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The first time he said it, Yuuji didn’t think much of the reaction.
“You’re beautiful.”
Megumi hadn’t replied, glancing away. Yuuji’s first instinct had been to think that he was flustered, or maybe he was just being quiet. Considering how often he went silent if he wasn’t trying to bicker (tsundere, Yuuji would tease him sometimes), it was a realistic option. In-character. So, he shrugged it off, making Megumi snuggle him after a few lines of protest.
The second time, the third, he thought similar. It was still early in the relationship, they were getting to know each other romantically, and this seemed to be normal. Yuuji would compliment him, Megumi would either say something snarky or look away with an unreadable face. He was always the cool type like that.
As things progressed, though, he started to notice differences in things. Different types of cool faces. Some were unbothered. Some were hiding being flustered or pleased. He had a special one when he was dealing with kids, trying to look friendly while also not expressing too much and turning into someone completely different. The one he wore when Yuuji called him beautiful, though, was different.
It wasn’t the pleased sort of quiet when Yuuji complimented his smarts or clothes.
It wasn’t the appreciative kind that came when he secretly did something nice for him.
No, this was… weirder. Unsettling. Yuuji knew every other expression, yet this one perplexed him.
He was thinking about that exact face while he was lounging on Megumi’s bed after they’d finished studying together, flipping through a copy of the latest Shounen Jump. The way his eyes flicked away, the slight stiffness of his jaw, the pull of his lips…
“Hey, Mekkun?”
Megumi looked up at Yuuji’s nickname for him. He had been in the middle of changing, binder tight around his chest as he looked for a new shirt. “Yeah? You need something?”
“You’re beautiful.”
He immediately looked away with that same look, and Yuuji knew he was missing something right then. That was well-tested proof, right? That was how science worked, probably. That was what it sounded like in the few classes he paid attention to, anyways.
“What’s up?”
“Huh?”
“Your face.” Yuuji pointed at his own face. “It gets weird when I say that.”
“It… doesn’t.”
A clear lie. Yuuji sighed, sitting up better on the bed and putting the manga cover. “Yeah, it does.” He began pulling at his own features in order to manipulate it into an impression of Megumi. “You get all quiet and your mouth is all… Mmmmm.”
“I’m normally quiet.”
“Not that kind of quiet.”
“I’m fine.”
“Nuh-uh.”
Megumi stared at his boyfriend, his sweatshirt still in his hand and not yet put on. “What are you, a child?”
“Nope. I’m just right,” Yuuji declared, crossing his arms and puffing his chest confidently. He was going to get to the bottom of this. “I’m gonna keep bothering you until you say something.”
Megumi seemed to weigh the risks of Yuuji’s stubbornness (an infinite value) against whatever he was thinking. He then looked away, shrugging his sweatshirt on. “I told you, I’m fine.”
Yuuji got up and grabbed Megumi’s wrist. “Dude. Come on. I’m your boyfriend—”
“I said—”
“I know what you said, but that doesn’t mean it’s true—”
“I don’t want to be beautiful, okay?!” Megumi snapped. He then looked away, pulling up his hood and pushing past Yuuji to get on the bed.
Yuuji had his system shocked by the yelling, meaning he let it happen. His eyes went to Megumi, sitting on the bed with a slouch. He gnawed the inside of his cheek, trying to think it through. Why wouldn’t someone want to be beautiful? Wasn’t it a compliment? That was what Megumi was to him, the most beautiful man he’d ever seen.
“Why?”
“Women are beautiful, not me,” Megumi muttered.
Oh.
Yeah.
Beautiful was a word more associated with femininity, graceful ladies and dancers. Yuuji hadn’t thought of it that way, just used the first word that came to mind, but… in hindsight, yeah, fine. He sat down next to Megumi, their knees brushing. “…sorry.”
“It’s fine—”
“It’s not.” Yuuji put an arm around Megumi. “You’re not a woman, and you shouldn’t have to feel like one because I say something.”
Megumi didn’t say anything, just meeting his eyes.
“So, what should I call you? Cute? Pretty? Hot? Sexy?”
“I, uh…” Megumi’s face froze as he was overloaded by different ways to compliment his appearance. His mouth opened and shut a few times, as if trying to process them all. “I’m not sure—”
“Handsome?”
His cheeks turned pink.
It was subtle, of course, like lots of things Megumi did, but Yuuji saw it. It was the look that rarely came outside of the most romantic moments of their relationship — the confession that started it all, their first kiss, when Megumi and him first shared a bed…
Yuuji grinned, leaning his weight against Megumi. “Handsome it is.”
Megumi mumbled something under his breath, but the blush didn’t fade.
Didn’t want to be beautiful? Fine. He didn’t have to be. Yuuji kissed him anyways.