Secret Whispers - Chapter six [Part I]
Title: Secret Whispers
Authors: aroruae & fighter_of_moon
Pairings: Akame, Ryokame & others along the way
Genre: AU, angst, fluff, drama, smut
Disclaimer: If the boys were ours, you'd be seeing more of them on TV and we'd have them in RL too
Summary: For those who don't give a damn on things like destiny, let me tell you one thing. They are real. And that's what Akanishi Jin was going to find out.
A/N: We forgot something last time ^^ This is the watch that Jin had bought to Kazuya: look here
First song ~ Without notice
Second song ~ Water dance
Third song ~ Our story - Prologue
Fourth song ~ Crazy love
Fifth song ~ Affection
Chapter six
Sixth song ~ I.N.P.
My drinking is heavy your drinking is light
I'm looking for somebody better than you
Checking the floor and I'm wondering who.
It was starting to become kind of annoying, to be honest. All of his friends seemed to have disappeared suddenly and even when Jin had taken the liberty to visit some of them, they were always gone from home or in a hurry to leave as soon as Jin appeared. He had even tried to visit Pi at his work place, but that stupid secretary had insisted that he was in an important meeting and that he couldn’t be disturbed, so Jin had no choice than to go back home to rehearse some of his lines for the movie.
Actually, he was seriously bored. They were filming right now the scenes that didn’t need much of his appearance and Jin didn’t even need to go at the set early in the morning as it had happened in the past month since he had come to Japan. His schedule was incredibly loose these days and even if Jin was wondering how this miracle happened, he couldn’t say that he was complaining.
He smirked when he saw his favorite assistant entering the set and heading towards Matsumoto. His grin widened as the actor sat up and approached the two of them with small and lazy steps, as if he wasn’t interested in them, only to fasten his steps when he got closer and jump on Kazuya to hug him from behind.
“I missed you~” the actor sang happily, smiling and looking defiantly at Jun who was rolling his eyes at Jin’s actions.
Jin wasn’t interested in that and he had no intention on giving any attention to the young director. Because even if he was abandoned for the time being by his friends, he knew that his cell phone will start ringing early tomorrow morning. After all, it was his birthday tomorrow.
Kazuya was startled by the sudden hug and almost squealed, but stopped himself in time. He elbowed Jin in the stomach, brushing him aside. “Too bad I can’t say the same thing.” The younger hissed, throwing a death glare to him. “Please refrain from such affectionate actions. I’m very sorry for him, Director.” He continued and bowed quickly and embarrassed to Jun.
“Don’t worry, Kamenashi-kun, I know perfectly well how much of an idiot he can be.” Jun smiled in recognition at Kazuya at which Jin pouted.
“You’re mean and I don’t want to be your friend anymore.” The actor sulked, standing between the two of them and glancing at Kazuya and Jun, arms crossed and lips pursed to show how mad he was on the two of them for their behavior towards him.
“What a shame.” Jun rolled his eyes in exasperation. “Now please go and let me do my job.” He continued as he looked at Jin with an expecting expression.
“Can I also take Kazuya?” Jin proceeded to ask, making Jun sigh tiredly.
“Just be back in an hour, you have one last scene before finishing for today.” The director replied, dismissing the other two with a wave of his hand, at which Jin smiled brightly and tugged on Kazuya’s hand, pulling the boy towards his dressing room.
Kazuya looked like an abandoned puppy to the Director as Jin dragged him from there. He sighed, resigned to his fate while being pushed around by Jin. As they entered the dressing room, Kazuya quickly asked the actor, sounding a bit annoyed. “And why do you need me now?” the assistant demanded to know, looking a bit fidgety.
“What? Can’t I just want to talk to you for a little bit?” Jin asked with a hurt expression.
“Oh.” Kazuya’s lips formed a perfect O. “So you wanted to talk…” he mumbled under his breath, seeming to regain his composure.
“You could’ve talked with me on the set too.” The younger said, shrugging a little.
“Well, it wouldn’t have been as interesting.” Jin also shrugged, but his eyes seemed to be a little devious as he reached for the door knob and locked the door, taking the key and putting it into his pants. He then turned to look at Kazuya with a sweet smile, as if he hadn’t done anything.
“Eh?!” Kazuya looked at the door and then at Jin. He furrowed his brows and narrowed his eyes at the actor. “Why did you do that?” he asked and took a step forward to the other one. Somehow, being locked - again! - with Jin in an empty room didn’t sound safe at all. Not that being with Jin was safe in any way, but still.
“So that no one would bother us.” Jin answered with a shrug as he slowly approached Kazuya, only to pass by him and head to the couch, settling on it and spreading his arms to relax a bit.
Kazuya tensed when he felt Jin moving towards him, this not being his idea at all. He had first wanted to approach the actor, sneak slowly upon him and snatch the key from his pants. He really didn’t feel comfortable with Jin alone and locked. It was like there was something in the air that almost whispered to Kazuya - something will happen. It sent shivers down his spine. But he was not going to back down so he turned to Jin before taking a deep breath.
“It’s not like anyone bothered us before.” Kazuya said with an arched eyebrow. “Besides… what do you want to talk about?”
“Well, this seems to be a problem lately.” Jin muttered under his breath, thinking at all the times his friends had ditched him in the past few days. He then looked up and settled his gaze on Kazuya. “Tomorrow I have a day off.” The actor started, waiting the younger to follow on his cue and realize what he was trying to imply.
And Kazuya realized what Jin wanted to talk about. He suppressed a smile. “So? What does it have to do with me?” he crossed his arms, looking devilishly. Yamapi had called him a day before - even if Kazuya had been surprised to hear his voice on the phone - and had said that he was invited to Jin’s surprise birthday party and that he had to keep it a secret from the actor. Even if the idea of partying with Jin’s friends didn’t sound that appealing to him, Kazuya had still accepted, thinking that it was a good opportunity that he shouldn’t miss.
“And I want to spend it with you.” Jin confessed, looking at Kazuya with pleading eyes, a weird spark glowing in them as he seemed to also have other plans for the two of them.
Kazuya’s heart warmed instantly and his expression softened. The jerk wanted to spend his birthday with Kazuya, not knowing that he was already planned a party thrown by his friends. The younger felt a bit overwhelmed, that’s why when he spoke, his voice sounded a bit raw. “I have plans already, sorry.” He said with a gentle tone and saying sorry in his mind to Jin.
“What?” Jin blinked, seeming shocked for a moment. “You can’t.” he added, as if it was totally impossible for this to happen. “I mean… you… I… Damn it.” He finally chose to swear in a pathetic attempt to vent out his anger.
Kazuya felt pity for Jin and almost wanted to go and hug him, telling him that he shouldn’t be that sad because tomorrow there will be a big party and it will be only for the star Akanishi Jin. Yet he couldn’t stay cold and away from the older so he approached him, putting a hand on his head and ruffling his hair in a loving gesture as he sat down next to him.
“Sorry, punk.” The assistant muttered, real regret in his voice.
“It’s not fair.” Jin pouted, letting himself be comforted by Kazuya’s hand. “It’s the first time after five years that I can spend my birthday with my friends and family and they are all gone. Disappeared. Vanished. Bye bye. I hate them.” He finished, obviously disappointed by Kazuya’s answer.
Kazuya had to moister all of his acting skills to not give himself away that he had known about it beforehand. “Y-your birthday is tomorrow?” He asked, pretending to be all shocked as his hand slid down and rested on Jin’s shoulder. “Wow!” He smiled and crouched in front of Jin. “Happy Birthday~” he singsonged to the actor, wearing a goofy expression. “Even if it’s with a day earlier, at least I’m the first to say it.” Kazuya grinned like a child. “And don’t worry about your friends, I’m sure they’ll be tomorrow at your door singing Happy Birthday and throwing with presents at you. So don’t say words so easily as I hate them, okay?” The assistant winked and got up, his hand ruffling once more Jin’s hair. He felt like spoiling Jin a little.
“Wait!” Jin said, catching Kazuya’s hand and stopping him from getting up. “You have a day off tomorrow too, right?” he asked, knowing that if he was free, then Kazuya must be too. “Can you…” he gulped and looked away from the assistant for a second, “can you make some time for me? Half an hour at least?” he kindly asked, still sulking about his friends even if he knew that Kazuya was right and that they’ll show up first thing in the morning.
Kazuya bit onto his lower lip and looked unsure at Jin. “I’m sorry… I can’t promise you anything.” He replied, sighing inaudible. How could he promise such a thing when he was supposed to go at Jin’s birthday party? Though it kind of made him feel like a jerk seeing the faces Jin showed. And it wasn’t acting.
“Okay then…” Jin sighed as he released Kazuya’s arm and sat up, turning his back on him and heading to the door. He stopped in front of it and seemed to ponder on something, only to turn back and look at Kazuya with firm eyes, as if he was saying that he could take any answer. “Are you seeing that girl tomorrow?” he asked, wanting to sound sure and confident, but managing to speak with a slightly fearful voice. He knew that Yuuya had told him that Kazuya lied, but… he had also said that Kazuya doesn’t usually go out. And now he had plans. With whom?
Somehow, it was better to think at that girl than Ryo or Kimura Takuya or some other guy like that.
Kazuya frowned upon hearing Jin’s question, wondering from where it came. “What girl? No, I’m with Yuuya tomorrow.” He replied, still frowning and looking a bit clueless about what Jin was asking.
Oh, Jin thought, he should have known better that a work addict like Kazuya didn’t really have a social life. “It doesn’t matter.” He smiled and proceeded to leave again, only to turn back for the second time, looking yet again a little unsure while biting his lower lip. “I forgot to tell you something.” He confessed, avoiding Kazuya’s eyes for a moment. “I talked to Ryo and he said that he needs an assistant because the last one didn’t last long so I told him about you and the only thing you need now is to settle a meeting to see if you can get the job.” He blurted out, not stopping even to breathe.
Only Jin could make his heart stop like this, Kazuya thought as he ran up to him and grabbed his hands, his face lit up with excitement and shock. “Really?!” he said with an enthusiastic voice, trembling a little. “Oh, God! Thank you!!” Kazuya said with a grateful voice and on a whim, hugged Jin, his heart thumping loudly. He could not believe it!! To be Nishikido Ryo’s assistant was like a dream… one he had dreamt all along!
“You’re welcome.” Jin chuckled and answered to Kazuya’s hug, resting his hands on the boy’s waist. He was happy that he had been the one to make Kazuya smile like that and for the time being, the faint tug of his heart was totally forgotten and replaced by the thought that Kazuya was in his arms. “You still need to pass his interview though and you might be forced to give up at the job you currently have, but I’m sure it will be worth it.” He added, still smiling and now looking into Kazuya’s eyes, like he hadn’t just said that Kazuya will leave him soon if he will get the job. “Ryo is a great director and you’ll have a lot of opportunities with him.”
Kazuya detached himself from Jin and blinked confused. “I have to give up here?” he asked with a small voice. No, he didn’t want this. He couldn’t just quit even if it was Director Nishikido! Besides, he didn’t sign up a contract just so he won’t fulfill it. If Ryo wanted him - and he’ll surely want him - then he had to wait for him to finish his job here. He wasn’t going to do a half-done job; it was his pride at stake. But yet again, he could manage both of them. He was a resourceful man. “I won’t.” he said to Jin, feeling determined and secure in what he was saying. “I have responsibilities and I’m sure that there might be a way to work everything up.” Kazuya added, sounding a bit hopeful.
“We’ll see.” Jin smiled confidently, not wanting to make Kazuya worry more about this. “You should think only at the interview and everything will be fine. Remind me to give you later Ryo’s number to call him and set up a meeting.” He changed the subject, knowing that things can’t really be as Kazuya wanted them to. But that’s life, right? To gain something, you need to give up something else and Jin knew that better than anyone else. Besides, it was just a job. It didn’t mean that he won’t see the younger at all until he would leave.
And Kazuya had to prioritize his future.
“Okay.” Kazuya agreed, nodding his head once. It had to be a way, it always has been.
*
Okay then, maybe he had been wrong. Jin had expected that his cell phone will start ringing as soon as the clock would hit twelve, but it didn’t seem to be the case as the minutes continued to pass and the only thing Jin could do was to stare at the phone, hoping that it will ring sometime soon. Only that it didn’t. Neither one of his friends from Japan had contacted him and it had remained the same when Jin woke up the next morning, grumping annoyingly and swearing whoever dared to wake him up.
“Happy birthday!” a sweet English voice of a girl’s was heard into the speaker and Jin growled and promptly hung up to the unknown caller. Honestly, if he fucked them once, at least they could remember the time difference!!
He threw his phone on the floor but as soon as he realized what he had done, he quickly got off the bed and jumped to grab the phone and check for any missed calls or unread messages.
There were none.
And this time, Jin didn’t get mad as he had done before, instead he sulked on the floor and whined loudly that he was being ignored on his birthday. He couldn’t believe this. He had thought that his friends were just mean with him, not that they had really forgotten about his birthday!!! True, he hadn’t spent it with them for a long time, but they had always called him in America to wish Jin a ‘Happy Birthday’ and they had even sent some presents at a few occasions.
Now he was in Japan and he was more alone than ever.
“Well, if they don’t know it’s my birthday, then I just have to let them know~” Jin thought with a smirk, raising himself up from the floor and taking once more the phone into his hands, dialing a number.
“Hey, Pi, how are you? I was wondering if you have some time off today to do something.” He said with an excited voice, knowing that Yamapi had never refused him.
But there was a first in everything. “Sorry, Jin, I’m not in town. I’m in Hokkaido for a meeting and I’ll be back in a couple of days.” The other one responded and Jin pouted again, hanging up on him.
He decided to call Ryo. “Bakanishi, why are you bothering me at this hour?!” the director yelled into the phone, his voice sleepy and obviously angry to have been disturbed.
“I missed you…” Jin whined and cried and tried every method to have his friend’s attention, pretending that he hadn’t done the same thing at that poor girl that called him at five in the morning.
“Miss me some other time, I’m busy today.” Ryo replied and this time he had been the one to hang up on Jin.
The actor threw his phone on the wall and stared angrily at it for some time, before another idea popped into his head. “Maybe not everything is lost!” he said as he picked up his phone one more time and dialed the third number for that day. “Hello, mom. How are you?”
“Jin, my dear, did you remember that you still have a mom?” she immediately proceeded to scold him with a gentle voice that wanted to be harsh.
“Mom, don’t be like that.” The actor answered, feeling a little hurt and honestly wanting to make his mother feel guilty even if he already knew that she won’t fall for his tricks - twenty seven years with him had that effect on her. “I visited you as often as I could.” He continued, his voice changing a little and now sounding a little pleading. “In fact, I called to tell you that I have a day off and I want to come home to see you and Dad.” He added, now sounding excited again.
It had been a long time since he had spent a full day with his family and even if his mom could be a little scary sometimes, she was still the best mother one could ask for and Jin loved her very much. His father was the same and Jin could still remember that he used to send pictures of the two of them - especially with his wife though - to not let Jin feel lonely in America. It was kind of annoying that all of Jin’s friends received the pictures every time as well, but that was his dad’s way to have fun, he thought.
“Sorry, honey, but I can’t today.” Misaki’s answer woke Jin up from his dream, making him blink as he tried to process the words. “I have planned a day with my friends at the spa and your father is working the whole day.”
“I see.” Jin replied with a small voice. “And Reio?” he asked, still hoping for some kind of entertainment.
“Reio has practice for a new play, he’s the lead actor.” His mother chirped excitedly, obviously very happy for her son. “I told you about that.” She added with a thoughtful voice.
“Yeah, I know…” Jin’s answer was barely audible.
“Honey, I have to go. I’ll call you later, okay?” she said and hung up the next second, leaving Jin once again only with his thoughts.
This was going to be a long day.
*
In the end, all of Jin’s friends had said basically the same thing - they are busy, they can’t meet Jin and they have no idea that it’s Jin’s birthday. All of these calls had made him feel a little hurt and Jin was standing now in the living room on his couch, staring at the ceiling and wondering what the hell should he do now. He was all alone and, to be honest, he hadn’t had many meetings with this feeling to know what to do with it. He was always surrounded by people because he hated to be alone and exactly now he had to endure this torture.
Life sucked, Jin concluded as he sighed and stretched on the couch, rolling on it and falling down on the floor, his arms and legs stretched out in an X form. He was totally bored and had exhausted all of his ideas of what to do to get rid of it. He had tried cleaning - it didn’t end up that well and he had been forced to call a maid after totally ruining his bedroom. He had tried to cook something special, something worthy of his birthday - he had managed to burn the kitchen and the maid had been called once again. He had tried to go shopping - thinking that it was the simplest thing to do - and he had ended up thinking that he needed some groceries and bought a lot of junk food and things that he had no need of. The maid had appeared once again to throw most of them.
It was now almost six o’clock in the evening and his phone hadn’t rung even once with a birthday message. The thought didn’t bother him that much now, but it was still hurting him that his friends had left him all alone today.
“I wonder what is Kazuya doing.”
The words slipped his mouth without even thinking and only then Jin realized that Kazuya hadn’t contacted him as well. True, he had said his congratulations a day before, but it wasn’t the same. Jin wanted to hear from him today too, to know that the younger was thinking at him, that he mattered at least a little for him. It was slightly disappointing to know that Kazuya didn’t even think at him when they weren’t together. It made him wonder if Kazuya really cared about him, if he thought at Jin at least one small part of what Jin thought of him.
Maybe, maybe not. The only thing Jin knew was that Kazuya wasn’t there either.
“Oh, fuck it!” Jin got mad and raised himself from the floor, rushing to his bedroom and throwing some clothes out of his dresser. “I’m going out to have some fun by myself.” He decided, dressing up and leaving the house in only five minutes. He had to do something about this or he’ll go crazy at this rate. And it wasn’t like he needed somebody else to have fun and celebrate his birthday. He could go to any club, hit on a girl, maybe fuck her and then go home satisfied and content. It wouldn’t be too different from his usual days in America, but at least it was something.
And Jin had no intention to dwell on the consequences. Kazuya could deal with them. After all, it was his fault that Jin was all alone.
“I’m sorry, Akanishi-san, I can’t let you go in.”
Jin blinked, trying to understand the man’s words. He had driven to his favorite club and had wanted to go in when this gorilla that called himself a bodyguard stopped him - Jin chose to ignore the fact that he actually liked that guy and they knew each other at some level after all the times Jin had visited the club since he came to Japan. “Why?” he asked, starting to feel shittier than before.
Could life be even worse than this?!
“There’s a party going on, the whole club is booked.” The other one answered with an understanding tone and a little pity in his voice when he saw Jin’s desolated expression. He watched Jin as he turned to leave, shoulders slumped and head down, feeling defeated by the world and alone in an endless pitch, helpless and hurt and disappointed and a lot of other things that not even Jin could understand. “Wait a moment!” the guardian yelled after Jin and signaled him to stop as he entered the club.
But Jin didn’t have the intention to wait. As soon as the man disappeared behind the big doors, he started to walk again, heading to his car. It was enough. Fate wasn’t on his side this time and Jin had finally accepted that. It wasn’t like it mattered. It was just a day like the others. He could still meet with his friends and party and do all the things he wanted to do today even if it was a day late. It had been his fault. He should have called them beforehand and remind them that it was his birthday and that they needed to keep this day clear for him. After all, it had been a long time since they last celebrated together and Jin could understand perfectly well if they hadn’t thought at this possibility.
“Bakanishi!!”
“I must be going mad, I’m hearing Pi calling me from Hokkaido.” Jin laughed as he stopped next to his car and fetched his keys from his pocket.
“You idiot!” someone slapped him on the head, making Jin yelp and rub the spot that was hit. His eyes widened though when he turned and saw Yamapi looking at him and breathing heavily. “The guard told me you were here and I… and I ran…” his friend tried to explain while also trying to regain his breath. “Oh, just come.” He finally said, grabbing Jin’s hand and pulling him back towards the club and behind its doors, into the mass of people that were Jin’s friends.
“Happy birthday!!” they all yelled and Jin thought his heart stopped for a second. They hadn’t forgotten. They had just pretended to make him a surprise. He wasn’t alone after all and a quick gaze through the crowd let him know that all of his American and Japanese friends were there, his family included.
“So what do you think? It was my idea.” Pi grinned as he looked proudly at his best friend.
So Jin did the only thing he could think of. He hit Yamapi.
*
When he arrived at the address Pi had given to him, Kazuya was feeling a little unsure about all this. He was alone and on the streets there were only fashionable looking people while he… well, he tried to be a bit fashionable. But even his accessories weren’t a match to what he saw on the streets of Roppongi. Yet Kazuya thought of Jin and the fact that today was his birthday, concluding that it didn’t matter if he wore a sack or if he wore Armani. So taking a deep breath, he marched towards the club’s entrance, getting an easy pass though he still felt the bodyguards’ mocking glances towards his clothes.
And when he entered the club, his mouth fell open. He knew that Pi had planned it big, but really… this was extravagant!! Beside the fact that the place was huge and had two floors, there was a large buffet filled with food from where everyone served themselves; there was a big dance floor where people swayed and grinded their bodies according to the music and what was the most interesting from all - was the impressive castle of glasses filled with champagne which seemed to be never ending. He had seen such things before, but only in movies and he had thought that normal people won’t have them too at parties or birthdays. But he was wrong - Jin was no normal person and he had the finest from all. Kazuya glanced up and a smile spread across his lips - on the ceiling there was written with Latin letters Jin’s name, all made by red balloons surrounded by multicolored ones. He wondered if at a certain moment, they would fall out of the ceiling; probably they will when the cake was going to be cut.
As he looked around, feeling so out of place, Kazuya sighed and decided to stay a little while, thinking that he’ll give Jin his present, then he’ll try to leave this place as soon as possible. He didn’t belong there, he felt it through his every breath. And as he made his way through the swaying crowd, Kazuya noticed the actor dancing in the middle of the dance floor, laughing and looking like he was having the blast of his night. The assistant couldn’t suppress a smile and although he had wanted to give his present as quickly as possible, he decided that he simply couldn’t go there and disturb him for a simple present as Kazuya had.
A tug at his heart almost had him leave the club, thinking that he might have the poorest and less interesting present from all. Kazuya sighed and left Jin on the dance floor, heading for the bar, thinking that he could wait there until the actor got tired and maybe a little thirsty and this way he could hand his present and bid his farewell. Though, somewhere in his heart, he was aware that Jin wouldn’t let him go that easily. But still he hoped that being so many persons here, so many friends… maybe he won’t need him much.
Kazuya took a place on the high stool and looked at the bottles on the shelves. There were so many brands of alcohol and some he hadn’t even heard of. He wondered how much will one glass will cost, but he thought better and that it’d be better not to even concern himself with the prices of the alcohol Jin was serving at his birthday party. He asked the bartender for a non-alcoholic cocktail, putting the small bag on the counter. The younger glanced at it and couldn’t help but to feel nervous about his present. What will Jin say? Will he like it or will he think that it wasn’t worthy of even being called a birthday present especially since what he had received was far more expensive? Kazuya bit his lower lip and almost let his head rest on the counter if not for the bartender who brought him the cocktail. He thanked shyly and began to sip from it, wondering why the hell did he agree to come in the first place.
It was clear that his place wasn’t there at all.
Unfortunately, Jin didn’t seem to see him as he continued to dance and laugh happily with his friends, drinking and having fun as he had dreamed to be doing since he had come back to Japan and found out that he’ll be able to spend his birthday there. His parents had left a while ago so Jin had no intention on backing down from the beverage, decided to take full advantage of the night. Besides, Matsumoto was also there so Jin had a pretty good idea that he’ll be having another day off tomorrow.
So it was no wonder that Jin didn’t see Kazuya and hadn’t been the first to notice his arrival. “Having fun?” Ryo asked with a small smile, taking a seat next to Kazuya and putting his drink on the bar.
Kazuya almost drowned with his drink when he heard Ryo’s voice. He coughed a little before turning to look at the director, trying to smile, though the effect was kinda off since there were tears in his eyes. “Um… hello.” Kazuya said first and took a deep breath, before continuing. “Yeah, I’m having fun. You?” he replied, now looking more in control than earlier.
“The best.” Ryo replied with a big grin on his face, obviously a little tipsy already. Still, it was better than how Jin looked like, Ryo mused, so it was alright to giggle at Kazuya’s reaction.
“The party is awesome.” Kazuya replied, blushing a little. “When Yamashita-san said that it was going to be big… I didn’t expect it to be this big.” He laughed, feeling that it was safe to take another sip from his cocktail. “All of the people here are Jin’s friends?” the younger asked, looking impressed.
“Most of them, yeah.” Ryo replied, following Kazuya’s advice and bringing the glass to his lips only to gulp it down and order another one. “Some of them are from entertainment, others are friends of our parents and we kind of grew up with them.” He shrugged a little and turned on his chair with a silly grin on his face, pulling Kazuya along with him. “For example,” he said, pointing discretely to one guy sitting at a table and chatting with a girl, “that guy is a dork. His parents forced us to hang out with him and we kind of mocked him all our childhood. That is until we found that dork means smart and that he can do our homework. We really became friends after that.” Ryo seemed to meditate for a couple of seconds, before pointing to another person, this time a girl. “That’s Sherri. We used to make fun of her name and Jin even named a dog after her. Eventually, we found out that she’s pretty cool to hang out with. More or less,” he added with a thoughtful expression, “because Jin slept with her and brought her into our group.”
I see, Kazuya wanted to say but somehow he found his tongue tied. His eyes lingered a bit on the girl named Sherri, before dismissing the thought that she was nothing compared to other girls or to him. Kazuya frowned but clicked his tongue, kind of annoyed at himself. Why did he compare himself with Sherri? No, wait, what was there to be compared with her? Or with him? The assistant sighed and turned to look at Ryo, somehow with a scowl on his face.
“Is that an initiation?” he asked, arching an eyebrow. He wasn’t mean, but he couldn’t help if it did sound that way. After all, did it have to be Jin the one who had to sleep with her?
“Not really.” Ryo frowned, his eyes searching the crowd for other people. “But Jin loves to be in love so he always chases it.” He shrugged, turning to look at Kazuya. “He’s always with someone new and he truly cares about them, but…” he bit his tongue, trying to explain better and wondering why the hell was he talking about this. “But he hasn’t found the person who can last more than one month.” He said, taking one sip from his fresh glass of whiskey. “The odd part is that they remain friends after they break up so you can see how our circles grow every day.” He finished with a chuckle, his eyes resting now on Jin’s form who continued to dance happily with Lizzy.
God, Kazuya thought, he was going to get sick just hearing this about Jin. So this was all some sort of game to Jin? And to think that for a moment, he had surrendered to Jin and almost fell into his trap. The younger shook his head a little, turning to the bartender and asking for a whisky with cola. “Are you the same?” Kazuya found himself asking Ryo, probably sounding a bit impolite. “Sorry.” He said quickly, giving a bow. “I mean, all of the girls here are his former girlfriends or yours or Yamashita-san’s?” he tried to correct himself, hoping that somehow had managed to do so.
Ryo didn’t seem to mind Kazuya’s question - all that drinking had to have an effect over him - and he just chuckled slightly. “Most of them are people who really admire Jin and not just because he fucked one or two.” He replied. “Pi is actually worse, especially when he gets drunk. But he has his reasons.” Ryo added with a smaller voice, not audible over the loud music, and intentionally not talking about himself, not feeling really comfortable with it. “A lot of them used to dance for Jin in America.” Ryo shared with a small smile as his eyes fell over his crew.
“I see.” Kazuya managed to say this time, feeling a little relieved. After all, the man for whom he worked wasn’t that bad as he had earlier thought. Though the thought of Jin being with most of the women in this club still bothered him, yet he chose to shrug it away. “So, mostly from the people here are Jin’s acquaintances or do you know them too?” he asked, taking a sip from his whisky, not really enjoying the burning sensation it left down his throat.
“Mutual acquaintances.” Ryo replied. “But there are a lot of Jin’s friends from America who came here to celebrate with him.” He added quickly, his eyes now fixed on Kazuya and calmly observing him. “Still, we visited him in America a few times so there aren’t many that I don’t know.” He explained as he emptied his glass and ordered now a glass of water.
“That’s nice.” Kazuya said, nodding his head once. “How’s America?” he asked, looking mildly interested.
“It’s really beautiful.” Ryo grinned widely at Kazuya. “And it’s very different, they have different customs and habits and they even dress different. I was actually surprised by this when I first went there.” He chuckled and gulped down the whole glass of water.
Kazuya laughed. “Dress differently?” he asked, looking at him funny. “What do you mean? It’s not like we’re in kimonos or yukatas dressed.” He continued, leaning against the counter. Really, what could be so different in America than in Japan? Of course, customs are different but that’s a given seeing how they have developed in a different way than Americans. And clothes… Japanese people have long forgotten to wear traditional clothes. And Kazuya believed that today’s fashion was more striking than in other countries. That’s why he was curious about what has Ryo seen in America and he hasn’t seen in Japan.
“Not really their way of dressing up,” Ryo corrected himself, “more like how easy they get rid of their clothes.” He smiled sheepishly at the younger, brushing a hand through his hair, a slight color of red covering his cheeks.
Kazuya choke on his whisky. Why did Ryo choose to say all of these things when he was drinking? No idea, though it was probably Jin’s influenza. After he stopped coughing, he gave a shaky laugh, wiping the corners of his eyes. “Is that so?” he asked with a grin. “Still, it’s an interesting way to put it when it comes to clothes.” He winked and looked at the dance floor. “Will they get rid of their clothes easily?” The younger asked, pointing to a small dancing group of - apparently - American girls.
“As there hadn’t been any clothes in the first place.” Ryo grinned widely, looking in the same direction as Kazuya. “Come on, let me show you.” He added, leaving his chair and watching Kazuya expectantly.
The assistant laughed and wondered where all of this will lead. But he followed Ryo nevertheless, feeling a bit coy. He wasn’t that much of a womanizer and usually women were a bit of a trouble to him; most of the time he ended up teasing them and having them dump him easily, not even giving him the chance to say that he liked them. He sighed, thinking that maybe American girls weren’t that easily upset and that he might even get to know what Ryo implied. Yet he hoped that at least one of them talked Japanese seeing that he wasn’t that great with English.
He watched Ryo walking in the midst of them all confident and Kazuya smiled from the sidelines as the girls greeted the man with tight hugs and slight brushings of their bodies.
“Girls, I want you to meet someone. He’s Kamenashi Kazuya.” Ryo introduced him and the girls squealed quickly something in English in return. “They are Sharon, Rachel and Britney.” He continued and moved away to let the girls observe him from head to toes.
“Hi, there, Kazu.” The one from the middle smiled sweetly at him and stretched her hand towards Kazuya while the other two waited with their eyes wide open to see his reaction.
Kazuya gulped and licked his lips, looking a little nervous. He secretly wiped his sweating hand before stretching his own to grab the girl’s. It was a warm and smooth hand and Kazuya found himself enjoying the way her fingers curled around his. “Herro, Reicheru.” He said in a half English, half Japanese, giving her a bow. Also, he felt weird hearing his name shortened like that by an American girl. “H-how are you?” he asked, feeling all tense and warm all of a sudden. Kazuya really hoped that he wasn’t blushing.
“How sweet!” the girls squealed again and the other two moved to grab each one of them one of Kazuya’s hands while the third one remained in front of him, Ryo next to her. “What do you say about a little dance with us?” the one named Rachel asked in Japanese this time, winking at him. “They don’t understand Japanese,” she continued, pointing with her head at her friends, “but I’m sure we can manage the four of us. Or, Ryo, do you want to join us?” she asked, laughing after at which Ryo shook his head in refusal and amusement.
Kazuya laughed and looked at all three of them before looking at Ryo who winked at him, seeming to say told you so. “So… you can talk Japanese.” He replied to Rachel, a smile adorning his lips. “Sure, ret’s dance~” he said in English, making the girls giggle once more and making a circle around him, Rachel being the first one to approach him, entwining their hands as she glued her body to his, startling him a bit.
But Kazuya quickly overcame the sudden surprise and swayed his body along with her when he felt a third body behind him; it was Sharon. “Let me join too, cutie.” She whispered in his ear and she let herself down, her hands sliding along Kazuya’s body and stopping on his waist for support. Then he felt a leg sliding between his and saw Rachel smiling at him. Her beautiful green eyes shone brightly and the assistant thought he was going to get lost in them. Rachel took one of his hands and told him to grab onto her, grinding her hips into his. Kazuya hold gingerly her waist, afraid that if he’ll feel more of her exposed skin, he’ll get burnt. From behind, Sharon left but was quickly replaced by Britney who swayed her ass, bumping into his and brushing against it. Then she turned and let her hands slip over Kazuya’s chest, her long nails scratching slowly his sweating skin.
Waves of pleasure and the sudden rush of adrenaline made Kazuya more courageous as he encircled Rachel’s waist and grinded his body, her perfect lips now into the shape of an O. Then a devilish smile made way as she leaned forward, brushing her lips over his cheek; catching Britney’s hand between them. The girl behind him laughed and soon he felt her lips on the other cheek. Ryo was right, Kazuya thought as he enjoyed thoroughly the sensation of being squished and kissed by two beautiful foreigner girls.
But as Kazuya was an adult already, he didn’t believe in fairytales anymore and he had to know that at some point the spell will break. Still, he was startled when a loud and whiny voice called his name, covering the powerful music and approaching him quickly. It only took Jin a couple of seconds to appear in front of Kazuya, arms crossed and lips pursed as usual, looking drunker than it was allowed and his feet swaying a little. “You’re mean!!” he yelled, looking hurt and making the girls chuckle because of his antics.
Kazuya looked at Jin through eyes hazed with desired and felt Sharon untangle herself from his behind, though Rachel still remained over him, one of his hands resting on her waist as the other one was holding her’s. “What?” he finally asked the actor, feeling a little drunk. Could it be because of Rachel’s sweet perfume or the whisky earlier? Or maybe they could be both, the younger concluded as he glanced at Rachel, a smile dancing on his lips.
“You’re mean!!” Jin repeated as he stomped his feet and jumped on Kazuya, making Rachel back away and let him take her place. “You’re really mean.” The actor said for the third time that night, this time whispering the words into Kazuya’s ear, letting the younger be the only one to hear them.
Okay… not good. It was definitely not good having three women pour themselves down on you and then have Jin whisper in your ear, already knowing that it was his sensitive spot. Kazuya suppressed a shiver as he looked at Jin, frowning a bit. “Are you sure? Cause you’ve just chased away your guest. Who’s the one mean now?” Kazuya replied and tried to wriggle his hand out of Jin’s grasp.
“Which guest?” Jin asked, detaching himself a little from Kazuya to look around. “There’s no one leaving.” He laughed, falling back on the younger, completely oblivious to the fact that the three girls left, but if someone asked him, Jin would say - what girls?!
Kazuya sighed and looked for Ryo who seemed to have gone too. Maybe he left since the girls began their dance with him, Kazuya thought and felt a bit guilty. He had ignored the director while he had been kind enough to introduce him to some girls. Kazuya sighed a second time and looked at Jin. “Happy birthday.” He said with a smile.
“Thanks.” Jin sighed softly as he let his hands fall down on Kazuya’s waist and started to move along the slow beat of the music. “I’m really happy that you’re here.” He confessed, burying his head into Kazuya’s shoulder.
When did they start dancing?! Kazuya wasn’t sure about this but he went along with Jin just for a little while. Nobody will take notice; they were somewhere hidden by the dark lights and that’s right, nobody could see them and judge their behavior. “How did you find me?” Kazuya asked, realizing that he had been in the spot with the girls and surely it had been dark then too.
“I have my special radar that allows me to find you.” Jin chuckled, suddenly feeling proud of his clever joke. “I told you already you can’t get away from me.” He laughed softly.
“Yeah, right. You and your special radar.” Kazuya laughed back and slipped away from Jin. “Let me get your present, okay?” he said on a rather coyly voice and headed for the bar where he had left the bag.
Jin looked like a kicked puppy after Kazuya for a few seconds before the younger’s words finally registered in his head and he practically jumped all the way to the bar where Kazuya was already waiting for him. “What did you get me?” he asked with an excited voice, his eyes shining with impatience.
The assistant seemed to fidget a little under Jin’s expectant stare and he was almost sure that the actor would be disappointed in his present. But here goes nothing. “It’s just a simple present, nothing much…” he muttered as he handed the small bag to Jin. “Sorry I couldn’t get you anything better…” he said apologetically.
Jin grinned, convinced that he'll be happy with anything that Kazuya will give him, so he took the small packet, observing it for a couple of seconds with his drunken eyes and then finally unwrapping Kazuya's present. "Cool, it's a necklace!" he exclaimed happily, taking it from the box and studying it with a thoughtful expression, only glancing at the small ring that had been left in the box. "Interesting, I don't know this brand." he mumbled, looking visibly interested. "What is it?" he then asked, sounding innocent and curious, holding his present up to hang from his hand.
Brand? What brand? Kazuya wanted to ask but he stopped himself in time. He looked embarrassed and a bit confused at Jin, the happiness he felt when he saw Jin’s reaction wore off immediately. “Umm…” Kazuya mumbled as his tongue poked his cheek as if he didn’t want to answer Jin’s question. “There’s a ring too!” The younger said quickly, noticing that the actor didn’t see the other accessory and hoping that he won’t ask again the brand. Cause honestly… Kazuya bought no brand necklace or ring, he couldn’t afford such a thing.
"There's also a ring?!" Jin exclaimed with the same happy voice, like he has just seen the item. He didn't wait for another invitation and took the ring out of the box, once again studying it intensively. "A pinky ring." he stated, thinking that he had never wore such a thing but it looked kind of interesting.
Kazuya chuckled embarrassed as he licked his lips while taking the ring out of Jin’s hand. “I like accessories a lot and when I saw this ring, I thought it might suit you. Here, give me your hand.” He asked Jin though he took the older one’s hand even without hearing the answer. Kazuya slipped the ring on Jin’s pinky finger and looked at the new accessorized hand with critique eyes. “Yeah… it fits and suits you.” The assistant said and smiled at the actor.
Jin looked at his finger for a while, his expression blank and not betraying any of his thoughts - the effect of the booze. "It looks nice." he concluded after a couple of minutes and then he looked at Kazuya and grinned widely. "Thanks, I love it." he added and leaned over the younger and stole him a kiss as in gratitude, drawing back immediately and looking at Kazuya with sheepish eyes, his hands fumbling with the necklace to try and put it on.
Kazuya froze when he felt Jin’s lips on his, but recovered quickly, thinking that it was better not to make a scene out of this. He smirked at Jin who was trying to put on the necklace, snatching it from his drunken hands, leaning forward to put it on. “I hope you really like it and not lying to me.” Kazuya muttered as he fastened the necklace around Jin’s neck.
"I really like it." Jin repeated his words, the confidence and determination resounding from them as he let his head fall on Kazuya's shoulder, his hands trapping the younger in his hold. "And I really like you." he added with a slight smile, feeling content to be able to inhale Kazuya's scent and get lost in that sweet scent of strawberry.
“Yeah, yeah. And you’re really drunk.” Kazuya chuckled and drew back from Jin. “It’s done.” He said with a smile, ignoring the fast beating of his heart.
Jin sighed again and brought Kazuya back into his arms, resting his head once more on the younger's shoulder and this time keeping him safe into his arms. "I don't know what I'd do without you." he confessed with a small voice, not aware of the fact that Kazuya might not hear him because of the loud music.
“Erm…” Kazuya looked around and then at the bartender who merely cast them a glance, though to Kazuya it seemed like he had been staring. “Jin, you’re drunk.” The younger said, patting his back as if in understanding. He gave a nervous laugh as he looked again at the bartender who gave a slight nod and a quick smile. Of course he hadn’t heard what Jin said, he was way too preoccupied by the image they showed than the words Jin might say while drunk.
"This doesn't mean that what I say isn't true." the actor argued with his assistant, frowning a little but still not bothering to move, enjoying too much Kazuya's company. "I'm always honest with my feelings." he added with a purr as his hands started to move a little on Kazuya's back.
This was starting to get dangerous, that’s why Kazuya pushed Jin away from him quickly, happy that it was semi obscure and that his face couldn’t be seen blushing. “I’m glad you’re honest, but right now you should go and celebrate your birthday with your other friends too.” The younger said with a calm voice, though he felt it quivering a little. “Also, I won’t be staying long, Yuuya is waiting for me.” Kazuya felt the need to say this, though he wasn’t sure it had been the right thing.
Jin narrowed his eyes and looked intently at Kazuya for a few moments, trying to recover after the shock of being rejected. His words were somehow lost in Jin's mind and the actor found himself asking a totally different thing from what he had been planning to. "What are you so afraid of?"
Kazuya looked back confused, wondering what made Jin ask him such a stupid question. “I’m not afraid of anything.” He replied, shaking his head with a small laugh. “And don’t just stand here with me, you’re losing all the fun out there.” Kazuya waved a hand towards the dance floor as a smile adorned his lips.
"I don't want to be there, I want to be with you." Jin confessed with a slight hurt tone, looking at Kazuya with puppy eyes and not understanding why was the younger continuing to reject him. "Can't I just stay with you?" he then asked with a pleading voice.
The smile wavered and Kazuya realized that Jin will cling all night onto him if he didn’t do something quickly. “No.” he replied with a serious tone. “It’s your birthday, be with your friends.” The younger one continued, this time on a gentler voice. “That if you want me to still be here.” He added, warning in his words.
Only that Jin had taken it the wrong way, the booze clouding his brain and making him take all of his feelings to extreme. This meant anger also. "Fine!" he yelled, flapping his hands in the air with exaggerated moves. "If you came here just to leave, then be my guest!" he said, feeling angrier and more hurt than he really was as he turned his back on Kazuya to leave. Of course, in his fury, he didn't see the chairs in front of him and dove right into them, cursing but managing to remain on his feet, only the chairs being damaged as he continued his way to the upper floor.
This also meant climbing stairs.
Part II
Authors: aroruae & fighter_of_moon
Pairings: Akame, Ryokame & others along the way
Genre: AU, angst, fluff, drama, smut
Disclaimer: If the boys were ours, you'd be seeing more of them on TV and we'd have them in RL too
Summary: For those who don't give a damn on things like destiny, let me tell you one thing. They are real. And that's what Akanishi Jin was going to find out.
A/N: We forgot something last time ^^ This is the watch that Jin had bought to Kazuya: look here
First song ~ Without notice
Second song ~ Water dance
Third song ~ Our story - Prologue
Fourth song ~ Crazy love
Fifth song ~ Affection
Chapter six
Sixth song ~ I.N.P.
My drinking is heavy your drinking is light
I'm looking for somebody better than you
Checking the floor and I'm wondering who.
It was starting to become kind of annoying, to be honest. All of his friends seemed to have disappeared suddenly and even when Jin had taken the liberty to visit some of them, they were always gone from home or in a hurry to leave as soon as Jin appeared. He had even tried to visit Pi at his work place, but that stupid secretary had insisted that he was in an important meeting and that he couldn’t be disturbed, so Jin had no choice than to go back home to rehearse some of his lines for the movie.
Actually, he was seriously bored. They were filming right now the scenes that didn’t need much of his appearance and Jin didn’t even need to go at the set early in the morning as it had happened in the past month since he had come to Japan. His schedule was incredibly loose these days and even if Jin was wondering how this miracle happened, he couldn’t say that he was complaining.
He smirked when he saw his favorite assistant entering the set and heading towards Matsumoto. His grin widened as the actor sat up and approached the two of them with small and lazy steps, as if he wasn’t interested in them, only to fasten his steps when he got closer and jump on Kazuya to hug him from behind.
“I missed you~” the actor sang happily, smiling and looking defiantly at Jun who was rolling his eyes at Jin’s actions.
Jin wasn’t interested in that and he had no intention on giving any attention to the young director. Because even if he was abandoned for the time being by his friends, he knew that his cell phone will start ringing early tomorrow morning. After all, it was his birthday tomorrow.
Kazuya was startled by the sudden hug and almost squealed, but stopped himself in time. He elbowed Jin in the stomach, brushing him aside. “Too bad I can’t say the same thing.” The younger hissed, throwing a death glare to him. “Please refrain from such affectionate actions. I’m very sorry for him, Director.” He continued and bowed quickly and embarrassed to Jun.
“Don’t worry, Kamenashi-kun, I know perfectly well how much of an idiot he can be.” Jun smiled in recognition at Kazuya at which Jin pouted.
“You’re mean and I don’t want to be your friend anymore.” The actor sulked, standing between the two of them and glancing at Kazuya and Jun, arms crossed and lips pursed to show how mad he was on the two of them for their behavior towards him.
“What a shame.” Jun rolled his eyes in exasperation. “Now please go and let me do my job.” He continued as he looked at Jin with an expecting expression.
“Can I also take Kazuya?” Jin proceeded to ask, making Jun sigh tiredly.
“Just be back in an hour, you have one last scene before finishing for today.” The director replied, dismissing the other two with a wave of his hand, at which Jin smiled brightly and tugged on Kazuya’s hand, pulling the boy towards his dressing room.
Kazuya looked like an abandoned puppy to the Director as Jin dragged him from there. He sighed, resigned to his fate while being pushed around by Jin. As they entered the dressing room, Kazuya quickly asked the actor, sounding a bit annoyed. “And why do you need me now?” the assistant demanded to know, looking a bit fidgety.
“What? Can’t I just want to talk to you for a little bit?” Jin asked with a hurt expression.
“Oh.” Kazuya’s lips formed a perfect O. “So you wanted to talk…” he mumbled under his breath, seeming to regain his composure.
“You could’ve talked with me on the set too.” The younger said, shrugging a little.
“Well, it wouldn’t have been as interesting.” Jin also shrugged, but his eyes seemed to be a little devious as he reached for the door knob and locked the door, taking the key and putting it into his pants. He then turned to look at Kazuya with a sweet smile, as if he hadn’t done anything.
“Eh?!” Kazuya looked at the door and then at Jin. He furrowed his brows and narrowed his eyes at the actor. “Why did you do that?” he asked and took a step forward to the other one. Somehow, being locked - again! - with Jin in an empty room didn’t sound safe at all. Not that being with Jin was safe in any way, but still.
“So that no one would bother us.” Jin answered with a shrug as he slowly approached Kazuya, only to pass by him and head to the couch, settling on it and spreading his arms to relax a bit.
Kazuya tensed when he felt Jin moving towards him, this not being his idea at all. He had first wanted to approach the actor, sneak slowly upon him and snatch the key from his pants. He really didn’t feel comfortable with Jin alone and locked. It was like there was something in the air that almost whispered to Kazuya - something will happen. It sent shivers down his spine. But he was not going to back down so he turned to Jin before taking a deep breath.
“It’s not like anyone bothered us before.” Kazuya said with an arched eyebrow. “Besides… what do you want to talk about?”
“Well, this seems to be a problem lately.” Jin muttered under his breath, thinking at all the times his friends had ditched him in the past few days. He then looked up and settled his gaze on Kazuya. “Tomorrow I have a day off.” The actor started, waiting the younger to follow on his cue and realize what he was trying to imply.
And Kazuya realized what Jin wanted to talk about. He suppressed a smile. “So? What does it have to do with me?” he crossed his arms, looking devilishly. Yamapi had called him a day before - even if Kazuya had been surprised to hear his voice on the phone - and had said that he was invited to Jin’s surprise birthday party and that he had to keep it a secret from the actor. Even if the idea of partying with Jin’s friends didn’t sound that appealing to him, Kazuya had still accepted, thinking that it was a good opportunity that he shouldn’t miss.
“And I want to spend it with you.” Jin confessed, looking at Kazuya with pleading eyes, a weird spark glowing in them as he seemed to also have other plans for the two of them.
Kazuya’s heart warmed instantly and his expression softened. The jerk wanted to spend his birthday with Kazuya, not knowing that he was already planned a party thrown by his friends. The younger felt a bit overwhelmed, that’s why when he spoke, his voice sounded a bit raw. “I have plans already, sorry.” He said with a gentle tone and saying sorry in his mind to Jin.
“What?” Jin blinked, seeming shocked for a moment. “You can’t.” he added, as if it was totally impossible for this to happen. “I mean… you… I… Damn it.” He finally chose to swear in a pathetic attempt to vent out his anger.
Kazuya felt pity for Jin and almost wanted to go and hug him, telling him that he shouldn’t be that sad because tomorrow there will be a big party and it will be only for the star Akanishi Jin. Yet he couldn’t stay cold and away from the older so he approached him, putting a hand on his head and ruffling his hair in a loving gesture as he sat down next to him.
“Sorry, punk.” The assistant muttered, real regret in his voice.
“It’s not fair.” Jin pouted, letting himself be comforted by Kazuya’s hand. “It’s the first time after five years that I can spend my birthday with my friends and family and they are all gone. Disappeared. Vanished. Bye bye. I hate them.” He finished, obviously disappointed by Kazuya’s answer.
Kazuya had to moister all of his acting skills to not give himself away that he had known about it beforehand. “Y-your birthday is tomorrow?” He asked, pretending to be all shocked as his hand slid down and rested on Jin’s shoulder. “Wow!” He smiled and crouched in front of Jin. “Happy Birthday~” he singsonged to the actor, wearing a goofy expression. “Even if it’s with a day earlier, at least I’m the first to say it.” Kazuya grinned like a child. “And don’t worry about your friends, I’m sure they’ll be tomorrow at your door singing Happy Birthday and throwing with presents at you. So don’t say words so easily as I hate them, okay?” The assistant winked and got up, his hand ruffling once more Jin’s hair. He felt like spoiling Jin a little.
“Wait!” Jin said, catching Kazuya’s hand and stopping him from getting up. “You have a day off tomorrow too, right?” he asked, knowing that if he was free, then Kazuya must be too. “Can you…” he gulped and looked away from the assistant for a second, “can you make some time for me? Half an hour at least?” he kindly asked, still sulking about his friends even if he knew that Kazuya was right and that they’ll show up first thing in the morning.
Kazuya bit onto his lower lip and looked unsure at Jin. “I’m sorry… I can’t promise you anything.” He replied, sighing inaudible. How could he promise such a thing when he was supposed to go at Jin’s birthday party? Though it kind of made him feel like a jerk seeing the faces Jin showed. And it wasn’t acting.
“Okay then…” Jin sighed as he released Kazuya’s arm and sat up, turning his back on him and heading to the door. He stopped in front of it and seemed to ponder on something, only to turn back and look at Kazuya with firm eyes, as if he was saying that he could take any answer. “Are you seeing that girl tomorrow?” he asked, wanting to sound sure and confident, but managing to speak with a slightly fearful voice. He knew that Yuuya had told him that Kazuya lied, but… he had also said that Kazuya doesn’t usually go out. And now he had plans. With whom?
Somehow, it was better to think at that girl than Ryo or Kimura Takuya or some other guy like that.
Kazuya frowned upon hearing Jin’s question, wondering from where it came. “What girl? No, I’m with Yuuya tomorrow.” He replied, still frowning and looking a bit clueless about what Jin was asking.
Oh, Jin thought, he should have known better that a work addict like Kazuya didn’t really have a social life. “It doesn’t matter.” He smiled and proceeded to leave again, only to turn back for the second time, looking yet again a little unsure while biting his lower lip. “I forgot to tell you something.” He confessed, avoiding Kazuya’s eyes for a moment. “I talked to Ryo and he said that he needs an assistant because the last one didn’t last long so I told him about you and the only thing you need now is to settle a meeting to see if you can get the job.” He blurted out, not stopping even to breathe.
Only Jin could make his heart stop like this, Kazuya thought as he ran up to him and grabbed his hands, his face lit up with excitement and shock. “Really?!” he said with an enthusiastic voice, trembling a little. “Oh, God! Thank you!!” Kazuya said with a grateful voice and on a whim, hugged Jin, his heart thumping loudly. He could not believe it!! To be Nishikido Ryo’s assistant was like a dream… one he had dreamt all along!
“You’re welcome.” Jin chuckled and answered to Kazuya’s hug, resting his hands on the boy’s waist. He was happy that he had been the one to make Kazuya smile like that and for the time being, the faint tug of his heart was totally forgotten and replaced by the thought that Kazuya was in his arms. “You still need to pass his interview though and you might be forced to give up at the job you currently have, but I’m sure it will be worth it.” He added, still smiling and now looking into Kazuya’s eyes, like he hadn’t just said that Kazuya will leave him soon if he will get the job. “Ryo is a great director and you’ll have a lot of opportunities with him.”
Kazuya detached himself from Jin and blinked confused. “I have to give up here?” he asked with a small voice. No, he didn’t want this. He couldn’t just quit even if it was Director Nishikido! Besides, he didn’t sign up a contract just so he won’t fulfill it. If Ryo wanted him - and he’ll surely want him - then he had to wait for him to finish his job here. He wasn’t going to do a half-done job; it was his pride at stake. But yet again, he could manage both of them. He was a resourceful man. “I won’t.” he said to Jin, feeling determined and secure in what he was saying. “I have responsibilities and I’m sure that there might be a way to work everything up.” Kazuya added, sounding a bit hopeful.
“We’ll see.” Jin smiled confidently, not wanting to make Kazuya worry more about this. “You should think only at the interview and everything will be fine. Remind me to give you later Ryo’s number to call him and set up a meeting.” He changed the subject, knowing that things can’t really be as Kazuya wanted them to. But that’s life, right? To gain something, you need to give up something else and Jin knew that better than anyone else. Besides, it was just a job. It didn’t mean that he won’t see the younger at all until he would leave.
And Kazuya had to prioritize his future.
“Okay.” Kazuya agreed, nodding his head once. It had to be a way, it always has been.
*
Okay then, maybe he had been wrong. Jin had expected that his cell phone will start ringing as soon as the clock would hit twelve, but it didn’t seem to be the case as the minutes continued to pass and the only thing Jin could do was to stare at the phone, hoping that it will ring sometime soon. Only that it didn’t. Neither one of his friends from Japan had contacted him and it had remained the same when Jin woke up the next morning, grumping annoyingly and swearing whoever dared to wake him up.
“Happy birthday!” a sweet English voice of a girl’s was heard into the speaker and Jin growled and promptly hung up to the unknown caller. Honestly, if he fucked them once, at least they could remember the time difference!!
He threw his phone on the floor but as soon as he realized what he had done, he quickly got off the bed and jumped to grab the phone and check for any missed calls or unread messages.
There were none.
And this time, Jin didn’t get mad as he had done before, instead he sulked on the floor and whined loudly that he was being ignored on his birthday. He couldn’t believe this. He had thought that his friends were just mean with him, not that they had really forgotten about his birthday!!! True, he hadn’t spent it with them for a long time, but they had always called him in America to wish Jin a ‘Happy Birthday’ and they had even sent some presents at a few occasions.
Now he was in Japan and he was more alone than ever.
“Well, if they don’t know it’s my birthday, then I just have to let them know~” Jin thought with a smirk, raising himself up from the floor and taking once more the phone into his hands, dialing a number.
“Hey, Pi, how are you? I was wondering if you have some time off today to do something.” He said with an excited voice, knowing that Yamapi had never refused him.
But there was a first in everything. “Sorry, Jin, I’m not in town. I’m in Hokkaido for a meeting and I’ll be back in a couple of days.” The other one responded and Jin pouted again, hanging up on him.
He decided to call Ryo. “Bakanishi, why are you bothering me at this hour?!” the director yelled into the phone, his voice sleepy and obviously angry to have been disturbed.
“I missed you…” Jin whined and cried and tried every method to have his friend’s attention, pretending that he hadn’t done the same thing at that poor girl that called him at five in the morning.
“Miss me some other time, I’m busy today.” Ryo replied and this time he had been the one to hang up on Jin.
The actor threw his phone on the wall and stared angrily at it for some time, before another idea popped into his head. “Maybe not everything is lost!” he said as he picked up his phone one more time and dialed the third number for that day. “Hello, mom. How are you?”
“Jin, my dear, did you remember that you still have a mom?” she immediately proceeded to scold him with a gentle voice that wanted to be harsh.
“Mom, don’t be like that.” The actor answered, feeling a little hurt and honestly wanting to make his mother feel guilty even if he already knew that she won’t fall for his tricks - twenty seven years with him had that effect on her. “I visited you as often as I could.” He continued, his voice changing a little and now sounding a little pleading. “In fact, I called to tell you that I have a day off and I want to come home to see you and Dad.” He added, now sounding excited again.
It had been a long time since he had spent a full day with his family and even if his mom could be a little scary sometimes, she was still the best mother one could ask for and Jin loved her very much. His father was the same and Jin could still remember that he used to send pictures of the two of them - especially with his wife though - to not let Jin feel lonely in America. It was kind of annoying that all of Jin’s friends received the pictures every time as well, but that was his dad’s way to have fun, he thought.
“Sorry, honey, but I can’t today.” Misaki’s answer woke Jin up from his dream, making him blink as he tried to process the words. “I have planned a day with my friends at the spa and your father is working the whole day.”
“I see.” Jin replied with a small voice. “And Reio?” he asked, still hoping for some kind of entertainment.
“Reio has practice for a new play, he’s the lead actor.” His mother chirped excitedly, obviously very happy for her son. “I told you about that.” She added with a thoughtful voice.
“Yeah, I know…” Jin’s answer was barely audible.
“Honey, I have to go. I’ll call you later, okay?” she said and hung up the next second, leaving Jin once again only with his thoughts.
This was going to be a long day.
*
In the end, all of Jin’s friends had said basically the same thing - they are busy, they can’t meet Jin and they have no idea that it’s Jin’s birthday. All of these calls had made him feel a little hurt and Jin was standing now in the living room on his couch, staring at the ceiling and wondering what the hell should he do now. He was all alone and, to be honest, he hadn’t had many meetings with this feeling to know what to do with it. He was always surrounded by people because he hated to be alone and exactly now he had to endure this torture.
Life sucked, Jin concluded as he sighed and stretched on the couch, rolling on it and falling down on the floor, his arms and legs stretched out in an X form. He was totally bored and had exhausted all of his ideas of what to do to get rid of it. He had tried cleaning - it didn’t end up that well and he had been forced to call a maid after totally ruining his bedroom. He had tried to cook something special, something worthy of his birthday - he had managed to burn the kitchen and the maid had been called once again. He had tried to go shopping - thinking that it was the simplest thing to do - and he had ended up thinking that he needed some groceries and bought a lot of junk food and things that he had no need of. The maid had appeared once again to throw most of them.
It was now almost six o’clock in the evening and his phone hadn’t rung even once with a birthday message. The thought didn’t bother him that much now, but it was still hurting him that his friends had left him all alone today.
“I wonder what is Kazuya doing.”
The words slipped his mouth without even thinking and only then Jin realized that Kazuya hadn’t contacted him as well. True, he had said his congratulations a day before, but it wasn’t the same. Jin wanted to hear from him today too, to know that the younger was thinking at him, that he mattered at least a little for him. It was slightly disappointing to know that Kazuya didn’t even think at him when they weren’t together. It made him wonder if Kazuya really cared about him, if he thought at Jin at least one small part of what Jin thought of him.
Maybe, maybe not. The only thing Jin knew was that Kazuya wasn’t there either.
“Oh, fuck it!” Jin got mad and raised himself from the floor, rushing to his bedroom and throwing some clothes out of his dresser. “I’m going out to have some fun by myself.” He decided, dressing up and leaving the house in only five minutes. He had to do something about this or he’ll go crazy at this rate. And it wasn’t like he needed somebody else to have fun and celebrate his birthday. He could go to any club, hit on a girl, maybe fuck her and then go home satisfied and content. It wouldn’t be too different from his usual days in America, but at least it was something.
And Jin had no intention to dwell on the consequences. Kazuya could deal with them. After all, it was his fault that Jin was all alone.
“I’m sorry, Akanishi-san, I can’t let you go in.”
Jin blinked, trying to understand the man’s words. He had driven to his favorite club and had wanted to go in when this gorilla that called himself a bodyguard stopped him - Jin chose to ignore the fact that he actually liked that guy and they knew each other at some level after all the times Jin had visited the club since he came to Japan. “Why?” he asked, starting to feel shittier than before.
Could life be even worse than this?!
“There’s a party going on, the whole club is booked.” The other one answered with an understanding tone and a little pity in his voice when he saw Jin’s desolated expression. He watched Jin as he turned to leave, shoulders slumped and head down, feeling defeated by the world and alone in an endless pitch, helpless and hurt and disappointed and a lot of other things that not even Jin could understand. “Wait a moment!” the guardian yelled after Jin and signaled him to stop as he entered the club.
But Jin didn’t have the intention to wait. As soon as the man disappeared behind the big doors, he started to walk again, heading to his car. It was enough. Fate wasn’t on his side this time and Jin had finally accepted that. It wasn’t like it mattered. It was just a day like the others. He could still meet with his friends and party and do all the things he wanted to do today even if it was a day late. It had been his fault. He should have called them beforehand and remind them that it was his birthday and that they needed to keep this day clear for him. After all, it had been a long time since they last celebrated together and Jin could understand perfectly well if they hadn’t thought at this possibility.
“Bakanishi!!”
“I must be going mad, I’m hearing Pi calling me from Hokkaido.” Jin laughed as he stopped next to his car and fetched his keys from his pocket.
“You idiot!” someone slapped him on the head, making Jin yelp and rub the spot that was hit. His eyes widened though when he turned and saw Yamapi looking at him and breathing heavily. “The guard told me you were here and I… and I ran…” his friend tried to explain while also trying to regain his breath. “Oh, just come.” He finally said, grabbing Jin’s hand and pulling him back towards the club and behind its doors, into the mass of people that were Jin’s friends.
“Happy birthday!!” they all yelled and Jin thought his heart stopped for a second. They hadn’t forgotten. They had just pretended to make him a surprise. He wasn’t alone after all and a quick gaze through the crowd let him know that all of his American and Japanese friends were there, his family included.
“So what do you think? It was my idea.” Pi grinned as he looked proudly at his best friend.
So Jin did the only thing he could think of. He hit Yamapi.
*
When he arrived at the address Pi had given to him, Kazuya was feeling a little unsure about all this. He was alone and on the streets there were only fashionable looking people while he… well, he tried to be a bit fashionable. But even his accessories weren’t a match to what he saw on the streets of Roppongi. Yet Kazuya thought of Jin and the fact that today was his birthday, concluding that it didn’t matter if he wore a sack or if he wore Armani. So taking a deep breath, he marched towards the club’s entrance, getting an easy pass though he still felt the bodyguards’ mocking glances towards his clothes.
And when he entered the club, his mouth fell open. He knew that Pi had planned it big, but really… this was extravagant!! Beside the fact that the place was huge and had two floors, there was a large buffet filled with food from where everyone served themselves; there was a big dance floor where people swayed and grinded their bodies according to the music and what was the most interesting from all - was the impressive castle of glasses filled with champagne which seemed to be never ending. He had seen such things before, but only in movies and he had thought that normal people won’t have them too at parties or birthdays. But he was wrong - Jin was no normal person and he had the finest from all. Kazuya glanced up and a smile spread across his lips - on the ceiling there was written with Latin letters Jin’s name, all made by red balloons surrounded by multicolored ones. He wondered if at a certain moment, they would fall out of the ceiling; probably they will when the cake was going to be cut.
As he looked around, feeling so out of place, Kazuya sighed and decided to stay a little while, thinking that he’ll give Jin his present, then he’ll try to leave this place as soon as possible. He didn’t belong there, he felt it through his every breath. And as he made his way through the swaying crowd, Kazuya noticed the actor dancing in the middle of the dance floor, laughing and looking like he was having the blast of his night. The assistant couldn’t suppress a smile and although he had wanted to give his present as quickly as possible, he decided that he simply couldn’t go there and disturb him for a simple present as Kazuya had.
A tug at his heart almost had him leave the club, thinking that he might have the poorest and less interesting present from all. Kazuya sighed and left Jin on the dance floor, heading for the bar, thinking that he could wait there until the actor got tired and maybe a little thirsty and this way he could hand his present and bid his farewell. Though, somewhere in his heart, he was aware that Jin wouldn’t let him go that easily. But still he hoped that being so many persons here, so many friends… maybe he won’t need him much.
Kazuya took a place on the high stool and looked at the bottles on the shelves. There were so many brands of alcohol and some he hadn’t even heard of. He wondered how much will one glass will cost, but he thought better and that it’d be better not to even concern himself with the prices of the alcohol Jin was serving at his birthday party. He asked the bartender for a non-alcoholic cocktail, putting the small bag on the counter. The younger glanced at it and couldn’t help but to feel nervous about his present. What will Jin say? Will he like it or will he think that it wasn’t worthy of even being called a birthday present especially since what he had received was far more expensive? Kazuya bit his lower lip and almost let his head rest on the counter if not for the bartender who brought him the cocktail. He thanked shyly and began to sip from it, wondering why the hell did he agree to come in the first place.
It was clear that his place wasn’t there at all.
Unfortunately, Jin didn’t seem to see him as he continued to dance and laugh happily with his friends, drinking and having fun as he had dreamed to be doing since he had come back to Japan and found out that he’ll be able to spend his birthday there. His parents had left a while ago so Jin had no intention on backing down from the beverage, decided to take full advantage of the night. Besides, Matsumoto was also there so Jin had a pretty good idea that he’ll be having another day off tomorrow.
So it was no wonder that Jin didn’t see Kazuya and hadn’t been the first to notice his arrival. “Having fun?” Ryo asked with a small smile, taking a seat next to Kazuya and putting his drink on the bar.
Kazuya almost drowned with his drink when he heard Ryo’s voice. He coughed a little before turning to look at the director, trying to smile, though the effect was kinda off since there were tears in his eyes. “Um… hello.” Kazuya said first and took a deep breath, before continuing. “Yeah, I’m having fun. You?” he replied, now looking more in control than earlier.
“The best.” Ryo replied with a big grin on his face, obviously a little tipsy already. Still, it was better than how Jin looked like, Ryo mused, so it was alright to giggle at Kazuya’s reaction.
“The party is awesome.” Kazuya replied, blushing a little. “When Yamashita-san said that it was going to be big… I didn’t expect it to be this big.” He laughed, feeling that it was safe to take another sip from his cocktail. “All of the people here are Jin’s friends?” the younger asked, looking impressed.
“Most of them, yeah.” Ryo replied, following Kazuya’s advice and bringing the glass to his lips only to gulp it down and order another one. “Some of them are from entertainment, others are friends of our parents and we kind of grew up with them.” He shrugged a little and turned on his chair with a silly grin on his face, pulling Kazuya along with him. “For example,” he said, pointing discretely to one guy sitting at a table and chatting with a girl, “that guy is a dork. His parents forced us to hang out with him and we kind of mocked him all our childhood. That is until we found that dork means smart and that he can do our homework. We really became friends after that.” Ryo seemed to meditate for a couple of seconds, before pointing to another person, this time a girl. “That’s Sherri. We used to make fun of her name and Jin even named a dog after her. Eventually, we found out that she’s pretty cool to hang out with. More or less,” he added with a thoughtful expression, “because Jin slept with her and brought her into our group.”
I see, Kazuya wanted to say but somehow he found his tongue tied. His eyes lingered a bit on the girl named Sherri, before dismissing the thought that she was nothing compared to other girls or to him. Kazuya frowned but clicked his tongue, kind of annoyed at himself. Why did he compare himself with Sherri? No, wait, what was there to be compared with her? Or with him? The assistant sighed and turned to look at Ryo, somehow with a scowl on his face.
“Is that an initiation?” he asked, arching an eyebrow. He wasn’t mean, but he couldn’t help if it did sound that way. After all, did it have to be Jin the one who had to sleep with her?
“Not really.” Ryo frowned, his eyes searching the crowd for other people. “But Jin loves to be in love so he always chases it.” He shrugged, turning to look at Kazuya. “He’s always with someone new and he truly cares about them, but…” he bit his tongue, trying to explain better and wondering why the hell was he talking about this. “But he hasn’t found the person who can last more than one month.” He said, taking one sip from his fresh glass of whiskey. “The odd part is that they remain friends after they break up so you can see how our circles grow every day.” He finished with a chuckle, his eyes resting now on Jin’s form who continued to dance happily with Lizzy.
God, Kazuya thought, he was going to get sick just hearing this about Jin. So this was all some sort of game to Jin? And to think that for a moment, he had surrendered to Jin and almost fell into his trap. The younger shook his head a little, turning to the bartender and asking for a whisky with cola. “Are you the same?” Kazuya found himself asking Ryo, probably sounding a bit impolite. “Sorry.” He said quickly, giving a bow. “I mean, all of the girls here are his former girlfriends or yours or Yamashita-san’s?” he tried to correct himself, hoping that somehow had managed to do so.
Ryo didn’t seem to mind Kazuya’s question - all that drinking had to have an effect over him - and he just chuckled slightly. “Most of them are people who really admire Jin and not just because he fucked one or two.” He replied. “Pi is actually worse, especially when he gets drunk. But he has his reasons.” Ryo added with a smaller voice, not audible over the loud music, and intentionally not talking about himself, not feeling really comfortable with it. “A lot of them used to dance for Jin in America.” Ryo shared with a small smile as his eyes fell over his crew.
“I see.” Kazuya managed to say this time, feeling a little relieved. After all, the man for whom he worked wasn’t that bad as he had earlier thought. Though the thought of Jin being with most of the women in this club still bothered him, yet he chose to shrug it away. “So, mostly from the people here are Jin’s acquaintances or do you know them too?” he asked, taking a sip from his whisky, not really enjoying the burning sensation it left down his throat.
“Mutual acquaintances.” Ryo replied. “But there are a lot of Jin’s friends from America who came here to celebrate with him.” He added quickly, his eyes now fixed on Kazuya and calmly observing him. “Still, we visited him in America a few times so there aren’t many that I don’t know.” He explained as he emptied his glass and ordered now a glass of water.
“That’s nice.” Kazuya said, nodding his head once. “How’s America?” he asked, looking mildly interested.
“It’s really beautiful.” Ryo grinned widely at Kazuya. “And it’s very different, they have different customs and habits and they even dress different. I was actually surprised by this when I first went there.” He chuckled and gulped down the whole glass of water.
Kazuya laughed. “Dress differently?” he asked, looking at him funny. “What do you mean? It’s not like we’re in kimonos or yukatas dressed.” He continued, leaning against the counter. Really, what could be so different in America than in Japan? Of course, customs are different but that’s a given seeing how they have developed in a different way than Americans. And clothes… Japanese people have long forgotten to wear traditional clothes. And Kazuya believed that today’s fashion was more striking than in other countries. That’s why he was curious about what has Ryo seen in America and he hasn’t seen in Japan.
“Not really their way of dressing up,” Ryo corrected himself, “more like how easy they get rid of their clothes.” He smiled sheepishly at the younger, brushing a hand through his hair, a slight color of red covering his cheeks.
Kazuya choke on his whisky. Why did Ryo choose to say all of these things when he was drinking? No idea, though it was probably Jin’s influenza. After he stopped coughing, he gave a shaky laugh, wiping the corners of his eyes. “Is that so?” he asked with a grin. “Still, it’s an interesting way to put it when it comes to clothes.” He winked and looked at the dance floor. “Will they get rid of their clothes easily?” The younger asked, pointing to a small dancing group of - apparently - American girls.
“As there hadn’t been any clothes in the first place.” Ryo grinned widely, looking in the same direction as Kazuya. “Come on, let me show you.” He added, leaving his chair and watching Kazuya expectantly.
The assistant laughed and wondered where all of this will lead. But he followed Ryo nevertheless, feeling a bit coy. He wasn’t that much of a womanizer and usually women were a bit of a trouble to him; most of the time he ended up teasing them and having them dump him easily, not even giving him the chance to say that he liked them. He sighed, thinking that maybe American girls weren’t that easily upset and that he might even get to know what Ryo implied. Yet he hoped that at least one of them talked Japanese seeing that he wasn’t that great with English.
He watched Ryo walking in the midst of them all confident and Kazuya smiled from the sidelines as the girls greeted the man with tight hugs and slight brushings of their bodies.
“Girls, I want you to meet someone. He’s Kamenashi Kazuya.” Ryo introduced him and the girls squealed quickly something in English in return. “They are Sharon, Rachel and Britney.” He continued and moved away to let the girls observe him from head to toes.
“Hi, there, Kazu.” The one from the middle smiled sweetly at him and stretched her hand towards Kazuya while the other two waited with their eyes wide open to see his reaction.
Kazuya gulped and licked his lips, looking a little nervous. He secretly wiped his sweating hand before stretching his own to grab the girl’s. It was a warm and smooth hand and Kazuya found himself enjoying the way her fingers curled around his. “Herro, Reicheru.” He said in a half English, half Japanese, giving her a bow. Also, he felt weird hearing his name shortened like that by an American girl. “H-how are you?” he asked, feeling all tense and warm all of a sudden. Kazuya really hoped that he wasn’t blushing.
“How sweet!” the girls squealed again and the other two moved to grab each one of them one of Kazuya’s hands while the third one remained in front of him, Ryo next to her. “What do you say about a little dance with us?” the one named Rachel asked in Japanese this time, winking at him. “They don’t understand Japanese,” she continued, pointing with her head at her friends, “but I’m sure we can manage the four of us. Or, Ryo, do you want to join us?” she asked, laughing after at which Ryo shook his head in refusal and amusement.
Kazuya laughed and looked at all three of them before looking at Ryo who winked at him, seeming to say told you so. “So… you can talk Japanese.” He replied to Rachel, a smile adorning his lips. “Sure, ret’s dance~” he said in English, making the girls giggle once more and making a circle around him, Rachel being the first one to approach him, entwining their hands as she glued her body to his, startling him a bit.
But Kazuya quickly overcame the sudden surprise and swayed his body along with her when he felt a third body behind him; it was Sharon. “Let me join too, cutie.” She whispered in his ear and she let herself down, her hands sliding along Kazuya’s body and stopping on his waist for support. Then he felt a leg sliding between his and saw Rachel smiling at him. Her beautiful green eyes shone brightly and the assistant thought he was going to get lost in them. Rachel took one of his hands and told him to grab onto her, grinding her hips into his. Kazuya hold gingerly her waist, afraid that if he’ll feel more of her exposed skin, he’ll get burnt. From behind, Sharon left but was quickly replaced by Britney who swayed her ass, bumping into his and brushing against it. Then she turned and let her hands slip over Kazuya’s chest, her long nails scratching slowly his sweating skin.
Waves of pleasure and the sudden rush of adrenaline made Kazuya more courageous as he encircled Rachel’s waist and grinded his body, her perfect lips now into the shape of an O. Then a devilish smile made way as she leaned forward, brushing her lips over his cheek; catching Britney’s hand between them. The girl behind him laughed and soon he felt her lips on the other cheek. Ryo was right, Kazuya thought as he enjoyed thoroughly the sensation of being squished and kissed by two beautiful foreigner girls.
But as Kazuya was an adult already, he didn’t believe in fairytales anymore and he had to know that at some point the spell will break. Still, he was startled when a loud and whiny voice called his name, covering the powerful music and approaching him quickly. It only took Jin a couple of seconds to appear in front of Kazuya, arms crossed and lips pursed as usual, looking drunker than it was allowed and his feet swaying a little. “You’re mean!!” he yelled, looking hurt and making the girls chuckle because of his antics.
Kazuya looked at Jin through eyes hazed with desired and felt Sharon untangle herself from his behind, though Rachel still remained over him, one of his hands resting on her waist as the other one was holding her’s. “What?” he finally asked the actor, feeling a little drunk. Could it be because of Rachel’s sweet perfume or the whisky earlier? Or maybe they could be both, the younger concluded as he glanced at Rachel, a smile dancing on his lips.
“You’re mean!!” Jin repeated as he stomped his feet and jumped on Kazuya, making Rachel back away and let him take her place. “You’re really mean.” The actor said for the third time that night, this time whispering the words into Kazuya’s ear, letting the younger be the only one to hear them.
Okay… not good. It was definitely not good having three women pour themselves down on you and then have Jin whisper in your ear, already knowing that it was his sensitive spot. Kazuya suppressed a shiver as he looked at Jin, frowning a bit. “Are you sure? Cause you’ve just chased away your guest. Who’s the one mean now?” Kazuya replied and tried to wriggle his hand out of Jin’s grasp.
“Which guest?” Jin asked, detaching himself a little from Kazuya to look around. “There’s no one leaving.” He laughed, falling back on the younger, completely oblivious to the fact that the three girls left, but if someone asked him, Jin would say - what girls?!
Kazuya sighed and looked for Ryo who seemed to have gone too. Maybe he left since the girls began their dance with him, Kazuya thought and felt a bit guilty. He had ignored the director while he had been kind enough to introduce him to some girls. Kazuya sighed a second time and looked at Jin. “Happy birthday.” He said with a smile.
“Thanks.” Jin sighed softly as he let his hands fall down on Kazuya’s waist and started to move along the slow beat of the music. “I’m really happy that you’re here.” He confessed, burying his head into Kazuya’s shoulder.
When did they start dancing?! Kazuya wasn’t sure about this but he went along with Jin just for a little while. Nobody will take notice; they were somewhere hidden by the dark lights and that’s right, nobody could see them and judge their behavior. “How did you find me?” Kazuya asked, realizing that he had been in the spot with the girls and surely it had been dark then too.
“I have my special radar that allows me to find you.” Jin chuckled, suddenly feeling proud of his clever joke. “I told you already you can’t get away from me.” He laughed softly.
“Yeah, right. You and your special radar.” Kazuya laughed back and slipped away from Jin. “Let me get your present, okay?” he said on a rather coyly voice and headed for the bar where he had left the bag.
Jin looked like a kicked puppy after Kazuya for a few seconds before the younger’s words finally registered in his head and he practically jumped all the way to the bar where Kazuya was already waiting for him. “What did you get me?” he asked with an excited voice, his eyes shining with impatience.
The assistant seemed to fidget a little under Jin’s expectant stare and he was almost sure that the actor would be disappointed in his present. But here goes nothing. “It’s just a simple present, nothing much…” he muttered as he handed the small bag to Jin. “Sorry I couldn’t get you anything better…” he said apologetically.
Jin grinned, convinced that he'll be happy with anything that Kazuya will give him, so he took the small packet, observing it for a couple of seconds with his drunken eyes and then finally unwrapping Kazuya's present. "Cool, it's a necklace!" he exclaimed happily, taking it from the box and studying it with a thoughtful expression, only glancing at the small ring that had been left in the box. "Interesting, I don't know this brand." he mumbled, looking visibly interested. "What is it?" he then asked, sounding innocent and curious, holding his present up to hang from his hand.
Brand? What brand? Kazuya wanted to ask but he stopped himself in time. He looked embarrassed and a bit confused at Jin, the happiness he felt when he saw Jin’s reaction wore off immediately. “Umm…” Kazuya mumbled as his tongue poked his cheek as if he didn’t want to answer Jin’s question. “There’s a ring too!” The younger said quickly, noticing that the actor didn’t see the other accessory and hoping that he won’t ask again the brand. Cause honestly… Kazuya bought no brand necklace or ring, he couldn’t afford such a thing.
"There's also a ring?!" Jin exclaimed with the same happy voice, like he has just seen the item. He didn't wait for another invitation and took the ring out of the box, once again studying it intensively. "A pinky ring." he stated, thinking that he had never wore such a thing but it looked kind of interesting.
Kazuya chuckled embarrassed as he licked his lips while taking the ring out of Jin’s hand. “I like accessories a lot and when I saw this ring, I thought it might suit you. Here, give me your hand.” He asked Jin though he took the older one’s hand even without hearing the answer. Kazuya slipped the ring on Jin’s pinky finger and looked at the new accessorized hand with critique eyes. “Yeah… it fits and suits you.” The assistant said and smiled at the actor.
Jin looked at his finger for a while, his expression blank and not betraying any of his thoughts - the effect of the booze. "It looks nice." he concluded after a couple of minutes and then he looked at Kazuya and grinned widely. "Thanks, I love it." he added and leaned over the younger and stole him a kiss as in gratitude, drawing back immediately and looking at Kazuya with sheepish eyes, his hands fumbling with the necklace to try and put it on.
Kazuya froze when he felt Jin’s lips on his, but recovered quickly, thinking that it was better not to make a scene out of this. He smirked at Jin who was trying to put on the necklace, snatching it from his drunken hands, leaning forward to put it on. “I hope you really like it and not lying to me.” Kazuya muttered as he fastened the necklace around Jin’s neck.
"I really like it." Jin repeated his words, the confidence and determination resounding from them as he let his head fall on Kazuya's shoulder, his hands trapping the younger in his hold. "And I really like you." he added with a slight smile, feeling content to be able to inhale Kazuya's scent and get lost in that sweet scent of strawberry.
“Yeah, yeah. And you’re really drunk.” Kazuya chuckled and drew back from Jin. “It’s done.” He said with a smile, ignoring the fast beating of his heart.
Jin sighed again and brought Kazuya back into his arms, resting his head once more on the younger's shoulder and this time keeping him safe into his arms. "I don't know what I'd do without you." he confessed with a small voice, not aware of the fact that Kazuya might not hear him because of the loud music.
“Erm…” Kazuya looked around and then at the bartender who merely cast them a glance, though to Kazuya it seemed like he had been staring. “Jin, you’re drunk.” The younger said, patting his back as if in understanding. He gave a nervous laugh as he looked again at the bartender who gave a slight nod and a quick smile. Of course he hadn’t heard what Jin said, he was way too preoccupied by the image they showed than the words Jin might say while drunk.
"This doesn't mean that what I say isn't true." the actor argued with his assistant, frowning a little but still not bothering to move, enjoying too much Kazuya's company. "I'm always honest with my feelings." he added with a purr as his hands started to move a little on Kazuya's back.
This was starting to get dangerous, that’s why Kazuya pushed Jin away from him quickly, happy that it was semi obscure and that his face couldn’t be seen blushing. “I’m glad you’re honest, but right now you should go and celebrate your birthday with your other friends too.” The younger said with a calm voice, though he felt it quivering a little. “Also, I won’t be staying long, Yuuya is waiting for me.” Kazuya felt the need to say this, though he wasn’t sure it had been the right thing.
Jin narrowed his eyes and looked intently at Kazuya for a few moments, trying to recover after the shock of being rejected. His words were somehow lost in Jin's mind and the actor found himself asking a totally different thing from what he had been planning to. "What are you so afraid of?"
Kazuya looked back confused, wondering what made Jin ask him such a stupid question. “I’m not afraid of anything.” He replied, shaking his head with a small laugh. “And don’t just stand here with me, you’re losing all the fun out there.” Kazuya waved a hand towards the dance floor as a smile adorned his lips.
"I don't want to be there, I want to be with you." Jin confessed with a slight hurt tone, looking at Kazuya with puppy eyes and not understanding why was the younger continuing to reject him. "Can't I just stay with you?" he then asked with a pleading voice.
The smile wavered and Kazuya realized that Jin will cling all night onto him if he didn’t do something quickly. “No.” he replied with a serious tone. “It’s your birthday, be with your friends.” The younger one continued, this time on a gentler voice. “That if you want me to still be here.” He added, warning in his words.
Only that Jin had taken it the wrong way, the booze clouding his brain and making him take all of his feelings to extreme. This meant anger also. "Fine!" he yelled, flapping his hands in the air with exaggerated moves. "If you came here just to leave, then be my guest!" he said, feeling angrier and more hurt than he really was as he turned his back on Kazuya to leave. Of course, in his fury, he didn't see the chairs in front of him and dove right into them, cursing but managing to remain on his feet, only the chairs being damaged as he continued his way to the upper floor.
This also meant climbing stairs.
Part II