DISCLAIMER

2021 Cullen Week themes: Thirst, Ever After

This is another one-shot that I wrote for 2021 #cullenweek, but was not able to post then because of potential spoilers for Where the Waves Crest (波の上り詰める所).

Once again, I must express my profound gratitude to MoonCrisis (*FFN*/u/1538943/MoonCrisis), the best beta reader anyone could ask for.

Saturday, April 27, 2024

Sleep left Cullen so gradually, he could not tell whether he was still dreaming or not when he opened his eyes.

With his vision focused, he saw a ray of bright light penetrate the thin curtains and crawl across the ceiling. It was evidently from a vehicle that whirred by outside, breaking the silence of the night.

Cullen heard soft breathing emanating from his right side. He turned to find Tharin impossibly close to him on the queen-sized bed they shared. His boyfriend was curled like a kitten, arms gathered and legs brought closer to his torso underneath the blanket.

Even in the dark, Cullen could see the distinguishing features of Tharin's face clearly. He smiled and reached with his left hand to stroke his boyfriend's disheveled hair. He would have pecked a light kiss if he were not concerned about disturbing Tharin's slumber. But he was. It was better to let the man be.

Cullen sat up on the bed as quietly as he could, and the balmy heat under the blanket evanesced into the cool atmosphere presently. As a shudder passed through Cullen, his bare torso stiffened like a blade of white-hot steel quenched in cold water. He reached for his T-shirt hanging from the desk chair and put it on. Spring had come upon the land and verdure now glittered across the gray cityscape of Tokyo, yet the night was unseasonably chilly.

Wincing as he stood up and the bed creaked, Cullen tiptoed to the desk. On top were their phones, both plugged to chargers. Cullen grabbed his phone and checked the time. It was 4:10 am.

Cullen's brain sometimes did this. He would inadvertently wake up an hour and a half earlier than he was supposed to be up. Usually, he'd give up on going back to bed, but he felt like he ought to try at least. Because in a few hours, they would fly to Hokkaido and go on a tour of Sapporo. If he was to have any hope of lasting until late evening, he should get some more shuteye.

But Cullen was inexplicably thirsty. It was probably the dry spring air that permeated the apartment. Or perhaps it was all the physical exertion Tharin and Cullen indulged in right before they went to sleep. Either way, he had to get some water.

Once again, he tiptoed until he reached the kitchenette. There, he shone the cellphone light on the refrigerator, took out a cold bottle of barley tea Tharin had brewed, and reached for a tall glass.

As he poured himself a cup of tea, Cullen remembered something they had talked about during dinner last evening.

Tharin studied Korean for almost half a year before he took the Foreign Service Officer Test in June 2022, saying he wanted to be able to read, write, and converse freely when he inevitably passed the written exam and moved onto the Oral Assessment stage. He even got himself a language buddy, a Korean college student looking to practice her English.

"But why'd you choose one of the languages that's the most difficult for Americans to learn?" asked Cullen when he was first told.

And in a usual manner, Tharin was confident. "I mean, I've got Japanese down pat. There are some overlaps there, even if they're not linguistically related. A few words and the sentence structure. But most importantly, Korean gets you more points during the interview than Japanese."

And Tharin managed exactly that. All the things he set out to do, he succeeded. Cullen could not have been prouder.

Tharin passed the FSOT with flying colors, and by the time the State Department scheduled a series of phone interviews to check Tharin's proficiency in Japanese and Korean, he could absolutely hold his own. It was evident from his weekly phone conversations with the Korean buddy. Cullen merely chuckled at Tharin speaking in his third language, amazed and impressed at the ease with which the young man wielded his multilingual capability.

Meanwhile, Cullen continuously limped along in his Japanese lessons required for the military attaché application. But Tharin never teased him for it. Instead, he cheered him on constantly, and the positivity was enough to make Cullen blush sometimes.

Without Tharin's emotional and linguistic support, Cullen was not sure his application would have been successful. His stint as a naval attaché at the U.S. Embassy here would begin in several months.

Last evening, they supped at Kumi, the neighborhood izakaya, as they were apt to do. Over grilled chicken skewers, Tharin excitedly talked about a Korean word that could not be translated into English. It was a term for a pitcher of water one may keep by the bed in case one got thirsty at night. Having it would have been convenient for Cullen right about now.

It's called… God, what is it called? It began with a J. Cullen stood by the kitchen counter and took a long sip of the barley tea. As the agreeably bitter, grainy taste registered and the coldness of the tea coursed through his throat, he recalled. It was jarikki.

He mouthed, "Jarikki." There was an inevitable rolling of the R that Tharin, a master polyglot, avoided with all the requisite grace, but Cullen was still proud of how he managed to remember the word.

Cullen kept mouthing in a hushed voice, "Jarikki, jarikki." It was a fun word to say. Pronouncing the I's that enclosed the two K's was like hopping over a shallow stream in a forest. The first I was a step forward and the latter I combined with the two K's allowed for a jump. And the word encapsulated such a trivial yet overlooked concept. Water one keeps by the bed.

With his left arm folded underneath the right arm holding the glass, Cullen watched his boyfriend sleep from afar. It had been an eventful three years with Tharin, and they had spent so many days together, both good and bad. Yet, even now, Cullen sometimes felt a sharp pang in his heart when he let his gaze fall upon Tharin. And he thanked God – or the universe, or Buddha, depending on his mood – for that inexplicable agony. He was happy to be reminded of his love.

Cullen's scarred lips curved up.

After finishing the tea, Cullen set the glass down on the sink and padded to the luggage the two men had packed for the trip. He knelt and went through his seabag to dig out a little navy-blue box. His heart began to beat so fast and so loudly, he briefly wondered if it could wake Tharin up.

He flipped the case open and stared at its precious content. It took all of his limited Japanese skill and then some hand gestures and pictograms hastily drawn to actually convey what he wanted at the shop, but it was worth it. Cullen would present it to Tharin in Hokkaido when the time was right. The nervous excitement bubbled up within him.

Cullen carefully shut the box so as to not make any noise and put it back in his bag. He then took off his T-shirt, quietly placed it on the chair, and gingerly sat back down on the bed. The little squeak of the old mattress interrupted the steady tempo of Tharin's inhales and exhales, but it did not wake him.

Silent giddiness urged Cullen on, badgering him until he extended his hand and moved the stray strands of Tharin's hair out of the way. Afraid of rousing Tharin yet, Cullen's finger pads then traced only the thin air by the man's face, settling into the gentlest, most cautious caress on the thick stubble. He would have loved to kiss Tharin, but he knew he should not. Instead, Cullen lay down next to his boyfriend and whispered.

"I really hope you say yes."

END NOTE

There is the proposal fic as well as the series finale in the works, so please subscribe to or bookmark the series Where the Waves Crest (波の上り詰める所) at *AO3*/series/2244510. And do let me know if there are any particular aspects of these two boys' lives you'd like to read about in one of the upcoming fics! I am reachable through the PM and my Tumblr account at isk4649.

2021 Christmas fic starts next Sunday, December 12!