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Ohno groaned on his seat next to the bar. He reached for another paper napkin, but the bartender moved it away and glared at him viciously. He had taken five sheets, at least, and he had drawn on them all. There’s practically no space left for him to doodle on and it kind of annoyed him. Everything right in that moment annoyed him, to be honest. The music was too loud for him, he didn’t know most of the people there, and he obviously didn’t enjoy parties. Right then, Ohno was convinced that it would be one of his worst nights.
Ohno looked around. Jun didn’t look like he was going home soon–of course. There’s a foosball table in one corner of the bar, but playing it alone would attract people’s attention to him, which he didn’t want at all. He had finished his drink since a while ago, so there’s nothing for him to stir listlessly too. It was just him, his pen, and a bunch of doodled napkins.
Ohno was about to groan for the tenth time in the past hour when he noticed a clean, white napkin not so far from him. There’s a man that sat a chair away from him since a while ago, whom the napkin belonged to, and he looked as detached to the party as Ohno was. The man was looking down, giving absolutely no fuck about the party that was happening behind him, and it gave Ohno the sense that he could talk to this man.
So he did.
“Do you use that?” Ohno asked, pointing.
The man looked up. He looked like he was not sure if Ohno was talking to him.
“The napkin. Can I have it?” Ohno elaborated.
The man eyed Ohno for a second before looking down again. “Sure.”
“Thanks,” Ohno mumbled. He reached for the napkin, but it was too far from him, so he moved to the next chair, which was right beside the other man. Ohno noticed that the man was playing games under the table, that’s why he was looking down all the time. It amused him a little, knowing that there’s someone who was as disinterested as him.
Minutes passed by afterward. Ohno filled the blank paper with doodles, and the man next to him spent his time by playing games.
Then, the man narrowed his eyes on Ohno’s drawing and then to Ohno himself. Getting back to his game in a flash, he stated, “I don’t know you.”
Ohno snorted a laugh. “Neither do ninety percent of the people here.”
“Hm,” the man hummed. “Dragged by a friend too?”
The word ‘too’ gave a smile to Ohno’s face. He felt like he got a company now–someone who was undergoing the same fate as him. With a finger pointed to the dancefloor, he answered, “Yeah. My roommate dragged me here.”
“Oh.” The man looked to the dance floor for a split second and then turned back to Ohno. “I’m Nino, by the way,” he said in an informing way.
“Ohno,” came the reply.
The conversation ended just like that. Ohno went back to doodling and Nino went back to whatever game he was playing. They both got lost in their own worlds, shutting down every other thing that didn’t matter to them. It was somehow different from before, though. If before they felt alone, now that they had acknowledged each other, it still felt alone, but also together. It was pretty comfortable and definitely better than being entirely alone, but then Ohno ran out of space again.
Knowing that he couldn’t keep searching for doodling medium, Ohno decided to restart the conversation. “Do you know Kazu, the birthday man?”
Nino immediately tore his eyes away from his handheld. He looked at Ohno with wide eyes, and replied with another question, “Are you for real?”
Ohno knew how bad he looked. He came to a birthday party, and yet he had no idea about the man who was having the birthday. He chuckled and said, “My roommate dragged me, remember?”
“And your roommate is...?”
“MatsuJun. Matsumoto Jun. Do you know him?”
Nino laughed dryly. His eyes went back to the game. “Bet ninety percent of the people here is dragged by him. Me too.”
Ohno chuckled. “I don’t even know how he manages to remember the names of all his friends.”
“Oh, he doesn’t, trust me,” Nino said with a grin. “He just saves everyone’s contact to his phone. Point a random guy and ask him the name, he’d make up a new nickname. I guarantee that.”
Ohno laughed. “That sounds so much like Jun.”
“Right?” Nino smirked, looking proud somehow. Then, a minute later, he asked, “How do you know J?”
“He’s my roommate.”
“But not until recently,” Nino pointed out. “I know him. He wouldn’t just put up an advertisement of looking for a roommate.”
Ohno smiled. Nino seemed to know Jun more than he expected. “We were neighbors as kids. When I moved back to the city, he offered to share an apartment.”
“Oh.” Nino punched the button particularly hard a few times. When the punching faltered, he repeated, “OH!” Nino looked up to Ohno. “So you’re that Ohno kun.”
“That Ohno kun?”
“The baker’s son, the painter, the artist.”
“That’s– I’m not good enough to be called an artist,” Ohno mumbled shyly.
“Also, Sho’s best friend,” Nino added, ignoring Ohno’s comment. “Right?”
Ohno nodded. He felt a bit weird that the stranger knew him that much while he knew nothing about Nino. “How about you? How do you know Jun?”
“Bad luck,” Nino answered shortly. “We shared a desk once in high school, and he has never left me alone ever since.”
Ohno guffawed. “What’s that? Sounds like a rom-com drama.”
“Like hell I’d want to be in a rom-com drama with him. Besides, he’s head over heels for Sho.”
“Oh, you know that too.”
“The whole world knows,” Nino tattled.
“Except Sho kun.”
“Except him, yes,” Nino agreed immediately and passionately.
Ohno was amused at how fast he clicked with Nino. It felt comfortable to talk with him. So easy, like he didn’t have to put effort on it. The conversation flowed naturally, and it didn’t feel forced at all. It probably was just because they shared a thing in common–which was Jun–but to get things went smoothly like this, it was a rare thing for Ohno.
“You know what,” Ohno started again because he didn’t want the conversation to end yet, “He actually wanted to introduce me to Kazu san.”
Nino squinted at Ohno, questioning with his eyes.
“The birthday man, I mean,” Ohno explained. “He thought Sho kun is interested in Kazu san, so he told me to... go meet the man and see if things go well from there. To keep Kazu san away from Sho kun, that is.”
“Wait, you go that way?” Nino asked but then he hurriedly answered himself, “Oh, of course you go that way, you’re J’s friend.”
Ohno tilted his head, confused on what Nino was focusing.
Nino brushed it off and continued with the conversation. “I can’t believe he is that dumb. And– Argh! He’s playing matchmaking again?”
Ohno shrugged. “He’s persistent on it. But, once we arrived, he met Sho kun and forgot everything. I haven’t even met Kazu san until now.”
“Stop using the honorific; it sends shivers to my spines,” Nino interrupted. “Anyway, where were you during the toast?”
“There was toast?”
“The only thing that indicates that this is a birthday party is that toast.”
“Oh,” Ohno racked his brain. “I went to the bathroom once, so probably during that time?”
Nino blinked at Ohno. “You’re unbelievable, aren’t you?”
“What? I can’t go pee?” Ohno countered with laughter.
Nino laughed too. By then, he already forgot about his game. He put down his handheld and occupied his hands with his drink instead. “Well, good for you, then. You don’t have to play along with his matchmaking game.”
“You seem like you have experience on that.”
“More than enough.”
Ohno laughed. It’s weird how much he laughed in such a short time with a guy he just met. It’s rare. It’s unheard of. Without overthinking it, he continued to keep the conversation going. “Actually, I looked forward to it.”
“To what?”
“To meeting Kazu sa–” Ohno stopped because Nino cringed. He fixed it, “Kazu. I look forward to meeting Kazu.”
“No way. You’re that desperate?”
“No, no,” Ohno chuckled. He gave it a thought and then continued, “He sounds like a nice person. Jun talks about him non-stop and... yeah, he sounds like a nice person.”
“Pfft,” Nino snorted. “I can’t imagine Jun talking nice about–”
“No,” Ohno couldn’t control his laughter. “Of course Jun doesn’t talk nice about him. It would mean that they’re not close if that’s the case.”
Nino raised his eyebrow.
“But I can tell that he cares about Jun, okay? He beat up a douchebag that tried to approach Jun.”
Nino’s forehead furrowed. “And how did you know who beat the guy?”
“Because no one knows about the guy except him and me,” Ohno laughed at the memory. “Jun only told him in hope that he’d tell Sho kun about it. You know, to see if Sho kun would get jealous.”
Nino was taken aback. “What the– That guy is the stupidest person ever, I swear.”
“In the end, Sho kun knew nothing and the guy got beaten up so bad. I can do the math from there.”
“It could be an accident.”
“Yes. But I happened to know a friend of the douchebag and he told me everything,” Ohno grinned. “Jun still didn’t know about this–”
“Then let it be that way,” Nino cut. “Let the stupid stay stupid.”
“Never intending to let him know anyway,” Ohno shrugged.
Nino sighed. He exhaled a long breath and stretched his limbs. He looked like he didn’t want to proceed with the topic anymore, so Ohno kept quiet. Nino’s eyes fell to the napkins, and he took one to observe it. With that, the conversation flowed again.
“He also talks so much about you,” Nino said. “Especially your drawings. He boasts about it like he’s your father or something.”
“That’s–,” Ohno smiled sheepishly. “He’s the only one to say that.”
“Oh...” Nino made a trailing voice. He swirled his glass once, then asked, “You like him? In that way, I mean.”
“No, no!” Ohno denied right away. “He’s like a brother to me. Just like Sho kun. How did you jump to that conclusion?”
“Well,” Nino shrugged. He gestured to the bartender to refill his glass. When the bartender finished with his, he turned to Ohno. “Want to order more?”
“Ah, no. I’m alright,” Ohno refused. “It doesn’t feel right since I don’t know the one who pays.”
Nino stifled his laughter. He landed his hand on Ohno’s back and patted twice. “You’re one good man, Ohno san. Drink! J will pay, so you don’t have to worry!”
“Eh?”
“It’s his invitation, after all,” Nino shrugged.
“Oh,” Ohno laughed. “Well, if you put it that way, it’s just fair that Jun should be paying.”
“Right? So, here, drink more,” Nino took the bottle from the bartender and poured the liquor into Ohno’s glass.
Ohno received it with a smile, and they toasted. After a sip, an afterthought came to Ohno. “Hey, come to think about it, maybe Kazu likes Jun.” Then, he added, “In that way.”
Nino choked on his drink. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and stated clearly, “That’s an impossible thing, Ohno san.”
“Impossible?”
“100% impossible,” Nino made sure with all of his might.
Because Nino looked so serious about it, Ohno laughed. “Could it be... that you like Jun, Nino san?”
“I said, it’s impossible, Ohno san,” Nino said again.
“Alright, alright,” Ohno put up his hands in surrender. He was still laughing, though, finding Nino’s seriousness about it highly amusing. Then, they sighed at the same time. They looked at each other because of that, and then they laughed. Ohno turned around in his seat and slowly searched for Jun with his eyes. “Where’s Jun, anyway? He promised to treat me fried oyster after this. I’m starving.”
“Fried oyster? From the restaurant near the station?”
Ohno nodded. He stretched his neck to see more of the dancefloor.
“It should be closed by now. It’s past eleven already,” Nino showed the screen of his phone.
Ohno groaned. “I hate him.”
Nino laughed out loud. “Now we’re allies on that part, Ohno san.” He stopped when he saw something, then he asked Ohno, “You said J and Sho kun are like your brothers, right?”
“Yeah, but–”
“Then you might not want to turn to your right.”
Ohno turned out of reflex and regretted it right away. There, on the other side of the club, Jun was making out with Sho, feverishly and shamelessly. Ohno groaned and closed his eyes with both of his hands. “God, my eyes!”
Nino laughed even louder. He slapped his thigh and wiped his tear. “I’ve warned you!”
“Oh God, I need to wash my eyes with holy water.”
“Good for them, though. Finally!”
“Yeah, finally,” Ohno agreed, getting calmer as he turned away from the couple.
“That man, really,” Nino shook his head while still laughing. “At least he should have introduced you to someone first before getting it on like that.”
“Yes! Or at least he should give me the apartment’s key.”
“Starting to regret that the matchmaking was canceled?” Nino teased.
Ohno laughed to that. “Not really.” Ohno downed the rest of his drink in one go. His words came out soft and small when he continued, “I met you, which is nice too, so I have no regret.”
Nino stared with disbelief written on his face. He blinked once, and then laughed. “You really are that desperate, aren’t you?”
“I’m not!”
Nino still laughed. He stood up and pocketed his phone and his console. Apparently, he was leaving. “You like Chinese food?”
“Yeah,” Ohno answered, eyeing Nino with a bit of panic. Somehow, he didn’t want the moment to end yet.
“Good. You know Aiba? A friend of Jun too.”
“Yeah.”
“He couldn’t make it to come here on time because he has to tend his Chinese restaurant down the road, Keikarou. He should be here in an hour but if we walk fast enough, we could catch him before he’s closing.”
Ohno couldn’t grasp it. “Eh?”
“Come on,” Nino, who had already started to walk, turned and gestured to Ohno to follow him.
“Eh? What?”
Nino stopped and walked back with annoyance. “Do you want to stay here, or do you want to eat Chinese with me?”
It finally registered on Ohno’s head that Nino was asking him out–well, kind of. He grinned, not only because he was saved from the boring party, but also because he liked Nino’s company. Slowly, he nodded and climbed down from his seat, more than ready to follow Nino.
Nino smiled. “There you go.” He resumed his walk, heading towards the exit without hesitation. “My treat, okay?”
“Hm?”
“It’s my birthday, that’s why.”
.
extra
.
“Nino.”
“Yes?”
“So you have the same birthday as Kazu?”
“...”
“...”
“Okay. My name is Ninomiya Kazunari, it’s nice to meet you.”
“Ah, yes. Ohno Satoshi.”
“Yes.”
“Ninomiya Kazu–”
“Yes.”
“Oh…”
“Yes.”
“OOOOHHH!!”
“Yes.”