After putting this off for so long, I'm finally done with chapter 4. I've been busy writing for my other stories plus completing college stuff, which I'm excited for.

One week later, it was the day when Yuu would start working on The Kan, assisting Ijuuin. Or at least that's what Ijuuin thought. Ever since he kissed Yuu out of impulse, he was worried that the younger man would not show up due to awkwardness. As a result, Ijuuin looked quite out-of-sync when he showed up to work.

"Sensei, what's gotten into you?" his editor, Shizuko Ishi, interrogated him.

"Nothing that should worry you, Ishi," Ijuuin answered.

"All right," Ishi rolled his eyes. Then he heard a knock on the door.

"Hm?" Ishi wondered as he answered the door.

"Excuse me, is this Kyo Ijuuin-sensei's office?" a brown-haired man asked.

"Well, yes. You are?"

"Yuu Yanase, I'm working on the manga starting today."

"Oh, right. Ijuuin-sensei, Yanase-san is here," Ishi called to Ijuuin, who breathed a sigh of relief and approached Yuu.

"It's great to see you, Yanase-san. Although, I wish you called to confirm first that you were coming."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know I had to. I just thought I needed to show up," Yuu apologized.

"It's okay. I'm just happy you showed up. Anyway, let's get to work, shall we?" Ijuuin said as he put his hand on Yuu's shoulder.

"Yes, sir," Yuu nodded.

Ever since the week before, Yuu could not forget about the kiss he received from Ijuuin. He wasn't sure about what the older man felt for him or vice-versa. As he proceeded to his work area, he kept on pondering in his thoughts.

"Should I ask him why he did that? He told me to forget about it, but how does one forget a kiss like that? There must be a reason, I need to know!"

Ijuuin kept on glancing at Yuu, who was busy trying to repress his confusion with drawing. The older man felt apprehensive about the kiss and was wondering if he regretted it or not.

"I told Yanase-san to forget about it, but somehow I can't. I wasn't even fucking sure why I kissed him; it was on impulse. Does that mean I like Yanase-san?"

Time passed and it was now lunchtime. Yuu brought over some food he had cooked for himself earlier. Ijuuin's lunch consisted of leftovers he had the previous night. Before eating, Ijuuin realized that the incident had to be resolved so as to not destroy with whatever he had with Yuu.

"Yanase-san?" Ijuuin called.

"Um, yes, Sensei?" Yuu gulped as he heard his name.

"Please bring your food and sit across from my desk. There's a matter that I'd like to discuss with you."

Knowing what that could possibly mean, Yuu took his food and wheeled himself on the computer chair to the front of Ijuuin's desk.

"So, what are we going to discuss, Sensei?"

"I want to discuss what happened the week before. I think you deserve an answer."

"…Go on," Yuu nodded as he took a forkful of food.

"Anyway, I want you to know that I'm sorry that I did that to you, Yanase-san. I'm not sure what transpired in me to do that. However…I didn't regret it."

Yuu nearly choked on his rice upon hearing that. "You-you didn't?"

Ijuuin nodded. "Indeed. I did not regret it. To be frank, Yanase-san, I think I'm interested in you."

"Wait, what? How in the world could you be interested in me, Sensei?" Yuu blushed.

"Hmm, how do I put this? There's just…something about you that draws me to you. I don't know what it is exactly though."

"Well, I'm flattered, Sensei. But we barely know each other."

"Which is why I'd like to take this opportunity to ask you to have dinner with me tonight after work. I want to know you better, Yanase-san. Will you give me that chance?" Ijuuin proposed in all sincerity.

Yuu was perspiring. He never would've thought that someone like Ijuuin would be attracted to him. In fact, this was the first time someone was attracted to him instead of the other way around, and that surprised him. Despite that, he wasn't about to turn down this chance since he admired the older man for possibly more than just the work he did. Yuu actually felt that for once, someone was actually sensitive to his feelings. He took a deep breath and gave him an answer.

"…Well, if it won't be too much trouble for you, then I guess I can have dinner with you tonight."

"That's great. Don't worry, it's not going to be any trouble at all, Yanase-san," Ijuuin assured him, "I'm sure you and I will get to know each other better."

"Yeah, that sounds good," Yuu said as he cracked a smile.

"Great. And if I may add something, you should smile more often, Yanase-san. It looks so much better if you do."

And with that simple comment, Yuu continued to smile for the rest of the day and there was more to look forward to on this day.

Afternoon had passed and it was now early evening. Ijuuin and his staff, including Yuu, had finished their work for the day. After everyone had gone home, the two men were the last to leave the office.

"So, where would you want to eat?" the older man asked.

"There's a nice restaurant just around the corner from my house. I've always wanted to eat there, but I've been swamped by work, so I can't find the time to do so."

"Now you have the time, Yanase-san. And I'm giving it to you."

Yuu turned red, "Sensei, don't say weird things like that."

"Yanase-san, everyone deserves a break once in a while, even you. "

"…I guess you're right, Sensei."

Some time later, they went inside the restaurant. As soon as they were seated, they hung their jackets on the chairs. A waitress walked up to them and greeted them politely.

"Good evening. My name is Mitsuru, I'll be serving you tonight," she said as she handed the two men two menus, "let me know when you're ready to order."

"Thank you very much, Mitsuru," Ijuuin replied.

"You're welcome."

While Mitsuru went to serve other tables, Yuu and Ijuuin were looking at their menus.

"Have you decided anything yet, Yanase-san?" the older man interrogated.

"I guess the soup looks good and I probably might want risotto as well…I don't know, it all looks good…." Yuu answered.

"Pick whatever you want, Yanase-san. I'm paying," said Ijuuin rather smugly.

Yuu grumbled a bit, "You're way too generous."

"Not a problem for me."

A few minutes of browsing later, they called over Mitsuru and gave her their orders.

"Okay, it'll be about thirty minutes waiting time. We'll bring it to you as soon as possible."

"Thank you," Yuu told her.

Soon as the waitress left to give the order to the chef, Ijuuin was looking at the younger man. Yuu was a bit confused.

"Yes?"

"So, tell me more about yourself," the older man requested.

"Um well, okay. I'm the youngest of three children; I have an older brother, Hiroya, and an older sister, Tomoko."

"What was growing up with them like?"

"My brother and I always played video games together, and my sister and I would read manga together. You can say that she influenced me to work as an artist."

"How are they doing now?"

"He's working as graphic designer for computer games and recently got married and she's working as a writer."

"I see that the Yanases are an artistic type of family," Ijuuin noticed.

"Yeah, I guess you can say that. Can you tell me about you, Ijuuin-sensei?"

"Certainly. I've been drawing manga since I was in junior high. I actually had some of my one-shot works published for a short while. I could show you some if you want," Ijuuin answered.

"Really?" Yuu was about to exclaim, but cleared his throat, "I mean, I'd like to see your early works."

"No problem, Yanase-san. I'll show them to you."

The more things Ijuuin said, the more Yuu felt comfortable around him. The pain he felt from Chiaki's rejection seemed to just lift off from him. He wanted to be closer to the older man, so he decided to try and take a step.

"Sensei, if I could request something, you can call me by my first name outside of work. Is that okay?"

Little did Yuu know that Ijuuin was feeling the same way about it. It was starting to feel weird to call Yuu by his last name outside of work.

"It's more than okay, Yuu. I was going to ask you the same thing. I don't want tonight to sound like business; it's us having a good time outside of work."

The younger man felt instant relief, then apprehension. "But…I'm not ready to call you by your first name yet."

"No pressure, Yuu. It's all right," the older man said as he touched Yuu's hand. Yuu's heart pounded faster; it even skipped a beat.

"Right. No pressure."

After dinner, Ijuuin once again walked Yuu home. It was still quite snowy outside, so they wanted to get to their respective homes as much as possible.

"I had great time with you tonight, Yuu. It feels good to know you better after this night."

"Yeah, me too, Sensei," Yuu nodded. Without even knowing yet, they've reached his house. While unlocking his door, thoughts began filling his head.

"I think I'm starting like Ijuuin-sensei more but am I ready to fall for someone again?"

He turned over to Ijuuin.

"Is everything okay, Yuu?"

"Yeah, it's okay. It's just…I don't know if I want to get myself into this."

"Into what?" Ijuuin asked.

"To be honest, until recently, I was in love with someone before, but he's in love with some other guy he's known longer than me. I tried to make my feelings clearer to him, but in the end, I got hurt. Real bad. I'm afraid of screwing up again. I guess I can't get what I want unless I'm something else."

With that, Ijuuin's eyes were opened even more. He wanted to make Yuu realize that he deserves more than this. Yuu realized what he just said and wanted to excuse himself.

"I'm sorry for ranting. Good night."

Before Yuu could enter his house, Yuu stopped him by intercepting his arm.

"Wait, Yuu."

Yuu, with his eyes disappearing under his bangs, wondered why Ijuuin would want to keep talking to him even after he revealed his previous love for Chiaki.

"What is it, Sensei?"

"…I understand how you feel. I was in the same place as you. I thought I had a chance with this guy since he told me he admired my work and me, but in the end, it wasn't going to happen since he had someone already. As time went on, I realized that I should stop feeling sorry for myself. And so should you. If you're afraid of getting hurt, I promise you, that's not going to happen to you if you give me a chance. Please give me that chance. I don't know if I'll make everything better, but I'll be there for you if you'll allow it."

Yuu now saw that Ijuuin really cares for him. It's a feeling that he has felt for probably the first time from someone who was outside his family. It felt ambiguous from Chiaki's end and Hatori wants Chiaki to have nothing to do with him. He was now convinced that someone could care about him this way.

"Do you want to come in, Sensei?" invited Yuu as he turned around.

Ijuuin nodded, "I'd love to. But before we do…"

The older man brought his face closer to the younger man's face and gave him a kiss. Yuu felt happy about that and it was showing. He took Ijuuin's hand and led him inside. Ijuuin looked around and liked what he saw.

"It looks really nice in here. Pretty clean, too."

"Thanks. Have a seat; I'll be right back, Sensei."

"Okay."

While Ijuuin was making himself at home, Yuu was in his bedroom holding his phone.

"He's right. I don't deserve to be miserable. Things have to change. First, I have to unhook myself from Chiaki's fishing line."

He began to scroll down to call him.

Author's note:

- Looks like thing are starting to look up for Yuu, no?

- I'm starting to feel inspired to write for this one again. I hope I've made you guys happy with this chapter.