"Good evening, Fuji-san. It's been a while." Eiji said, politely, when they sat on the tatame room, offering the menu to Fuji and another to Tezuka.
It was really surprising to Oishi that he was able to act so normally on that situation.
"Did you miss me, Kikumaru-san?" he smiled. "I was traveling a lot this month on work. I just arrived yesterday." He looked at Shuichirou. "Did you order already, Oishi?"
"Yes." He answered gently.
"Your food will come in a minute." Eiji said, but without looking straight at him.
"Could you bring me the usual?" he looked at Tezuka. "Whisky as well, Kunimitsu?"
"Yes." He returned the menu and noticed the slight anger on the deep blue eyes. "On the rocks, please."
"Kikumaru-san, today is pork day, right? I want the pork ramen, please."
"I would like the kakuni, please." Tezuka said.
"Okay. I'll be right back." He said, before leaving and Shuichirou was worried.
"So, Oishi, what's going on with you? It's been ages. You're a pediatrician, right?"
"Yes, I work at the Metropolitan Children's Medical Center."
"Wow, that's a fancy building! I love the lines at that place. You must been busy then, right?"
"Yes. I also do volunteer work on Saturdays, with children from a shelter. It takes a good part of my day."
"Always so altruistic."
"Not really." He really wanted to leave them and check on Eiji. "You said you were traveling a lot for work. Are you working overseas?"
"No, just locally. But I have a lot of projects on different cities, fortunately. Not long ago I finished Kunimitsu's law firm as well. It was totally unexpected."
"Oh, is that so?" he was able to fake a smile but he looked at Kunimitsu. How long were they seeing each other while they were going out?! Did he cheat on him before?!
"Excuse me." Eiji returned with a tray with the drinks and Oishi's food and kneeled next to the table to serve them, still avoiding to look at him.
"Are you married yet?" Fuji asked after taking a sip of his whisky.
"No." he answered with a smile. "But I'm seeing someone and I'm very happy."
He noticed how tense Kikumaru's shoulders were when he got closer to serve his food.
"Ah, really?"
"Yes."
Tezuka drank a long sip of his whisky before Eiji left again.
It took a couple of minutes for Eiji to return with their food and he left, silently, before serving them.
"Ah, could you excuse me for a moment?" Oishi said, before standing up and leaving.
"Sure." Fuji replied after taking another sip of his drink.
Shuichirou found Eiji on his way to the kitchen. There was no one around. He grabbed his hand, surprising him.
"I'm sorry!" he whispered. "I couldn't refuse it."
The dark blue eyes were hard on him but he just averted his face.
"You should go back."
"Please, don't be mad at me. I…"
"I need to go back to work." he said, about to leave when Oishi was in front of him.
"Wait, please." he pick up a spare key from his keychain. "Here, this one is the one you used to have. Go to my place after finishing here. I'll wait for you. Please."
He was surprised with the invitation for a moment before placing the key on his pocket.
"I'll go back to work now." He said, still not looking straight at him.
"Okay." There was a small smile on Shuichirou's face.
###############
Oishi ate as soon as possible and gave them some excuse about being tired to leave. He was physically nauseated to be with both of them. But, above all else, he wanted to talk to Eiji. Why did things turn out that way?! He just wished to spend some time with him, even if on his workplace. He couldn't even enjoy the food he had made properly.
He turned around in bed and looked at his cellphone and it was still midnight. Eiji would be probably done around 5. He hugged his pillow and turned around again, wishing to be able to fall sleep soon so the hours would go by faster.
###############
It was almost 6 a.m when Eiji finally arrived at Oishi's apartment. He opened the door and was surprised to see him near the balcony, looking at the rain trought the closed glass panels
"Good morning." He said, before removing the headphones from his wet hair. He was soaking wet, dripping all over.
"Eiji-kun!" Oishi ran to him. "You're drenched!"
"I forgot my umbrella when I left work. The rain caught me midway." He said, still not looking at him, the wet bangs in front of his eyes.
"Go to the bathroom and take a hot shower! Otherwise you will get sick. I will leave one of my pajamas for you."
"Okay." He said, before obeying.
################
Eiji looked at his reflection on the mirror while inside the bathroom. He was already using one of Shuichirou's pajamas and it was ridiculous large on him. He was sure it would look well in someone tall like Tezuka and his heart was tight again.
When he finally returned to the living room, Shuichirou had already dried the floor and was waiting for him with a cup of tea, sitting on the dining table.
"Here, it's lemon and honey." He said with a smile.
"Thank you." He said, before sitting by his side, picking up the cup and taking a small sip of the sweet liquid. "I'm sorry I wet your floor."
"Don't worry about it. Did you put your clothes on the washing machine?"
"Yes." He said, before drinking again. There was a long silence between them.
"Eiji-kun, I'm sorry for what happened today. But you must believe in me, I had to go and have dinner with them. I couldn't make a scene."
"Why not?" the blue eyes finally look straight at him and they were filled with annoyance. "Do you still miss him?"
"Of course not! I never wanted to see him again. But if I refused, Fuji-san would ask questions and I wouldn't be able to keep a straight face. Being an adult is really annoying sometimes. You saw I left as soon as possible. I went there just to spend time with you and eat your food." He looked so sad. "I'm really sorry for upsetting you."
"Were you missing me?" he asked shyly. His expression finally softened a little and Shuichirou smiled gently.
"I was. I really was."
Eiji put his cup down and hugged his torso tightly. Oishi smiled and hugged him back.
"Your skin is still a little coldish. Let's go to sleep? You're probably tired, right?"
"Ah, okay." He released him and stood up. When he was about to go to his old room, Shuichirou's voice stopped him.
"Where are you going?"
"To sleep." He was confused and pointed to the other room.
"Don't you want to sleep together tonight?" he asked, gently. "Since you're cold, I can warm you up."
Eiji was sure he could hear his heart dropping from his chest directly to the floor.
