“Kinnosuke, tell me your stupid joke. Don't let me sleep."

He stifled a laugh, "I've run out of stupid jokes. I'll just sing for you."

“Okay. Let me hear your singing.”

He started singing a love song. Yukihide's brows furrowed. It felt like the younger man was singing a love song for him but he still enjoyed it. Every now and then he chimed in by singing and they sounded like a duet.

"Your voice is good! We have to make an album, you know.” Kinnosuke said in between their songs. Yukihide only smiled at the remark.

"I'd better paint for the exhibition."

"Oh, I remember you mentioned the exhibition. May I come?" He suddenly inched closer to Yukihide. Their faces were so close making Yukihide lean back even more until his back had hit the wall.

It wasn't that he didn't want Kinnosuke to come to his exhibition, but he didn’t want Kinnosuke to find out that the model for the painting was him. He was scared that Kinnosuke would think that he liked him to the point of sketching the younger man many times. He wasn't ready to be judged.

“Come on, I promise I won't scream on the campus radio again. I won't embarrass you." Kinnosuke clasped her hands together, waiting for a yes.

"Well, okay you can come. But you have to promise not to make fun of me."

"Why would I make fun of you? Even your sketches are great, let alone your paintings. It must be amazing.”

Yukihide lowered his head slightly, trying to hide the blush on his face. Luckily the lights were dim. Kinnosuke was leaning beside him. His gaze was fixed ahead, his lips showing a smile, “Yukihide-san, what happens if our reflections don't get switched, huh?” He turned to Yukihide, still with a sweet smile on his lips.

"We won't meet."

"Do you believe in fate?"

At first, Yukihide shook his head, but finally he nodded, “I used to not believe it. Now believe a little."

Then they were lost in each other's thoughts until their backs were pushed by an external force, to be exact someone was trying to break down the door from the outside.

“Yukihide! Are you there?”

They exchanged glances, "It must be Imai." Yukihide muttered. Even though he didn't know who Imai was, Kinnosuke nodded.

“Imai, I'm here! I'm with Kinnosuke!"

"Move away! I’m gonna break this door!"

Kinnosuke was taken aback as if he couldn't believe Imai was able to break down the door. Because even a baseball bat couldn't break that door. Was he superhuman?

"Just trust Imai." Yukihide patted Kinnosuke's shoulder. He was a little suspicious of Yukihide and Imai's relationship. Yukihide seemed to have a lot of trust in that guy.

It took Imai quite some time to finally break down the door. The knob fell off and the door swung open. As soon as the door opened, a tall man approached them. The first thing the man did was hold Yukihide in his arms. Kinnosuke's mouth fell open since that was the first time he had seen Yukihide do that.

“Are you okay?” Imai asked after letting go of his arm.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thank you for helping us.”

"I didn't help him. I helped you," Imai glanced at Kinnosuke. He, who felt like he didn't know anything, was confused, “And you—whatever your name is—don't ever repeat this again. Next time I will punch you."

He was about to defend himself, but he remembered that he had caused them to be locked in this storage room. So he muttered an apology.

"I'm sorry." He said genuinely, "Thank you, Imai-san." He bowed. Imai didn't even look at him at all. Kinnosuke snorted in annoyance.

“Forgive Imai's attitude, Kinnosuke. He's always overprotective like this." Yukihide apologized for Imai's behavior.

"Let me take you home." Imai told Yukihide. He completely ignored Kinnosuke.

Instead, Yukihide reached out his hand towards Kinnosuke, "Come on, let's go home."

"Let him go home by himself."

"Imai!" Yukihide pursed his lips, then turned back towards Kinnosuke to take him home too. He couldn't possibly leave Kinnosuke, he was the first to take that guy to the storage room. Imai huffed in annoyance.

***

Kinnosuke tried on some clothes in front of Inagaki instead of in the mirror because there was no point looking in the mirror either. What he saw was Yukihide who fit all kinds of clothes. His best friend showed his thumb down in disapproval. This was the fourth time he had disagreed with Kinnosuke's choice of clothes.

“This is a painting exhibition, Kin-chan. You don't dress like a beggar!" Inagaki protested. He selected clothes in Kinnosuke's closet but couldn't find the right one. He thought that Kinnosuke should look more mature. Then he chose a sky blue shirt combined with jeans.

Kinnosuke disapproved of Inagaki's choice, "I look like I'm gonna attend a job interview, though."

"Shut up." Inagaki styled Kinnosuke's hair so that he didn't look like a high school student.

“What did you do to my hair?"

The latter didn't care. Come to think of it, Inagaki seemed busier than Kinnosuke himself. Then he came out of Kinnosuke's room to retrieve something that was kept secret from him. As he entered with a bouquet of flowers in his hands, Kinnosuke shouted hysterically.

"My goodness! Do you want to confess your love to me?"

He hit Kinnosuke on the head, “This isn't for you, idiot. This is for Yukihide-san. I've seen in dramas when you come to an exhibition you have to bring something for the person. To congratulate them. I don't want you to come empty-handed. But you still have to pay for this. I bought it with my pocket money.”

Deciding to take his best friend's advice, Kinnosuke headed off to the exhibition full of confidence—with that bouquet of flowers in his hand, of course. Apparently, Inagaki didn't let him go alone. He was curious about what would happen between Yukihide and Kinnosuke. After all, he was also curious about Yukihide's painting.

When they got there, the campus yard was already crowded. Welcoming banners were posted near the campus gates. They followed the signposts to the exhibition hall.

After getting two tickets, they were greeted by a sculpture right in front of the entrance. It seemed that the sculpture was the main focus of the exhibition. A girl stood beside the sculpture while explaining something to the visitors who surrounded the sculpture.

The exhibition displayed the works of students as well as their lecturers so quite a number of works were on display.  Both of them weren't the type of people who like to go to museums, let alone art exhibitions like this. So while looking for Yukihude, they stopped several times to look at the paintings or sculptures on display. 

Until Kinnosuke's eyes caught the familiar figure—wearing a suit—conversing with two middle-aged men, apparently lecturers. He waited a moment for Yukihide to finish talking to his lecturer before approaching the older man.

***