“Ow! What the—”

“Bad dog! Grr!” Banlue scolded with an open palm extended as evidence of the crime. The trays of waffles were squeezed between his elbows.

Reoni covered his mouth to contain his laughter and reached out to Rei’s shoulder. “Are you okay?” He tried to ask as sincerely as possible in his state.

Rei rubbed the nape of his neck, pulling his eyes away from the ground to look at Reoni. His lips parted. Not only was Reoni grinning at him, but he was also holding onto his shoulder. His own tense face softened to a likewise smile. 

“I am. Thanks.” He turned to Banlue as he rocked himself off the bench. “Let’s continue, shall we?” He sat back down, overlapping his hands on his knee that was crossed over the other leg.

“Yes, we can’t have you misbehaving,” Banlue said.

He handed Reoni his tray of chocolate waffles and strawberries—with an extra drizzle of chocolate syrup—and sat beside Rei with his own berry decorated tray. Rei internally panicked as he watched Reoni try to cut up his waffle with his plastic fork, hastily leaning forward as he pulled his leather coat from off his back.

“Please take my jacket again!” 

Reoni grimaced through his amusement, reluctantly taking it off his hands and into his lap. “Okay, okay!” In the meantime of his cutting, he continued. “If it’s okay to ask… What are you going to do now?”

“Well…” Rei composed himself once again. “What did you want to be when you grew up?”

Reoni paused midway into guiding a piece of waffle towards his mouth, his jaw dropping as if it was to the question rather than the bite. “Uh— I’ve always wanted to be a popular vlogger. It’s silly, but that’s what I always watched when I was in bed,” he said sheepishly.

“Then do that,” Rei replied firmly. “You have a beautiful face that needs to be captured on camera.” 

“I couldn’t do that now. I have no idea where to start.”

“I promise to help you. Why don’t we shop for equipment on Sunday?” He elbowed Banlue gently. “And don’t tell Thiha,” he murmured.

“Ow,” he reacted regardless. “Okay, I’ll try.”

Reoni blinked, searching for an answer in Rei’s eyes. “Why are you going out of your way to help me?”

“I don’t want you in any more trouble. It’s not that often we have a second chance with our life, so I can’t let you waste yours.” 

He then flashed a tight-lipped smile. One that exceptionally nice doctors give to their patients at the end of their checkup. It was unusual for him to consciously recognize a smile, but he found that it brightened his own face too.

Banlue nodded excessively on the side. “Mhm. The only reason why,” he emphasized.

Reoni twiddled his fork. He hadn’t caught onto the extra comment. “I’m so grateful. I didn’t think you guys would be so nice considering your jobs.”

“What can I say? We went to high school together, that’s enough of a bond,” Rei said—attached with a wink. “I have a couple more questions and then you’re free to go.”

The last few questions were for Reoni’s sake, making sure he had a VPN and giving a spiel about not answering any unknown calls or messages. Banlue collected the social media accounts of Silas that Reoni was still aware of and continuously thanked Reoni for the lead. When it was time for him to take his leave, Rei followed him on the way back until he could enter a safe crowd.

He carefully observed Reoni joining the mixed flock of people entering and exiting the park. Even with his view obscured by other passerbys, he secured Reoni as a target until he crossed the street and into the parking lot. When that was the case, he pushed himself off the tree he leaned against and returned to the rock garden, where Banlue stayed attached to his phone until the crinkling of the grass alerted his senses. His head whipped up to look at Rei, words shaping his mouth as he processed his next emotion—that being anger.

“That’s Reoni?! I didn’t recognize him from the headlines!” he exclaimed.

“Ah, shshsh!” Rei rushed to him and cupped his mouth. “What if Thiha’s nearby?” he whispered, piecing his brows together.  

Banlue pried off his arm, meeting him with the same face. “You’re getting risky. You’ll be done for if he finds out,” he whispered back. “I didn’t know you were still obsessed over him!’

“Sh-shut up. Only you’re allowed to know about this, so get it all out now.” He crossed his arms and shut his eyes tight whilst tapping on his foot to keep him grounded.

His anger turned coy at the opportunity to tease Rei. He got so embarrassed over his crush, it was impossible even for a pure person like Banlue to pass. “Imagine the hallway rumors that will pass around the gang! Rei kept fumbling over directions today. He can’t stop thinking about his boyfriend~ Oh! He was feeding his baby soup earlier. Won’t he spoon-feed me?!”

All of the color from Rei concentrated on his ears and cheeks, the taps of his foot getting progressively faster with each second Banlue used his impersonation of the gang members. One eye opened for the second mocking, soon leading to both shooting open. “Who on Earth would say that?!”

“You used to flirt with everyone. I’ve caught quite a lot of fans on camera,” Banlue said casually, lifting his hands in the air with a shrug.

“Ugh. I only did that to try and forget about Reoni.” He crashed down onto the bench Reoni was sitting on, laying his head back against the tree. “Thiha’s gonna think I’m sick. What a pain.”

“Tell him when he’s drunk. He’ll probably laugh and give you a slap on the wrist,” he consulted, now that the fun had been over.

He exasperated a breath. “No, I’ll wait until I officially ask Reoni.” He raised his hand, trembling as he studied the tips of his fingers and the markings of his palm. “I touched him. I can’t believe it,” he spoke in a low tone to himself.

“It must have taken you all of your willpower not to hug him,” Banlue said sympathetically. “I believe you can do it.”

Rei let his hand close on its own, bringing it to his chest and imagining a world where Reoni would be holding it. “Thank you. I need this,” he said.