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Yuma laid his eyes on the most beautiful man he’d ever seen. He was tall and slender, had a soft face with a razor sharp jawline to contrast, and wore a raw denim jacket. And he was actively having a nosebleed. He caught the first drop without thinking, moving on instinct like this was a regular thing for him. Yuma watched as the boy cupped his hand under his nose and sped out of the lecture hall.
Maybe it was the stress of the first day of classes causing it, but Dr. Giri was barely a page into the syllabus. It felt like the hundredth time that Yuma had heard the same attendance policy, grade make-up, and university rules, so he had been sketching rather than listening. This class was only College Writing—an easy A—so he could afford to pay attention to other things. Things like that boy with the nosebleed.
The professor nodded as the boy re-entered the room, bathroom tissue in hand in case the nosebleed continued. He took his seat near the door and attempted to regain composure, his face red with embarrassment. It was unfortunate, yes, but also very attractive to Yuma.
Yuma
nosebleed in the front is kinda cute…
Taki Oh my god please don’t call him that.
I think he’s in my stats class
Something Jo
Yuma
nakakita jo #soon
Taki
…
Right…
Yuma looked up from his phone when Dr. Giri announced that it was time for an icebreaker. Name, major, and one fun fact about yourself. Painfully simple and the third time today he had to rattle off “Nakakita Yuma, Fine Arts, dancer of 10 years”. Jo, with his unfortunate seating choice, was first.
“Oh…um,” He mumbled, pursing his lips as he thought. “I’m Asakura Jo, I’m, uh, a business major, and…I started my junior high basketball team.”
Yuma tuned out the rest of the introductions, stuck on Jo. He wanted more. He was quiet, simple, but there was more below the surface. Even if he was a business major. He didn’t particularly seem like one, they all had the same ugly haircut and the same audacity to them. Jo looked like the type of guy whose mom still cut his hair. He seemed like he’d start a team out of genuine love, not to show off. Yuma dissected Jo’s words until Taki nudged him. His turn to introduce himself. He stood, ready to say his piece and have introductions over with, and made eye contact with Jo. Jo who looked actively invested. That took the words out of his mouth.
“Nakakita Yuma,” he said, slightly breathless. “Fine Arts. And I have a piercer’s license.”
Taki looked at Yuma with a what the fuck? kind of look before he introduced himself. Honestly, Yuma wasn’t sure why he said that either. It was true, he got his piercer’s license before moving to college, but it’s not exactly icebreaker material. It made him stick out, something he often tried to avoid. He looked between Jo and the clock until class dismissed, fighting not to stare too obviously. Taki tapped him on the shoulder after packing up his materials.
“Piercer’s license? What kind of an icebreaker is that?”
“A fun one!” Yuma defended.
“Can’t a guy switch things up once in a while?”
“Yeah, if it’s not for another guy…”
“It’s not!” It was. Even subconsciously, Yuma knew he said it to get Jo’s attention without even knowing if that would interest him. For all he knew, he may have just scared Jo off by being a weird freak who plays with needles. Fuck, why did he say that?
Taki talked Yuma’s ear off all the way back to their dorm. He moved on from the icebreaker pretty quickly, but then it was “did you make any friends?”, “do you like your classes?”, “have you tried the dining hall food yet?”—question after question that Yuma answered distractedly. His mind was still on Jo. His pretty face, his hobbies, what else there was to him. He pulled out his phone to open Instagram, only half listening to Taki now. He tried various usernames, AsakuraJo, Jo_Asakura, until a 78Asakura popped up. “SCU ‘27 | 🏀#22”. He had a cat. He was valedictorian. He rushed DSIG in the spring. Yuma stopped in his tracks.
“What the FUCK?!” Taki gave him a look to keep going. “Asakura Jo is a fucking frat boy?”