"It was like reading a novel. At first reading, everything felt new and thrilling but as you read the same troupe again and again... it gets tiring."

Was it hard to bring down red flags?

If you ask Mob he would say: yes... but only at the initial stages.

He would even admit that he kinda... like it. He enjoyed the eureka moment of finding his current environment somewhat similar to his BL research. He loved the thrill of adrenaline pumping through veins, putting his body in a fight or flight mode as if he was in real danger.

But this days... It was getting tiring.

He didn't even need to think about it and his body would immediately avoid it.

If he keeps this up, he feels like the end he yearns for is just right around the corner. A world where he could finally have a girlfriend with a heavy chest.

As much as this world is a BL world, this world still holds the basic common sense, that is: to procreate, there needs to be a man and a woman.

And so, for this world to continue, surely a certain percentage of the population is kept for procreation... And based from how he have been encountering less BL flags, he couldn't help but feel that the world was slowly giving up pairing him up with a man and thus putting him in the small category for procreation.

He just needs to be patient and survive these final moments.

Seeing his buddies ignoring the movie as they flirt with each other, Mob quietly left the cinema.

'Sorry, I'm having bad diarrhea, I'll go ahead first.' After typing that down, Mob scheduled it to be sent 20 minutes later. This is to avoid the flag of someone looking for him. Although, it wasn't that bullet proof but it should be enough... especially with how this BL world currently goes.

Somehow, this world has transcended once more and upgraded; What used to be 2 'top' fighting for 1 'bottom' has now become 3 or more people loving each other in their own weird way.

Mob has no idea how this happened. One day, he just woke up and noticed the steady increase of polygamous relationships. Upon doing his research, he could only conclude that it was due to high trends of harem BL stories where they all ended happily with each other's arm.

With no limit in numbers, this makes going to group activities like now a huge risk. Thankfully, with more partners means less time to think about someone not part of the "harem". So for example today, so long as he went along but stopped at the right moment, everyone would be too preoccupied with the others to care about him and even if they did the others would be there to grab their attention back to them.

Though, this was still a huge risk but he had no choice unless he wanted to stand out and raise the 'anti-socialize partner that everyone would bother for not doing what the bottom wants' flag.

"Ayato's brother?"

Mob stopped on his paces, immediately his head started calculating hundreds stratagem to block this potential red flag. However, upon looking at the direction of the voice, he quickly relaxed.

"Oh, it's you Toujou-kun. What are you doing here?"

It was his brother's boyfriend.

"Ah, well... We went to watch the movies."

Mob couldn't help but mentally slap himself. Obviously he was here to watch movies as this is a cinema. He also just now remember that one of the movies screening right now was a continuation of a series that his younger brother follows.

"I see... So where's my brother?"

At this point, Mob had already walked closer to him and noticed that his brother was not in sight.

Toujou looked hesitant yet still answered him, "He's still inside... I left to get a bit of fresh air."

Normally, Mob would take this opportunity to leave but seeing that it has something to do with his younger brother and thus most likely the older brother give advice plot and not a red flag, he decided to entertain him.

"Care to take a drink outside?"

Toujou was a bit hesitant, he looked back at the room before finally agreeing.

When Mob ask that, he was genuinely just thinking of taking just one beer while asking him what was wrong. He never thought that Toujou would immediately drink 3 cans, and make him drink more.

This was definitely a big problem.

"I-I think that it's impossible for Ayato and I." He shouted.

"And after everything I've done! I-I really tried my best, I really did! But I can't do this anymore!" And so there goes another can.

Mob finished his second can and asked, "What exactly happened? Weren't you two just watching a movie?"

"Well if only he didn't bring 3 more people!" And then he gulped more beer.

"I even warned him! I-I told him that I wanted a date with just the two of us, to not bring them as I am especially bothered how close they are with him. Yet! yet..." he cried. "Y-yet he still brought them, saying that," he cleared his voice and in his best impression of Ayato's voice, "Sankaku also wants to watch the movie and it be sad for him to go alone."

Mob look at this wailing man in front of him. Although this wasn't the first time he saw this imperfect image of his, this was the first time he saw him crying wildly like a child. He couldn't help but pity him.

It seems that even they couldn't escape the harem tag.

From the conversation, it seems that Ayato is being targeted by other partners. And unlike their high school days where Toujou could deal with them and they will leave, even if he deals with them, they would remain as Ayato's partner with the harem tag on.

Now thinking about it, an important element of a harem story is that the more the 'top' tells the 'bottom' not to meet the other 'top' and/or stop the other 'top' from meeting the 'bottom', it would only makes the favorability worst for the 'top' that's warning the 'bottom'.

It seems that this was likely what happened. Toujou wanted Ayato to not meet the others and have a solo date. However, this made Ayato hate Toujou and insist on bringing the guy to go against Toujou. Understandably, this made Toujou mad.

And based on how Ayato is still not looking for Toujou despite them drinking for quite some time now, their relationship right now must be seriously bad.

Mob didn't know what to say. At one point, he is Ayato's brother so he should side with Ayato, on another point he does feel pity for Toujou having to be forced between sharing Ayato or not having Ayato at all.

Then again, either way this decision was not for him to decide.

And so he will just listen to his outburst.

Author's Note:

Hello! So I have been reading Zettai BL and I really love it. If you ask me who I want our protagonist, Mob end up with, I would say I want him to gain the happiness he wants: getting a girlfriend or marrying a lady.

Maybe if I was way younger, I would want him to lost against the BL world but I'm a bit older now and understand the idea that people shouldn't be force to like something they outright don't want.

But having said that, I couldn't help shipping him with Toujou. Author probably never thought people would ship two people that author clearly didn't want to ship, but what can I say, I'm a big crazy fujoshi who would happily ship pairs that author never wanted to. hehe.

That being said, I am having a hard time trying to make them fall in love. If I want this story to be not toxic, I somehow need to make Mob realize he's bi or at least willing to be with Toujou and that is gonna be hard as I don't really do slow romance story. Lol.

That being said, I'm planning to make a toxic one too but A/B/O, just to be more "inspired". Haha.