Divinagracia, 2002

Ring, ring, ring!

The timer had gone off, and the cake was done. Iñigo shot up from the wooden couch, startled from his sleep. He rushed towards the kitchen, pushing his dark, shoulder-length hair from his face as he haphazardly tied an apron around his waist. Kenji, who had until now slept peacefully on Iñigo’s shoulder, fell to the side, banging his head on the armrest with a thud, and a sharp yelp escaped his lips.

“Iñigo, what the hell?” Kenji said, startled by the impact of the fall, but Iñigo paid him no attention. 

Iñigo, with his six-foot figure, managed to deftly maneuver himself through the cramped kitchen of their shared apartment. The kitchen could barely fit one person, let alone someone of Iñigo’s stature. While Iñigo continued to rummage through the kitchen in search of an oven mitt, Kenji audibly winced upon seeing Iñigo narrowly miss a hanging light fixture. 

Iñigo knew how Kenji had implored Javier so many times to have those lights removed, especially with the sheer number of close calls with those hanging death traps. But as long as the kitchen had a working oven for baking, there was no need to pay someone to remove those lights, Iñigo thought. The money would be better spent on higher-quality baking ingredients.

Crash!

A loud jingling sound erupted, as Iñigo crashed into the light fixture, dropping the hot cake pan in the process. Kenji, alarmed, stood up and ran over to check on him. The light fixture continued to dangle from the ceiling, hanging as if it were going to fall at any moment. Iñigo had left the now blemished cake by the kitchen sink, as he ran his hand under some cold water. Under his thumb, the hot pan had left a small burn.

“I told you we should have done something about those lights!” Kenji said in annoyance, and Iñigo winced at his words. Kenji sighed. “Don’t worry. I’ll do something about it.”

As Iñigo continued to stare at Kenji, wondering if Kenji had gotten annoyed by him, Kenji took Iñigo’s arm and guided him out of the kitchen, sitting him down on the wooden couch. 

“Stay here”, Kenji said to Iñigo, and Iñigo sat still. Kenji left to grab something from his room, later emerging from his room with a first aid kit in tow. He knelt down and held Iñigo’s hand in his. Though Kenji kept a serious face as he meticulously treated Iñigo’s burn, as if his guardedness around Kenji began to thaw. Kenji’s face was all he was fixated on.

As Kenji finished wrapping the remaining bandages over Iñigo’s hand, Iñigo felt his own hand enveloped by Kenji’s hands. Looking up, Iñigo noticed how Kenji’s eyes trailed toward Iñigo’s face, observing the rosy hue that grew across his cheeks. Through the wisps of his bangs, Kenji’s eyes met Iñigo’s.

Soon, the worries about life that were once resting in Iñigo’s mind all but vanished. Iñigo brought forth his hand and held onto Kenji’s chin. His heartbeats began to quicken with each passing second, as he brought his lips closer to Kenji’s until there was only a small gap in between. Succumbing to the forces that brought them together, Iñigo closed his eyes and leaned forward, his lips meeting Kenji’s. They shared a chaste kiss, a soft press of lips that seemed to quiet the entire world, and for a moment they just melted into the embrace. But as quickly as it came, it ended. Kenji broke the kiss.

“I got something for you,” Kenji said as he dug into his pocket, pulling out an envelope which was perched between Kenji’s fingers.

“There’s something I wanted to give to you.” With his thin, nimble fingers, Kenji opened up the envelope and pulled out two small wallet-print photographs. “Here look at this! I’ve printed one for you and one for me!” 

Kenji gestured at Iñigo to come over, waving the photo in his fingers. Iñigo walked over and took his place by Kenji’s side, and Kenji immediately wrapped his arm around Iñigo’s wide shoulders. Resting his head against his nape, Kenji handed the photo over to Iñigo, who felt a warm tingling sensation in his heart the very moment he laid eyes on it.

Resting in Kenji’s hand was a photo of both Iñigo and Kenji standing side-by-side, the same one Esther had taken of them underneath the mango tree that stood in the Samson Estate. While Iñigo stood stiffly, looking straight into the camera with a simple smile and a slight blush on his cheeks, Kenji appeared more relaxed, winking toward the camera as he wrapped his arm around Iñigo’s large frame. Looking at that photo, Iñigo remembered how at that time Kenji had to go on his tiptoes in order to fully wrap his arm around his shoulders. Holding the photo in his hands, Iñigo let out a low chuckle, the corner of the photograph folding slightly in his grip.

“Hey,” Kenji interrupted Iñigo’s moment in deep thought. “I know how much you love staring at my perfectly perfect face, but you’ve gotta help me salvage your almost perfectly perfect pandan cake.” Kenji let out a laugh as he made his way toward the kitchen, and Iñigo gave him a bemused look. “Don’t look at me like that! I just named your newest bestseller!”

“Ha ha, very funny,” Iñigo said, sighing as he ran to join his boyfriend.

On mundane days like this, Iñigo was grateful to have Kenji in his life. As exhausting as Kenji could be, he always knew how to make Iñigo smile whenever he took himself too seriously.

For as long as Iñigo knew Kenji, he knew that he had a special connection with him, one that nobody could ever replicate. Kenji had always been so caring, having looked out for Iñigo since childhood. As Iñigo continued to stare at the photograph, he wondered what his life with Kenji by his side would look like five, ten, or even twenty years later.

But even after all that time had passed, Iñigo could never fathom how the seemingly solid relationship between the two crumbled into dust.