Open Your Heart - Chapter Six
“Hi, um, I’m here to see Kei,” Yuto Nakajima asked clumsily into the receiver next to the doorbell on the front gate.
“What?!” Yuto heard the voice of an elderly woman exclaim. “Come in, quickly,” her voice urged, as the entrance creaked open.
~~~
“Hi…” Yuto said awkwardly, now being met at the front door by a small, cute girl dressed in a maid’s outfit.
She smiled sweetly, and then replied dazedly, “Hi, I’m…”
“YURI!”
Yuto jumped in surprise at the sound of the shrill yell. An elderly woman (Yuto assumed she was the one who had spoken to him at the gate) rushed into the room and ushered a reluctant-looking Yuri out of the room. “Yuri, will you go fetch Keiko for me? Go, now,” the woman told her quietly.
Turning to face Yuto, the woman said, her tone sharp, “Come with me.”
~~~
“Keiko~” Yuri Chinen called out gleefully, skipping up the stairs. It was now Kei’s second day of work, as Keiko, and he was busy cleaning Young Master Kota’s bedroom.
“Yes?” Kei asked, popping his head out the door, as he heard Yuri’s call.
“There’s this guy here to see you~” Yuri sang out, smiling in a love-struck way. “He’s so good-looking~” she sighed dreamily.
Kei laughed. “Alright, I’m coming,” he smiled back, amusedly. Wondering who was here to see him, Kei rushed downstairs as soon as Yuri had left, and bumped straight into Miss Mai.
“Ah, Keiko! You have a visitor,” she said in an unpleasant tone, leading Kei into the kitchen. He followed obediently, gasping when he saw who was waiting there for him.
“Yuto?! What are you doing here? How did you even know where to find me?” Kei asked incredulously.
“I just wanted to come see you at your new job, before I went off to work this morning,” Yuto explained. “And I memorized the address from that slip of paper you showed me, remember? But Kei,” he continued, giggling. “I have to ask, what are you wearing?”
Kei immediately froze, remembering his uniform; his eyes widened.
“Enough of this chatter!” Miss Mai hissed. “Did you know that at the gateway, this young man asked to see a KEI?” She questioned Kei while pointing accusingly at Yuto.
“What’s wrong with that?” Yuto asked, clueless.
“Um, well…” Kei started to explain, but was cut off.
“If anyone else other than I had answered that call, your cover would have been blown! Do you want to get fired?!” she growled.
Kei gulped, wanting to say, “Yes,” but couldn’t. He knew that if he got fired, he’d have to somehow pay Kota back the money he’d owe him, and that would be impossible, at least, not in his current situation.
“You were lucky this time that I got the door for you, but don’t ever let this happen again, got it?” Miss Mai snapped at Kei, who nodded meekly. Sighing in return, she shook her head disapprovingly, muttering to herself as she left the kitchen.
“So…You’re a maid now?” Yuto asked as soon as the door closed behind Miss Mai.
“Yeah,” Kei replied. “And I’m supposed to be a girl, so you’ll have to call me ‘Keiko’ while you’re here, or else you’ll blow my cover,” Kei grimaced, choosing the same words Miss Mai had just used to scold him.
“And you’re okay…with being a girl?” Yuto asked slowly.
“Truth is,” Kei sighed. “My mom kind of took my first paycheck, after I got paid in advance, so I don’t have the money to return it… I can’t buy my freedom from this job,” Kei admitted in a regretful tone, turning his back in indignity.
Yuto approached him slowly, saying nothing. He knew enough about Kei’s family matters to understand that Kei was feeling truly trapped in a hard place. He guessed that right about now, Kei was biting back tears. He always did when talking about his mom.
Wrapping his arms around Kei from behind, Yuto gently set his head on Kei’s shoulder and nuzzled him lovingly.
“It’ll be okay,” he whispered tenderly. “Being a pretty girl isn’t that bad, is it?”
“Well…I don’t know,” Kei sighed, melting into Yuto’s warm embrace. “But I feel… I feel kind of… bad. I don’t know,” he repeated uncertainly. Kei wasn’t exactly sure why he felt bad.
Is it from embarrassment, for having to dress as a girl? Or is it from guilt, for starting to develop feelings for another guy when my perfect boyfriend is right here? Yuto can always tell when I’m feeling bad and he always sincerely tries to make me feel better. He cares for me and helps me. Why can’t I be satisfied with that? Why is my heart slowly beginning to close, away from him?
Kei bit his lip. He wanted to shake these thoughts out of his head by directly saying, “I love you, Yuto,” but he couldn’t. His body wasn’t listening to him anymore.
“Don’t worry, Kei,” Yuto murmured into his ear, interrupting Kei’s thoughts. “You’re. My. Beautiful. Bad. Girl,” he smiled, putting emphasis on each of his words.
Kei couldn’t help but smile back as he turned around, now facing Yuto, and returned his embrace “Yuto…” Kei sighed, burying his head into Yuto’s chest.
Why can’t I love you whole-heartedly anymore?