Oishi looked at his cell phone again. He was in the elevator, going to Haruka and Takami's apartment. It was Friday night and their friends had invited him to dinner. A whole week had passed since his fight with Eiji and his boyfriend continued to give him the silent treatment. Shuichirou sent him a lot of messages and called him too, but with no responses.

"Good evening." He showed Haruka a small smile after she answered the door.

"Welcome to our humble home." She smiled back, before helping him with his over coat. It was a chilly night.

"I brought some of the wine you like." He showed her the bottle.

"Shuichirou!" Takumi showed him a big smile when his friend appeared at the kitchen. He was wearing a black apron and his hair was tight in a bun. "I'm making beef and potato stew!"

"The smell is amazing."

Takumi looked at his wife.

"You're right, he is strange."

"Didn't I tell you?" Haruka said, before picking up a glass of wine.

"What do you mean?"

"You've been sulking for days. Every time I ask you what's wrong you always change the subject."

"So, this dinner is some kind of intervention?"

"Of course!" Takumi smiled. "So, spill it out, what's wrong with you?"

He took a deep breath before starting to talk

"Eiji-kun's not talking to me."

"Already?" Haruka asked before opening the bottle. "Such a short honeymoon period."

"What happened?" Takumi put the lid on the pot for a moment to give him full attention.

"He's taking extra shifts at the izakaya he works at night. He said there was something he wanted to use the money for. But he's almost on his tests week and he's always exhausted from working only on weekends. I offered him to pay whatever he wanted and he got mad at me. No matter how many messages or how much I call him, he's not replying."

"Do you know how he wants to use the money? Is he in need of anything?" Haruka asked.

"He didn't tell me. He said he didn't need my money and stormed out. What should I do?"

"Well, Eiji-kun is not wrong on being upset." Takumi crossed his arms.

"Why?!" he was surprised.

"You did meddle in something private for him, Shuichirou. If he wanted you to know, he would tell you. You really didn't see anything wrong with offering him money? You guys are dating."

"But Shuichirou gave him money before."

"Eiji-kun used to work for him, it's totally different." He looked at his wife gently. "You probably hurt his pride."

"What do you mean?"

"He's a very hard working kid. Any other young guy would probably use your money, but Eiji-kun always achieves things by himself. When things happened with Tezuka, he preferred to walk away and find a new place and a job than to bother you. He had a job and he's keeping it with his own strength." He smiled at them. "You two would never understand such a thing."

"What do you mean by that?" his wife asked.

"You guys never had a part time job while we were in college. Haru, you're an heiress of a luxury hotel and, Shuichirou, your family spoiled you until you graduated." He returned his attention to the food. "Eiji-kun has to make ends meet. If he organized himself and he's making sacrifices to buy something in a tight budget, it's probably something very important."

"I didn't mean to hurt him." He said, sincerely.

"I know you didn't." Takumi said gently. "But you can't forget Eiji-kun is much younger than you and with a completely different background."

"The last time he got upset with me we didn't talk for whole two months."

"You have to find a way to talk to him, Shuichirou. If a lot of time passes by, things get worse."

"I know." He sighed. "I don't want this to continue either."

###############

Eiji was studying at the library, using a free period without classes. He stopped for a minute, stretching himself at the chair and yawned. Looking at his cell phone, it was already 16:30.

"Ah, I'm beat." He said, laying his head over his notes. It was Friday night and he was already exhausted imagining his busy shift at Sakurai. He didn't even know how many hours of sleep he was able to have on those past weeks.

Picking up his cell phone again, he opened one of his apps and looked at a chart he had made for the expenses for his birthday and the amount he still needed to achieve.

He took a deep breath and wondered if his efforts were still valid after his fight with Shuichirou. He felt awful for having such a reaction, especially after he had taken care of him during the storm. His heart was always tight when seeing his messages and not answering his calls, but he just didn't know how to deal with the situation, since it would mean telling him about his plans for the inn.

"I miss him." He whispered to himself, without realizing it had started to rain.

#############

Kikumaru was organizing things on his locker. It was almost 6 p.m and he was ready to go to work. He picked up his umbrella and walked towards the exit, already with his headphones on. He was going to check something on his cell phone when his attention was drawn to the familiar car on the main gate.

He stopped and the blue eyes were wide in surprise. Shuichirou was there, under an umbrella, with a small smile, waiting for him.

"Eiji-kun." He was so relieved to be able to see him.

"Oishi-san!" Eiji rushed to him. "What are you doing here?!"

"I needed to talk to you. Since you were not picking up my calls, I thought this was the best way." His voice was so gentle and Eiji felt incredibly guilty.

"Oishi-san…"

"Can I take you to Sakurai? This way you won't need to walk under this rain."

"Yes." He answered shyly and Oishi was happy he didn't walk away from him again.