Fukase was worried. Not because he haven't thought of a gift for Valentine's day, but because he noticed that Len always looked tired for the past few days. Len's health was more important than Valentine's day. It looked like he didn't sleep at all. Fukase saw the dark circles under Len's eyes. Although Len tried to hide his tiredness from Fukase by acting like he always does, Fukase knew something was wrong. Fukase knew Len. He knew that Len didn't want him to worry, but that is out of the question now. Fukase was worried out of his mind.
"What? What are you looking at? You've been staring at me for five minutes straight and didn't even touch your breakfast. Is seeing this handsome face in this house everyday not enough for you?" Len joked with a weary smile.
Furrowing his brows in annoyance, Fukase threw a slice of bread right in Len's face.
"Oof what the heck, Fu?!"
"You tell me! Now finish that bread or you're gonna be late for work."
"What, are you a grandpa now? I'm on leave for a week for the past few days."
"Oh.. ah..." Fukase ruffled his hair in embarrassment.
Both of them went silent for a while. Fukase thought that maybe this was the chance to ask Len what was wrong. Fukase took a last bite of his cranberry-spread bread before asking.
"Hey, Len... You look like you're not having enough sleep. Are you okay? You know you can tell me anything, right? I'm always here for you," Fukase looked at Len worriedly.
Len stopped eating and smiled as he clasped Fukase's hands.
"Hey now, don't put on that sad face. You don't look cute anymore."
Fukase gave Len a stern gaze in response, saying he was not joking.
"All right, all right!" Len held up his hands in defeat. "You look cute either way―ow!"
Len cried in pain as Fukase stomped on his foot.
"You don't have to do that..." Len whimpered. "Look, you don't have to worry, okay? I'm working on this project for work and I need to finish it by today. This is kinda big to me so I need to sacrifiice sleep if I need to. This is the last day I'm going to sleep late. I promise."
"Are you sure?" Fukase sighed.
"What, you want me to smudge thus cranberry stain on my mouth to your mouth to make sure?" Len raised an eyebrow.
Before Fukase could reply how disgusting that sounded, Len stuffed a mouthful of bread into Fukase's mouth.
"I'mvsjdmeihgfmuff!'' Fukase shouted in muffled anger.
"What? I can't hear you! Later! I have to finish this!"
Len went into his room and slameed the door behind him. Fukase could only roll his eyes. He understood Len though. Len loved his work too much, maybe more than he loved Fukase. The sudden thought made Fukase's world stop. Was it really like that? The doubt was killing Fukase. He knew how much Len loved him, but that little negative thought suddenly enveloped him in darkness. A storm was brewing in his heart.
"No, what are you even thinking, Fukase! He wouldn't even feel like that!" Fukase shook his head, convincing himself that it was only his mind playing tricks on him.
Trying to clear his mind off, he turned on the TV and booted his PS4 to continue his Resident Evil 2. Through the long hours he played, Len didn't even come out of his room for one second even when it was time for dinner and it got Fukase worried. After he finished making dinner, Fukase placed the two bowls of chicken rice on a tray and softly knocked on Len's door with his free finger.
"Len? Are you awake?"
No answer came from inside. Fukase placed the tray on the kitchen counter and turned Len's doorknob slowly, taking a peek inside. Len's curtain was still open, moonlight illuminated the table where Fukase saw Len sleeping on his workplace. Shaking his head, Fukase went in and tried to wake Len up when he saw what Len was working on. His heart cried. He saw two teddy bears; one looked like him and the other one looked like Len. The Fukase bear was half finished, its other half still a work in progress. Both bears have one thing in common; the red heart on each other's chest with the other bear's name stitched beautifully on it. Len was working non-stop for this? It must've took a painstaking large amount of time and commitment. Fukase knew Len wasn't really into crafting stuff. He sacrificed his time just to make the bears, even if it wasn't as perfect as Len wanted it to be. The storm in Fukase's heart receded.
Fukase took one of Len's blanket on his bed and draped it over Len's shoulder, giving him a gentle hug from the back, resting his head on Len's shoulder. Fukase closed his eyes, taking in Len's scent. Fukase almost jumped to his feet when Len's hand suddenly held Fukase's arm and leaned on Fukase's head. Both of then were quiet for a while.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Fukase spoke softly.
"It wouldn't be a surprise anymore, wouldn't it?" said Len.
"You didn't have to this, you know? You got me worried sick," Fukase ran his fingers on the Len bear.
"I... I don't want you to feel lonely anymore when I work someplace far. I want these bears to be a reminder to each of us that no matter how far we are, we are still close to each other, of how much we love each other... I'm sorry I lied to you. I'm sorry I made you worry. I just wanted to finish this one in time for Valentine's day. Looks like I fell asleep half way. Haha..." Len gave a weary laugh.
Len felt guilty for not finishing the bears. Now that Fukase saw them before even giving it to him, Len felt he didn't work hard enough. He looked at the half-finished Fukase and clutched it in his hands.
"Leave it that way," Fukase suddenly spoke after a prolonged silence.
"Huh?"
"Leave that bear unfinished. His other half is already here, and it's the only thing that completes him," Fukase pointed to Len's chest where his heart was.
Len turned to Fukase in surprise at his words. Fukase's gentle face smiled at Len. Len was a blessing to Fukase. Everything Len does for him made his heart warm. He regretted ever having to doubt Len's feelings for him. The storm in Fukase's heart finally cleared, a rainbow formed after the rain. Fukase didn't even realize that he was crying of happiness. Len tilted his head up and gave Fukase a gentle kiss.
"Happy Valentine's day, Fu," said Len as he snuggled on to Fukase, both of them smiling ear to ear.