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Gen sighed deeply as he reached the apartment he called home. Once inside, he swung the door with a little too much force than he wanted that it closed with a loud bang. The sound shook his brain, and he couldn’t help but release a pained hiss. After steadying his balance, his feet slid out of their shoes while his hands loosened his necktie. At some point, his luggage was also tossed into the hallway.
Gen made his way toward the living room, throwing his whole body on the nearest couch. He mentally praised himself for not ending up sprawling on the floor lest he catch a cold. However, lying on his back, he felt his head split in half; he let a miserable groan as his thumb roughly rubbed the area between his brows.
“How errible-tay,” he muttered.
He absentmindedly let his gaze rest on the ceiling he hadn’t seen for a while. The European crystal chandelier above him looked regal and grand, suspended by long golden metal chains. The body was supposed to resemble golden tree branches, while the crystals represented their leaves. When turned on, the crystals give off warm light that makes the atmosphere magical and, at the same time, cozy. Gen thought the chandelier was neat and amusing despite looking somewhat (or painfully) out of place inside the modern and sleek vibe of the living room. How he even managed to convince his roommate to install it, he couldn’t remember, but he recalled it didn’t take that much effort. He started giggling at the thought, but his headache harshly reminded him to shut his mouth.
Being a diplomat wasn’t easy. If he told his past self that he was to be one in the future, past Gen would laugh in his face, mocking him with an unabashed, dark expression. “Me, the most selfish man in the world?”—he would probably say. While he knew he had the talent for it, it was a calling that he thought didn’t bring equivalent merit, thus something he didn’t even consider in the first place.
However, if his magic tricks and Fate shared something, it would be what people call the ‘element of surprise.’ After all, who would expect that the whole of humanity would turn into stone in the blink of an eye? Surprise, surprise! 3700 years later, here we were. To restore humanity from stone, mentalism was proven to be the greatest ace in his sleeve again and again, which led him to his current situation. He would complain about it, but in the end, he would do his work diligently. How ironic.
Two hours ago, he was just on the plane. After several months of working himself to the bone abroad, things managed to gradually calm down. Taking the golden opportunity, he immediately filed for a one-month leave to enjoy this well-deserved rest. And just like that, it had almost been half a year since he last stepped on Japan.
Gen started to feel his pockets and fished out his phone. He scrolled to his contacts and swiftly typed a short message.
“I’m homeee”
After pressing send, his phone slipped from his hand and fell to his chest. He closed his eyes, consciousness fading almost immediately along with the tiny pitter-patter of the faulty kitchen faucet.
___
Gen woke up from a cold sensation on his cheek. His body jolted as he rolled his eyes open. “Wha—”
A pair of wine-colored eyes was staring down at him, locking onto him as if he were some kind of endangered animal. Seeing him awake, the man retreated his hand from Gen’s face and slowly slid it into the pocket of his white coat. It took Gen a few seconds to process the situation; his eyelids met and parted repeatedly for a while before realizing where he was.
How odd, despite the cool residue on his cheeks left by the scientist’s cold hands, he felt his temperature rise rapidly, especially around the rim of his eyes.
“Are you still dreaming, Mentalist?”
Gen forced his body to get up. Senku helped him, letting him use his arms as support. They stared at each other’s faces for several minutes. Neither said a word. However, as if timed and calculated, they pulled each other’s bodies together at the same time, melting together like candle wax that would take a while to dry and be able to separate.
“Welcome home, Gen.” His voice was warm.
Hearing his name with Senku’s voice made his soul tremble. The trembling soon reached his chest, solidifying into a ball of pain and eventually dissolving and falling out of his eyes. He buried his face on the scientist’s shoulder and mumbled:
“I’m home, my dear Senku.”
He wasn’t sure if he choked on his words as his headache still lingered. He probably did but didn’t care, regardless. Senku patted his head as he let a soft chuckle. “Next time, tell me when you’re at the airport, idiot.”
Gen didn’t reply. Instead, he buried his face deeper into the nook of Senku’s neck.
___
“How long would you be able to stay this time?” Senku asked.
Putting the piece of braised pork in his mouth with chopsticks, Gen stared at Senku and chewed slowly before answering. “About a month. I’ll probably be able to visit everyone that way, and get some time for myself,” he paused, then continued, “and you.”
Senku raised an eyebrow with an amused expression. “Heh, how wonderful.”
The two shared mutual feelings for a while. It took them a while to name their relationship, but deciding to live together after the final battle with Why-man was their sign to advance it to the next stage. When either of them was questioned on who asked the other out, they would both answer that the other did. While that annoyed their friends, the two of them becoming a couple no longer came as a surprise. All of them reacted either with “Oh, I saw it coming miles away,” or “Eh, dating?! What have they been doing all this time, then?”
Living together as a couple might sound nice at first, but remembering the nature of their jobs barely gave them time together. Gen was certain Senku barely stayed home, as he noted how the furniture served no purpose other than to be a dust collector. Some appliances remained broken or unfixed, the same way he left them six months ago. Additionally, despite working hard to freeze something, the fridge froze nothing but air, so their dinner right now was ordered from a certain food delivery service.
“Almost worth celebrating, don’t you think so?” Gen said.
“For sure,” Senku replied. He stared at Gen with a knowing expression. He feigned to sigh exasperatedly, but his soft smile broke the whole act. “To be honest, I’m a little bit busy right now. For the next few days, we have to test the prototype for the new project, so we’ll be triple-checking everything. But I’ll let you know when I’ll be free.”
Gen smiled. If someone else were to hear his reply, they would probably take the scientist’s answer as his way to softly reject the invitation. However, Gen knew Senku meant everything he said.
“Just don’t make me wait too soon, my dear Senku, for I might die of oneliness-lay.”
“Can you stop that?” Senku snorted. “Really, I’ll try to make time.”
Gen hummed a small sound of satisfaction and continued to chomp on his meal. The two ate their dinner seasoned with tireless chatter. They mostly talked about their jobs and friends, from Tsukasa almost snapping someone into two when some foolish guy decided that peace wasn’t an option (not that violence was either), to Xeno becoming so livid that he considered dictatorship for the nth time when negotiations with several scientists didn’t go well.
Once they finished their dinner, Gen cleared the table, but then he suddenly stopped and looked at their hardworking empty fridge and desolate cupboards. Senku was scrolling through his phone, but noticed him. He asked him what was wrong.
“I’m craving for some cola. I think I’ll go grocery opping-shay tomorrow. I also noticed that the coffee maker was still broken earlier. I’ll go find one if I can.”
Senku scratched his head as his gaze followed Gen’s. “You should rest,” he mumbled.
____
When morning came, Gen opened his eyes to an empty bedside. He threw an arm on the space beside him. Cold. He looked at the clock on the nearby nightstand—7:36 a.m. He began stretching his arms and yawned, preparing to get up. But then, instead of sitting up, he curled himself into a ball and hugged his knees tightly.
Although he said it jokingly last evening, he feared he might actually die of loneliness. Of course, he understood his partner’s busy schedule, but this didn’t mean he could control his sour feelings about it. Understanding could only get him so far, and some things would inevitably sprout like stubborn weeds around it. If he were to sulk, would that make him seem desperate? But then again, he didn’t find the reason to show any reservations when it came to the two of them. He was free to express his frustrations, right?
Before he let his mind spiral into an annoying doom loop, Gen snapped himself out of it as he forced himself up. He grabbed his phone beside his pillow and got out of bed.
Gen turned to the kitchen, where a plate of food was in a cling wrap sitting on the table. His heart warmed to the sight of it, but what made him smile like an idiot was the small note sticking out under the plate.
“Eat well. Will be back at 6 p.m.”
Gen brought the note close to his chest. He couldn’t help but curse at himself for how easy and simple-minded he was, for how the brief message and sloppy handwriting made him feel at ease. His thoughts earlier still creeped, but for now, they were temporarily dispelled, blocked by the small piece of paper. He carefully considered whether it was better to have the note laminated or framed.
While eating the meal, his partner most likely just whipped up (because it was literally just egg and plain bread—not that he could complain, the apartment was empty), his phone vibrated in his palm. It was a message from Ruri asking him why he hadn’t said anything about coming home, and asking him to meet and catch up.
Gen’s mind wandered for a bit. Since his vacation was decided in a rushed manner, he didn’t find the time to share the news with others. Other than Tsukasa, who worked as his bodyguard and also came back to Japan, and Senku, he couldn’t think of anyone who would know about it. The most logical thing he could come up with was that Senku, who was at work, shared the information with Kohaku this morning, and Kohaku, upon hearing it, relayed the message to her older sister.
“I was supposed to shop for groceries today.” Gen thought for a moment. “But this is way more un-fay!”
Gen excitedly finished his meal and turned to the sink to wash the dishes. Senku and Gen didn’t set any rules or schedules surrounding the chores. They didn’t see the point as both of them were rarely at home. In fact, Senku coming home and sleeping at night by his side was the scientist’s way of putting in effort. The guy wasn’t unemotional but wasn’t so sentimental either. And he just so knew Senku practically lived in his lab. Despite this, the two had a tacit understanding that if the other cooked, the other would wash the dishes and vice versa.
He was about to turn the faucet on when he realized something. “Hm? Is it fixed?” Gen put the thought behind his mind as he hurriedly washed the dishes and prepared to meet Ruri.
___
Ruri and Kohaku were really sisters by blood. Most people would assume that Kohaku would be the bolder of the two. But in reality, Ruri was on a whole new league of her own. Before he even sat across her at the café, she had already begun greeting him with various questions on various topics, although Gen knew she mostly wanted to hear about his love life. Could she blame her? Even he was interested in his own love life.
He shared that since he was mostly abroad, he and Senku mostly communicated via video calls and chats. He did bring up a little bit of his worry about feeling somewhat lonely, but he didn’t let an anxious expression reveal on his face. Instead, he wore a practiced grin and commented, “How upid-stay, right?”
Ruri stared at her latte for a while and then turned to him with a very kind expression. “No, it’s not stupid at all.”
Gen felt his face twitch with how sincere she sounded. He didn’t reply. He felt like a cornered animal in front of a tigress; he refused to call her a lioness since that nickname, according to Senku, was reserved for her sister. Ruri laughed softly before putting her hands over his. He felt her staring at his bare soul.
“Gen, you, you… I totally get you!!!”
___
Gen saw himself back in the apartment front door at 7 p.m. Ruri’s endless talk about her own husband resounded in his ears. How could he forget that that woman was someone who painstakingly kept herself alive just to tell stories? She told him her complaints and frustrations. Apparently, it was a common trait for scientists to be too absorbed in their projects and neglectful of other things in life. Not that Gen wasn’t aware of that. It wasn’t even a day, but he already felt miserable. However, in the end, Ruri reassured her that scientists also had their own ways to make up for their annoying quirk. Whatever that was, however, Ruri didn’t share. She just smiled at him innocently as she patted his shoulder.
His heart grew nervous as he felt the negative feelings knocking on his mind once again. He checked his phone. He saw the screen displaying 7:08 p.m. Senku said he would be home an hour ago, but he didn’t see any messages or missed calls. Doubts started stirring with a heavy viscosity in his brain. Taking a deep breath, he turned the lock and opened the door.
He braced himself as he speedily scanned his surroundings. He saw a pair of leather shoes neatly placed across the door. He sighed a breath of relief. “He’s home.”
He didn’t know why he did it, but he tiptoed his way through the hallway and the living room. He searched for the figure he longed to see the whole day. Peeking from the kitchen counter, the wine-colored eyes he loved so much revealed themselves with glee.
“You’re back. Well, took you long enough,” Senku greeted.
“I’m—home,” Gen said with difficulty. “Senku dear, what are you oing-day?” He narrowed his eyes to see him more clearly.
“Can’t you see?” Senku flapped the apron he was wearing. It was pink, and the frilly type, something that Gen picked randomly because it was cute. He couldn’t believe he would see Senku in it. Senku turned his back on him and continued chopping something. “Go take a seat. This is almost done. You haven’t had dinner yet, right?”
Gen sat in front of the dining table and affirmed. “Hmn, not yet. How did you know?”
“Well, that’s because Ruri—” Senku quickly closed his mouth. He continued, “Because you were with Ruri all day, right?”
Indeed. Before going out, Gen texted Senku about meeting up with Ruri. Senku sent him an amazing reply of “OK.” Gen propped his head on his arm as he leaned on the table. He watched the scientist move his hands from chopping to throwing ingredients into the pot. “That doesn’t answer my uestion-qay, though.”
“I figured out you guys have so many things to talk about to notice the time. Plus, you would’ve messaged me if you ate out.”
Gen raised his eyebrow. “That’s true.” Still, he couldn’t put his finger on it, but he felt something odd. Without anything more to retort, however, he absentmindedly tapped his fingers on the table. He noticed a half-empty mug on the side. He brought it closer and inspected it.
“You were drinking coffee?” Gen asked.
“Yeah, earlier.”
“Oh, I see.” Gen paused. The scientist preferred energy drinks to coffee. Gen was usually the one who drank coffee between the two of them. Still, he didn’t comment on it; a person’s preference could change at any time, after all. It made him somber for a bit, but that was all it. “Hm? Did we have coffee?” he just asked.
“I bought some earlier.”
“Wait, how did you brew it? The coffee maker—”
“I fixed it.”
“…”
Gen looked at the coffee maker. It was the same one they always had, but unlike before, he saw it plugged in. “Why buy if I could fix it?” Senku said.
Senku finished cooking and started serving their dinner. Gen kind of already knew what it was based on the smell. He felt nostalgic as if he were brought several years back. Looking back, the familiar scent brought him to his dear Senku.
Gen brought the soup spoon near his mouth and blew on it before tasting it. He didn’t let the salty and savory taste overwhelm him as he began slurping the thin and firm noodles brought by his chopsticks right away. After chewing, he took a deep breath. It took a few seconds before he exhaled. Senku observed him with his smug grin.
“How do you like it? It’s not cattail noodles this time,” Senku said.
“Dear Senku, he started. “Would it be a disrespect to ramen chefs if I told you that this is the most elicious-day ramen I’ve ever had in my life?!”
Senku laughed at that. “Not a millimeter! I take the compliment, Mentalist.” He also started eating his portion. “I tried following the recipe for the ramen Byakuya and I frequently ate when I was a kid,” he casually shared.
Gen’s ears perked up. His eyes glistened with something warm. He looked at Senku, but the man continued eating as if he hadn’t said something important. “No wonder it’s so good. Thank you for letting me taste it.”
“Thank you for letting me taste a part of your childhood.”
Senku didn’t look at him, his eyes focused on his own bowl. “No need to thank me, really.” As if to swat away the awkward air brought by no one but himself, or perhaps just because he felt like it, Senku stood up and walked slowly to open the fridge behind him. He took something out of the freezer and quickly closed it with his feet.
Gen gasped. “Is that---” He stammered while he slammed his hands on the table. “Cola?!”
“100 billion points for you,” Senku answered. He set bottles of cola in front of Gen and himself. They both twisted the caps and clinked the bottles together before drinking. As if someone would steal the cola from his hands, Gen drank it as fast as he could, almost finishing it in one gulp. Meanwhile, Senku set his bottle down once he had drunk a mouthful. He stared at Gen with a mysterious smile plastered on his face. Once Gen finished drinking, his expression returned to its usual poker face.
Gen exhaled a satisfied sound. His mood improved, too. “Cola is definitely the best!” Gen appreciated the spring season as it came with comfortable weather. However, with June just around the corner, he began feeling the warm breeze it brought, a signal for heavy humidity in the air. In fact, beads of sweat began forming on his temples as soon as he woke up. A bottle of cold cola was just the perfect thing to offset it. “Thank you, my dear Senku. I was just aving-cray for some.”
Senku said in a blank expression, “Gen, you are always aving-cray for some.” Gen laughed. He brought the bottle up again to drink the remaining liquid from it.
“But really, I appreciate you, dear Senku.” Gen shifted his gaze as it wandered over his surroundings. He noticed it the moment he entered the apartment. Mixed with the savory aroma of the ramen was the faint scent of detergent and disinfectant. His tapping on the table earlier was him checking for any dust.
The spotless apartment. The sudden memory lane of a meal. The mysteriously fixed appliances. The stack of groceries and bottles of cola his eyes caught a sight of when Senku opened the fridge. And most of all—
“But really, you shouldn’t bother Ruri so much. I’m pretty sure she’s busy as well.” Gen said as he sighed deeply. He closed both his eyes but soon slightly opened one to gauge the other’s reaction.
Senku choked on his noodles. He hurriedly drank the cola to wash it down. Senku’s eyes darted between Gen and the cola in his hand. He sighed heavily as he replied, “Did she tell you? I’m pretty sure she said everything’s clear.”
Gen felt his heart racing so fast, it could fly at any moment. He couldn’t hold himself back from grinning. Senku saw the playful expression Gen was wearing and immediately realized that he had fallen for one of his tricks. “You got me, Mentalist,” he could only say.
Gen burst into laughter. Tears flowed from his eyes, and he held his aching stomach. Senku could only watch him in defeat, eating his salty ramen with his salty mood.
Gen calmed himself down. It seemed to him that while he figured his scheming scientist easily, Senku still managed to one-up him by untangling his unsaid anxieties and unpleasant thoughts.
“Oh, Ruri my dear, I get what you mean now.”
___
As usual, without needing someone to remind him, Gen started washing the dishes at the sink. He wore the frilly apron Senku was wearing earlier. While washing, he started singing a catchy tune. He was caught unawares when a pair of arms wrapped around his waist. However, the embrace didn’t last for too long as Senku released him after a few seconds. Gen didn’t turn around and instead continued washing and singing the tune again. As soon as he finished, he threw the apron somewhere, wiped his hands, and finally faced the scientist.
“What is it, my dear?” Gen asked. Senku rarely initiated any physical affection, but when he did, it meant he had something to tell.
Senku picked his ear. “I’ll be free next week. We can go somewhere by then?”
“Of course! I was the one who uggested-say it in the first place. I’m glad I don’t have to wait for too long.”
“Alright.”
“My dear, Senku.”
“What?”
Gen erased the distance they had with each other as he leaned closer. Senku flinched a little bit but also leaned in. Gen crumpled Senku’s shirt behind him while the scientist placed one hand on the mentalist’s waist and the other on his face. Their lips found each other. They closed their eyes. The kiss that started slowly resumed in a sweet and lively manner, both so eager to overpower the other. Gen found his thighs bumping into the sink and brought an arm to support himself on it so as not to stumble backward.
His breath hitched as Senku started biting his lower lip. He almost let a moan out, but swallowed it down—he wouldn’t let Senku win so easily. His competitive side triggered, Gen pulled Senku’s collar aggressively and pressed their lips even closer. Senku accepted the silent challenge, moving on from biting to invading the other’s mouth with his tongue. Gen masterfully reciprocated and tasted everything that could be tasted.
Once their lips parted, both were panting heavily. They looked at each other’s eyes and bumped their foreheads together. The wine-colored eyes Gen was very fond of looked unfocused and hazy. Gen observed that their color almost matched the flush on the scientist’s face, equally a sight to behold. Those eyes stayed in that state for a while before their owner forced a few words out as if in a trance. “Tastes like ramen,” Senku blurted. Gen couldn’t hold his laugh back. He embraced the man tightly and whispered into his ear:
“Ahh, I truly do love you, my dear.”
Senku hugged him back. “I love you, too.”