Boy Next Door
Title: Boy Next Door
Author: thanku4urlove
Pairing: Shintaro/Hokuto
Rating: PG
Warnings: Lots of kissing
Genre: Fluff/Romance-y
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Summary: Shintaro kisses Hokuto. He kisses Hokuto because... Because he wants to, really, and he hasn't thought much farther than that.
A/N: This was written a little while ago (like...in april, that's why this fic is set in summer even though it's 3 days before christmas). I was seeing pictures of Hokuto on twitter and he's just so pretty??? I wanted someone to be kissing that boy, because he deserves it. So I let Shintaro do it.
If you know me well then you know I'm huge shinee fan, so these past couple of days have been incredibly rough. please bear with me if I end up dropping off the map for a little while, because I honestly am not sure what to do right now.
Banner by ryosukekoibito ♡ (she's posting the first chapter of her new kumi fic tonight! go check it out, you won't regret it.)
Shintaro kisses Hokuto. He kisses Hokuto because... Because he wants to, really, and he hasn't thought much farther than that.
Because when he stops leaning in, his face only an inch away, Hokuto raises his head as much as he needs to nudge Shintaro's nose with his own. When Hokuto disembowels his video game character for the fourth time in a row Shintaro completely gives up on his lackluster gaming skills and throws his controller aside to let out a yell and tackle Hokuto instead. He thinks it might be a bit juvenile to be wrestling like this, especially now that they're in their final year of high school, but when he pins Hokuto on his back on the floor by his wrists, feeling Hokuto's hip bones pressing against his thighs, he realizes he doesn't care. Hokuto is breathing heavy from the wrestling and the laughing, his smile fading as the room grows silent.
Hokuto stares up at Shintaro. He's not questioning or expectant, just staring, the strength he'd had during their playful struggle leaving his limbs, resigning himself to Shintaro's grip and to the floor. As Shintaro stares back at him, he feels a slight tug somewhere beneath his navel, as though this was meant to happen all along. So he does what feels right.
It feels more than right. Hokuto is craning his neck up off the floor to meet his lips but he doesn't have to reach up far, his shoulders still flat to the carpet beneath them. He tastes nice too, some like the soda they'd been drinking while playing, mostly like something entirely new, driving Shintaro to press the kiss deeper. The soda is fitting, because it feels as though someone carbonated his bloodstream, his pulse running fast and light and effervescent through his body.
Hokuto makes a soft, eager noise against his mouth and Shintaro lets his wrists go, his fingers tangling instantly in Shintaro's hair, and Shintaro moves to press open-mouthed kisses against Hokuto's neck, feeling his pulse racing against his lips.
But he wants to touch more of him, propping himself up on one arm, sliding the other hand down Hokuto's chest before slipping it under the hem of his shirt. He feels hot, and firm, Hokuto's back arching under him, a few sounds leaving his lips that are almost murmured attempts at words. Shintaro slots one leg between Hokuto's thighs, enjoying the noises he's making, bringing their lips together again.
"Sh... Shin--" One of Hokuto's hands stops its gentle tugging at his scalp, dropping to push Shintaro's fingers away from the soft skin of his stomach. Shintaro freezes, stopping everything, looking at the boy under him and fearing for a moment that he had messed something--maybe everything--up.
"We shouldn't do this here." Hokuto says. His lips are redder than his flushed cheeks, and Shintaro likes that. His voice is breathless to a shameful degree, but Shintaro finds he likes that too. "I'm not... I'm not quiet with things like this, and my parents are home."
He has a point; Hokuto's father is the most strict man Shintaro has ever met, and him entering the room now is the farthest from ideal that Shintaro can think of. But that isn't the part of Hokuto's statement that Shintaro is focusing on, his train of thought jumping between the question of what exactly it is Hokuto thinks they're doing, and the question of how Hokuto knows he isn't quiet with “things like this". Things like being kissed? Like lying flat on his back on his bedroom floor, with his shirt riding up his stomach? That gives Shintaro something new to think about entirely.
Shintaro is about to respond--though he's unsure of what exactly it is that he's going to say--when Hokuto's mother's voice floats up the stairs.
"Dinner in five minutes!"
That settles things; it's time for Shintaro to go home. Hokuto offers him to stay and eat with them but he refuses, feeling that even if he managed to quickly control the problem in his pants, he wouldn't be able to look Hokuto's parents in the eye.
It's for that same reason that he declines leaving through Hokuto's front door too, clambering slightly clumsily through his bedroom window instead and out onto the sloping roof. His knees feel weak, weak enough to send a small spike of worry through him as he is faced with the small leap from Hokuto's roof to his own, but he's done it a hundred times over this summer alone, and makes it through and into his own bedroom without too much difficulty.
He looks back once he's inside and Hokuto is watching him, smiling at him, giving him a small, unsure wave before heading down to his dinner.
Shintaro smiles through the entire evening. He doesn't realize he's doing it, either; one time, his mother asks him what it is he's so happy about. One time, he catches his reflection in the mirror, spending the next couple of minutes trying unsuccessfully to drag the corners of his mouth down. One time, lying in bed, he realizes that his face hurts, the muscles in his cheeks aching, and even then he can't stop. He gets out of bed and walks to his window, pulling back the curtains and sliding up the glass. The sun has been down for hours but the summer air is still warm and humid as he peers over to the house next door. Hokuto's curtains are closed, but the light is still on in his bedroom. Shintaro looks at the top left corner of his desk, seeing that there are only two pebbles left in his little pile. He picks them up, frowning, making a mental note to go out and get some more tomorrow. Then he tosses one at Hokuto's window.
He misses, and curses. The second stone plinks off the glass, but not loud enough to catch his attention, and now Shintaro is out of ammo. He looks around on his desk, spotting a pen. The writing implement is useless now, dried up after its cap was sacrificed out the window to get Hokuto's attention a few weeks back. And now the pen would meet the same fate.
It does the trick, and a second later Hokuto pulls back his curtains. He's in a tank-top and boxer shorts, and he beams when he sees Shintaro there. It's too late to really do anything, or say anything to each other, Hokuto leaning out of sight for a moment. When he's back he's holding his phone, and a second later Shintaro's own phone buzzes on his bed.
From: Hoku
Goodnight
To: Hoku
Goodnight :)
"I kissed Hokuto yesterday."
Juri chokes on his popsicle stick. He gags for a second before he can wheeze in a breath, and he looks hilarious. Shintaro tries not to laugh because Juri is his friend, and this is supposed to be a serious conversation, but soon decides fuck it and laughs anyway. Shintaro is in no danger of choking whatsoever, having finished his popsicle a solid five minutes ago, the cold treat a welcome reward for making the trek to Juri's house in the midday heat. He’d shown up unannounced, technically, but to be fair he hadn't had to ask permission from Juri's parents to come over since he was twelve.
"You did what?" Juri asks, his voice hoarse. "Why?"
Shintaro shrugs. They've been friends long enough for Juri to take that as an acceptable reason.
"Okay, so..." He falls silent for a little while. Shintaro frowns.
"Is it weird?" He asks.
"Well... Did he like it?" Juri makes a bit of a face as he asks the question, almost as though he hopes Shintaro won't actually give him an answer. Shintaro thinks for a moment.
"I think so. He..." He didn't want to tell Juri about the sounds Hokuto had made. "He smiled at me, after all of it."
"All of it?" Juri repeats, holding a hand up to stop him when Shintaro opens his mouth to explain. "Does this mean you're dating now?"
Shintaro pauses. This was what he'd come to Juri about, why he'd decided to tell him; well, that and because he told Juri everything.
"I don't know." He finally says. "We didn't really talk about it."
"How do you not talk about something like that?"
"His parents called him for dinner. I had to leave." Shintaro resists the urge to shrug again. "I threw a couple of rocks at his window last night to make sure we were still friends, and I think we are, but I don't know past that much."
"You didn't think to talk to him while... You know...?"
"We were a bit..." Shintaro doesn't come up with the word "preoccupied" until after he's trailed off. Juri gives him an amused look, as though he's warmed up a bit to the idea of two of his friends making out, and is now just dealing with the typical Shintaro stupidity.
"You guys are kissing, and have been throwing rocks at each other's windows for like two years. Do you really think he doesn't want to date you?"
When Shintaro is quiet, Juri speaks again.
"Do you want to date him?"
Again, Shintaro doesn't know what to say. He wants to kiss Hokuto again for sure, but he hasn't thought past that.
"What if it was a one time thing?" Shintaro asks. "Or if the next time we hang out, things are all weird? What if... What if--?"
"It sounds like you just need to talk to him." Juri says firmly. Shintaro was hoping he wouldn't say that. Juri doesn't have infinite wisdom, per se, but he is older, and Shintaro thought that maybe he would have some easier solution. To talk to Hokuto, Shintaro has to think things through, and he has an extensive history of screwing things up where thinking is concerned.
But this is Hokuto, Shintaro tells himself. Hokuto has been patient with his less brilliant ideas in the past; maybe this won't be any different.
Shintaro is fresh out of the shower that evening when Hokuto texts him, saying that his parents are out on a dinner date and asking if he wants to come over. Shintaro walks in--through the front door this time--and his stomach sinks because there's that awkwardness that he feared. Hokuto is looking at him, and he can't for the life of him think of a single thing to say.
"Your hair is wet." Hokuto says.
"Oh, yeah." Shintaro reaches up to touch his hair, almost as though he'd forgotten he had any. The movement feels stupid halfway through, and he scratches the back of his neck unnecessarily instead. "I took a shower."
"Oh. And here I thought you were just sweating with excitement to see me."
"I'm always excited to see you."
Hokuto smiles--or rather, smiles wider. He's been smiling since Shintaro walked in, but he hadn't really noticed it until now.
"My parents sort of left me to fend for myself tonight, since they'll be out for a couple of hours. Do you want to help me make dinner?"
"I can't cook." Shintaro confesses hesitantly. Hokuto shrugs.
"Neither can I."
Their lack of skill quickly becomes apparent, Shintaro slicing open his finger in his attempt to cut vegetables. They're vegetables he doesn't understand why Hokuto is having, because his parents aren't here to force them on him, but whatever. The injury is cause for concern for a solid seven minutes, but once his finger is in a bandage and the pain is all but gone, Hokuto laughs at him. Karma exacts its revenge however, a few drops of hot oil catching Hokuto's arm while the meat cooks, causing him to curse and jump in a rather undignified way.
A quick pot of noodles later, and dinner is finished. Shintaro has already eaten but he's always hungry, so the two of them sit across from each other at the table and try out what they've made. Surprisingly, it's not disastrous.
Eating is when they really get to talking and Shintaro breathes a sigh of relief. Nothing is bad. Nothing has changed. They don't talk about each other, but they do talk about everything else, Shintaro telling a story of something dumb his brother did, Hokuto explaining some article he read online that Shintaro is surprised to discover he finds interesting. It's not awkward or forced, just as easy as talking to Hokuto has always been.
They wash their bowls and plates when they're finished with them--another thing Shintaro doesn't understand because again, no parents--the conversation ceasing a bit. Shintaro is scrubbing and Hokuto is drying, Shintaro elbow deep in dish soap when Hokuto leans over, takes a bowl from his hands, and kisses him.
Shintaro is glad he's wasn't the one holding the bowl in that moment because he's pretty sure that if he was, he would have dropped it. Hokuto's eyes are on his hands and on the towel he's using, but the blush on his face is too bright to hide. Shintaro puts his sponge down, and when Hokuto finally looks up Shintaro steps forward and kisses him back.
Their lips aren't as eager as they had been the first time. There's still excitement there, so much that Shintaro isn't sure he can stand it, but there's a touch of familiarity too, the realization of oh, right, this is something we do now. Hokuto reaches up and winds his arms around his neck, Shintaro hands going automatically to Hokuto's waist, but as soon as one of Shintaro's thumbs brushes against some skin his shirt was failing to conceal, Hokuto jumps.
"Sorry." Shintaro murmurs. "My hands are wet."
"I noticed."
Shintaro doesn't want to pull away farther than the few centimeters that are already between them, trying to dry his hands on his shirt, Hokuto laughing against his lips when he realizes what he's doing and leaning back to offer up his dish towel. Stepping back to dry his hands, Shintaro realizes he's been pushing Hokuto's back into the kitchen counter, apologizing.
"If I didn't want you pressing me up against the counter then trust me, you would know." Hokuto says, and Shintaro tries his best to ignore how dry his mouth suddenly is.
"But it can't be comfortable." Shintaro continues as Hokuto steps back to him.
"Shintaro?"
"Yeah?"
Hokuto's arms are around his neck again. "Shut up."
Shintaro is more than happy to do so.
They eventually make their way to the infinitely more comfortable couch, though Shintaro also gets a turn having the kitchen counter digging into his back and has to agree that really, with Hokuto's tongue as a distraction, it really isn't as uncomfortable as it would seem. Hokuto is touching his arms, his back, his chest, and by the time they collapse onto the couch Shintaro's shirt is pushed up to his armpits. The inconvenient bunch of fabric between their torsos isn't ideal, but not quite bothersome enough to stop Shintaro from continuing the hickey he's working on right under Hokuto's jaw, because each kiss there has a small sigh passing Hokuto's lips. Shintaro feels he could quite get used to this, being pinned to the couch with Hokuto in his lap.
Hokuto begins to draw back, a whine coming from the back of Shintaro's throat at the lack of contact. It's a sound he didn't even know he was capable of making, and he's struck with the sudden, terrifying thought that maybe being kissed is the only reason he's here. Maybe the only reason he kissed Hokuto in the first place is because he likes being touched, and he's never quite been touched this way before.
But then Hokuto pulls back completely and Shintaro opens his eyes. Hokuto is looking at him, smiling at him, his lips red and wet and his hair completely disheveled and Shintaro knows for sure that no, this is why he's here. He wants to tell Hokuto that he's beautiful, but a jolt of nerves holds back his tongue just in time.
"We, um..." Hokuto glances away from him, twisting his fingers in his shirt. "We should go up to my room."
"...why?" Shintaro manages out, after a long moment of roundhouse-kicking his brain back into action.
"Because..." Hokuto blushes, though looks like he's trying very hard not to acknowledge it. "Because I don't know when my parents are coming home, and if both of us aren't going to have all our clothes on, I don't want them to be able to just..." He nods to the front door, which the couch is very visible from. "...just walk in."
"Oh. Okay." Shintaro gets to his feet, keeping Hokuto firmly in his arms, and makes for the staircase.
"Put me down."
"No." Shintaro jostles him around instead, shifting him in his arms so he's now being carried bridal style, and starts up the stairs. Hokuto smiles for a moment, then gives him a very convincing frown.
"Now."
"No!"
Hokuto reaches down, gives a hard pinch to Shintaro's butt, and the two of them nearly topple backwards down the steps.
It's a little before midnight when Hokuto's parents come home, the sound of the opening front door and the hushed voices waking Shintaro up from his doze. They would have no qualms with him staying the night, he knows, but he also knows they would come upstairs to check on their son, and it would be best for the two of them to look at least a little less disheveled. They aren't completely indecent, they have their pants on--despite them being, in Shintaro's case, unbuttoned--though Shintaro isn't quite sure where his shirt is, and Hokuto, who is soundly sleeping next to him, would have to pull the blankets up to his chin to hide his neck. He wonders for a moment if his sister has any makeup Hokuto could use, that train of thought distracting him from why he was awake in the first place until he hears footsteps on the stairs.
He jumps up--quietly, he tells himself--and grabs a shirt from the floor, picking up the other and tossing it over Hokuto’s body, hoping it's landed in a convenient place, then hides in the shadow behind Hokuto's bedroom door. His parents only peek their heads in.
"He's out early." Hokuto's mother murmurs, and when her son stirs in his sleep she shushes her husband and they retreat, as not to wake him. There's a few moments of silence, then Shintaro deems it safe to move.
"...Shin?" Hokuto's voice is groggy and confused.
"Yeah?"
"Did you just throw your shirt on me...?"
"...oh."
Shintaro switches around the pieces of fabric, tugging his shirt on. In the dark, he can tell Hokuto is watching him.
"Sorry for falling asleep."
"It's okay, I fell asleep too. But your parents are back, so I'm going to go. Is that okay?"
"Sure."
Before he makes for the window Hokuto reaches out, grabs his arm, pulls him down, and places a quick kiss on his lips.
"Goodnight." He says. Shintaro smiles.
"Goodnight."
They still haven't talked about it. About them. They'd made it up the stairs, and collapsed onto Hokuto's bed. A laughing fit had happened at some point, breaking the onslaught of hands and lips, the whole thing slowing into leisurely kisses and giggles from Hokuto when Shintaro found somewhere new that was ticklish. Then that too faded into comfortable drowsiness, and Hokuto had fallen asleep on his shoulder. Shintaro watched him for a while, thinking about the strange swell he felt in his chest, the little flip in his stomach when he looked at Hokuto's face. But they still hadn't talked about it.
And when Shintaro tells Juri this, Juri yells at him.
"You didn't talk about it?!" He squawks in disbelief. Shintaro ducks, but Juri's wet swim shorts hit him anyways, squeaking when he's hit with Juri's wet towel soon after. "Why the hell not?"
"I... I don't know--stop hitting me!--the timing never felt right."
Juri stares.
"When have you, O Master of Failing to Read the Mood, ever cared about timing?"
"Since now?"
Juri begins whacking him with his towel again, Shintaro slinging curse words at his friend, running around the kitchen table and out of reach. When he can't hit him anymore Juri just throws the towel. It lands perfectly on Shintaro's head.
"Honestly Shintaro, do you even want to date him at all? Because I know we've been friends longer, but if you're just doing this to have someone to make out with, I will have to beat you up."
Shintaro has more muscle than Juri, and he knows this, but somehow the threat is quite terrifying.
"No, I do!" He says quickly. "Really," he adds, because Juri is looking doubtful. "I... I like him. But... What if he turns me down?"
"You basically spent the night in his room." Juri deadpans.
"I've done that before."
"Not before kissing him for what, four hours first? Come on."
"But Hokuto hasn't tried to talk about it either!"
There; he's said it. The doubt hangs in the air for a moment. Juri seems unimpressed by his fear.
"Yeah, and neither have you." He says.
"But this is Hokuto. He loves talking about things. He talked to me for twenty minutes yesterday about how mirrors are made."
"Hey, that sounds interesting."
It was, but that doesn't prove Shintaro's point.
"Juri--"
"Shintaro. You need to talk to him. How would you feel if he thought you didn't think he was worth it, and started dating someone else?"
"Well..." Shintaro lets himself consider it for a moment. It isn't a good feeling. "It would suck. But if the other person makes him happier, then... I really just want him to be happy, right?"
Juri is staring at him again.
"What?"
"Good god, I think you're actually in love."
"What?"
"Shintaro, just go talk to him. Just go over to his house. Actually, go to the convenience store first and get some concealer because he doesn't have any and his parents are bound to ask questions. I can't believe you let me drag you off to a pool and left that poor guy with hickeys all over him."
Shintaro doesn't ask how Juri knows about the hickeys. His mind is stuck at Juri's previous statement, that chest-tightening, stomach-flipping feeling back again. A part of him--a slightly terrified part of him, but a part nonetheless--feels as though Juri is right. Shintaro needs to talk to him.
"I don't have any money with me." He says dumbly. Juri fishes through his jeans, pulls out a few bills, and hands them over.
"Here."
"Where would I be without you?" Shintaro asks, quickly getting changed. Juri grins.
"Friendless, penniless, and alone." He says, clapping Shintaro on the back as he slips on his shoes. "Go get 'em, gorilla."
Shintaro doesn't even hit him for the animal comparison, his step springy with nerves. He is going to go and talk to Hokuto. A Hokuto that he might just be in love with. He feels as though when he does see his friend, he might vomit all over his shoes. But... Vomit all over his shoes in a good way.
He's at the convenience store when he runs into a classmate, the girl very interested in why he's buying makeup, and who he's buying the makeup for. The interaction with her leaves him feeling odd, knocking on Hokuto's door. His mother answers and points him upstairs. The house is hot, as hot as the outside even with the fans on, and Hokuto is wearing a thin tank-top and boxers when he walks in.
"Hey."
"Hi." Hokuto sits up quickly. Shintaro holds up the makeup, extending it out.
"For you."
Hokuto laughs, thanking him, walking over to his mirror. The bruise on his neck is bigger than Shintaro remembers, his eyes drawn to it, and the sight of it makes him grin a little to himself.
"Why's your house so hot?" He asks. "Is the air conditioner broken?"
"Not really." Hokuto says with a sigh, sitting in front of his mirror and opening the concealer. "I was wearing a turtleneck because of you," he shoots Shintaro a look, but his expression is playful, "so my parents wouldn't see, but it got so hot that I turned the air conditioner way up without telling them. So they think it's broken. They've got it turned off until the repair man comes by." He laughs a little, and Shintaro has to admit that it is funny.
Hokuto turns his attention to the mirror, and Shintaro takes a seat on Hokuto's bed. Now is the time, and he knows it, but he can't force his mouth to form the words. He decides to do what they did at dinner, to just talk about something else, and see where the conversation goes.
"I ran into Chiemi at the store. You know, that girl in our class on the tennis team?"
Hokuto nods. "What did she think of you buying makeup?"
"She asked me if it was for my girlfriend. I told her it was for my sister. Then she asked me if I had a girlfriend, and... Well I said no, because I don't."
Hokuto pauses, watching him in the mirror.
"And then she asked me on a date. To see a movie with her tonight."
Silence stretches between them for a long time. Finally, Hokuto glances away.
"Well? Are you going to go?"
"That's all you have to say?" Shintaro asks, faltering. Hokuto gives him a questioning look. "I... I wanted to talk to you."
"Me? Why?"
"Why?" Shintaro repeats.
"It's just... We're not exactly anything, so... So I'm not someone who's going to tell you what you can and can't do." Hokuto has his hickey covered up. The makeup closes with a snap. "You can date her, if you want to."
"What?" Shintaro’s eyes narrow. He’s confused, hurt, and a little angry too, afraid of what Hokuto was saying. Not exactly anything? "I can?"
At that, Hokuto gets to his feet.
"And you should, since you obviously want to. There's not anything to ask me."
"Wait." Shintaro was utterly lost at where the conversation had gone, definitely angry now. Juri had been so, so wrong. Hokuto presses the concealer in his hand, and pulls him to his feet. He's being dismissed, dragged towards the door. Hokuto thought he wanted to date this girl? "Hokuto, what the hell are you talking about?"
"How many times do I need to ask you to stop coming to me with your stupid girl problems?" Hokuto snaps. Shintaro clenches the makeup in his fist, not caring when he hears the plastic container crack.
"Sorry." He responds. "I'll remember next time." Hokuto's words come back to him and he repeats them, the taste sour on his tongue. "Because we're not anything. Exactly. I'll let her know."
Then Hokuto shoves him, and Hokuto's bedroom door slams behind him, and with Hokuto's father looking at him curiously, Shintaro has no choice but to go back home. He's going on a date he doesn't want to go on to spite someone he doesn't want to be spiteful towards. Or, he would have been. He'd already turned her down, a knee-jerk reaction that had come from his mouth before he'd thought about it.
He resists the urge to kick his dresser as he gets up to his room, knowing from experience that it doesn't do anything but make him angrier, throwing himself down on his bedspread. He goes over their conversation in his head, trying to figure where it went wrong. He hadn't said anything, had he? Because usually it's his fault, but this time he's not so sure.
Then he recalls the tone of Hokuto's voice, something he hadn't picked up on the first time, too shocked instead at the notion that Hokuto would think he would want to date other girls. He was hoping that upon hearing about the girl Hokuto would get jealous, tell him no, I'm the one that likes you, and it would be another measure to make sure that what they were doing was going somewhere farther than simply ruining their friendship. What he hadn't expected was the hesitance.
I'm not someone who's going to tell you what you can and can't do.
Shintaro shoves his face into his pillow, his mistake now staring him in the face; the infinite difference between being not exactly anything and not anything. Exactly.
He wonders if he should apologize. He wonders if he should leave the house after dinner, to seem like he's going on the date after all. He does neither, simply holing himself up in his bedroom and staring at the ceiling. He has three texts from Juri, all of them unread, in the middle of changing into his pajamas when his bedroom window slides open, the curtains parting in the breeze.
Hokuto climbs into the room, much nimbler than Shintaro himself. He stands there, biting on his bottom lip but looking determined, and Shintaro feels as though he can't breathe.
"Hey." He says. Hokuto doesn't look at him.
"You didn't go on that date."
Shintaro's mind spins for some type of excuse, some explanation, before he stops himself. He has nothing else to lose, he reasons.
"I didn't go. I... I said no as soon as she asked me."
"What?" Hokuto's eyebrows jump up his forehead. "You did? Then why did you even bring it up?"
Shintaro knew how stupid it was going to sound before his reasoning even left his mouth.
"I was trying to see if you actually wanted to... I don't know. Date me? Or not. I thought maybe you would tell me no, or something."
"Oh." It's a telling, all-encompassing oh, and before Shintaro can apologize, Hokuto is worrying his lip again. "I just... I told myself when this started that I wasn't going to be clingy. I was just going to... See where this went. I didn't know if you liked me back, or where your head was with any of this so... I wasn't going to pressure you into anything you didn't want."
Then it's Shintaro's turn to say "oh" and they stand there, staring at each other.
"So... Does that mean you didn't want me to go on that date?"
"Of course I didn't want you to!" Hokuto punches him on the shoulder, but he's smiling. "I want to date you. That wasn't obvious?"
Shintaro had known that but it was still nice to hear, pulling Hokuto in for a kiss. Hokuto sighs against his mouth, and Shintaro is pretty sure that he's melted into a metaphorical pile of smitten mush all over his bedroom floor.
"Sorry for being an idiot." He finally says. Hokuto laughs a little.
"It's okay, I'm used to it."
"This is partially your fault though, you know." Shintaro tells him, a mock seriousness in his voice that has Hokuto raising an eyebrow at him. "I did my job. It's your turn to claim me, in case someone tries to ask me out again."
"What, you want me to give you a hickey?"
"I want you to do anything you want to me."
Hokuto gives his chest a playful little push, and Shintaro falls with it, sitting down on his bed. He opens up his arms, Hokuto accepting and climbing into his lap.
"Watch out, I might just take you up on that offer."
Judging by his tone of voice, Hokuto is trying to play coy, but he's blushing so badly that Shintaro can't help but find it cute, pressing sloppy kisses to his cheeks that have him laughing.
"I'd be upset if you didn't."