He sighed, as much as he hated to say it, Lily had a point when she asked about what he wanted to get out of this. Quy Tien Nghiem had never been the kind of person to forsake his own morals or safety out of empathy, he was a logic person who thought with his mind and what benefited him. But everything with Kaihou only served to deter him from his goals, he had no time to paint when he was taking care of him or brooding over him, he had no social life constantly questioning the things he said or did, and now... now he was losing his friends. It only seemed logical to cut off the rope and get back on track.

But despite that, he couldn't bring himself to do it. Why? It couldn't be love like everyone else thought, right? He never let himself get so caught up over someone that it destroyed his life like this, then again he was never with someone quite like Kaihou. 

Words from an old friend echoed in his head, the familiar chatter of a bullet train, the warmth of bundled-up coats and blankets.

"Chotu, I didn't know a 10 hour train ride would feel so long!" Kumail made a dramatic fall onto his bed in the booth.

Quy looked up from his drawing tablet and turned down the volume on his phone as it played music, "To be fair, you haven't even slept yet and we're halfway through."

"How can I sleep? What if my future one true love is right outside this booth yearning for my arrival?" He gasped. "What if he was in the first class section this entire time? And fate was calling upon ME to teach him humility and the joys of being poor?"

"We're not poor we're just cheapskates."

"Then the joys of having to worry about money, enough to buy first class on a train of all things. Isn't it tacky to waste your money for a nicer bed and a supercomputer in your booth? What would you even need it for? The clear attraction of the bullet train is the spa, which anyone can get access to. Ooh, or the bar, Chotu we must go get drinks! He's probably waiting for me right now!"

"Who?"

"My first class soulmate in need of reconnection to nature and gratitude!"

"Right." Quy turned his tablet off. "What do you even need a boyfriend for?"

Kumail sighed, tilting his head to Quy, "It's not about a need it's about a connection and the abstractness! Surely you can understand it, love can take you so many ways and bring you so many life lessons and cherishable moments."

"But it could also cause you pain, regret... divorce is pretty common."

"And you learn from that, you don't need to think of those things as bad things to forget about, appreciate what they taught you. I know everyone thinks it's cheesy when people say you learn more from your mistakes than your accomplishments, but there's a reason they say it."

Quy pursed his lips, "I guess. Huh, when you'd get so much wiser than me?"

"I always was, you just never saw it because you were so hellbent on being mean to everyone, which I must say was very funny."

His face turned red, "...yeaaaaaaaah."

Kumail grabbed Quy's hand and dragged him out of the booth, the artist quickly putting his tablet down beforehand. He struggled to keep up the pace as they made their way to the bar. 

Once they arrived, nobody was there but a bartender with platinum hair cleaning. The pair sat down and got drinks.

"I just realized this but... I've never really tried at love before. Nothing romantic at least, I have all these friends and family but never a partner. Maybe I'm just scared of the commitment and just enjoy the dream."

"Nonsense, a relationship shouldn't look like a declaration of law, and it's never going to be "perfect" either."

Quy raised an eyebrow and chuckled, "No way, you of all people saying that? Going on about your princes and rich men?"

"By "perfect" I mean something that's always going to be easy or make you happy, love has hardships but real connections from a care for a person last longer than if you're looking for wish fulfillment."

"Sure, sure. I get it." While usually he would've found some smartass way to teach Kumail a lesson in this moment, he realized that he didn't know anything about what they were saying. Maybe he would've brushed it off and moved on to something else if it was a different topic but suddenly the idea of being in a relationship sounded a lot more appealing to him. Quy groaned, "Dammit, you're making me want a rich boyfriend to unteach disgraceful chutzpah."

"As everyone should." Kumail jested, swiping his card to the payment scanner and moving for the door, "I'm gonna head for the spa now, need something to wake me up." But looking at Quy while walking forwards caused him to bump into another passenger coming out of the door to the spa.

The man's blue hair was wet, presumably from the sauna, and droplets splattered over Kumail upon impact, making Quy cringe. "Oh-oh I apologize-" The man extended a hand to Kumail, his face visibly red. Was it the sauna or is he flustered?

"No need- ooh, your skin's so soft," he rubbed the top of his hand and looked up at his face, "and you're so cute!~"

The man struggled to find words, as Kumail chuckled. Quy took a sip from his drink. "Goddammit, how does he do it?"

Kaihou finally looked up from his phone as he finished his bowl of soup, looking over at Quentin on the other side of the island. "Hey, what are you laughing about?" He smiled.

"Just something my friend told me once,"

"Was it that girl from earlier?"

He paused, his smile disappearing for a bit, "No, someone else. But they had the same idea."

Kaihou rested his arms on the counter and leaned forward, "And what is that?"

"That I need to do things that'll actually make me happy, even if I worry about it occasionally." He smirked, "You're awfully chatty today."

"Just the adrenaline from being shot and bleeding out for a second time."

The boy in front of him sighed, "You should really get that checked out by an actual medical professional, I don't want a dead man in my house."

"Fine, if you keep asking, we can visit my sister, she has a medical degree."

Quentin's eyes widened quickly, "She does?"

"Yeah, she wanted to be a trauma surgeon or something since our mom died, never went through with it though, apparently being a resident was too boring for her."

"Well then, you can wear one of my shirts and we can go."

He looked at Quy's petite frame in his oversized T-shirt, and Quy looked over at Kaihou's much larger and muscular body. "I'm not gonna fit." Kaihou quipped.

"...maybe your blood can pass off as a wine spill then."