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Reo and Nagi had been dating for four months. It all began after a heated argument that ended with Nagi confessing everything he felt for Reo in a poetic and admirable way. Nagi’s words embraced Reo’s heart and squeezed it with an indescribable force, and every time he remembered them, a warm sensation spread through his body and brought a shy smile to his lips.
Though they had encountered a few issues (always the result of misunderstandings and poor communication), their relationship was going smoothly. They loved each other, maybe too much, and spent most of their time together. Most days, Reo spent the night at Nagi’s house, and the next morning, they would have breakfast together before heading off to football practice.
That Friday, however, Reo had a family lunch, also known as a business meeting among relatives, and couldn’t attend practice with the rest of their friends. So, Reo found himself sitting at a massive rectangular table, drowning in unbearable boredom. He was browsing his phone in search of any audiovisual distraction to entertain himself because the minutes felt so slow they turned into hours.
Without thinking much, he opened Instagram to see if anyone from their group had posted anything. After skimming through several stories, he came across Nagi’s profile. All his senses suddenly went on high alert, and his bored expression twisted into one of shock and disbelief. His chest tightened, and his lips trembled for a few fleeting moments, his mind consumed by a flood of negative thoughts.
Nagi had posted a story. Nagi. The same Nagi who ignored social media completely and hadn’t even changed his profile picture to a couple's photo like Reo had. The same Nagi who, despite Reo’s insistence, repeatedly said that posting stories was annoying and pointless. The same Nagi who now had a profile picture with Bachira and Isagi and had posted a story with Isagi. With Isagi.
Reo was furious and heartbroken, an amalgam of insecurities blooming in his chest and mind. He was jealous of Isagi, because Isagi always managed to get Nagi out of his comfort zone, always got him to show new emotions and expressions, always made Nagi do things he usually found too bothersome. Reo wanted to cry; a lump had formed in his throat, and he felt like he might burst at any moment. Maybe it was stupid, but Reo had begged Nagi to post something with him, anything, or at least change his profile picture to one of them together, and he had never managed to convince him.
Feeling pathetic and hurt, Reo turned off his phone and lowered his head to the table. His plate was half-finished, but all his appetite had vanished. On all his social media, Reo had a profile picture with Nagi. He had a whole highlights folder on Instagram with him. His statuses had a white heart, a purple heart, and the date they had started dating. And that lazy idiot Nagi couldn’t even post a damn photo with him but could with Isagi. He had even changed his profile picture to one with Bachira and Isagi. It was just infuriating.
Reo begged his father to let him leave, claiming he wasn’t feeling well. Though skeptical, his father eventually agreed to let him go.
When he reached his bedroom, Reo let out a guttural scream into his pillow. He couldn’t understand why it was so hard for Nagi to do something as simple as post a picture with him. He wasn’t asking for much, was he? He just wanted to feel like his partner was proud of him, wanted Nagi to show off to the world that he was dating the one and only Reo Mikage. But apparently, for Nagi, that was too much to ask, so Reo could only cry and rage in secret.
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The following week was a little strange. Reo was extremely distant with Nagi and had refused to sleep at his place all week, so Nagi was starting to worry. At first, he thought maybe the family meeting had been awful and that’s why Reo looked so down. But when he was around other people, Reo seemed fine, smiling and joking like usual. So why was he being so cold and distant with Nagi?
Nagi decided to give him space. He had tried to talk to Reo to figure out what was going on, but got no useful information. Reo barely spoke to him, didn’t kiss him, didn’t hug him, didn’t want to spend time alone with him. It was like a switch had flipped inside Reo, and suddenly he no longer liked Nagi. Just thinking about that made a suffocating fear settle in Nagi’s chest, an uncontrollable panic. He didn’t want Reo to leave him, didn’t want to disappoint him, didn’t want to push him away. He didn’t understand what he had done wrong, what had happened between them for things to fall apart so suddenly.
Luckily, they had football practice again on Friday, and Nagi planned to use the opportunity to speak to Reo alone. It had been exactly one week since everything started, and Nagi couldn’t take it anymore. Reo had refused to meet up all week, and the little interaction they had was during practice. So that Friday, Nagi needed to talk to him.
But Reo didn’t show up to practice. He heard Chigiri say that Reo had another family commitment and couldn’t make it again. And of course, Reo hadn’t said a single word to him. His message inbox was completely empty.
Truthfully, Nagi missed Reo. He missed him so much he couldn’t focus during practice. The rest of the boys noticed right away and ended the session early. Nagi was a little sad, he’d been looking forward to this practice to talk to Reo, and he hadn’t even gotten to see him.
While sitting in a corner of the field, eyes fixed on the artificial grass, two shadows approached him. Lifting his head, Nagi saw Bachira and Isagi, both with concerned expressions.
“Hey, Nagi. Is everything okay? I’m really sorry for whatever happened between you two…” Bachira sounded genuinely worried, though a soft smile tugged at his lips. “If you need anything, you can count on us. And you know you could’ve told us, right?”
Nagi looked at them in confusion, he had no idea what they were talking about. Seeing his reaction, Isagi and Bachira exchanged a brief, uncomfortable glance, as if they had just said something they shouldn’t have. Did they know something was wrong between Reo and him, something Nagi himself didn’t even know?
“Uhm, Nagi… You and Reo... you broke up, didn’t you?”
“What?” he replied quickly, his heart skipping so violently he felt it in his veins. An unusual chill swept through his muscles, and he froze like a statue. “No, we haven’t broken up. Why would you say that?”
“Uh, Nagi, Reo deleted all his pictures with you and your anniversary date isn’t in his statuses anymore. And he changed his profile picture too. We thought... well…” Isagi didn’t finish the sentence, placing a hand on Nagi’s shoulder in support. “Sorry, man. Maybe you should talk to Reo.”
In disbelief, Nagi opened his social media one by one to check if what Isagi said was true. The blow of reality was even harsher than expected. It was true; Reo had removed everything related to him. All of his profile pictures were now solo shots or with other people. His Discord profile now showed him drinking bubble tea with Chigiri, a recent photo, from just a few days ago. Nagi knew because Chigiri was wearing the new sweater he had bought that very Monday. Nagi began to breathe rapidly, his hands sweating uncontrollably and his whole body trembling.
He started running, ignoring his friends' shouts behind him. It didn’t matter if Reo’s mansion was hours away. It didn’t matter if he had to tire himself out, Nagi needed to see him.
Minutes later, Nagi slowed down and started sending Reo messages, but none of them were delivered. His profile picture still showed, so at least he hadn’t been blocked. He tried calling multiple times, but always got the same voicemail: “The number you are trying to reach is turned off or out of coverage. Please try again in a few minutes.”
“No, no, no... Reo…”
And as if that wasn’t enough, Nagi felt little raindrops hit his skin. Looking up, he saw huge gray clouds gathering above. It was going to rain soon. Nagi’s life felt like a scene from a bad romance movie. Rain and heartbreak? Seriously? What else could possibly go wrong?
˖⁺‧₊˚ ♡ ˚₊‧⁺˖
The truth was that Reo wasn’t at any family dinner or gathering. The reason he hadn’t shown up to practice was because he didn’t want to see Nagi. He was hurt and angry, because even though Reo had made it clear that things weren’t okay between them, Nagi hadn’t even tried to fix it. Reo was tired. Tired of always having to wait, tired of always being the one to fix their problems. He also wanted Nagi to come looking for him, to feel like he could lose Reo at any moment, the same way Reo constantly felt about losing Nagi.
Blinded by anger and driven by a suffocating resentment, Reo began archiving everything he’d ever posted about their relationship. He changed all his profile pictures to solo shots or ones with other people —Chigiri, Kunigami— anyone but Nagi. He even deleted the anniversary date and all the little hearts. If Nagi didn’t want to show the world they were together, Reo didn’t see why he should either.
Minutes passed. While listening to his usual Spotify playlist, Reo’s phone started blowing up with messages. Most asked if he and Nagi had broken up, what had happened between them, and even some were from random guys and girls trying to flirt with him like vultures around a corpse. Reo didn’t have the energy to explain anything, so he shut his phone off completely and reached for a book to read.
Then came the storm. Thunder roared and flashes of lightning lit up the dark sky. From his bed, Reo listened to the rain pounding against the window, almost in rhythm with his tears. He was crying again because he felt alone, alone and broken. He missed Nagi so much. And he hated himself for being so impulsive, for deleting every trace of them from his social media, but he didn’t know any other way to release that pain.
Through the noise of the storm, he heard knocking at his bedroom door. Slowly, it creaked open and revealed his mother.
“Reo, Nagi is here to see you. I let him through the gate. Hurry, open the door, he’s soaking wet.”
The moment Reo heard Nagi’s name, he shot out of bed like lightning. He had mixed feelings because part of him wanted to see him so badly, missed him with everything he had, but another part still held resentment. Still, no matter how angry he was, he couldn’t let his treasure stand out in the cold rain like this.
He ran downstairs, skipping steps, and finally reached the doorknob. He took a deep breath before opening it, he didn’t know what to expect. Was Nagi here to apologize… or to break up? Before he could think too much, he opened the door, and there he was: his Nagi. Soaked from head to toe, with those same puppy eyes that shattered his heart every time.
“Reo,” Nagi said, almost desperate. His usually flat tone was colored with real sadness and a fragile kind of relief. His silver eyes shimmered under the warm, orange glow of the porch light, admiring just how beautiful his… boyfriend? still looked.
“Nagi…” Reo said in surprise, his violet eyes flickering with a glimmer of hope. But his expression quickly shifted to something more annoyed. “What are you doing here at this hour? It’s pouring, idiot. You’ll catch a cold. Come in.”
He still cared. That was a good sign… right?
Gently, Reo took Nagi’s hand and led him inside. They made their way to Reo’s bedroom, and once there, Reo took off Nagi’s soaked sweatshirt and T-shirt, drying his skin and hair with a towel. Nagi’s heart ached. It had been a whole week since Reo had last taken care of him, and he missed it more than he thought possible. As Reo ruffled the towel through his damp hair, Nagi couldn’t stop staring at his lips. He missed kissing Reo. He missed how soft and pleasant his lips were, and the sweet cherry flavor of his lip balm.
“Go to the bathroom and take off those pants. I’ll grab something for you to wear, okay?”
Nagi nodded and obeyed, heading into the bathroom to take off the rest of his soaked clothes. Reo, meanwhile, rummaged through his closet for something dry to lend him. Eventually, Nagi ended up sitting on Reo’s bed while Reo dried his hair with a blow-dryer. He still had that rainy scent clinging to him, and Reo had insisted he’d make him take a hot shower later, but at least he wasn’t dripping anymore.
When Nagi’s hair was finally dry, both of them sat on the edge of the bed. They were nervous. Uncomfortable. Neither dared to speak first to break that suffocating tension hanging heavy in the air. Nagi’s thoughts were spinning. He was overwhelmed by Reo: his scent, his calm breathing, the warmth of his body. Unable to resist, Nagi leaned in just a bit closer, until their arms touched. He took Reo’s hand into his own, gripping it tighter than he meant to. His skin was as soft and delicate as ever, though there were a few scrapes here and there from the roughness of soccer. Nagi wanted to kiss his hand. He wanted everything to go back to how it used to be. He wanted Reo to hug him and tell him everything was going to be okay.
And as if reading his mind, Reo gently brushed Nagi’s bangs aside, his touch laced with affectionate tenderness. His fingers were warm and soft and Nagi, craving the contact so badly, rubbed his cheek against Reo’s hand, aching to feel him even closer.
“Why did you come?” Reo whispered, his voice barely audible as his palms cupped Nagi’s cheeks, softly stroking them with his thumbs.
“Reo… did you get tired of me?”
There was a pause. For a few seconds, Nagi felt his heart stop and his whole body go cold.
“What are you talking about?” Reo asked, genuinely confused, a frown tugging at his brow.
“You… you deleted everything. Everything about us, and-”
“Oh, come on,” Reo snapped, pulling his hands back to cross his arms. He looked annoyed, really annoyed, but Nagi didn’t understand why. “Now you suddenly care about what I post on social media, Nagi? Seriously?”
“I-It’s not that. It’s not just that. Reo has been so distant, you wouldn’t even look at me. You’ve been avoiding me, like… like you hate me, Reo.”
“I don’t hate you,” he spoke in a low voice, but he still didn’t meet Nagi’s gaze. “I’m mad at you, Nagi. I’m mad because you never post anything with me. And I don’t care that we’ve talked about it before, I don’t care that you tell me you don’t use your fucking social media or that you think it’s stupid, because it’s not stupid to me! You changed your profile picture to one with Isagi and Bachira, you posted a story with them, and you would never do something like that with me. And I don’t get why, I don’t know if you’re ashamed of me or what the hell is going on, Nagi, but I’m tired. I want you to show me off too a-and, and…” his voice began to waver, holding back the urge to cry. “Fuck, Nagi, I’ve asked you so many times… It might be a silly thing, but it matters to me. And if you hadn’t posted anything with someone else, maybe it wouldn’t have bothered me so much. But you did.”
“I’m sorry, Reo,” Nagi brought his hand to Reo’s back, moving closer to him. “I didn’t know it was that important to you. It was Bachira and Isagi who kept insisting I should use social media more, that it was good for my image, but I never wanted you to feel bad about it. If Reo wants me to change my profile pictures and post stories with us together, then I’ll do it.”
Reo sighed and lifted his gaze to Nagi’s face. He always told himself he’d talk about their problems, that he wouldn’t bottle everything up until it exploded, but Reo felt like he couldn’t help it. The tears caught in his throat, and he ended up throwing himself at Nagi, hugging him tightly. He began to sob softly on his shoulder while Nagi calmly moved his hands over Reo’s back.
Nagi’s warmth and touch were comforting. Just having Nagi in his arms had significantly lifted his mood. It made him feel whole, loved, and above all, alive. Nagi felt the same way; having Reo so close he could even smell the fruity scent of his shampoo filled his chest with a soothing warmth.
“I’m sorry for ignoring you, Nagi,” he mumbled from his shoulder, voice broken and trembling from crying. “I’m sorry, my treasure. I love you.”
“It’s okay, Reo. I’m sorry for thinking posting photos together was silly… I love you.”
“Will you stay the night?” he asked timidly, a faint blush coloring his cheeks.
“If you want me to, but I didn’t bring anything. I came straight from football practice.”
At those words, Reo pulled away from Nagi and looked at him, worried. If Nagi had come all the way from the field to the mansion, it must’ve taken him at least an hour, which meant he hadn’t eaten, hadn’t played on his phone, hadn’t taken a nap, or even stepped into his own home.
“Nagi… You need to shower and eat, and then if you want, you can sleep on my lap. Why don’t you shower while I ask the chef to make you something? Do you have battery on your phone? You can charge it in the meantime. A-And-”
“Reo,” he interrupted with a half-smile. “I’m okay, you don’t have to worry so much.”
“Okay, okay. I’ll go downstairs and get you something to eat, alright, treasure? And I have plenty of clothes, you can sleep here and tomorrow we can go to the mall with the others, yeah?”
Nagi whimpered annoyed. He hated the mall because they always ended up walking too much and spent hours and hours looking at shops that Nagi didn’t care about in the slightest. But he knew Reo liked it, so despite his complaints, he was more than willing to spend the afternoon at that damn mall.
“Come on, treasure, if you come to the mall tomorrow, then on Sunday we can do whatever you want. We can stay home, for example,and you can tell me about your games, okay?”
He didn’t respond with words, Nagi just closed the distance between them to start a soft, slow kiss. Reo wrapped his arms around Nagi’s shoulders, slowly giving in, and ran his tongue along his lips to deepen the kiss.
“I’ve missed you so much, Reo,” he whispered against his lips, with a certain desperation. “Don’t do this to me again.”
“I’m sorry, treasure, I’ve missed you so much too.”
Reo placed short kisses all over Nagi’s face, laughing when Nagi just closed his eyes and let out a soft purring sound, just like a cat. Sometimes Reo felt like he needed to devour Nagi with kisses, literally, his body compelled him to grab his face and smother it with kisses on every inch of his adorable baby face.
After an intense session of kisses and cuddles, Reo finally left the room and headed down to the kitchen. Nagi was left alone with his phone, so it was the perfect moment to change all his profile pictures to ones he had with Reo. His criteria were simple: if Reo was smiling, the photo was perfect. Without realizing it, Nagi became entranced by all the pictures saved in a folder called “Reo.” It didn’t matter the pose, the distance, or the location, Reo always looked absolutely gorgeous.
A few notifications interrupted his daily session of admiring Reo, all of them talking about his relationship with Reo. Bachira and Isagi messaged him right away, cheering him on with a bunch of thumbs-up emojis and several question marks. Nagi refrained from telling them that Reo almost broke up with him because of them, so he just responded with the same emoji.
It probably wouldn’t be the last argument they’d have, after all, they were arguably the worst communicators in history, but at least they always found a way to fix it. Reo loved Nagi, and Nagi loved Reo, and even if their dynamic was unique, and, probably to many, toxic, the two of them had found happiness and pure love together.