother, it’s actually quite spacious.
The queen-sized bed is right in the middle of the room, and there’s a small two-seater sofa and table a few feet beside it. Across from them is a desk and chair with the room service menu and small suggested itinerary guide around the town.
“It’s a good thing they didn’t have other rooms left, huh?”
Rin turns to where Bachira is spread eagle on the bed, looking up at the ceiling.
“And why is that?”
Bachira grins and lifts his head to look at Rin. “What do you mean, ‘why’? Look how big this room is! If we got the tiny double rooms, we’d be so cramped up in there.”
Bachira is right, they would have saved money on accommodation, but it wouldn’t have been as comfortable. But Rin doesn’t say it. Instead he hums and checks out the bathroom, which is also quite nice. The overhead shower is the massive rain type, and the tub seems like something Bachira would enjoy soaking in.
He wonders if the others will find it difficult to squeeze into one bed, especially Aryu and Tokimitsu. Maybe Isagi or Chigiri should have switched with those two, just to keep the balance between big and tiny.
But that’s their problem now.
Rin comes out of the bathroom and finds Bachira still sprawled on the bed, his eyes closed and mouth partially opened. It’s been years but it still amazes Rin how quickly it takes for Bachira to fall asleep. Rin badly wants to lay down and rest as well, but he’s taken over more than half the bed.
Rin glances at the sofa, then shakes his head. There’s no way he’d be able to lay on that little thing comfortably.
He decides to lay down on the farthest end of the bed. Rin doesn’t have to bother trying to avoid waking Bachira up because he sleeps like a log, but he does move his arm gently so he can lay on his back.
His phone pings with a message, and Rin checks it, brow furrowing when he sees it’s from Isagi.
Having fun with Bachira? It reads, along with a wink emoji that Rin rolls his eyes at before typing a reply.
I’m not a perv like you. I saw the texts you sent your gorilla boyfriend earlier .
Hey, at least he’s my boyfriend already.
Rin rolls his eyes again, then sets his phone to silent mode. He places it on the nightstand and settles back down on the bed.
Bachira shifts, turning to his side, now facing Rin. He’s still asleep, and Rin can’t help but stare. He looks like an angel like this, his soft features accentuated by the tranquility of slumber, but Rin likes him both when he’s loud and clingy, and when he’s calm like this.
He’s beautiful to Rin, in every possible way.
Rin doesn’t remember when he fell asleep, but when he wakes up, it’s darker out and Bachira’s side of the bed is empty.
He sits up and looks around, blinking the sleep from his eyes. Bachira isn’t in the room, so Rin grabs his phone from the nightstand to check if he’s with the others. True enough, he’s gotten several messages in their group chat, with the latest one being ten minutes ago, telling him to come down to the hotel’s poolside restaurant.
There are a few photos of Aryu posing along the edge of the pool, and a video of Chigiri vigorously spreading sunscreen on Bachira while he struggles from his hold, no doubt trying to jump into the pool. He can hear their argument in the video: It’s 4pm, I won’t burn! To which both Chigiri and Aryu yell, You can still get sunburnt–Bachira, no–!
Rin lets out a small laugh, and gets up from the bed. He smooths his clothes out in front of the mirror before heading out, remembering to take his room key with him. It’ll be a pain if they get locked out.
Bachira sees him first when he arrives at the poolside, waving wildly to him, and Rin walks over to their table. His friends greet him as he drops to the seat beside Tokimitsu, right across from Bachira. They’ve ordered already, so Rin just gets an additional drink while they wait for their food to arrive.
“I heard there’s a smaller beach just to the north of here that has a beautiful sunrise view,” Isagi says, earning oohs and aahs from their friends. “We can drive there tomorrow at dawn to watch it.”
“I’m in!” Bachira raises his hand immediately, and the rest follow. When Rin doesn’t raise his hand, too, they all look at him expectantly. “Rin? You don’t wanna come with us?”
Bachira looks at him with wide eyes, lips jutting out into a pout. He’s a second away from pleading, Rin can sense it, so he relents, raising a hand as well. They all cheer, as if Rin joining them was a prize they won. It was as funny as it was ridiculous. He came here with them for fuck’s sake. He helped plan this vacation.
“As long as I’m not driving,” he says over their voices, lowering his hand to cross his arms over his chest.
Isagi snorts and rolls his eyes at him. “Don’t worry, grumpy pants. Tokimitsu will drive us. He’s the most functional in the morning out of all of us.”
The others nod in agreement, and Rin leans back on his chair, satisfied. That means he can sleep a bit in the car.
Their dinner arrives, and Rin pretends he doesn’t see Aryu feeding Tokimitsu food from his plate as if they’re not all eating the same dishes. Across from him, Bachira giggles. There’s a grain of rice stuck on his cheek, near the corner of his mouth. Rin tries not to stare, focusing on his food instead. But when Bachira still doesn’t seem to notice it, Rin finds himself reaching across the table to wipe it off with his thumb.
Bachira freezes, and so does Rin. The table goes silent, and Rin quickly retracts his hand, wiping it off on the napkin on the table. He goes back to eating like nothing happened, and fortunately his friends do, too.
“Thank you, Rin-chan!” Bachira beams at him before taking another big bite from his food. This time the sauce smears on his face, and Rin has to look away to fight the urge to clean his face again.
“Don’t mention it,” Rin mutters.
They all return to their rooms after a couple rounds of drinks. Only Tokimitsu and Chigiri get buzzed, so Aryu and Isagi have to physically guide them back to their rooms to prevent them from trying to sleep on the sun loungers.
Bachira is looking a little flushed, but he reassures them he isn’t tipsy. But when he leans on Rin in the elevator because the motion makes him dizzy, Rin lets him, carefully putting his arm around Bachira’s shoulders to support his weight.
Being back in their hotel room is a welcomed comfort, even if they’d only been out to dinner. Rin washes up while Bachira picks out a show to watch on the television.
When he comes out, Bachira is deeply engrossed in what seems to be a K-Drama– a horror one at that. He’s hugging his knees to his chest, eyes focused as the girl on the screen runs from a disembodied entity.
Rin can’t help but feel endeared, and when he realizes he’d been watching Bachira, still dripping wet from his shower, Rin quickly turns away and dries his hair with the towel around his shoulders.
“Your turn,” he tells Bachira as he sits beside him on the bed, rubbing at his scalp almost violently. As if it would help clear his mind from wanting to squeeze Bachira until he pops.
“In a minute,” Bachira answers. He turns to Rin, then grabs his hands to stop Rin from potentially causing all his hair to fall out. He gently ruffles Rin’s hair with the towel to help him dry it. “There’s no hairdryer?”
“We have to request it, I think.”
Bachira hums, and Rin closes his eyes as he lets Bachira dry his hair. Maybe it is a good thing he left the bathroom with dripping wet hair.
“This show is really fun, Rin-chan. We should watch it together,” Bachira tells him. He removes the towel from Rin’s head and sets it aside on the bed Rin can’t see. Bachira replaces the towel with his fingers, now combing over Rin’s hair gently.
“Yeah?” The show does look interesting, but he can’t really focus on it when Bachira’s petting his hair like this. Maybe he’ll check it out later on. There are more important things at hand right now.
Rin sighs happily as Bachira continues to run his fingers through his hair. It feels good, and Rin almost wants to lay on Bachira’s lap like a cat.
He’s halfway to falling asleep when he feels Bachira hold his face, cool palms on each of Rin’s cheeks. Rin blinks slowly at him, trying to fight the grogginess to look at Bachira properly.
“Sleepy?” Bachira asks him.
“Hmm,” is Rin’s answer. Bachira chuckles, and when he carefully guides Rin to lay down on the bed properly, Rin doesn’t protest.
“Go to sleep, Rin-chan. I’ll just take a shower.”
Rin grunts lazily. He feels a hand pat his chest softly, and something even softer against his forehead.
Sleep comes to Rin quickly after that, and he dreams of warm sunlight and Bachira.
Rin is roused from sleep by something tickling his face.
He tries to move away from it, but finds that he is locked in place by a pair of strong arms around his chest and legs wrapped around his own.
Bachira.
The realization jolts him awake, and Rin looks down at the body clinging onto him like a koala. The room’s lamps are dim, but Rin can see the wet patch on his shirt from Bachira’s drool, but Rin is more concerned about how closely their bodies are pressed together. One wrong move and Rin might just have to throw himself out the window to avoid an embarrassing conversation about his crotch.
His alarm blares through the room. Rin winces as he realizes they both have to get up and ready for their drive to the beach to catch the sunrise. He reaches back and feels around for his phone as best he can with a human sized leech on him. Even with a full volume alarm Bachira still sleeps soundly, snuggling closer to Rin’s chest and looking as peaceful as a baby.
Rin manages to turn the offensive alarm off, positive that he pulled a muscle bending his arm at an impossible angle to reach his phone. He considers bailing and sleeping in instead. That would give Bachira more time to sleep and Rin would get to enjoy Bachira clinging onto him, maybe even use it as an excuse to wrap his arms around him as well.
He smells so good, like honey and peaches, and Rin can’t help but press his face to Bachira’s hair to breathe him in. It’s his soap and shampoo, he realizes. Rin wants to bury his nose in Bachira’s scent and drown in him. No one should be allowed to smell this good.
Bachira begins to stir, and Rin tilts his head back a little, closing his eyes to pretend he’s still asleep. He feels Bachira shift, stretching his limbs out but making no move to peel himself from Rin. He makes a little noise as he stretches, and it’s cute enough that Rin almost forgets he’s supposed to fake being asleep.
But Bachira doesn’t wake up, instead he nuzzles into Rin’s chest and sighs, promptly dozing off again.
Maybe they really should bail.
Just as Rin is about to succumb to sleep once again, both their phones ring, causing Rin to jolt. He groans. The universe hates him, it seems. Rin doesn’t pick up, he already knows who’s calling them. Instead he taps Bachira on the shoulder to wake him, a soft, “Hey, Bachira, we need to get up,” as he does.
Bachira lets out a whine and hugs Rin tighter, and really, this is the highest form of cruelty he’d ever been subjected to. Why must they get out of bed when Rin can hold Bachira the whole day?
Their phones continue to ring. Rin shakes Bachira a little, and this time, he stirs. Bachira doesn’t let go, but he does raise his head to look at Rin, a small furrow in his brow.
“Rin-chan?” He slurs. Bachira blinks at him slowly, then looks around his surroundings, like he’s trying to figure out where he is. “It’s still early,” he mumbles decidedly, trying to settle back into his very comfortable position against Rin’s chest.
“We have to get up,” Rin tells him, using a hand to push Bachira’s head back. “You wanted to see the sunrise with the others, remember?”
“But Rin-chan is so warmmm,” Bachira whines, squeezing Rin’s torso and trying to fight against Rin’s hand.
“We can cuddle again later,” Rin says, and he bites his lip immediately after. Cuddle again later? What the hell is he thinking?
Bachira pauses, like he’s really thinking about it. Rin is doubtful. There’s very little that goes on in Bachira’s mind in the morning. He looks up at Rin. “Promise?”
Rin hopes Bachira doesn’t feel the way his heart just jumped in his chest. “I promise. Later.”
“‘Kay.”
He seems convinced, because Bachira finally peels himself off of Rin and stretches his whole body again before getting up from bed. He takes his phone from his side of the nightstand and checks his notifications, making his way to the bathroom as he finally answers the call from their friends.
Rin turns to lay on his back, staring at the ceiling, and sighs.
At least he didn’t pop a boner.
“I thought you guys bailed on us,” Chigiri says as Rin approaches their group at the lobby, a still sleepy Bachira in tow.
Rin grunts. “You know how hard it is to wake this one up in the morning.” He jabs a thumb towards Bachira’s direction, who only grins lazily and links his arm with Rin’s. Rin pretends his face doesn’t grow warm.
“Let’s go, we might miss it,” Isagi says, not subtle at all about looking at where Rin and Bachira are connected. “Aryu’s followers will be disappointed if he doesn’t post his morning glow photos.”
Aryu nods in agreement. “True. I am the pinnacle of beach style.”
“Of course you are,” Rin mutters.
The drive to the beach takes about thirty minutes, and Rin lets Bachira sleep on his shoulder on the way there, hand loosely holding Bachira’s.
There are already a few other groups of people at the beach, no doubt waiting for the sunrise as well. They find a spot that’s not too close to the shore, but also not too far that they might lose their stuff in the foot traffic later on.
There’s still about ten minutes until the sunrise, but the sky is already bright with colorful hues. His friends begin to take photos, and Rin would, too. He’s sure his parents and Sae would appreciate the view, but Bachira had decided to lay on top of his thighs to sleep, and Rin has to keep himself from moving. Or thinking, for that matter.
Not that he can form any thoughts with a beautiful boy snoozing on his lap.
The soft glow of the sun begins to rise over the horizon, casting a nice golden light over the beach. Rin looks down at Bachira to wake him up and finds him already awake, head turned to watch the sunrise. He’s even prettier like this, with the gentle sunlight on him like a warm blanket– the gold highlights in his hair seem brighter, his skin looks like it's glowing, his eyes sparkle with wonder as Bachira turns to look at Rin.
He smiles, brighter than any sun, and Rin’s breath catches in his throat. For a second he’s tempted to pull his phone out and take a photo of Bachira in this moment, something just for his own eyes to see.
Instead Rin lifts his hand without thinking, placing it over Bachira’s cheek, thumb lightly grazing his cheek.
He immediately realizes what he’s doing and is about to remove his hand but then Bachira is sitting up, and Rin barely has time to make room for him to sit properly before he feels soft lips on his own.
Bachira tastes like sleep and the sweet mint of toothpaste, Rin thinks as Bachira tilts his head to slot their mouths better. He hears someone gasp– one of their friends, probably, but Rin is more preoccupied with the boy he’s been dreaming about kissing since they first met.
Maybe Rin is still dreaming.
He bites Bachira’s lip unconsciously, and Bachira yelps, breaking the kiss to touch the spot where Rin bit him. Rin is quick to react, snapping out of his own thoughts to check on him. His lip isn’t bleeding, but it does look a little red.
Bachira pouts up at him. “What was that for?”
“I thought I was dreaming,” Rin says dumbly. His lips still tingle from the kiss. “Sorry.”
“You’re supposed to pinch yourself to check if you’re dreaming, silly!” Bachira tells him. He raises a hand and pinches Rin’s cheek between his forefinger and thumb. “Like this, see?”
He squeezes, hard. Likely to get back at Rin for biting him. Rin winces, but a sense of relief washes over him. He isn’t dreaming. This is real.
Bachira kissed him for real.
“Wait,” Rin says, taking Bachira’s hand from his face and holding it. “Why’d you kiss me?”
Bachira hums, like he’s trying to look for a good answer. “You looked like you wanted me to.” He smiles, and Rin feels his cheeks grow hot.
“Idiot,” he mutters, looking away. “What does that even look like? Shut up.”
“But you did want me to, didn’t you?” Bachira asks, poking Rin’s cheek. “Didn’t you, Rin-chan?”
Rin buries his face in his hands and groans. This isn’t how it was supposed to go. Rin isn’t actually even sure how he wanted this to go. For all the years he’d been thinking about kissing the life out of Bachira, he never actually factored in how he was going to do it, or what he was going to tell him. How could Rin say he wanted to kiss Bachira everyday for the rest of their lives without potentially making things awkward between them?
The idea was always just sort of– there.
It was never supposed to leave Rin’s little bubble of fantasy.
“I did,” Rin finally says, raising his head to look at Bachira. “I did want you to kiss me.”
Bachira beams at him, and wiggles his way between Rin’s legs to settle there, leaning against his chest. Rin freezes, confused.
“What–” he starts to say when Bachira looks up at him again.
“Oh, did you want another?” Bachira leans up to press his lips against the corner of his mouth this time, then settles back down, folding his legs up and resting his arms over them.
“Um,” Rin says intelligently. Sae would be proud. “What the fuck.”
He’s never been so confused. Rin looks to his friends to check if he’s hallucinating, but it seems that some time between Bachira kissing him they’ve decided to leave the two of them alone, now nowhere to be seen.
“Bachira, I—” He starts, looking back to the boy in front of him. Where are they supposed to go with this? What is he supposed to say?
Bachira turns, head tilted as he waits for Rin to continue.
Screw it , he thinks. Here goes nothing.
“I like you,” Rin finally says, and it feels like a weight off his chest and a thorn out of his heart.
Bachira smiles again, and looking at it hurts more than looking at the actual sun— now shining bright well above the horizon. “I know.”
“You knew,” Rin echoes. “How. . .? Since when—”
Bachira purses his lips in thought. “Remember when Sae-chan came to visit last year and you guys fought because he started dating Oliver?”
“Hate that guy,” Rin scowls on instinct, remembering how sleazy he was around his brother. Sendou would have been the better option, even if he was kind of an idiot.
“Well,” Bachira continues, drawing the word out. “Since then.”
“Fuck,” he says. “What did I do?”
“You sort of. . . stormed off so I went after you because you were really drunk, then when I got you to calm down, you thanked me and said, ‘This is why I love you so much.’”
Rin tries to think back to that night, but his memory is met with hazy snippets. He remembers seeing Sae telling him that he and Oliver were in a relationship, and he definitely remembers opposing it. Rin also remembers drinking, but not much after that. He’d woken up the next day in the bathtub.
“This was a year ago?” Bachira nods, and Rin resists the urge to bury himself in the sand. Maybe he should become one with the beach. That’s a good idea. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
Bachira pouts, “Well, you couldn’t remember anything the next day and I didn’t want to embarrass myself in case you meant it in a ‘friend’ way. But then last night—”
Rin stiffens. He tries to brace himself for what Bachira is about to say. Maybe drowning himself in the ocean would be a better option.
“You were calling my name in your sleep so I hugged you because I thought you were having a bad dream, then you just held me really tight and wouldn’t let go.”
Bachira must have sensed Rin’s distress because he quickly puts his hand over Rin’s cheeks and forces him to meet his gaze. “But I liked it, okay? It wasn’t weird, and I’m sorry for not telling you. I just didn’t have the confidence because you weren’t saying anything either, but earlier– I just . . . I felt like it was the right moment.”
Rin sighs, then takes a deep breath again.
“You’re right,” he finally says. “It was the right moment.”
He kisses Bachira first this time, and when Bachira throws his arms around him, Rin realizes how stupid he is. How stupid they both are. It could have been so easy. They had both agonized for so long over something that could have been answered over the span of a sunrise.
But it’s done now, and all they have to do now is find out how the rest will go.