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“Oh yeah, I invited Furi-chan to join us. Hope that’s ok! He should already be at the art gallery but K-chan and I are going to be late. So be sure to entertain him for me ok? See you soon Gin-chan!”
Zeal turns off his voicemail and stares at his phone incredulously, trying to process the message Seible left behind. He stands a few feet away from the art gallery entrance, a little lost on how to proceed.
Freodore…
Zeal knows of Freodore, the popular design student, the picture of cool, calm and collected. No one on campus has ever seen him overly excited or lose his temper. He does not yell when anyone counters him. Instead, he thoughtfully considers the other’s thoughts and accepts them graciously when they make sense. However, the moment anyone says something factually wrong, he will correct them quickly and straightforwardly, sending a chill down anyone's spine.
Zeal also knows of Freodore, Furi-chan for short, Seible’s friend that he met in a business law class. The Freodore who does not have the best sense of direction, who is against Seible's choices of sweets and who is extremely picky about the coffee he consumes. The one who spends time calculating which wardrobe and accessories to wear for the day, including non-prescription glasses.
Zeal also knows of Freodore, Freo for short, Kaelix’ friend that he met in a campus fashion show that he modeled for. The one with the edgy fashion and music tastes that would rival Zeal's own. The one who’s SO cool, Kaelix wants to be like him someday. He’ll for sure get along with Zeal.
Zeal knows of Freodore, but has not personally met him. He's seen him walking through the halls of the creative buildings on campus or waving bye to Seible and Kaelix. Truthfully, he's a little intimidated by him and his cool aura. He doesn't want to leave a bad impression on Seible and Kaelix’ friend after all, especially when he himself is just a guy.
He's about to call Seible to ask where to meet the said cool, calm, collected man when his phone vibrates with a message from said friend.
“Furi-chan is in the art gallery cafe! You can meet him there! Just find the coolest person there drinking coffee, and that's him! You can't miss him!” The message says, he can almost hear the other say it.
Zeal simply fires back a message of his own. “Gee, thanks! Also, please don’t leave me alone with him for too long!” He shoves the phone into his pocket and pulls the doors open to the art gallery. He ignores the vibration from his pocket; no doubt another message from Seible asking him ridiculous things. What a guy.
The lobby of the art gallery immediately surrounds him with a serene quietness. The space is relatively empty but not devoid of life. There are people scattered among the halls, yes, but there is also a quiet, steady energy surrounding the artwork lining the halls from the entrance to the cafe. It fills him with a need to remain quiet, lest he disturb the atmosphere within and around each piece.
He arrives at the cafe and surveys the room. There are more people here than in the lobby, no doubt resting their feet from walking through the gallery.
“Find the coolest person,”Seible had said.
Zeal takes another careful look at the cafe, eyes sweeping through each table.
There in the middle is Freodore, dressed in a black turtleneck and a red, cable-knit cardigan. His smoky turquoise hair looks pristine, not a hair out of place. He takes a sip of his coffee while scrolling through his phone, unbothered by the chatter around him. The overhead cafe lights seem to put a spotlight on him, setting him apart from the rest of the cafe - a picture of serenity, elegance and grace.
Well, Zeal gulps. Here goes nothing.
He knocks on the table as he approaches, catching the other's attention.
“Hey Freodore,” Zeal winces. He sounds so awkward and stiff to his own ears. The other turns to look up at him anyway, eyes opening wide, perhaps in recognition. Cute, Zeal's mind supplies but he shakes the thought out of his head. “Can I sit here?”
Freodore nods, “Sure.” He takes a sip of his coffee, watching him over the rim of his cup with his sunset coral eyes.
Zeal’s palms start to sweat as he settles into the chair across from Freodore, feeling like he needs to do something, say something, anything!
“Uhh.. Seible messaged me and said that he and Kaelix were going to be late,” he wipes his palms against his pants, hoping to keep the sweat at bay.
“Yes, he told me the same thing. He didn't specify what their ETA is though,” Freodore answers, taking another sip, eyes still watching Zeal over the rim of his cup.
Zeal only nods in response, looking everywhere else but back at the man in front of him. He fiddles with his phone, takes a peak at the entrance and looks around the cafe once more. After what must be the 10th time doing that rotation, he realizes he hasn't introduced himself.
He straightens his posture in his seat and clears his throat. “Sorry I’m Zeal Ginjoka -”
“Zeal Ginjoka,” they say at the same time, Freodore placing his cup on the table.
“- by the way..” Zeal finishes, surprised. “You know who I am?”
To this, Freodore gives him a look. He fiddles with his coffee cup on the table. “Of course I do. Everyone on campus knows who you are because of your music.” Ah right that. “And I’ve seen you with Seible and Kaelix. They talk about you all the time,”
Zeal can only look at him. The Freodore knows him?!
“And I've been to a few end of term concerts by the music faculty. Your music is really good,” Freodore continues, peaking at his cup.
Zeal’s mouth falls open in wonder. THE Freodore thinks his music is good?! He listens to his music??
He mentally shakes his head and tries to compose himself. “Aw shucks, that's so sweet. I'm glad to hear that you like my music, “ he says, tapping his fingers on the table - a distraction. “Ah but your stuff is cool too though! Seible took me to last semester’s fashion show. He says you mixed the music for it?”
The lighter-haired man nods. There's a light dusting of pink on the other’s cheek.
Zeal blinks at that. Must be the lighting.
“I didn't really do much. There was already an instrumental track prepared,” Freodore answers, fingers fiddling with his cup.
“Kaelix told me you designed the suit he wore and that you helped direct the stage design. If that's not much, I don't know what is,” Zeal says, pausing to observe the other man. For some reason, seeing the other a little shy from the compliments brings him joy. “You're crazy for that Freodore.”
“Freo,” the other says. “You can call me Freo.”
“Oh,” that's a surprise. “Really?”
“Yeah, Seible and Kaelix do it. You can too.”
“Okay then. Thanks Freo,” Zeal smiles. The name rolls off his tongue so easily. His smile drops a little when he sees that there are no new messages on his phone from their other two friends. “Speaking of Seible and Kaelix, there's still nothing from either of them…” It's been 30 minutes..
“Yeah, I haven't gotten anything either.” Freo taps on his phone on the table. “I'll send them a message.”
Zeal nods. “I’ll go get something from the cafe. Do you want something?”
Freo shakes his head. “No, thank you.”
So polite, Zeal smiles and excuses himself to the counter to order a coffee.
As he waits for his order, Zeal takes his time to observe his companion. Freo has gone back to scrolling through his phone, either looking through messages from their suspiciously silent friends or looking through his socials. He tucks a strand of hair behind his ear, looking ever so elegant.
Zeal blinks. Truthfully, it’s not the first time he’s had this thought. Whether it was during the end of term fashion show or in passing, Zeal has admittedly let his eyes linger on the design student far longer than he should’ve. There’s something about the other that is so enchanting, he can’t seem to look away. Even the little furrow in his brows as he looks at his phone in concentration is so -
The barista catches his attention and passes him his order, stopping his thoughts.
Zeal walks back to their shared table and finds Freo staring intently at his phone, furrow in his brows still present. “Anything?” he asks as he takes his seat.
Freo turns to face Zeal, his face now formed into a confused frown. “Seible says that he's now with Kaelix but Kaelix isn't ready yet. Swag crisis apparently, whatever that means.”
Zeal can’t help but laugh. He reaches for his own phone, finds the group chat with his friends and sends them a long line of question marks.
A message pops up from Kaelix that reads “This is a serious matter!” Zeal can hear it all too well.
Another line of question marks pops up, from Freo this time, followed by a long line of keyboard smashing from Kaelix. The other two must have added Freo to the group chat without him noticing.
“Well, it looks like we’ll need to wait a little while longer,” Zeal says, putting his phone back in his pocket. He taps his coffee cup with the pads of his fingers, unsure what else to talk about. Thankfully, Freo breaks the awkward silence.
“So I've always wanted to ask, Mr. Ginjoka," he starts, tone not unlike an interviewer on TV. “What motivated you to include Spanish in Molotov Mocktail?”
“Oh hm, I don't think anyone's asked me that yet,” Zeal pauses and considers his answer. “Hmm, ultimately I thought that the meaning I wanted to convey sounded better in another language. And that's how that came to be.”
“Hoo~ I see,” Freo straightens up in his seat. “Ok then Mr. Ginjoka,” Zeal lifts a brow at this, amused. “If you were to assign a song from your EP to Seible and Kaelix, which would you assign to each of them?”
“What is this? An interview?” Zeal jokes, earning a chuckle from the other. He brings his arms in and crosses them in front of his chest. His back settles against the back of the chair and he tilts his head ever so slightly to the left in thought. “Hmmm, well it's changed from when I started writing the songs and now. At first, I thought Antivenom matched Kaelix pretty well. But now, I would assign him Medusa’s Masquerade. And for Seible, at first I thought With Good Spirits. But now, he's definitely Antivenom.”
Freo hums and nods in understanding.
“And for you, I originally thought Corroding Heart. But now I’m starting to think Molotov Mocktail suits you more,” Zeal continues.
To this, the corner of Freo’s lips lift up ever so slightly into a wider smile. “Is that how you see me?”
Zeal only shrugs.
“Wait but if Kaelix’ is Medusa’s Masquerade, that makes him the poor boy then?”
Zeal laughs at the comment. “I guess he is,” he feels his cheeks start to get sore. What a ridiculous thought. He doesn't think that he's smiled this much in the last week or so. Perk of not going outside unless necessary.
They chat about the album, eventually turning their conversation into the topic of their musical interest - to which they found many similarities. They talk about video games and their shared interest in Sonic the hedgehog. They find out that they're in many shared friendship circles, and they've managed to not interact with each other. They recount many funny stories about their friends. Occasionally, Freo laughs with him and he is struck with how easy it is to talk to the other man. He's suddenly not sure why he even found the other intimidating, maybe due to his usual stern expression, but here, he recognizes the makings of another good friend. He sees why Kaelix and Seible enjoy the other’s company.
In the end, they did not end up exploring the gallery. An hour following the swag crisis message, Seible texts the group chat that Kaelix has been struck with a debilitating stomachache and can no longer go out!
“Sorry Gin-chan and Furi-chan! We'll have to reschedule the gallery next time! I'll just take care of Kaelix here, don't you worry! :^ ^)੭ “ the message says.
Zeal and Freo look at each other.
“You're thinking what I'm thinking right,” Zeal says.
“That they set us up and this was a huge ploy to get us to finally meet?”
Zeal nods. “Yeah. Kaelix probably doesn't even have a stomachache. If he did, he’d still force himself to come here.”
Freo nods this time, his bangs shaking with each movement. “He would, that silly goose.”
“Did you just call him a goose?”
“Yeah.. I guess I should call him a monkey.”
The music student laughs. “That's a better match. Well?” he tilts his head toward the other man, leaving him with the option of what to do next.
Freo shrugs. “I've got time. I’ve kept the whole day open for this after all.”
Zeal nods in agreement. “Is there another place you want to visit?”
The design student pauses in consideration, only to shake his head in the end and say. “Here is fine. The ambience is nice.” Zeal nods again.
They talk until close to the cafe’s closing time, continuing to exchange stories of their friends, chat about music, games and even their shared enjoyment of coffee.
Zeal steps out of the gallery with a feeling of contentment. Though today’s plans did not go as planned, he feels accomplished.
“That was fun,” Freo says, breaking Zeal’s thoughts. “Thanks for hanging out even if we didn’t go through the gallery.”
“You’re welcome,” he says without missing a beat. He grins at the face the other man makes. “No seriously though, thanks for the chat. You’ve brought up so many memories about Sonic that I’d forgotten about. And you’ve given me so many coffee recommendations. “
“Anything to make you drop that microwaving habit of yours.” “Ack!”
They laugh in sync and Zeal is a little sad (only a little!) that the day has come to an end.
“I’ll see you around Zeal,” Freo adjusts the tote bag hanging on his shoulder and waves a hand at him before shoving his hands in his pockets and walking away.
Zeal watches him move further away. Somehow he feels like they won’t have another chance to hang out like this given both of their super busy schedules. It takes a lot of persistence for his other two friends to pull him out from hiding after all. And he's heard many stories from them about a certain design student spending hours on end in the studio.
What a shame…
He blinks at the thought. He moves before he knows it, calls the other’s name before he can think. What he's feeling, Zeal isn't sure.
“Freo!”
The other turns and looks up at him with wide eyes, much like how he did earlier in the gallery. At this distance, Zeal is struck with the height difference. Freo isn't short by any means (Zeal's just tall), but it does make the former all the more endearing.
“Would you like to do this again sometime? Hang out at a cafe and chill? I guess it doesn't have to be at a cafe specifically” Zeal asks.
Freo tilts his head to the side every so slightly, in consideration maybe.
“It'll help reduce my coffee microwaving time and it'll help me touch grass more,” he feels his hands get sweatier with every second of silence from his companion.
“And you can introduce me to more coffee and indie games.”
“Seible and Kaelix -” Freo starts to say.
“No, no Seible and Kaelix. Just us. It'll be too rowdy with those two anyway,” Zeal interrupts.
Freo blinks at him once, twice, before chuckling. His cheeks lift and his eyes narrow slightly into happy crescents. “Yes, I'd love that.”
Zeal closes a dresser drawer after pulling out a pair of socks.
On top of the dresser in front of him are a few picture frames, a set of house keys and a pair of rings. He picks up one of the picture frames in particular. He gently swipes a finger across the glass cover, smiling fondly to himself.
A hand slides itself around his waist and rests on his stomach. Another hand slides up his left arm and soon, he feels a familiar warmth against his back.
“What are you looking at?” comes Freo’s soft voice.
“Nothing~,” Zeal sing-songs, placing the picture frame back to its position on the dresser. The other’s hand against his stomach retracts and he feels Freo shift away from him and towards the dresser.
The other picks up one of the rings and slides it onto his finger. “You look at that photo all the time.”
“What can I say, it's my favourite one,” Zeal shrugs. He reaches for Freo's waist, turns him ever so slightly towards him, and pulls the shorter one against himself. His chest fills with warmth, always in awe at how perfectly the other seems to fit in his arms like this. He leans in towards the other, their foreheads almost touching. Freo’s hand slides halfway up his arm, ready to hook it around his neck in an embrace (Zeal can tell). “I should bring it to the art gallery to display.”
Freo slaps his bicep lightly. “Sap,” he says before pushing himself away from the taller one.
Zeal hears the smile in his voice and sees the rosiness rise in his cheek as the other adjusts the red earring dangling from his ear. He slides a hand into the small of Freo’s back, itching to just touch some part of him. The latter isn't super fond of physical touch, but small things like this, he can tolerate. And boy, does Zeal take advantage of these small touches when he can.
“Speaking of art galleries, we should go. I'm sure Seible and Kaelix will be there soon,” he gently peels off Zeal's hand from his back, but holds on to his fingers and walks away from the dresser. Zeal obediently follows (he doesn't have a choice really), grabbing the other ring and the keys in the process.
“I'm stashing that picture in my pocket as we speak,” Zeal jokes.
“You wouldn't,” Freo answers matter-of-factly.
“You underestimate me, mi amor.”
Their laughter rings through the apartment. Their hands only separate at the front door when it is time to put on socks and shoes. They join again as they exit the apartment, the door closing quietly behind them.
On top of the dresser are a few picture frames.
One frame has a picture of Zeal at a cafe. It's the one at the art gallery where they first officially met. They make a habit of visiting the art gallery occasionally, mostly for memories’ sake. He is wearing a cream turtleneck sweater and a brown long coat. It shows him looking slightly down towards the camera, expression relaxed and content. He has a cup of coffee in both of his hands, one of them posing to pass the cup in his right hand to the person holding the camera.
Another frame contains a picture of Freo (Zeal's favourite picture). It's of the shorter man also in the art gallery cafe. He is wearing a cable-knit, red cardigan and a black turtleneck shirt, adorned with a silver necklace and shiny silver and ruby earring - both gifts by one Zeal Ginjoka. He looks slightly past the camera, head slightly tilted back, his eyes slightly narrow as his mouth opens into a wide smile. His left hand lifts as if en route to cover his mouth. Not seen in the picture is the silver ring just placed onto Freo’s left ring finger.
The last one is of the two of them in matching black suits, green accents on Zeal’s and red accents on Freo’s. They are huddled closely together; Zeal is leaning his body towards Freo, his head almost resting on the shorter man’s. The large oval window they're standing next to bathes them with light, highlighting the matching smiles on their faces and also the matching rings on their clasped hands.